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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) does not respond to HER2-targeted and hormone-based medicines. Epidermal growth factor receptor 1 (EGFR1) is commonly overexpressed in up to 70% of TNBC cases, so targeting cancer cells via this receptor could emerge as a favored modality for TNBC therapy due to its target specificity. The development of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as carriers for siRNAs remains a rapidly growing area of research. For this purpose, a multi-functionalized KIT-6 containing the guanidinium ionic liquid (GuIL), PEI and PEGylated folic acid (FA-PEG) was designed. Accordingly, KIT-6 was fabricated and modified with FA-PEG and PEI polymers attached on the surface and the GuIL placed in the mesopores. Subsequent to confirming the structure of this multi-functionalized KIT-6- based nanocarrier using TEM, SEM, AFM, BET, BJH, DLS and Zeta Potential, it was investigated for uploading and transferring the anti-EGFR1 siRNAs to the MD-MBA-231 cell line. The rate of cellular uptake, cellular localization and endolysosomal escape was evaluated based on the fluorescent intensity of FAM-labelled siRNA using flowcytometry analysis and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The 64% cellular uptake after 4 h incubation, clearly suggested the successful delivery of siRNA into the cells and, CLSM demonstrated that siRNA@[FA-PEGylated/PEI@GuIL@KIT-6] may escape endosomal entrapment after 6 h incubation. Using qPCR, quantitative evaluation of EGFR1 gene expression, a knockdown of 82% was found, which resulted in a functional change in the expression of EGFR1 targets. Co-treatment of chemotherapy drug "carboplatin" in combination with siRNA@[FA-PEGylated/PEI@GuIL@KIT-6] exhibited a remarkable cytotoxic effect in comparison to carboplatin alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wheat is one of the main food for around 2 billion people worldwide. Among the biological stressors, Eurygaster integriceps Puton is a damaging insect in wheat and barley fields, which harms them both quantitatively (by overwintered adults) and qualitatively (by instar nymphs). The ovipositional and the new generation's production control are pivotal approaches to control the severe damages of Sunn-pest. Methods: In this study, to enhance the deltamethrin effectiveness while reducing its required dosage and also reducing the adverse health and environmental impacts, a novel MSN-based deltamethrin formulation was prepared and evaluated based on the laying-eggs number and oviposition behavior. To this, deltamethrin was loaded on KIT-6 mesoporous silica nanoparticles and characterized using SEM, TEM, and TGA analysis, and the insect potential of deltametrin@KIT6 was then evaluated. Results: The results showed that there might be differences between the treatments (KIT-6, deltamethrin@KIT-6, deltamethrin commercial formulation, and water as a control) in terms of the insect control via the laying-egg and next-generation prevention. The results showed that KIT-6 and deltamethrin@KIT-6 could reduce the oviposition rate compared to water as the control. Deltamethrin@KIT-6 not only caused the less oviposition done but the eggs were scattered and the batch of eggs did not have a uniform-shape similar to the control mode. The deltamethrin@KIT-6 nanopesticide could increase the pesticide effectiveness by reducing the Sunn-pest's oviposition and nymphal population and subsequently decreasing the damage caused by them. So that the concentrations of 10, 25, and 125 mg L−1 of deltamethrin@KIT-6 reduced oviposition by 63.24%, 66.11%, and 67.62%, respectively, compared to the control group. On the other hand, descriptive observations showed that another possible tension is created through insect eggs deposition on the boundary layer of leaves. Conclusion: The MSN-based nanoformulation could be effectively considered to control the next-generation population density of Sunn-pest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a great interest in the efficient intracellular delivery of Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP) and its possible applications for in vivo CRISPR-based gene editing. In this study, a nanoporous mediated gene-editing approach has been successfully performed using a bi-functionalized aminoguanidine-PEGylated periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles (RNP@AGu@PEG1500-PMO) as a potent and biocompatible nanocarrier for RNP delivery. Results: The bi-functionalized MSN-based nanomaterials have been fully characterized using electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), nitrogen adsorption measurements, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The results confirm that AGu@PEG1500-PMO can be applied for gene-editing with an efficiency of about 40% as measured by GFP gene knockdown of HT1080-GFP cells with no notable change in the morphology of the cells. Conclusions: Due to the high stability and