In vitro synergic activity of diethyldithiocarbamate and 4-nitrochalcone loaded in beeswax nanoparticles against melanoma (B16F10) cells.

The use of nanoparticles as drug delivery systems to simultaneously carry several therapeutic agents is an attractive idea to create new synergic treatments and to develop the next generation of cancer therapies. Therefore, the goal of this study was the simultaneous encapsulation of a hydrophilic drug, sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC), and a hydrophobic drug, 4-nitrochalcone (4NC), in beeswax nanoparticles (BNs) to evaluate the in vitro synergic activity of this combination against melanoma (B16F10) cells. BNs were prepared by water/oil/water double emulsion in the absence of organic solvents.

On-Chip Stochastic Detection of Silver Nanoparticles without a Reference Electrode.

We report the electrochemical detection of 20 nm silver nanoparticles at a chip-based microelectrode array (MEA) without the need for a conventional reference electrode. This is possible due to the system's open-circuit potential allowing the oxidation of silver nanoparticles in the presence of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The hypothesis is confirmed by modulating the open-circuit potential via addition of ascorbic acid in solution, effectively inhibiting the detection of silver nanoparticle events.