Antifungal Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles Synthesized from Extract for Construction Applications.

Fungal growth on construction materials in tropical climates can degrade aesthetics and manifestations on modern and historical sick buildings, affecting the health of their inhabitants. This study synthesized ZnO nanoparticles with enhanced antifungal properties using a precipitation method. Different concentrations (25%, 50%, and 100%) of aqueous extract were used with Zn(NO)·6HO as the precursor to evaluate their spectroscopic, morphological, textural, and antifungal properties.

Albendazole Release from Silica-Chitosan Nanospheres. In Vitro Study on Cervix Cancer Cell Lines.

In this work, a pH-responsive drug-carrier based on chitosan-silica nanospheres was developed as a carrier for Albendazole (ABZ), a poorly water-soluble anthelmintic drug. Spherical silica nanoparticles were obtained by Stöber method and further etched to obtain mesoporous particles with sizes ranging from 350 to 400 nm. The specific BET area of nanoparticles increased from 15 m/g to 150 m/g for etched silica, which also exhibited a uniform pore size distribution.

Zero valent iron core-iron oxide shell nanoparticles as small magnetic particle imaging tracers.

Nanoparticle tracers with small sizes and large magnetization are critical for biomedical imaging and especially for magnetic particle imaging (MPI). Small size is important for accessing future intracellular and neurological in vivo applications Here, we show <15 nm nanoparticles made of zero valent iron cores, iron oxide shells and coated with a strongly binding brush co-polymer are effective MPI tracers. The small nanoparticle cores create a hydrodynamic diameter that is half of the state-of-the-art iron oxide tracers while the strongly magnetic zero valent iron maintains similar MPI signal magnitude and resolution.

Autophagic and Apoptotic Pathways as Targets for Chemotherapy in Glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma multiforme is the most malignant and aggressive type of brain tumor, with a mean life expectancy of less than 15 months. This is due in part to the high resistance to apoptosis and moderate resistant to autophagic cell death in glioblastoma cells, and to the poor therapeutic response to conventional therapies. Autophagic cell death represents an alternative mechanism to overcome the resistance of glioblastoma to pro-apoptosis-related therapies.

In vitro evaluation of apoptotic effect of bis(acetylacetonato-k O,O')(1,10-phenanthroline-k N,N')Zn(II) complex.

Phenanthroline derivatives have been reported as potential bioactive compounds because of their ability to interact with DNA. To evaluate the antiproliferative effect of bis(acetylacetonate-k O,O)(1,10-phenanthroline-k N,N)Zn(II) or Zn(acac) (phen) complex, the compound was obtained in a simple manner and further characterized to determine crystal structure, thermal behavior, morphology, and spectroscopic properties. The structure of the complex was confirmed by X-ray single structure as well as by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in dmso-d6 (dimethyl sulfoxide) solution and in the solid state by 13C CP/MAS.

Nanostructured Pt(NH(3))(4)Cl(2)/SiO(2) for nanomedicine: catalytic degradation of DNA in cancer cells.

In vivo suppression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in Wistar rats using silica-shelled biocatalytic Pt(NH(3))(4)Cl(2) nanoparticles is reported. These nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel technique and characterized by SEM and HRTEM imaging. We confirmed morphological uniformity (30 nm) and surface acidity of the nanoparticles, respectively, by TEM imaging and FTIR spectral analysis.