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In this study, a serotonin-stearic acid (ST-SA)-based bioconjugate was synthesized for the surface modification of manganese oxide-based nanocuboids (MNCs) for delivering of anticancer drug (i.e., doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX)) to human liver cancer cells. MNCs were synthesized by chemical precipitation method, and their surface was modified with ST-SA bioconjugate for targeting of MNCs to cancer cells. The ST-SA@MNCs along with DOX showed good colloidal stability, high drug encapsulation (98.3%), and drug loading efficiencies (22.9%) as well as pH-responsive biodegradation. Coating with ST-SA conjugate provided a shield to MNCs which sustained their degradation in an acidic environment. The release of DOX was higher (81.4%) in acidic media than under the physiological conditions (20.5%) up to 192 h. The in vitro anti-proliferation assay showed that ST-SA@MNCs exhibit higher cell growth inhibition compared to that of pure DOX after 48 h of treatment. The cellular uptake and apoptosis studies revealed the enhanced uptake of ST-SA@MNCs in contrast to the MNCs due to overexpressed ST receptor on hepatocellular carcinoma cells and triggered the generation of reactive oxygen species in the cells. Therefore, these results indicated that the DOX-loaded, ST-SA stabilized MNCs improved the therapeutic index of DOX and would be a promising therapeutic candidate for tumor therapy.

In vivo models are indispensable for preclinical studies for various human disease modeling and drug screening, however, face several obstacles such as animal model species differences and ethical clearance. Additionally, it is difficult to accurately predict the organ interaction, drug efficacy, and toxicity using conventional in vitro two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models. The microfluidic-based systems provide excellent opportunity to recapitulate the human organ/tissue functions under in vitro conditions. The organ/tissue-on-chip models are one of best emerging technologies that offer functional organs/tissues on a microfluidic chip. This technology has potential to noninvasively study the organ physiology, tissue development, and diseases etymology. This chapter comprises the benifits of 2D and three-dimensional (3D) in vitro cultures as well as highlights the importance of microfluidic-based lab-on-a-chip technique. The development of different organs/tissues-on-chip models and their biomedical application in various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, respiratory-based diseases, cancers, liver and kidney diseases, etc., have also been discussed.

Globally, prostate cancer is the fifth major cancer type and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men. In 2018, about 1.3 million prostate cancer cases were reported worldwide. It is reported that loss of PTEN (tumor suppressor gene) expression leads to hyperactivation of the PI3K/AKT pathway and thus induces uncontrolled cell proliferation. Loss or mutation in regular PTEN expression is reported to occur in ∼30% of primary prostate cancer cases and ∼65% of metastatic cancer cases. Restoring the PTEN expression could inhibit the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, thus avoid the growth of prostate cancer cells. In this work, we have synthesized a multifunctional nanoliposomal formulation incorporating PTEN plasmid, AKT3 siRNA, and antioxidant cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs). The nanoliposomes were able to successfully internalize in prostate cancer (PC-3) cells, restore the expression of PTEN protein, and knock down AKT3 mRNA. Further, the multifunctional nanoliposomes induce DNA damage and apoptosis in prostate cancer cells. The investigation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway revealed that PTEN protein and apoptosis-specific proteins are overexpressed, leading to the inhibition of oncoproteins and, thus, prostate cancer.

Calcium carbonate micro- and nanoparticles are considered as chemically inert materials. Therefore, they are widely considered in the field of biosensing, drug delivery, and as filler material in plastic, paper, paint, sealant, and adhesive industries. The unusual properties of calcium carbonate-based nanomaterials, such as biocompatibility, high surface-to-volume ratio, robust nature, easy synthesis, and surface functionalization, and ability to exist in a variety of morphologies and polymorphs, make them an ideal candidate for both industrial and biomedical applications. Significant research efforts have been devoted for developing novel synthesis methods of calcium carbonate particles in micrometer and nanometer dimensions. This review highlights different approaches of the synthesis of calcium carbonate micro- and nanoparticles, such as precipitation, slow carbonation, emulsion, polymer-mediated method, including in-situ polymerization, mechano-chemical, microwave-assisted method, and biological methods. The applications of these versatile calcium carbonate micro- and nanoparticles in the biomedical field (such as in drug delivery, therapeutics, tissue engineering, antimicrobial activity, biosensing applications), in industries, and environmental sector has also been comprehensively covered.

