Publications by authors named "Sergio H Toma"

The interaction between silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and molecules producing coronas plays a key role in cytotoxicity mechanisms. Once adsorbed coronas determine the destiny of nanomaterials in vivo, their effective deployment in the biomedical field requires a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interactions of biomolecules with nanoparticles. In this work, we characterized 40 nm AgNPs in three different nutritional cell media at different molar concentrations and incubation times to study the binding mechanism of molecules on surface nanoparticles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial effect, cytotoxicity, and microtensile bond strength of an adhesive system containing silver nanoparticles (NAg). NAg was synthesized and incorporated (500 and 1000 ppm) into Scotchbond Multi-Purpose (SBMP) primer and bond. A microtensile bond test (μTBS) was performed after 24 h and 1 year.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A new supramolecular electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) was created by adding four ruthenium complexes to a cobalt porphyrazine.
  • The films made from this catalyst showed low overpotentials for oxygen evolution (560 mV for CoTPyPz and 340 mV for TRuCoTPyPz) and remained stable for over 15 hours.
  • The cobalt center is the main active site for catalysis, while ruthenium complexes enhance its performance by donating electrons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Conversion efficiency as high as 80-100% and 50% selectivity for camphene and limonene was achieved with low production of polymeric byproducts (18-28%), easy recovery with a magnet and reuse for up to five cycles maintaining similar activity and distribution of products, using a new magnetically recyclable catalyst based on niobium oxide coated on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) impregnated with phosphotungstic acid (HPW). The catalyst was demonstrated to be effective in the selective conversion of alpha and beta-pinenes into valuable terpenes, under ultrasonic probe activation and with toluene as solvent. A unique synergic effect between the components generating more active and selective catalytic sites was demonstrated, indicating that the SPION covered with 30 wt% of NbO gives the best performance when impregnated with HPW as co-catalyst.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The risk of contamination and dissemination by SARS-CoV-2 has a strong link with nasal, oral and pharyngeal cavities. Recently, our research group observed the promising performance of an anionic phthalocyanine derivative (APD) used in a mouthwash protocol without photoexcitation; this protocol improved the general clinical condition of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The present two-arm study evaluated in vitro the antiviral activity and cytotoxicity of APD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The low solubility and consequent poor bioavailability of ibuprofen (IBU) is a major drawback that can be overcome by anchoring IBU on ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIONs) as effective multifunctional carriers for drug delivery. USPIONs were conjugated with glycerol phosphate (USPION-GP) and also co-conjugated with IBU (USPION-GP/IBU), and their toxicity and anti-inflammatory effects investigated. Phosphate buffer saline (control), IBU, USPION-GP and USPION-GP/IBU were intravenously administered 15 min before lipopolysaccharide-induced peritonitis in male Balb/c mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: This case series demonstrated that phthalocyanine derivate mouthwash is a promising alternative for reducing the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and for clinical improvement of infected patients who presented mild and moderate symptoms.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report a case series of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 that used the phthalocyanine derivate mouthwash to reduce clinical symptoms.

