Insights into glyphosate removal efficiency using a new 2D nanomaterial

Validation of an MD simulation approach for electrical field responsive micelles and their application in drug delivery

In the current work, a new type of micelle is designed that has active connectivity in respond to exterior stimulus and the desired water solubility. Two end-ornamented homopolymers, polystyrene-beta-cyclodextrin (PS-β-CD) and polyethylene oxide-ferrocene (PE-FE), can aggregate as a supramolecular micelle (PS-β-CD/PE-FE) by the guest-host interactions. Our results showed that the Lennard-Jones and hydrophobic interactions are the main powerful forces for the micelle formation process. It was found that the electrical field plays a role as a driving force in the reversible assembly-disassembly of the micellar system. Moreover, for the first time, we examined the PS-β-CD/PE-FE micelle interaction as a drug delivery system with anastrozole (ANS) and mitomycin C (MIC) anti-cancer drugs. The investigation of the total energy between PS-β-CD/PE-FE micelle and drugs predicts the drug adsorption process as favorable (E_total = - 638.67 and - 259.80 kJ/mol for the Micelle@ANS and Micelle@MIC complexes, respectively). Our results offer a deep understanding of the micelle formation process, the electrical field-respond, and drug adsorption behaviors of the micelle. This simulation study has been accomplished by employing classical molecular dynamics calculation.

Surface functionalization of graphene nanosheet with poly (L-histidine) and its application in drug delivery: covalent vs non-covalent approaches

Nowadays, nanomaterials are increasingly being used as drug carriers in the treatment of different types of cancers. As a result, these applications make them attractive to researchers dealing with diagnosis and biomarkers discovery of the disease. In this study, the adsorption behavior of gemcitabine (GMC) on graphene nanosheet (GNS), in the presence and absence of Poly (L-histidine) (PLH) polymer is discussed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The MD results revealed an increase in the efficiency and targeting of the drug when the polymer is covalently attached to the graphene substrate. In addition, the metadynamics simulation to investigate the effects of PLH on the adsorption capacity of the GNS, and explore the adsorption/desorption process of GMC on pristine and PLH- grafted GNS is performed. The metadynamics calculations showed that the amount of free energy of the drug in acidic conditions is higher (- 281.26 kJ/mol) than the free energy in neutral conditions (- 346.24 kJ/mol). Consequently, the PLH polymer may not only help drug adsorption but can also help in drug desorption in lower pH environments. Based on these findings, it can be said that covalent polymer bonding not only can help in the formation of a targeted drug delivery system but also can increase the adsorption capacity of the substrate.