Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, the main focus was on designing and synthesizing a novel magnetic nanobiocomposite and its application in hyperthermia cancer treatment. Regarding this aim, sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel with CaCl2 cross-linker formed and modified by silk fibroin (SF) natural polymer and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), followed by in situ Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles preparation. No important differences were detected in red blood cells (RBCs) hemolysis, confirming the high blood compatibility of the treated erythrocytes with this nanobiocomposite. Moreover, the synthesized SA hydrogel/SF/HNTs/Fe3O4 nanobiocomposite does not demonstrate toxicity toward HEK293T normal cell line after 48 and 72 h.... 

In this study, a series of highly swelling hydrogels based on sodium alginate (NaAlg) and polymethacrylamide (PMAM) was prepared through free radical polymerization. The graft copolymerization reaction was performed in a homogeneous medium and in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. The crosslinked graft copolymer, alginate-graft-polymethacrylamide (Alg-g-PMAM), was then partially hydrolyzed by NaOH solution to yield a hydrogel, hydrolyzed alginate-graft-polymethacrylamide (H-Alg-g-PMAM). During alkaline hydrolysis, the carboxamide groups of Alg-g-PMAM were converted into hydrophilic carboxylate anions. Either the... 

This paper presents a new method for spectrophotometirc detection of sulfide applying fungal peroxidase immobilized on sodium alginate. The sensing scheme was based on decrease of the absorbance of the orange compound, purpurogallin produced from pyrogallol and H2O2 as substrates, due to the inhibition of peroxidase by sulfide. Absorbance of purpurogallin was detected at 420nm by using a spectrophotometer. The proposed method could successfully detect the sulfide in the concentration range of 0.6-7.0μM with a detection limit of 0.4μM. The kinetic parameters of Michaelis-Menten with and without sulfide were also calculated. Possible inhibition mechanism of peroxidase by sulfide was deduced... 

NaY zeolite nanoparticles were synthesized and shaped into the uniform spherical granules using a developed novel and simple two-step granulation technique. First, the alginate/nanozeolite or alginate/nanozeolite-bentonite spherical hybrid was successfully fabricated, and then the alginate was decomposed by calcinations resulting uniform spherical granules. To improve the mechanical stability of the prepared granules, bentonite was added as an inorganic binder at different ratios of 20wt.% to 40wt.%. Moreover, the effect of binder on the ion exchange properties of the prepared granules was studied. Increasing of binder content from 20wt.% to 40wt.% linearly enhanced the mechanical stability... 

Chronic, non-healing wounds place a significant burden on patients and healthcare systems, resulting in impaired mobility, limb amputation, or even death. Chronic wounds result from a disruption in the highly orchestrated cascade of events involved in wound closure. Significant advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic wounds have resulted in the development of drugs designed to target different aspects of the impaired processes. However, the hostility of the wound environment rich in degradative enzymes and its elevated pH, combined with differences in the time scales of different physiological processes involved in tissue regeneration require the use of effective drug... 

In this work, for the first time, we presented a novel design strategy to fabricate a new type of Octa-aminopropyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane hydrochloride salt (OA-POSS)-based Alg/PAAm DN gels, consisting of PAAm gel as the first chemical network and Alg/OA-POSS gel as the second chemical-physical network. Incorporation of OA-POSS nanoparticles with various feed ratio into the second network not only led to form strong coordination interactions but also in comparison to the other Alg/PAAm gels demonstrated superior mechanical properties. pH, temperature, contact time and salt effects parameters were studied on the swelling and dye removal properties of the synthesized DN hybrid... 

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of heart failure and death in the world, and the transplantation of the heart is an effective and viable choice for treatment despite presenting many disadvantages (most notably, transplant heart availability). To overcome this problem, cardiac tissue engineering is considered a promising approach by using implantable artificial blood vessels, injectable gels, and cardiac patches (to name a few) made from biodegradable polymers. Biodegradable polymers are classified into two main categories: natural and synthetic polymers. Natural biodegradable polymers have some distinct advantages such as biodegradability, abundant availability, and... 

