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Topic Review
Cutaneous Flavonoid Delivery System
Flavonoids are one of the vital classes of natural polyphenolic compounds abundantly found in plants. Due to their wide range of therapeutic properties, which include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, photoprotective, and depigmentation effects, flavonoids have been demonstrated to be promising agents in the treatment of several skin disorders. However, their lipophilic nature and poor water solubility invariably lead to limited oral bioavailability. In addition, they are rapidly degraded and metabolized in the human body, hindering their potential contribution to the prevention and treatment of many disorders. Thus, to overcome these challenges, several cutaneous delivery systems have been extensively studied. Topical drug delivery besides offering an alternative administration route also ensures a sustained release of the active compound at the desired site of action. Incorporation into lipid or polymer-based nanoparticles appears to be a highly effective approach for cutaneous delivery of flavonoids with good encapsulation potential and reduced toxicity.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Functionalized Lanthanide Oxide Nanoparticles
Functionalized lanthanide oxide (Ln2O3) nanoparticles has been used for tumor targeting, medical imaging, and therapy. Among the medical imaging techniques, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important noninvasive imaging tool for tumor diagnosis due to its high spatial resolution and excellent imaging contrast, especially when contrast agents are used. However, commercially available low-molecular-weight MRI contrast agents exhibit several shortcomings, such as nonspecificity for the tissue of interest and rapid excretion in vivo. Recently, nanoparticle-based MRI contrast agents have become a hot research topic in biomedical imaging due to their high performance, easy surface functionalization, and low toxicity. Among them, functionalized Ln2O3 nanoparticles are applicable as MRI contrast agents for tumor-targeting and nontumor-targeting imaging and image-guided tumor therapy. Primarily, Gd2O3 nanoparticles have been intensively investigated as tumor-targeting T1 MRI contrast agents. T2 MRI is also possible due to the appreciable paramagnetic moments of Ln2O3 nanoparticles (Ln = Dy, Ho, and Tb) at room temperature arising from the nonzero orbital motion of 4f electrons. In addition, Ln2O3 nanoparticles are eligible as X-ray computed tomography contrast agents because of their high X-ray attenuation power. 
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Activity of Gemini Surfactants
Gemini cationic surfactants (GS) are constructed from two alkylammonium monomeric salts linked by a spacer.They exhibit significant surface, aggregation and antimicrobial properties. Due to the fact that, in order to achieve the desired utility effect, the minimal concentration of compounds are used, they are in line with the principle of greenolution (green evolution) in chemistry. The obtained results indicate that the synthesized compounds are effective microbicides with a broad spectrum of biocidal activity and are active against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, yeast Candida albicans, molds Aspergillus niger and Penicillium chrysogenum. These compounds constitute a new, interesting class of microbicides with a broad spectrum of biocidal activity.
  • 1.3K
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Mechanisms of α-Syn Aggregation In Vitro
The aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibers is linked to more than forty still incurable cellular and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple system atrophy, Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes, among others. The process of amyloid formation is a main feature of cell degeneration and disease pathogenesis. Despite being methodologically challenging, a complete understanding of the molecular mechanism of aggregation, especially in the early stages, is essential to find new biological targets for innovative therapies. Here, chemical and biophysical methodologies that provided insights on Alpha-synuclein aggregation that would help to investigate other less-known aggregation-prone peptides and proteins were presented.
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Dental Implant Nano-Engineering
Titanium (Ti) and its alloys offer favorable biocompatibility, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, which makes them an ideal material choice for dental implants. However, the long-term success of Ti-based dental implants may be challenged due to implant-related infections and inadequate osseointegration. With the development of nanotechnology, nanoscale modifications and the application of nanomaterials have become key areas of focus for research on dental implants. Surface modifications and the use of various coatings, as well as the development of the controlled release of antibiotics or proteins, have improved the osseointegration and soft-tissue integration of dental implants, as well as their antibacterial and immunomodulatory functions.
  • 1.3K
  • 02 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Effect of the Mediator System on Laccase Catalysis
Laccase belongs to the superfamily of multicopper oxidases and has been widely investigated in recent decades. Due to its mild and efficient oxidation of substrates, laccase has been successfully applied in organic catalytic synthesis, the degradation of harmful substances, and other green catalytic fields. Adding a mediator not only effectively improves the reaction efficiency of laccase but also expands the scope of the substrate.
  • 1.3K
  • 08 May 2023
Topic Review
Biomedical Application of Carbon Dots
Carbon dots (CDs), which are a new category of carbon nanoparticles that consist of quasi-spherical, discrete fluorescent carbon nanomaterials with a diameter of less than 10 nm, have multiple advantages over semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), including high water solubility, low cost, excellent biocompatibility, chemically inertness, highly tunable photoluminescence and electrochemical luminescence. Because of their unique properties, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have acquired significance in nano-chemistry, which has resulted in the discovery of CDD applications, especially in biomedical applications.            
  • 1.3K
  • 01 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Nanobiosensors in Pathogen Detection in Water and Food
Food and waterborne illnesses are still a major concern in health and food safety areas. Methods based on biosensor devices have emerged as novel tools for faster detection of food and water pathogens, in contrast to traditional methods that are usually time-consuming and are unsuitable for large-scale monitoring. Biosensor devices can be summarized as devices that use biochemical reactions with a biorecognition section (isolated enzymes, antibodies, tissues, genetic materials, or aptamers) to detect pathogens. In most cases, biosensors are based on the correlation of electrical, thermal, or optical signals in the presence of pathogen biomarkers. The application of nano and molecular technologies allows the identification of pathogens in a faster and high-sensibility manner, at extremely low-pathogen concentrations. In fact, the integration of gold, silver, iron, and magnetic nanoparticles (NP) in biosensors has demonstrated an improvement in their detection functionality.
  • 1.3K
  • 26 Oct 2023
Topic Review
NIR-II Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens for Tumor Phototheranostics
Various modalities are involved in phototheranostic systems, including therapeutic methods such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), and diagnostic technologies such as photothermal imaging (PTI), photoacoustic imaging (PAI), and fluorescence imaging (FLI). As an emerging strategy for cancer treatments via generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) with the assistance of light, tissue oxygen, and photosensitizer (PS), PDT has a remarkable light-controllable ability, specific spatiotemporal selectivity, and minimized invasiveness. Second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorophores possess the capability of surmounting the inherent deficiencies of conventional FLI, by virtue of its remarkable features including deep penetration, reduced tissue scattering, minimal damage, and high spatial resolution endowed by the extremely long wavelength.
  • 1.3K
  • 16 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Extraction Techniques of Procyanidins
Procyanidins are an important group of bioactive molecules known for their benefits to human health. These compounds are promising in the treatment of chronic metabolic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as they prevent cell damage related to oxidative stress.
  • 1.3K
  • 04 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Annona cherimola Mill.
Annona cherimola Mill., or the custard apple, is one of the species belonging to the Annonaceae family, is widely used in traditional medicine, and has been reported to be a valuable source of bioactive compounds.
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Willardiine and Its Analogues
Willardiine was first identified by Rolf Gimelin in 1959 from the extracts of seeds of Acacia willardiana. Structurally it corresponds to (2S)-2-amino-3-(2,4-dioxopyrimidin-1-yl)propanoic acid (1) and carrying an uracil moiety it can be ascribed to the category of nucleoamino acids. Willardiine is synthesized by the single specific enzyme uracilylalanine synthase, and the N–heterocyclic moiety uracil obtained by the orotate pathway proved to be an effective bioisostere for the distal carboxyl group of L-glutamate. Different  aspects on both chemistry and biotechnological applications of willardine/willardine-analogues and nucleopeptides will be reviewed herein.
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Physical Properties of Succinoglycan
Succinoglycan is a type of bacterial anionic exopolysaccharide produced from Rhizobium, Agrobacterium, and other soil bacteria. The exact structure of succinoglycan depends in part on the type of bacterial strain, and the final production yield also depends on the medium composition, culture conditions, and genotype of each strain. Various bacterial polysaccharides, such as cellulose, xanthan, gellan, and pullulan, that can be mass-produced for biotechnology are being actively studied.
