No abstract

Conventional anticancer treatments, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, have significantly improved cancer therapy. Nevertheless, the existing traditional anticancer treatments have been reported to cause serious side effects and resistance to cancer and even to severely affect the quality of life of cancer survivors, which indicates the utmost urgency to develop effective and safe anticancer treatments. As the primary focus of cancer nanotheranostics, nanomaterials with unique surface chemistry and shape have been investigated for integrating cancer diagnostics with treatment techniques, including guiding a prompt diagnosis, precise imaging, treatment with an effective dose, and real-time supervision of therapeutic efficacy. Several theranostic nanosystems have been explored for cancer diagnosis and treatment in the past decade. However, metal-based nanotheranostics continue to be the most common types of nonentities. Consequently, the present review covers the physical characteristics of effective metallic, functionalized, and hybrid nanotheranostic systems. The scope of coverage also includes the clinical advantages and limitations of cancer nanotheranostics. In light of these viewpoints, future research directions exploring the robustness and clinical viability of cancer nanotheranostics through various strategies to enhance the biocompatibility of theranostic nanoparticles are summarised.

No abstract

Fungal infections are becoming one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in people with weakened immune systems. Mycoses are becoming more common, despite greater knowledge and better treatment methods, due to the regular emergence of resistance to the antifungal medications used in clinical settings. Antifungal therapy is the mainstay of patient management for acute and chronic mycoses. However, the limited availability of antifungal drug classes limits the range of available treatments. Additionally, several drawbacks to treating mycoses include unfavourable side effects, a limited activity spectrum, a paucity of targets, and fungal resistance, all of which continue to be significant issues in developing antifungal drugs. The emergence of antifungal drug resistance has eliminated accessible drug classes as treatment choices, which significantly compromises the clinical management of fungal illnesses. In some situations, the emergence of strains resistant to many antifungal medications is a major concern. Although new medications have been developed to address this issue, antifungal drug resistance has grown more pronounced, particularly in patients who need long-term care or are undergoing antifungal prophylaxis. Moreover, the mechanisms that cause resistance must be well understood, including modifications in drug target affinities and abundances, along with biofilms and efflux pumps that diminish intracellular drug levels, to find novel antifungal drugs and drug targets. In this review, different classes of antifungal agents, and their resistance mechanisms, have been discussed. The latter part of the review focuses on the strategies by which we can overcome this serious issue of antifungal resistance in humans.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the COVID-19 infection, was discovered two and a half years ago. It caused a global pandemic, resulting in millions of deaths and substantial damage to the worldwide economy. Currently, only a few vaccines and antiviral drugs are available to combat SARS-CoV-2. However, there has been an increase in virus-related research, including exploring new drugs and their repurposing. Since discovering penicillin, natural products, particularly those derived from microbes, have been viewed as an abundant source of lead compounds for drug discovery. These compounds treat bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral infections. This review incorporates evidence from the available research publications on isolated and identified natural products derived from microbes with anti-hepatitis, anti-herpes simplex, anti-HIV, anti-influenza, anti-respiratory syncytial virus, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties. About 131 compounds with in vitro antiviral activity and 1 compound with both in vitro and in vivo activity have been isolated from microorganisms, and the mechanism of action for some of these compounds has been described. Recent reports have shown that natural products produced by the microbes, such as aurasperone A, neochinulin A and B, and aspulvinone D, M, and R, have potent in vitro anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, targeting the main protease (Mpro). In the near and distant future, these molecules could be used to develop antiviral drugs for treating infections and preventing the spread of disease.