Gold nanoparticles decorated FOLFIRINOX loaded liposomes for synergistic therapy of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is predicted to be the second highest cause of cancer deaths by 2030, with a mortality rate of 98 % and a 5-year survival rate of only 4-8 %. FOLFIRINOX which consists of four main ingredients has shown superior efficacy in treating patients with pancreatic cancer compared to other agents and combinations. However, toxicities have prevented full-dose use of FOLFIRINOX.

Clinic-oriented injectable smart material for the treatment of diabetic wounds: Coordinating the release of GM-CSF and VEGF.

Chronic wounds are often caused by diabetes and present a challenging clinical problem due to vascular problems leading to ischemia. This inhibits proper wound healing by delaying inflammatory responses and angiogenesis. To address this problem, we have developed injectable particle-loaded hydrogels which sequentially release Granulocyte-macrophage- colony-stimulating-factor (GM-CSF) and Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) encapsulated in polycaprolactone-lecithin-geleol mono-diglyceride hybrid particles.

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive Tadpole-like Polymer/Lipid Janus Microrobots for Advanced Smart Material Applications.

Microrobots are of significant interest due to their smart transport capabilities, especially for precisely targeted delivery in dynamic environments (blood, cell membranes, tumor interstitial matrixes, blood-brain barrier, mucosa, and other body fluids). To perform a more complex micromanipulation in biological applications, it is highly desirable for microrobots to be stimulated with multiple stimuli rather than a single stimulus. Herein, the biodegradable and biocompatible smart micromotors with a Janus architecture consisting of PrecirolATO 5 and polycaprolactone compartments inspired by the anisotropic geometry of tadpoles and sperms are newly designed.

Tadpole-Like Anisotropic Polymer/Lipid Janus Nanoparticles for Nose-to-Brain Drug Delivery: Importance of Geometry, Elasticity on Mucus-Penetration Ability.

Asymmetric geometry (aspect ratio >1), moderate stiffness (i.e., semielasticity), large surface area, and low mucoadhesion of nanoparticles are the main features to reach the brain by penetrating across the nasal mucosa.

Nanoparticle adsorption induced configurations of nematic liquid crystal droplets.

Nematic liquid crystal (LC) droplets have been widely used for the detection of molecular species. We investigate the response of micrometer sized nematic LC droplets against the adsorption of nanoparticles from aqueous media. We synthesized ∼ 100 nm-in-diameter silica nanoparticles and modified their surfaces to mediate either planar or homeotropic LC anchoring and a pH-dependent charge.

Lipid-based mucus penetrating nanoparticles and their biophysical interactions with pulmonary mucus layer.

Lungs are critical organs that are continuously exposed to exogeneous matter. The presence of the mucus layer helps to protect them via its adhesive structure and filtering mechanisms. Mucus also acts as a strong barrier against the drugs and nanocarriers in drug delivery.

Enhancing the Spreading Behavior on Pulmonary Mucus Mimicking Subphase via Catanionic Surfactant Solutions: Toward Effective Drug Delivery through the Lungs.

Effective and efficient spreading of drug formulations on the pulmonary mucosal layer is key to successful delivery of therapeutics through the lungs. The pulmonary mucus layer, which covers the airway surface, acts as a barrier against therapeutic agents, especially in the case of chronic lung diseases due to increased thickness and viscosity of the mucus. Therefore, spreading of the drug formulations on the airways gets harder.

Synthesis and characterization of FeO-MPTMS-PLGA nanocomposites for anticancer drug loading and release studies.

Magnetic nanocomposites (FeO-MPTMS-PLGA) were synthesized by single oil emulsion method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Particle size of nanocomposites was between 117 nm and 246 nm. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to investigate drug loading (paclitaxel, PTX) and release from FeO-MPTMS-PLGA-PTX nanocomposites.

Dual-Responsive Lipid Nanotubes: Two-Way Morphology Control by pH and Redox Effects.

Lipid nanotubes are the preferred structures for many applications, especially biological ones, and thus have attracted much interest recently. However, there is still a significant need for developing more lipid nanotubes that are reversibly controllable to improve their functionality and usability. Here, we presented a two-way reversible morphology control of the nanotubes formed by the recently designed molecule AQUA (C25H29NO4).

Stimuli-responsive lipid nanotubes in gel formulations for the delivery of doxorubicin.

Lipid nanotubes (LNTs) are one of the most advantageous structures for drug delivery and targeting. LNTs formed by a specially designed molecule called AQUA (AQ-NH-(CH2)10COOH (AQ: anthraquinone group) is used for drug delivery, and doxorubicin (DOX) is the drug selected. DOX and AQUA have some similarities in their molecular structures, so a significant amount of DOX can be loaded to LNTs.

Quantitative Characterization of Magnetic Mobility of Nanoparticle in Solution-Based Condition.