Stem cell treatment is promising in the various disorders treatment, but its effect is confined by the adverse conditions in the damaged tissues. The utilization of hydrogels has been suggested as a procedure to defeat this issue by developing the engraftment and survival of injected stem cells. Specifically, injectable hydrogels have drawn much attention due to their shape adaptability, ease of use, and the capability to reach body parts that are hard to access. In this study, the thermosensitive injectable hydrogels based on oxidized alginate, gelatin, and carbon nitride quantum dots (CNQDs) have been fabricated for tissue engineering. The mechanical characteristics of the nanocomposite... 

Non-targeted persistent immune activation or suppression by different drug delivery platforms can cause adverse and chronic physiological effects including cancer and arthritis. Therefore, non-toxic materials that do not trigger an immunogenic response during delivery are crucial for safe and effective in vivo treatment. Hydrogels are excellent candidates that can be engineered to control immune responses by modulating biomolecule release/adsorption, improving regeneration of lymphoid tissues, and enhancing function during antigen presentation. This review discusses the aspects of hydrogel-based systems used as drug delivery platforms for various diseases. A detailed investigation on... 

One of the most arduous challenges in tissue engineering is neovascularization, without which there is a lack of nutrients delivered to a target tissue. Angiogenesis should be completed at an optimal density and within an appropriate period of time to prevent cell necrosis. Failure to meet this challenge brings about poor functionality for the tissue in comparison with the native tissue, extensively reducing cell viability. Prior studies devoted to angiogenesis have provided researchers with some biomaterial scaffolds and cell choices for angiogenesis. For example, while most current angiogenesis approaches require a variety of stimulatory factors ranging from biomechanical to biomolecular... 

This work describes the preparation of magnetic and pH-sensitive beads based on κ-carrageenan and sodium alginate for use as drug-targeting carriers. Physical cross-linking using K+/Ca2+ ions was applied to obtain ionic cross-linked magnetic hydrogel beads. The produced magnetite beads were thoroughly characterized by TEM, SEM/EDS, XRD, FTIR, and VSM techniques. While the water absorbency (WA) of magnetic beads was enhanced by increasing the weight ratio of κ-carrageenan, introducing magnetic nanoparticles caused a decrease in WA capacity from 15.4 to 6.3 g/g. Investigation on the swelling of the hydrogel beads in NaCl, KCl, and CaCl2 solutions revealed the disintegration of beads depending... 

A novel hydrogen sulfide microbial biosensor was developed based on investigating the influence of four design parameters: cell concentration, immobilization bed type, hydrogen sulfide concentration, and geometrical shape of the biosensor. Thiobacillus thioparus was used as the recognition element and it was immobilized on sodium alginate as well as agarose bed. The results were optimized by the application of statistical optimization software based on response time of the system. Oxygen reduction was considered as the detection sign. Sodium alginate solution with a concentration of 2.3% (w/v) and optical density of 10 at 605. nm was found as the optimum conditions for immobilization with... 

Application of immobilized horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in porous calcium alginate (ca-alginate) for the purpose of phenol removal is reported. The optimal conditions for immobilization of HRP in ca-alginate were identified. Gelation (encapsulation) was optimized at 1.0% (w/v) sodium alginate in the presence of 5.5% (w/v) of calcium chloride. Upon immobilization, pH profile of enzyme activity changes as it shows higher value at basic and acidic solution. Increasing initial phenol concentration results in a decrease in % conversion. The highest conversion belongs to phenol concentration of 2 mM. Investigation into time course of phenol removal for both encapsulated and free enzymes showed... 

The present study aimed to improve the survivability of L. acidophilus encapsulated in alginate-whey protein isolate (AL-WPI) biocomposite under simulated gastric juice (SGJ) and simulated intestinal juice (SIJ). Microcapsules were prepared based on emulsification/internal gelation technique. Optimal compositions of AL and WPI and their ratio in the aqueous phase were evaluated based on minimizing mean diameter (MD) of the microcapsules and maximizing encapsulation efficiency (EE), survivability of cells under SGJ (Viability), and release of viable cells under SIJ (Release) using Box-Behnken experimental design. Optimal composition comprising 4.54% (w/v) AL, 10% (w/v) WPI, and 10% (v/v)... 

Polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate/nano silver (PVA/SA/Ag) composite films were made by solution casting method. Gamma irradiation was used to synthesize silver nanoparticles in situ via reduction of silver nitrate without using harmful chemical agents for biomedical applications. UV-vis and XRD results demonstrated that spherical silver nanoparticles were produced even at low irradiation dose of 5. kGy. By increasing irradiation dose, more nanoparticles were synthesized while no PVA hydrogel was formed up to 15. kGy. Also the size of nanoparticles was reduced with increasing gamma dose evidenced by higher release rate of silver nanoparticles in lukewarm water and SEM images. Comparing SEM... 

The magnetic composite hydrogel was fabricated by the graft copolymerization of itaconic acid (IA) onto starch and Alginic acid in the presence graphene sheets (Gr) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Gr-IA/St-Alg) for Guaifenesin (GFN) delivery and wound healing. The Fe3O4@Gr-IA/St-Alg biomaterial is a hydrogel network endowed the material with magnetic property. In addition, GFN not only achieved effectively bound to the magnetic hydrogel, but also released in a controlled manner. The using external magnetic field has significantly positive influence on the drug release rate. To close, these hydrogel drug carriers offer a favorable platform for magnetically targeted drug delivery as well as a... 

Oxaliplatin (OXA) has been widely used for treatment of colorectal cancer. In this study, to enhance antitumor and apoptosis efficacy, OXA was encapsulated in a novel folate conjugated hyaluronic acid coated alginate nanogels (F/HA/AL/OXA). The F/HA/AL/OXA nanogels were prepared by cross-linking process. The physico-chemical properties of F/HA/AL/OXA nanogels were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and fluorescent spectrophotometry. The in-vitro antitumor activity of free OXA, AL, HA/AL, HA/AL/OXA and F/HA/AL/OXA nanogels were assessed using MTT assay against colorectal cancer... 

Injectable hydrogels which mimic the physicochemical and electromechanical properties of cardiac tissue is advantageous for cardiac tissue engineering. Here, a newly-developed in situ forming double-network hydrogel derived from biological macromolecules (oxidized alginate (OA) and myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM)) with improved mechanical properties and electrical conductivity was optimized. 3-(2-aminoethyl amino) propyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS)-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (Amine-rGO) was added to this system with varied concentrations to promote electromechanical properties of the hydrogel. Alginate was partially oxidized with an oxidation degree of 5% and the resulting OA... 

Sulfur quantum dots (SQDs) were fabricated using a facile hydrothermal method and used for the preparation of functional food packaging film and compared the properties with other sulfur-based fillers like elemental sulfur (ES) and sulfur nanoparticles (SNP). The SQDs have an average size of 5.3 nm and were very stable in aqueous suspension. Unlike other sulfur-based fillers, the SQD showed high antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activity, but no cytotoxicity was found for L929 mouse fibroblasts even after long-term exposure of 48 h. When sulfur-based fillers were added to the alginate film, SQD was more evenly dispersed in the polymer matrix than SNP and ES. The addition of SQD to... 

Fabrication of scaffolds with enhanced mechanical properties and desirable cellular compatibility is critical for numerous tissue engineering applications. This study was aimed at fabrication and characterization of a nanofiber skin substitute composed of collagen (Col)/sodium alginate (SA)/ polyethylene oxide (PEO)/Rhodotorula mucilaginosa sp. GUMS16 produced exopolysaccharides (EPS) were prepared using the biaxial electrospinning technique. This study used collagen extracted from the bovine tendon as a natural scaffold, sodium alginate as an absorber of excess wound fluids, and GUMS16 produced exopolysaccharides as an antioxidant. Collagen was characterized using FTIR and EDS analyses. The...