Nano LIFE

Study of nanoparticles has attracted the immense attention of researchers because of their wide applications in the medicine, chemical industries, and biotechnology. This paper highlights that plants and microbes can be a source of bio-compounds in nanoparticle synthesis in place of toxic chemicals. As this is an environmentally friendly approach following the principles of green synthesis which is cheap and is not toxic. Both sources provide antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial properties which hold great importance in the manufacturing of NPs. This review aims to bring together the diversity of synthesized metallic nanoparticles mediated by plant extracts, fungi, algae, bacteria and yeasts. All the mentioned bio-resources contain biomolecule which includes protein and enzyme which serves the twin action of both reduction and capping of the synthesized nanoparticles. The synthesized NPs are characterized by using UV-visible spectrometry, FT-IR, XRD, TEM, SEM and EDX. Also, the biomedical application of the synthesized NPs is explored in the treatment of cancer.

Scaffolds offer a three-dimensional framework supporting cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation of cells which are used to repair and regenerate tissues. Recent advancements in scaffold technology have significantly exploited the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This comprehensive review provides in-depth exploration of scaffold materials, fabrication techniques, and their recent progress in applications. Composite scaffolds have promising applications in bone and dental tissue regeneration due to their greater mechanical properties and ability to promote cell growth. The inherent crosslinking present in hydrogels allows them to maintain their integrity and three-dimensional structure without dissolving. However, there is a growing interest in smart hydrogels which can respond to changes in their external surroundings like pH, ionic strength, temperature, or specific molecules. dECM scaffold is an alternative potential technique for reconstructing the functional organs/tissues by excluding the cell-associated antigens while maintaining the native ECM compositions like growth factors, basement membrane structural proteins, and GAG’s. The degree of porosity in scaffolds can be increased by various fabrication techniques such as TIPS, SCPL, gas foaming, and freeze drying. GelMA hydrogels have shown promising potential in cell proliferation and tissue regeneration. In addition, graphene and its derivatives have been instrumental in the fabrication of bioactive scaffolds for cartilage regeneration. The introduction of additive manufacturing technologies, specifically 3D bioprinting, has significantly improved the precision and control of scaffold fabrication.

Thymoquinone, a significant component in medicine and the spice industry due to its potent antioxidant properties, is the focus of this paper. The development of a titanium oxide-modified graphite paste electrode is presented for the detection of thymoquinone in black cumin. The electrochemical characteristics of the thymoquinone molecule were explored in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution of pH of 6. The modified graphite paste electrode exhibits excellent linearity across the concentration range of 0.1-200 $\mu$M with limit of detection is 0.02 $\mu$M. The developed electrode exhibits commendable repeatability, reproducibility and exceptional sensitivity towards thymoquinone. The separation of various concentrations of thymoquinone samples such as Mousumi, Priya Gold, Sunrise and DNV using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with the Separability Index (SI) of 67.89 utilized to differentiate between different thymoquinone concentrations.

Rheumatoid arthritis, in short called as RA, is a severe auto-immune condition characterized by thickening of the synovium joints, inflammation and soreness of joints, which subsequently destroys the articular structures. The drug used to treat RA requires the delivery of a formulation in intact form to synovial joints and release of a whole amount of medicine into synovial fluids. Apremilast is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat arthritis, but its oral drug delivery is limited because of its low bioavailability and side effects. The nanoparticle-based in situ gel helps in prolonged formulation retention, which enables drug release within specific tissues such as cartilage and synovium. The purpose of this research is to formulate and assess the efficacy of a thermosensitive in situ gel of nanosized apremilast for managing RA. A total of nine apremilast- loaded nanoparticles in situ gels designated as F1–F9 were prepared with different ratios of Eudragit RSPO and polyvinyl alcohol using 25% w/v poloxamer 407 and poloxamer 188 as gelling agents. Among the various formulations, F5 showed a particle size of 119 nm, 80.8% EE, 27.54% DL, 37.5 ± 1.7^∘C gelation temperature, 55 ± 1.0 second gelation time and 866 ± 13 cps viscosity, with a better in vitro drug release profile of 75.54% for 24 h by non-Fickian diffusion mechanism; thus, it was chosen as the most productive formulation. In an in vivo study in rats, the optimized formulation reduced inflammation at the test site. The developed nanoparticles in situ gel will be a novel carrier system for drugs used to treat RA.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive sub-type of breast cancer, mainly affecting premenopausal women. As it neither expresses hormone receptors nor overexpresses HER2 receptors, it is difficult to tackle this deadly disease effectively. It is a well-known fact that phytochemicals have remarkable therapeutic potential in the prevention and treatment of different disorders. One of the well-known phytochemicals, ellagic acid (EA) has shown better efficacy in the prevention and treatment of cancer in many preclinical and clinical settings. Therefore, in this study, ellagic acid gold nanoparticles (EA-AuNp) were synthesized and characterized to passively target TNBC cells through EPR effect. EA-AuNp were prepared using the direct reduction method and characterized by UV–Visible spectroscopy, DLS, XRD, EDX, TEM and FT-IR spectra. We found that it significantly suppressed the TNBC cell proliferation (IC${}_{50}$ 12 $\mu$g/ml) compared to EA alone (IC${}_{50}$ 36 $\mu$g/ml). Flow cytometry and live and dead assays revealed that EA-AuNp induced more cell death in TNBC cells compared to EA alone. Further, western blot analysis substantiated that EA-AuNp induced apoptosis by regulating the expression of Bcl-2, survivin, caspase 3 and caspase 9. In conclusion, EA-AuNp has high anti-cancer potential and additional preclinical and clinical studies are highly recommended.