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Graphene oxide conjugated red emitting fluorescent copper nanoassembly for extracellular matrix fibril detection and disruption of bacterial biofilm.

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been reported to be one of the main causes of many diseases including cancer, type2 diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiac ischemia, sepsis, muscular dystrophy, etc. Under in vitro conditions, Cytochrome C (Cyt C) maintains mitochondrial homeostasis and stimulates apoptosis, along with being a key participant in the life-supporting function of ATP synthesis. Hence, the medicinal importance of Cyt C as catalytic defense is immensely important in various mitochondrial disorders. Here, we have developed a nanomaterial via electrostatically conjugating oxidized single-wall carbon nanotube with Cyt C (Cyt C@cSWCNT) for the exogenous delivery of Cyt C. The chemical and morphological characterization of the developed Cyt C@cSWCNT was done using UV-vis, FTIR, XPS, powder XRD, TGA/DSC, TEM, etc. The developed Cyt C@cSWCNT exhibited bifunctional catalase and peroxidase activity with K

Bowknot silica nanomaterials were isolated from Lantana camara. These were modified and used as sequester for the formation of tragacanth gum hydrogel with enhanced anti-bacterial property and further showed promising cell proliferation.

Gold nanoparticles have found their application as optical probes, antibacterial agents, catalyst and sensors. Here, we report the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using leaf extract (LE) of three different plants viz., Populus alba (PA), Lantana camara (LC) and Hibiscus arboreus (HA). The effect of reaction temperature and concentration of leaf extracts (LEs) were studied in detail on the synthesis and size of GNPs. The prepared GNPs were chemically characterized by UV–Vis and FTIR whereas the morphological analysis was done using DLS, TEM and SEM. When 5% PA LE was used at 65 °C, almost uniform shaped GNPs were obtained of size ~ 16.3 ± 0.7 nm. The as prepared GNPs showed antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with MIC value of ~ 100 µg/ml. Further, these GNPs were also used for the degradation of toxic dyes viz., methylene blue (MB) and congo red (CR). Overall, present studies suggested the use of green synthesized GNPs in both biomedical and analytical field.

Successful and effective treatment of different types of infections depends upon fast and selective identification of the microorganisms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium which is involved in a number of human infections and may become life-threatening for immunocompromised persons. Pyocyanin is a unique exotoxin which is exclusively secreted as a virulence factor by P. aeruginosa. In this respect, a nano-assembly, composed of a carbon dot conjugated gold nanocomposite (Au@OPCDPEG) having a size of ∼11.5 ± 1.6 nm, was synthesized and used as both a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and a colorimetric sensor for pyocyanin detection. When titrated with increasing concentrations of pyocyanin, Au@OPCDPEG NPs showed ∼1.76 ± 0.12 times increase in fluorescence intensity (at ∼505 nm), whereas three distinct isosbestic points were observed in absorption studies. The limit of detection for pyocyanin was found to be ∼3.04 ± 0.27 μM. It was found that Au@OPCDPEG NPs can selectively recognize pyocyanin even in the presence of other toxins under different biological interference. Real-time P. aeruginosa detection studies suggested the minimum detection limit to be ∼1.5 × 106 cfu ml−1 even in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus contamination in the sample. Confocal studies suggested that Au@OPCDPEG NPs can effectively penetrate P. aeruginosa biofilm under laser irradiation. Overall, the present engineered nanoprobe provides an easy, fast and selective method for the detection of P. aeruginosa in biological samples.

