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Juicing vegetables is thought to be an anticancer treatment. Support exists for a rank order of anticancer greens (kale > dandelion > lettuce > spinach) based on degrees of bioavailability of different phytochemicals, also offset by some noxious molecules (i.e., calcium-oxalate). We developed a new in vitro transepithelial anti-neuroblastoma model system. The juices were diluted as predicted once in the small intestine. They were applied to apical Caco-2Bbe1 cells atop dividing SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and changes in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and cell growth were considered with juice spectroscopies. Studied first in monoculture, kale and dandelion were the most cytostatic juices on SH-SY5Ys, lettuce showed no effect, and high (4.2%) spinach was cytotoxic. In co-culture, high (4.2%) kale was quickest (three days) to inhibit neuroblastoma growth. By five days, dandelion and kale were equally robust. Lettuce showed small anti-proliferative effects at five days and spinach remained cytotoxic. Spinach’s cytotoxicity corresponded with major infrared bands indicative of oxalate. Kale juice uniquely induced reactive oxygen species and S-phase cell cycle arrest in SH-SY5Y. The superiority of kale and dandelion was also apparent on the epithelium, because raising TEER levels is considered healthy. Kale’s unique features corresponded with a major fluorescent peak that co-eluted with kaempferol during high performance liquid chromatography. Because the anticancer rank order was upheld, the model appears validated for screening anticancer juices. 

Juicing vegetables is thought to be an anticancer treatment. Support exists for a rank order of anticancer greens (kale > dandelion > lettuce > spinach) based on degrees of bioavailability of different phytochemicals, also offset by some noxious molecules (i.e., calcium-oxalate). We developed a new in vitro transepithelial anti-neuroblastoma model system. The juices were diluted as predicted once in the small intestine. They were applied to apical Caco-2Bbe1 cells atop dividing SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, and changes in transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and cell growth were considered with juice spectroscopies. Studied first in monoculture, kale and dandelion were the most cytostatic juices on SH-SY5Ys, lettuce showed no effect, and high (4.2%) spinach was cytotoxic. In co-culture, high (4.2%) kale was quickest (three days) to inhibit neuroblastoma growth. By five days, dandelion and kale were equally robust. Lettuce showed small anti-proliferative effects at five days and spinach remained cytotoxic. Spinach’s cytotoxicity corresponded with major infrared bands indicative of oxalate. Kale juice uniquely induced reactive oxygen species and S-phase cell cycle arrest in SH-SY5Y. The superiority of kale and dandelion was also apparent on the epithelium, because raising TEER levels is considered healthy. Kale’s unique features corresponded with a major fluorescent peak that co-eluted with kaempferol during high performance liquid chromatography. Because the anticancer rank order was upheld, the model appears validated for screening anticancer juices. 

We report the effectiveness of silver nanocluster (Ag-NC) against the biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). Two DNA aptamers specific for PA and part of their sequences were chosen as templates for growing the Ag-NC. While circular dichroism (CD) studies determined the presence of secondary structures, UV/Vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopic studies confirmed the formation of the fluorescent Ag-NC on the DNA templates. Furthermore, mesoscopic physics-based partial wave spectroscopy (PWS) was used to analyze the backscattered light signal that can detect the degree of nanoscale mass density/refractive index fluctuations to identify the biofilm formation, comparatively among the different aptamers with respect to the control sample. The importance of the secondary structure of the aptamer DNA in targeting, successfully binding with the cells and delivering the Ag-NC, is evidenced by the decrease in disorder strength (Ld) of the Ag-NC treated samples compared to the untreated PA cells, which showed the abundance of higher Ld in the PWS studies. The higher Ld value attributed to the higher mass density fluctuations and the formation of biofilm. We envision this study to open a new avenue in using a powerful optical microscopic technique like PWS in detection, and DNA aptamer enclosed silver nanoclusters to prevent biofilms for opportunist pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 

We report the effectiveness of silver nanocluster (Ag-NC) against the biofilm of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). Two DNA aptamers specific for PA and part of their sequences were chosen as templates for growing the Ag-NC. While circular dichroism (CD) studies determined the presence of secondary structures, UV/Vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopic studies confirmed the formation of the fluorescent Ag-NC on the DNA templates. Furthermore, mesoscopic physics-based partial wave spectroscopy (PWS) was used to analyze the backscattered light signal that can detect the degree of nanoscale mass density/refractive index fluctuations to identify the biofilm formation, comparatively among the different aptamers with respect to the control sample. The importance of the secondary structure of the aptamer DNA in targeting, successfully binding with the cells and delivering the Ag-NC, is evidenced by the decrease in disorder strength (Ld) of the Ag-NC treated samples compared to the untreated PA cells, which showed the abundance of higher Ld in the PWS studies. The higher Ld value attributed to the higher mass density fluctuations and the formation of biofilm. We envision this study to open a new avenue in using a powerful optical microscopic technique like PWS in detection, and DNA aptamer enclosed silver nanoclusters to prevent biofilms for opportunist pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa.