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Pro-oxidant therapy exploiting pro-oxidant drugs that can trigger cytotoxic oxidative stress in cancer cells has emerged as an innovative strategy for cancer-specific therapy. Piperlongumine (PL) has gained great interest as a novel pro-oxidant agent, because it has an ability to trigger cancer-specific apoptosis through the increase of oxidative stress in cancer cells. However, the use of PL is limited in the clinic because of its hydrophobic nature. In this study, chitosan- and fucoidan-based nanoparticles were prepared for the effective intracellular delivery of PL into cancer cells. Chitosan and fucoidan formed nanoparticles by ionic gelation. The chitosan- and fucoidan-based nanoparticles (CS-F NPs) effectively encapsulated PL, and increased its water solubility and bioavailability. CS-F NPs showed very low cytotoxicity in human prostate cancer cells, demonstrating its high potential for in vivo applications. The PL-loaded chitosan-fucoidan nanoparticles (PL-CS-F NPs) efficiently killed human prostate cancer cells via PL-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. This study demonstrates that CS-F NPs are promising natural polymer-based drug carriers for safe and effective PL delivery.

Photodynamic therapy is a clinically approved treatment approach for cancer. However, it has limited applications owing to poor water solubility and the short wavelength absorption of the photosensitizer (PS). We selected a near-infrared photosensitizer, SiNC, and encapsulated into a gold nanocage (AuNC) in the presence of phase-changing material. Then, the PS-encapsulated nanocage was coated with glycol chitosan (GC) with a cleavable peptide linkage or stable cysteine linkage to protect the PS from premature release and to improve the biocompatibility of the nanocage. We obtained particles of GC-coated SiNC-encapsulated AuNC with a neutral surface charge and approximately 160 nm in size. The enzyme-cleavable peptide-linked GC formulation (GC-pep@SiNC-AuNC) showed stronger phototoxicity and tumor suppression efficacy in a glioblastoma model compared with free NIR-PS and stable cysteine-linked GC-AuNC (GC-cys@SiNC-AuNC). This polymer-coated SiNC-AuNC may be a promising agent for brain cancer phototherapy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are gaining a great deal of attention in biomedical applications due to their unique physicochemical properties. In this study, green synthesis of AgNPs was developed using seaweed polysaccharide fucoidan. The AgNPs were further coated with chitosan to form an electrolyte complex on the surface. The developed chitosan⁻fucoidan complex-coated AgNPs were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). FT-IR results suggested strong polyelectrolyte complexation between fucoidan and chitosan. The developed chitosan⁻fucoidan complex-coated AgNPs significantly inhibited microbial growth. Moreover, the AgNPs showed efficient anticancer activity in human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). This study demonstrated that chitosan⁻fucoidan complex-coated AgNPs hold high potential for food and cosmeceutical applications.

The replacement of conventional autografts and allografts by bone fragments constructed from alternate materials, cells, and molecules (growth factors, drugs, etc.) is an exciting prospect in the field of bone tissue engineering. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) is a growth factor that has been extensively studied from this point of view. This review analyzes the relevance of chitosan and its derivatives and composites with various materials such as ceramics, heparin, silica, stem cells, titanium implants, etc., in terms of delivering BMP-2 for the purpose of bone regeneration. Chitosan offers the versatility to be modified into any shapes or sizes including conversion to nanoparticles, microspheres, nanofibers, porous scaffolds, and films. The results presented in this review clearly demonstrate that chitosan-based materials are biocompatible and have the potential to systematically and sustainably release BMP-2 where required. This release results in enhanced cell proliferation levels, enhancement of alkaline phosphatase activity, increased differentiation as well as increased mineralization under in vitro and in vivo conditions. This review also shines a spotlight on the currently developed chitosan-based products that are being used for BMP-2 delivery., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The main aim of this study was to obtain porous antimicrobial composites consisting of chitosan, alginate, and biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Chitosan and alginate were used owing to their pore-forming capacity, while AgNPs were used for their antimicrobial property. The developed porous composites of chitosan-alginate-AgNPs were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The FT-IR results revealed the presence of a strong chemical interaction between chitosan and alginate due to polyelectrolyte complex; whereas, the XRD results confirmed the presence of AgNPs in the composites. The dispersion of AgNPs in the porous membrane was uniform with a pore size of 50-500μm. Antimicrobial activity of the composites was checked with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The developed composites resulted in the formation of a zone of inhibition of 11±1mm for the Escherichia coli, and 10±1mm for Staphylococcus aureus. The bacterial filtration efficiency of chitosan-alginate-AgNPs was 1.5-times higher than that of the chitosan-alginate composite. The breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 was used to test the anticancer activity of the composites. The IC 50 value of chitosan-alginate-AgNPs on MDA-MB-231 was 4.6mg. The developed chitosan-alginate-AgNPs composite showed a huge potential for its applications in antimicrobial filtration and cancer treatment., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Solid three dimensional (3D) composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering were prepared using the freeze-drying method. The scaffolds were composed of chitosan, natural nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) and fucoidan in the following combinations: chitosan, chitosan-fucoidan, chitosan-nHA, and chitosan-nHA-fucoidan. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy (OM) were used to determine the physiochemical constituents and the morphology of the scaffolds. The addition of nHA into the chitosan-fucoidan composite scaffold reduced the water uptake and water retention. FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of a phosphate group in the chitosan-nHA-fucoidan scaffold. This group is present because of the presence of nHA (isolated via alkaline hydrolysis from salmon fish bones). Microscopic results indicated that the dispersion of nHA and fucoidan in the chitosan matrix was uniform with a pore size of 10-400μm. The composite demonstrated a suitable micro architecture for cell growth and nutrient supplementation. This compatibility was further elucidated in vitro using periosteum-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs). The cells demonstrated high biocompatibility and excellent mineralization for the chitosan-nHA-fucoidan scaffold. We believe that a chitosan-nHA-fucoidan composite is a promising biomaterial for the scaffold that can be used for bone tissue regeneration., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)