Mcgarrydueholm0401

Curcumin is highly effective against various types of cancers; however, its low aqueous solubility, high metabolism and non-specificity hinder its efficacy. This study reports the synthesis of three lactobionic acid containing bola-amphiphiles and their investigation for curcumin nano-vesicular delivery into cancer cells. Synthesized bola-amphiphiles were capable of forming nano-vesicles and curcumin loading in a lipophilicity dependent manner. Bola-amphiphile with higher lipophilicity (C12) caused 89.55 ± 5.52% drug encapsulation in its spherical shape nano-vesicles (195.90 ± 0.83 nm). Bola-amphiphile resulting increased curcumin encapsulation with minimum vesicles size was further investigated for cellular uptake and in-vitro anticancer activity. Anticancer activity of curcumin significantly increased against the tested cancer cells upon loading in bola-amphiphile nano-vesicles. Furthermore, nano-vesicular drug delivery of curcumin enhanced its cellular uptake even at the lowest concentration of 1.25 µg/mL.It is concluded that the synthesized bola-amphiphile based nano-vesicles can efficiently deliver curcumin to the tested cancer cells and needs to be tested for established anticancer drugs against different cancer cell lines for effective treatment of cancer.Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a non-melanoma cancer with high morbidity in the elders, is a type of limited skin cancer with a projected appearance. Traditional treatments such as oral or injection administration are likely to result in serious side effects. Here, we developed a strategy that combined photodynamic therapy (PDT) with ablative light "needles" (carbon-dioxide laser) for the treatment of BCC, involving β-Tetra-(4-carboxyl-phenoxy)-zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPC4) cubic phases with high drug loading, easy preparation, long local retention, good spreading ability and little toxicity. A model of nude mice with BCC was established for the study of pharmacodynamics. The light needles of low energy (53 mJ/cm2) used here could promote transdermal absorption of ZnPC4 cubic phases while those of high energy (238 mJ/cm2) alone could completely kill tumor cells with no recurrence. However, ZnPC4 cubic phases alone could not completely inhibit tumor growth, for it was distributed mainly at the topical administration site in the absence of any adjuvant technology. Therefore, the combination of photodynamics and light needles offered a good solution. Especially, the combined use of light needles with high energy and ZnPC4 cubic phases can treat BCC efficiently with no recurrence. This approach is expected to be a novel and promising medication against BCC.The first objective was to investigate the transdermal iontophoresis of interferon beta 1b (IFN); the second was to determine whether the addition of 10 Arg residues at the N-terminus, creating a highly charged poly-Arg analogue (Arg10-IFN), increased delivery. Cumulative permeation of IFN and Arg10-IFN after iontophoresis at 0.5 mA/cm2 for 8 h was 6.97 ± 4.82 and 9.55 ± 1.63 ng/cm2, respectively - i.e. >1000-fold less than that of ribonuclease A, cytochrome c and human basic fibroblast growth factor. Co-iontophoresis of acetaminophen showed that, in contrast to lysozyme, neither IFN nor Arg10-IFN interacted with skin to decrease convective solvent flow. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between (i) iontophoretic delivery of IFN across intact or laser porated skin and (ii) passive or iontophoretic delivery of IFN across laser porated skin. Chromatographic characterisation supported the hypothesis that IFN was bound strongly to albumin. The formation of a ~86 kDa complex with albumin was probably responsible for the poor cutaneous delivery of IFN/Arg10-IFN despite the use of iontophoresis and/or laser microporation. Biopharmaceuticals might interact with specific proteins during iontophoretic transport and so decrease their (per)cutaneous delivery without affecting electroosmotic solvent flow, which is usually considered as a reliable marker to report on permeant binding during electrotransport across the skin.The polysaccharides from blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) fruits were degraded by ultrasonic irradiation. Selleck Poly(vinyl alcohol) Results showed that viscosity-average molecular weight decreased with increasing ultrasonic time or power. The degradation was fitted to the second-order kinetics model and midpoint chain scission model. Gas chromatographic analysis demonstrated that the native polysaccharide and three degraded polysaccharides were composed of the same monosaccharides but in different ratios. Fourier transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic analyses revealed the presence of α-, β-pyranose rings and the same six sugar residues in the four blackcurrant polysaccharides. Compared to the native polysaccharide, three degraded polysaccharides displayed better rheological properties and stronger protective effects against erythrocyte hemolysis. Collectively, the results support the potential utility of blackcurrant polysaccharides as natural antioxidants.Herein, we have successfully synthesized a novel N-Succinyl chitosan/gold nanocomposite (N-SuC/Au NC) using N-SuC and gold(III) chloride, and investigated the biocompatibility and antifungal activity. The synthesized N-SuC/Au NC was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscope, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The N-SuC/Au NC exhibited a strong inhibition effect towards pathogenic Candida albicans. Morphological analysis revealed the destruction of C. albicans cell membrane due to N-SuC/Au NC treatment. The in vitro and in vivo toxicity of N-SuC/Au NC was analyzed with HEK293T mammalian cells and zebrafish larvae, respectively. The synthesized N-SuC/Au NC demonstrated no cytotoxicity towards HEK293T cells up to 1200 μg/mL concentration. The survival rate of the zebrafish larvae at 120 hpf, was found as 100% up to 1200 μg/mL of N-SuC/Au NC exposure. The in vivo studies further confirmed the inhibitory effects of N-SuC/Au NC on the formation of C. albicans hyphae in infected zebrafish muscle tissue.