Ag – ZnO Nanocomposites Cause Cytotoxicity and Induce Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Gastric and Melanoma Cancer Cells

Plant-Based Bimetallic Silver-Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Comprehensive Perspective of Synthesis, Biomedical Applications, and Future Trends

The universal emphasis on the study of green nanotechnology has led to biologically harmless uses of wide-ranged nanomaterials. Nanotechnology deals with the production of nanosized particles with regular morphology and properties. Various researches have been directed on nanomaterial synthesis by physical, chemical, and biological means. Understanding the safety of both environment and in vivo, a biogenic approach particularly plant-derived synthesis is the best strategy. Silver-zinc oxide nanoparticles are most effective. Moreover, these engineered nanomaterials via morphological modifications attain improved performance in antimicrobial, biomedical, environmental, and therapeutic applications. This article evaluates manufacturing strategies for silver-zinc oxide nanoparticles via plant-derived means along with highlighting their broad range of uses in bionanotechnology.

Poly (L-lactic acid) nanofibrous scaffolds support the proliferation and neural differentiation of mouse neural stem and progenitor cells

BACKGROUND

The distribution and growth of cells on nanofibrous scaffolds seem to be an indispensable precondition in cell tissue engineering. The potential use of biomaterial scaffolds in neural stem cell therapy is increasingly attracting attention.

AIM

In this study, we produced porous nanofibrous scaffolds fabricated from random poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) to support neurogenic differentiation of neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs), isolated from the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the adult mouse brain.

METHODS

The viability and proliferation of the NSPCs on the nanofibrous PLLA scaffold were also tested by nuclear staining with 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI), 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). To investigate the differentiation potential of NSPCs on the scaffolds, the cells were treated with a neurogenic differentiation medium, and immunostaining was done to detect neuronal and glial cells after 14 and 21 days of cultivation. Furthermore, the morphology of differentiated cells on the scaffold was examined using SEM.

RESULTS

The DAPI staining revealed the proliferation of NSPCs onto the surface of the nanofibrous PLLA scaffold. DAPI-positive cells were counted on days 2 and 5 after cultivation. The mean number of cells in each microscopic field was significantly (p < .05) increased (51 ± 19 on day 2 compared to 77 ± 25 cells on day 5). The results showed that the cell viability on PLLA scaffolds significantly increased compared to control groups. Moreover, cell viability was significantly increased 5 days after culturing (262.3 ± 50.2) as compared to 2 days culture in Vitro (174.2 ± 28.3, p < .05). Scanning electron micrographs also showed that the NSPCs adhered and differentiated on PLLA scaffolds. We found that the neural cell markers, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), were expressed in NSPCs seeded on random PLLA scaffolds after 21 days of cultivation.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that the PLLA nano-scaffolds, due to their biocompatible property, are an appropriate structure for the proliferation, differentiation, and normal growth of NSPCs.

Pristine Cu-MOF Induces Mitotic Catastrophe and Alterations of Gene Expression and Cytoskeleton in Ovarian Cancer Cells

Metals-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely explored in biomedicine, mostly in drug delivery, biosensing, and bioimaging due to their large surface area, tunable porosity, readily chemical functionalization, and good biocompatibility. However, the underlining cellular mechanisms controlling the process for MOF cytotoxicity remains almost completely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that pristine Cu-MOF without any loaded drug selectively inhibited ovarian cancer mainly through promoting tubulin polymerization and destroying the cell actin cytoskeleton (F-actin) to trigger the mitotic catastrophe, accompanying by conventional programmed cell death. To our knowledge, this is the first report claiming that mitotic catastrophe may be an explaining mechanism of MOF cytotoxicity. Cu-MOF with an intrinsic protease-like activity also hydrolyzed cellular cytoskeleton proteins (F-actin). The RNA sequencing data indicated the differential expressional mRNA of cell proliferation and actin cytoskeleton (ACTA2, ACTN3, FSCN2, and SCIN) and mitotic spindles (PLK1 and TPX2) related genes. We found that Cu-MOF as a promising candidate in the disruption of cellular cytoskeleton and the change of the gene expression could be actin altering and antimitotic agents against cancer cells, allowing for fundamental biological and biophysical studies of MOFs.

Comparative study of antidiabetic, bactericidal, and antitumor activities of MEL@AgNPs, MEL@ZnONPs, and Ag-ZnO/MEL/GA nanocomposites prepared by using MEL and gum arabic

In this study, a variety of nanocomposites, namely, MEL@AgNPs, MEL@ZnONPs, and Ag-ZnO/MEL/GA were biosynthesized using MEL and gum arabic to serve in biomedical applications. The synthesized nanocomposites were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and FTIR spectroscopy. The physicochemical properties and biomedical activities of the synthesized nanocomposites were investigated. The Ag-ZnO/MEL/GA nanocomposites showed greater antidiabetic activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase, and higher antibacterial activity compared to MEL@AgNPs and MEL@ZnONPs. Furthermore, HepG2 cells were exposed to MEL@AgNPs, MEL@ZnONPs, and Ag-ZnO/MEL/GA nanocomposites for 24 h and their IC50 values were 63.25, 26.91 and 28.97 μg mL-1 (P < 0.05), respectively. According to this comparative study, it is apparent that the Ag-ZnO/MEL/GA nanocomposites have a great potential to serve as antitumor agents against HepG2, and antidiabetic and antibacterial agents.