Actinobacteria are one of the largest bacterial phyla. These microbes produce bioactive compounds, such as antifungals, antibiotics, immunological modulators, and anti-tumor agents. Studies on actinobacteria isolated from the Brazilian Savannah biome (Cerrado) are scarce and mostly address metagenomics or the search for hydrolytic enzyme-producing microbes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated a novel immunization therapy for pre-clinical aggressive metastatic breast cancer using immunogenic cell lysates derived from 4T1-luc cells treated with cisplatin and methotrexate, addressing the critical need for improved treatments given the poor prognosis associated with breast cancer metastasis and its significant mortality rate. Methotrexate, a conventional cytotoxic agent, demonstrated a previously unrecognized capacity to induce immunogenic cell lysates, presenting a potential drug repositioning opportunity. In a murine model of stage IV metastatic breast cancer, immunization with these lysates significantly reduced primary tumor growth and lung metastasis, as assessed by bioluminescence imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
March 2025
Kunth, popularly known as guarana, a native Amazonian shrub cultivated by the Sateré-Mawé ethnic group, has been used in traditional medicine for various purposes, including stimulant and therapeutic actions, due to its chemical composition, which is rich in bioactive compounds. This study explored the reductive potential of guarana with nanobiotechnology and aimed to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using the aqueous extract of leaves collected during the dry and rainy seasons, assessing their biological and catalytic activities. The AgNPs were synthesized in a water bath at 70 °C for three hours and then characterized using techniques such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, DLS, zeta potential, MET, NTA, and EDX and had their effects on various biological systems assessed in vitro, as well as in catalytic tests aimed at indicating the probable influence of the time when the plant material was collected on the properties of the nanostructures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
February 2025
Curcumin has antimicrobial activity, and its mechanism of action involves changing histone acetylation. Our group has shown that histone deacetylases (HDACs) inhibitors increase the sensibility of to certain antifungal treatments. Therefore, the aim of this work was to investigate whether curcumin pretreatment increases the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) mediated by aluminum phthalocyanine in nanoemulsion (AlPc-NE) against .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLasers Med Sci
October 2024
The research on actinobacteria isolated from traditional medicinal plants is limited. Here, four new Streptomyces isolates (Ha1, Pp1, UzK and UzM) were obtained from the rhizospheres of Helianthus annuus, Pongamia pinnata and Ziziphus mauritiana, frequently utilized in Indian traditional medicine. The Streptomyces isolates aqueous extracts were studied alone against the growth of the Cryptococcus neoformans H99 reference strain, the fluconazole-tolerant T1-5796 and 89-610 strains, three histone deacetylase (HDAC) genes mutant strains, C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceuticals (Basel)
July 2024
The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can be developed using safe and environmentally friendly routes, can replace potentially toxic chemical methods, and can increase the scale of production. This study aimed to synthesize AgNPs from aqueous extracts of guarana () leaves and flowers, collected in different seasons of the year, as a source of active biomolecules capable of reducing silver ions (Ag) and promoting the stabilization of colloidal silver (Ag). The plant aqueous extracts were characterized regarding their metabolic composition by liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS/MS), phenolic compound content, and antioxidant potential against free radicals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe industries are searching for greener alternatives for their productions due to the rising concern about the environment and creation of waste and by-products without industrial utility for that specific line of products. This investigation describes the development of two stable nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs): one is the formulation of a standard NLC, and the other one is the same NLC formulation associated with a natural deep eutectic solvent (NaDES). The research presents the formulation paths of the NLCs through completeness, which encompass dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential tests, and pH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
July 2024
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses a photosensitizer to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill target cells. In cancer treatments, PDT can potentially induce immunogenic cell death (ICD), which is characterized by a well-controlled exposure of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) that activate dendritic cells (DCs) and consequently modulate the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. However, PDT still has limitations, such as the activity of photosensitizers in aqueous media and poor bioavailability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Pharm Des
October 2024
Introduction: Cancer is an individual disease and its formation and development are specific to each host. Conventional treatments are ineffective in complex cases, such as metastasis, and have severe adverse side effects. New strategies are needed to address the problem, and the use of immunogenic cell death (ICD) as a trigger or booster of the immune system through the exposure of damage-associated molecular patterns, along with tumor antigens, by cancerous cells is presented as an immunization approach in this work.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelanoma, a severe form of skin cancer intricately linked to genetic and environmental factors, is predicted to reach 100,000 new cases worldwide by 2040, underscoring the need for effective and safe treatment options. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of a photosensitizer called Chlorophyll A (Chl-A) incorporated into hydrogels (HGs) made of chitosan (CS) and poloxamer 407 (P407) for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) against the murine melanoma cell line B16-F10. The HG was evaluated through various tests, including rheological studies, SEM, and ATR-FTIR, along with cell viability assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomedicine is a special medical field focused on the application of nanotechnology to provide innovations for healthcare in different areas, including the treatment of a wide variety of diseases, including cancer [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of nucleotides for biomedical applications is an old desire in the scientific community. As we will present here, there are references published over the past 40 years with this intended use. The main problem is that, as unstable molecules, nucleotides require some additional protection to extend their shelf life in the biological environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvestigate the heterogeneous tumor tissue organization and examine how this condition can interfere with the passive delivery of a lipid nanoemulsion in two breast cancer preclinical models (4T1 and Ehrlich). The authors used image techniques to follow the nanoemulsion biodistribution and microtomography, as well as traditional histopathology and electron microscopy to evaluate the tumor structural characteristics. Lipid nanoemulsion was delivered to the tumor, vascular organization depends upon the subtumoral localization and this heterogeneous organization promotes a nanoemulsion biodistribution to the highly vascular peripherical region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
October 2022
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) mediated by photosensitizers loaded in nanostructures as solid lipid nanoparticles has been pinpointed as an effective and safe treatment against different skin cancers. Amazon butters have an interesting lipid composition when it comes to forming solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). In the present report, a new third-generation photosensitizing system consisting of aluminum-phthalocyanine associated with Amazon butter-based solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN-AlPc) is described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmunogenic cell death (ICD) is a modality of regulated cell death that is sufficient to promote an adaptive immune response against antigens of the dying cell in an immunocompetent host. An important characteristic of ICD is the release and exposure of damage-associated molecular patterns, which are potent endogenous immune adjuvants. As the induction of ICD can be achieved with conventional cytotoxic agents, it represents a potential approach for the immunotherapy of cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
May 2022
Infectious diseases are among the major health issues of the 21st century. The substantial use of antibiotics over the years has contributed to the dissemination of multidrug resistant bacteria. According to a recent report by the World Health Organization, antibacterial (ATB) drug resistance has been one of the biggest challenges, as well as the development of effective long-term ATBs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study is to investigate the antineoplastic potential of photodynamic therapy (PDT) mediated by an aluminum-phthalocyanine chloride nanoemulsion (AlPc-NE), against an oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell line in vitro. Both OSCC (SCC9) and A431 cell lines were studied in vitro. Four study groups were used: Group 1 (phosphate-buffered saline [PBS]), Group 2 (PBS + 28.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharmaceutics
January 2022
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been clinically employed to treat mainly superficial cancer, such as basal cell carcinoma. This approach can eliminate tumors by direct cytotoxicity, tumor ischemia, or by triggering an immune response against tumor cells. Among the immune-related mechanisms of PDT, the induction of immunogenic cell death (ICD) in target cells is to be cited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo develop a new curcumin carrier consisting of murumuru butter nanoparticles (SLN-Cs). A phase-inversion temperature method was used to produce SLN-Cs. The interaction of SLN-Cs with murine colon adenocarcinoma (CT26) cells was analyzed by confocal microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Chemother
June 2021
Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) using chloroaluminium phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) and paromomycin sulfate (PM) can be effective against New World species involved in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The aim of this study is to assay the skin permeation and the antileishmanial effects of a nanoemulsion (NE) containing both ClAlPc and PM in experimental CL by () .
Material And Methods: Cremophor ELP/castor oil-based NEs were prepared by a low-energy method and characterized for their physicochemical parameters.
J Photochem Photobiol B
March 2021
Cryptococcus is a globally distributed fungal pathogen that primarily afflicts immunocompromised individuals. The therapeutic options are limited and include mostly amphotericin B or fluconazole, alone or in combination. The extensive usage of antifungals allowed the selection of resistant pathogens posing threats to global public health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This clinical study was developed to primarily evaluate the Complete Cytopathological Response Rate of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasms to PDT using chitosan nanocapsules containing Chlorocyan-aluminum phthalocyanine as a photoactive agent. Analyses of the Free Recurrence Interval, toxicity profile (immediate and late), and complications (immediate and late), were secondarily analyzed.
Methods: This study was previously approved by the National Council of Ethics in Research of Brazil (CONEP), on May 28, 2014, under case number 19182113.
Nanomedicine (Lond)
December 2020
To investigate the effect of liposomes containing the classical cytotoxic drugs paclitaxel and doxorubicin (Lipo-Pacli/Dox), against a metastatic breast cancer model. We also investigated if Lipo-Pacli/Dox was capable of reverting the tolerogenic environment of metastatic lesions. Immunogenic cell death induction by the Pacli/Dox combination was assessed .
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