Weak interactions play an important role in soft corona (SC) formation and thus help in evaluating the biological fate of the nanoparticles (NPs). Preadsorption of specific proteins on the NP surface, leading to SC formation, has been found to help NPs in evading immunosurveillance. However, the role of different preadsorbed biomolecules in determining the NP pathophysiology and cellular association, upon their re-exposure to

Protein corona (PC) formation remains a major hurdle in the successful delivery of nanomedicines to the target sites. Interacting proteins have been reported to undergo structural changes on the nanoparticle (NP) surface which invariably impacts their biological activities. Such structural changes are the result of opening of more binding sites of proteins to adsorb on the NP surface. The process of conversion of α-helix proteins to their β-sheet enriched counterpart is termed as amyloidosis and in case of PC formation, NPs apparently play the crucial role of being the nucleation centres where this process takes place. Conversely, increasing numbers of artificial nano-chaperones are being used to treat the protein misfolding disorders. Anti-amyloidogenic nanomaterials (NM) have been gaining utmost importance in inhibiting Aβ42 (hallmark peptide for Alzheimer's disease) and Hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL, model protein for systemic amyloidosis) aggregation. Interestingly, in this process, NPs inhibit protein β-sheet enrichment. These two seemingly opposite roles of NPs, propelling confirmatory change onto the smorgasbord of adsorbed native proteins and the ability of NPs in inhibiting amyloidosis creates a paradox, which has not been discussed earlier. Here, we highlight the key points from both the facets of the NP behaviour with respect to their physicochemical properties and the nature of proteins they adsorb onto them to unravel the mystery. BRIEF: Protein corona formation remains a major hurdle in achieving the desired efficacy of nanomedicine. Proteins when interact with nanoparticle (NP) surface, undergo both structural and biological changes. Again, NPs are known to exhibit anti-amyloidogenic behaviour where these play the crucial role of preventing any change in their native structure. Such seemingly different roles of NPs need sincere inquisition.

Inhibition of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) and Aβ42 fibrillation have been established as the main models for the treatment of systemic lysozyme amyloidosis and Alzheimer's disease (AD), respectively. Several antiamyloidogenic nanomaterials have been developed over the period; however, their intracellular mechanism of action is still not well understood. In this context, plant-based, gold-conjugated, injectable, hydrophilic cellulose nanoonions (CNOs), viz., DH-CNO (∼60 ± 5 nm) and LC-CNO (∼55 ± 12 nm), were developed from their respective hydrophobic cellulose nanocrystals (DH-CNC and LC-CNC) using a single-step chemical template-mediated process. This unique nanocellulose architecture was chemically and morphologically characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. Further, the different biophysical studies documented marked the inhibition/disintegration potential of gold-conjugated LC-CNO against HEWL and Aβ42 peptide aggregation. It was further observed that inhibition of protein fibrillation could be achieved within ∼10 min when the same materials were used under photoirradiation conditions. In vitro protein aggregation studies using HEK293 cells suggested that gold-conjugated LC-CNO could effectively reduce the cellular toxicity via regulation of oxidative stress and ion homeostasis. The outcome of the present study will help in designing cellulose-based novel functional nanochaperones against various neurodegenerative diseases.

Protein-nanoparticle (NP) interaction, which inevitably form protein corona (PC), has been the subject of much debate about its role in modern biomedical research. In this regard, PC associated with two different NPs viz., magneto-fluorescent (MF) and chitosan coated MF (CMF) NPs were thoroughly investigated, to analyze the effect of polymer coating on protein adsorption. Bradford assay, along with the spectroscopic and microscopic studies suggested increase in adsorbed protein quantity, though the results varied significantly on moving from bare to polymeric coating and in vitro to ex vivo conditions. Interestingly, polymer coated NPs showed increased protein adsorption and induce minimal changes in protein structural integrity under the same conditions. We predict that the changes in secondary structure of primary corona determine the overall signature of surface binding proteins in PC. Our findings suggested that rapid diagnosis of immunoglobulins is possible using the concept of protein corona formation ex vivo.

Protein aggregation leads to the transformation of proteins from their soluble form to the insoluble amyloid fibrils and these aggregates get deposited in the specific body tissues, accounting for various diseases. To prevent such an aggregation, organic–inorganic hybrid nanocomposites of iron oxide nanoparticle (NP, ∼6.5–7.0 nm)-conjugated cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) isolated from Syzygium cumini (SC) and Pinus roxburghii (PR) were chemically synthesized. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of the nanocomposites suggested that the in situ-synthesized iron oxide NPs were bound to the CNC surface in a uniform and regular fashion. The ThT fluorescence assay together with 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid, Congo Red, and CD studies suggested that short fiber-based SC nanocomposites showed better inhibition as well as dissociation of human serum albumin aggregates. The TEM and fluorescence microscopy studies supported similar observations. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis results documented dissociation of higher protein aggregates in the presence of the developed nanocomposite. Interestingly, the dissociated proteins retained their biological function by maintaining a high amount of α-helix content. The in vitro studies with HEK-293 cells suggested that the developed nanocomposite reduces aggregation-induced cytotoxicity by intracellular reactive oxygen species scavenging and maintaining the Ca2+ ion-channel. These results indicated that the hybrid organic–inorganic nanocomposite, with simultaneous sites for hydrophobic and hydrophilic interactions, tends to provide a larger surface area for nanocomposite–protein interactions, which ultimately disfavors the nucleation step for fibrillation for protein aggregates.

The development of biocompatible, widely applicable fluorescent imaging probe, with emission beyond the cellular and tissue autofluorescence interference, is a challenging task. In this regard, a series of 28 different fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized using carbohydrates as carbon and cysteine (Cys) and o-phenylenediamine (OPD) as nitrogen source. The screened CDs showed photostability with bright blue (∼505–520 nm) and red (∼588–596 nm) emission and high fluorescence quantum yield (QY = 72.5 ± 4.5%). FTIR and NMR studies suggested presence of carboxylate and ester group for Cys- and OPD-based CDs, respectively. HRTEM results showed particle size of ∼3.3–5.8 nm for all the developed CDs. The antibacterial studies suggested that the developed CDs showed preferential antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, with IC50 value of ∼200 μg/mL. Cytotoxicity and confocal microscopy studies of HeLa cells reflected that these CDs showed both anticancer activity and imaging ability. Agarose gel e...

Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging field where alternate/artificial tissues or organ substitutes are implanted to mimic the functionality of damaged or injured tissues. Earlier efforts were made to develop natural, synthetic, or semisynthetic materials for skin equivalents to treat burns or skin wounds. Nowadays, many more tissues like bone, cardiac, cartilage, heart, liver, cornea, blood vessels, and so forth are being engineered using 3-D biomaterial constructs or scaffolds that could deliver active molecules such as peptides or growth factors. Nanomaterials (NMs) due to their unique mechanical, electrical, and optical properties possess significant opportunities in TE applications. Traditional TE scaffolds were based on hydrolytically degradable macroporous materials, whereas current approaches emphasize on controlling cell behaviors and tissue formation by nano-scale topography that closely mimics the natural extracellular matrix. This review article gives a comprehensive outlook of different organ specific NMs which are being used for diversified TE applications. Varieties of NMs are known to serve as biological alternatives to repair or replace a portion or whole of the nonfunctional or damaged tissue. NMs may promote greater amounts of specific interactions stimulated at the cellular level, ultimately leading to more efficient new tissue formation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B: 2433-2449, 2019.

The development of biocompatible, widely applicable fluorescent imaging probe, with emission beyond the cellular and tissue autofluorescence interference, is a challenging task. In this regard, a series of 28 different fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized using carbohydrates as carbon and cysteine (Cys) and

