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Currently, from the sustainable development point of view, edible films are used as potential substitutes for plastics in food packaging, but their properties still have limitations and require further improvement. In this work, novel edible carrageenan films reinforced with starch granules and nanocellulose were developed and investigated for application as a bio-based food packaging system. The nanocellulose was used to improve film mechanical properties. Aloe vera gel was incorporated for antibacterial properties. Glycerol and sesame oil were added as plasticizers into the nanocomposite film to improve flexibility and moisture resistance. The interactions between charged polysaccharide functional groups were confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The migration of starch particles on the upper film surface resulting in increased surface roughness was demonstrated by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy methods. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that all films were stable up to 200 °C. The increase in nanocellulose content in films offered improved mechanical properties and surface hydrophilicity (confirmed by measurements of contact angle and mechanical properties). The film with a carrageenan/starch ratio of 1.5:1, 2.5 mL of nanocellulose and 0.5 mL of glycerol was chosen as the optimal. It demonstrated water vapor permeability of 6.4 × 10−10 g/(s m Pa), oil permeability of 2%, water solubility of 42%, and moisture absorption of 29%. This film is promising as a biodegradable edible food packaging material for fruits and vegetables to avoid plastic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, when the whole world is intensively switching to organic farming, the refusal or minimization of the usage of chemical plant protection products and synthesized fertilizers is a very urgent issue for the agro-industrial complex (AIC). Accordingly, the solution to the problems of increasing yields and ensuring the fight against pathogenic components should be carried out in accordance with the principles of "green" chemistry. In this regard, the usage of heteroleptic complexes based on carboxylic and amino acids with biogenic metals is dictated not only by their availability, low cost, and ability to increase crop yields but also by fungicidal activity, lower toxicity, and easy biodegradability, which lists them among the "green" and cost-effective plant biostimulants. In the present work, for the first time, a heteroleptic complex based on succinic acid and glycine, with the formula [Cu(succ)(gly)], was developed for usage as a fungicidal biostimulant, which has the ability to significantly reduce the number of pathogens. We found that this compound has a layered structure and was able to increase soybean germination up to 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rising worldwide demand for green chemicals, the bio-based polymer market is anticipated to expand substantially in the future. The synthesis of functional polymers has been a burgeoning area of research for decades. The primary driving force behind the development of bio-based polymers has been their compostability and biodegradability, which are critical given the public concern about waste. Significant advancements in the method for refining biomass raw materials towards the creation of bio-based construction materials and products are driving this rise. Bio-based polymers with this chemical structure are more flexible and adaptive, which allows them to attain their intended characteristics and functionalities. In commercial applications and healthcare and biotechnology, where completely manufactured, naturally occurring biomolecules are utilized and such polymers have the greatest impact. At the same time, limitations in polymer architectural control, biostability, and structural dynamics hinder the creation of biocompatible and functionally varied polymers. From this standpoint, the importance of functional biosynthetic polymers in the future years is highlighted, as well as new methods for addressing the aforementioned challenges. The article comprehensively highlighted the current strategies, market dynamics, and research trends of emerging Bio-Based Polymers. In addition, the most recent scientific breakthroughs in bio-based polymers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing novel nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery has become a 'promising niche'. The toxicity of the carrier and its efficacy in treatment modalities have become cardinal points as they can impede the progress of the therapy. In this study, a drug delivery system composed of a blend of polymers coated with a lipid, which is able to release cisplatin efficiently, was contrived. Here, cisplatin was encapsulated inside thermo-responsive dextran/gelatine blend nanocarriers coated with a lipid-PEG shell. The cisplatin encapsulated nanoparticles had a cube-like structure with a mean diameter of 210.25 ± 31.58 nm. The developed drug delivery system has showed a drug loading capacity of more than 90% and exhibited pH-responsive release of cisplatin. Moreover, the desirable features of the