Enhanced cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin conjugated gold nanoparticles on breast cancer model

Development and validation of colorimetric-assisted chemometrics methods based on the localized gold nanoparticles surface plasmon resonance for fast simultaneous estimation of anti-hepatitis C virus drugs in their combined dosage form: A comparative study with HPLC method

The present work describes a developed analytical method based on a colorimetric assay using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) along with chemometric techniques for the simultaneous estimation of sofosbuvir (SOF) and ledipasvir (LED) in their synthetic mixtures and tablet dosage form. The applied chemometric approaches were continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM). Characterization of AuNPs and AuNPs in combination with the drug was performed by UV-vis spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. In the CWT method, the zero amplitudes were determined at 427 nm with Daubechies wavelet family for SOF (zero crossing point of LED) and 440 nm with Symlet wavelet family for LED (zero crossing point of SOF) over the concentration range of 7.5-90.0 μg/L and 40.0-100.0 μg/L with coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.9974 and 0.9907 for SOF and LED, respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of this method were found to be 7.92, 9.96 μg/L and 12.02, 30.2 μg/L for SOF and LED, respectively. In the LS-SVM model, the mean percentage recovery of SOF and LED in synthetic mixtures was 98.29 % and 99.25 % with root mean square error of 2.392 and 1.034, which were obtained by the optimization of regularization parameter (γ) and width of the function (σ) based on the cross-validation method. The proposed methods were also applied for the determination concentration of SOF and LED in the combined dosage form, recoveries were higher than 95 %, and relative standard deviation (RSD) values were lower than 0.4 %. The achieved results were statistically compared with those obtained from the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique for the concurrent estimation of components through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and no significant difference was found between the suggested approaches and the reference one. According to these results, simplicity, high speed, lack of time-consuming process, and cost savings are considerable benefits of colorimetry along with chemometrics methods compared to other ways.

Laser enhanced photothermal effect of silver nanoparticles synthesized by chemical and green method on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria

PURPOSE

The antibacterial properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are extensively identified. In large quantities, they might be harmful. So many fields of nanotechnology have shown a great deal of interest in the development of an environmentally friendly, efficient method for synthesizing metal nanoparticles. Because of its antibacterial and antifungal properties toward a wide range of microbes, chitosan silver nanoparticles (AgNPs@Cs) constitute a newly developing class of bio-nanostructured hybrid materials. Furthermore, the use of photothermal therapy (PTT) has been suggested as a means of elimination of germs. These light-stimulated treatments are minimally invasive and have a few side effects. In the present work, the antibacterial effect of AgNPs at low concentrations; prepared by chemical and green methods as antimicrobial and photothermal agents in photothermal therapy; with laser irradiation were explored as combined treatment against MRSA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

METHODS

Silver nanoparticles were produced in two ways. First, by sodium borohydrides, second, by chitosan (as a natural eco-friendly reducing, and capping agent). The nanostructure of AgNPs and AgNPs@Cs was confirmed by UV-visible spectrometer, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRs), and direct light scattering (DLS). The antibacterial activity of the prepared nanoparticles and the laser irradiation was tested against three bacterial species of zoonotic importance; MRSA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae; and was evaluated by measuring their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC).

RESULTS

Silver nanoparticles produced by the two methods had spherical shapes with nearly the same particle size. The analysis of DLS showed that AgNPs were very stable with zeta potential - 28.8 mv, and 47.7 mv by chemical and chitosan synthesis, respectively. Furthermore, AgNPs@Cs showed higher antibacterial activity toward the tested bacterial species than AgNPs by chemical method. Additionally, the bacterial viability using photothermal laser therapy was reduced compared to laser and AgNPs alone. The bactericidal activities were higher when laser diode was coupled with AgNPs@Cs than by chemical reduction.

CONCLUSION

The laser combined treatment had a higher antimicrobial effect than AgNPs alone or laser irradiation alone.

Metallic nanoparticles unveiled: Synthesis, characterization, and their environmental, medicinal, and agricultural applications

Metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) have attracted great interest among scientists and researchers for years due to their unique optical, physiochemical, biological, and magnetic properties. As a result, MNPs have been widely utilized across a variety of scientific fields, including biomedicine, agriculture, electronics, food, cosmetics, and the environment. In this regard, the current review article offers a comprehensive overview of recent studies on the synthesis of MNPs (metal and metal oxide nanoparticles), outlining the benefits and drawbacks of chemical, physical, and biological methods. However, the biological synthesis of MNPs is of great importance considering the biocompatibility and biological activity of certain MNPs. A variety of characterization techniques, including X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and others, have been discussed in depth to gain deeper insights into the unique structural and spectroscopic properties of MNPs. Furthermore, their unique properties and applications in the fields of medicine, agriculture, and the environment are summarized and deeply discussed. Finally, the main challenges and limitations of MNPs synthesis and applications, as well as their future prospects have also been discussed.