Patients And Methods: Eight patients used 5mL of phthalocyanine derivate mouthwash gargling/rinsing for one minute, five times daily, over a fourteen day period.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A systematic study was carried out to evaluate the uptake and cytotoxicity of methotrexate (MTX) conjugated to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) modified with glycerol phosphate (Glyc) and phosphorylethanolamine (PEA), using MCF-7 cancer cell line as model. The ligand shell composition was controlled in such a way to get SPIONs with nine different surface functionalization and up to three co-conjugated ligands but the very iron oxide core, in order to test and compare uptake and cytotoxicity, and verify possible additive effects. Folic acid (FA), the non-toxic analogue of MTX, was also explored as ligand for SPIONs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biodiesel is an alternative biodegradable and non-toxic fuel, with a low emission profile and capable of reducing significantly the level of carcinogenic pollutants released into the atmosphere. A newly designed nano-biocatalyst prepared by conjugation of lipase A on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) demonstrated high efficiency for production of biodiesel by the reaction of soybean oil with anhydrous methanol. The nanomaterial was characterized by FTIR, TGA and XRD, and its enzymatic activity compared with Lipozyme 435, a commercial gold standard from Novozyme™, which presented average enzymatic activity of 4559 ± 75 only twice as large as that of the SPION-CAL-A catalyst (2283 ± 249 PLU g), whereas Lipozyme TLIM showed a much lower activity of 588 ± 16 PLU g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To develop a series of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) by coconjugating them with ibuprofen (ibu) and glycerol phosphate (glycerol) or ibu and glucose-1-phosphate and to assess capacity of these conjugates to inhibit the release of nitric oxide (NO) in macrophages, even at low concentrations. The SPION conjugates were characterized and their properties evaluated showing the influence of those ligands on colloidal stability and inhibition of NO-release demonstrated. The cytotoxicity and possible anti-inflammatory activity were evaluated using murine macrophages (RAW 247.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The effect of the ligand shell on the cellular uptake efficiency was evaluated by a systematic study using fully dispersed 6 nm diameter superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), mono and bis-conjugated with glycerol phosphate (glyc), dopamine (dopa), 4,5-dihydroxy-1,3-benzenedisulfonic acid (tiron) and phosphorylethanolamine (pea). Negatively charged SPION-glyc was more efficiently incorporated than positively charged SPION-pea and SPION-dopa clearly evidencing that there are strong enough short-range interactions in addition to the long-range electrostatic interactions, as measured by the zeta potential, to reverse our expectation on cellular uptake. Those effects were pursued by correlating the nanoparticles incorporation efficiency as a function of the respective zeta potentials and the molar fractions of glyc and pea ligands co-conjugated on the SPION surface.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

After more than 40 years, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) stills attract much attention from chemists, not only because of the synthesis of plasmonic nanostructures but also due to the several simultaneous mechanisms which still remain unclear. One of the possibilities for a better understanding of the SERS mechanisms is the utilization of suitable inorganic complexes. The use of inorganic complexes makes it possible to observe the two main SERS mechanisms (electromagnetic and chemical) and to observe the intensification of Raman scattering due to the resonance Raman effect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To evaluate the antibacterial effects, cytotoxicity and microtensile bond strength of an adhesive containing low concentrations of silver nanoparticles (NAg).

Methods: Various concentrations of NAg (50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 ppm) were incorporated into the primer of the Scotchbond Multi-Purpose adhesive system (SBMP). Antibacterial activity was examined using a broth microdilution assay to determine minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), agar diffusion assay and the MTT assay was used to examine the biofilm metabolic activity (S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: In this study we developed and tested an iron oxide nanoparticle conjugated with DTPA and Trastuzumab, which can efficiently be radiolabeled with 99m-Tc and Ga-68, generating a nanoradiopharmaceutical agent to be used for SPECT and PET imaging.

Methods: The production of iron oxide nanoparticle conjugated with DTPA and Trastuzumab was made using phosphorylethanolamine (PEA) surface modification. Both radiolabeling process was made by the direct radiolabeling of the nanoparticles.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Size, shape, and surface properties of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) can influence their interaction with biological systems, particularly the incorporation by tumor cells and consequently the biological activity and efficiency in biomedical applications. Several strategies have been used to evaluate cellular uptake of SPIONs. While qualitative methods are generally based on microscopy techniques, quantitative assays are carried out by techniques such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and flow cytometry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Surface enhanced Raman spectroelectrochemistry (SERS) spectroelectrochemistry provides a very sensitive technique to investigate the vibrational characteristics of coordination compounds and their particular behavior under the influence of plasmonic surfaces, concomitant with the exploitation of their redox properties and electronic spectra. The results, however, depend upon the mechanisms involved in the intensification of Raman spectra associated with the electromagnetic, resonance Raman and charge-transfer excitation at the Fermi levels. By probing the model complex [(Ru3O)(CH3COO)6(4,4'-bipy)3](n) (n = 1, 0, -1) adsorbed onto rough gold electrode surfaces, contrasting SERS profiles were obtained at several successive redox potentials and oxidation states, which enables a critical discussion on the role of the complex interaction with the gold surface, and the influence of the specific electronic bands in the triruthenium acetate cluster.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Fully dispersible, cationic ultrasmall (7 nm diameter) superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, exhibiting high relaxivity (178 mM(-1)s(-1) in 0.47 T) and no acute or subchronic toxicity in Wistar rats, were studied and their suitability as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and material for development of new diagnostic and treatment tools demonstrated. After intravenous injection (10 mg/kg body weight), they circulated throughout the vascular system causing no microhemorrhage or thrombus, neither inflammatory processes at the mesentery vascular bed and hepatic sinusoids (leukocyte rolling, adhesion, or migration as evaluated by intravital microscopy), but having been spontaneously concentrated in the liver, spleen, and kidneys, they caused strong negative contrast.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A simple and accessible method for molecular analyses down to the picomolar range was realized using self-assembled hybrid superparamagnetic nanostructured materials, instead of complicated SERS substrates such as core-shell, surface nanostructured, or matrix embedded gold nanoparticles. Good signal-to-noise ratio has been achieved in a reproducible way even at concentrations down to 5×10(-11) M using methylene blue (MB) and phenanthroline (phen) as model species, exploiting the plasmonic properties of conventional citrate protected gold nanoparticles and alkylamine functionalized magnetite nanoparticles. The hot spots were generated by salt induced aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) in the presence of those analytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To investigate the effects of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (NPTiO₂) and microparticles (MPTiO₂) on the inflammatory response in the small intestine of mice.

