Upconversion materials have attracted considerable research interest for their application in bioimaging due to their unique optical properties. NaREF (RE = Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu) based host lattice, which is widely used for upconversion, requires expensive rare-earth elements and tedious reaction conditions. Hence there is a need to develop environmentally friendly and cost effective materials for upconversion. In this study, we propose NaBiF as a host material for upconversion which is based on environmentally friendly and cost-effective bismuth. NaBiF has not been explored as an imaging probe before. We report efficient Yb/Tm doped NaBiF based upconversion submicron particles which exhibit a photostable, wide upconversion emission range (NIR-to-NIR and Vis) under NIR (980 nm) excitation, and non-cytotoxic uptake by mammalian cancer cell lines as well as bacterial cells with a high signal to background ratio. The synthesis of the chosen host material co-doped with Yb/Tm has not been reported earlier through such a non-aqueous quaternary reverse micelle route. Here, we functionally validate these submicron particles as viable alternatives to currently available upconversion nanomaterials and highlight their potential as luminescent probes for bioimaging.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d2cp03982f | DOI Listing |
Int J Pharm
January 2025
Department of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Philipps University Marburg, Robert-Koch-Str. 4, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
The use of nanoparticulate systems for the transport of active ingredients into hair follicles has been researched for almost two decades, resulting in countless publications with a wide variety of particle types, release mechanisms and active ingredients. The production of a stable dispersion is often time-consuming and costly. In this publication, we demonstrate for the first time that simply adding diverse submicron particles to a drug solution significantly increases follicular penetration depth by over 160% to 190%, allowing the targeting of subinfundibular structures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoft Matter
January 2025
Van 't Hoff Laboratory of Physical and Colloid Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Bicontinuous particle-stabilized emulsions (bijels) are unique soft materials that combine the bulk properties of two immiscible fluids into a single interconnected structure. This structure is achieved through the formation of two interwoven fluid networks, stabilized by an interfacial layer of colloidal particles. Bijels with submicron-scale domain networks can be synthesized solvent transfer-induced phase separation (STrIPS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomed Rep
February 2025
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt 19117, Jordan.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are spherical particles with a number of specific and unique physical (such as surface plasmon resonance, high electrical conductivity and thermal stability) as well as chemical (including antimicrobial activity, catalytic efficiency and the ability to form conjugates with biomolecules) properties. These properties allow AgNPs to exhibit desired interactions with the biological system and make them prospective candidates for use in antibacterial and anticancer activities. AgNPs have a quenching capacity, which produces reactive oxygen species and disrupts cellular processes (such as reducing the function of the mitochondria, damaging the cell membrane, inhibiting DNA replication and altering protein synthesis).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
November 2024
Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Regulatory Affairs, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary.
This article reports on the scalability of a combined wet grinding technique applying planetary ball mill and ZrO pearls as the grinding medium. After the determination of the parameters in a laboratory scale, the tenfold scale-up method was set. Meloxicam (MEL) was used as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) intended for per os delivery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntioxidants (Basel)
November 2024
Institute of Transfusion Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) play a crucial role as the first line of defense antioxidant enzymes in a living cell. These enzymes neutralize the superoxide anion from the autooxidation of oxyhemoglobin (Oxy-Hb) and convert hydrogen peroxides into water and molecular oxygen. In this study, we fabricated hemoglobin submicron particles (HbMPs) using the Coprecipitation Crosslinking Dissolution (CCD) technique and incorporating first-line antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD) and second-line antioxidant (ascorbic acid, Vit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!