Lectins are defined as a group of nonimmune proteins present mostly in plants (and also in some animals and microorganisms) that are known to bind with carbohydrates (mono- and oligosaccharides) with reversible and specific protein/animal cell agglutinating properties. These proteins are present in sufficient amounts to perform various crucial biological functions, viz., plants for defense, adhesion in bacteria, and in case of animals, binding of different proteins. Due to the efficiency and specificity of lectins to bind with carbohydrates, these are mostly used for various biomedical applications. Different types of carbohydrates get overexpressed in a number of diseases, ultimately acting as biomarkers for those diseases to be detected by the lectins. For getting better output, lectins are conjugated with materials that would provide a base for lectin’s efficacy enhancement. After binding to a specific material, the randomness of the molecule gets decreased, which leads to an increase in the proficiency of the biomolecule. For this purpose, nanoparticles (NPs) act as the best platform for lectin conjugation. In general, the conjugation between the NPs and lectins takes place via covalent and non-covalent binding. All these linkages are preferably used in the binding strategies of these moieties. This binding of lectins to NPs helps to increase the specific targeting ability of the NPs by avoiding any nonspecific interaction. Due to higher specificity, NP-lectin conjugates find enormous applications in biomedical fields. In this chapter, we have tried to provide recent developments about these newly emerged nanoconjugates. A brief discussion is given on different lectin-NP conjugation techniques and its characterization followed by their biomedical applications.

Fluorescence imaging by making use of promising fluorescent contrast agents allows noninvasive, sensitive, and real-time detection of biological events. In the past, imaging was done using conventional organic fluorophores, viz., organic dyes which suffer from photobleaching and spectral cross talk; cellular intolerance thus makes it difficult to use them for in vivo detection. Because of excellent photoluminescence properties, robust chemical inertness, and low cytotoxicity, nanoparticles (NPs) are well explored for bioimaging applications over the past decade. So far safety concerns related to these NPs are still unaddressed, and thus NP application in clinical imaging is in the evaluation stage. However, in the future, these could be transformed into new diagnostic probes which can detect diseases at their early stage, thus improving both preclinical research and patient health.

Nanomaterials (NMs) play a vital role in molecular imaging, disease diagnosis, and therapy because of their unique chemical and physical properties. The importance of nanomaterials in biomedical applications cannot be overlooked as they are the potential carrier and delivery agents of imaging probes, therapeutic drugs, or active biological material to desired target sites. Nanomaterial-based biomedicines have significant advantages over traditional or conventional ones such as better sensitivity, high target specificity, bioavailability, and biodistribution. In this chapter we have given a brief account on the advancements of different types of nanomaterials for their use in the molecular and bioimaging of a number of dreadful diseases including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. This chapter also gives details on the use of these nanomaterials in disease detection and therapy at the preclinical as well as clinical aspects. Finally, we have concluded with the future outlook for the proper use of these nanomaterials in molecular imaging, diagnostics, and therapy.

Nanotechnology has given a plethora of nanoparticles (NPs) during the last decades, which have been extensively used in molecular imaging, diagnostics and therapy. Despite recent progress in this area, there are only a few nanoformulations that have entered into clinical trials. We must identify new nanoimaging probes and their targets for therapy, develop new nanoagents for diagnostics, and position them in a clinically useful and cost-effective manner. This chapter summarizes the current status of NPs used as molecular imaging probes, their use in the diagnosis of disease-related analytes, and also their effective use in therapy.

The interactions between nanoparticles and macromolecules forming protein corona (PC) introduce new applications and challenges to the nanoparticles (NPs), altering the efficacy and biocompatibility of nanotechnology-based formulations. Accordingly, the overall properties and identity of the biomolecules change at this nano-bio interface. Although the nano-bio interface poses hurdles for the effective clinical translation of nanomedicines, it also creates a future window for advancements in nanomedicine. Therefore, this chapter will cover a comprehensive outlook of the advantages and disadvantages of the nano-bio interface with respect to the translational nanomedicine. The implications of nano-bio interface on toxicity, immune recognition, targeting, biodistribution, intracellular uptake, and drug release will also be reviewed. An overview of some of the currently performed research on NP-based clinical translation is also addressed. However, in spite of huge efforts of researchers and other agencies, only few of the nanomedicines made go through the clinical trials. To fill the gap between efforts of the researchers and the clinical translation of nanomedicine, it is need of the hour to collect data from in vivo and in vitro experiments for debugging the nano-bio interfaces. A brief overview of infusion reactions (IRs) outlining different terminologies used to define these reactions and highlighting the gaps in present research nanomedicine-based infusion reactions has also been discussed. Finally, we have presented the strategies to improve the current understanding of these IRs and also to overcome these adverse reactions.

