A novel observation: effect of anionic gelatin nanoparticle on stromal cells.

Biocompatible nanoparticles are very popular in health science research. Biomolecule carriers for wound healing and tissue engineering are two main applications among many others. In many instances, these structures come in direct vicinity of cells and govern cell behaviour and responses. In this study, gelatin nano/submicron structures were synthesized by binary nonsolvent aided coacervation (BNAC) method at pH ranging from 3 to 11 with an intention to employ in skin tissue regeneration. Effect of pH over morphology and the surface composition with respect to its ionic composition were studied. Further, the initial toxicity was assessed against peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). pH 7 was found to be the optimum for synthesis of gelatin nanoparticles (GNPs) with minimum particle size. Positive cell viability of 103.14% for GNPs synthesized at pH 7 was observed. It may be due to the minimum difference between cumulative negative and positive charge (CNCP) ratio of 1.19. Finally, effect of the gelatin nanoparticles over L929 mouse fibroblast cells was assessed through MTT assay. It has resulted in 122.77% cell viability.

Synthesis of Mixed-Phase TiO2-ZrO2 Nanocomposite for Photocatalytic Wastewater Treatment.

The use of TiO2 nanoparticles for photocatalysis for the degradation of organic dyes under UV light for wastewater treatment has been widely studied. However, the photocatalytic characteristics of TiO2 nanoparticles are inadequate due to their UV light response and higher band gap. In this work, three nanoparticles were synthesized: (i) TiO2 nanoparticle was synthesized by a sol-gel process. (ii) ZrO2 was prepared using a solution combustion process and (iii) mixed-phase TiO2-ZrO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel process to remove Eosin Yellow (EY) from aqueous solutions in the wastewater. XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS, TEM, and XPS analysis methods were used to examine the properties of the synthesized products. The XRD investigation supported the tetragonal and monoclinic crystal structures of the TiO2 and ZrO2 nanoparticles. TEM studies identified that mixed-phase TiO2-ZrO2 nanoparticles have the same tetragonal structure as pure mixed-phase. The degradation of Eosin Yellow (EY) was examined using TiO2, ZrO2, and mixed-phase TiO2-ZrO2 nanoparticles under visible light. The results confirmed that the mixed-phase TiO2-ZrO2nanoparticles show a higher level of photocatalytic activity, and the process is accomplished at a high degradation rate in lesser time and at a lower power intensity.

Studies of Performance of Cs2TiI6-XBrX (Where x = 0 to 6)-Based Mixed Halide Perovskite Solar Cell with CdS Electron Transport Layer.

The present research work represents the numerical study of the device performance of a lead-free Cs2TiI6-XBrX-based mixed halide perovskite solar cell (PSC), where x = 1 to 5. The open circuit voltage (VOC) and short circuit current (JSC) in a generic TCO/electron transport layer (ETL)/absorbing layer/hole transfer layer (HTL) structure are the key parameters for analyzing the device performance. The entire simulation was conducted by a SCAPS-1D (solar cell capacitance simulator- one dimensional) simulator. An alternative FTO/CdS/Cs2TiI6-XBrX/CuSCN/Ag solar cell architecture has been used and resulted in an optimized absorbing layer thickness at 0.5 µm thickness for the Cs2TiBr6, Cs2TiI1Br5, Cs2TiI2Br4, Cs2TiI3Br3 and Cs2TiI4Br2 absorbing materials and at 1.0 µm and 0.4 µm thickness for the Cs2TiI5Br1 and Cs2TiI6 absorbing materials. The device temperature was optimized at 40 °C for the Cs2TiBr6, Cs2TiI1Br5 and Cs2TiI2Br4 absorbing layers and at 20 °C for the Cs2TiI3Br3, Cs2TiI4Br2, Cs2TiI5Br1 and Cs2TiI6 absorbing layers. The defect density was optimized at 1010 (cm-3) for all the active layers.

Bioactive silver phosphate/polyindole nanocomposites.

Materials capable of releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) can display antibacterial and anticancer activity, and may also have anti-oxidant capacity if they suppress intracellular ROS (e.g. nitric oxide, NO) resulting in anti-inflammatory activity. Herein we report silver phosphate (Ag3PO4)/polyindole (Pln) nanocomposites which display antibacterial, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity, and have therefore potential for a variety of biomedical applications.

In vitro and in silico study of Aloe vera leaf extract against human breast cancer.

