Sharif Digital Repository

Microfluidics based systems could be useful for drug discovery as they allow for miniaturization and could potentially be run as multiple parallel cell based assays. Such miniaturization allows assays at single cell level and reduces the amount of test material needed, which, in the case of natural product extracts, simplifies the preparation. Thyme species extracts have been reported to show some promising anti-cancer effects. In the present work, we used a microfluidics based system to study the effects of Thymus kotschyanusm Boiss plant extract on two human breast cancer cells lines which are MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7. For better understanding a single cancer cell death mechanism and a flow... 

Introduction: To date, numerous iron-based nanostructures have been designed for cancer therapy applications. Although some of them were promising for clinical applications, few efforts have been made to maximize the therapeutic index of these carriers. Herein, PEGylated silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (PS-IONs) were introduced as multipurpose stimuli-responsive co-delivery nanocarriers for a combination of dual-drug chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. Methods: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via the sonochemical method and coated by a thin layer of silica. The nanostructures were then further modified with a layer of di-carboxylate polyethylene glycol... 

Introduction: To date, numerous iron-based nanostructures have been designed for cancer therapy applications. Although some of them were promising for clinical applications, few efforts have been made to maximize the therapeutic index of these carriers. Herein, PEGylated silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (PS-IONs) were introduced as multipurpose stimuli-responsive co-delivery nanocarriers for a combination of dual-drug chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. Methods: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized via the sonochemical method and coated by a thin layer of silica. The nanostructures were then further modified with a layer of di-carboxylate polyethylene glycol... 

In this study, a folic acid-functionalized niosome was formulated and loaded with letrozole and curcumin as a promising drug carrier system for chemotherapy of the breast cancer cells. The formulation process was optimized by varying the type of Span 80 and total lipid to drug ratio, where Span 80 and lipid to drug molar ratio of 10 resulted in the niosomes with maximum encapsulation of both drugs but minimum size. The developed niosomal formulation showed a great storage stability up to one month with the small changes in drug encapsulation efficiency and size during the storage. In addition, they showed a pH-dependent release behaviour with slow drug release at physiological pH (7.4) while... 

Due to the increase in the number of cancer patients, because of environmental parameters, high stress, low immunity, etc., there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective sensors for early targeted detection of cancerous cells with adequate selectivity and efficiency. Early disease diagnosis is important, as it is necessary to start treatments before disease progression. On the other hand, we need new, more efficient cancer treatment approaches with minimized side effects, more biocompatibility, and easy disposal. Nanobiotechnology is a field that can assist in developing new diagnostic and treatment approaches, specifically in fatal cancers. Herein, a study on the different applications... 

The separation of cancer cells from a heterogeneous biological sample such as blood plays a vital role in cancer study and future treatments. In this paper, we designed and investigated two microfluidic devices for cancer cell separation, including a serpentine inertial device and an integrated inertial-magnetophoretic device. Firstly, numerical modeling was carried out to study the fluid flow, particles’ trajectories in the inertial device. Then the device was fabricated using soft photolithography and suspension of two types of microparticles with the size of 10 and 15 µm were injected into the microchannel separately to investigate the particles’ trajectories and focusing behavior at... 

In the current study, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared using the green synthesis method using Artemisia annua extract, loaded into niosomes, and investigated their cytotoxicity and apoptotic effects. To optimize the niosomal formulation containing AuNPs, the effects of surfactants: cholesterol molar ratio, Span 60: Tween 60 M ratio, and AuNP concentration (µg/mL) were investigated. After examining the drug release profile, mathematical models were assessed to predict release kinetic. The cytotoxicity of noisome encapsulated AuNPs and free AuNPs was evaluated against human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780) by MTT assay. The apoptotic/necrosis ratio was studied using flow cytometry as... 

The coaxial electrospinning for producing core-shell nanofibers due to control the release profile of drug by the shell layer has been developed. N-carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)-polyvinyl alcohol (core)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (shell) nanofibers were produced via coaxial electrospinning. Doxorubicin (DOX) and nickel ferrite nanoparticles were incorporated into the nanofibers for controlled release of DOX against MCF-7 breast cancer. The minimum CMC/PCL fiber diameter was found to be 300 nm by optimizing of three variables including voltage to distance ratio (1.5–2.5 kV/cm), CMC concentration (4−6 wt.%) and PCL concentration (8−12 wt.%). The synthesized core-shell fibers were characterized... 

The coaxial electrospinning for producing core-shell nanofibers due to control the release profile of drug by the shell layer has been developed. N-carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC)-polyvinyl alcohol (core)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) (shell) nanofibers were produced via coaxial electrospinning. Doxorubicin (DOX) and nickel ferrite nanoparticles were incorporated into the nanofibers for controlled release of DOX against MCF-7 breast cancer. The minimum CMC/PCL fiber diameter was found to be 300 nm by optimizing of three variables including voltage to distance ratio (1.5–2.5 kV/cm), CMC concentration (4−6 wt.%) and PCL concentration (8−12 wt.%). The synthesized core-shell fibers were characterized... 

Isolation and characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) found in blood samples of cancer patients have been considered as a reliable source for cancer prognosis and diagnosis. A new continuous microfluidic platform has been designed in this investigation for simultaneous capture and characterization of CTCs based on their deformability. The deformability-based chip (D-Chip) consists of two sections of separation and characterization where slanted weirs with a gap of 7 μm were considered. Although sometimes CTCs and leukocytes have the same size, the deformability differs in such a way that can be exploited for enrichment purposes. MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines were used for the... 

