Phytochemicals such as curcumin have great potential in cancer prevention and treatment. However, instability and low aqueous solubility of free curcumin weaken its anticancer potential. These undesirable problems can be avoided upon loading curcumin into nanoparticles containing biocompatible and biodegradable polymers such as poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), liposomes or micelles. The interaction of drugs and release control can be further enhanced upon inclusion of clay minerals into the PLGA containing nanoparticles. Such nanoparticles offer a new way for cancer drug delivery systems. However, the role of the clay mineral in the resulting composite is not fully understood. Therefore, in this study, we carried out systematic adsorption studies of curcumin anticancer drug on montmorillonite (MMT) nanoparticles in the presence of amphiphilic polymer (PLGA) and in an aqueous environment to understand the contribution of the layered clay structure using cluster (B97-D), periodic DFT and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in acidic and natural pH media. It has been found that MMT has high affinity towards either polymer or drug molecules especially due to vdW interactions. Furthermore, it has been observed that MMT facilitates the release of curcumin. Current findings suggest that a composite consisting of MMT and PLGA might be used to deliver the anticancer agent curcumin.

ObjectiveTo assess and compare the cytotoxic, genotoxic, apoptotic and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generating effects of naringenin (NG) and its new derived compound naringenin-oxime (NG-Ox) on MCF-7, HT-29, PC-12 cancer and L-929 normal cell lines.MethodsThe cells were incubated with different doses of NG-Ox and NG (50–1000 μmol/L) for 24 h. The cell viability was assessed based on ATP cell viability assay. Intracellular accumulation of ROS was determined using the fluorescent probes 2′7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate. Genotoxic effects were evaluated by alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis assay (comet assay) and, the apoptotic effect was evaluated by acridine orange staining at below the IC50 levels.ResultsBoth NG-Ox and NG exhibited cytotoxic, genotoxic and apoptotic effects and resulted in increased ROS values in a dose-dependent manner. The effects were more pronounced on cancer cell lines. The cytotoxic, genotoxic and apoptotic effects of NG-Ox were higher than that of NG in all cell lines. Significant correlations were observed between cell viability, DNA damage, apoptosis and ROS, in all cell lines exposed to either NG-Ox or NG.ConclusionsThis study showed that both NG-Ox and NG possess cytotoxic, genotoxic and apoptotic activities through the production of ROS on cells, NG-Ox being the more effective one. Therefore, derived compound of NG might be used as antiproliferative agents for the treatment of cancer

Reversed-phase HPLC analyses of the methanol extract of the leaves of Erica arborea afforded a novel phenylpropanoid glucoside, named ericarborin, together with five flavonoids, dihydromyricetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, quercetin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside, apigenin 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and apigenin 7-O-β-D-(6-O-acetyl-glucopyranoside). While the structure of ericarborin was determined by extensive 1D and 2D NMR analyses, the structures of all known flavonoids were determined by direct comparison of their spectroscopic data with respective literature data. The antioxidant properties of these compounds were assessed by the DPPH assay. The chemotaxonomic significance of these phenolic compounds has been discussed.