Pancreatic Peptide ELISA Kit

Specific targeted drug delivery and controllable release of drugs at tumor regions are two of the main challenges for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) therapy, particularly post metastasis. Herein, we present a platelet membrane-facilitated local chemo-photothermal therapy strategy, in which polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles act as photothermal agents and along with antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX) are encapsulated into platelet membranes (PLT-PPy-DOX). The particles are endowed with immune evasiveness and tumor targeting abilities from platelet membranes, and are then intravenously injected into an orthotopic mouse model of HCC. As expected, the PLT-PPy-DOX nanoplatforms were abundant in the tumor tissues. Hyperthermia was generated under laser irradiation (808 nm) not only to ablate tumor cells directly but also to increase the triggered release of DOX. This combination of local chemotherapy and photothermal therapy demonstrated excellent antitumor efficiency in suppressing primary tumor growth and inhibiting tumor metastases. This localized therapy which adopts biocompatible natural cell membranes and good biodegradable organic photothermal agents may provide new insights into designing biomimetic nano-vehicles for personalized therapy of HCC.

Zinc cobalt oxide (ZCO) nanoparticles and zinc cobalt oxide/ polypyrrole (ZCO/PPy) nanocomposites were synthesized by hydrothermal and in situ chemical polymerization routes, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of PPy and ZCO/PPy nanocomposites show the amorphous nature of PPy, while there is the presence of dominant crystalline peaks of ZCO in the PPy matrix. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) depicts a spherical geometry and shows a decrease in the particle size with an increase in the ZCO weight percentage, while the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images depict the core-shell-type formation of particles with aggregated ZCO nanoparticles as a core embedded in the PPy shell. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of ZCO/PPy nanocomposites show all the asymmetrical stretching vibrations of PPy and ZCO along with an increase in intensities of the respective metal oxides peaks and slight shifts in a few bands. Further, the transport studies, i.e., direct current (DC) conductivities of the ZCO/PPy nanocomposites, were studied as a function of temperature (300-453 K) and reveal semiconducting transport behavior. The analysis of DC conduction in PPy and ZCO/PPy suggests that the conduction of charge carriers follows the three-dimensional Mott variable range hopping (3D-VRH) model at a lower temperature, while it follows a thermally activated conduction model at high temperature.