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The current study explores the effect of the extracted novel Mushroom polysaccharides and its formulation onto Alginate (Alg.)/kappa carrageenan microcapsules to exert immunotherapeutic effect upon activating gut resident natural killer cells (NK) against colon cancer. The extracted polysaccharides of Agaricus bisporus MH751906 was microcapsulated in Alg/κ-carrageenan microcapsules as an oral delivery system for colon cancer. The microcapsule is characterized by SEM, FTIR, Raman and TGA; and showed a superior acidic stability, controlled release, and thermal stability at high temperature with higher hydrogel swelling rate in colon-mimicking pH. Upon activation of human NK cells with microcapsules (

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) can infect millions of people worldwide causing mild to life-threating infections. The current study demonstrates the first comparative anti-HSV type 1 activity and phytochemical investigation of

Although there are several treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), outcomes are unsatisfactory and often associated with many side effects. We attempted to improve RA therapeutic outcomes by intr...

Breast cancer endocrine resistance prevents unleashing full capabilities of Tamoxifen (TMX), besides TMX off-target side effects on healthy tissue. In this study, we engineered TMX nanocomposite via co-loading it on alginate-based silver nanoparticles and embedding within folic acid-polyethylene glycol surface conjugate. The coating process was done by w/o/w double emulsion method. To confirm the silver nanoparticles formation, UV spectroscopy, XRD and TEM analysis were carried out. TEM results confirmed the core-shell structure of folate targeted nanocomposite with approximate average diameter of 66 nm, the nanocomposite structures were characterized by FTIR, TGA and SEM. By comparing with the non-targeted formula, folate decorated formula had 12-folds lowered IC50 value and 12.5–14-fold higher cancer cells toxic selectivity index. Also, after 4 h treatment, both fluorescence microscopic and flow cytometric analysis indicated higher intracellular accumulation of folic acid conjugated formula on MCF-7 cancer cells than the non-targeted one with 3.44-folds. The breast cancer cytotoxic effects of this metal-endocrine nanocomposite formula could be explained by the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), down regulation of survival oncogenic genes (BCL-2 and Survivin) and the accumulation of MCF-7 cells in G2/M phase. All these data confirm the efficiency and efficacy of the formulated nanocomposite as future treatment for breast cancer.

Bacterial polymeric silk is produced by Bacillus sp. strain NE and is composed of two proteins, called fibroin and sericin, with several biomedical and biotechnological applications. In the current study and for the first time, the whole bacterial silk proteins were found capable of exerting antiviral effects against herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1), adenovirus type 7 (AD7), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The direct interaction between bacterial silk-like proteins and both HSV-1 and AD7 showed potent inhibitory activity against viral entry with IC50 values determined to be 4.1 and 46.4 μg/mL of protein, respectively. The adsorption inhibitory activity of the bacterial silk proteins showed a blocking activity against HSV-1 and AD7 with IC50 values determined to be 12.5 and 222.4 ± 1.0 μg/mL, respectively. However, the bacterial silk proteins exhibited an inhibitory effect on HSV-1 and AD7 replication inside infected cells with IC50 values of 9.8 and 109.3 μg/mL, respectively. All these results were confirmed by the ability of the bacterial silk proteins to inhibit viral polymerases of HSV-1 and AD7 with IC50 values of 164.1 and 11.8 μg/mL, respectively. Similarly, the inhibitory effect on HCV replication in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) was determined to be 66.2% at concentrations of 100 μg/mL of the bacterial silk proteins. This antiviral activity against HCV was confirmed by the ability of the bacterial silk proteins to reduce the ROS generation inside the infected cells to be 50.6% instead of 87.9% inside untreated cells. The unique characteristics of the bacterial silk proteins such as production in large quantities via large-scale biofermenters, low costs of production, and sustainability of bacterial source offer insight into its use as a promising agent in fighting viral infection and combating viral outbreaks.

