Silvia Chowdhury

An overview of antifungal peptides derived from insect

Fungi are not classified as plants or animals. They resemble plants in many ways but do not produce chlorophyll or make their own food photosynthetically like plants. Fungi are useful for the production of beer, bread, medicine, etc. More complex than viruses or bacteria; fungi can be destructive human pathogens responsible for various diseases in humans. Most people have a strong natural immunity against fungal infection. However, fungi can cause diseases when this immunity breaks down. In the last few years, fungal infection has increased strikingly and has been accompanied by a rise in the number of deaths of cancer patients, transplant recipients, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients owing to fungal infections. The growth rate of fungi is very slow and quite difficult to identify. A series of molecules with antifungal activity against different strains of fungi have been found in insects, which can be of great importance to tackle human diseases. Insects secrete such compounds, which can be peptides, as a part of their immune defense reactions. Active antifungal peptides developed by insects to rapidly eliminate infectious pathogens are considered a component of the defense munitions. This review focuses on naturally occurring antifungal peptides from insects and their challenges to be used as armaments against human diseases.

An overview of drug delivery vehicles for cancer treatment: Nanocarriers and nanoparticles including photovoltaic nanoparticles

Cancer is a complicated disease for which finding a cure presents challenges. In recent decades, new ways to treat cancer are being sought; one being nanomedicine, which manipulates nanoparticles to target a cancer and release drugs directly to the cancer cells. A number of cancer treatments based on nanomedicine are under way and mostly are in preclinical trials owing to challenges in administration, safety, and effectiveness. One alternative method for drug delivery is the use of photovoltaic nanoparticles, which has the potential to deliver drugs via light activation. The concepts are based on standard photovoltaic cell that holds opposite charges on its surfaces and releases drugs when charge intensity or polarity changes upon photo-stimulation such as from a laser source or sunlight. This review will cover some recent progress in cancer treatment using nanoparticles, including photovoltaic nanoparticles.

The aggregation study and characterization of silver nanoparticles

In this article, we have studied the process of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) aggregation and to stop aggregation 0.3% Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used. Aggregation study carried out via UV-vis spectroscopy and it is reported that the absorption spectrum of spherical silver nanoparticles were found a maximum peak at 420 nm wavelength. Furthermore, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to characterized the size and shape of AgNPs, where the average particle size is around 10 to 25 nm in diameter and the AgNPs shape is spherical. Next, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) were used, owing to observed size distribution and self-correlation of AgNPs.

A novel approach of core-shell Ag@Pt nanoparticles production

Pt-based nanoparticles (NPs) have numerous applications, such as, as catalyst, in car exhaust systems, gas sensors, biosensors and cancer therapy. One of the Pt based NPs which has been successfully produced is core-shell Ag@Pt NPs. Numerous methods for the synthesis of this material have been reported. This paper reports a fully new approach of chemical mediated synthesis for core-shell Ag@Pt NPs. Characterization process for the synthesized Ag@Pt NPs, carried out by the UV-vis Spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) showed that the core AgNPs have approximate sizes of 18 nm in diameter are shelled with Pt and the sizes of core-shell Ag@Pt NPs were estimated to be around 29 nm in diameter.