The unusual intrinsic properties of nanomaterials, such as small size and high surface-to-volume ratio, have invited their applications in various sectors of animal and human nutrition. Since the recent past, there has been tremendous surge in demand for animal-derived foods due to the concomitant increase in human population. The quantity and quality of animal-derived foods are mainly dependent on the health and wellness of the livestock. Dietary mineral elements are well known to play essential roles in maintaining the livestock's nutrition. However, poor bioavailability of administered mineral elements leads to malnutrition and associated health issues in animals. Feeding nanoparticles to livestock has shown promising results including increased growth performance, immunity, reproduction ability, and quality of animal products. This review provides a comprehensive discussion on the need for animal nutrition, major bottlenecks of the field, and use of nanotechnologies as an alternative to the traditional pattern of mineral element supplementation. A significant emphasis has also been given to the possible approaches for developing nanominerals suitable for livestock nutrition. Availability of consumer market for nanotechnology-based food may drive this field to develop different strategies for food sensing, packaging, and nutrition.

Nanomaterials displaying catalytic properties of natural enzymes are regarded as “nanozymes”. Nanozymes offer contrasting advantages over conventional enzymes such as low cost production, high stability under stringent environment, controlled synthesis of shape, size, composition and surface functionalization. Last decade has witnessed a myriad of nanomaterials including metallic, metal oxides, and carbon-based nanoparticles with biological enzyme-like activities. These nanozymes predominantly resemble the activities of natural peroxidase, oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase enzymes. Among various nanomaterials, metallic nanozymes such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and copper nanoparticles have gained tremendous attention. Nanozymatic activity along with other unique properties of optoelectronic and surface plasmon resonance makes them an ideal candidate for the material of multiple applications. Utilizing these properties, metallic nanozymes have been also used for disease diagnosis and biosensing of biomolecules. Although there are several advantages of using nanozymes, however, this unique class of artificial enzyme suffers from several limitations that need to be addressed. Low catalytic efficiency, less substrate selectivity, biocompatibility and lack of engineering of the active sites are some of the key concerns. In this chapter, we discussed different metal-based nanozymes and their related biological and environmental applications such as removal and detection of organic pollutants/dyes, and theranostics. A section is devoted to the various strategies used for improving the catalytic efficiency of metallic nanozymes. Application of nanozymes in the detection of environmental pollutant is also discussed. At the end, we also provided a comprehensive summary of the current developments and future prospects of this arena.

In December 2019, a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak occurred and caused the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), which affected ~ 190 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020.In the review, a comprehensive analysis of the recent developments of the COVID-19 pandemic has been provided, including the structural characterization of the virus, the current worldwide status of the disease, various detection strategies, drugs recommended for the effective treatment, and progress of vaccine development programs by different countries. This report was constructed by following a systematic literature search of bibliographic databases of published reports of relevance until 1 September 2020.Currently, the countries are opening businesses despite a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases. The pharmaceutical industries are developing clinical diagnostic kits, medicines, and vaccines. They target different approaches, including repurposing the already approved diagnosis and treatment options for similar CoVs. At present, over ~200 vaccine candidates are being developed against COVID-19. Future research may unravel the genetic variations or polymorphisms that dictate these differences in susceptibilities to the disease.

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths in men worldwide. PTEN is well-known tumor suppressor gene which is frequently mutated in several cancer types, including prostate cancer. Although several drug based treatment strategies for prostate cancer has been reported, but have found limited success due to the toxicity and resistance developed with high dose administration. Therefore, novel strategies are imperative for prostate cancer treatment which does not involve pharmacological drugs. Therefore, in this work we have synthesized a nanocarrier which can successfully deliver PTEN plasmid into prostate cancer cells. Since, reactive oxygen species are also known to facilitate the initiation and progression of prostate cancer, we have also utilized an inorganic antioxidant (cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs)) in the developed formulation. In the present study, we have observed that CeNPs can retain their free radical scavenging activity even after incorporation in liposomes. Further, studies reveal that the developed nanocarrier is nontoxic to PC-3 cells, however, the PTEN incorporated liposomes successfully transfect PC-3 cells and express the PTEN, as evident from the expression of GFP from GFP tagged PTEN plasmid. Thus, exogenous transfection of PTEN plasmid and CeNPs internalization may offer a therapeutic benefit to prostate cancer.

In this study, a serotonin-stearic acid (ST-SA)-based bioconjugate was synthesized for the surface modification of manganese oxide-based nanocuboids (MNCs) for delivering of anticancer drug (i.e., doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX)) to human liver cancer cells. MNCs were synthesized by chemical precipitation method, and their surface was modified with ST-SA bioconjugate for targeting of MNCs to cancer cells. The ST-SA@MNCs along with DOX showed good colloidal stability, high drug encapsulation (98.3%), and drug loading efficiencies (22.9%) as well as pH-responsive biodegradation. Coating with ST-SA conjugate provided a shield to MNCs which sustained their degradation in an acidic environment. The release of DOX was higher (81.4%) in acidic media than under the physiological conditions (20.5%) up to 192 h. The

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and about one in nine will be diagnosed in his lifetime. Loss of PTEN has been considered as one of the major factors leading to the origin of prostate cancer through modulating PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. In this study, we have prepared a multifunctional antioxidant nanoliposome containing PTEN plasmid and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs). The efficient delivery of PTEN plasmid to human prostate cancer cells (PC-3) leads to restoration of the expression of lost PTEN protein in the cell cytoplasm. The delivered superoxide dismutase (SOD)-mimetic CeNPs were also found to decrease the cytoplasmic free radical levels in prostate cancer cells. The above two activities induced DNA fragmentation and micronucleus formation in prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, it was also found that these multifunctional antioxidant nanoliposomes inhibit the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to negatively regulate the cell viability of prostate cancer cells. The mRNA expression pattern of other relevant proteins predominantly involved in cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis suggested that the high PTEN expression could control the synthesis of oncogenic proteins. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 3152-3164, 2018.

Fe−Pt alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with dendritic shells are efficaciously created by the chemical reduction of K2PtCl4 and FeCl3 species in a low-concentration of nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene cholesteryl ether (ChEO15) solution. The dissimilarity in reduction potentials of the two soluble metal salts (Fe(III) and Pt(IV) species) plays a crucial role in the one-step synthesis of the bimetallic nanostructure, which is confirmed by TEM and XRD. Interestingly, Fe−Pt alloy NPs exhibit oxidase enzyme-like activity as well as a chemical catalyst. The kinetic parameters calculations revealed that this catalyst enhances the velocity of reaction 10 folds when compared with the reported oxidase-like activity exhibiting nanomaterials. The Fe-Pt alloy NPs also displayed high catalytic activity in the hydrogenation reaction of nitrophenol to aminophenol. The safety assessment of Fe-Pt alloy NPs revealed that these NPs are highly biocompatible to human normal liver cells up to 150 μM concentration. Therefore, the synthesized Fe-Pt alloy NPs showing excellent oxidase enzyme-like activity hold the promise to be used for multiple biomedical applications.

Why do you want to learn your language?”, “Learn English! the children speak in English fluently”, “What’s your mother tongue? - ‘Hindi”, “You belong to a tribe and you don’t you know your tribal language?” -- these are common remarks that the migrating people of a tribe settled in other areas, have to face. They usually avoid these questions or end up learning the language with the highest sociolinguistic capital in their surrounding context. Over a course of time, the language of their ethnic identity gets increasingly replaced in more and more domains. While these substitutions are taking place, when an individual contemplates about identity, the one thing that goes missing is the ethnic identity. Individuals not born and brought up around their tribe, lack the cultural and linguistic competence to appreciate one’s own ethnic identity. In course of time, this gives rise to an identity crisis. This crisis is not limited to one level, but on a wider arena there is language loss taking place. The reasons can be social, political, cultural, etc. Social reasons feature most prominently for all the stated problems and the strange questions that are asked. So, in the paper, attempts have been made to dissect the mentioned issues in vivid detail

Catalytically active individual gold (Au) and cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs) are well known to exhibit specific enzyme-like activities, such as natural catalase, oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase enzymes. These activities have been maneuvered to design several biological applications such as immunoassays, glucose detection, radiation and free radical protection and tissue engineering. In biological systems, multienzyme complexes are involved in catalyzing important reactions of essential metabolic processes such as respiration, biomolecule synthesis, and photosynthesis. It is well known that metabolic processes linked with multienzyme complexes offer several advantages over reactions catalyzed by individual enzymes. A functional nanozyme depicting multienzyme like properties has eluded the researchers in the nanoscience community for the past few decades. In the current report, we have designed a functional multienzyme in the form of Gold (core)-CeO2 (shell) nanoparticles (Au/CeO2 CSNPs) exhibiting excellent peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase enzyme-like activities that are controlled simply by tuning the pH. The reaction kinetic parameters reveal that the peroxidase-like activity of this core-shell nanozyme is comparable to natural horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme. Unlike peroxidase-like activity exhibited by other nanomaterials, Au/CeO2 CSNPs showed a decrease in hydroxyl radical formation, suggesting that the biocatalytic reactions are performed by efficient electron transfers. A significant enzyme-like activity of this core-shell nanoparticle was conserved at extreme pH (2–11) and temperatures (up to 90 °C), clearly suggesting the superiority over natural enzymes. Further, the utility of peroxidase-like activity of this core-shell nanoparticles was extended for the detection of glucose, which showed a linear range of detection between (100 µM to 1 mM). It is hypothesized that the proximity of the redox potentials of Au+/Au and Ce (III)/Ce (IV) may result in a redox couple promoting the multienzyme activity of core-shell nanoparticles. Au/CeO2 CSNPs may open new directions for development of single platform sensors in multiple biosensing applications.

Nanoparticles (NPs) have gathered considerable attention in recent years due to their unique physicochemical and optoelectronic properties and applications in various sectors of public health, medicine, environment, and agriculture, etc. Therefore, the safety assessment of NPs is one of the key concerns that must be explored before the actual applications of these NPs are realized. Broadly, the biocompatibility of NPs can be accomplished by several methods based on the experimental models, in vitro or in vivo. In vitro methods of evaluation of NP toxicity are easy to perform and provide fair information about the cytotoxicity or genotoxicity induced by NPs. Some common in vitro cytotoxicity assessing methods are, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2–5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, neutral red uptake, and lactate dehydrogenase, however, micronucleus formation, comet assay, and chromosomal aberration, etc are used for evaluating genotoxicity potential of NPs. In vivo bio-distribution of NPs can be determined by real time monitoring of NP accumulation in animals or by harvesting their organs or tissues followed by estimating the concentration of NPs. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine imaging, and liquid scintillation counting techniques are some of the common methods currently being used for monitoring biodistribution of NPs in animals. Organ/tissue specific NP biodistribution and co-localization can be studied by histology imaging under light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and electron microscopy.

The biocompatibility and catalytic activity of nanomaterials exhibiting biological enzyme-like functions (nanozymes) are controlled by shape, size, composition, and surface capping molecules. Although synthesis of multifunctional nanozymes for multiple applications has shown tremendous attraction among researchers worldwide, often their biocompatibility is compromised. In this work, we report the replacement of CTAB by 11-MUA from the surface of a Au-core CeO2-shell NP-based nanozyme studied for exhibiting multiple enzyme-like activities such as peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. We compared the biocompatibility and enzyme-like activities of CTAB coated Au-core CeO2-shell NPs (CSNPs) before and after 11-MUA coating. The catalytic reaction mechanism of peroxidase-like activity of CTAB coated CSNPs was found to be the “Random Bi–Bi”, which also remained unaltered after removal of surface CTAB with 11-MUA. The other kinetic parameters, Km and Vmax values, of 11-MUA coated CSNPs were found to be comparable to the CTAB coated NPs.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men and about one in nine will be diagnosed in his lifetime. Loss of PTEN has been considered as one of the major factors leading to the origin of prostate cancer through modulating PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. In this study, we have prepared a multifunctional antioxidant nanoliposome containing PTEN plasmid and cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs). The efficient delivery of PTEN plasmid to human prostate cancer cells (PC-3) leads to restoration of the expression of lost PTEN protein in the cell cytoplasm. The delivered superoxide dismutase (SOD)-mimetic CeNPs were also found to decrease the cytoplasmic free radical levels in prostate cancer cells. The above two activities induced DNA fragmentation and micronucleus formation in prostate cancer cells. Furthermore, it was also found that these multifunctional antioxidant nanoliposomes inhibit the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to negatively regulate the cell viability of prostate cancer cells. The mRNA expression pattern of other relevant proteins predominantly involved in cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis suggested that the high PTEN expression could control the synthesis of oncogenic proteins. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 3152-3164, 2018.

Leishmaniasis is a notorious disease affecting mainly poor people. Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a clinical form of Leishmaniasis which mainly affects people living below poverty line. There are no available vaccines against VL and chemotherapy still remains the mainstay for treatment. However, the use of the current therapeutic agents are limited due to issues of toxicity, side effects and cost effectiveness. Thus, repositioning of FDA approved drugs for anti-leishmanial therapeutics and encapsulation of the same in nanoliposomes may pave the way of future anti-leishmanial therapeutics. In this work, liposome encapsulated Halofantrine (Halolipo) was prepared by extrusion of hydrated lipid film method. The Halolipo was characterized by Dynamic Light Scattering and Transmission Electron Microscopy. The effect of Halolipo on Leishmania donovani Ag83 promastigotes was assessed by MTT assay and qualitative analysis of ROS generation and mitochondrial membrane depolarization was performed. The cell death was visualized by dual staining with Acridine orange and Ethidium bromide followed by fluorescence microscopy. The encapsulation of Halofantrine drug in liposome was confirmed by characteristic peak at 260 nm by UV–vis spectrophotometer. The formulated halolipo was 20 nm in size and stable for > 4 weeks at 4 °C. Maximum encapsulation was observed at a ratio of 1:200 (Lipid:Halofantrine) Halofantrine is released from Halolipo at both pH 7.2 and 5.5. Halolipo causes decrease in cell viability of L. donovani Ag83 promastigotes and leading to cellular stress as evident from increased ROS generation and mitochondrial membrane depolarization. These events culminate into cell death as observed by dual staining of L. donovani promastigotes by Acridine orange and Ethidium bromide. The novel Halolipo is a promising anti-leishmanial agent and may be used for future anti-leishmanial therapeutics.