Publications by authors named "Rafia Tasnim Rahman"

Lipid-based nanocarriers have been extensively utilized for the solubilization and cutaneous delivery of water-insoluble active ingredients in skincare formulations. However, their practical application is often limited by structural instability, leading to premature release and degradation of actives. Here we present highly robust multilamellar nanovesicles, prepared by the polyionic self-assembly of unilamellar vesicles with hydrolyzed collagen peptides, to stabilize all-trans-retinol and enhance its cutaneous delivery.

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Lipid vesicles are widely used for drug and gene delivery, but their structural instability reduces in vivo efficacy and requires specialized handling. To address these limitations, strategies like lipid cross-linking and polymer-lipid conjugation are suggested to enhance stability and biological efficacy. However, the in vivo metabolism of these altered lipids remains unclear, necessitating further studies.

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Article Synopsis
  • Titanium dioxide (TiO) nanoparticles, commonly used in sunscreen for UV protection, face challenges due to their high photochemical activity and limited absorption spectrum.
  • Researchers have developed a new hybrid nanoparticle, TiO-metal-phenolic network (TiO-MPN NPs), that enhances UV and visible light absorption while reducing harmful reactive oxygen species generated during exposure.
  • These TiO-MPN NPs not only improve the sunscreen's effectiveness by increasing protection factors by about four times but also offer an environmentally friendly and biocompatible alternative for sunscreen formulation.
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Despite the well-known advantages of lipid vesicles for drug and gene delivery, structural instability limits their practical applications and requires strictly regulated conditions for transport and storage. Chemical crosslinking and polymerization have been suggested to increase the membrane rigidity and dispersion stability of lipid vesicles. However, such chemically modified lipids sacrifice the dynamic nature of lipid vesicles and obfuscate their metabolic fates.

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Polymer coatings containing both fouling-resistant and fouling-release components have been reported to show synergistic antifouling properties. However, it remains unclear how the polymer composition influences the antifouling performance, particularly regarding foulants of different sizes and biological natures. Herein, we prepare dual functionalized brush copolymers containing fouling-resistant poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and fouling-release polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and examine their antifouling performances against different biofoulants.

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Photochemical instability and reactivity of organic ultraviolet (UV) filters not only degrade the performance of sunscreen formulations but also generate toxic photodegradation products and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although the encapsulation of organic UV filters into synthetic polymer particles has been widely investigated, synthetic plastics were recently banned for personal care and cosmetic products due to marine and coastal pollution issues. Here we present a plastic-free, photochemically stable and inactive UV filter platform based on chitosan-coated mesoporous silica microparticles, denoted 'mSOCPs', incorporating octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) as a sunscreen agent.

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