Aloe vera leaf contains some bioactive compounds that have a strong binding affinity toward estrogen receptor as compared to standard drug tamoxifen. In this study, we have found that the IC50 of Aloe vera leaf extract against breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) is 23 µg/mL which is much lower than the IC50 (332 µg/mL) of Aloe vera leaf extract against non-cancerous cell line (NIH-3T3). We have also calculated the total concentration of phenolic acid (385.662 µg/mL), flavonoids (160.402 µg/mL) and alkaloids (276.754 µg/mL) in Aloe vera leaf extract. The free radical scavenging activity of Aloe vera leaf extract is 67% to 89% (at 50 to 300 µg/ml). Our virtual molecular docking study suggests that bioactive compounds like Aloe-emodin (-8.8 Kcal/mol), 7-hydroxy-2,5 dimethylchromone (-7.5 Kcal/mol), Beta-sitosterol (-7.3 Kcal/mol) etc. have a greater binding affinity toward estrogen alpha receptor as compared to standard drug Tamoxifen (-6.4 Kcal/mol). [Formula: see text].

Bis (Isothiocyanatomethyl) Benzene, A Plant Derived Anti-Neoplastic Compound: Purified from Moringa Oleifera Leaf Extract.

BACKGROUND: Moringa oleifera lam, commonly known as "Sajina", is an indigenous species to India. In our folk medicine, it is used for the treatment of Canker (cancer). The Moringa oleifera leaf extract contains many phyto-compounds, with some being anti-neoplastic in nature. OBJECTIVE: Our preliminary study showed that the leaf extract significantly kills cancer cells compared to normal cells. On searching for the new phyto-compound, Bis-isothiocyanatomethyl) benzene was purified and isolated. METHODS: The sequential process of fractional distillation, column chromatography, followed by TLC and HPLC is performed for purification. Every fraction from each step was tested on HeLa cell line for evaluating the presence of the phyto-compound. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: FTIR peak analysis of a single phyto-compound shows the presence of thiocyanate group, aromatic carbon group. 1H & 13C NMR peak analysis along with High-resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) calculation confirm the chemical structure with IUPAC name [Bis (Isothiocyanatomethyl) benzene]. Previously, Isothiocyanatomethyl- benzene solely or in conjugation with sugar molecule has been reported, but its dimeric form in nature hasnot yet been published anywhere. It shows anticancer activity by retarding cancer cell growth & inhibits carcinogenesis on HeLa, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cell lines by caspase 3 apoptotic pathway and showed comparatively less cytotoxicity to PBMC cell. It shows anticancer activity almost the same as the market available drug Cis-Platin. Therefore, further extrapolating its activity with different concentrations may result in its use as a drug formulation for the treatment of cancer.

Surveillance and expected outcome of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children and adolescents: An experience from Eastern India.

OBJECTIVE: Research in Eastern India especially among children and adolescents for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have not been well documented until recently when it was conducted at a cancer institute of tertiary care with primary objectives of examining and correlating different cell surface markers involved with respect to disease surveillance thereby highlighting it as a strong prognostic marker for future diagnosis and treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 500 consecutively selected ALL patients were diagnosed and treated according to National Cancer Institute protocol (MCP 841) for a period of 24-88 months during this hospital-based study. RESULTS: Of the total, 50.4% had a higher incidence of T-ALL and 47.6% had pro-B, B-cell precursor ALL. Disease free survival and event free survival were remarkably higher in B-ALL adolescent patients as compared to T-ALL, who had significantly lower overall survival ratio. Prevalence of T-ALL was also observed in relapse cases for adolescent patients. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is an increased prevalence of T-ALL among adolescents in Eastern India. Immunophenotypic analysis might help in proper evaluation and prediction of treatment outcomes with an increased thrust on studying age-specific incident rates enabling well planned future treatments for improved and better outcome.

Ultrasonication: enhances the antioxidant activity of metal oxide nanoparticles.

The present work is a modification for Serpen et al.'s method for antioxidant activity determination for insoluble materials with special reference to metal oxide nanoparticles. As reported in our former publications the mixing procedures were followed as mentioned by Serpen et al. A new mixing procedure was followed for enhancing the reaction between metal oxide nanoparticles and DPPH in the solution. The sonication inside a water bath enhances the DPPH scavenging capacity of metal oxide nanoparticles up to 13.94% and 18.96% in case of ferric oxide and nickel oxide nanoparticles respectively. The control DPPH solution without any nanoparticles does not show any degradation due to sonication.

Nickel oxide nanoparticles: a novel antioxidant.

We investigated a novel inorganic (nickel oxide) nanoparticles as a potential antioxidant in the biosystems. The particles were synthesized using self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) method at 650 degrees C. The antioxidant property of the nickel oxide particles was investigated in an in vitro system, using modified DPPH method for insoluble solid materials.