In vitro study on glycation of plasma proteins with artificial sweeteners

Glycation is a non-enzymatic reaction between the carbonyl groups of sugars and the amino groups of proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. This process results in the formation of early glycation products, which rearrange to form more stable advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Glycation has been linked to a number of diseases such as, Alzheimer’s, diabetes mellitus, cataract, Parkinson’s, physiological aging, etc. Synthetic sugar substitutes are known as artificial sweeteners. Like sugar, they contain reactive groups, which can interact with amino groups of macromolecules inducing damage by glycation. In the present study, non-enzymatic interaction between commercially available aspartame, saccharin and sucralose-based artificial sweeteners and amino acid lysine was performed in vitro. Also, plasma proteins like bovine serum albumin, human serum albumin, immunoglobulin G, blood clotting factors VIII and IX were incubated with aspartame and sucralose-based sweeteners. The results indicate that glycation reaction also occurs between proteins and these artificial sweeteners like sugars. This is the first report indicating involvement of artificial sweeteners in glycation

Liposomal nanotheranostics for multimode targeted in vivo bioimaging and near‐infrared light mediated cancer therapy

Developing a nanotheranostic agent with better image resolution and high accumulation into solid tumor microenvironment is a challenging task. Herein, we established a light mediated phototriggered strategy for enhanced tumor accumulation of nanohybrids. A multifunctional liposome based nanotheranostics loaded with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and emissive graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were engineered named as NFGL. Further, doxorubicin hydrochloride was encapsulated in NFGL to exhibit phototriggered chemotherapy and functionalized with folic acid targeting ligands. Encapsulated agents showed imaging bimodality for in vivo tumor diagnosis due to their high contrast and emissive nature. Targeted NFGL nanohybrids demonstrated near infrared light (NIR, 750 nm) mediated tumor reduction because of generated heat and Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Moreover, NFGL nanohybrids exhibited remarkable ROS scavenging ability as compared to GQDs loaded liposomes validated by antitumor study. Hence, this approach and engineered system could open new direction for targeted imaging and cancer therapy.publishersversionpublishe

Disintegrable NIR Light Triggered Gold Nanorods Supported Liposomal Nanohybrids for Cancer Theranostics

In this work, facile synthesis and application of targeted, dual therapeutic gold nanorods-liposome (GNR-Lipos) nanohybrid for imaging guided photothermal therapy and chemotherapy is investigated. The dual therapeutic GNR-Lipos nanohybrid consists of GNR supported, and doxorubicin (DOX) loaded liposome. GNRs not only serve as a photothermal agent and increase the drug release in intracellular environment of cancer cells, but also provide mechanical strength to liposomes by being decorated both inside and outside of bilayer surfaces. The designed nanohybrid shows a remarkable response for synergistic chemophotothermal therapy compared to only chemotherapy or photothermal therapy. The NIR response, efficient uptake by the cells, disintegration of GNR-Lipos nanohybrid, and synergistic therapeutic effect of photothermal and chemotherapy over breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 are studied for the better development of a biocompatible nanomaterial based multifunctional cancer theranostic agent