  • 1.3K
  • 24 Jan 2022
Topic Review
MALDI MS-Based Investigations Targeting SARS-CoV-2
The urgent need to fight the COVID-19 pandemic has impressively stimulated the efforts of the international scientific community, providing an extraordinary wealth of studies. Improving the current laboratory testing methods and developing new rapid and reliable diagnostic approaches might be useful in managing contact tracing in the fight against both the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the new, potentially fast-spreading CoV-2 variants. Mass Spectrometry (MS)-based testing methods and more specifically MALDI-MS have demonstrated without any doubt the great potential to overcome many unresolved analytical challenges arising from currently used laboratory testing assays, becoming an effective proteomic tool in several applications, including pathogen identification. With the aim of highlighting the challenges and opportunities that derive from MALDI-based approaches for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, we extensively examined the most promising proofs of concept for MALDI studies related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • 1.3K
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Electrospun Polysaccharidic Textiles for Biomedicine
Recent developments in electrospinning technology have enabled the commercial-scale production of nonwoven fabrics from synthetic and natural polymers. Since the early 2000s, polysaccharides and their derivatives have been recognized as promising raw materials for electrospinning, and their electrospun textiles have attracted increasing attention for their diverse potential applications. In particular, their biomedical applications have been spotlighted thanks to their “green” aspects, e.g., abundance in nature, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. This review focuses on three main research topics in the biomedical applications of electrospun polysaccharidic textiles: (i) delivery of therapeutic molecules, (ii) tissue engineering, and (iii) wound healing, and discusses recent progress and prospects.
  • 1.3K
  • 26 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Electrochemical Determination of Kynurenine Pathway Metabolites
Kynurenine pathway (KP) is the major catabolic route of tryptophan, which generates an important enzyme cofactor (NAD+) and a variety of bioactive metabolites (so-called kynurenines) with immunosuppressive functions or neuroprotective, antioxidant, and toxic properties. It is involved in a variety of physiological processes, especially in conditions associated with immune dysfunction, central nervous system disorders, autoimmunity, infection, diabetes, and cancer. In normal conditions, tryptophan depletion via KP is initiated by the liver enzyme tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and the extrahepatic enzyme - indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase  (IDO) that contributes minimally to this process (5–10%). The extrahepatic KP becomes quantitatively more significant under conditions of immune activation. KP metabolites are frequently found in biofluids, tissues, and cell-delivered material at low nanomolar or low micromolar concentration levels. However, in disease conditions, abnormal tryptophan metabolism can be accompanied by changes in levels of KP metabolites.
  • 1.3K
  • 17 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Peptide Libraries with Antimicrobial Activity
Authors describe how by coupling emerging in silico and experimental tools it is possible to create novel peptide libraries with potential antimicrobial activity. This is in response to the growing public health concern pose by multiresistant microbial strains that take millions of lives annually on a global scale. The in silico tools include emerging artificial intelligence algorithms that allow searching for novel sequences in extremely large databases. Once identified, the required membrane activity can be estimated by looking at the interactions with model lipid bilayers via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Experimentally, the sequences can be expressed on the surface of yeasts by the surface display technology and subsequently screened in a high-throughput manner aided by microfluidic systems capable of separating out the most active peptides by precisely monitoring changes in optical properties in-line and real-time. 
  • 1.3K
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
Applications of Valuable Compounds from Fermented Residues
Significant amounts of fermented food waste are generated worldwide, promoting an abundance of residual biomass that can be used as raw material to extract bioactive peptides, fermentable sugars, polyphenols, and valuable compounds for synthesizing bioproducts. Therefore, generating these high-value-added products reduces the environmental impact caused by waste disposal and increases the industrial economic value of the final products. The fermentation process favors the synthesis of products with high added value. However, the use of fermentation also leads to the production of fermentative residues containing metabolites, extracellular enzymes, and other byproducts generated by microbiological metabolism. 
  • 1.3K
  • 04 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Terpene Mini-Path for Terpenoids Bio-Production
Terpenoids constitute the largest class of natural compounds and are extremely valuable from an economic point of view due to their extended physicochemical properties and biological activities. An alternative to produce terpenoids is the use of biotechnological tools involving, for example, the construction of enzymatic cascades (cell-free synthesis) or a microbial bio-production thanks to metabolic engineering techniques. 
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Research Status of Graphene Polyurethane Composite Coating
Graphene material has a variety of excellent properties and applications in energy storage, biomaterials, photoelectric devices, and other fields. With the progress of nanotechnology, graphene nanomaterials have shown their advantages in the field of new nano-corrosion coatings with their high barrier structure. In addition, polyurethane is also widely used in the field of anti-corrosion coatings due to its excellent chemical resistance, mechanical properties, and weathering resistance. The preparation of composite coatings by combining graphene nanomaterials with traditional polyurethane (PU) coatings has opened up a new way for the research and development of new anticorrotic coatings.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Feb 2022
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