Anticancer Activity of Diarachidonyl Phosphatidyl Choline Liposomal Curcumin Coated with Chitosan Against Breast and Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Anthracene-Conjugated Steroidal Amphiphiles: Soft Functional Materials Exhibiting Supramolecular Aggregation Induced Enhanced Emission with Potential Applications as Drug Carriers and Fluorescent Bioprobes

Bile salts (BS) are naturally occurring steroidal biosurfactants. The ease of functionalization of BSs has boosted their use as inexpensive building blocks for the fabrication of a broad set of value-added soft functional materials. In the present work, three fluorescent bile acid (FBA) derivatives have been synthesized by conjugating anthracene at the side chain of lithocholic acid, deoxycholic acid, and cholic acid to understand the effect of the nature of the steroid nucleus on their physicochemical properties. In an aqueous medium, the FBAs showed a strong supramolecular aggregation propensity, even in the micromolar concentration range, which is in contrast to their BS analogues that form micelles mostly in the millimolar range. The FBA aggregation leads to a prearranged geometry in the ground state with a favorable orientation of anthracene units for excimer formation on excitation, leading to supramolecular aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE). A detailed investigation reveals the pivotal role of the steroidal skeleton in their aggregation propensity and optical behavior. The FBA assemblies, with ordered structures plus anthracene being a part of their building blocks, are endowed with interesting properties different from those in dilute organic media, which makes them extremely attractive for diverse applications, e.g., as potential drug carriers owing to their ability to serve as efficient hosts for the protective encapsulation of hydrophobic guests; as membrane probes and bioimaging agents due to their efficient membrane permeability and cell-imaging ability; and as system probes because of their remarkable sensitivity toward the aggregation process of natural bile salts in the aqueous medium. Therefore, the present study not only enhances the fundamental understanding of this unique class of amphiphiles but also opens new prospects in tailoring novel self-assembled soft functional materials. Moreover, it offers a benchmark for developing BS-based fluorescent derivatives with unique photophysical characteristics for applications as potential bioprobes.

Based on sodium alginate coatings and dendritic copolymeric modification of curcumin delivery system: pH-sensitive nanospheres and strong tumor cytotoxicity

This study aims to construct a novel drug delivery strategy to address the poor bioavailability and biostability of curcumin. A curcumin delivery strategy, basing on post-polymerization modification of poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethyl azlactone) to obtain conjugates of curcumin and dendritic polymers, combined with sodium alginate coating is reported. The curcumin-polymer conjugates were shown to have good fluorescence properties with fluorescence quantum yields of 0.486 and 0.470, respectively. The composites were characterized as spherical nanoparticles with a desirable particle size of 221.7 nm and massive negatively charged surfaces. These aesthetic properties make it an acceptable drug delivery and release vehicle. In vitro release experiments showed that release of curcumin from the conjugates was controllable and acid-sensitive, which is expected to guide delivery targeting to cancer sites. In addition, biodistribution studies of the gastrointestinal tract of mice showed high levels of exposure. The results of cell imaging showed that conjugates have strong permeability to cancer cell membranes. They have been shown to have strong targeting and inhibitory effects on a variety of cancer cells, with an inhibition rate of up to about 90 %. Therefore, such novel vector designs show great potential in drug delivery mechanism research and cancer therapy.

Curcumin Encapsulation in Aluminum Fumarate Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Stability and Antioxidant Activity

Curcumin (Cur) is a great candidate for antioxidant applications; however, due to its low solubility and poor bioavailability, it remains only hardly employed as a therapeutic agent. Moreover, curcumin is very unstable and tends to degrade quickly. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained great attention in the field of drug loading due to their diversity and tunability, so they are seen as great candidates for hosting curcumin. Aluminum fumarate MOF (AlMOF) was able to hold curcumin successfully by the wet impregnation technique. The resulting system significantly increased the stability of curcumin, so it went from degrading to 58.9% after 3 days to degrading to 16% after 10 days when entrapped in AlMOF. In addition, the antioxidant activity of curcumin was also greatly boosted in the MOF-Cur system compared to curcumin in its free state. These results open the door to an in-depth study of MOF-Cur systems as great therapeutic agents due to the enhancement of the therapeutic properties of curcumin, all while protecting it, favoring its solubility, and maintaining its stability.

Nanospheres for curcumin delivery as a precision nanomedicine in cancer therapy

Cancer is ranked among the top causes of mortality throughout the world. Conventional therapies are associated with toxicity and undesirable side effects, rendering them unsuitable for prolonged use. Additionally, there is a high occurrence of resistance to anticancer drugs and recurrence in certain circumstances. Hence, it is essential to discover potent anticancer drugs that exhibit specificity and minimal unwanted effects. Curcumin, a polyphenol derivative, is present in the turmeric plant (Curcuma longa L.) and has chemopreventive, anticancer, radio-, and chemo-sensitizing activities. Curcumin exerts its anti-tumor effects on cancer cells by modulating the disrupted cell cycle through p53-dependent, p53-independent, and cyclin-dependent mechanisms. This review provides a summary of the formulations of curcumin based on nanospheres, since there is increasing interest in its medicinal usage for treating malignancies and tumors. Nanospheres are composed of a dense polymeric matrix, and have a size ranging from 10 to 200 nm. Lactic acid polymers, glycolic acid polymers, or mixtures of them, together with poly (methyl methacrylate), are primarily used as matrices in nanospheres. Nanospheres are suitable for local, oral, and systemic delivery due to their minuscule particle size. The majority of nanospheres are created using polymers that are both biocompatible and biodegradable. Previous investigations have shown that the use of a nanosphere delivery method can enhance tumor targeting, therapeutic efficacy, and biocompatibility of different anticancer agents. Moreover, these nanospheres can be easily taken up by mammalian cells. This review discusses the many curcumin nanosphere formulations used in cancer treatment.

A review of the role of liposome-encapsulated phytochemicals targeting PPAR Ɣ and associated pathways to combat obesity

A limited number of studies have directly examined the effects of liposomal encapsulated phytochemicals and their anti-obesity effects in adults. This study aimed to summarize the evidence on the effect of liposomal encapsulated phytochemicals and their role in regulating major pathways involved in the anti-obesity mechanism. A systematic search was performed using several search engines like Science Direct, Google Scholar, and other online journals, focusing on laboratory research, systematic reviews, clinical trials, and meta-analysis that focused on liposomal encapsulated phytochemicals with anti-obesity properties, and followed the preferred reporting terms for this systematic review. An initial search provided a result of 1810 articles, and 93 papers were selected after the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Very few studies have been conducted on the liposomal encapsulation of phytochemicals or its synergistic study to combat obesity; hence this review paves the way for future obesity research and is mainly helpful for the pediatric obesity population. Liposomal encapsulation of phytochemicals has improved the efficiency of freely administered phytochemicals. Targeted delivery improved drug utilization and regulated the anti-obesity pathways. PPARƔ is a major therapeutic target for obesity as it inhibits adipocyte differentiation and maintains energy homeostasis.