Oral cancers affect millions of people globally, with increasing incidences among adults aged 35 and above. Poor drug uptake by lesions in the oral cavity following systemic administration, as well as limited localized treatment modalities for oral tumors, result in poor patient quality of life and high mortality. Here, we describe a solid, dissolvable, bioadhesive alginate patch containing freeze-dried doxorubicin-loaded liposomes as a local treatment for oral tumors located on the tongue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), associated with Covid-19 infections, is characterized by diffuse lung damage, inflammation and alveolar collapse that impairs gas exchange, leading to hypoxemia and patient' mortality rates above 40%. Here, we describe the development and assessment of 100-nm liposomes that are tailored for pulmonary delivery for treating ARDS, as a model for lung diseases. The liposomal lipid composition (primarily DPPC) was optimized to mimic the lung surfactant composition, and the drug loading process of both methylprednisolone (MPS), a steroid, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), a mucolytic agent, reached an encapsulation efficiency of 98% and 92%, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrapevine leafroll disease (GLD) is a globally spreading viral infection that causes major economic losses by reducing crop yield, plant longevity and berry quality, with no effective treatment. Grapevine leafroll associated virus-3 (GLRaV-3) is the most severe and prevalent GLD strain. Here, we evaluated the ability of RNA interference (RNAi), a non-GMO gene-silencing pathway, to treat GLRaV-3 in infected Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMucoadhesive hybrid polymer/liposome paste is a new drug delivery system presenting controllable and tailorable delivery mechanism. By using mucoadhesive material, the delivery can be more specific and local. Here, we present a study investigating the effect of polymer type, concentration, functional end group, and cross-linking on the release profile of nanoliposomes from polymer pastes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral cancers are extremely common among adults with increasing incidences due to human papillomavirus, while treatment modalities are limited. This study aims to develop a new oral mucoadhesive delivery system based on the combination of alginate and liposomes. The polymer provides adhesion properties and induces local release of the drug-loaded carriers, while the liposomes protect the drug from degradation and improve its absorption into the cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitrobenzene dioxygenase (NBDO) is known to add both atoms of molecular oxygen to the aromatic ring of nitrobenzene to form catechol. It is assembled by four subunits of which the alpha subunit is responsible for catalysis. As an oxidizing enzyme, it has a potential use in the detoxification of industrial waste and the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and food ingredients; however, not much work has been done studying its structure-function correlations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitrobenzene dioxygenase (NBDO) from Comamonas sp. is shown here to perform enantioselective oxidation of aromatic sulfides. Several para-substituted alkyl aryl sulfides were examined and it was found that the activity of the enzyme is dependent on the size of the substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnantiopure sulfoxides are prevalent in drugs and are useful chiral auxiliaries in organic synthesis. The biocatalytic enantioselective oxidation of prochiral sulfides is a direct and economical approach for the synthesis of optically pure sulfoxides. The selection of suitable biocatalysts requires rapid and reliable high-throughput screening methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Environ Microbiol
March 2008
Enantiopure sulfoxides are valuable asymmetric starting materials and are important chiral auxiliaries in organic synthesis. Toluene monooxygenases (TMOs) have been shown previously to catalyze regioselective hydroxylation of substituted benzenes and phenols. Here we show that TMOs are also capable of performing enantioselective oxidation reactions of aromatic sulfides.
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