Electrochemical nanobiosensor based on reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticles for ultrasensitive detection of microRNA-128

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the most prevalent cancers in children and microRNA-128 is amongst the most useful biomarkers not only for diagnosis of ALL, but also for discriminating ALL from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In this study, a novel electrochemical nanobiosensor based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been fabricated to detect miRNA-128. Cyclic Voltametery (CV), Square Wave Voltametery (SWV) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) have been applied to characterize the nanobiosensor. Hexacyanoferrate as a label-free and methylene blue as a labeling material were used in the design of the nanobiosensors. It was found that the modified electrode has excellent selectivity and sensitivity to miR-128, with a limit of detection of 0.08761 fM in label-free and 0.00956 fM in labeling assay. Additionally, the examination of real serum samples of ALL and AML patients and control cases confirms that the designed nanobiosensor has the potential to detect and discriminate these two cancers and the control samples.Comunidad de Madri

Bifunctional folic acid targeted biopolymer Ag@NMOF nanocomposite [{Zn2 (1,4-bdc) 2 (DABCO)} n] as a novel theranostic agent for molecular imaging of colon cancer by SERS

Without a doubt, cancer and its negative impact on human health have created many hurdles for people across the world since conventional approaches have not offered a reliable ability in the eradication of cancer. As a result, finding novel approaches, like using bimodal nanoparticles as a potential nanocarrier in molecular imaging and cancer therapy, is remarkably required these days. In the present study, ex-situ (Ge) and in-situ (Gi) green synthesized silver (Ag) nanoparticles entrapped in metal-organic framework nanocomposites (NMOF) coated with folic acid (FA) targeted chitosan (CS) was successfully developed as a novel bifunctional nanocarrier for detection and treatment of colon cancer cells. Then nanocarriers, such as NMOF–CS–FA, Ge–Ag@NMOF–CS–FA, Gi-Ag@NMOF–CS–FA, and C–Ag@NMOF–CS–FA, were characterized via FT-IR, DLS, SERS, TEM, and SEM and results have potentially confirmed the quality and quantity of synthesized nanocomposites. The hydrodynamic diameters of NMOF-CS, Ge–Ag@NMOF-CS, Gi-Ag@NMOF-CS, and C–Ag@NMOF-CS specimens were measured at around 99.7 ± 10 nm, 110 ± 10 nm, 118 ± 10 nm, 115 ± 10 nm, respectively. Also, the PDI values less than 0.2 confirm the reliable distribution of these nanocomposites. Afterward, the cell viability assay was conducted on HCT116 and HGF cell lines for evaluating biocompatibility and targeting efficiency of nanocomposites; FA functionalized nanocomposites have intensively indicated better performance in cancer cells targeting and their inhibition, and IC50 was attained for 10 ng/mL of Ge–Ag@NMOF–CS–FA while non-targeted nanocarriers did not have toxicity more than 20 % on HCT116 colon cancer cells. Moreover, according to the results, the cell viability of HGF normal cells was at least 85 % after being exposed to different concentrations of nanocomposites for 24 h. This indicates that the synthesized nanocomposites do not have significant toxic effects on normal cells. The results indicate that this novel nanocomposite has the potential to effectively deliver drugs to cancer cells

Evaluation of Emergency Medical Technicians Intermediate Prediction about Their Transported Patients Final Disposition in Emergency Department of Imam Khomeini Hospital

This was a prospective cross-sectional study of consecutive transported patients by emergency medical service (EMS) to a referral hospital. The goal of this study was the evaluation of emergency medical technician intermediate prediction about their transported patients disposition in Emergency Department of Imam Khomeini Hospital. 2950 patients were transported to this hospital, Questionnaires were submitted in 300 of consecutive patient transports and completed data were obtained and available upon arrival at hospital for 267 of these cases. Emergency medical technicians intermediate (EMT-I) were asked to predict whether the transported patient would require admission to the hospital, and if so, what will be their prediction of patient actual disposition. Their predictions were compared with emergency specialist physicians. EMT-I predicted that 208 (78%) transports would lead to admission to the hospital, after actual disposition, 232 (%87) patients became admitted. The sensitivity of predicting any admission was 65%, with positive predictive value (PPV) of 39% and specificity of 86% with negative predictive value (NPV) of 94%. The sensitivity of predicting trauma patients (56.2% of total patients) was 55% with PPV of 38%, specificity of 86% and for Non-trauma patients' sensitivity was 80% with PPV of 40% and specificity of 82%. EMT-I in our emergency medical system have very limited ability in prediction of admission and disposition in transported patients and their prediction were better in Non-trauma patients. So in our EMS, the pre-hospital diversion and necessity of transporting policies should not be based on EMS personnel disposition

Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Extracted Flavonoids from Morus Alba Leaves and its interaction with DNA

ABSTRACT Morous Alba, known as white mulberry contains many oxidative flavonoids, widely used in the treatment of many diseases like hyperglycemia, inflammation, fever and cancer. In the present study we investigated the interaction of extracted flavonoids from Iranian Morus Alba leaves with DNA as a main target for anticancer drugs. Various spectroscopic techniques (UV/Vis, CD and Fluorescence Spectroscopy) were used to detect the interaction. In vivo studies also were done to confirm the effectiveness of the extracted flavonoids. The spectroscopic results showed that the extracted flavonoids bind to DNA especially to the sugar-phosphate backbone and making DNA conformational changes upon this binding. Experiments on the cancerous mice with solid tumors indicated that the treatment of mice with these extracted flavonoids increased significantly the life span but they did not have any effects on the tumor size reduction. These data suggest that Morus Alba flavonoids may use as an effective natural anticancer drug in the near future

Overview of preparation methods of polymeric and lipid-based (niosome, solid lipid, liposome) nanoparticles: A comprehensive review

A wide number of drug nanocarriers have emerged to improve medical therapies, and in particular to achieve controlled delivery of drugs, genes or gene expression-modifying compounds, or vaccine antigens to a specific target site. Of the nanocarriers, lipid-based and polymeric nanoparticles are the most widely used. Lipid-based systems like niosomes and liposomes are non-toxic self-assembly vesicles with an unilamellar or multilamellar structure, which can encapsulate hydrophobic/hydrophilic therapeutic agents. Polymeric nanoparticles, usually applied as micelles, are colloidal carriers composed of biodegradable polymers. Characteristics such as loading capacity, drug release rate, physical and chemical stability, and vesicle size are highly dependent on experimental conditions, and material and method choices at the time of preparation. To be able to develop effective methods for large scale production and to meet the regulatory requirements for eventual clinical implementation of nanocarriers, one needs to have in-depth knowledge of the principles of nanoparticle preparation. This review paper presents an overview of different preparation methods of polymeric and novel lipid-based (niosome and solid lipid) nanoparticles

Synergistic Effects of Conductive PVA/PEDOT Electrospun Scaffolds and Electrical Stimulation for More Effective Neural Tissue Engineering

Fabrication and optimization of conductive scaffolds capable of inducing proper intercellular connections through electrical signals is critical for neural tissue engineering. In this research, electrospun conductive PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol)/PEDOT(poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)) scaffolds were fabricated in different compositions. Conductivity of electrospinning solutions and electrospun scaffolds were measured. Morphology and topography, mechanical properties and water contact angle of scaffolds were analyzed. Chemistry of scaffolds were studied using FTIR analysis, while biocompatibility and cellular interactions with scaffolds were tested using MTT assay and cellular attachment and spreading testing. Our results show improvements in PEDOT-containing scaffolds, in terms of physiochemical properties, and cell viability compared to pure PVA scaffolds. After optimization of scaffolds, real-time PCR analysis was used to study neural differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Scaffold samples with and without induction of electrical stimulation are shown to upregulate β-tubulin, nestin and enolase as compared to TCP samples. Additionally, expression of nestin gene in scaffold samples with electrical stimulation was 1.5 times more significant than scaffold sample. Overall, this study shows that using PVA/PEDOT conductive scaffolds with electrical stimulation can improve cellular response and neural differentiation through mimicking the properties of native neural tissue