Enhanced Skin Penetration of Cannabidiol Using Organosilane Particles as Transdermal Delivery Vehicles.

There is potential for cannabidiol to act as an analgesic, anxiolytic and antipsychotic active ingredient; however, there is a need to find alternate administration routes to overcome its low oral bioavailability. In this work, we propose a new delivery vehicle based on encapsulation of cannabidiol within organosilica particles as drug delivery vehicles, which are subsequently incorporated within polyvinyl alcohol films. We investigated the long-term stability of the encapsulated cannabidiol, as well as its release rate, in a range of simulated fluids with different characterization techniques, including Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and High-performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

The Surface Charge of Polymer-Coated Upconversion Nanoparticles Determines Protein Corona Properties and Cell Recognition in Serum Solutions.

Applications of nanoparticles (NPs) in the life sciences require control over their properties in protein-rich biological fluids, as an NP quickly acquires a layer of proteins on the surface, forming the so-called "protein corona" (PC). Understanding the composition and kinetics of the PC at the molecular level is of considerable importance for controlling NP interaction with cells. Here, we present a systematic study of hard PC formation on the surface of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) coated with positively-charged polyethyleneimine (PEI) and negatively-charged poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) polymers in serum-supplemented cell culture medium.

Targeting cell surface glycans with lectin-coated fluorescent nanodiamonds.

Glycosylation is arguably the most important functional post-translational modification in brain cells and abnormal cell surface glycan expression has been associated with neurological diseases and brain cancers. In this study we developed a novel method for uptake of fluorescent nanodiamonds (FND), carbon-based nanoparticles with low toxicity and easily modifiable surfaces, into brain cell subtypes by targeting their glycan receptors with carbohydrate-binding lectins. Lectins facilitated uptake of 120 nm FND with nitrogen-vacancy centers in three types of brain cells - U87-MG astrocytes, PC12 neurons and BV-2 microglia cells.

Human Epidermal Zinc Concentrations after Topical Application of ZnO Nanoparticles in Sunscreens.

Zinc oxide nanoparticle (ZnO NP)-based sunscreens are generally considered safe because the ZnO NPs do not penetrate through the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC). However, cytotoxicity of zinc ions in the viable epidermis (VE) after dissolution from ZnO NP and penetration into the VE is ill-defined. We therefore quantified the relative concentrations of endogenous and exogenous Zn using a rare stable zinc-67 isotope (Zn) ZnO NP sunscreen applied to excised human skin and the cytotoxicity of human keratinocytes (HaCaT) using multiphoton microscopy, zinc-selective fluorescent sensing, and a laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) methodology.

Chick Embryo Experimental Platform for Micrometastases Research in a 3D Tissue Engineering Model: Cancer Biology, Drug Development, and Nanotechnology Applications.

Colonization of distant organs by tumor cells is a critical step of cancer progression. The initial avascular stage of this process (micrometastasis) remains almost inaccessible to study due to the lack of relevant experimental approaches. Herein, we introduce an in vitro/in vivo model of organ-specific micrometastases of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that is fully implemented in a cost-efficient chick embryo (CE) experimental platform.

Machine learning reveals mesenchymal breast carcinoma cell adaptation in response to matrix stiffness.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reverse process, mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), are believed to play key roles in facilitating the metastatic cascade. Metastatic lesions often exhibit a similar epithelial-like state to that of the primary tumour, in particular, by forming carcinoma cell clusters via E-cadherin-mediated junctional complexes. However, the factors enabling mesenchymal-like micrometastatic cells to resume growth and reacquire an epithelial phenotype in the target organ microenvironment remain elusive.

Tracing upconversion nanoparticle penetration in human skin.

Due to their unique optical properties upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) provide exceptionally high contrast for imaging of true nanoparticle distribution in excised human skin. It makes possible to show penetration of solid nanoparticles in skin treated with chemical enhancers. We demonstrated tracing upconversion nanoparticles in excised human skin by means of optical microscopy at the discrete particle level sensitivity to obtain their penetration profiles, which was validated by laser-ablation inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry.