Nanotechnology Commons^™

Formulation Of Coffee Extract As Polymeric Nanoparticles And Studying Their Potential Biological Activities, Nouran Sharaf

Theses and Dissertations

Coffee extract was prepared and optimized (by solvent extraction) and subsequently entrapped into PLGA nanoparticles using single emulsion-solvent evaporation method (using Design Expert software). Dynamic Light Scattering, Scanning Electron Microscope, Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy and Folin Ciocalteau assay were used to characterize the NPs and to aid in selecting the optimum formulation conditions. The optimized NPs were in-vitro evaluated for their antimicrobial (by agar-well diffusion method), antioxidant (by DPPH assay) and anticancer (by MTT assay) activities. Finally, the release rate study was conducted for the NP sample showing the highly promising results.

The succeeded NP sample, in terms of the most …

Amphiphilic Cell-Penetrating Peptides Containing Natural And Unnatural Amino Acids As Drug Delivery Tools And Antimicrobial Agents, David Salehi

Pharmaceutical Sciences (MS) Theses

Cell-penetrating peptides containing arginine as positively charged residues and tryptophan or diphenylalanine as hydrophobic residues were synthesized. The synthesis was accomplished through the Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis in the presence of HBTU and DIPEA. The side-chain protected linear peptides were cleaved from the resin and cyclized in the presence of DIC and HOAt in the solution phase overnight. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was used to characterize the peptides.

The cytotoxicity of the synthesized peptides was determined in CCRF-CEM (human, lymphoblast peripheral blood), and HEK-293 (human, embryonic epithelial kidney healthy) cells using the MTS assay. A concentration of 10 µM was found …

Development Of Fluorescent Hyaluronic Acid Nanoparticles For Intraoperative Tumor Detection, Nicholas E. Wojtynek

Theses & Dissertations

Surgical resection remains to be the primary treatment for the majority of solid tumors, including breast cancer. The complete removal of the primary tumor, local metastases, and metastatic lymph nodes dramatically improve a patient’s treatment outcome and prognosis. Nevertheless, surgeons are limited to tactile and visual cues in distinguishing malignant and healthy tissue. This can result in a positive surgical margin (PSM), which occurs when tumor goes undetected and is left behind in the surgical cavity. PSMs decreases a patient’s prognosis and necessitate additional treatment in the form of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. An emerging imaging modality, known as fluorescence-guided …

Hybridized Polymeric Nano-Assemblies: Key Insights Into Addressing Mdr Infections, Ryan Landis

Doctoral Dissertations

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria contribute to more than 700,000 annual deaths world-wide. Millions more suffer from limb amputations or face high healthcare treatment costs where prolonged and costly therapeutic regimens are used to counter MDR infections. While there is an international push to develop novel and more powerful antimicrobials to address the impending threat, one particularly interesting approach that has re-emerged are essential oils, phytochemical extracts derived from plant sources. While their antimicrobial activity demonstrates a promising avenue, their stability in aqueous media, limits their practical use in or on mammals. Inspired by the versatility of polymer nanotechnology and the sustainability …