Sericin is a unique proteinaceous biopolymer obtained from cocoons of Bombyx Mori. It has become very popular since it is bestowed with numerous health benefits. Sericin is composed of 18 types of ...amino acids, out of which 8 amino acids play a significant role in human metabolic pathways. Sericin is easily amenable to make into novel dosage forms and also has been conferred with numerous therapeutic activities such as wound healing, antihypertensive, neuro-protective, antitumor, anti-diabetic, anti-wrinkle, anti-ageing and antioxidant amongst various others. This review summarizes the current status of sericin, as a therapeutic moiety with a focus on active constituents as well as their proposed mechanism in the treatment of various chronic diseases. It also summarizes previous and current in-vitro, in-vivo, cell lines studies and clinical trials based pieces of evidence corroborating the therapeutic activities of sericin.
Lung carcinoma is the most common cancer in men and second in women (preceded by breast cancer) worldwide. Around 1 in 10 of all cancers diagnosed in men, lung cancer contributed to a total fraction ...of 20% cancer deaths. Naringenin (NAR) is well known for its chemopreventive properties since ancient times but lacks an appropriate delivery carrier. The objective of present study was to expand the functionality of naringenin loaded poly caprolactone (PCL) nanoparticles in terms of release, chemoprevention and therapeutics. Polymeric nanoparticles such as PCL lack target specificity; hence, surface modification was attempted using layer by layer technique (LBL) to achieve improved and desired delivery as well as target specificity. The designing of Hyaluronic acid (HA) decorated PCL nanoparticles were prepared by utilizing self-assembling LBL technique, where a polycationic layer of a polymer was used as a linker for modification between two polyanionic layers. Additionally, an attempt has been made to strengthen the therapeutic efficacy of PCL nanocarriers by active targeting and overcoming the extracellular matrix associated barriers of tumors using HA targeting cluster determinant 44 receptor (CD44). Cell cytotoxicity study on A549 cells and J774 macrophage cells depicted enhanced anticancer effect of NAR-HA@CH-PCL-NP with safe profile on macrophages. Uptake study on A549 cells advocated enhanced drug uptake by cancer cells. Cell cycle arrest analysis (A549 cell lines) demonstrated the superior cytotoxic effect and active targeting of NAR-HA@CH-PCL-NP. Further chemopreventive treatment with NAR-HA@CH-PCL-NP was found effective in tumor growth inhibitory effect against urethane-induced lung cancer in rat. In conclusion, developed formulation possesses a promising potential as a therapeutic and chemopreventive agent against urethane-induced lung carcinoma in albino wistar rats.
Zinc: The Metal of Life Kaur, Kuljeet; Gupta, Rajiv; Saraf, Shubhini A. ...
Comprehensive reviews in food science and food safety,
July 2014, Letnik:
13, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The importance of zinc was 1st reported for Aspergillus niger. It took over 75 y to realize that zinc is also an essential trace element for rats, and an additional 30 y went by before it was ...recognized that this was also true for humans. The adult body contains about 2 to 3 g of zinc. Zinc is found in organs, tissues, bones, fluids, and cells. It is essential for many physiological functions and plays a significant role in a number of enzyme actions in the living systems. Bioinformatics estimates report that 10% of the human proteome contains zinc‐binding sites. Based on its role in such a plethora of cellular components, zinc has diverse biological functions from enzymatic catalysis to playing a crucial role in cellular neuronal systems. Thus, based on the various published studies and reports, it is pertinent to state that zinc is one of the most important essential trace metals in human nutrition and lifestyle. Its deficiency may severely affect the homeostasis of a biological system. This review compiles the role of zinc in prophylaxis/therapeutics and provides current information about its effect on living beings.
Increasing energy demand, limited fossil fuel resources and climate change have prompted development of alternative sustainable and economical fuel resources such as crop-based bio-ethanol and ...bio-diesel. However, there is concern over use of arable land that is used for food agriculture for creation of biofuel. Thus, there is a renewed interest in the use of microbes particularly microalgae for bio-fuel production. Microbes such as micro-algae and cyanobacteria that are used for biofuel production also produce other bioactive compounds under stressed conditions. Microbial agents used for biofuel production also produce bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antiviral, anticoagulant, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity. Because of importance of such high-value compounds in aquaculture and bioremediation, and the potential to reduce carbon emissions and energy security, the biofuels produced by microbial biotechnology might substitute the crop-based bio-ethanol and bio-diesel production.
