The development of simple, cost-effective, and advanced multifunctional technology is the need of the hour to combat cancer as well as bacterial infections. There have been reports of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), silver salts, and Prussian blue (PB) being used for medicinal purposes which are clinically approved. In this context, in the present communication, we incorporated PB and silver salts (silver nitrate) to develop silver PB analogue nanoparticles (SPBANPs), a new nanomedicine formulation as a safer and effective mode of treatment strategy (2-in-1) for both cancer and bacterial infections. Considering all fundamental issues of nanomedicine, along with understanding of the biological impact of PB, we designed a simple, fast, efficient, cheap, and eco-friendly method for the synthesis of [poly­(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)]-stabilized silver hexacyanoferrate nanoparticles (silver PB analogue: Ag3[Fe­(CN)6] abbreviated as SPBANPs). Various analytical tools were used to analyze and characterize the nanomaterials (SPBANPs). The SPBANPs were highly stable for several weeks in various phosphate buffers with a range of physiological pH conditions (pH = 6–8). The nanoparticles showed biocompatibility in vivo in C57BL6/J mice that encouraged us to screen the nanoparticles for various biomedical applications. The SPBANPs themselves exhibited remarkable inhibition of cancer cell proliferation (B16F10, A549, MCF-7, and SK-OV-3) in vitro. Substantial inhibition of melanoma tumor growth was observed in the C57BL6/J mouse model (aggressive murine melanoma model: B16F10) after intraperitoneal administration of the SPBANPs without any anticancer drug. Additionally, the SPBANPs exhibited excellent antibacterial activity in various Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) bacteria. Interestingly, this nanoformulation itself works as a drug delivery vehicle, as well as an anticancer and antibacterial agent. The in vitro and in vivo results together demonstrate that this biocompatible nanoformulation (SPBANPs) without an anticancer drug or antibiotic could be explored to develop as a multifunctional therapeutic agent (2-in-1) for the treatment of cancer and bacterial infections in the near future.

Recent times have witnessed an upsurge in the incidence of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, Prion disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The treatment of the same remains a daunting challenge due to the limited access of therapeutic moieties across the blood–brain barrier. Engineered nanoparticles with a size less than 100 nm provide multifunctional abilities for solving these biomedical and pharmacological issues due to their unique physico‐chemical properties along with capability to cross the blood–brain barrier. Needless to mention, there is a scarcity of review articles summarizing recent developments of various nanomaterials including liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, metal nanoparticles, and bio‐nanoparticles toward the therapeutic and theranostics applications for various neurodegenerative disorders. Here, a broad spectrum of nanomedicinal approaches to eradicate neurodegenerative disorders is provided, along with a brief account of neuroprotection and neuronal tissue regeneration, current clinical status, issues related to safety, toxicity, challenges, and future outlook.

Background: M. tuberculosis evades host-immune-responses by polarizing T helper (Th)2 and regulatory T cell (Treg) responses, which diminish protective Th1 responses.Results: Mice that are unable to generate Th2 cells and Tregs are resistant to M. tuberculosis infection. Simultaneous inhibition of these T cell subsets by therapeutic compounds dramatically reduced bacterial burden.Conclusion: Inhibition of Th2 and Treg cells increases Th1 responses that protect against M. tuberculosis infection.Significance: As therapeutic agents employed here do not directly act on harbored pathogens, they should avoid generation of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis variants.

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