Neurodegenerative diseases refer to disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) that are caused by neuronal degradations, dysfunctions, or death. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease (APHD) are regarded as the three major neurodegenerative diseases. There is a vast body of literature on the causes and treatments of these neurodegenerative diseases. However, the main obstacle in developing an effective treatment strategy is the permeability of the treatment components at the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Several strategies have been developed to improve this obstruction. For example, nanomaterials facilitate drug delivery to the BBB due to their size. They have been used widely in nanomedicine and as nanoprobes for diagnosis purposes among others in neuroscience. Nanomaterials in different forms, such as nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), and liposomes, have been used to treat neurodegenerative diseases. This review will cover the basic concepts and applications of nanomaterials in the therapy of APHD.

Three-dimensional ex vivo cell culture systems have been of great interest to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. In vitro intestinal epithelium culture models are normally employed to mimics the physiological realistic environment for the study of normal and aberrant intestinal epithelium. In this study, we demonstrated the applicability to use collagen I based gels for the culture of primary intestinal stem cells. The resulting three-dimensional cell culture systems supported the long-term proliferation and differentiation of encapsulated intestinal stem cells. We further confirmed the feasibility of collagen I foams as cell carriers for the delivery of intestinal stem cells. These ex vivo systems will facilitate the research of intestinal stem-cell-based regenerative therapy for enteric disorders and diseases.

Soybeans have high concentrations of proteins, amino acids and unsaturated lipids. Various soybean products, such as soybean meal, soy protein concentrate, and soy protein isolate are available and have been studied, due to their abundant nutrient contents. They are acceptable substitutes for meat for vegetarians and vegans, due to their high nutritional value. Soy products have been extensively utilized in the animal feed industry as a protein source as well. Unfortunately, there are challenges associated with soybeans and soy products. Soybeans cannot be consumed without being processed. The main problem is the presence of Anti Nutritional Factors (ANFs), which are a major cause of poor protein digestibility. With respect to animal feeds, other problems include morphological and pathological changes, such as abnormalities in the digestive systems in non-ruminant animals. Hence, the objective of this study was to review various methods of processing soybeans, which can reduce anti-nutritional factors, increase nutrient availability, and effectively utilize the nutritional value of soybeans.