Dual Functional Magnetic Nanoparticles Conjugated with Carbon Quantum Dots for Hyperthermia and Photodynamic Therapy for Cancer

The global incidence of cancer continues to rise, posing a significant public health concern. Although numerous cancer therapies exist, each has limitations and complications. The present study explores alternative cancer treatment approaches, combining hyperthermia and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and amine-functionalized carbon quantum dots (A-CQDs) were synthesized separately and then covalently conjugated to form a single nanosystem for combinational therapy (M-CQDs). The successful conjugation was confirmed using zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and UV-visible spectroscopy. Morphological examination in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) further verified the conjugation of CQDs with MNPs. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) revealed that M-CQDs contain approximately 12 weight percentages of carbon. Hyperthermia studies showed that both MNP and M-CQDs maintain a constant therapeutic temperature at lower frequencies (260.84 kHz) with high specific absorption rates (SAR) of 118.11 and 95.04 W/g, respectively. In vitro studies demonstrated that MNPs, A-CQDs, and M-CQDs are non-toxic, and combinational therapy (PDT + hyperthermia) resulted in significantly lower cell viability (~4%) compared to individual therapies. Similar results were obtained with Hoechst and propidium iodide (PI) staining assays. Hence, the combination therapy of PDT and hyperthermia shows promise as a potential alternative to conventional therapies, and it could be further explored in combination with existing conventional treatments

Piezoelectric smart biomaterials for bone and cartilage tissue engineering

Abstract Tissues like bone and cartilage are remodeled dynamically for their functional requirements by signaling pathways. The signals are controlled by the cells and extracellular matrix and transmitted through an electrical and chemical synapse. Scaffold-based tissue engineering therapies largely disturb the natural signaling pathways, due to their rigidity towards signal conduction, despite their therapeutic advantages. Thus, there is a high need of smart biomaterials, which can conveniently generate and transfer the bioelectric signals analogous to native tissues for appropriate physiological functions. Piezoelectric materials can generate electrical signals in response to the applied stress. Furthermore, they can stimulate the signaling pathways and thereby enhance the tissue regeneration at the impaired site. The piezoelectric scaffolds can act as sensitive mechanoelectrical transduction systems. Hence, it is applicable to the regions, where mechanical loads are predominant. The present review is mainly concentrated on the mechanism related to the electrical stimulation in a biological system and the different piezoelectric materials suitable for bone and cartilage tissue engineering

Natural Biopolymers for Bone Tissue Engineering: A Brief Review

Tissue engineering is a well-proven technique for the creation of functional alternatives for regenerative medicine and plays a critical role in patient treatment. Several natural-origin biopolymers such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid, gelatin, collagen, etc. are extensively explored for various biomedical applications. Among, these polymers are exclusively investigated in tissue engineering applications due to their highly favorable properties, such as high biocompatibility, slow degradation, mechanical tenability, structural similarity with native tissues, bioactivity, etc. The present review summarizes the recent advances of biopolymers in bone tissue engineering It also covers the topic of natural polymer modification to achieve superior characteristics primarily mechanical properties towards bone regeneration and discussed the best methods for dealing with them. Therefore, the review can drive the development of biomimetic materials for futuristic applications

Current state of art smart coatings for orthopedic implants: A comprehensive review

Biomaterials play a pivotal role in modern orthopedics. There are a plethora of functional issues with orthopedic implants. These issues include things like aseptic loosening, lack of osseointegration, biofilm formation, and infections. Researchers have devised several surface modification procedures, including coating the implant surfaces, to address these problems. Implant coatings serve as a bridge between the implant and the surrounding bio components. One of the creative methods is to modify surfaces using smart coatings. Smart coatings can detect environmental cues like temperature, pH, light, and so on and in turn react facultatively to the tissues. A particular stimulus and its specific role in orthopedic implant coatings are of our interest. Some coatings, known as dual-acting coatings, allow for the utilization of one or more stimuli in addition to the individual stimulus as a trigger. Based on the stimuli that they react to, we have highlighted the most cutting-edge smart orthopedic implant coatings in the current review

The role of Piezo1 and Piezo2 proteins in tissue engineering: A Comprehensive review

Almost every life form, from the tiniest bacterium to humans, is mechanosensitive, implying it can use mechanical stresses to trigger certain physiological responses in the form of electric signals. Mechanotransduction largely relies on ion channels that respond to mechanical forces, such as the epithelial sodium channels/degenerins, transient receptor potential channel, and the two-pore domain potassium channel. Piezo1 and Piezo2 proteins were discovered to be the biggest non-selective mechanosensitive cation channels in the cell membrane. A substantial amount of research has previously been published on the Piezo channel's function in touch sensation, balance, and cardiovascular regression. However, the mechanistic perspective must be refined to fully understand the role of Piezo proteins in tissue engineering. This review centers on the latest insights into the structure of Piezo channels, activation mechanisms, and its interactions with cytoskeletal components, by emphasizing the physiological activities of Piezo channels in different tissues. The study also places focus on the possibilities of targeting this cation channel family as a tissue regeneration aid

Identification of rare nsSNPs in fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene to explore its correlation with oral cancer: An in-silico approach