PEGylated Pemetrexed and PolyNIPAM Decorated Gold Nanoparticles: A Biocompatible and Highly Stable CT Contrast Agent for Cancer Imaging

This study describes a multifunctional nanoparticle platform for targeted CT imaging and therapy of cancers. Pemetrexed (conjugated with polyethylene glycol, MW 2000 Da) and polyNIPAM (PEGylated) were designed for targeted delivery to folate receptors and thermally ablated tumors, respectively. These moieties were coated on gold nanoparticles (7 and 30 nm), and the prepared compounds were characterized using 1H NMR, FT-IR, CHNS, DLS, TEM, TGA, and UV-vis. The resulting agents exhibited 2-4 times higher X-ray attenuation compared to Visipaque and demonstrated specific accumulation in tumor tissue (4T1 xenograft model) 90 min after injection in mice. The nanoparticles displayed anticancer activity against 4T1 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells (IC50: 182.87 and 206.18 μg/mL) and good biocompatibility. Importantly, the platform showed excellent stability over a year and at pH 2-12 and temperature range of -78 to 40 °C, and a water-dichloromethane extraction method was optimized for efficient purification, facilitating large-scale production.

Stimuli Responsive Molecular Exchange of Structure Directing Agents on Gold Nanobipyramids: Cancer Cell Detection and Synergistic Therapeutics

Surface-engineered gold nanoparticles have been considered as versatile systems for theranostics applications. Moreover, surface covering or stabilizing agents on gold nanoparticles especially gold nanobipyramids (AuNBPs) provides an extra space for cargo molecules entrapment. However, it is not well studied yet and also the preparation of AuNBPs still remains dependent largely on cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), a cytotoxic surfactant. Therefore, the direct use of CTAB stabilized nanoparticles is not recommended for cancer theranostics applications. Herein, we address an approach of dodecyl ethyl dimethylammonium bromide (DMAB) as biocompatible structure directing agent for AuNBPs, which also accommodate anticancer drug doxorubicin (45%), an additional chemotherapeutics agent. Upon near-infrared light (NIR, 808 nm) exposure, engineered AuNBPs exhibit (i) better phototransduction (51 °C) due to NIR absorption ability (650-900 nm), (ii) photo triggered drug release (more than 80%), and (iii) synergistic chemophototherapy for breast cancer cells. Drug release response has been evaluated in tumor microenvironment conditions (84% in acidic pH and 80% at high GSH) due to protonation and high affinity of thiol binding with AuNBPs followed by DMAB replacement. Intracellular glutathione (GSH, 5-7.5 mM) replaces DMAB from AuNBPs, which cause easy aggregation of nanoparticles as corroborated by colorimetric shifts, suggesting their utilization as a molecular sensing probe of early stage cancer biomarkers. Our optimized recipe yield is monodisperse DMAB-AuNBPs with ∼90% purity even at large scales (500 mL volume per batch). DMAB-AuNBPs show better cell viability (more than 90%) across all concentrations (5-500 ug/mL) when directly compared to CTAB-AuNBPs (less than 10%). Our findings show the potential of DMAB-AuNBPs for early stage cancer detection and theranostics applications.

In Vitro Toxicological Insights from the Biomedical Applications of Iron Carbide Nanoparticles in Tumor Theranostics: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

(1) Background: Despite the encouraging indications regarding the suitability (biocompatibility) of iron carbide nanoparticles (ICNPs) in various biomedical applications, the published evidence of their biosafety is dispersed and relatively sparse. The present review synthesizes the existing nanotoxicological data from in vitro studies relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. (2) Methods: A systematic review was performed in electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Wiley Online Library) on December 2023, searching for toxicity assessments of ICNPs of different sizes, coatings, and surface modifications investigated in immortalized human and murine cell lines. The risk of bias in the studies was assessed using the ToxRTool for in vitro studies. (3) Results: Among the selected studies (n = 22), cell viability emerged as the most frequently assessed cellular-level toxicity endpoint. The results of the meta-analysis showed that cell models treated with ICNPs had a reduced cell viability (SMD = -2.531; 95% CI: -2.959 to -2.109) compared to untreated samples. A subgroup analysis was performed due to the high magnitude of heterogeneity (I2 = 77.1%), revealing that ICNP concentration and conjugated ligands are the factors that largely influence toxicity (p < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: A dose-dependent cytotoxicity of ICNP exposure was observed, regardless of the health status of the cell, tested organism, and NP size. Inconsistent reporting of ICNP physicochemical properties was noted, which hinders comparability among the studies. A comprehensive exploration of the available in vivo studies is required in future research to assess the safety of ICNPs' use in bioimaging and cancer treatment.