biocompatibility, simple synthesis, and cost-effectiveness, the developed bi-functionalized PMO-based nano-network introduces a tailored nanocarrier that has remarkable potential as a promising trajectory for biomedical and RNP delivery applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imidazolium-based ionic liquid functionalized PEGylated mesoporous silica nanoparticles MCM-41 (denoted as [ImIL-PEGylated@MCM-41] NPs) is synthesized and evaluated as an efficient and reliable pH-sensitive nano-carrier for controlled release of cationic Lapatinib (Lap) drug. This nano-DDS was fully characterized by dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption measurement, and differential scanning calorimeter. Furthermore, the drug loading content and in-vitro drug release profile were studied. The entrapment and loading efficiency of the optimized formulation for Lap were 91 ± 2.0% and 32.21 ± 2.70%, respectively. The results of cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that ImIL-PEG@MCM-41 has no significant toxicity on both cancerous and normal cell lines and the anticancer activity of Lap@ImIL-PEG@MCM-41 was comparable to free drug in case of human breast cells (SKBR3) and human embryonic kidney 293 cells (HEK-293). Meanwhile, three-dimensional (3D) cell culture was performed by multicellular tumor spheroids for understanding of cell response to drugs in physiologically 3D microenvironments. The results of Lap@ImIL-PEG@MCM-41 uptake during 48 hours showed a gradual release of the Lap through the multicellular tumor spheroids. This showed that the pH-responsive controlled release of Lapatinib leads to the satisfactory results in the in vitro breast cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

β-Cyclodextrin functionalized PEGylated mesoporous silica nanoparticles-graphene oxide hybrid has been introduced as a heterogeneous support for immobilization of copper catalyst (denoted as Cu@ β CD-PEG-mesoGO). Mesoporous silica nanoparticles-graphene oxide hybrid (mesoGO) was synthesized and functionalized by PEG 600 ended β -cyclodextrin. Then, Cu was immobilized onto the later modified nanoparticles. Cu@ β CD-PEG-mesoGO was evaluated for the synthesis of benzimidazoles and 1,2,3-triazoles. The synthesis of 2-aryl benzimidazole derivatives from o -phenylenediamines and benzaldehydes via aerobic C-N bond oxidation reaction was successfully performed using Cu@ β CD-PEG-mesoGO as a “green” catalyst. The catalyst was also applied for the synthesis of 1,2,3-triazole derivatives via three component click reaction of alkynes, benzylbromides and sodium azide. The catalyst recovery test was performed, and showed that this catalyst is highly reusable without a significant decrease in its activity. This catalyst has outstanding properties such as high efficiency and turnover frequency (TOF), simple product work-up, utilization of H 2 O as a green solvent, mild reaction conditions, and easy catalyst recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

β-Cyclodextrin functionalized PEGylated porous silica nanoparticles KIT-6 (denoted as [β-CD@PEGylated KIT-6] NPs) is synthesized and evaluated as an efficient and reliable pH-sensitive nano-carrier. Curcumin (CUR), an anticancer drug, has low solubility and stability and these properties diminished its bioavailability. One way to overcome this problem is employing nano-carrier for delivery of CUR. In this study, the novel [β-CD@PEGylated KIT-6] NPs nano-carrier was employed for CUR delivery successfully. The nano-DDS was characterized using different techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), N 2 adsorption–desorption measurement, and dynamic light scattering (DLS). In this study, first, the combination of central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) was used to achieve the optimal condition of the loading step with investigation of two important factors: the loading time and the weight ratio of drug to nano-carrier. Maximum loading efficiency 88.55% was obtained at 43 h of loading time and 1.22 of the weight ratio. Then CUR was loaded onto the nano-carrier at this optimal condition and its released was investigated by CCD-RSM. The maximum drug release was obtained at 5.16 of pH and 107 h of release time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aminopropyl functionalized PEGylated mesoporous silica nanoparticles [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] were synthesized and evaluated as a promising biocompatible additive to study the activity and thermal reversibility and stability of human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II). For this purpose, the additive was prepared by covalent amino propyl functionalization of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) bearing PEG moiety as linker. The MSNs was fully characterized using different techniques including transmission electron microscopy, N 2 adsorption–desorption measurements, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. The average