Discovery of fullerenes and other nanosized carbon allotropes has opened a vast new field of possibilities in nanotechnology and has become one of the most promising research areas. Carbon ...nanomaterials have drawn interest as carriers of biologically pertinent molecules due to their distinctive physical, chemical and physiological properties. We have assigned the nomenclature "Carbon Nanotropes" to the nanosized carbon allotropes. Carbon nanotropes such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphenes, have exhibited wide applicability in drug delivery, owing to their small size and biological activity. The nanotherapeutics/diagnostics will allow a deeper understanding of human ills including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, genetic disorders and various other complications. Recently, nanomaterials with multiple functions, such as drug carrier, MRI, optical imaging, photothermal therapy, etc., have become more and more popular in the domain of cancer and other areas of research. This review is an endeavor to bring together the usefulness of the carbon nanomaterials in the field of drug delivery. The last section of the review encompasses the recent patents granted on carbon nanotropes at United State Patent Trademark Office (USPTO) in the related field.
Past scientific testimonials in the field of glioma research, the deadliest tumor among all brain cancer types with the life span of 10-15 months after diagnosis is considered as glioblastoma ...multiforme (GBM). Even though the availability of treatment options such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, are unable to completely cure GBM due to tumor microenvironment complexity, intrinsic cellular signalling, and genetic mutations which are involved in chemoresistance. The blood-brain barrier is accountable for restricting drugs entry at the tumor location and related biological challenges like endocytic degradation, short systemic circulation, and insufficient cellular penetration lead to tumor aggression and progression. The above stated challenges can be better mitigated by small interfering RNAs (siRNA) by knockdown genes responsible for tumor progression and resistance. However, siRNA encounters with challenges like inefficient cellular transfection, short circulation time, endogenous degradation, and off-target effects. The novel functionalized nanocarrier approach in conjunction with biological and chemical modification offers an intriguing potential to address challenges associated with the naked siRNA and efficiently silence STAT3, coffilin-1, EGFR, VEGF, SMO, MGMT, HAO-1, GPX-4, TfR, LDLR and galectin-1 genes in GBM tumor. This review highlights the nanoengineered siRNA carriers, their recent advancements, future perspectives, and strategies to overcome the systemic siRNA delivery challenges for glioma treatment.
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•WHO deliberates GBM as end stage deadliest highly aggressive brain cancer with approx. 10-15 months life span.•siRNAs gene silencing approach is promising approach for glioblastoma therapy.•siRNA can down-regulate the expression of VEGF, EGFR, STAT3, cofilin-1, galectin-1, and ETDL1 genes in GBM tumors.•siRNA impairs the GBM cells proliferation and migration, and promotes sensitivity to chemotherapy.•Targeted stimuli-responsive nanocarriers protect siRNAs from degradation hence providing high transfection efficiency.
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•Locust bean gum (LBG) hydrogel polymer was synthesized using acrylamide and acrylic acid.•For grafting to be as effective as possible, reaction tuning is necessary.•The redox couples ...affect the polysaccharide grafting pathway differently.•Using a MW, LBG was grafted without an initiator.•The characteristics of virgin LBG were customized through chemical grafting.•Using XRD, TGA, FTIR, NMR, and SEM methods, grafting was verified.•Graft copolymers make effective drug delivery matrices.
