Background and Purpose Metabolic reprogramming “Warburg effect” and immune checkpoint signaling are immunosuppressive hallmarks of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) contributing to the limited clinical applicability of immunotherapy. Biomaterials arise as novel tools for immunomodulation of the tumor microenvironment (TME) that can be used alongside conventional immunotherapeutics. Chitosan and lecithin are examples of versatile biomaterials with interesting immunomodulatory properties. In this study, we aimed at investigation of the role of carefully designed hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) on common mediators of both PD-L1 expression and glycolytic metabolism. Materials and Methods Hybrid lecithin-chitosan NPs were prepared and characterized. Their intracellular concentration, localization and effect on the viability of MDA-MB-231 cells were assessed. Glycolytic metabolism was quantified by measuring glucose consumption, ATP generation, lactate production and extracellular acidification. Nitric oxide (NO) production was quantified using Greiss reagent. Gene expression of iNOS, PI3K, Akt, mTOR, HIF-1α and PD-L1 was quantified by reverse transcription and q-RT-PCR. Results Chitosan, lecithin and the NPs-formulated forms have been shown to influence the “Warburg effect” and immune checkpoint signaling of TNBC cells differently. The composition of the hybrid systems dictated their subcellular localization and hence the positive or negative impact on the immunosuppressive characteristics of TNBC cells. Conclusions Carefully engineered hybrid lecithin-chitosan NPs could convert the immune-suppressive microenvironment of TNBC to an immune-active microenvironment via reduction of PD-L1 expression and reversal of the Warburg effect.

No abstract

In the present work, the effect of solvent on the extraction of the organic matter from Quseir's oil shales was studied. The experimental results revealed that the extraction yield obtained by the tetrahydrofuran was very high compared to other solvents. In addition, the solvent had a significant effect on the yield and the composition of the obtained oil. The analysis carried out on the extracted oil showed that the tetrahydrofuran was a very efficient solvent for oil shale extraction, giving a better quality of the oils extracted containing a large proportion of aromatics compounds and fewer amounts of sulphur and paraffin compounds.

No abstract

Cellulose and Nanocellulose acetate (NCA) have attractive novel properties like excellent mechanical properties, rich hydroxyl groups for modification, and natural properties with environmental friendliness. Cellulose was extracted from rice straw wastes as an extra value, then it had been further transformed into NCA using the acidic hydrolysis technique. The structural, crystalline, morphological, were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning microscopy, respectively. The particle size of the Nanocellulose extracted from rice straw was about 22 nm with a spherical shape. Development membranes were prepared with different concentrations of NCA to improve the performance and the anti-biofouling properties of cellulose acetate reverse osmosis (RO) membranes using a phase inversion technique. The structural of membranes were characterized by FTIR, water contact angle measurements, while the anti-biofouling properties were studied by static protein adsorption. The results indicated the development membrane features a lower contact angle accomplished with exhibits pore-forming ability and enhanced hydrophilicity of prepared membrane, furthermore the development cellulose acetate reverse osmosis (CA-RO) membranes with 40:60% RNCA:CA produced a salt rejection of 97.4% and a water flux of 2.2 L/m2 h. the development membrane have resists effectively protein adsorption and microbial growth showed from the results of Static protein adsorption.