Virus-like particles (VLPs) are nanostructures that possess diverse applications in therapeutics, immunization, and diagnostics. With the recent advancements in biomedical engineering technologies, commercially available VLP-based vaccines are being extensively used to combat infectious diseases, whereas many more are in different stages of development in clinical studies. Because of their desired characteristics in terms of efficacy, safety, and diversity, VLP-based approaches might become more recurrent in the years to come. However, some production and fabrication challenges must be addressed before VLP-based approaches can be widely used in therapeutics. This review offers insight into the recent VLP-based vaccines development, with an emphasis on their characteristics, expression systems, and potential applicability as ideal candidates to combat emerging virulent pathogens. Finally, the potential of VLP-based vaccine as viable and efficient immunizing agents to induce immunity against virulent infectious agents, including, SARS-CoV-2 and protein nanoparticle-based vaccines has been elaborated. Thus, VLP vaccines may serve as an effective alternative to conventional vaccine strategies in combating emerging infectious diseases.

Fagonia indica is a rich source of pharmacologically active compounds. The variation in the metabolites of interest is one of the major issues in wild plants due to different environmental factors. The addition of chemical elicitors is one of the effective strategies to trigger the biosynthetic pathways for the release of a higher quantity of bioactive compounds. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effects of chemical elicitors, aluminum chloride (AlCl3) and cadmium chloride (CdCl2), on the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, biomass, and the antioxidant system in callus cultures of F. indica. Among various treatments applied, AlCl3 (0.1 mM concentration) improved the highest in biomass accumulation (fresh weight (FW): 404.72 g/L) as compared to the control (FW: 269.85 g/L). The exposure of cultures to AlCl3 (0.01 mM) enhanced the accumulation of secondary metabolites, and the total phenolic contents (TPCs: 7.74 mg/g DW) and total flavonoid contents (TFCs: 1.07 mg/g DW) were higher than those of cultures exposed to CdCl2 (0.01 mM) with content levels (TPC: 5.60 and TFC: 0.97 mg/g) as compared to the control (TPC: 4.16 and TFC: 0.42 mg/g DW). Likewise, AlCl3 and CdCl2 also promoted the free radical scavenging activity (FRSA; 89.4% and 90%, respectively) at a concentration of 0.01 mM, as compared to the control (65.48 %). For instance, the quantification of metabolites via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) revealed an optimum production of myricetin (1.20 mg/g), apigenin (0.83 mg/g), isorhamnetin (0.70 mg/g), and kaempferol (0.64 mg/g). Cultures grown in the presence of AlCl3 triggered higher quantities of secondary metabolites than those grown in the presence of CdCl2 (0.79, 0.74, 0.57, and 0.67 mg/g). Moreover, AlCl3 at 0.1 mM enhanced the biosynthesis of superoxide dismutase (SOD: 0.08 nM/min/mg-FW) and peroxidase enzymes (POD: 2.37 nM/min/mg-FW), while CdCl2 resulted in an SOD activity up to 0.06 nM/min/mg-FW and POD: 2.72 nM/min/mg-FW. From these results, it is clear that AlCl3 is a better elicitor in terms of a higher and uniform productivity of biomass, secondary cell products, and antioxidant enzymes compared to CdCl2 and the control. It is possible to scale the current strategy to a bioreactor for a higher productivity of metabolites of interest for various pharmaceutical industries.

Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) causes many sensory and motor deficits in children which may lead to deterioration of their functional activities and daily life. Effective interventions are required to be worked on, which can improve the movement status of such subjects. Objective: To determine the effects of sensory integration therapy (SIT) in addition with virtual reality (VR) and Conventional Physical Therapy in subjects with cerebral palsy. Methods: A Pilot randomized control trial (RCT) was conducted at Pakistan Railway Hospital Rawalpindi from July to December 2019. The n=26 subjects were recruited after fulfilment of inclusion criteria; male and female diagnosed spastic CP subjectswith age 5-12 years, gross motor function classification system (GMFC) level I-II, can independently walk ≥ 5 meters, spasticity of lower limb <3 on Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), able to understand commands and play gamesThe subjects were randomly divided into group A, receiving sensory integration therapy (SIT) in addition to virtual reality (VR) and conventional physical therapy CPT), while group B received only virtual reality (VR) and conventional physical therapy CPT). The interventions were given for 6 weeks with assessments at baseline, 3rd and 6th weeks. The outcome measures were gross motor function measurement (GMFM) for assessment of gross motor functions, pediatric balance scale (PBS) for assessment of balance in children and 2-minute walk test (2MWT) for mobility. The analysis was done via SPSS 21 and ANOVA test was applied. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 7.52±2.25 years. The balance Scale and 2-minute walk test showed significant interaction (p<0.001) between intervention and time. Between group analyses done by one way ANOVA, the assessment at 3rd and 6 weeks has shown significant difference (p<0.001) for GMFM standing, walking/running and total along with PBS and 2 MWT. Conclusion: Augmentation of sensory integration therapy with virtual reality has significant effects on improving gross motor functions, balance and mobility in cerebral palsy as compared to virtual reality. Keywords: Balance, cerebral palsy, gross motor functions, virtual reality, sensory integration therapy