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Purpose: Enterovirus 71, a pathogen that causes hand-foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is currently regarded as an increasing neurotropic virus in Asia and can cause severe complications in pediatric patients with blister-like sores or rashes on the hand, feet, and mouth. Notwithstanding the significant burden of the disease, no authorized vaccine is available. Previously identified attenuated and inactivated vaccines are worthless over time owing to changes in the viral genome. Materials and Methods: A novel vaccine construct using B-cell derived T-cell epitopes from the virulent polyprotein found the induction of possible immune response. In order to boost the immune system, a beta-defensin 1 preproprotein adjuvant with EAAAK linker was added at the N-terminal end of the vaccine sequence. Results: The immunogenicity of the designed, refined, and verified prospective threedimensional-structure of the multi-epitope vaccine was found to be quite high, exhibiting nonallergenic and antigenic properties. The vaccine candidates bound to toll-like receptor 3 in a molecular docking analysis, and the efficacy of the potential vaccine to generate a strong immune response was assessed through in silico immunological simulation. Conclusion: Computational analysis has shown that the proposed multi-epitope vaccine is possibly safe for use in humans and can elicit an immune response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste from the fruit industry is the main source of pectin, which has a huge global market. Pectinolytic enzymes produced from bacteria have been widely used in the fruit and vegetable processing industry to break down pectic substances. Pectate lyase from mesophilic, thermophilic, and psychrophilic organisms are investigated using in-silico methods, as well as comparative docking with Pectin substrate are reported in this study, order to develop a permissive agent for agro-waste/food waste treatment. The total number of 18 bacterial protein sequences was chosen based on their potential for substantial uses in agro-waste treatment. Functional phylogenetic analysis revealed three distinct groups, each split by several maximum likelihoods. Motif elicitation among the selected Pectate lyase sequences revealed five motifs with widths ranging from 100 to 200. Physicochemical characterization indicates the low hydrophobic nature of Pectate lyase and the possibility of stability at a wide range of temperatures. Docking experiments Pectate lyase from Saccharophagus degradans showed stronger affinity for the substrate and better energy efficiency than Bacillus coagulans or Sphingopyxis bauzanensis. To summarize, we posited that pectate lyase from mesophilic bacteria might offer significant benefits over its counterparts. In fact, further experimentation is required to determine their effective usage in distinct food industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is a systemic disease affecting multiple organ systems and caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic and after the introduction of several vaccines, the pandemic continues to evolve in part owing to global inequities in access to preventive and therapeutic measures. We are also witnessing the introduction of antivirals against COVID-19. Against this current background, we review the progress made with nanotechnology-based approaches such as nanoformulations to combat the multiorgan effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection from a systems medicine lens. While nanotechnology has previously been widely utilized in the antiviral research domain, it has not yet received the commensurate interest in the case of COVID-19 pandemic response strategies. Notably, SARS-CoV-2 and nanomaterials are similar in size ranging from 50 to 200 nm. Nanomaterials offer the promise to reduce the side effects of antiviral drugs, codeliver multiple drugs while maintaining stability in the biological milieu, and sustain the release of entrapped drug(s) for a predetermined time period, to name but a few conceivable scenarios, wherein nanotechnology can enable and empower preventive medicine and therapeutic innovations against SARS-CoV-2. We conclude the article by underlining that nanotechnology-based interventions warrant further consideration to enable precision planetary health responses against the COVID-19 pandemic.