Interaction between nanoparticles (NPs) and protein is particularly important due to the formation of dynamic nanoparticle-protein complex. The current study indicated that silica NPs were able to induce conformational modification in the adsorbed lactoperoxidase (LPO) which in turns degrades the synthetic dyes. The maximum degradation efficiency was recorded for the LPO modified silica NPs in the presence of H2O2 comparing with either free LPO or silica NPs. Degradation efficiency of crystal violet and commassie blue R250 after 6 h was assessed to be 100(%). Also, degradation efficiency of Congo red reached 90.6% and 79.3% in the presence and absence of H2O2, respectively, however methyl red degradation efficiency recorded 85%. The viability assay experiment indicated that the IC50 value of the LPO modified silica NPs on human fibroblast cells reached 2.8 mg/ml after 48 h incubation. In addition to dye removal, the LPO modified silica NPs were able to inhibit the antibiotic resistant bacterial strains (Salmonell typhii, Staphylococcus areus, Pseudomonas aureginosa, E. coli, Proteus sp. and streptococcus sp.) at concentrations up to 2.5 mg/ml with inhibition activity about 95%. These findings emphasized that the ability of LPO for degradation of the synthetic dyes after adsorption on silica NPs besides it could be a promising agent with potent inhibitory effect targeting a wide range of multidrug resistant bacteria.

The lectins are non-immune origin carbohydrate-binding proteins. Plant�s lectins are distributed in many species of medicinal plants, family Fabaceae. In this study the safety usage pattern of wild Pisum fulvum lectin was evaluated on different mammalian noncancerous cell types and the anticancer activity was examined on different cancer human cell lines: colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), breast cancer cells (MCF7) and laryngeal carcinoma (Hep-2 cells). Moreover, both morphological and molecular evidence of apoptosis have been detected using both acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) stain and RT-qPCR. The results revealed that IC50 of the wild lectin on the noncancerous cells ranged from 19.7 to 2.4 �g protein/mL. In addition, lectin was more potent against HepG2 cells than the other used cells, with inhibition percentages ranged from 68.45 to 90.98 and with cancer cell selectivity index ranged 3.5 to 28.14. The treatment showed 67.6% inhibition of BrdU incorporation in the proliferated hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Furthermore, HepG2-lectin treated cells showed obvious nuclear condensation after 48 h of treatment with ability to down-regulate the expression of BCL2 and BAX and to up-regulate the expression of Ikab gene. The results obtained in this research work clearly indicated the Pisum fulvum lectin could be a promising potential anticancer agent.

Biogenic silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNPs) is one of the most fascinating nanomaterials used for several biomedical purposes. In the current study, we biosynthesized AgNPs (bio-AgNPs) using Arthrospira platensis (A-bio-AgNPs), Microcystis aeruginosa (M-bio-AgNPs), and Chlorella vulgaris (C-bio-AgNPs) active metabolites and evaluated their anticancer efficacy against breast cancer. The recovered bio-AgNPs were characterized using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). In addition, their safety profiles were monitored in vitro on PBMCs cells and in vivo on Albino mice. The obtained results indicated the safety usage of bio-AgNPs at concentrations of 0.1 mg/ml on PBMCs cells and 1.5 mg/ml on the Albino mice. The bio-AgNPs displayed dose-dependent cytotoxic effects against HepG-2, CaCO-2, and MCF-7 cell lines by inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and arresting the treated cells in G0/G1 and sub G0 phases. In addition, A-bio-AgNPs induced breast cancer cellular apoptosis by downregulating the expression of survivin, MMP7, TGF, and Bcl2 genes. Upon A-bio-AgNPs treatment, a significant reduction in tumor growth and prolonged survival rates were recorded in breast cancer BALB/c model. Furthermore, A-bio-AgNPs treatment significantly decreased the Ki-67 protein marker from 60% (in the untreated group) to 20% (in the treated group) and increased caspase-3 protein levels to 65% (in treated groups) comparing with 45% (in doxorubicin-treated groups).

Although there are several treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), outcomes are unsatisfactory and often associated with many side effects. We attempted to improve RA therapeutic outcomes by intra-articular administration of dual drug-loaded poly(lactic) acid (PLA)-coated herbal colloidal carriers (HCCs). Curcumin (CU) and resveratrol (RES) were loaded into HCCs because of their safety and significant anti-inflammatory activity. HCCs were prepared using a high-pressure, hot homogenization technique and evaluated

PurposeThe main objective of this study is to explore the effects of the extracted mushroom polysaccharides in the form of polysaccharides-Alginate (Alg.)/kappa carrageenan (El-Aassar MR) microcapsules to activate natural killer cells (NK) against colon cancer. MethodsWater soluble polysaccharides were extracted from nine wild isolates of Egyptian Mushroom, and their safety patterns were checked on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The extracted Agaricus bisporus MH751906 polysaccharide was microcapsulated in Alg/κ-carrageenan microcapsules. The morphology and swelling behavior of Alg/κ-carrageenan microcapsules, Alg/κ-carrageenan*polysaccharide microcapsules was determined. Also, the in vitro release of Polysaccharide from Alg/κ-carrageenan*polysaccharide microcapsules was analyzed. The Effects of Alg/κ-carrageenan*polysaccharide microcapsules on activating NK cells against colon cancer was evaluated at both cellular and molecular levels. ResultsThe results showed that, the extracted polysaccharide from the isolate 8 (submitted to the Gen Bank as Agaricusbisporus MH751906) was the safest sample on PBMCs even at 5mg/ml. The microencapsulated polysaccharides in Alg/κ-carrageenan*polysaccharide formula showed better thermal stability at high temperature with higher hydrogel swelling rates in alkaline pH. Upon NK cells activation with microcapsules (ANK cells), a significant decrease in CD11b and CD16-CD56- and an increase in CD16+CD56+ NK cell populations were recorded. These activated NK cells showed 74.09% cytotoxic effects against CaCO-2cellswith an increase of cancer cell populations in the G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, the ANK cells-CaCo-2treated cells recorded down regulations both Bcl2 and TGF genes and up regulation of IkappaB-α expression.ConclusionA novel polysaccharides-alginate/κ-carrageenan microcapsules preparation to enhance NK cell cytotoxic effects against colon cancer cells and this inhibitory effect is associated with the regulatory effects of inflammatory pathway through the induction of IkappaB- alpha.

Systemic rheumatoid arthritis treatment has been associated with numerous side effects. We attempted to formulate hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated teriflunomide (TER)-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) that can target inflamed rheumatic joints following oral administration. In vitro evaluation including colloidal characteristics, drug release and stability studies were conducted. Also, cytotoxicity studies on THP1 and peripheral blood mononuclear cells besides testing the binding of HA coated TER-NLCs to CD44 receptors were carried out. Furthermore, pharmacokinetics following oral administration, anti-arthritic effects, hepato and nephrotoxicity of NLCs were assessed. Selected NLCs formulation was approximately 284.9 ± 3.8 nm in size with 96.89 ± 0.45% entrapment efficiency and provided a sustained release for 30 days. NLCs showed good stability that was confirmed by TEM examination. Cell culture studies revealed that HA-coated TER- NLCs showed superior cytotoxicity and binding affinity to CD44 receptors compared with TER suspension. In vivo studies demonstrated the superiority of NLCs in increasing TER bioavailability, reducing TNF-α serum levels and improving joint healing that was evidenced in both histopathological and X-ray radiographic examination. This may be attributed to the ability of HA-coated TER-NLCs to target rheumatic joints passively and actively by targeting CD44 receptors that are overexpressed in rheumatic joints.

New anticancer agents are continually needed because cancerous cells continue to evolve resistance to the currently available chemotherapeutic agents. The aim of the present study was to screen, purify and characterize a hepatotoxic bacteriocin from Enterococcus species. The production of bacteriocin from the Enterococcus isolates was achieved based on their antibacterial activity against indicator reference strains. Enterococcus isolates showed a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity by forming inhibition zones with diameters ranged between 12 and 29 mm. The most potent bacteriocin producing strain was molecularly identified as Enterococcus thailandicus. The crude extracted bacteriocin was purified by cation exchange and size exclusion chromatography that resulted in 83 fractions. Among them, 18 factions were considered as bacteriocins based on their positive antibacterial effects. The anticancer effects of the purified bacteriocins were tested against HepG2 cell line. The most promising enterocin (LNS18) showed the highest anticancer effects against HepG2 cells (with 75.24% cellular inhibition percentages), with IC50 value 15.643 μM and without any significant cytotoxic effects on normal fibroblast cells (BJ ATCC® CRL-2522™). The mode of anticancer action of enterocin LNS18 against HepG2 cells could be explained by its efficacy to induce cellular ROS, decrease HepG2 CD markers and arrest cells in G0 phase. Amino acid sequence of enterocin LNS18 was determined and the deduced peptide of the structural gene showed 86 amino acids that shared 94.7% identity with enterocin NKR-5-3B from E. faecium. Enterocin LNS18 consisted of 6 α-helices; 5 circular and one linear. Model-template alignment constructed between enterocin LNS18 and NKR-5-3B revealed 95.31% identity. The predicted 3D homology model of LNS18, after circularization and release of 22 amino acids, showed the formation of a bond between Leu23 and Trp86 amino acid residues at the site of circularization. Furthermore, areas of positive charges were due to the presence of 6 lysine residues resulting in a net positive charge of +4 on the bacteriocin surface. Based on the above mentioned results, our characterized bacteriocin is a promising agent to target liver cancer without any significant toxic effects on normal cell lines.