The integration of nanotechnology with the personalized medicine has provided unparallel and unique opportunities for improving the way of treatment for many dreadful diseases. Nanomaterials (NMs), because of their explorative properties, offer a number of advantages in the therapeutics and diagnostics of diseases. The NM-based tools offer wide tunability in designing of the nanomedicine because of the smaller sizes, the large surface-to-volume ratio, and also the ease with which the NM surface can be modified to get desirable cell/tissue targeting. In this introductory chapter, a brief overview on the use of NMs for the personalized nanomedicine and the factors that need to be considered for successful translation of these personalized nanomedicines has been addressed. Also, a brief summary is given on different types of NMs that have been used for personalized medicine and are under clinical trials. Finally we have concluded the chapter with the perspective about how the proper understanding of nanobiotechnology, personalized medicine, and genomics can provide a better system for diagnosis, treatment, and management of diseases at the individual level.

Biomolecules are the key factors for most of the biological processes. Immobilization is an impressive technique which is used to stabilize free biomolecules in solution. Immobilized biomolecules are more robust and more resistant to environmental changes. The main objective of the immobilization of biomolecules, namely., enzymes, is to enhance the economics of biocatalysis processes. Additionally, immobilization improves many properties of enzymes such as performance in organic solvents, pH tolerance, heat stability, and functional stability. More importantly, the heterogeneity of the immobilized biomolecule systems allows an easy recovery of both biomolecules and products, multiple reuse, continuous operation of enzymatic processes, rapid termination of reactions, and greater variety of bioreactor designs. This chapter presents an overview of the recent literature reports for biomolecule immobilization on nanomaterial surfaces by various techniques. It also demonstrates the need for immobilization and different applications at various platform.

Plant-derived polymeric nanomaterials play an important role as excipients in different biomedical applications ranging from nanomedicine to tissue engineering. These provide versatile biocompatible platforms for controlled drug release with the advantage of being most cost-effective materials. Inorganic nanoparticles have received considerable global interest amongst biomedical researchers, but their toxicity concerns cannot be ignored. In this context, the biomass has been recognized as potential source to obtain different types of functional nanomaterials. These nanomaterials have polysaccharide backbone, which consists of monomer units of carbohydrate and mimic the extracellular matrix of tissues, thus making these biocompatible by nature. Further, the ease of surface functionalization, natural abundance, together with high stability make these ideal biomaterial candidates for next generation health care applications. Here, in this chapter, we have described the biomedical applications of different plant-based nanomaterials, with a major focus towards using these as drug delivery agents, bioprinting materials, wound healing agents, etc.

In the recent era, nanomaterials (NMs) have been found useful for sensing as well as detection of several biomarkers, and these strategies are likely to develop point of care (PoC) diagnostics, which can be used for early disease detection and various therapeutic applications. Application of NMs in biosensing also allows the use of many novel signal transduction technologies in their preparation. The use of high surface area of NMs plays a crucial role in developing nanobiosensors. These nanoscale structures may include nanoparticles (NPs), nanotubes, nanorods, nanofibers, and thin films. Nanobiosensors have greater sensitivity, selectivity, and fast response time. Biosensing technologies include various types of techniques, viz., electrochemical, amperometric, voltametric, fluorescence, etc. Particularly, fluorescence-based sensing technologies possess many advantages in their detection, viz., simple instrumentation, less background signals or noise, and having potential for multiplexed analysis. Similarly, colorimetric sensors have been well-known for their naked eye visualization, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness features. This chapter describes the advancements in promising NMs which are aimed for on-site clinical applications and those which can be used as a personalized diagnostic device in different disease conditions.

Fluorescent silicon NPs (Si-NPs) and 3-mercaptopropionic acid-coated CdS NPs (MPA-NPs) were prepared and conjugated with two different albumin proteins, viz., BSA (B) and HSA (H). The absorption, fluorescence, FTIR, circular dichroism, and gel electrophoresis studies confirmed the conjugation of proteins to NPs. DPPH assay confirmed that the conjugated proteins retained their functional activity even after chemical modifications. The sizes of Si-NPs by TEM were found to be ∼8.7 ± 2 nm, whereas MPA-NPs showed individual particle sizes of ∼4.6 ± 1 nm. The in vitro studies suggested that these NPs were highly biocompatible. The potential of these protein-conjugated NPs in cholesterol effluxing and fluorescence imaging was studied using two different macrophage cell lines, viz., human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Results suggested that HSA-conjugated NPs showed better cholesterol effluxing ability and superior penetration toward these treated ce...

Eco-friendly polymer nanocomposites (NCs) are constantly gaining attention for sustainable development considering the growing awareness of environment and eco-friendly waste management issues. Particles at nano-scale, such as nanospheres and nanorods, which are dispersed in a host polymeric medium, have generated intense research interest in the development of polymer NCs because these have shown to significantly enhance the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of the polymers. Due to these growing interests in NCs, proper molecular characterization of these materials is absolutely essential for better understanding of their properties and also for the development of new materials. This chapter is projected to demonstrate different techniques of isolation and characterization to find out the chemical and topographical information of eco-friendly polymers and their nanocomposites.

In the modern era, research on the synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) has been growing exponentially. Due to their small size together with extra-ordinary physico-chemical properties, a variety of NPs i.e., metallic, carbon-based, fluorescent, and polymer-based have been exploited in different fields such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and various other therapeutic applications. Instead of multi-disciplinary applications of NPs, research dealing with the toxicity concerns and influence of such materials, on the public health, plants and environment is still in its infancy. NPs can cause damage at the cellular, sub-cellular, molecular and protein levels owing to their extremely small size, large surface area to volume ratio, shape, and surface functionality. The present review is aimed to provide wide-ranging information related to NPs toxicology, the mechanisms of action, routes of their entry into the body and probable impacts on human health. Understanding of NPs entry routes into the body entails further research so as to update policymakers and regulatory bodies about the toxicity concerns associated with these nanomaterials. Proper characterization of NPs, factors affecting uptake and toxicity of NPs, as well as an understanding of processes when NPs come in contact with living beings, is critical to estimate the possible hazards.

Essential oils (EO), which can be extracted from different edible, therapeutic and herbal plants, have been well known as natural antimicrobial additives. However, it is usually hard to attain high antimicrobial efficacy of these EOs, when these are used in different combinations for the control of foodborne microbes, because of their low solubility in water and interactive binding. Here, we report an optimized oil-in-water (o/w) nanoemulsification process for citral and carvone which generated mean droplet size of 11–19 nm. It was found that nature of surfactant viz., Brij-58 vs leaf extract of Lantana camara (LC) plays crucial role in determining the overall stability and size of the droplets. The screened nanoemulsions (NEs), when stored for long duration, showed minimal decrease in oil content with retention of antioxidant activity. The prepared NEs documented enhanced antibacterial activity compared to pure oils whereas higher degree of killing was observed towards Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The NEs also showed killing of both the bacteria on wound dressing cotton gauze bandages (GB). The outcome of the present study may be used for the development of safe and biocompatible antibacterial agents.

Multifunctional hybrid nanocomposite material, consists of chitosan encapsulated iron oxide (as MRI contrasting agent), CdS (as fluorescent probe) nanoparticles and podophyllotoxin (as anticancer drug) was synthesized and characterized. The TEM studies suggested the size of the NPs to be in the range of 80-100 nm. These nanocomposites were treated with different cancer cell lines viz., KB, C6 and A549 cells. Fluorescence imaging and Perl's Prussian blue staining confirmed the presence of these nanocomposites inside both KB and C6 cells but not in A549 cells. Cytotoxicity experiments revealed that these biopolymer coated nanocomposites showed minimal toxicity towards cancerous cells. Further the intraperitoneal administration of one of the nanoformulations to Wistar rats suggested deposition of these nanocomposites in the lungs. The hematological, biochemical and histopathological analysis confirmed that these nanocomposites are safe to use as a novel dual mode imaging material.