particle size of [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] was about 80 nm and showed high loading capacity for HCA II at pH 7.75 as a target protein. The efficiency of [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] in improving reversibility of HCA II was investigated by various techniques including UV–vis, 1,8-Anilinonaphtalene Sulfonate (ANS) fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), and differential scanning calorimetry. Our results showed that [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] can increase the protein thermal reversibility and stability. Herein, kinetic studies were applied to confirm the ability of [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] in increasing the activity of HCA II at high temperatures. Together our results present the [H 2 N-Pr@PEGylated SBA-15] as a water-dispersible and efficient additive for improving the activity, and thermal reversibility and stability of enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this research, the immobilization of superoxide dismutase (SOD) onto aminopropyl-functionalized KIT-6 [n-PrNH2-KIT-6] was investigated. This organo-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticle was prepared using a non-ionic surfactant and was fully characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm assay, IR and TGA techniques. An activity assay demonstrated that the immobilized SOD had a higher activity than the free enzyme. Further investigations using FT-IR, circular dichroism (CD), and probe 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) fluorescence intensity measurements indicated that the structure of the enzyme did not change upon binding to the mesoporous silica, and that immobilized SOD was also less affected by higher temperatures. The melting temperatures of the free and immobilized enzymes were measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which showed that a fraction of immobilized enzyme was more stable and revealed that immobilized enzyme was partly reversible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A biogenic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs)-based nanocarrier has been used for improving the stability and recyclability of PersiXyn2 as a recombinant xylanase enzyme. The biogenic MSNs (called RKIT-6 henceforth) were synthesized via a soft templating method using rice husk biomass as a renewable silica source. Then bis-(2-aminoethyl) ether modified RKIT-6 (denoted as bis-AE@RKIT-6) was prepared through the furnishing surface with bis-(2-aminoethyl) ether, as a pendant anchoring agent to immobilize PersiXyn2. The nanomaterials were characterized using nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), molecular docking (MD) study, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). After immobilizing, PersiXyn2@bis-AE@RKIT-6, the optimal temperature of enzyme performance was improved more than 10 °C in comparison with the free enzyme. Such a way that PersiXyn2@bis-AE@RKIT-6 sample could maintain 90% of its maximum activity at the range of 30–60 °C. PersiXyn2@bis-AE@RKIT-6 also enhanced the degradation of lignocellulosic agro-waste (rice straw) and reducing sugar production up to 35% in comparison to the free enzyme. Moreover, PersiXyn2@bis-AE@RKIT-6 could be recycled for ninth runs with a reasonable decrease in its activity. This study presents an efficient nano-biocatalyst which in a more comprehensive sense can be considered as a promising candidate in the fields of animal feed and lignocellulosic biomasses saccharification. Unlabelled Image • PersiXyn2 was immobilized on organically modified biogenic mesoporous silica nanoparticles. • Immobilized PersiXyn2 was recycled ninth times with a negligible loss in activity. • Immobilized enzyme enhanced the reducing sugar production. • Biogenic MSN was synthesized using rice biomass as a cost-effective silica source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic gold mesoporous silica nanoparticle core shells (mAu@PSNs) were fabricated as a support and their size, morphology and structure was further characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Cellulase (CEL) immobilization on mAu@PSNs was performed via covalent bonding. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed the successful binding of enzyme to mAu@PSNs while Bradford assay determined the binding efficiency to be 76%. The enzyme activity was measured at different pHs and temperatures by FPase method using Whatman filter paper as the substrate. The immobilized enzyme maintained 58% of its initial catalytic activity after nine hours. In this research, a new nano-system was designed as a solid support for cellulase immobilization which enhanced its thermal stability and facilitated its long term storage. In addition, the immobilized enzyme can be applied in a broader temperature and pH ranges while enzyme separation can be simply carried out by an external magnet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]