Green chemistry has been an eye catching area of interest since the past few years. With the problem of energy crisis looming high and its constraint being particularly vulnerable on the developing economies, the need for giving alternative traditional chemistry a serious consideration as well as adequate room for development has received significant boost through the coveted efforts of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary scientific fields. Nanoscience has been the right field in this dimension as it opens up the door to multiple opportunities through enabling a number of chemical, biochemical, and biophysical transformations in a significantly easier and reliable manner. The use of nanoparticles has made the fields of catalysis, synthesis, and enzyme immobilizations as well as molecular interactions a lot much easier, rapid and easily controllable. This review article sheds light on the popular alternative synthesis routes being employed for the synthesis of nanoparticles, the pivotal being from microbes, plants, and chemical routes via sonication, microwaving, and many others.

Phenolic compounds have been very well known for their antioxidant properties, owing to their unique ability to act as free radical scavengers which, in turn, is an outstanding attribute of their unique biochemical structure. Recent accumulating lines of evidence inculcate sustainable interest and curiosity towards the chemoprotective nature of the natural polyphenolic compound curcumin (diferuloylmethane) against oxidative stress-mediated disorders. Curcumin is naturally found as a constituent of dietary spices called turmeric, extracted from the plant Curcuma longa. However, like every phenolic antioxidant, curcumin possesses a concentration and medium dependent anti- and pro-oxidant behaviour. A detailed study of the structure-function analysis and the understanding of the mode of action of curcumin as well as its chemical analogues is thus essential to understand the selective biochemical consequences of curcumin. Moreover, the presence of transition metal ions, route of administration, and localized tissue are also the vital decisive factors to determine curcumin behaviour. With this viewpoint, this paper sheds lights on the medium dependent prooxidative and antioxidative attributes of curcumin. Further, with respect to emergence of nanocarriers, a brief discussion focusing on the biochemical effect exertion of curcumin chiefly due to targeted and slow release has also been added towards the end.

Breast cancer (BC) currently occupies the second rank in cancer-related global female deaths. Although consistent awareness and improved diagnosis have reduced mortality in recent years, late diagnosis and resistant response still limit the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs (CDs), leading to relapse with consequent invasion and metastasis. Treatment with CDs is indeed well-versed but it is badly curtailed with accompanying side effects and inadequacies of site-specific drug delivery. As a result, drug carriers ensuring stealth delivery and sustained drug release with improved pharmacokinetics and biodistribution are urgently needed. Core–shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) have recently been a cornerstone in this context, attributed to their high surface area, low density, robust functionalization, high drug loading capacity, size–shape-controlled functioning, and homogeneous shell architecture, enabling stealth drug delivery. Recent interest in using MSNPs as drug delivery vehicles has been due to their functionalization and size–shape-driven versatilities. With such insights, this article focuses on the preparation methods and drug delivery mechanisms of MSNPs, before discussing their emerging utility in BC treatment. The information compiled herein could consolidate the database for using inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) as BC drug delivery vehicles in terms of design, application and resolving post-therapy complications.

Curcumin (Ccm) has shown immense potential as an antimalarial agent; however its low solubility and less bioavailability attenuate the in vivo efficacy of this potent compound. In order to increase Ccm’s bioavailability, a number of organic/inorganic polymer based nanoparticles have been investigated. However, most of the present day nano based delivery systems pose a conundrum with respect to their complex synthesis procedures, poor in vivo stability and toxicity issues. Peptides due to their high biocompatibility could act as excellent materials for the synthesis of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems. Here, we have investigated dehydrophenylalanine (ΔPhe) di-peptide based self-assembled nanoparticles for the efficient delivery of Ccm as an antimalarial agent. The self-assembly and curcumin loading capacity of different ΔPhe dipeptides, phenylalanine–α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (FΔF), arginine-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (RΔF), valine-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (VΔF) and methonine-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine (MΔF) were investigated for achieving enhanced and effective delivery of the compound for potential anti-malarial therapy. FΔF, RΔF, VΔF and MΔF peptides formed different types of nanoparticles like nanotubes and nanovesicles under similar assembling conditions. Out of these, F∆F nanotubes showed maximum curcumin loading capacity of almost 68 % W/W. Ccm loaded F∆F nanotubes (Ccm-F∆F) showed comparatively higher (IC50, 3.0 µM) inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum (Indo strain) as compared to free Ccm (IC50, 13 µM). Ccm-F∆F nano formulation further demonstrated higher inhibition of parasite growth in malaria infected mice as compared to free Ccm. The dipeptide nanoparticles were highly biocompatible and didn’t show any toxic effect on mammalian cell lines and normal blood cells. This work provides a proof of principle of using highly biocompatible short peptide based nanoparticles for entrapment and in vivo delivery of Ccm leading to an enhancement in its efficacy as an antimalarial agent.