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Despite the wide-spectrum and effective anti-cancer activity of paclitaxel (PTX), their low solubility and side effects are the main challenges in their clinical application. In this study, a model paclitaxel-encapsulated nanoliposome (NLips-PTX) carrier was synthesized to enhance PTX solubility and increase its passive accumulation at the tumor site. Soy lecithin and cholesterol at a 9:1 ratio were used to prepare the nano-sized liposomes through the thin-film hydration followed by extrusion technique. The prepared spherical NLips-PTX liposomes with an average size of about 150 nm and high uniformity were characterized by DLS and TEM. PTX load efficiency of NLips was determined at about 85% by HPLC. NLips-PTX also showed a therapeutic effect toward breast cancer cells (MCF-7) in a dose- and time-dependent manner via in vitro cellular uptake and a cytotoxicity study. This research indicates that extrusion is a simple and convenient method for nano-sizing and homogenising liposome suspension for potentially effective delivery of drug to target tumor sites.

Background: The feasibility of plant extracts for metallic nanoparticle fabrication has been demonstrated. Each plant species impacts differently on formed nanoparticles, thus specific plants need to be explored in detail. Objective: Continuing the fabrication of nanoparticles using green method, Garcinia mangostana shell and Tradescantia spathacea leaf extract are exploited as reducing sources to form two types of silver nanoparticles (GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs) less than 50 nm. Methods: Structural characterization of GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs was performed by ultravioletvisible spectrophotometry (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray energy dispersive spectrometer (EDAX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Antifungal tests of GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs were performed with Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Fusarium oxysporum. Results: UV-vis spectra with the 440-nm peak demonstrate the silver nanoparticle formation. FTIR analysis shows the GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs modified by organic functional groups. The SEM and TEM images indicate that the GMS-AgNPs are spherical shaped with rough edged, while the TSL-AgNPs are spherical shape with smooth surface. The GMS-AgNP average size (15.8 nm) is smaller than TSL-AgNP (22.4 nm). In addition, antifungal tests using Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, and Fusarium oxysporum reveal that GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs can significantly inhibit the proliferation of these fungal strains. Conclusion: Garcinia mangostana shell and Tradescantia spathacea leaf extract as renewable and eco-friendly resources playing a dual role for nanoparticle biosynthesis create GMS-AgNPs and TSL-AgNPs with high antifungal efficiency for biomedical or agricultural applications.

The effectiveness of using PEGylated soy lecithin liposome in oxaliplatin (OXA) delivery was investigated. Liposomes were prepared from soy lecithin, cholesterol, and methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-cholesterol by thin lipid film hydration. The obtained OXA-loaded PEGylated liposome was characterized as ~ 189 nm diameter spheroid-like vesicles, negative charge, and drug-loading efficiency of ~ 44%. The nanocarrier exhibited in vitro sustained release patterns with ~ 31% of the initial drug was released in 24 h. The colloidal systems showed excellent stability in terms of particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta potential when being stored for 30 days at 2–8 °C. Moreover, the in vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed that PEGylated liposomes could enhance the activity of OXA on human breast cancer cells MCF-7 and reduced the cytotoxicity of OXA on mouse fibroblast cells L929. These results indicated that OXA-loaded PEGylated liposome has great potential in antitumor treatment. PEGylated liposomes enhanced in vitro stability and oxaliplatin delivery >

One-pot green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) has attracted much attention due to its simplicity, high feasibility in scaling up production, abundantly renewable sources, and environmental friendliness. Herein, Ocimum tenuiflorum and Phyllanthus urinaria leaf extracts (OT-ext and P.uri.ext, respectively) were chosen as reacting agents with rich and poor saponins to fabricate two biogenic AgNPs and characterize them. OT-AgNPs were simply and successfully generated by OT-ext. Ultraviolet-visible spectra showed the peak centered at 434 nm, which confirmed the presence of AgNPs after an 8-h reaction. FT-IR showed the organic functional groups (OH, C═O, C═C, CH, and COC) capping the surface of OT-AgNPs, which agreed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis exhibiting the composition containing C, O, and Ag. Transmission electron microscopy micrographs revealed that OT-AgNPs possess spherical morphology, with a size range of 5–61 nm, and the majority having a small size within that range. In comparison, P.uri.AgNPs formed by P.uri.ext had a size distribution in a similar range, but the P.uri.AgNP diameter shifted toward larger sizes. Further, OT-AgNPs and P.uri.AgNPs showed an effective antifungal ability against Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus flavus. Overall, it was found that the rich saponins in the extracts lead to the formation of smaller AgNPs, but all extract-mediated AgNPs with a size less than 100 nm can act as a fungicide for various applications.