Genetic alterations in fragile histidine triad (FHIT) play a pivotal role in various cancers of head, neck, lung, kidney, gastrointestinal, and breast including oral which leads to abnormal transcripts in vivo during the development of oral cancer. Owing to the importance of FHIT gene in cell proliferation, tumor suppression and survival, the structural, functional, non-synonymous SNPs (nsSNPs), and network study was conducted to look at the potential relationship between phenotypic variations and genetic variations. In silico genomic analysis of FHIT was initiated with the identification of 18 rare variants from dbSNP database followed by PredictSNP 1.0 web server analysis for predicting the deleterious and neutral mutants. A total of 11 mutations i.e. P33T, P33A, V97F, S22A, T19I, T61M, D57N, P101A, P101S, S81P and R46H corresponding to 9 nsSNPs were found to be deleterious which affects the protein. The interacting genes with FHIT were found by analyzing protein–protein interactions network using a STRING database. Gene ontology and Disease Association functional analysis of FHIT was obtained by WebGestalt. The mutational positions and amino acid variations have been mapped onto native FHIT. Structural and docking analysis of native and mutant FHIT with ER 27319 Maleate was performed using Auto Dock 4.2, GLIDE, SRide server, structural visualizers, and MD simulations to check their binding energies, stabilizing residues, and to investigate their dynamic behavior, mode of binding action and inhibitor specificity. Our in-silico analysis suggested that screening of P101S (rs533270218), S81P (rs536941406) and D57N (rs375883257) variants of FHIT could be useful for molecular diagnosis and development of vital molecular inhibitors of FHIT pathways. The diagnostic and prognostic approach of these molecular biomarkers can intrude on the predisposition to oral cancer

Bone cement based nanohybrid as a super biomaterial for bone healing

A novel nanohybrid based on bone cement has been developed which is capable of healing fractured bone in 30 days, one-third of the time required for the natural healing process. Nanohybrids of bone cement based on poly( methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), currently used as a grouting material in joint replacement surgery, were prepared by simple mixing with organically modified layered silicates of varying chemical compositions. The temperature arising from exothermic polymerization in one of the nanohybrids is 12 degrees C lower than that in pure bone cement, thus circumventing the reported cell necrosis that occurs during implantation with pure bone cement. The thermal stability and mechanical superiority of this nanohybrid were verified in terms of its higher degradation temperature, better stiffness, superior toughness, and significantly higher fatigue resistance compared with pure bone cement; these properties make it appropriate for use as an implant material. The biocompatibility and bioactivity of the nanohybrid were confirmed using cell adhesion, cell viability, and fluorescence imaging studies. Osteoconductivity and bone bonding properties were monitored in vivo in rabbits through radiographic imaging and histopathological studies of growing bone and muscle near the surgery site. The observed dissimilarity of the properties of two different nanoclays used as fillers were visualized through interactions measured using spectroscopic techniques. Studies of the influence of different elements on bioactivity showed a higher efficiency for the nanoclay containing greater amounts of iron

Current challenges in identification of clinical characteristics and detection of COVID-19: A comprehensive review

World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. The newly emerging infection has caused around one million deaths worldwide and still counting. There is no specific treatment for the disease, and it can only contain by breaking the spread. So that early and rapid diagnosis of the infection is the only way to control the outbreak. The COVID-19 virus affects the human respiratory system and subsequently infects other vital organs. In consideration of the diagnosis, the present review focuses on the critical diagnostic approaches for COVID-19, including RT-PCR, Chest-CT scan, some biosensor-based systems, etc. Moreover, this review is a specific bird's eye view on recent developments on the point of care devices and related technologies. Additionally, it presented a small glimpse of the pathophysiology and structural aspects of COVID-19. Therefore, the current review can motivate and help the reader to develop cutting-edge diagnostic technologies for the early and rapid detection of the COVID-19

Fluorescent carbon quantum dots for effective tumor diagnosis: A comprehensive review

The Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots (FCQDs) have been extensively explored for medical applications. Primarily, the research concentrated on diagnosis, imaging, and alternative therapeutics for various diseases. The FCQDs, a class of new-generation carbon nanoparticles with a size of less than 10 nm, demonstrate a quantum confinement effect. They have an atomic nature and inherent features like high photostability, variable photoluminescence (PL), high biocompatibility, and good water solubility. All these properties with minimum invasiveness have made quantum dots grab the spotlight in cancer diagnosis. The review introduces tunable fluorescence properties of quantum dots and provides a brief classification of FCQDs. Furthermore, the recent advances of FCQDs for tumor imaging and their refinements for futuristic applications are highlighted

ECM-mimetic, NSAIDs loaded thermo-responsive, immunomodulatory hydrogel for rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Abstract Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, and it leads to irreversible inflammation in intra-articular joints. Current treatment approaches for RA include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), corticosteroids, and biological agents. To overcome the drug-associated toxicity of conventional therapy and transdermal tissue barrier, an injectable NSAID-loaded hydrogel system was developed and explored its efficacy. Results The surface morphology and porosity of the hydrogels indicate that they mimic the natural ECM, which is greatly beneficial for tissue healing. Further, NSAIDs, i.e., diclofenac sodium, were loaded into the hydrogel, and the in vitro drug release pattern was found to be burst release for 24 h and subsequently sustainable release of 50% drug up to 10 days. The DPPH assay revealed that the hydrogels have good radical scavenging activity. The biocompatibility study carried out by MTT assay proved good biocompatibility and anti-inflammatory activity of the hydrogels was carried out by gene expression study in RAW 264.7 cells, which indicate the downregulation of several key inflammatory genes such as COX-2, TNF-α & 18s. Conclusion In summary, the proposed ECM-mimetic, thermo-sensitive in situ hydrogels may be utilized for intra-articular inflammation modulation and can be beneficial by reducing the frequency of medication and providing optimum lubrication at intra-articular joints. Graphical Abstrac