nanoparticles include biodegradability, biocompatibility, and blood compatibility. The potency of the drug delivery system was tested against breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231), which provided excellent results establishing the vigour of cisplatin-loaded nanoparticles in human breast cancer interventions. Furthermore, imperceptible systemic toxicity and side effects and its anti-tumor effects make cisplatin-loaded nanoparticles predominate as an eminent tool in cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reports the fabrication of hybrid nanoparticles consisting of nickel ferrite (NFO) for anti cancer drug delivery. The hybrid system was formulated from poly(vinyl alcohol)/stearic acid with PEG containing nickel ferrite for zidovudine (AZT) delivery. The nickel ferrite nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and TEM analysis. The hybrid nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and their influence on biological systems was evaluated by blood compatibility and cell viability studies. The encapsulation of AZT into the hybrid nanoparticles was assessed by evaluating the drug loading, encapsulation efficiency and release studies. The advantages of incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into self-assembled hybrid nanoparticles include the ability to load large amounts of drugs along with control over drug release. In this regard, the presented nickel ferrite reinforced hybrid nanoparticles containing zidovudine is a demanding platform that can act in a pH responsive manner enabling site specific intracellular anticancer drug delivery. Its impact is therefore noteworthy, extensive, and prevalent in cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastasis is the major reason for most brain tumors with up to a 50% chance of occurrence in patients with other types of malignancies. Brain metastasis occurs if cancer cells succeed to cross the 'blood-brain barrier' (BBB). Moreover, changes in the structure and function of BBB can lead to the onset and progression of diseases including neurological disorders and brain-metastases. Generating BBB models with structural and functional features of intact BBB is highly important to better understand the molecular mechanism of such ailments and finding novel therapeutic agents targeting them. Hence, researchers are developing novel in vitro BBB platforms that can recapitulate the structural and functional characteristics of BBB. Brain endothelial cells-based in vitro BBB models have thus been developed to investigate the mechanism of brain metastasis through BBB and facilitate the testing of brain targeted anticancer drugs. Bioengineered constructs integrated with microfluidic platforms are vital tools for recapitulating the features of BBB in vitro closely as possible. In this review, we outline the fundamentals of BBB biology, recent developments in the microfluidic BBB platforms, and provide a concise discussion of diverse types of bioengineered BBB models with an emphasis on the application of them in brain metastasis and cancer research in general. We also provide insights into the challenges and prospects of the current bioengineered microfluidic platforms in cancer research., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Curcumin loaded lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles dispersions were fabricated from carboxymethylcellulose, stearic acid, polyethylene glycol and sesame oil using emulsion solvent evaporation method for their possible application as edible coatings for fresh vegetables and fruits. They were characterized by FTIR and TEM analysis. In addition, anti-bacterial, blood compatibility, cytotoxicity and anticancer studies were also carried out. The prepared nanodispersions showed excellent mixed nanostructured morphology with an average size of 94.96 nm. The hybrid nanodispersions showed excellent blood compatibility, non-toxicity and antitumor activity. The synthesized nanoparticle dispersion was employed as an edible coating solution for fresh apples and tomatoes. The hybrid system coated vegetables and fruits shows minimal weight loss after 15 days of storage. Hence, the formulated hybrid nanostructures of CMC are promising as edible coating solution, in addition to possessing the properties to fight cancer., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Zidovudine (AZT) is an antiviral drug extensively used for combating the global pandemic- HIV/AIDS. However, its uses are overshadowed by its short half -life, poor aqueous solubility and inability to cross physiological barriers. This study highlights a nanosystem consisting of dextran and stearic acid for AZT delivery. This hybrid nanoparticle was prepared by double emulsion solvent evaporation method. The morphological analysis of the prepared nanoparticles was carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and structural analysis through FTIR spectroscopy. Haemolysis, blood cell aggregation and cytotoxicity evaluations were also performed. These biological evaluations indicated that the nanoparticles were compatible and fluorescence microscopy studies demonstrated increased cellular internalization of drug loaded hybrid nanoparticles when