Nanotechnology is one of the emerging field and an important tool for the diagnosis and cure of several diseases. Nanomaterials (NMs), with unique targeting specificities, have already generated a significant amount of interests amongst biomedical researchers. The ease of doing surface functionalization along with convenient encapsulation methodologies for bioactive, make NMs a perfect candidate for drug delivery applications. Kidney diseases are a major health problem throughout the world with more prevalence in developing countries. The major ailments include acute renal injury, chronic kidney disease, renal cancer and end-stage renal disease, having multiple etiologies related to sequential pathophysiological stages. In the past few years, many studies of NMs mainly focused on cancer targeting have accidentally resulted in significant findings related to selective kidney targeting and renal accumulation. Nanotechnological interventions improved drug bioavailability and enabled targeted delivery of drugs to specific tissues, cells, or subcellular compartments. Similarly, NMs based diagnostics with point-of-care solutions have provided early recognition of the specific disease sites with higher resolution and lower limit of detection of the targeted biological analyte. Even after the exponential increase in the funds of nanomedicine research worldwide, reports for treating kidney disorders using NMs, are rather scarce in literature with almost no clinically approved nanoparticles (NPs) available in the market that specifically target the kidney for therapeutic or imaging applications. This paper will review the application of NMs for the treatment of renal diseases and their future prospects.

Amongst many projected applications, nanotechnology has the ability to revolutionize agro-food sector. With the current global population reaching close to 7 billion, many developing countries are facing the problem of food shortages. Agriculture nanotechnology, with its possible applications in providing ranging from better food quality to minimization of agriculture inputs, can significantly enhance crop productivity. Nanotechnology can contribute to agro-food sector with novel tools viz., disease diagnosis and management, nanocide-pesticide delivery including green pesticides and biopesticides, slow and sustained release of micro-nutrients and fertilizers etc. Nanobiotechnology is expected to offer critical biological aspects of various crops; which inevitably will enhance the corresponding nutritional values. Further, these ideas will also help in meeting the food security and of environmental challenges. However, before implementation, these products need to be thoroughly evaluated for any toxicity concerns. Unfortunately, research outcomes of this field are mostly restricted to the lab and the concerned rules and regulations are also not well documented. To add to this, due to high initial production investments, industry experts are reluctant to invest significantly in this field. Thus, concentrated efforts from all directions are required to meet these global challenges. The present review will be covering all these aspects related to agriculture nanotechnology by citing specific examples from the existing recent literature reports and will also comment on the future prospects of this area.

Background:Nanomaterials offer significant advantages in delivery of different biomolecules which suffer from drawbacks like poor bioavailability, low stability and retention time, degradation in biological systemsetc. Nanotechnological approach has shown promising results for the sustained release of these biomolecules with minimal toxicity concerns. The present review describes a comprehensive outlook of the different nanomaterials used for the delivery of these biomolecules.Methods:Current literature reports related to protein, peptide and gene delivery agents have been reviewed and classified according to their applications.Results:Studies suggested that the nanomaterial based delivery agents can be broadly classified in to five categories which include metallic NPs, polymeric NPs, magnetic NPs, liposomes and micelles. All these materials provided significant improvement in the targeted delivery of biomolecules.Conclusion:Concerns regarding the bioavailability, stability and delivery of proteins, peptides, genes need to be investigated to improve their therapeutic potential in the biological milieu. The use of nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles may avoid undesirable hazards and may increase their pharmaceutical efficacy.