The κ-carrageenan/sodium alginate beads were prepared for drug delivery system. The presented study; describes the preparation of κ-carrageenan/sodium alginate beads and their feasibility as potential carriers for delivery of polysaccharide drugs was evaluated. Moreover, the pH sensitive behavior of beads was measured in simulated gastrointestinal tract condition. Furthermore, the hydrogel beads were loaded with polysaccharides extracted from naturalmushroom, and their release was monitored. This results showed that; the swelling ratio of beads indicated pH-dependent properties with maximum water absorbing at pH 7.4. Moreover, the highest amount of released polysaccharide was 27.2% at pH value 7.4 within 6 h. It was observed that the encapsulation of κ-carrageenan with sodium alginate reduced the premature release of drug in the stomach mimicked condition acidic pH and released the drug more specifically to the colon mimicked condition alkaline pH. Therefore, these results suggest that microcapsules could be further developed as effective drug delivery system with pH sensitive drug release ability.

New series of [1,2,4]triazolo [4,3-a]quinoxaline and bis([1,2,4]triazolo)[4,3-a:3′,4′-c]quinoxaline derivatives have been designed, synthesized and biologically evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against three tumor cell lines (HePG-2, Hep-2 and Caco-2). Compounds 16e, 21, 25a and 25b exhibited the highest activities against the examined cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 0.29 to 0.90 μM comparable to that of doxorubicin (IC50 ranging from 0.51 to 0.73 μM). The most active members were further evaluated for their topoisomerase II (Topo II) inhibitory activities and DNA intercalating affinities as potential mechanisms for their anti-proliferative activities. Interestingly, the results of Topo II inhibition and DNA binding assays were consistent with that of the cytotoxicity data, where the most potent anti-proliferative derivatives exhibited good Topo II inhibitory activities and DNA binding affinities, comparable to that of doxorubicin. Moreover, the most active compound 25a caused cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in Caco-2 cells. In addition, Furthermore, molecular docking studies were performed for the novel compounds against DNA-Topo II complex to investigate their binding patterns. Based on these studies, it was concluded that DNA binding and/or Topo II inhibition may contribute to the observed cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds.

It is well known that the pathogenic multidrug resistant microbes are highly distributed and transferred to human through contaminated food and water. Advanced technologies have been developed for controlling these microbes using synthesized nanoparticles. In this study, biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were prepared, characterized and integrated with two synthetic and natural polymers. The polymers-silver nanoparticles were characterized using SEM, FTIR and mechanical properties of the membrane synthesized from either polymers with/without nanosilver. Both of pathogenic bacteria and yeast were tested for their resistance against 10 different antibiotics. The pathogens showed high resistance against 9 antibiotics and only one was recorded as potent. The cytotoxicity of nanosilver integrated polymers were tested against Hamster kidney cells and Human skin fibroblast cells, and the non-cytotoxic dose was checked for its antimicrobial activity against the selected pathogens. The obtained results in this study confirm that the using of the nanomaterials in safe doses could be a good substitution for biogenic antibiotics and chemicals used in water treatment. Moreover, the beads which were used in this study could be lasts for long period in water treatment station with high antibacterial capacity, in addition, it can be gathered easily at the end of the run.

