Diatoms Biosilica as Efficient Drug-Delivery System
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Diatoms Biosilica as Efficient Drug-Delivery System Danilo Vona1, Gabriella Leone1, Roberta Ragni1, Fabio Palumbo2, Antonio Evidente3, Maurizio Vurro4, Gianluca M. Farinola1 and Stefania R. Cicco5 1 Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”. Via Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy. 2 CNR NANOTECH, Via Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy. 3 Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Complesso Universitario Monte Sant’Angelo,Via Cintia 4, 80126, Napoli, Italy 4 CNR ISPA, Via Amendola, 122/O, 70125 Bari, Italy. 5 CNR ICCOM, Via Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
ABSTRACT Diatoms are the most abundant resource of biosilica on Earth. These microalgae are encased in a 3D amorphous silica “shell” called frustule whose size and morphology is strictly dependent on the diatom species. Naturally nanostructured biosilica from diatoms exhibit unique adsorption and confinement properties useful for delivery of molecules of pharmacological interest.In this work fossil biosilica was used as a carrier for Ophiobolin A (a fungal macrolide with anticancer and antiparasitic properties), with the aim to develop a model system of Ophiobolin A loading / delivery. Ophiobolin A delivery properties of fossil diatoms were investigated by spectophotometric analyses. INTRODUCTION Diatoms are unicellular eukaryotic microalgae ubiquitously distributed in oceans, freshwater habitats, soils and inhospitable surfaces. [1] As other eukaryotic algae, diatoms use photosynthesis as an energy source by converting dissolved carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. They are essential to all life on earth, producing about 20% of the oxygen we breathe. [2]. But what makes these microorganisms unique in the unicellular algae world and then appealing for the nanotechnology community is their siliceous nanostructured porous rigid cell walls called frustules: they constrain and enclose the eukaryotic protoplast, protecting it from the aqueous environment and from predators, but in the same time promoting nutrient uptake and secretion of cellular products through an intricate pattern of pores and slits on their surfaces. This unique properties along with biocompatibility, high surface area, tunable pore size and versatile surface chemistry make mesoporous silica from diatoms a suitable material for many technological applications such as sensing [3], catalysis [4], photonics [5], optics [6] and drug delivery [7]. We recently investigated chemical manipulation of Thalassosiria weissflogii silica shells with the aim of obtaining multifunctional material for regenerative medicine applications. In particular, the nanostructured frustules from Thalassiosira weissflogii diatoms was loaded with ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic used for treatment of infections associated with orthopedic or dental devices, and its delivery properties were studied. Moreover, bone cell adhesion and proliferation were tested on these biosilica scaffolds [8]. In this work, we have investigated the incorporation into the diatoms frustules from diatomaceous earth DE of Ophiobolin A (OphA), a fungal phyt
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