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Role of Nanobiotechnology in treatment of cancer is expanding. Cancer cells require a treatment that is both effective and non-toxic such the normal cells of the body do not suffer toxicity. Nanofibers, synthesized by electrospinning are relatively cost effective in production and possess high drug loading capacity, large surface area, and porosity. Electrospun nanofibers are synthesized to serve as protective clothing for targeted drug delivery and to sustainably release the drug, thus enabling an effective and non-invasive treatment procedure. In our study AuNPs were phytosynthesized from M. elangi leaf extract and were characterized. Nanofibers of PVA and PCL were also characterized. AuNPs and curcumin were mixed with PVA and PCL respectively to produce drug loaded nanofibers for studying the notable in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activities. The drug entrapment efficiency of the drug loaded nanofibers was studied along with the in vitro drug release assay. Cytotoxicity and anticancer activity of nanofibers were studied using 3 T3 fibroblast and A431 skin cancer cell lines respectively. The results proved that the nanoparticles and nanofiber treatment on targets cells exhibited cytotoxicity on cancer cells by apoptosis and lesser toxicity on normal cells compared to commercial drugs, thus demonstrating selective toxicity upon cancer cells.

Synthetic polymeric membranes are used for biomedical applications due to their remarkable structural, mechanical, and biocompatible behavior. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a biopolymer widely used for tissue engineering applications, but the major limitation of PCL polymer is that it is hydrophobic in nature. The major focus of the work is to study the degradation and wettability behavior of aloe vera (AV)-incorporated elctrospun matrices. The AV-incorporated matrices degraded at a faster rate compared to PCL matrices. The hydrophilicity of the mat increased on blending the polymer with AV. Fibroblasts cells cultured on the PCL-AV showed rapid proliferation compared to that of pristine PCL mat.

Aloe vera (AV) is one of the medicinal herbs with a well-established spectrum of wound healing, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory property. AV-mediated therapeutics present significant tissue regenerative activity by modulating the inflammatory and proliferative phases of wound healing. The purpose of the present work was to combine the biological properties of AV and the advantages of electrospun meshes to prepare a potent transdermal biomaterial. The polycaprolactone (PCL) containing 5 and 10 wt % of lyophilized powder of AV was studied for electrospinning into nanoscale fiber mats and compared with PCL/Collagen blend for dermal substitutes. SEM revealed the average diameters of PCL, PCL-AV 5 %, PCL-AV 10 % and PCL/Collagen nanofiber scaffolds in the range of 519 ± 28, 264 ± 46, 215 ± 63 and 249 ± 52 nm, respectively. PCL-AV 10 % nanofiber scaffolds showed finer fiber morphology with improved hydrophilic properties and higher tensile strength of 6.28 MPa with a Young’s modulus of 16.11 MPa desirable for skin tissue engineering. The nanofibers were then used to investigate differences in biological responses in terms of proliferation and cell morphology of mice dermal fibroblasts. It was found that PCL-AV 10 % nanofibrous matrix favored cell proliferation compared to other scaffolds which almost increased linearly by (p ≤ 0.01) 17.79 % and (p ≤ 0.01) 21.28 % compared to PCL on sixth and ninth day. CMFDA dye expression, secretion of collagen and F-actin expression were significantly increased in PCL-AV 10 % scaffolds compared to other nanofibrous scaffolds. The obtained results proved that the PCL-AV 10 % nanofibrous scaffold is a potential biomaterial for skin tissue regeneration.

Aloe-vera-incorporated polycaprolactone nanofibrous matrixes were prepared by an electrospinning method. These developed matrixes were evaluated for their water absorption capacity, water vapor permeability, and contact angle, and, in an in vivo animal model, wound-healing ability. The incorporation of the herbal drug made the matrixes hydrophilic with improved water retention and permeability properties. The in vivo studies were carried out in a rat model and showed improved results with respect to healing. Thus, this study confirmed that the developed matrixes could be used for wound-healing applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 42178.