This study aimed to investigate the in vitro skin permeation and in vivo antineoplastic effect of curcumin by using liposomes as the transdermal drug-delivery system. Soybean phospholipids (SPC), egg yolk phospholipids (EPC), and hydrogenated soybean phospholipids (HSPC) were selected for the preparation of different kinds of phospholipids composed of curcumin-loaded liposomes: C-SPC-L (curcumin-loaded SPC liposomes), C-EPC-L (curcumin-loaded EPC liposomes), and C-HSPC-L (curcumin-loaded HSPC liposomes). The physical properties of different lipsomes were investigated as follows: photon correlation spectroscopy revealed that the average particle sizes of the three types of curcumin-loaded liposomes were 82.37 ± 2.19 nm (C-SPC-L), 83.13 ± 4.89 nm (C-EPC-L), and 92.42 ± 4.56 nm (C-HSPC-L), respectively. The encapsulation efficiency values were found to be 82.32 ± 3.91%, 81.59 ± 2.38%, and 80.77 ± 4.12%, respectively. An in vitro skin penetration study indicated that C-SPC-L most significantly promoted drug permeation and deposition followed by C-EPC-L, C-HSPC-L, and curcumin solution. Moreover, C-SPC-L displayed the greatest ability of all loaded liposomes to inhibit the growth of B16BL6 melanoma cells. Therefore, the C-SPC-L were chosen for further pharmacodynamic evaluation. A significant effect on antimelanoma activity was observed with C-SPC-L, as compared to treatment with curcumin solution in vivo. These results suggest that C-SPC-L would be a promising transdermal carrier for curcumin in cancer treatment.

High salinity is one of the main factors limiting cotton growth and productivity. The genes that regulate salt stress in TM-1 upland cotton were monitored using microarray and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) with samples taken from roots. Microarray analysis showed that 1503 probe sets were up-regulated and 1490 probe sets were down-regulated in plants exposed for 3h to 100mM NaCl, and RT-PCR analysis validated 42 relevant/related genes. The distribution of enriched gene ontology terms showed such important processes as the response to water stress and pathways of hormone metabolism and signal transduction were induced by the NaCl treatment. Some key regulatory gene families involved in abiotic and biotic sources of stress such as WRKY, ERF, and JAZ were differentially expressed. Our transcriptome analysis might provide some useful insights into salt-mediated signal transduction pathways in cotton and offer a number of candidate genes as potential markers of tolerance to salt stress.

BackgroundThermoresponsive nanoparticles have become an attractive candidate for designing combined multimodal therapy strategies because of the onset of hyperthermia and their advantages in synergistic cancer treatment. In this paper, novel cetuximab (C225)-encapsulated core-shell Fe3O4@Au magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs) were created and applied as a therapeutic nanocarrier to conduct targeted magneto-photothermal therapy against glioma cells.MethodsThe core-shell Fe3O4@Au magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were prepared, and then C225 was further absorbed to synthesize Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs. Their morphology, mean particle size, zeta potential, optical property, magnetic property and thermal dynamic profiles were characterized. After that, the glioma-destructive effect of magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) combined with near-infrared (NIR) hyperthermia mediated by Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs was evaluated through in vitro and in vivo experiments.ResultsThe inhibitory and apoptotic rates of Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs-mediated combined hyperthermia (MFH+NIR) group were significantly higher than other groups in vitro and the marked upregulation of caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 expression indicated excellent antitumor effect by inducing intrinsic apoptosis. Furthermore, Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs-mediated combined hyperthermia (MFH+NIR) group exhibited significant tumor growth suppression compared with other groups in vivo.ConclusionOur studies illustrated that Fe3O4@Au-C225 composite-targeted MNPs have great potential as a promising nanoplatform for human glioma therapy and could be of great value in medical use in the future.

Nanocrystalline barium titanate (BaTiO3, BT) was synthesized hydrothermally at 220°C by reacting barium hydroxide with titanium dioxide. The resulting BT nanopowders were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), Raman spectrum, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM). The BT nanopowders have a cubic phase as revealed by the XRD and SAED results, whereas the Raman spectrum indicates that tetragonal phase BT exists in the produced nanopowders but is not the dominant phase because of the weak characteristic peak of the tetragonal structure at 305 cm−1. In the SEM and TEM images, many coarse‐faceted cubic nanoparticles and a small amount of spherical particles are observed, indicating a developed bimodal size distribution of the BT powders. The variations of electron diffraction contrast across these particles in the TEM images indicate the presence of high strain in the BT nanoparticles, which is probably caused by the lattice defects like OH− ions and their compensation by cation vacancies. The HR‐TEM image of a BT nanoparticle with a size of 24 nm and a spherical morphology demonstrates a uniform and perfect crystal structure. The surrounding edges of the particle are very smooth and no surface steps are observed. However, a terrace–ledge–kink (TLK) surface structure was frequently observed at the edges of the BT nanoparticles with rough surface morphology, and in most cases the terrace and ledge lie on the {100} planes. The observed TLK surface structure can be well interpreted by the theory of periodic bond chains. Small nucleated and triangular BT islands with three to four atomic layer thickness, and their outside surfaces faceted as (100) and (010) planes, are also observed in these particles. The rarely seen {110} surface in the BT nanoparticles was found to be reconstructed so that the surface was composed of corners bound by {100} minifaces like the triangular small islands. Microstructural defects such as antiphase boundaries were also observed near the edge of a BT nanoparticle, which were formed by the intersection of two crystalline parts with displacement deviation from each other by , as revealed by the HR‐TEM images.

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