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2023
Silva, Ana B. P., Ana R. Jesus, Daniela A. S. Agostinho, José M. S. S. Esperança, Alexandre Paiva, Ana R. C. Duarte, and Patrícia M. Reis. "Using dicationic ionic liquids to upgrade the cytotoxicity and solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs." 3.1 (2023): 100052. AbstractWebsite

New dicationic ionic liquids (DcILs) based on carboxylic acid-derived, N-acetyl amino acid-derived or bromide anions, and ammonium cations were synthesized and characterized. DcILs were employed as co-solvents to improve the solubility of ibuprofen and ketoprofen belonging to BCS class II. These DcILs demonstrated to be less cytotoxic towards fibroblasts L929 cells and contributed to an augment in the solubility of both drugs when compared with monocationic ionic liquids (McILs). The cytotoxic profile of some of these ILs was established, and when the linker between two ammonium cations was an ether group or a short alkyl chain an IC50 higher than 200 mM for fibroblasts L929 cells was achieved. The anion structure showed to be a key factor in the solubility of both drugs, being the family of carboxylic acid-derived, the one that presented the most significant effect, followed by N-acetyl amino acid-derived and finally bromide. The two dimensional 1H1H– NOESY NMR spectra showed the interaction between the IL and the two oral drugs, responsible for the improvement of their solubility. The lipophilicity (logP) of ibuprofen and ketoprofen reduced in the presence of these new DcILs.

2022
Jesus, Ana Rita, Ana Rita C. Duarte, and Alexandre Paiva. "Use of natural deep eutectic systems as new cryoprotectant agents in the vitrification of mammalian cells." 12.1 (2022): 8095. AbstractWebsite

In this work we present the potential of Natural Deep Eutectic Systems (NADES) as new vitrification media for the cryopreservation of mammalian cells. Several NADES composed of natural metabolites were prepared and tested as CPAs in two cell lines, L929 and HacaT cells. After the harvesting, cells were mixed with the eutectic systems, and frozen directly into liquid nitrogen to achieve a vitreous state. Then, the cells were thawed and it was observed that NADES were able to exert a significant cryoprotective effect in L929 cells, when compared with DMSO or in the absence of a CPA. For HacaT cells, only a eutectic system showed a slightly improvement in cell survival, while DMSO caused complete cell death. Moreover, the thermal behaviour of the best systems was studied for further understanding the protective properties of NADES as CPAs, and have shown a significant difference in terms of Tm and Tc when compared with DMSO and water. Additionally, the results obtained showed that NADES can be maintained in the growth media after the thawing step, without compromising cell viability. In summary, we have shown the great potential of NADES to be used as CPAs for the cryopreservation of different cell types, using the vitrification method.