Karuppaiya Vimala

Synergistic effect of chemo-photothermal for breast cancer therapy using folic acid (FA) modified zinc oxide nanosheet.

Modern therapies for malignant breast cancer in clinics are not efficacious and often result in deprived patient compliance owing to squat therapeutic effectiveness and strong systemic side effects. In order to overcome this, we combined chemo-photothermal targeted therapy of breast cancer within one novel multifunctional drug delivery system. Folic Acid-functionalized polyethylene glycol coated Zinc Oxide nanosheet (FA-PEG-ZnO NS), was successfully synthesized, characterized and introduced to the drug delivery field for the first time. A doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded FA-PEG-ZnO NS based system (DOX-FA-PEG-ZnO NS) showed stimulative effect of heat, pH responsive and sustained drug release properties. Cytotoxicity experiments confirmed that combined therapy mediated the maximum rate of death in breast cancer cells compared to that of single chemotherapy or photothermal therapy. In vivo toxicity evaluation showed that the DOX-FA-PEG-ZnO NS contains minimum systemic toxicity in the mice model system. The findings of the present study provided an ideal drug delivery system for breast cancer therapy due to the advanced chemo-photothermal synergistic targeted therapy and good drug release properties of DOX-FA-PEG-ZnO NS, which could effectively avoid frequent and invasive dosing and improve patient compliance. Thus, functionalized-ZnO NS could be used as a novel nanomaterial for selective chemo-photothermal therapy.

PEG functionalized selenium nanoparticles as a carrier of crocin to achieve anticancer synergism

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have garnered a great deal of attention as potential cancer therapeutic payloads. However, the in vivo targeting drug delivery has been challenging. Herein, we describe the synthesis of PEG functionalized SeNPs (PEG-SeNPs) and its use as a cancer-targeted delivery vehicle to achieve enhanced anticancer efficacy. Crocin, a major active product of saffron (dried stigmas of Crocus sativus), having many therapeutic properties was conjugated to PEG-SeNPs. PEG-SeNPs showed pH-mediated crocin release for potential cancer therapy. Crocin conjugated PEG-SeNPs exhibits unprecedented enhanced cytotoxicity toward lung cancer cells through induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, crocin conjugated PEG-SeNPs significantly inhibited in vivo tumor growth in nude mice model. This cancer-targeted design of SeNPs opens a new path for synergistic treating of cancer with higher efficacy and decreased side effects.

Dietary supplementation of green synthesized manganese-oxide nanoparticles and its effect on growth performance, muscle composition and digestive enzyme activities of the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

The green synthesized Mn3O4 nanoparticles (manganese-oxide nanoparticles) using Ananas comosus (L.) peel extract was characterized by various techniques. HR-SEM photograph showed that manganese-oxide nanoparticles (Mn-oxide NPs) were spherical in shape, with an average size of 40-50 nm. The Zeta potential revealed the surface charge of Mn-oxide NPs to be negative. Further, the Mn-oxide NPs were dietary supplemented for freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. The experimental basal diets were supplemented with Mn-oxide NPs at the rates of 0 (control), 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12, 15 and 18 mg/kg dry feed weight. The as-supplemented Mn-oxide NPs were fed in M. rosenbergii for a period of 90 days. The experimental study demonstrated that prawns fed with diet supplemented with 3-18 mg Mn-oxide NPs/kg shows enhanced (P<0.05) growth performance, including final weight and weight gain (WG). Significant differences (P<0.05) in feed conversion ratio (FCR) were observed in prawn fed with different diets. Additionally, prawns fed with 3.0-18 mg/kg Mn-oxide NPs supplemented diets achieved significant (P<0.05) improvement in growth performance, digestive enzyme activities and muscle biochemical compositions, while, the prawns fed with 16 mg/kg of Mn-oxide NPs showed enhanced performance. Prawns fed on diet supplemented with 16 mg/kg Mn-oxide NPs showed significantly (P<0.05) higher total protein level. The antioxidants enzymatic activity (SOD and CAT) metabolic enzymes status in muscle and hepatopancreas showed no significant (P>0.05) alterations in prawns fed with 3.0-18 mg/kg of Mn-oxide NPs supplemented diets. Consequently, the present work proposed that 16 mg/kg of Mn-oxide NPs could be supplemented for flexible enhanced survival, growth and production of M. rosenbergii. Therefore, the data of the present study recommend the addition of 16 mg/kg of Mn-oxide NPs diet to developed prawn growth and antioxidant defense system.

Smart rose flower like bioceramic/metal oxide dual layer coating with enhanced anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-corrosive and biocompatible properties for improved orthopedic applications

Metallic implants suffer from numerous problems such as stress shielding, poor prolonged osseointegration and corrosion under in vivo environments. Such problems are often faced by bone cancer patients as they receive orthopedic implants after cancerous bone resection. Unfortunately, there are no orthopedic materials developed so far that simultaneously increase healthy bone growth as takes place in traditional orthopedic implant applications, while inhibiting cancerous bone growth. Based on these issues, the long-term objective of this study was to introduce a new implant material in an integrated way. Hence we have fabricated a selenium (Se), and manganese (Mn) substituted flower like hydroxyapatite (HAP) coating on zirconium oxide (ZrO2) coated AZ91 magnesium alloy. The flower like Se,Mn-HAP/ZrO2 dual layer coating on the AZ91 magnesium alloy was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Also, the mechanical properties of the dual layer coating were evaluated using adhesion and Vickers micro-hardness tests. The effect of the dual layer coating on the corrosion behavior of the AZ91 magnesium alloy was also investigated in simulated body fluid (SBF) using electrochemical studies. The cell–material interaction of the dual layer coating was observed in vitro with human osteosarcoma MG63 cells for cell proliferation at 1, 4 and 7 days of incubation and in vivo in Wistar rats for 14 and 28 days of implantation. From the results it was found that the dual layer coated AZ91 Mg alloy has an optimal structure and morphology, as indicated by SEM, showing a desired surface for the osteoblast adhesion, viability and proliferation. The new ceramic coating has induced an increased adhesion strength and microhardness, improved corrosion resistance, enhanced osteoblast proliferation and inhibited the growth of cancerous cells. Therefore, based on these results, we propose a new dual layer coated AZ91 Mg alloy which satisfies the requirements in bone cancer treatment and signifies progress in the field of implant materials.

Bioformulation of silver nanoparticles as berberine carrier cum anticancer agent against breast cancer

Development of a nano-drug cum nano-carrier in a single platform seems to be conquered by almost a missionary fanaticism towards unraveling more and more about the bioavailability and anticancer activity at the molecular level. The present work mainly focuses on the bioformulation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as a carrier for berberine (BBR) and tests whether biogenic AgNPs elicit anticancer activity against breast cancer. Biogenic AgNPs and BBR loaded AgNPs are identified and characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic analysis. BBR tethers AgNPs through electrostatic interaction. The current investigation proves that the BBR loaded AgNP complex exhibits a dose-dependent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines. Obviously, AO/EtBr and DAPI staining evidenced an induction of apoptosis. Meanwhile, western blot analysis suggested that BBR loaded AgNPs persuaded the activation of p53 and Bax by down regulating Bcl-2 expression. The in vivo study further encourages our in vitro data that showed a significant suppression of tumor growth and insignificant toxicity in vital organs. Hemolysis assay and histopathological studies confirmed the biocompatibility of the BBR loaded AgNPs. Altogether, our findings demonstrated that BBR could be easily loaded to biogenic AgNPs and can serve as a potential anticancer agent for breast cancer.