Synthesis of a novel copolymer using glycogen and poly(lactide) as a carrier of dual drugs—ornidazole and ofloxacin

Biodegradability and biocompatibility are two crucial prerequisites for a promising therapeutic vehicle. Herein, a novel biocompatible copolymer has been synthesized using glycogen and polylactide (PLA). Glycogen, a naturally occurring biopolymer has been functionalized by methacrylation. On the other hand, lactide has been polymerized through ring opening polymerization (ROP), initiated by hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and catalyzed by tin (II) 2‐ethyl hexanoate. Finally, the synthesized two substrates (i.e., glycogen methacrylate and PLA‐HEMA) are covalently connected by free‐radical polymerization, initiated by AIBN. The structure of the developed copolymer has been confirmed using ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectral analyses. The gel characteristics have been evaluated by rheological studies, while the morphological assessment has been investigated by FESEM analysis. In vitro cytocompatibility study reveals that the hydrogel (Gly‐co‐PLA) is biocompatible. The in vitro and in vivo release studies demonstrate the excellent pH‐sensitive control release profile of dual drugs: ornidazole and ofloxacin. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1697–1703     

Isotopic effects on non-linearity, molecular radius and intermolecular free length

Computation of non-linearity parameter (B/A), molecular radius (r _m) and intermolecular free length (L _f) for H₂O, C₆H₆, C₆H₁₂, CH₃OH, C₂H₅OH and their deuterium-substituted compounds have been carried out at four different temperatures, viz., 293.15, 303.15, 313.15 and 323.15 K. The aim of the investigation is an attempt to study the isotopic effects on the non-linearity parameter and the physicochemical properties of the liquids, which in turn has been used to study their effect on the intermolecular interactions produced thereof.     

Cyanobacteria as Natural Therapeutics and Pharmaceutical Potential: Role in Antitumor Activity and as Nanovectors

Cyanobacteria (blue-green microalgae) are ubiquitous, Gram-negative photoautotrophic prokaryotes. They are considered as one of the most efficient sources of bioactive secondary metabolites. More than 50% of cyanobacteria are cultivated on commercial platforms to extract bioactive compounds, which have bene shown to possess anticancer activity. The chemically diverse natural compounds or their analogues induce cytotoxicity and potentially kill a variety of cancer cells via the induction of apoptosis, or altering the activation of cell signaling, involving especially the protein kinase-C family members, cell cycle arrest, mitochondrial dysfunctions and oxidative damage. These therapeutic properties enable their use in the pharma and healthcare sectors for the betterment of future generations. This review provides a baseline overview of the anti-cancerous cyanobacterial bioactive compounds, along with recently introduced nanomaterials that could be used for the development of new anticancer drugs to build a healthy future for mankind.     

Performance evaluation of the phase encoded optical CDMA system

Recently, there has been increasing interest in field of Optical CDMA due to its potential for offering unmatched features at ultra high data rates in field of local and metro area networks. In this paper, a very simple method of Optical CDMA encoding known as the Temporal Phase Encoding is discussed and the performance of the system with this encoding technique is evaluated on the basis of number of users, length of the spreading code for 4-phase and 8-phases. Simulation results for the system are presented for upto seven users. Bit error rate curves are plotted with data rate of 1 Gbps. This has been found that performance improves if normalized threshold higher than 0.5 is used.     

Dual drug-loaded paclitaxel–thymoquinone nanoparticles for effective breast cancer therapy

The present study highlights the beneficial synergistic blend of anticancer drug paclitaxel (PTX) and thymoquinone (TQ) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We aimed to augment the therapeutic index of PTX using a polymeric nanoparticle system loaded with PTX and TQ. PLGA nanoparticles encapsulating the two drugs, individually or in combination, were prepared by single emulsion solvent evaporation method. The formulated nanoparticles were homogenous with an overall negative charge and their size ranging between 200 and 300 nm. Entrapment efficiency of PTX and TQ in the dual drug-loaded nanoparticles was found to be 82.4 ± 2.18 and 65.8 ± 0.45 %, respectively. The release kinetics of PTX and TQ from the nanoparticles exhibited a biphasic pattern characterised by an initial burst, followed by a gradual and continuous release. The anticancer activity of nanoparticles encapsulating both the drugs was higher as compared to the free drugs in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The combination index for the dual drug-loaded NPs was found to be 0.688 which is indicative of synergistic interaction. Thus, here, we propose the synthesis and use of dual drug-loaded TQ and PTX NPs which exhibits enhanced anticancer activity and can additionally help to alleviate the toxic effects of PTX by lowering its effective dose.     

Increasing the stability of an enzyme toward hostile organic solvents by directed evolution based on iterative saturation mutagenesis using the B-FIT method

Mutants of the lipase from Bacillus subtilis, previously engineered for enhanced thermostability using directed evolution based on the B-FIT method, show significantly increased tolerance to hostile organic solvents.