Incorporation of montmorillonite into microfluidics-generated chitosan microfibers enhances neuron-like PC12 cells for application in neural tissue engineering.

The complexity in structure and function of the nervous system, as well as its slow rate of regeneration, makes it more difficult to treat it compared to other tissues. Neural tissue engineering aims to create an appropriate environment for nerve cell proliferation and differentiation. Fibrous scaffolds with suitable morphology and topography and better mimicry of the extracellular matrix have been promising for the alignment and migration of neural cells.

Exploring the Potential of Montmorillonite as an Antiproliferative Nanoagent against MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells.

Unlike MCF-7 cells, MDA-MB-231 cells are unresponsive to hormone therapy and often show resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Here, the antiproliferative effect of biocompatible montmorillonite (Mt) nanosheets on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells was evaluated by MTT assay, flow cytometry, and qRT-PCR. The results showed that the Mt IC for MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells in a fetal bovine serum (FBS)-free medium was ~50 and ~200 µg/mL, and in 10% FBS medium ~400 and ~2000 µg/mL, respectively.

A simple smartphone-assisted paper-based colorimetric biosensor for the detection of urea adulteration in milk based on an environment-friendly pH-sensitive nanocomposite.

Urea is a common milk adulterant that falsely increases its protein content. Excessive consumption of urea is harmful to the kidney, liver, and gastrointestinal system. The conventional methods for urea detection in milk are time-consuming, costly, and require highly skilled operators.

Fungal Infected Adipose Stem Cells: The Effects of Novel Lipo-Niosome Nanoparticles Loaded with Amphotericin B and Thymus Essential Oil.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to develop new Lipo-niosomes based nanoparticles loaded with Amphotericin B (AmB) and Thymus Essential Oil (TEO) and test their effectiveness in the treatment of fungal-infected human adipose stem cells (hASCs).

Materials And Methods: In this experimental study, optimal formulation of AmB and TEO loaded lipo-niosome (based on lipid-surfactant thin-film hydration method) was chemically, and biologically characterized. Therefore, encapsulation capacity, drug release, size, and the survival rate of cells with different concentrations of free and encapsulated AmB/ TEO were evaluated using the MTT method, and its antifungal activity was compared with conventional AmB.

Montmorillonite, a natural biocompatible nanosheet with intrinsic antitumor activity.

Montmorillonite (Mt) nanosheets are used in pharmaceutical products as both excipient and active ingredients. In addition, Mt can be used as a nanocarrier for oral delivery of drugs, including chemotherapy drugs, and as an embolic agent for tumor arterial embolization. It is noteworthy that, there is few conflicting evidence on the intrinsic antitumor activity of Mt.

Paper based colorimetric detection of miRNA-21 using Ag/Pt nanoclusters.

Abnormal expression of MicroRNA-21 (miRNA-21) is considered to be a reliable biomarker for the early diagnosis of cancer. In this work, a novel paper based biosensor was fabricated to detect sub-micro molar concentrations of miRNA-21 based on peroxidase mimetic activity of DNA-templated Ag/Pt nanoclusters (DNA-Ag/Pt NCs), which could catalyze the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and 3,3',5,5' tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), to produce a blue color. The Mechanism of reaction was based on the inhibition effect of miRNA-21 on peroxidase-like activity of nanosensor which resulted to quantitative determination of miRNA-21 concentration.

Stability and loading properties of curcumin encapsulated in Chlorella vulgaris.

Curcumin (Cur), a polyphenols with pharmacological function, was successfully encapsulated in algae (Alg) cell (Chlorella vulgaris) as confirmed by fluorescence microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Fluorescence micrographs, TGA, DSC and FTIR spectra suggested the hypothesis inclusion Cur in Nano-empty spaces inside cell wall of Alg. The TGA analysis showed that the thermal stability of Alg and Cur at algae/curcumin complex was 3.