Gold Nanoparticles and Its Potential Applications in Cancer Research

2009 Spring Meeting of the NANOFANS Forum. Presented on May 1, 2009 from 11 am-2 pm in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building (Rooms 1116-1118) on the Georgia Tech campus.Cancer Nanotechnology: New Opportunities in Engineering and Medicine / Shuming Nie, Director, Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, Emory and Georgia Tech -- Magnetic Nanoparticles and Ovarian Cancer: A Potential New Direction in Therapeutic Intervention / John McDonald, Director, Ovarian Cancer Institute and Chair of the School of Biology at Georgia Tech -- Gold Nanoparticles and Its Potential Applications in Cancer Research / Mostafa El-Sayed, Director, Laser Dynamics Laboratory at the School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Georgia Tech.Shuming Nie is the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Chair Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interest is broadly in biomolecular engineering and nanotechnology. John McDonald is taking an integrated systems approach to the study of cancer. This means that he views cancer not as a defect in any particular gene or protein, but as a de-regulated cellular/ inter-cellular process. Mostafa El-Sayed is the Julius Brown Chair and Regents Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. He researches Nanoscience and also investigates how Nanoparticles can be used in Nanomedicine, Nano Catalysis, and Nanophotonics

Síntesis y evaluación de compuestos heterocíclicos derivados de ?-hidroxiácidos con interés industrial potencial.

The reaction of 2-hydroxyheptadecanoyl chloride (2) and anthranilic acid gave 2-(1-hydroxyheptadecyl)-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-one (3) which was used as starting material to synthesize some condensed and non-condensed heterocyclic compounds by a reaction with nitrogen nucleophiles (e.g., hydrazine hydrate, and formamide). The subsequent reaction of the synthetic products with different amounts of propylene oxide gave a novel group of nonionic compounds having a double function as antibacterial and surface active agents which may serve in the manufacturing of drugs, cosmetics, pesticides or as antibacterial and/or antifungal products. The surface active properties such as surface and interfacial tensions, cloud point, foaming height, wetting time, and emulsification power were determined. Antimicrobial and biodegradability were also screened.La reacción de cloruro de 2-hidroxiheptadecanoilo (2) con ácido antranílico produjo 2-(1-hidroxiheptadecil)-4H-3,1-benzoxazin-4-ona (3) que fue usada como material de partida en la síntesis de compuestos heterocíclicos condensados y no condensados por reacción con nucleófilos nitrogenados (hidracina y formamida). La reacción de los productos sintetizados con distintas cantidades de óxido de propileno dio un grupo nuevo de compuestos no iónicos con una función doble como antibacterianos y agentes tensioactivos que pueden servir en la manufactura de medicamentos, cosméticos, pesticidas, o como productos antibacterianos y/o antifúngicos. Se determinaron las propiedades tensioactivas así como la capacidad antimicrobiana y la biodegrabilidad de los compuestos sintetizados

Geophysical investigations of a geothermal anomaly at Wadi Ghadir, eastern Egypt

During regional heat flow studies a geothermal anomaly was discovered approximately 2 km from the Red Sea coast at Wadi Ghadir, in the Red Sea Hills of Eastern Egypt. A temperature gradient of 55 C/km was measured in a 150 m drillhole at this location, indicating a heat flow of approximately 175 mw/sqm, approximately four times the regional background heat flow for Egypt. Gravity and magnetic data were collected along Wadi Ghadir, and combined with offshore gravity data, to investigate the source of the thermal anomaly. Magnetic anomalies in the profile do not coincide with the thermal anomaly, but were observed to correlate with outcrops of basic rocks. Other regional heat flow and gravity data indicate that the transition from continental to oceanic type lithosphere occurs close to the Red Sea margin, and that the regional thermal anomaly is possibly related to the formation of the Red Sea

Evaluation of two freshwater macrophytes, Ceratophyllum demersum and Potamogeton amplifoliusas feed ingredients for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings

The present study was carried out to evaluate the potential of two common freshwater macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum and Potamogeton amplifolius) as feed ingredients for Nile tilapia fingerlings, in two consecutive experiments. The first experiment investigated the use of raw, dried C. demersum and P. amplifolius as sources of energy in the diets of fingerlings. The macrophytes were incorporated in 6 isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets at four levels as a replacement of dietary wheat bran. The test diets were fed to triplicate groups, stocked in 140 L culture aquaria in a recirculating system, three times a day to satiation, for 45 days. The results showed that control, macrophyte-free diet produced significantly improved growth rates and feed utilization efficiency than macrophytes-based diets. In Experiment 2, fermented C. demersum and P. amplifolius were incorporated into six isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets. The diets were fed to triplicate groups of fingerlings (35 g) for 45 days. Growth rates and feed utilization efficiency of fish fed with fermented P. amplifolius at 33 % and 66 % inclusion level were not significantly different from fish fed the control diet. At 100 % inclusion level, fish performance was significantly reduced. On the other hand, fermented C. demersum produced extremely poor performance, compared to raw ceratophyllum. In conclusion, the present results indicated that fermentation improved the quality of P. amplifolius; but not C. demersum

