Anti-cancer Activity of Biogenic Nat-ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Nat) Flower Extract

Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have played an important role as nano-drug delivery systems during cancer therapy in recent years. These NPs can carry cancer therapeutic agents. Due to this, they are considered a promising ancillary to traditional cancer therapies. Among inorganic NPs, Zinc Oxide (ZnO) NPs have been extensively utilized in cellular imaging, gene/drug delivery, anti-microbial, and anti-cancerous applications. In this study, a rapid and cost-effective method was used to synthesize Nat-ZnO NPs using the floral extract of the Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (Nat) plant. Nat-ZnO NPs were physicochemically characterized and tested further on in vitro cancer models. The average hydrodynamic diameter (Zaverage) and the net surface charge of Nat-ZnO NPs were 372.5 ± 70.38 d.nm and -7.03 ± 0.55 mV, respectively. Nat-ZnO NPs exhibited a crystalline nature. HR-TEM analysis showed the triangular shape of NPs. Furthermore, Nat-ZnO NPs were also found to be biocompatible and hemocompatible when tested on mouse fibroblast cells and RBCs. Later, the anti-cancer activity of Nat-ZnO NPs was tested on lung and cervical cancer cells. These NPs displayed potent anti-cancer activity and induced programmed cell death in cancer cells.

Antibacterial and Photocatalytic Coatings Based on Cu-Doped ZnO Nanoparticles into Microcellulose Matrix

The paper presents a successful, simple method for the preparation and deposition of new hybrid Cu-doped ZnO/microcellulose coatings on textile fibers, directly from cellulose aqueous solution. The morphological, compositional, and structural properties of the obtained materials were investigated using different characterization methods, such as SEM-EDX, XRD, Raman and FTIR, as well as BET surface area measurements. The successful doping of ZnO NPs with Cu was confirmed by the EDX and Raman analysis. As a result of Cu doping, the hybrid NPs experienced a phase change from ZnO to (Zn_0.9Cu_0.1)O, as shown by the XRD results. All the hybrid NPs exhibited a high degree of crystallinity, as revealed by the very sharp reflections in XRD patterns and suggested also by the Raman results. The evaluation of the very low copper-doping (0.1-1 at.%) effect has shown different behavior trends of the hybrid coatings compared with the starting oxide NPs, for MB and MO photodegradation. Continuous increases up to 92% and 60% for MB and MO degradation, respectively, were obtained at maximum 1 at.%-Cu doping coatings. Strong antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli were observed.

Silver Ion Loaded Agarose-Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel as a Potential Antibacterial Wound Dressing

Wound infection, especially chronic ones, not only increases the opportunity to generate superbacteria but also imposes significant burden, both physically and mentally, on the patients. Therefore, the development of suitable wound addressing is an important way to deal with this matter. Here in this study, we employed the good gelling property of agarose (AR) and the wound healing promotion effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) to prepare an agarose-hyaluronic acid hydrogel. The AR-HA gel was loaded with silver ion (Ag+ from AgNO3) upon gelling (AR-HA/Ag) and finally applied as a potential wound dressing for antibacterial treatment and healing promotion of wounds. Our results suggested that the AR-HA/Ag hydrogel maintained the antibacterial efficacy of Ag+ while significantly promoted the healing of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) due to the cell proliferation promotion effect of HA. Taken together, AR-HA/Ag might be a potential antibacterial wound dressing for future application in clinic.

Ten-Gram-Scale Mechanochemical Synthesis of Ternary Lanthanum Coordination Polymers for Antibacterial and Antitumor Activities

As rare-earth coordination polymers (CPs) have appreciable antimicrobial properties, ternary lanthanum CPs have been widely synthesized and investigated in recent years. Here, we report convenient, solvent-free reactions between the lanthanum salt and two ligands at mild temperatures that form ternary lanthanum nanoscale CPs with 10-gram-scale. The structural features and morphologies were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), elemental analysis, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and analyzer, and thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyzer (TG-DTA). Furthermore, the in vitro antibacterial activities of these ternary hybrids were studied using the zone of inhibition (ZOI) method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) and were found to have excellent antibacterial properties. The in vitro antitumor activities were performed in determining the absorbance values by CCK-8 (Cell Counting Kit-8) assay. This facile synthetic method would potentially enable the mass production of ternary lanthanum CPs at room temperature, which can be promising candidates as antibacterial compounds and antitumor agents.

Dose Rate Effects on the Selective Radiosensitization of Prostate Cells by GRPR-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles

For a while, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been recognized as potential radiosensitizers in cancer radiation therapy, mainly due to their physical properties, making them appealing for medical applications. Nevertheless, the performance of AuNPs as radiosensitizers still raises important questions that need further investigation. Searching for selective prostate (PCa) radiosensitizing agents, we studied the radiosensitization capability of the target-specific AuNP-BBN in cancer versus non-cancerous prostate cells, including the evaluation of dose rate effects in comparison with non-targeted counterparts (AuNP-TDOTA). PCa cells were found to exhibit increased AuNP uptake when compared to non-tumoral ones, leading to a significant loss of cellular proliferation ability and complex DNA damage, evidenced by the occurrence of multiple micronucleus per binucleated cell, in the case of PC3 cells irradiated with 2 Gy of γ-rays, after incubation with AuNP-BBN. Remarkably, the treatment of the PC3 cells with AuNP-BBN led to a much stronger influence of the dose rate on the cellular survival upon γ-photon irradiation, as well as on their genomic instability. Overall, AuNP-BBN emerged in this study as a very promising nanotool for the efficient and selective radiosensitization of human prostate cancer PC3 cells, therefore deserving further preclinical evaluation in adequate animal models for prostate cancer radiotherapy.

NRF2 deficiency sensitizes human keratinocytes to zinc oxide nanoparticles-induced autophagy and cytotoxicity

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are one of the most commonly used metal oxide particles in many industrial fields. Many studies have shown that ZnO NPs induce harmful effects to human skin, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Our results showed that ZnO NPs concentration-dependently induced cytotoxicity, ROS accumulation, and mitochondrial dysfunction in HaCaT cells. The expressions of adaptive antioxidant response transcriptional factor NRF2 and autophagy-related proteins P62 and LC3 II/I were increased by ZnO NPs. Knock-down of NRF2 (NRF2-KD) sensitized the cells to ZnO NPs-induced autophagy and cytotoxicity while an autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine, protected the cells from ZnO NPs-induced cell death. These results demonstrated that NRF2 deficiency sensitizes human keratinocytes to ZnO NPs induced autophagy and cytotoxicity, and proposed a key role of NRF2 in protecting skin cells against ZnO NPs through regulation of antioxidants and autophagy.

AA. Preferential killing of bacterial cells by surface-modified organosilane-treated ZnO quantum dots synthesized through a co-precipitation method

The aim of this study was to screen and determine the significant antibacterial/antiviral activities of surface-modified ZnO@MPS QDs owing to their impressive activities against microorganisms.