Among the various types of nanoparticles and their strategy for synthesis, the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles has gained much attention in the biomedical, cellular imaging, cosmetics, drug delivery, food, and agrochemical industries due to their unique physicochemical and biological properties. The green synthesis strategies incorporate the use of plant extracts, living organisms, or biomolecules as bioreducing and biocapping agents, also known as bionanofactories for the synthesis of nanoparticles. The use of green chemistry is ecofriendly, biocompatible, nontoxic, and cost-effective. We shed light on the recent advances in green synthesis and physicochemical properties of green silver nanoparticles by considering the outcomes from recent studies applying SEM, TEM, AFM, UV/Vis spectrophotometry, FTIR, and XRD techniques. Furthermore, we cover the antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic activities of silver nanoparticles.

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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in geriatric population. Intravitreal (IVT) injections are popular clinical option. Biologics and small molecules offer efficacy but relatively shorter half-life after intravitreal injections. To address these challenges, numerous technologies and therapies are under development. Most of these strategies aim to reduce the frequency of injections, thereby increasing patient compliance and reducing patient-associated burden. Unlike IVT frequent injections, molecular therapies such as cell therapy and gene therapy offer restoration ability hence gained a lot of traction. The recent approval of ocular gene therapy for inherited disease offers new hope in this direction. However, until such breakthrough therapies are available to the majority of patients, antibody therapeutics will be on the shelf, continuing to provide therapeutic benefits. The present review aims to highlight the status of pre-clinical and clinical studies of neovascular AMD treatment modalities including Anti-VEGF therapy, upcoming bispecific antibodies, small molecules, port delivery systems, photodynamic therapy, radiation therapy, gene therapy, cell therapy, and combination therapies.

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Alpha-particle radionuclide-antibody conjugates are being clinically evaluated against solid cancers expressing moderate levels of the targeted markers, with promising results. These findings are attributed to the high killing power of alpha-particles in spite of the expected decrease in antibody tumor uptake, that reduces tumor absorbed doses. However, when tumor absorbed doses are reduced, addressing the heterogeneities in delivery of alpha-particles within solid tumors (i.e. enabling uniform irradiation patterns) becomes critical: to maintain efficacy, the fewer alpha-particles delivered within tumors need to traverse/hit as many different cancer cells as possible. This proof-of-concept study describes an approach to complement the antibody-targeted radiotherapy by using a separate carrier to deliver a fraction of the injected radioactivity to tumor regions geographically different than those affected by the antibody; collectively, the two carriers should distribute the alpha-particle emitters, Actinium-225 in particular, more uniformly within tumors maintaining efficacy. Methods: We monitored the extent(s) of tumor growth inhibition, onset delay of spontaneous metastases and/or survival on orthotopic MDA-MB-213 and MDA-MB-436 triple negative breast cancer mouse models and on an ectopic BxPC3 pancreatic cancer mouse model, treated systemically with the two separate carriers. Tumors were chosen to express different (but low) levels of HER1, utilized as a model antibody-targeted marker. Results: Independent of tumor origin and/or resistance to chemotherapy, the two separate carriers: (a) improved the 'primary' tumor growth inhibition, (b) eliminated the formation of spontaneous metastases, and/or (c) prolonged survival, at lower or comparable tumor delivered doses relative to the antibody alone, without noticeable off-target toxicities. Conclusion: This tumor-agnostic strategy is timely and could be used to enhance the efficacy of existing alpha-particle radionuclide-antibody treatments without increasing, possibly even reducing, the total administered radioactivity.