Bacterial cellulose-based hydrogel for wound healing: characterization and in vitro evaluation

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been considered a promising biopolymer with applications in several areas of knowledge, including medicine, mainly due to its ability to assist in the treatment of dermal lesions. Many groups and companies have been making efforts to develop new BC-based materials in order to add new characteristics and therapeutic possibilities. Recently, Seven Indústria de Produtos Biotecnológicos Ltda company developed a BC-based hydrogel aiming to verify the interaction among the formulation components, its potential for wound healing and biocompatibility studies. BC-based hydrogel was characterized and compared with pristine BC film. Physicochemical characterization includes rheological measurements, thermal analyses, field emission gun - scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and in vitro cell migration. BC-based hydrogel showed adequate interaction among the components of the formulation, which may positively influence its stability. In addition, the BC-based hydrogel accelerated the healing processes demonstrating its potential in dermal lesion treatment

Near-Infrared Luminescence from Visible-Light-Sensitized Ruthenium(II)‑Neodymium(III) Heterobimetallic Bridged Complexes Containing Alkoxy(silyl) Functional Groups

New infrared emitting d-f (ruthenium(II)–neodymium(III)) heterobimetallic complexes with alkoxy(silyl) functional groups have been prepared. Visible excitation evidenced energy transfer processes from the ruthenium(II) donor to neodymium(III) acceptors leading to infrared emission. Energy transfer rates (kEnT) and efficiency of energy transfer (ηEnT) are, respectively, 0.61 × 107 s-1and 44% for RuL1–NdL3 complex. Larger values of kEnT (3.04 × 107 s-1) and ηEnT (84%) were detected for RuL2–NdL4 complex. RuL1–NdL3and RuL2–NdL4 complexes were fully characterized by elementary analysis (EA), mass spectrometry (MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman). Total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY1D), 1H{13C} heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) and 1H{13C} heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses were also carried out to characterize NdL3and RuL1–NdL3 complexes. The presence of trialkoxysilyl-substituted ligands would allow further grafting onto any silica or silicated surface aiming at applications as new luminescent near infrared (NIR)-emitting biosensors or biomarkers

Near-infrared/visible-emitting nanosilica modified with silylated Ru(II) and Ln(III) complexes

Three luminescent silica-based nanohybrids were fabricated by grafting of silylated Ru(II)andNd/Yb(III)complexes onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles obtained by microemulsion method.The prepared nanohybrids were characterized by Fourier transform-Raman spectroscopy, solidstate-nuclear magnetic resonance, high resolution-transmission electron microscopy andscanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The chemical integrity and thegrafting of all complexes inside MSNs nanopores as well as a good distribution of metalcomplexes onto MSNs surface were achieved for all nanohybrids. Photophysical results revealedthat by monitoring the excitation on Ru(II)moieties from SiO2–RuNd and SiO2–RuYb nanohybrids, the sensitization of NIR-emitting Nd/Yb(III)ions were successfully detected viaenergy transfer processes. Energy transfer rates(kEnT)of 0.20×107and 0.11×107s−1 and efficiencies of energy transfer(ηEnT)of 40% and 27.5% were obtained for SiO2–RuNd and SiO2–RuYb nanohybrids, respectively. These results confirm the preparation of promising dual(near-infrared/visible)-emitting silica-based nanohybrids as new nanotools for applications asnanosensores and nanomarkers

Luminescent nanohybrids based on silica and silylated Ru(II)—Yb(III) heterobinuclear complex: new tools for biological media analysis

Lanthanide (Ln) complexes emitting in the near-infrared (NIR) region have fostered great interest as upcoming optical tags owing to their high spatial and temporal resolution emission as well deeper light penetration in biological tissues for non-invasive monitoring. For use in live-cell imaging, lanthanide complexes with long-wavelength absorption and good brightness are especially critical. Light-harvesting ligands of Ln complexes are typically excited in the ultraviolet region, which in turn trigger simultaneously autofluorescence and long-exposition damage of living systems. The association of d-metalloligands rather than organic chromophores enables the excitation of NIR-emitting Ln complex occurs in the visible region. Taking advantage of the long-lived excited states and intense absorption band in the ultraviolet (UV) to NIR region of Ru(II), we successfully design a dual-emitting (in the visible and NIR region) d–f heterobinuclear complex based on Ru(II) metalloligand and Yb(III) complex. In addition, we developed luminescent nanohybrids by grafting of Ru(II)–Yb(III) heterobinuclear complexes containing silylated ligands on the surface of mesoporous and dense silica matrix. The nanomarkers were successfully applied for imaging of murine melanoma B16-F10 and neonatal human dermal fibroblast HDFn cell cultures by one-photon or two-photon absorption using laser scanning confocal microscopy. Great cellular uptake, low cytotoxicity and the possibility to achieve visible and NIR emission via two-photons excitation show that the nanohybrids are remarkable markers for in vitro and a potential tool for in vivo applications

Macrophage Cell Membrane Coating on Piperine-Loaded MIL-100(Fe) Nanoparticles for Breast Cancer Treatment

Piperine (PIP), a compound found in Piper longum, has shown promise as a potential chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer. However, its inherent toxicity has limited its application. To overcome this challenge, researchers have developed PIP@MIL-100(Fe), an organic metal–organic framework (MOF) that encapsulates PIP for breast cancer treatment. Nanotechnology offers further treatment options, including the modification of nanostructures with macrophage membranes (MM) to enhance the evasion of the immune system. In this study, the researchers aimed to evaluate the potential of MM-coated MOFs encapsulated with PIP for breast cancer treatment. They successfully synthesized MM@PIP@MIL-100(Fe) through impregnation synthesis. The presence of MM coating on the MOF surface was confirmed through SDS-PAGE analysis, which revealed distinct protein bands. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images demonstrated the existence of a PIP@MIL-100(Fe) core with a diameter of around 50 nm, surrounded by an outer lipid bilayer layer measuring approximately 10 nm in thickness. Furthermore, the researchers evaluated the cytotoxicity indices of the nanoparticles against various breast cancer cell lines, including MCF-7, BT-549, SKBR-3, and MDA. The results demonstrated that the MOFs exhibited between 4 and 17 times higher cytotoxicity (IC50) in all four cell lines compared to free PIP (IC50 = 193.67 ± 0.30 µM). These findings suggest that MM@PIP@MIL-100(Fe) holds potential as an effective treatment for breast cancer. The study’s outcomes highlight the potential of utilizing MM-coated MOFs encapsulated with PIP as an innovative approach for breast cancer therapy, offering improved cytotoxicity compared to free PIP alone. Further research and development are warranted to explore the clinical translation and optimize the efficacy and safety of this treatment strategy

Lycopene, Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles and Their Association: A Possible Alternative against Vulvovaginal Candidiasis?

Commonly found colonizing the human microbiota, Candida albicans is a microorganism known for its ability to cause infections, mainly in the vulvovaginal region known as vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC). This pathology is, in fact, one of the main C. albicans clinical manifestations, changing from a colonizer to a pathogen. The increase in VVC cases and limited antifungal therapy make C. albicans an increasingly frequent risk in women’s lives, especially in immunocompromised patients, pregnant women and the elderly. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new therapeutic options, especially those involving natural products associated with nanotechnology, such as lycopene and mesoporous silica nanoparticles. From this perspective, this study sought to assess whether lycopene, mesoporous silica nanoparticles and their combination would be an attractive product for the treatment of this serious disease through microbiological in vitro tests and acute toxicity tests in an alternative in vivo model of Galleria mellonella. Although they did not show desirable antifungal activity for VVC therapy, the present study strongly encourages the use of mesoporous silica nanoparticles impregnated with lycopene for the treatment of other human pathologies, since the products evaluated here did not show toxicity in the in vivo test performed, being therefore, a topic to be further explored

Cellulose Nanofibers Improve the Performance of Retrograded Starch/Pectin Microparticles for Colon-Specific Delivery of 5-ASA

Cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were employed as the nanoreinforcement of a retrograded starch/pectin (RS/P) excipient to optimize its colon-specific properties. Although starch retrogradation ranged from 32 to 73%, CNF addition discretely disfavored the RS yield. This result agrees with the finding that in situ CNF reduces the presence of the RS crystallinity pattern. A thermal analysis revealed that the contribution of pectin improves the thermal stability of the RS/CNF mixture. Through a complete factorial design, it was possible to optimize the spray-drying conditions to obtain powders with high yield (57%) and low moisture content (1.2%). The powders observed by Field Emission Gum Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM) had 1–10 µm and a circular shape. The developed methodology allowed us to obtain 5-aminosalicilic acid-loaded microparticles with high encapsulation efficiency (16–98%) and drug loading (1.97–26.63%). The presence of CNF in RS/P samples was responsible for decreasing the burst effect of release in simulated gastric and duodenal media, allowing the greatest mass of drug to be targeted to the colon. Considering that spray-drying is a scalable process, widely used by the pharmaceutical industry, the results obtained indicate the potential of these microparticles as raw material for obtaining other dosage forms to deliver 5-ASA to the distal parts of gastrointestinal tract, affected by inflammatory bowel disease

Recent advances in methods of synthesis and applications of bacterial cellulose/calcium phosphates composites in bone tissue engineering: Biomaterials; Biocomposites; Tissue Engineering; Bacterial cellulose Calcium Phosphates

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a nanofibrous biomaterial biosynthetized by a series of acetic bacteria with unique properties with application in many tissue engineering purposes. Calcium phosphates (CPs), mainly hydroxyapatite, are bioceramics that possess similar composition of host bones and are able to stimulate osteoconduction and osteointegration to living tissues.Bacterial cellulose-calcium phosphates composites have caught the attention of researchers by their excellent mechanical properties and biocompatibility, being considered an excellent proposal to development of new synthetic grafts to bone tissue engineering. The minireview presented here focuses on various fabrication methods used to prepare and novel applications of BC-CPs composites and their applications in BTE