Marine organisms form a prominent component of the oceanic population, which significantly contribute in the production of cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical molecules with biologically efficient moieties. In addition to the molecules of various biological activities like anti-bacterial, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative etc., these organisms also produce potential photoprotective or anti-photoaging agents, which are attracting present day researchers. Continuous exposure to UV irradiation (both UV-A and UV-B) leads to the skin cancer and other photoaging complications, which are typically mediated by the reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated in the oxidative pathways. Many of the anti-oxidative and anti-photoaging compounds have been identified previously, which work efficiently against photodamage of the skin. Recently, marine originated photoprotective or anti-photoaging behavior was observed in the methanol extracts of Corallina pilulifera (CPM). These extracts were found to exert potent antioxidant activity and protective effect on UV-A-induced oxidative stress in human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells by protecting DNA and also by inhibiting matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a key component in photoaging of the skin due to exposure to UV-A. The present review depicts various other photoprotective compounds from algae and other marine sources for further elaborative research and their probable use in cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries.

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Tricomponent scaffold systems prepared by natural materials especially of marine origin are gaining much attention nowadays for the application in bone tissue engineering. A novel scaffold (Chi-HAp-MSCol) containing chitosan (Chi), hydroxyapatite (HAp) derived from Thunnus obesus bone and marine sponge (Ircinia fusca) collagen (MSCol) was prepared using freeze-drying and lyophilization method. This biomimetic scaffold, along with the Chi and Chi-HAp scaffolds were characterized biophysicochemically for their comparative significance in bone grafting applications. The structural composition of the chitosan, Chi-Hap, and Chi-HAp-MSCol scaffolds were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The porosity, water uptake, and retention abilities of the composite scaffolds decreased, whereas Thermogravimetric and Differential Thermal Analyses results revealed the increase in thermal stability in the scaffold because of the highly stable HAp and MSCol. Homogeneous dispersion of HAp and MSCol in chitosan matrix with interconnected porosity of 60-180 μm (Chi-HAp) and 50-170 μm (Chi-HAp-MSCol) was observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and optical microscopy. Cell proliferation in composite scaffolds was relatively higher than pure chitosan when observed by MTT assay and Hoechst staining in vitro using MG-63 cell line. These observations suggest that the novel Chi-HAp-MSCol composite scaffolds are promising biomaterials for matrix-based bone repair and bone augmentation.

Sub-lethal studies of chlorpyrifos, O,O-diethyl-O-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl) phosphorothioate on mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis were carried out in vivo, for 20 days to assess the locomotor behavior in relation to bioaccumulation and interaction with a targeted enzyme, acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC: 3.1.1.7). Fish exposed to sub-lethal concentration of 60 microg/L (1/5 of LC 50) were under stress, and reduced their locomotor behavior like distance travelled per unit time (m/min) and swimming speed (cm/sec) with respect to the length of exposure. The alteration in locomotor behavior of fish may be due to an accumulation of acetylcholine (ACh), a neurotransmitter at synaptic junctions, due to the inhibition of AChE enzyme activity (40 to 55%) in brain and also bioaccumulation of the toxicant in different parts of fish. The bioaccumulation values indicated that the accumulation of chlorpyrifos was maximum in viscera followed by head and body. The average bio-concentration values are 0.109, 0.009 and 0.004 microg/g for viscera, head and body with depuration rates of 2.24, 1.69 and 0.39 ng/h respectively. It is evident from the results that the sub-lethal concentration [1/5 of LC 50; equivalent to Lowest Observed Effect Concentration (LOEC)] of chlorpyrifos can able to alter the locomotor behavior of G. affinis in relation to the length of exposure. The findings revealed that the locomotor activity of test organism could be considered as a suitable marker to evaluate the affect of toxicant even at LOEC levels.

. IntroductionDuring the last two decades carbon based materials enjoyed signifi cant attention of scientists and engineers, the nanocarbons comprise materials ranging from activated carbons to the relatively new graphenes, fullerenes, nanotubes, nano-onions and nanoparticles with less than 100 nm sizes. [1][2][3][4] Because of the unique physical and chemical properties nanocarbons are used in wide range of different technical applications, including materials for super capacitors, hydrogen storage, water purifi cation, catalysts, electrode materials, fl uorescent probes and adsorbents. [4][5][6] Considering their wide spectrum of applications, the synthesis of nanocarbon is very important. Conventional methods of preparation such as soot-based, [ 6 ] chemical vapor deposition, [ 7 ] arc-discharge, [ 8 ] laser ablation, [ 9 ] and plasma radiation [ 10 ] are mostly limited to solid-state strategies that can tolerate relatively high energies and high temperatures. The requirements of vacuum, high pressure, high temperature and sophisticated instruments increases the cost of production of nanocarbons, hence developing an inexpensive synthesis method is an attractive challenge for chemists. Recently microwave-assisted synthesis has been reported for nanocarbon synthesis and tends to be easy and environmentally friendly; the use of microwave heating opens an excellent method that reveals greener synthesis of the nanomaterials with shorter reaction times, reduced energy consumption, and better product yields with multiple application including imaging probes for cancer cells. [ 11,12 ] From the perspective of synthesis of nanocarbon with diverse application, it is desirable to have a single synthesis method that can be applied for the synthesis of a diverse range of nanocarbon materials with diverse applications. Here, we report that multiple types of nanocarbon material with different properties can be generated using microwave techniques.The nanocarbon materials with heteroatoms are found to have altered intrinsic properties, including electronic characteristics, surface, and local chemical features. [13][14][15][16] By way of this nanocarbon shows photoluminescence characteristics as well as remarkable electrochemical activities. The emergence of the carbon-based photoluminescent nanomaterials has presented new avenues for research on the potential applications of these materials as fl uorescent probes for bioimaging because of their biocompatibility in physiological conditions. [ 6,12 ] Additionally, nanocarbon with heteroatoms such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and oxygen substantially improve the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells, [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] these nanomaterials meet the advantage of having metal-free ORR and can easily replace the known platinum-based metal alloys for electrocatalysis. However, all the above-mentioned heteroatom incorporated-carbon nanomaterials require complex, harsh, and time-consuming synthetic methods. The non-preciousmetal-based electrocatalysis exhibits both hi...