A hybrid of organic/inorganic system, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol), was synthesized in the presence of coupling agent and aminated ends. Doxorubicin (DOX) was used as a model drug to evaluate the effect of PEGylation on the loading capacity and release pattern of the system. Characterization with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) confirmed the PEG conjugation, as well as the amorphous mesoporous nature of the synthesized particles. Due to the capping effect of PEG molecules over the pores in the silica structure, the synthesized system was able to retain higher amount of cargo and establish a controlled manner when releasing. Keywords: Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles, mPEG, PEGylation, Surface modification

Fungicides are important tools for preventing pathogens and maintaining crop quality; however, their effectiveness was directly affected by high-priced, toxicity, and environmental pollution. As a ...

In the present work, a dual-drug-loaded soy lecithin liposomal system was developed by coencapsulation of Letrozole (LET) with Paclitaxel (PTX) to improve the efficacy in breast cancer therapy. Liposomes were synthesized by the thin film layer hydration. To sufficiently evaluate the characteristics of these liposomes, the particle size, zeta potential, morphology, drug encapsulation, in vitro drug release, and cytotoxicity were ascertained. Results showed promisingly anticancer potentials, as the following parameters indicated: nanosize diameter (around 193 nm) and negative surface charge. Data collected from the coloaded drug liposomes showed suitable encapsulation efficiency (50.56% for PTX and 31.13% for LET). Controlled and sustained releases were achieved up to 72 h for both the loaded drugs following the diffusion mechanism. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxicity study on the human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) given the dual-drug-loaded liposome showed greater inhibition of cell growth than the single drug. Consequently, LET and PTX coloaded liposomes made from soy lecithin are expected to be an ingenious drug-delivery system for combination chemotherapy.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the major staple food crops of nearly two-third of the world's population. However, rice blast caused by fungus Pyricularia oryzae is generally considered the most serious disease of cultivated rice worldwide due to its extensive distribution and destructiveness under favourable climatic conditions. In this report, the combination between chitosan (CS) and silver (Ag), Ag@CS, was introduced for antifungal activity against Pyricularia oryzae extracted from blast-infected leaves. In detail, Ag@CS nanoparticles (NPs) were first synthesized and further mixed with Trihexad 700 WP (Tri), Ag@CS-Tri, against the fungus by agar diffusion method. The prepared Ag@CS-Tri NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In aqueous condition, Ag@CS-Tri NPs were successfully prepared and existed as spherical NPs with particle size of 17.26 ± 0.89 nm, which is an ideal size for their uptake into plant cells, indicating that the size of their parentally Ag@CS NPs is small enough to combine Tri, and their diameter is large enough to effectively penetrate the cellular membrane and kill fungi. More importantly, the antifungal property of Ag@CS-Tri NPs was significantly increased with inhibition zone around 25 nm compared with only around 12 nm of Ag@CS at the same concentration of Ag (2 ppm) and CS (4000 ppm). These results demonstrated that the synergistic effect of Tri and Ag@CS NPs can be a potential candidate with high antifungal activity for the use of antibiotics in agriculture.

As a promising candidate for expanding the capacity of drug loading in silica nanoplatforms, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) are gaining increasing attention. In this study, porous nanosilica (PNS) and HMSNs were prepared by the sol-gel method and template assisted method, then further used for Rhodamine (RhB) loading. To characterize the as-synthesized nanocarriers, a number of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen absorption-desorption isotherms, dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed. The size of HMSN nanoparticles in aqueous solution averaged 134.0 &plusmn, 0.3 nm, which could be adjusted by minor changes during synthesis, whereas that of PNS nanoparticles was 63.4 &plusmn, 0.6 nm. In addition, the encapsulation of RhB into HMSN nanoparticles to form RhB-loaded nanocarriers (RhB/HMSN) was successful, achieving high loading efficiency (51.67% &plusmn, 0.11%). This was significantly higher than that of RhB-loaded PNS (RhB/PNS) (12.24% &plusmn, 0.24%). Similarly, RhB/HMSN also possessed a higher RhB loading content (10.44% &plusmn, 0.02%) compared to RhB/PNS (2.90% &plusmn, 0.05%). From those results, it is suggested that prepared HMSN nanocarriers may act as high-capacity carriers in drug delivery applications.

The development of natural phospholipids for nanostructured drug delivery systems has attracted much attention in the past decades. Lecithin that was derived from naturally occurring in soybeans (SL) has introduced some auspicious accomplishments to the drug carrying aspect, like effectual encapsulation, controlled release, and successful delivery of the curative factors to intracellular regions in which they procure these properties from their flexible physicochemical and biophysical properties, such as large aqueous center and biocompatible lipid, self-assembly, tunable properties, and high loading capacity. Despite the almost perfect properties as a drug carrier, liposome is known to be quite quickly eliminated from the body systems. The surface modification of liposomes has been investigated in many studies to overcome this drawback. In this review, we intensively discussed the surface-modified liposomes that enhancing the targeting, cellular uptake, and therapeutic response. Moreover, the recent applications of soy lecithin-derived liposome, focusing on cancer treatment, brain targeting, and vaccinology, are also summarized.