In this study, a convenient synthesis of a series of pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidine, pyrimidine acetohydrazide, and thieno[3,2-d]pyrimidine-7-carbohydrazide derivatives, via the reactions of versatile, readily accessible electrophilic and nucleophilic reagents with 2-thioxodihydropyrimidine-4,6(1H,5H)-dione 1, is described. Different biologically active moieties such as thiophene and pyridine are introduced in order to investigate their anticancer activity in vitro. In addition, a Schiff base ligand derived from the reaction of 5-bromosalicylaldehyde with 6-aminothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidine carbohydrazide 8 and its La(III) and Gd(III) complexes (in the bulk and at the nanoscale) were prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectra, magnetic measurement, and electronic absorption data. Chemical shifts of the different types of protons in the NMR spectra of the prepared Schiff base and its metal complexes are also reported. The nanocomplexes were characterized with a scanning electron microscope. The cytotoxicity of all newly synthesized compounds was demonstrated and they were tested for their activity against common pathogenic organisms and anticancer activity against human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (Caco2). Some of the newly synthesized compounds had the best recorded anticancer activity against Caco2 cells. In addition, the three active compounds were tested for antibacterial activity. The three structures succeeded in affecting and stopping the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae strain and the results revealed promising activity.

Material barrier properties to microbes are an important issue in many pharmaceutical applications like wound dressings. A wide range of biomaterials has been used to manage the chronic inflamed wounds. Eight hydrogel membranes of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) with κ-carrageenan (KC) and Lactobacillus bulgaricus extract (LAB) have been prepared by using freeze-thawing technique. To evaluate the membranes efficiency as wound dressing agents, various tests have been done like gel fraction, swelling behavior, mechanical properties, etc. The antibacterial activities of the prepared membranes were tested against the antibiotic-resistant bacterial isolates. In addition, the safety usage of the prepared hydrogel was checked on human dermal fibroblast cells. The anti-inflammatory properties of the prepared hydrogel on LPS-PBMC cell inflammatory model were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The analysis data of TGA, SEM, gel fraction, and swelling behavior showed changes in properties of prepared PVA\KC\LAB hydrogel membrane than pure PVA hydrogel membrane. The antibacterial activities of the prepared membranes augmented in LAB extract-prepared membranes. Out of the eight used hydrogel membranes, the PVAKC4 hydrogel membrane is the safest one on fibroblast cellular proliferation with a maximum proliferation percentage 97.3%. Also, all the used hydrogel membrane showed abilities to reduce the concentration of IL-2 and IL-8 compared with both negative and positive control. In addition, almost all the prepared hydrogel membrane showed variable abilities to downregulate the expression of TNF-α gene with superior effect of hydrogel membrane KC1. PVA/KC/LAB extract hydrogel membrane may be a promising material for wound dressing application and could accelerate the healing process of the chronic wound because of its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

1Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Northern Border University, Rafha, KSA. 2Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications (SRTACITY), New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt. 3Department of Biopharmaceutical Product Research, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (GEBRI), City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications (SRTACITY), New Borg El-Arab, Alexandria, Egypt. 4Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Northern Border University, Rafha, KSA. 5Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Minia University, Minia City61519, Egypt.

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) is an important bacterium involved in the first steps of dental biofilm formation with subsequent initiation of several oral diseases. Aim: To evaluate the influence of Myrrh plant extract on S. mutans and its biofilm formation. Material and Methods: The antibacterial activity of the Myrrh prepared plant extract was tested against S. mutans using disc diffusion method. The ability of the Myrrh plant extract to inhibit biofilm formation of S. mutans was also determined. Results: showed the ability of the tested Myrrh oil plant extract to cease the bacterial growth. The recorded clear zone is 11 mm with extract concentration 42.5%. Myrrh extract was able to inhibit the S. mutans biofilm formation in 78.5% inhibition percentage on fibroblast cellular viability. Conclusion: Myrrh plant extract has promising antibacterial effect as well as on biofilm inhibition of S. mutans. The significant antimicrobial effect of the Myrrh plant extract indicates about its promise in controlling S. mutans biofilm, which has suspected role in the etiology of dental caries and periodontal diseases.

A biodegradable polyvinyl alcohol/silk fibroin (PVA/SF) nanofibrous heart patch with unique tensile properties was fabricated by an electrospinning technique based on a water-solvent system. The fabricated heart patches were exposed to 2% Glutaraldehyde vapor to provide a cross-linkage and tune the degradation behavior. Numerous characterizations of the modified PVA/SF patches such as surface morphology, chemical bonding, mechanical behavior, biodegradation, and biological assessment of the crosslinked PVA/SF patches were performed. It was found that pronounced and interconnected PVA/SF composite fibrous patches had an average nanofiber diameter of 228 ± 49 nm. In addition, incorporation of SF into PVA nanofibers enhanced the mechanical properties (i.e. tensile strength and tensile modulus) and tuning the degradation rate of the PVA/SF patch. Human cardiac fibroblast cells (HCFC) were cultured on the cross-linked composite patches and the results showed good cell proliferation and attachment on the patches bio-interface.

