An Electrochemical Dopamine Assay with Cobalt Oxide Palatinose Carbon Dots.

Elevated dopamine (DA) levels in urine denote neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer. Saccharide-derived carbon dots (CDs) were applied to assay DA detection in simulated urine (SU) while delineating the effects of graphene defect density on electrocatalytic activity. CDs were hydrothermally synthesized to vary graphene defect densities using sucrose, raffinose, and palatinose, depositing them onto glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs).

Hydrothermal vs microwave nanoarchitechtonics of carbon dots significantly affects the structure, physicochemical properties, and anti-cancer activity against a specific neuroblastoma cell line.

Carbon dots (CDs) from glucose were synthesized using two of the most common bottom-up methods, namely, microwave assisted (MW) and hydrothermal carbonization (HT). Synthetic parameters such as reaction time, temperature, and precursor concentration were changed to study the effects of each parameter on CD size, structure, surface functionalities, charge, photoluminescence behavior, quantum yield, cytotoxicity, blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing ability and bioimaging. A detailed analysis is performed to compare the structure and properties of the CDs synthesized in ten different conditions.

pH and redox triggered doxorubicin release from covalently linked carbon dots conjugates.

Tumor microenvironment responsive drug delivery systems are potential approaches to reduce the acute toxicity caused by high-dose cancer chemotherapy. Notwithstanding the conventional nano-drug delivery systems, the redox and pH stimuli drug delivery systems are currently gaining attention. Therefore, the current study was designed to compare three different covalent carbon dots (C-dots) systems based on doxorubicin (dox) release profiles and cancer cell viability efficacy under acidic and physiological conditions.

Direct conjugation of distinct carbon dots as Lego-like building blocks for the assembly of versatile drug nanocarriers.

As a promising drug nanocarrier, carbon dots (CDs) have exhibited many excellent properties. However, some properties such as bone targeting and crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) only apply to a certain CD preparation with limited drug loading capacity. Therefore, it is significant to conjugate distinct CDs to centralize many unique properties on the novel drug nanocarrier.

Recent Advances on Utilization of Bioprinting for Tumor Modeling.

Despite the recent rigorous studies towards a possible cure, cancer still remains as one of the most daunting problems faced by the humanity. Currently utilized two-dimensional cancer models are known to have various insuperable limitations such as insufficient biomimicry of the heterogeneous conditions of tumors and their three-dimensional structures. Discrepancies between the laboratory models and the actual tumor environment significantly impair a thorough comprehension of the carcinogenesis process and development of successful remedies against cancer.

Nanoparticle-mediated approaches for Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapeutics.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible and progressive neurodegenerative disorder manifested by memory loss and cognitive impairment. Deposition of the amyloid β plaques has been identified as the most common AD pathology; however, the excessive accumulation of phosphorylated or total tau proteins, reactive oxygen species, and higher acetylcholinesterase activity are also strongly associated with Alzheimer's dementia. Several therapeutic approaches targeting these pathogenic mechanisms have failed in clinical or preclinical trials, partly due to the limited bioavailability, poor cell, and blood-brain barrier penetration, and low drug half-life of current regimens.

The identification of inhibitory compounds of Rickettsia prowazekii methionine aminopeptidase for antibacterial applications.

Methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP) is a dinuclear metalloprotease responsible for the cleavage of methionine initiator residues from nascent proteins. MetAP activity is necessary for bacterial proliferation and is therefore a projected novel antibacterial target. A compound library consisting of 294 members containing metal-binding functional groups was screened against Rickettsia prowazekii MetAP to determine potential inhibitory motifs.

Surface Chemistry and Spectroscopic Study of a Cholera Toxin B Langmuir Monolayer.

In this article, we explored the surface chemistry properties of a cholera toxin B (CTB) monolayer at the air-subphase interface and investigated the change in interfacial properties through in situ spectroscopy. The study showed that the impact of the blue shift was negligible, suggesting that the CTB molecules were minimally affected by the subphase molecules. The stability of the CTB monolayer was studied by maintaining the constant surface pressure for a long time and also by using the compression-decompression cycle experiments.

Crossing the blood-brain barrier with nanoparticles.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is one of the most essential protection mechanisms in the central nervous system (CNS). It selectively allows individual molecules such as small lipid-soluble molecules to pass through the capillary endothelial membrane while limiting the passage of pathogens or toxins. However, this protection mechanism is also a major obstacle during disease state since it dramatically hinders the drug delivery.