Alzheimer's disease is a growing concern in the modern world. As the currently available medications are not very promising, there is an increased need for the fabrication of newer drugs. Curcumin is a plant derived compound which has potential activities beneficial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Anti-amyloid activity and anti-oxidant activity of curcumin is highly beneficial for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The insolubility of curcumin in water restricts its use to a great extend, which can be overcome by the synthesis of curcumin nanoparticles. In our work, we have successfully synthesized water-soluble PLGA coated- curcumin nanoparticles and characterized it using different techniques. As drug targeting to diseases of cerebral origin are difficult due to the stringency of blood-brain barrier, we have coupled the nanoparticle with Tet-1 peptide, which has the affinity to neurons and possess retrograde transportation properties. Our results suggest that curcumin encapsulated-PLGA nanoparticles are able to destroy amyloid aggregates, exhibit anti-oxidative property and are non-cytotoxic. The encapsulation of the curcumin in PLGA does not destroy its inherent properties and so, the PLGA-curcumin nanoparticles can be used as a drug with multiple functions in treating Alzheimer's disease proving it to be a potential therapeutic tool against this dreaded disease.
Fluorinated graphene oxide (FGO) is reported for the first time as a magnetically responsive drug carrier that can serve as a MRI and photoacoustic contrast agent, under pre-clinical settings, as well as a photothermal therapy Its hydrophilic nature facilitates biocompatibility. FGO as a broad wavelength absorber, with high charge transfer and strong nonlinear scattering is optimal for NIR laser-induced hyperthermia.
Magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were facilely prepared by the electrostatic self-assembly approach. Poly(2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDEAEMA) was covalently grafted onto the surfaces of MWNTs by MWNT-initiated in situ atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of 2-diethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA). The PDEAEMA-grafted MWNTs were quaternized with methyl iodide (CH(3)I), resulting in cationic polyelectrolyte-grafted MWNTs (MWNT-PAmI). Magnetic iron oxide (Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles were loaded onto the MWNT surfaces by electrostatic self-assembling between MWNT-PAmI and Fe(3)O(4), affording magnetic nanotubes. The assembled capability of the nanoparticles can be adjusted to some extent by changing the feed ratio of Fe(3)O(4) to MWNT-PAmI. The obtained magnetic nanotubes were characterized with TEM, EDS, STEM, and element mapping analyses. TEM and EDS measurements confirmed the nanostructures and the components of the resulting nanoobjects. The magnetic nanotubes were assembled onto sheep red blood cells in a phosphate buffer solution, forming magnetic cells. The blood cells attached with or without magnetic nanotubes can be selectively manipulated in a magnetic field. These results promise a general and efficient strategy to magnetic nanotubes and the fascinating potential of such magnetic nanoobjects in applications of bionanoscience and technology.
Liposomes and polymers are widely used drug carriers for controlled release since they offer many advantages like increased treatment effectiveness, reduced toxicity and are of biodegradable nature. In this work, anticancer drug-loaded PLGA-lecithin-PEG nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and were functionalized with AS1411 anti-nucleolin aptamers for site-specific targeting against tumor cells which over expresses nucleolin receptors. The particles were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The drug-loading efficiency, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release studies were conducted using UV spectroscopy. Cytotoxicity studies were carried out in two different cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and GI-1 cells and two different normal cells, L929 cells and HMEC cells. Confocal microscopy and flowcytometry confirmed the cellular uptake of particles and targeted drug delivery. The morphology analysis of the NPs proved that the particles were smooth and spherical in shape with a size ranging from 60 to 110 nm. Drug-loading studies indicated that under the same drug loading, the aptamer-targeted NPs show enhanced cancer killing effect compared to the corresponding non-targeted NPs. In addition, the PLGA-lecithin-PEG NPs exhibited high encapsulation efficiency and superior sustained drug release than the drug loaded in plain PLGA NPs. The results confirmed that AS1411 aptamer-PLGA-lecithin-PEG NPs are potential carrier candidates for differential targeted drug delivery.
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