Methods: Bl 57/6 male mice received distilled water suspensions containing TiO₂ (100 mg/kg body weight) as NPTiO₂ (66 nm), or MPTiO₂ (260 nm) by gavage for 10 d, once a day; the control group received only distilled water. At the end of the treatment the duodenum, jejunum and ileum were extracted for assessment of cytokines, inflammatory cells and titanium content.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The photochemical cis-trans isomerization of the 4-{4-[2-(pyridin-4-yl)ethenyl]phenyl}-2,2':6',2''-terpyridine ligand (vpytpy) was investigated by UV-vis, NMR and TWIM-MS. Ion mobility mass spectrometry was performed pursuing the quantification of the isomeric composition during photolysis, however an in-source trans-to-cis isomerization process was observed. In order to overcome this inherent phenomenon, the isomerization of the vpytpy species was suppressed by complexation, reacting with iron(II) ions, and forming the [Fe(vpytpy)(2)](2+) complex.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The presence of anatase and rutile domains on nanocrystalline films of P25 TiO2, as well as the distinct coordination modes of carboxylates on those phases, were revealed by confocal Raman microscopy, a technique that showed to be suitable for imaging the chemical morphology down to submicrometric size.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Tetrapyridylporphyrins containing four chloro(2,2'-bipyridine)platinum(II) complexes attached at the meta (3-H(2)TPtPyP) and para (4-H(2)TPtPyP) positions of the peripheral pyridine ligands were synthesized and their interaction with DNA investigated. The compounds were isolated in the solid state and characterized by means of spectroscopic and analytical techniques. According to molecular simulations, the two isomers exhibit contrasting structural characteristics, consistent with a saddle shape configuration for 3-H(2)TPtPyP and a planar geometry for 4-H(2)TPtPyP.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Cooks kinetic method has been very convenient to correlate the relative dissociation rates obtained by collision-induced fragmentation experiments with the energies of two related bonds in molecules and complexes in the gas phase. Reliable bond energy data are, however, not always available, particularly for polynuclear transition-metal complexes, such as the triruthenium acetate clusters of the general formula [Ru(3) (micro(3)-O)(micro-CH(3)COO)(6)(py)(2)(L)](+), where L = ring substituted N-heterocyclic ligands. Accordingly, their gas-phase collision-induced tandem mass spectrometry (CID MS/MS) dissociation patterns have been analyzed pursuing a relationship with the more easily accessible redox potentials (E(1/2)) and Lever's E(L) parameters.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Two novel ruthenium polypyridine complexes, [Ru(bpy)(2)Cl(BPEB)](PF(6)) and ([Ru(bpy)(2)Cl](2)(BPEB))(PF(6))(2) (BPEB = trans-1,4-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]benzene), were synthesized and their characterization carried out by means of elemental analysis, UV-visible spectroscopy, positive ion electrospray (ESI-MS), and tandem mass (ESI-MS/MS) spectrometry, as well as by NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry for the mononuclear complex showed three set of waves around 1.2 V (Ru(2+/3+)), -1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF