Cellulose acetate encapsulated upconversion nanoparticles – a novel theranostic platform

Luminescent upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are of great interest in a wide range of nanotechnological applications, particularly in the biomedical area like imaging and therapy but their biocompatibility and stability pose major challenges hampering progression towards further pharmaceutical applications. Herein, we present a biocompatible theranostic platform enabling simultaneous diagnosis and drug delivery consisting of UCNPs encapsulated with cellulose acetate (CA), a biocompatible polymer. Luminescence properties of UCNPs in the developed theranostic platform remain stable even after encapsulation. The size of the CA capsules, ranging from micro- to nano-sized particles, can easily be tuned by adjusting the stirring rate during encapsulation. Doxorubicin, a well-known chemotherapeutic drug, onto the CA nanocapsules containing UCNPs (UCNP-CA nanocapsules) was loaded with up to ~63 % efficiency and acid-induced release (~47 %) obtained at pH 3.6 and 5.5. It was found that encapsulation decreased toxicity of UCNPs as confirmed in a cellular assay (L-929 and MCF-7 cell lines). Taken together, the developed UCNP-CA nanocapsules serve as a highly interesting novel theranostic platform, combining the biocompatible optical properties of UCNP, with reduced cell toxicity and drug encapsulating properties of CA. The proposed system could be subject for further refinement and exploration.No sponso

2-Morpholinoethyl-substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) precursors and their silver(I)NHC complexes: synthesis, crystal structure and in vitro anticancer properties

In this study, a series of unsymmetrically 2-morpholinoethyl-substituted benzimidazolium salts and their Ag(I)NHC complexes were synthesized. The 1,3-dialkylbenzimidazolium salts (1a-d) were synthesized in dimethylformamide at 80 A degrees C temperature from the N-(2-morpholinoethyl)benzimidazole and alkyl halides. The Ag(I)NHC complexes (2a-d) were synthesized in dichloromethane at room temperature from the benzimidazolium salts and Ag2O. All compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques (NMR and FT-IR) and elemental analyses. Also, the salt 1c and complex 2c were characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Anticancer activities of 2-morpholinoethyl-substituted benzimidazolium salts and Ag(I)NHC complexes were investigated against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, and the IC30 and IC50 values of these compounds were found to be in the range of 241-490 and 6-14 A mu M, respectively

Synthesis, reaction, and evaluation of the anticancer activity of 6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-cyclohepta{[}4,5]selenopheno{[}2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives

The cyclocondensation of 2-amino-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-cyclohepta{[}b]selenophene-3-carbonitrile (1) with formic acid and formamide gave the selenophenopyrimidine 15 and selenophenopyrimidone 6 derivatives. The reaction of 6 with phosphorus oxychloride produced 4-chloro-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-cyclohepta{[}4,5] seleno{[}2,3-d]pyrimidine (12), the key compound for our nucleophilic substitution reactions. The hydrazinoselenophenopyrimidine 19 obtained from the reaction of 12 with hydrazine hydrate was converted to its tetrazoloselenophenopyrimidine 21 and triazoloselenophenopyrimidine 26 derivatives. Moreover, the chloropyrimidine derivative was reacted with pyrrolidine and morpholine to afford 4-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-cylohepta{[}4,5]selenopheno {[}2, 3-d]pyrimidine (27) and 4- (6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-cyclohept a {[}4,5]selenopheno {[}2,3-d]pirimidin-4-yl)morpholine (28). Anticancer activities of the synthesized compounds were investigated against the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and the IC50 values of these compounds were in the range of 70.86-250.06 mu M

Synthesis and biological evaluation of Au-NHC complexes

New seven Au-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes have been synthesized via transmetalation from Ag-NHC complexes. NHC salts, Ag-NHC, and Au-NHC complexes were fully characterized by widely used spectroscopic techniques. The molecular and crystal structures of 3b and 3f Au-NHC complexes were clarified through the single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. According to X-ray diffraction analysis results, the coordination geometry around Au(I) atoms in the complexes are revealed to be almost linear with C-Au-Cl angle. Anticancer activity, DNA binding, xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity studies, and molecular docking studies were evaluated for all Au-NHC complexes to explore the binding mechanism at the active site. The IC50 value of Au-NHC complexes against human colorectal cancer (Caco-2) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines was defined by MTT assay. The IC50 values for MCF-7 in the range of 5.2 +/- 2 to 152.4 +/- 1 mu M and Caco-2 5.2 +/- 1 to 152.7 +/- 2 mu M showed that 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3g have better anticancer activity than Cisplatin incredibly complex 3a against both cancer cell line. All Au-NHC complexes showed excellent antimicrobial activity against different bacteria and fungi. 3a was the complex that exhibited the best antimicrobial activity here as well. The XO inhibitory activity experimental results indicated that all gold complexes showed remarkable inhibition activity against XO compared to the generally used standard, allopurinol. The range of IC50 value was determined from 0.407 to 2.681 mu M. 3d complex showed the lowest IC50 value at 0.407 mu M. DNA binding experiments were performed using agarose gel electrophoresis to observe the ability of synthesized Au-NHC complexes to interact with the supercoiled pUC19 plasmid DNA. Molecular docking studies were performed to determine the binding mode of all active compounds against the XO enzyme, antibacterial, antifungal, and MCF-7 cell lines

Design of Xylose-Based Semisynthetic Polyurethane Tissue Adhesives with Enhanced Bioactivity Properties

Developing biocompatible tissue adhesives with high adhesion properties is a highly desired goal of the tissue engineering due to adverse effects of the sutures. Therefore, our work involves synthesis, characterization, adhesion properties, protein adsorption, <i>in vitro</i> biodegradation, <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> biocompatibility properties of xylose-based semisynthetic polyurethane (NPU-PEG-X) bioadhesives. Xylose-based semisynthetic polyurethanes were developed by the reaction among 4,4′-methylenebis­(cyclohexyl isocyanate) (MCI), xylose and polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG). Synthesized polyurethanes (PUs) showed good thermal stability and high adhesion strength. The highest values in adhesion strength were measured as 415.0 ± 48.8 and 94.0 ± 2.8 kPa for aluminum substrate and muscle tissue in 15% xylose containing PUs (NPU-PEG-X-15%), respectively. The biodegradation of NPU-PEG-X-15% was also determined as 19.96 ± 1.04% after 8 weeks of incubation. Relative cell viability of xylose containing PU was above 86%. Moreover, 10% xylose containing NPU-PEG-X (NPU-PEG-X-10%) sample has favorable tissue response, and inflammatory reaction between 1 and 6 weeks implantation period. With high adhesiveness and biocompatibility properties, NPU-PEG-X can be used in the medical field as supporting materials for preventing the fluid leakage after abdominal surgery or wound closure