Wounds pose a formidable challenge in healthcare, necessitating the exploration of innovative tissue-healing solutions. Traditional wound dressings exhibit drawbacks, causing tissue damage and impeding natural healing. Using a Microwave (MW)-)-assisted technique, we envisaged a novel hydrogel (Hg) scaffold to address these challenges. This hydrogel scaffold was created by synthesizing a pH-responsive crosslinked material, specifically locust bean gum-grafted-poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) LBG-g-poly(AAm-co-AAc), to enable sustained release of c-phycocyanin (C-Pc). Synthesized LBG-g-poly(AAm-co-AAc) was fine-tuned by adjusting various synthetic parameters, including the concentration of monomers, duration of reaction, and MW irradiation intensity, to maximize the yield of crosslinked LBG grafted product and enhance encapsulation efficiency of C-Pc. Following its synthesis, LBG-g-poly(AAm-co-AAc) was thoroughly characterized using advanced techniques, like XRD, TGA, FTIR, NMR, and SEM, to analyze its structural and chemical properties. Moreover, the study examined the in-vitro C-Pc release profile from LBG-g-poly(AAm-co-AAc) based hydrogel (HgCPcLBG). Findings revealed that the maximum release of C-Pc (64.12 ± 2.69 %) was achieved at pH 7.4 over 48 h. Additionally, HgCPcLBG exhibited enhanced antioxidant performance and compatibility with blood. In vivo studies confirmed accelerated wound closure, and ELISA findings revealed reduced inflammatory markers (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α) within treated skin tissue, suggesting a positive impact on injury repair. A low-cost and eco-friendly approach for creating LBG-g-poly(AAm-co-AAc) and HgCPcLBG has been developed. This method achieved sustained release of C-Pc, which could be a significant step forward in wound care technology.
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Targeted therapies enhance the efficacy of tumour screening and management while lowering side effects. Multiple tumours, including liver cancer, exhibit elevated levels of folate ...receptor expression. This research attempted to develop surface-functionalised bosutinib cubosomes against hepatocellular carcinoma. The novelty of this work is the anti-hepatic action of bosutinib (BST) and folic acid-modified bosutinib cubosomes (BSTMF) established through proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase (SrC)/ focal adhesion kinase(FAK), reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and cell cytotoxicity. Later, the in-vivo pharmacokinetics of BSTMF were determined for the first time. The strong affinity of folic acid (FA) for folate receptors allows BSTMF to enter cells via FA receptor-mediated endocytosis. The particle size of the prepared BSTMF was 188.5 ± 2.25 nm, and its zeta potential was −20.19 ± 2.01 mV, an encapsulation efficiency of 90.31 ± 3.15 %, and a drug release rate of 76.70 ± 2.10 % for 48 h. The surface architecture of BSTMF was identified using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cell-line studies demonstrated that BSTMF substantially lowered the viability of Hep G2 cells compared to BST and bosutinib-loaded cubosomes (BSTF). BSTMF demonstrated an elevated BST concentration in tumour tissue than in other organs and also displayed superior pharmacokinetics, implying that they hold potential against hepatic cancers. This is the first study to show that BSTMF may be effective against liver cancer by targeting folate receptors and triggering SrC/FAK-dependent apoptotic pathways. Multiple parameters demonstrated that BSTMF enhanced anticancer targeting, therapeutic efficacy, and safety in NDEA-induced hepatocellular carcinoma.
Microbial contamination in wounds leading to severe sepsis can be treated by silver-based antiseptics. However, frequent application of silver-based antiseptics, staining of skin, burning, and ...irritation at application site resulted to poor patient compliances. Thus, we formulated sericin- and chitosan-capped silver nanoparticle (S/C-SNP)-loaded hydrogel for accelerated wound healing and antimicrobial properties. The wound healing property of sericin, antibacterial nature of chitosan and silver, and mucoadhesive property of carbopol were utilized in development of novel wound dressing hydrogel to investigate the combined effect of these materials for effective treatment of wounds. The chemical reduction method was successfully employed for the synthesis of SNPs using sericin and chitosan as a capping/reducing agent. The SNPs were characterized by ultraviolet-spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optimized SNPs were further used for preparation of carbopol hydrogel (0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 %
w
/
v
). The prepared hydrogels were characterized for pH, viscosity, and texture analysis. The antimicrobial activity and wound healing activity of the optimized hydrogel (S/C-SNPs G-1) demonstrated higher bactericidal activity and wound closure, as supported by results of histopathology. Hydrogel containing capped SNPs has application in wound healing treatment.
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