Electrically conductive and antimicrobial Pluronic-based hydrogels.

Electrically conductive hydrogels (ECHs) combine the electrical properties of conductive materials with the unique features of hydrogels. They are attractive for various biomedical applications due to their smart response to electrical fields. Owing to their distinctive properties, such as biocompatibility, thermosensitivity and self-assembling behaviour, Pluronics can be adopted for the generation of hydrogels for biomedical applications.

K-Carrageenan/Locust Bean Gum Gels for Food Applications-A Critical Study on Potential Alternatives to Animal-Based Gelatin.

Among hydrocolloids used in the food industry, gelatin (an animal protein) is remarkably known for its unique gel forming ability. Creating a perfect, green substitute for animal gelatin is extremely difficult if not impossible, because this versatile hydrocolloid offers many special properties that are not easily imitated by other vegetable-based systems. The combination of more than one type of hydrocolloid is commonly used in food either to bridge the above-mentioned gap or to impart novel organoleptic characteristics (such as mouthfeel) to food products, to modify rheological characteristics, and to satisfy processing requirements in the industry.

Pluronic F68 Micelles as Carriers for an Anti-Inflammatory Drug: A Rheological and Scattering Investigation.

Age-long ambition of medical scientists has always been advancement in healthcare and therapeutic medicine. Biomedical research indeed claims paramount importance in nanomedicine and drug delivery, and the development of biocompatible storage structures for delivering drugs stands at the heart of emerging scientific works. The delivery of drugs into the human body is nevertheless a nontrivial and challenging task, and it is often addressed by using amphiphilic compounds as nanosized delivery vehicles.

A Novel Role for the Adenovirus L4 Region 22K and 33K Proteins in Adeno-Associated Virus Production.

Despite decades of research in adeno-associated virus (AAV) and the role of adenovirus in production, the interplay of AAV and adenovirus is not fully understood. Specific regions of the adenoviral genome containing E1, E2a, E4 open reading frame (ORF), and VA RNA have been demonstrated as necessary for AAV production; however, incorporating these regions into either a producer cell line or subcloning into an Ad helper plasmid may lead to inclusion of neighboring adenoviral sequence or ORFs with unknown function. Because AAV is frequently used in gene therapies, removing excessive adenovirus sequences improves the Ad helper plasmid size and manufacturability, and may lead to safer vectors for patients.

Phase transitions of aqueous solutions of Pluronic F68 in the presence of Diclofenac Sodium.

In recent years, advancements in bioengineering and materials science have witnessed increasing interest in synthetic polymers capable of fulfilling various applications. Owing to their distinctive properties, Pluronics can be used as nano-drug carriers, to deliver poorly water-soluble drugs, and as model systems to study colloidal science by tuning amphiphilic properties. In this work, we investigated the effect of diclofenac sodium on the self-assembly and thermoresponsive crystallization of Pluronic F68 in water solutions, by employing experimental rheology and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).