The aim of this investigation is to examine the anticancer activities of Balanites aegyptiaca fruit extract with its biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against colon and liver cancer cells. B. aegyptiaca aqueous extract was fractionated according to polarity and by biosynthesized AgNP. The cytotoxicity of the extract, semi-purified fractions, and the AgNPs was examined on noncancerous cell lines. The safer fraction was subjected to ultra-performance liquid chromatography-MS to identify the major active constituents. The anticancer activities of the nontoxic doses of all the used treatments were tested against HepG2 and CaCo2 cells. The nontoxic dose of the B. aegyptiaca (0.63 mg/ml) extract showed high anti-proliferative activities against HepG2 and CaCo2 with a percentage of 81 and 77%, respectively. The butanol fraction was safer than the other two fractions with 46.3 and 90.35% anti-proliferative activity against Caco2 and HepG2 cells, respectively. The nontoxic dose of AgNPs (0.63 mg/ml) inhibits both HepG2 and Caco2 cells with a percentage of 84.5 and 83.4%, respectively. In addition, AgNPs regulate the expression of certain genes with folding higher than that of crude extract. Saponin-coated AgNPs showed great abilities to select the most anticancer ingredient(s) from the B. aegyptiaca extract with a more safety pattern than the polarity gradient fractionation.

In this study, an antibacterial electrospun nanofibers for wound dressing application was successfully prepared from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Pluronic F127 (Plur), polyethyleneimine (PEI) blend solution with titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs). PVA-Plur-PEI nanofibers containing various ratios of TiO2 NPs were obtained. The formation and presence of TiO2 in the PVA-Plu-PEI/ TiO2 composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical measurement, and antibacterial activity were undertaken in order to characterize the PVA-Plur-PEI/TiO2 nanofiber morphology and properties. The PVA-Plu-PEI nanofibers had a mean diameter of 220 nm, and PVA-Plur-PEI/TiO2 nanofibers had 255 nm. Moreover, the antimicrobial properties of the composite were studied by zone inhibition against Gram-negative bacteria, and the result indicates high antibacterial activity. Results of this antibacterial testing suggest that PVA-Plur-PEI/TiO2 nanofiber may be effective in topical antibacterial treatment in wound care; thus, they are very promising in the application of wound dressings.

L-asparaginase is an important enzyme as therapeutic agents used in combination with other drugs in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A newly isolated actinomycetes strain, Streptomyces sp. NEAE-82, was potentially producing extracellular L-asparaginase, it was identified as Streptomyces fradiae NEAE-82, sequencing product was deposited in the GenBank database under accession number KJ467538. L-asparaginase was purified from the crude enzyme using ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis and ion exchange chromatography using DEAE Sepharose CL-6B. Further the kinetic studies of purified enzyme were carried out. The optimum pH, temperature and incubation time for maximum L-asparaginase activity were found to be 8.5, 40 °C and 30 min, respectively. The optimum substrate concentration was found to be 0.06 M. The Km and Vmax of the enzyme were 0.01007 M and 95.08 Uml−1min−1, respectively. The half-life time (T1/2) was 184.91 min at 50 °С, while being 179.53 min at 60 °С. The molecular weight of the subunits of L-asparaginase was found to be approximately 53 kDa by SDS–PAGE analysis. The purified L-asparaginase showed a final specific activity of 30.636 U/mg protein and was purified 3.338-fold. The present work for the first time reported more information in the production, purification and characterization of L-asparaginase produced by newly isolated actinomycetes Streptomyces fradiae NEAE-82.