Magnetic nanoparticles are considered as the ideal substrate to selectively isolate target molecules or organisms from sample solutions in a wide variety of applications including bioassays, bioimaging and environmental chemistry. The broad array of these applications in fields requires the accurate magnetic characterization of nanoparticles for a variety of solution based-conditions. Because the freshly synthesized magnetic nanoparticles demonstrated a perfect magnetization value in solid form, they exhibited a different magnetic behavior in solution.

Restoration of the interfacial properties of lung surfactant with a newly designed hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon lipid.

Serum proteins, especially fibrinogen, inactivate the lung surfactant mixture by adsorbing quickly and irreversibly to the alveolar air/aqueous interface. As a consequence of the inactivation, the surfactant becomes dysfunctional, and respiration cannot be maintained properly. Preventing the adsorption of surface active serum proteins to the air/water interface is important because this phenomenon causes fatal diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Formation of chiral nanotubes by the novel anthraquinone containing-achiral molecule.

Self-assembled lipid nanotubes arouse lots of interest due to their exceptional properties such as very simple production procedures, large variety of applications and high biocompatibility. In this study, the new eccentric but simple molecule, AQua (AQ-NH-(CH(2))(10)COOH; where AQ is anthraquinone), which integrates redox-active and pH sensitive character with nanotube forming capability has been designed. AQua forms self-assembled nanotubes by the chiral symmetry-breaking mechanism, in a high yield in the presence of ethanolamine.

Biophysical investigation of the interfacial properties of cationic fluorocarbon/hydrocarbon hybrid surfactant: mimicking the lung surfactant protein C.

The interfacial behavior of the newly designed Fluorocarbon Hydrocarbon Cationic Lipid (FHCL or CH(3)(CH(2))(17)N(+)(C(2)H(5))(2)(CH(2))(3)(CF(2))(7)CF(3)I(-)) and its mixtures with a phospholipid (DPPC, Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine) at different mole fractions were investigated. This new molecule was synthesized to mimic the selected properties of lung surfactant, which is a natural lipid-protein mixture which is known to play important roles in the process of respiration, by considering the structure/function relation of lung surfactant protein (SP-C). Each segment in the molecular structure was selected to affect the molecular level interaction at the interface whereas the keeping the overall structure as simple as possible.

A highly sensitive detection platform based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering for Escherichia coli enumeration.

A very sensitive and highly specific heterogeneous immunoassay system, based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and gold nanoparticles, was developed for the detection of bacteria and other pathogens. Two different types of gold nanoparticles (citrate-stabilized gold nanosphere and hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-stabilized gold nanorod particles) were examined and this immunoassay was applied for the detection of Escherichia coli. Raman labels were constructed by using these spherical and rod-shaped gold nanoparticles which were first coated with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) and subsequently with a molecular recognizer.

A new strategy to form multicompartment micelles: fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon ion-pair surfactant.

The hydrophobic core of the multicompartment micelles consists of incompatible and clearly separated distinct subdomains which make them different from the classical micelles. Owing to these properties multicompartment micelles have a great potential to be used as solubilization agents and carriers for a wide variety of applications where it is important to prevent the uncontrolled interaction of the solubilizates before reaching the target and to convey them to the specified point simultaneously. Here we show that effective compartmentalization inside the micelle and high solubilization capacity for the two immiscible water-insoluble materials in cases of both simultaneous and separate solubilization can be achieved by newly designed ion-pair hybrid surfactant CH(3)(CH(2))(11)(OCH(2)CH(2))(23)N(+)(C(2)H(5))(3)SO(3)(-)(CF(2))(7)CF(3) (C(12)E(23)N(+)SO(3)(-)F(8)) through the agency of favorable molecular design.

Tuning surface tension and aggregate shape via a novel redox active fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon hybrid surfactant.

This paper reports the surface and bulk properties of a newly designed redox active hybrid surfactant Fc(CH2)11N+(C2H5)2(CH2)2(CF2)5CF3 I- or FcFHUB, where Fc is ferrocene. This new surfactant displays strong surface tension lowering ability (31 mN/m) and low critical micelle concentration (0.03 mM in 100 mM Li2SO4).

Novel antifoam for fermentation processes: fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon hybrid unsymmetrical bolaform surfactant.

As foaming appears as a problem in chemical and fermentation processes that inhibits reactor performance, the eminence of a novel fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon unsymmetrical bolaform (FHUB: OH(CH2)11N+(C2H4)2(CH2)2(CF2)5CF3 I-) surfactant as an antifoaming agent as well as a foam-reducing agent was investigated and compared with other surfactants and a commercial antifoaming agent. The surface elasticity of FHUB was determined as 4 mN/m, indicating its high potential on thinning of the foam film. The interactions between FHUB and the microoganism were investigated in a model fermentation process related with an enzyme production by recombinant Escherichia coli, in V = 3.