Herein, the graphene oxide (GO)/cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were used to apply the heat treatment on the breast cancer cell line of MCF7. The synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated before in vitro and in vivo studies, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal property and relaxivity measurement. The nanoparticles showed a diameter of 5 nm with the ferrimagnetic property. Also, the nanoparticles were well distributed on the GO nanosheets. The related peaks of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were approved by using XRD and XPS assays. During the in vitro investigations, IC50 with... 

Cancer is one of the most significant causes of death in the world. It has been shown that the role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the early detection of cancer is crucial. Since the number of these cancerous cells in blood is very rare, the inertial microfluidic devices are one of the best candidates for the isolation of CTCs because they result in a high throughput process. Consequently, they can process a large volume of blood in a short time. Despite extensive computational and experimental studies on inertial microfluidic platforms, the impact of the curvature has not been thoroughly investigated during separation. In this paper, the feasibility of isolation of CTCs for... 

This study proposes a new method for the detection of a weak scatterer among strong scatterers using prior-information ultrasound (US) imaging. A perfect application of this approach is in vivo cell detection in the bloodstream, where red blood cells (RBCs) serve as identifiable strong scatterers. In vivo cell detection can help diagnose cancer at its earliest stages, increasing the chances of survival for patients. This work combines time-domain US with frequency-domain compressive US imaging to detect a 20-μ MCF-7 circulating tumor cell (CTC) among a number of RBCs within a simulated venule inside the mouth. The 2D image reconstructed from the time-domain US is employed to simulate the... 

A tri-layered nanofibrous hydrogel thin film with temperature sensitivity is introduced as a new controlled drug release system to treat breast cancer. A simultaneous heat generation with the tunable release of dual drugs is observed in response to visible light radiation. A tri-layered nanofibrous sheet was fabricated through sequential electrospinning the blends of Au@Chit@DOX-loaded poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-methylol acrylamide) (poly (NIPAAm-co-NMA)) and Curcumin-loaded poly (vinyl alcohol) (Cu-loaded PVA), where the Cu-loaded PVA nanofibers (NFs) are sandwiched between two layers of Au@Chit@DOX-loaded poly (NIPAAm-co-NMA) NFs. After thermal crosslinking of the tri-layered... 

Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer in women; hence, many researches have been focused on developing effective treatment protocols. In this study, a novel nanocarrier was fabricated for gene and photothermal combination cancer therapy by conjugating histone methyltransferase complex subunit SET1 (hSET1) on reduced polydopamine coated graphene oxide nanosheets (rGO-PDA). The rGO-PDA nanocarriers provide higher near-infrared absorption and further integrating with hSET1 antisense as an anticancer gene that down-regulates the amount of hSET1 overexpressed and suppresses the proliferation of cancer cells. The nanoplatform was prepared by polymerizing of dopamine, a mussel adhesive... 

Breast cancer incidence has increased in recent decades. In the present study, an optimum formulation of chitosan (CS)-adorned niosome-based nanocarriers for co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and vincristine (VIN) was developed for the treatment of breast cancer to reduce drug doses and overcome multidrug resistance. The three-level Box-Behnken method was utilized to optimize the particles in terms of size, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficacy (EE (%)), and percent of drug release (%). The release rate of two drugs from CS-adorned nanoparticles (DOX+VIN/Nio/CS) in acidic and physiological pH is less than uncoated niosome (DOX+VIN/Nio). In addition, acidic pH increases the release... 

In recent years, the role of optically sensitive nanomaterials has become powerful moieties in therapeutic techniques and has become particularly emphasized. Currently, by the extraordinary development of nanomaterials in different fields of medicine, they have found new applications. Phototherapy modalities, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) by toxic heat generation and photodynamic therapy (PDT) by reactive oxygen species, are known as promising phototherapeutic techniques, which can overcome the limitations of conventional protocols. Moreover, nanomaterial-based PDT and PTT match the simultaneous immune therapy and increase the immune system stimulation resulting from the denaturation of... 

In the present study, first, Fe3O4nanoparticles were functionalized using glutaric acid and then composited with CQDs. Doxorubicin (DOX) drug was loaded to evaluate the performance of the nanocomposite for targeted drug delivery applications. The XRD pattern confirmed the presence of characteristic peaks of CQDs and Fe3O4. In the FTIR spectrum, the presence of carboxyl functional groups on Fe3O4/CQDs was observed; DOX (positive charge) is loaded onto Fe3O4/CQDs (negative charge) by electrostatic absorption. FESEM and AFM images showed that the particle sizes of Fe3O4and CQDs were 23-75 and 1-3 nm, respectively. The hysteresis curves showed superparamagnetic properties for Fe3O4and Fe3O4/CQDs... 

An efficient and selective drug delivery vehicle for cancer cells can remarkably improve therapeutic approaches. In this study, we focused on the synthesis and characterization of magnetic Ni1−x Cox Fe2 O4 nanoparticles (NPs) coated with two layers of methionine and polyethylene glycol to increase the loading capacity and lower toxicity to serve as an efficient drug car-rier. Ni1−x Cox Fe2 O4 @Methionine@PEG NPs were synthesized by a reflux method then charac-terized by FTIR, XRD, FESEM, TEM, and VSM. Naproxen was used as a model drug and its loading and release in the vehicles were evaluated. The results for loading efficiency showed 1 mg of Ni1−x Cox Fe2 O4 @Methionine@PEG NPs could load... 

The separation of cancer cells from a heterogeneous biological sample such as blood plays a vital role in cancer study and future treatments. In this paper, we designed and investigated two microfluidic devices for cancer cell separation, including a serpentine inertial device and an integrated inertial-magnetophoretic device. Firstly, numerical modeling was carried out to study the fluid flow, particles’ trajectories in the inertial device. Then the device was fabricated using soft photolithography and suspension of two types of microparticles with the size of 10 and 15 µm were injected into the microchannel separately to investigate the particles’ trajectories and focusing behavior at...