Search results for "Polymers"
showing 10 items of 3567 documents
Restoration of Impaired Metabolic Energy Balance (ATP Pool) and Tube Formation Potential of Endothelial Cells under “high glucose”, Diabetic Conditio…
2017
Micro-vascularization is a fast, energy-dependent process that is compromised by elevated glucose concentrations such as in diabetes mellitus disease. Here, we studied the effect of the physiological bioinorganic polymer, polyphosphate (polyP), on the reduced ATP content and impaired function of endothelial cells cultivated under "high glucose" (35 mM diabetes mellitus conditions) concentrations. This high-energy biopolymer has been shown to provide a source of metabolic energy, stored in its phosphoanhydride bonds. We show that exposure of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC cells) to "high glucose" levels results in reduced cell viability, increased apoptotic cell death, and a d…
Modulating disease-relevant tau oligomeric strains by small molecules
2020
The pathological aggregation of tau plays an important role in Alzheimer's disease and many other related neurodegenerative diseases, collectively referred to as tauopathies. Recent evidence has demonstrated that tau oligomers, small and soluble prefibrillar aggregates, are highly toxic due to their strong ability to seed tau misfolding and propagate the pathology seen across different neurodegenerative diseases. We previously showed that novel curcumin derivatives affect preformed tau oligomer aggregation pathways by promoting the formation of more aggregated and nontoxic tau aggregates. To further investigate their therapeutic potential, we have extended our studies o disease-relevant bra…
Edible films/coating with tailored properties for active packaging of meat, fish and derived products
2020
Abstract Background Meat, fish and derived products are perishable food items with quick deterioration under improper storage. Edible films and/or coatings present an interesting approach to preserve and package these foods. These are composed of biopolymers generated from food industry wastes or underutilized sources of proteins, lipids, or polysaccharides that are biodegradable, edible and can act as carriers with active agents from natural sources. Scope and approach The protective effect of active films and coatings in meat, fish and derived products against quality decay during storage is described. This review reinforces the benefits of active films and coatings incorporated with natu…
PHEA-PLA biocompatible nanoparticles by technique of solvent evaporation from multiple emulsions
2015
Nanocarriers of amphiphilic polymeric materials represent versatile delivery systems for poorly water soluble drugs. In this work the technique of solvent evaporation from multiple emulsions was applied to produce nanovectors based on new amphiphilic copolymer, the α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-DL-aspartamide-polylactic acid (PHEA-PLA), purposely synthesized to be used in the controlled release of active molecules poorly soluble in water. To this aim an amphiphilic derivative of PHEA, a hydrophilic polymer, was synthesized by derivatization of the polymeric backbone with hydrophobic grafts of polylactic acid (PLA). The achieved copolymer was thus used to produce nanoparticles loaded with α toc…
Double Flow Bioreactor for In Vitro Test of Drug Delivery.
2015
In this work, double-structured polymeric scaffolds were produced, and a double flow bioreactor was designed and set up in order to create a novel system to carry out advanced in vitro drug delivery tests. The scaffolds, consisting of a cylindrical porous matrix, are able to host cells, thus mimicking a three-dimensional tumor mass: moreover, a âpseudo-vascularâ structure was embedded into the matrix, with the aim of allowing a flow circulation. The structure that emulates a blood vessel is a porous tubular-shaped scaffold prepared by Diffusion Induced Phase Separation (DIPS), with an internal lumen of 2 mm and a wall thickness of 200 micrometers. The as-prepared vessel was incorporated…
Gold nanostar–polymer hybrids for siRNA delivery: Polymer design towards colloidal stability and in vitro studies on breast cancer cells
2017
To overcome the low bioavailability of siRNA (small interfering RNA) and to improve their transfection efficiency, the use of non-viral delivery carriers is today a feasible approach to transform the discovery of these incredibly potent and versatile drugs into clinical practice. Polymer-modified gold nanoconstructs (AuNCs) are currently viewed as efficient and safe intracellular delivery carriers for siRNA, as they have the possibility to conjugate the ability to stably entrap and deliver siRNAs inside cells with the advantages of gold nanoparticles, which can act as theranostic agents and radiotherapy enhancers through laser-induced hyperthermia. In this study, AuNCs were prepared by coat…
Green Composites Based on PLA and Agricultural or Marine Waste Prepared by FDM
2021
Three dimensional-printability of green composites is recently growing in importance and interest, especially in the view of feasibility to valorize agricultural and marine waste to attain green fillers capable of reducing bioplastic costs, without compromising their processability and performance from an environmental and mechanical standpoint. In this work, two lignocellulosic fillers, obtained from Opuntia ficus indica and Posidonia oceanica, were added to PLA and processed by FDM. Among the 3D printed biocomposites investigated, slight differences could be found in terms of PLA molecular weight and filler aspect ratio. It was shown that it is possible to replace up to 20% of bioplastic …
Minimality via second variation for microphase separation of diblock copolymer melts
2017
Abstract We consider a non-local isoperimetric problem arising as the sharp interface limit of the Ohta–Kawasaki free energy introduced to model microphase separation of diblock copolymers. We perform a second order variational analysis that allows us to provide a quantitative second order minimality condition. We show that critical configurations with positive second variation are indeed strict local minimizers of the problem. Moreover, we provide, via a suitable quantitative inequality of isoperimetric type, an estimate of the deviation from minimality for configurations close to the minimum in the L 1 {L^{1}} -topology.
Rational Design of Thermoresponsive Microgel Templates with Polydopamine Surface Coating for Microtissue Applications.
2021
Functional microgels provide a versatile basis for synthetic in vitro platforms as alternatives to animal experiments. The tuning of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of synthetic microgels can be achieved by blending suitable polymers and formulating them such to reflect the heterogenous and complex nature of biological tissues. Based on this premise, this paper introduces the development of volume-switchable core-shell microgels as 3D templates to enable cell growth for microtissue applications, using a systematic approach to tune the microgel properties based on a deep conceptual and practical understanding. Microscopic microgel design, such as the tailoring of the microg…