Evaluation of two freshwater macrophytes, Ceratophyllum demersum and Potamogeton amplifoliusas feed ingredients for Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings

37-43The present study was carried out to evaluate the potential of two common freshwater macrophytes (Ceratophyllum demersum and Potamogeton amplifolius) as feed ingredients for Nile tilapia fingerlings, in two consecutive experiments. The first experiment investigated the use of raw, dried C. demersum and P. amplifolius as sources of energy in the diets of fingerlings. The macrophytes were incorporated in 6 isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets at four levels as a replacement of dietary wheat bran. The test diets were fed to triplicate groups, stocked in 140 L culture aquaria in a recirculating system, three times a day to satiation, for 45 days. The results showed that control, macrophyte-free diet produced significantly improved growth rates and feed utilization efficiency than macrophytes-based diets. In Experiment 2, fermented C. demersum and P. amplifolius were incorporated into six isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets. The diets were fed to triplicate groups of fingerlings (35 g) for 45 days. Growth rates and feed utilization efficiency of fish fed with fermented P. amplifolius at 33 % and 66 % inclusion level were not significantly different from fish fed the control diet. At 100 % inclusion level, fish performance was significantly reduced. On the other hand, fermented C. demersum produced extremely poor performance, compared to raw ceratophyllum. In conclusion, the present results indicated that fermentation improved the quality of P. amplifolius; but not C. demersum

Proximate Composition, Mineral Content and Secondary Metabolites of Three Medicinal Wild Fagonia Species

Proximate composition of the aerial parts of three Fagonia species (Fagonia arabica L., F. mollis Delile and F. cretica L.) collected from different habitats were analyzed. Macro- and micro-elements as well as some secondary metabolites were estimated. The obtained results revealed that F. creticus contains appreciable levels of nutritive components considering that its nutritional value (351.06 kcal/100g dry wt.) was remarkably higher than that of F. arabica and F. mollis (327.99 and 293.07 kcal/100g dry wt., respectively). The concentration of Na was relatively the highest among the other estimated macroelements in the studied species followed by K, Ca and Mg, respectively while Fe was the highest microelement followed by Cu, Mn and Zn, respectively. The phytochemical composition revealed that methanolic extract of F. creticus was the richest in total alkaloids and flavonoids, while F. arabica found to be the richest in total phenolics and tannins

EFFECT OF SOME HORMONAL TREATMENTS ON GROWTH AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF RHAPHIOLEPIS UMBELLATA SHRUB

A pot experiment was consummated on Rhaphiolepis umbellata seedlings grown under seran greenhouse at Al-Zohriya Garden, Hort. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt during the two consecutive seasons 2017 and 2018, to study effects of five foliar spray treatments of a mixture containing three growth regulators (PGR), at the same concentration for each, on plant growth and chemical composition. The three-tested PGR were NAA, GA3 and BA, while the five concentrations for each were 0 (control treatment), 100, 200, 300 and 400 ppm. Obtained results indicated that, generally, all recorded vegetative and root growth traits; i.e., plant height, stem diameter, numbers of branches and number of leaves/plant, leaf area, root length and number of roots/plant increased significantly under the effect of all tested PGR treatments, compared to the control plants. The highest increases in this regard were recorded in plants sprayed with PGR at 200 ppm, while the least values were found in the untreated control plants, followed by plants sprayed with the highest PGR concentration of 400 ppm for the two seasons. The same trend was noticed in respect of leaf chemical constituents, as plants that recorded the highest vegetative and root growth (treated 200 ppm PGR) also contained the highest values of total chlorophyll and carotenoids (mg/g f.w.) as well as percentages oftotal carbohydrate, N, P and K in leaf tissues. Accordingly, it could be recommended to apply the mixture of these three growth regulators 200 ppm on seedlings of Rhaphiolepis umbellata, two times monthly during the growing season to get the best plant growth and quality

Development of fast dissolving polymer-based microneedles for delivery of an antigenic melanoma cell membrane

Delivery of cancer cell membranes (CM) is a new approach for the activation of the immune system and the induction of immunotherapy of cancer. Local delivery of melanoma CM into skin can induce efficient immune stimulation of antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as dendritic cells. In the current study, fast dissolving microneedles (MNs) were developed for the delivery of melanoma B16F10 CM. Two polymers were tested for the fabrication of MNs: poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic acid) (PMVE-MA) and hyaluronic acid (HA). The incorporation of CM in MNs was achieved through coating of the MNs using a multi-step layering procedure or the micromolding technique. The CM loading and its stabilization were improved by adding sugars (sucrose and trehalose) and a surfactant (Poloxamer 188), respectively. In an ex vivo experiment, both PMVE-MA and HA showed fast dissolutions (<30 s) after insertion into porcine skin. However, HA-MA showed better mechanical properties, namely improved resistance to fracture when submitted to a compression force. Overall, a B16F10 melanoma CM-dissolving MN system was efficiently developed as a promising device suggesting further studies in immunotherapy and melanoma applications