In this chapter, the authors aim for a discussion on what has been learned from using liposome technology for the delivery of phytoconstituents including the overview of liposomal nanosystems, formulation and delivery aspects, and the current applications of liposomal nanocarrier systems for phytoconstituents. Liposomes have been considered novel nanocarriers for phytochemicals due to their remarkable advantages such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, less toxicity, the capability to encapsulate both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs, and targeted drug delivery to tumor sites. Liposomes can protect the encapsulated molecules from the outer environment, ensuring their stability and structure. The food industry, especially the food processing industry, can benefit from liposomes as well, since liposomes and their advantages offer a way to increase solubility of some compounds with demanding solubility properties, and protect compounds from the outer environment and ensure their activities. The encapsulation of active compounds, especially phytoconstituents, in liposomes has remarkably improved the performance of them in comparison to free compounds.

Paclitaxel (PTX), a compound extracted from the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia), is widely used as a natural-source cancer drug in the treatment of ovarian, breast and lung cancers. Previous studies showed that PTX had obvious effects on cancer cells, it blocks the cell cycle in its G1 or M phases by stabilizing the microtubules and preventing depolymerization. However, the use of PTX is inconvenient and associated with significant and poorly predictable side effects, due to its low bioavailability and poor water solubility. The aim of this study was to develop PTX-loaded soy lecithin nanoliposomes (PTX-LP) to improve its bioavailability. In this study, PTX-LP was prepared by thin film hydration method. The average size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of the PTX-LP were characterized. Results indicated that PTX-LP was able to loaded with suitable encapsulation efficiency values, nanometric particle size (100–200 nm), low polydispersity (less than 0.5), negative zeta potential, and slowly released up to 96 h. Therefore, the study expected that PTX-LP developed herein would serve as a potent drug carrier system for PTX in cancer therapy.

Antimicrobial compounds from traditional fermented foods have shown activity against a wide range of pathogen and spoilage microorganisms for several years. In this study, a Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), isolated from Vietnamese traditional fermented yogurt (Lactobacillus plantarum SC01), was encapsulated in alginate-gelatin (ALG-GEL) and the effect of incubation temperature, medium pH and surfactants were assessed. The aims of this research were to evaluate antimicrobial activity of bacteriocin produced by L. plantarum SC01. Another aim the research was to study the quality of pork meat treated with its Bacteriocin in 2 h as a bio-preservative at different storage times (0 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h) in room temperature, compared to control (treated with salt 40.0%). The antimicrobial activity of L. plantarum SC01 was identified through the inhibition rate of five indicator organisms, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus subtilis by co-culture method. The results showed that L. plantarum SC01 microencapsulated in ALG-GEL (2.5% alginate and 6.0% gelatin, w/v) and 3.0% bacteria supplied into modified MRS medium (MRSOPTSC01) produced highly active compound inhibited the growth of indicator organisms at a density of 104&ndash, 108 CFU/mL. Antibacterial compounds were highly active in a treatment at 80 &deg, C, not to be affected by pH, affected by surfactant as Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and Tween. Moreover, LAB obtained from this study show the potent Bacteriocin in its usage as a preservative in food.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) have been known as potential delivery system for doxorubicin (DOX). However, they have restricted applications due to their uncontrolled leakage, burst release of open pores and limited loading content of non-hollow core. In this study, a simple and effective system based on hollow MSN (HMSN) was synthesized and amino functionalized in order to optimize loading capacity and improve release profile for DOX delivery. HMSN were prepared following sSiO2 hard template preparation, mesoporous silica layer coating, and core template etching. Then the nanoparticles were aminated by (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (APTES) at different concentrations. Successful amino functionalization was shown by FT-IR, XPS and TGA. Surface area was revealed by BET and surface charge was determined by Zeta potential. TEM images showed high uniformity of spheres with hollow core-mesoporous shell structure and 154.0 ± 0.9 nm diameter of the aminated HMSN (HMSN-NH2), whilst the optimal –NH2 amount on the aminated HMSN surface was found to be 80.17 μg/100 mg by Kaiser test. After being aminated, HMSN-NH2 performed 3.63-fold increase in DOX loading content and 1.50-fold decrease in cumulative DOX release after 48 h. Additionally, MTT assays indicated that HMSN-NH2 was a biocompatible nanocarrier which had no toxicity on human hepatocellular carcinoma J5 (HCC J5) cells. The results suggested that the synthesized HMSN-NH2 could be a great potential nanocarrier in cancer therapy with optimal loading content and sustained release of DOX.