Reducing the effective dose of cisplatin using cobalt modified silver nano-hybrid as a carriers on MCF7 and HCT cell models

Cancer is a deadly illness with a convoluted pathogenesis. The most prevalent restrictions that frequently result in treatment failure for cancer chemotherapy include lack of selectivity, cytotoxicity, and multidrug resistance. Thus, considerable efforts have been focused in recent years on the establishment of a modernistic sector termed nano-oncology, which offers the option of employing nanoparticles (NPs) with the objective of detecting, targeting, and treating malignant disorders. NPs offer a focused approach compared to conventional anticancer methods, preventing negative side effects. In the present work, a successful synthetic process was used to create magnetic cobalt cores with an AgNPs shell to form bimetallic nanocomposites CoAg, then functionalized with Cis forming novel CoAg@Cis nanohybrid. The morphology and optical properties were determined by TEM, DLS, FTIRs and UV-vis spectroscopy, furthermore, anticancer effect of CoAg and CoAg@Cis nanohybrids were estimated using MTT assay on MCF7 and HCT cell lines. Our results showed that Co@Ag core shell is about 15 nm were formed with dark CoNPs core and AgNPs shell with less darkness than the core, moreover, CoAg@Cis has diameter about 25 nm which are bigger in size than Co@Ag core shell demonstrating the loading of Cis. It was observed that Cis, CoAg and CoAg@Cis induced a decline in cell survival and peaked at around 65%, 73%and 66% on MCF7 and 80%, 76%and 78% on HCT at 100 µg/ml respectively. Compared to Cis alone, CoAg and CoAg@Cis caused a significant decrease in cell viability. These findings suggest that the synthesized CoAg can be used as a powerful anticancer drug carrier.

Anticancer effect and laser photostability of ternary graphene oxide/chitosan/silver nanocomposites on various cancer cell lines

Aims: The development of nanocomposites (NCs) of antitumor activity provides a new paradigm for fighting cancer. Here, a novel NC of green synthetic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), graphene oxide (GO) and chitosan (Cs) NPs was developed. Materials & methods: The prepared GO/Cs/Ag NCs were analyzed using various techniques. Cytotoxicity of the NCs was evaluated against different cancer cell lines by Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Results: GO/Cs/Ag NCs are novel and highly stable. UV-Vis showed two peaks at 227 and 469 nm, indicating the decoration of AgNPs on the surface of GO/Cs NPs. All tested cell lines were affected by GO/Cs NPs and GO/Cs/Ag NCs. Conclusion: The results indicate that GO/Cs/Ag NCs were present on tested cell lines and are a promising candidate for cancer therapy.

Targeted Doxorubicin-Loaded Dendronized Gold Nanoparticles

Dendronized nanoparticles, also called nanoparticle-cored dendrimers, combine the advantages of nanoparticles and dendrimers. These very stable and polyvalent nanoparticles can be used for diverse applications. One such application is drug delivery, because the dendrons can enhance the density of the payload. In this report, we describe the design of multifunctional gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated with poly(propylene imine) (PPI) dendrons that contain both prostate cancer active targeting and chemotherapeutic drugs. The PPI dendron is a good candidate for the design of drug delivery vehicles because of its ability to induce a proton sponge effect that will enhance lysosomal escape and intracellular therapeutic delivery. The chemotherapeutic drug used is doxorubicin (DOX), and it was linked to the dendron through a hydrazone acid-sensitive bond. Subsequent acidification of the AuNP system to a pH of 4-5 resulted in the release of 140 DOX drugs per nanoparticles. In addition, the PPI dendron was conjugated via "click" chemistry to an EphA2-targeting antibody fragment that has been shown to target prostate cancer cells. In vitro cell viability assays revealed an IC50 of 0.9 nM for the targeted DOX-bearing AuNPs after 48 h incubation with PC3 cells. These results are very promising upon optimization of the system.