In this study, we synthesized tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoplates, both crystallographic phases and the morphology of the samples were determined by powder x-ray diffraction and the scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The obtained data clarified that, the all prepared WO3·H2O samples were composed of large quantity of nanoplates. The cytotoxicity patterns of nanoplates were checked on both normal and cancer mammalian cell lines. Both nanoplates cytotoxicity did not exceed the 50 % inhibitory concentration (IC50) on the all normal tested cells even by using concentrations up to 1 mg/ml. In addition, orthorhombic tungsten oxide nanoplate was more potent against both Caco2 and Hela cells by showing inhibition percentages in cellular viability 64.749 and 72.27, respectively, and with cancer selectivity index reached 3.2 and 2.6 on both colon and cervix cancer, respectively. The anticancer effects of nanoplates were translated to alteration in both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes expressions. Tungsten oxide nanoplates down regulated the expression of B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and metalloproteinase-7 (MMP7) genes. In addition, orthorhombic tungsten oxide nanoplates showed more potentiation in IL2 and IL8 induction (40.43 pg/ml) and upregulation of TNF-α gene expression but with lower folds than Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induction.

Recently, the biosynthesis of nanoparticles has been well explored which draws attention to its possible biomedical applications especially in cancer therapy. In the current study, the novelty in the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using honey bee extract has been explained. This study was also aiming at investigating the anti-colon cancer activities of the biogenic AgNPs along with its capping biomolecules in vitro. The obtained biogenic AgNPs were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that the formed AgNPs have spherical shape with size range from 12 to 18 nm embedded in honey bee biomolecules. The cytotoxicity results of AgNPs on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) indicated that the obtained AgNPs could be used safely with concentrations upto 39 μg/ml. On the other hand, the potentialities of the biogenic AgNPs against colon cancer proliferation recorded 60% inhibition using its nontoxic dose with a down regulation of the expression of Bcl2 and survivin gene. By the extraction of AgNPs capping biomolecules to explain the exact fraction that is responsible for the anticancer properties, it was found that both AgNPs and its capping biomolecules have anti-proliferative effects with a priority to the naked AgNPs.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is considered as one of the most aggressive cancer worldwide. In Egypt, the prevalence of HCC is increasing during last years. Recently, drug-loaded microparticles were used to improve the efficiency of various medical treatments. This study is designed to evaluate the anticancer potentialities of lectins against HCC while hinting to its safety usage. The aim is also extended to encapsulate lectins in alginate microbeads for oral drug delivery purposes. The extracted lectins showed anti-proliferative effect against HCC with a percentage of 60.76% by using its nontoxic dose with an up-regulation of P53 gene expression. Concerning the handling of lectin alginate microbeads for oral drug delivery, the prepared lectin alginate beads were ∼100μm in diameter. The efficiency of the microcapsules was checked by scanning electron microscopy, the SEM showed the change on the alginate beads surface revealing the successful lectin encapsulation. The release of lectins from the microbeads depended on a variety of factors as the microbeads forming carriers and the amount-encapsulated lectins. The Pisum sativum extracted lectins may be considered as a promising agent in controlling HCC and this solid dosage form could be suitable for oral administration complemented with/or without the standard HCC drugs.

Using of natural products is considered one of the recent research approaches all over the world; however, natural products had been extensively used now days as functional and therapeutic food. Our study focused on the screening of myrrh effects as antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor. The antioxidant activity of myrrh was measured in different concentrations and it was observed that concentrations 10 and 20 µg/mL of were recorded to have inhibition percentage by 47.41 and 16.37%, respectively. Cytotoxicity results of the extract on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) indicated that generally, the acidic water extract was safer on cells comparing with that of the neutral extracts. The antimicrobial activity against some gram-negative, gram-positive bacteria and yeast showed no positive results. The phytochemical analysis indicated both of terpenoids, flavonoids and proteins were funded with high amounts. But the chemical analysis revealed that percentage of protein, fiber, moisture, lipids, ash and carbohydrates are 11.2, 1.30, 9.7, 0.57, 6.5 and 70.73, respectively. Elements were presented with low concentration except calcium was existed with high concentration in comparison to the other tested elements. These concluded results revealed that myrrh could be a promising therapeutic food which helps in controlling colon cancer or as a complementary anticancer food support without any probable toxic effect neither on normal human cells or the intestinal microbial flora. Practical Applications Myrrh can be used as a functional and therapeutic food and its extract could be added to milk, yogurt and traditional meals which may help in protecting the human from colon cancer. In addition, the results obtained from this study prove that myrrh is a strong antioxidant that has strong scavenging activity against free radicals.