Paclitaxel (PTX) and anastrozole (ANA) have been frequently applied in breast cancer treatment. PTX is well-known for its anti-proliferative effect meanwhile ANA has just been discovered to act as an estrogen receptor &alpha, (ER&alpha, ) ligand. The combination therapy of PTX and ANA is expected to improve treating efficiency, as ANA would act as a ligand binding with the ER&alpha, gene expressed in breast cancer cells and thereafter PTX would inhibit the division and cause death to those cancer cells. In this study, liposome-based nanocarriers (LP) were developed for co-encapsulation of PTX and ANA to improve the efficacy of the combined drugs in an Estrogen receptor-responsive breast cancer study. PTX-ANA co-loaded LP was prepared using thin lipid film hydration method and was characterized for morphology, size, zeta potential, drug encapsulation and in vitro drug release. In addition, cell proliferation (WST assay) and IN Cell Analyzer were used for in vitro cytotoxicity studies on a human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Results showed that the prepared LP and PTX-ANA-LP had spherical vesicles, with a mean particle size of 170.1 &plusmn, 13.5 nm and 189.0 &plusmn, 22.1 nm, respectively. Controlled and sustained releases were achieved at 72 h for both of the loaded drugs. The in vitro cytotoxicity study found that the combined drugs showed higher toxicity than each single drug separately. These results suggested a new approach to breast cancer treatment, consisting of the combination therapy of PTX and ANA in liposomes based on ER response.

It is essential to develop a simple and sensitive method to rapidly detect residual fungicides in agricultural products to protect human health. So far, little studies have been reported on potential application of gold nanospheres (AuNSps) as a surface plasmon resonance based sensor for in-situ detection of residual fungicides. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the potential application of AuNSps as a surface plasmon resonance based sensor for in-situ detection of fungicides. AuNSps were successfully synthesized via a seed-mediated method with some modifications. Firstly, gold nanoseeds were made during the reduction of chloroauric acid by trisodium citrate dihydrate (TSC). Then, AuNSps were grown from the seeds by using HAuCl4, TSC and EDTA. AuNSps were subsequently dropped on a glass substrate before covered by thiophanate methyl, a broad-spectrum systemic fungicide. The AuNSps coated glass substrate was subsequently dried in the air for further surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements. Optical properties, shape and size of AuNSps were confirmed by UV-vis spectroscopy, XRD, SEM-EDX and TEM. The results showed that AuNSps were successfully synthesized with the size of 53 nm, and their resonance peak was located at 560 nm. The Raman signal intensity of thiophanate methyl covered on AuNSps is higher than that without AuNSps, indicating SERS effects of AuNSps deposited glass substrate.

Despite the fact that nanocarriers as drug delivery systems overcome the limitation of chemotherapy, the leakage of encapsulated drugs during the delivery process to the target site can still cause toxic effects to healthy cells in other tissues and organs in the body. Controlling drug release at the target site, responding to stimuli that originated from internal changes within the body, as well as stimuli manipulated by external sources has recently received significant attention. Owning to the spherical shape and porous structure, dendrimer is utilized as a material for drug delivery. Moreover, the surface region of dendrimer has various moieties facilitating the surface functionalization to develop the desired material. Therefore, multi-stimuli-responsive dendrimers or ‘smart’ dendrimers that respond to more than two stimuli will be an inspired attempt to achieve the site-specific release and reduce as much as possible the side effects of the drug. The aim of this review was to delve much deeper into the recent progress of multi-stimuli-responsive dendrimers in the delivery of anticancer drugs in addition to the major potential challenges.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the major staple food crops of nearly two-third of the world's population. However, rice blast caused by fungus Pyricularia oryzae is generally considered the most serious disease of cultivated rice worldwide due to its extensive distribution and destructiveness under favourable climatic conditions. In this report, the combination between chitosan (CS) and silver (Ag), Ag@CS, was introduced for antifungal activity against Pyricularia oryzae extracted from blast-infected leaves. In detail, Ag@CS nanoparticles (NPs) were first synthesized and further mixed with Trihexad 700 WP (Tri), Ag@CS-Tri, against the fungus by agar diffusion method. The prepared Ag@CS-Tri NPs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In aqueous condition, Ag@CS-Tri NPs were successfully prepared and existed as spherical NPs with particle size of 17.26 ± 0.89 nm, which is an ideal size for their uptake into plant cells, indicating that the size of their parentally Ag@CS NPs is small enough to combine Tri, and their diameter is large enough to effectively penetrate the cellular membrane and kill fungi. More importantly, the antifungal property of Ag@CS-Tri NPs was significantly increased with inhibition zone around 25 nm compared with only around 12 nm of Ag@CS at the same concentration of Ag (2 ppm) and CS (4000 ppm). These results demonstrated that the synergistic effect of Tri and Ag@CS NPs can be a potential candidate with high antifungal activity for the use of antibiotics in agriculture.