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Iron nanoparticles are typically made from inorganic precursors, but for the first time, we synthesized-Fe2O3-NCs from goat blood (a bio-precursor) employing the RBC lysis method (a molecular level approach). After that, γ-Fe2O3-NPs were coated with PEG and combined with DOX to form nanocarriers (NC) for drug delivery. PEG–DOX–γ-Fe2O3-NCs were physicochemically investigated using A549 lung cancer cells as a model for in vitro and in vivo studies. The result revealed that PEG–DOX–γ-Fe2O3-NCs were 60–70 nm in size, confirming the presence of PEG and DOX in γ-Fe2O3-NCs. Cytotoxicity, morphological abnormalities, and intracellular iron recognition were observed in a dose-dependent manner in the cell line investigation. The presence of robust DOX signals in the nucleus shows that PEG–DOX–γ-Fe2O3-NCs were used for nuclear chemotherapy and cell uptake. In vivo, the rapid release of PEG–DOX–γ-Fe2O3-NCs was also observed. DOX suppresses carcinogenesis and has no toxicity in the healthy organs of tumor-bearing mice, according to investigated histological study. As a result, PEG–DOX–γ-Fe2O3-NCs synthesized from natural sources will be preferable to commercially available synthetic sources and can be employed as an anticancer agent. This nanocarrier will be developed in the future with various drug carrier systems for targeted nuclear treatment of cancer and other related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amino acids play a crucial role in a variety of significant metabolic processes and their homeostasis is essential for cell growth and survival. Cysteine (Cys) furnishes imperative information about peculiar physiological functions and disease diagnosis. Cys detection in a biological solution has certain challenges. In this study, we present an appropriate and cost-effective colorimetric technique for the quantitative detection of Cys using label-free silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) as color indicators and Be2+ ions as cross-linking agents. The determination process needed to be based on the interaction of Ag-NPs with Cys molecules in the presence of beryllium ions, which induced a rapid pale yellow to red color conversion. The results indicate that this is a rapid and simple technique for quantitative analysis of Cys. In the linear range of 0.1–1000 μM, a detection limit of 50 nM was obtained. In addition, the technique was profitably applied to the detection of cysteine in human serum samples spiked with 250–5 μM and recoveries were in an acceptable range of 95.0–120.0%. This study might promote the implementation of label-free biomolecule detection in medical diagnostics and biochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we report the validation of cancer nanotherapy for the treatment of cancers using quercetin (Qtn). Much attention has been paid to the use of nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver drugs of interest in vitro/in vivo. Highly developed NPs-based nano drug delivery systems (NDDS) are an attractive approach to target cancer cell apoptosis, which is related to the onset and progression of cancer. Conventional chemotherapy has some notable drawbacks, such as lack of specificity, requirement of high drug doses, adverse effects, and gradual development of multidrug resistance (MDR), that decrease the efficacy of cancer therapy. To overcome these challenges of chemotherapy, the achievement of high drug loading in combination with low leakage at physiological pH, minimal toxicity toward healthy cells, and tunable controlled release at the site of action is an ongoing challenge. To assist drug delivery, we have prepared PVPylated-TiO2NPs containing Qtn with high loading efficiency (26.6% w/w) as a NDDS. The Qtn-PVPylated-TiO2NPs are uptaken via endocytosis by cancer cells and can generate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in order to increase mitochondrial membrane potential loss (Δφm) and enable release of cytochrome-c, followed by dysregulation of Bcl-2 into the cytosol and activation of caspase-3 to induce cancer cell apoptosis. These novel nanocombinations can be utilized to improve cancer nanotherapy by induction of apoptosis in vitro. Analysis at the molecular level revealed that the Qtn-PVPylated-TiO2NPs nanocombinations induced Δφm-mediated apoptotic signaling pathways. Overall, this study demonstrated that careful design of non-toxic nanocarriers for cancer nanotherapy can yield affordable NDDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for 'Mitochondrial dysfunction-induced apoptosis in breast carcinoma cells through a pH-dependent intracellular quercetin NDDS of PVPylated-TiO 2 NPs' by Thondhi Ponraj et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2018, 6, 3555-3570.

In this article, we report the validation of cancer nanotherapy for the treatment of cancers using quercetin (Qtn). Much attention has been paid to the use of nanoparticles (NPs) to deliver drugs of interest in vitro/in vivo. Highly developed NPs-based nano drug delivery systems (NDDS) are an attractive approach to target cancer cell apoptosis, which is related to the onset and progression of cancer. Conventional chemotherapy has some notable drawbacks, such as lack of specificity, requirement of high drug doses, adverse effects, and gradual development of multidrug resistance (MDR), that decrease the efficacy of cancer therapy. To overcome these challenges of chemotherapy, the achievement of high drug loading in combination with low leakage at physiological pH, minimal toxicity toward healthy cells, and tunable controlled release at the site of action is an ongoing challenge. To assist drug delivery, we have prepared PVPylated-TiO 2 NPs containing Qtn with high loading efficiency (26.6% w/w) as a NDDS. The Qtn-PVPylated-TiO 2 NPs are uptaken via endocytosis by cancer cells and can generate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in order to increase mitochondrial membrane potential loss (Δψm) and enable release of cytochrome-c, followed by dysregulation of Bcl-2 into the cytosol and activation of caspase-3 to induce cancer cell apoptosis. These novel nanocombinations can be utilized to improve cancer nanotherapy by induction of apoptosis in vitro. Analysis at the molecular level revealed that the Qtn-PVPylated-TiO 2 NPs nanocombinations induced Δψm-mediated apoptotic signaling pathways. Overall, this study demonstrated that careful design of non-toxic nanocarriers for cancer nanotherapy can yield affordable NDDS.