Nanocomposites of plant cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were developed by binding model proteins BSA and HSA onto CNCs by physical adsorption and chemical conjugation methods The spectroscopy and microscopy studies confirmed the protein binding onto CNCs. Phosphate buffer saline (pH=4.0, 7.4) and simulated gastric and intestinal fluids (SGF/SIF; pH=1.1/6.5) showed maximum protein release of ∼62% over a period of time. The released proteins were found to retain both structural integrity as well as≥90% of bioactivity. Further, these cytocompatible nanocomposites showed ∼58-85% cholesterol release from HUVEC whereas no selectivity was observed for HCAEC. It is speculated that due to the presence of combination of shuttles (albumins) and sinks (CNCs and albumins), these prepared nanocomposites with increased cholesterol effluxing ability may serve as a potential candidate for future biomedical applications in pharmaceuticals.

A colorimetric chemo-sensor based on citric acid-coated gold NPs (C-GNP) showed a linear increase in fluorescence intensity with increasing concentration of pesticide dimethoate (DM). The limit of detection was found to be between ~8.25± 0.3 and 20 ± 9.5 ppm. The increase in fluorescence intensity was suggested to have originated from the soft–soft interaction between C-GNPs and DM via sulfur group which is absent in pesticide dicofol (DF). Similar studies with citric acid-coated silver NPs (C-SNPs) did not result any change in the fluorescence intensity. The microscopic studies suggested aggregation of C-GNPs in the presence of DM but not in case of DF.

Personalized medicine refers to the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics, needs and preferences of each patient. The concept of such treatment strategies have originated from the observations of the clinicians that patients with identical symptoms may have different illnesses, with different causes and consequently, the medical interventions requires special attention for each individual.

Nanoparticles (NPs) are being extensively used in the field of nanomedicines. Different types of NPs are administered into the body by various routes. NPs come in contact with cells inside the body. Cellular response of NPs is affected by size, shape, surface chemistry, and cellular uptake pathways of NPs. In addition to this, type of cells, various cell lines, and growth media are also found to affect the cellular response of NPs. NPs induce diverse cellular responses like apoptosis, necrosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. NPs also form a protein corona inside the biological media which may alter their identity and behaviour as compared to bare NPs. In this chapter, we have made an attempt to throw light on cellular uptake pathways of NPs, monitoring of endocytic pathways followed by NPs, factors affecting cellular responses of therapeutic NPs, and protein corona formation, characterisation and its implications on fate of NPs.

Nanoscale materials (NSMs) are gaining attention due to their small size and unique physiochemical properties. Different approaches are used for the synthesis of NSMs. NSMs cannot be visualized by ordinary instruments. Instruments with high resolution are required for their characterisation. NSMs offer enhanced activity and specificity to encapsulate drugs. NSM are used as vehicles for site specific delivery of drugs inside the body. In this chapter, approaches for the synthesis of NSMs, and characterisation techniques for NSMs like SEM, TEM, AFM, DLS, XRD, and FTIR have been explained briefly. In addition, this chapter also covers zero dimensional one dimensional, two dimensional and three dimensional NSMs briefly. Detailed information about approaches of targeted delivery like passive and active have been covered in this chapter. NSMs like polymeric nanoparticles, metallic nanoparticles, liposomes, quantum dots, polymeric micelles, carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, and magnetic nanoparticles used in targeted drug delivery have also been explained in this chapter.

Theragnostic NPs give new hope in simultaneous diagnosis and therapy of a disease at curable stage. Theragnosis is the fundamental requirement of personalized medicine. For successful theragnosis applications, the imaging agents and drugs should be efficiently delivered, resulting in adequate imaging signal or drug concentration in the targeted disease site. The selection of NPs for imaging, diagnosis and therapy was based on their biomimetic features with higher surface to volume ratio of the nanomaterials. The essential properties of nanomedicines involve early and precise diagnosis of clinical conditions providing an efficient treatment without secondary effects. Thus, nanotheragnostic probes are much better than conventional treatments where the diagnosis and therapy are way apart from each other. This chapter briefs about the recent advancement of nanotheragnosis research with future scope and associated hurdles.