compared with free drug molecules. The experimental outcomes indicate that the prepared nanoparticles are highly biocompatible haemocompatible and effective in getting internalized into cells of neural origin. These results highlight the feasibility and efficacy of the hybrid nanoparticles for effective delivery of zidovudine., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Retroviral drug delivery faces many challenges due to its low bioavailability, short half life and hydrophobicity. In this study, the anti viral drug zidovudine (AZT) was encapsulated inside the amide functionalised alginate nanoparticles (AZT-GAAD NPs) using emulsion solvent evaporation method. The amide derivative of alginate was prepared by coupling reaction with d,l glutamic acid using carbodiimide activation chemistry. The stabilizer, PF-68 was integrated during the preparation of nanoparticles. The alginate nanoparticles were prepared via chemical cross linking. The novelty of this work imparts the absence of chemical cross-linking for the preparation of nanoparticles.The resulting nanoparticles had spherical shape with an average size of 432±11.9nm as confirmed by TEM images. The nanoparticles had a loading efficacy of 29.5±3.2% obtained by dialysis method. The release of AZT in PBS(pH-7.4) was studied and a slow and sustained release of AZT was observed. The nanoparticles were found to be biocompatible and in vitro cellular internalization studies indicated significantly higher internalization efficiency. All these results suggested that (AZT-GAAD NPs) can function as a promising delivery vectors for efficient antiviral drug delivery., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Zidovudine (AZT) is an antiviral drug with moderate solubility in water. It has limited application due to its short half life in vivo and consequent requirement for frequent administrations. To solve this problem, zidovudine loaded polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/stearic acid (SA)-polyethylene glycol (PEG) nanoparticles (PSNPs) were developed.The hybrid nanoparticles were prepared by emulsification-solvent evaporation method. The physico chemical characterizations of the PSNPs was done by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR). The in vitro release behavior and haemocompatibility studies were also performed. The in vitro cytotoxicity and cell uptake studies of the PSNPs were assessed in murine neuro-2a and HeLa cells. Our results revealed that the core shell PSNPs prepared from lipid and polymer led to significant improvement in cellular internalization. Therefore, it is envisaged that nanoparticles composed of lipid and polymer moieties may constitute a preferred embodiment for anti-viral drug delivery for use in HIV/AIDS therapy., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles have recently gathered much attention as nanoplatforms for drug delivery applications due to their unique structural properties. In this study zidovudine (AZT) loaded hybrid nanoparticles of alginate (ALG) and stearic acid- poly ethylene glycol (SA-PEG) were synthesized. The structural characterization of drug loaded hybrid nanoparticles were studied using FT-IR spectroscopy, DLS and TEM analysis. These hybrid nanoparticles showed dendritic morphology and it can be used as an efficient carrier for zidovudine. In this drug loaded hybrid system of Alginate -Stearicacid/Poly (ethyleneglycol) Nanoparticles (ASNPs), AZT and alginate form the core wherein SA-PEG forms the external shell. We observed a dendritic morphology with internal voids and channels formed by the core molecule and the external shell forms the closed pack surface groups. The optimized formulation achieved a sub micron size of 407.67±19.18nm with drug encapsulation of 83.18±1.22%, and surface potential of -42.53mV, and has significant stability for six months. Haemolysis and aggregation studies revealed that there were no lysis and aggregation in WBC, RBC and platelets. In-vitro cytotoxicity and cellular uptake of the nanoparticles in Glioma, Neuro2a and Hela cells showed that ASNPs are non toxic. The results indicate that the synthesized hybrid nanoparticles represent a potential carrier for zidovudine, thus possibly increasing zidovudine's efficiency as an anti-HIV drug., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cost effective adsorption matrix is recently, a much sought after alternative to the normal and expensive forms of matrices that are being used for the separation and purification of therapeutic molecules like immunoglobulins. A study therefore, has been focussed on developing copper complexed poly (vinyl alcohol) [PVA] and poly (styrene allyl alcohol) [PSA] gel beads for the separation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) from aqueous solutions. The copper-immobilized PVA and PSA gel beads were prepared, characterized and the copper content was estimated using EDX analysis. Further compatibility tests such as erythrocyte aggregation, lyses and cell counting were also investigated. An increase in the IgG adsorption capacities was achieved with the copper immobilized micro particles, when compared with the unmodified particles., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)