Subhasis Banerjee

Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) are materials that have recently emerged with the potential for various biomedical applications. Through engineering MOFs to contain various components and functionalities, they have progressed from porous materials to “smart” MOFs that can deliver payloads to cells, release the payloads in specific situations, perform certain therapies on the cells, and even perform diagnosis and therapy procedures simultaneously. This review aims to highlight the synergistic induction of ferroptosis through nanomedicine, immunotherapy, and targeted therapeutic agents for the treatment of breast and gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. Nanotechnology‐based targeted delivery systems enhance the delivery of ferroptosis‐inducing agents to cancer cells while minimizing the toxicity of these agents to healthy cells. Additionally, immunotherapeutic agents enhance the immune response to cancer cells and sensitize them to ferroptotic cell death. Targeted therapeutic agents that act on the molecular regulators of ferroptosis, such as GPX4, System Xc ⁻ , NRF2, and iron metabolism, potentiate ferroptosis. The combination of these therapeutic strategies has the potential to reverse multidrug resistance, limit metastasis, and increase the efficacy of cancer therapy. Furthermore, this review discusses the current advances in and future perspectives on the development of combination therapies targeting ferroptotic cell death in cancer cells. The integration of nanomedicine, immunotherapy, and targeted therapeutic agents presents a highly promising new avenue for treating breast and gastrointestinal cancers.

Organometallics, specifically ruthenium (Ru)-based complexes, have emerged as promising anticancer agents, offering controlled reactivity, electronic versatility, and tunable lipophilicity. The present work focuses on elucidating detailed anticancer cellular mechanisms of Ru(II)-gallate and Ru(II)-vanillate against MCF-7 breast and HepG2 liver cancer cells. Cell death pattern was assessed by flow cytometry, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and mitochondrial membrane potential were measured by fluorescence assay, and the expression of key apoptosis-related proteins and genes were quantified by Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Acute toxicity study was conducted in female Swiss albino mice. Mechanistic assays confirmed that both complexes substantially disrupted intracellular redox homeostasis, as evidenced by characteristic alterations in reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione ratio indicative of reductive stress, leading to mitochondrial membrane depolarization, induced apoptotic cell death, suppressed anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), pro-caspase-3 levels (in HepG2 cells only), promoted mitochondrial cytochrome c release, elicited a concomitant rise in caspase-9, and upregulated Bcl-2-associated X-protein. The protein expression profile was further supplemented by analysis of important genes associated with apoptosis, such as BAX, BCL2, CASP3, and CASP9, performed using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Acute oral toxicity study at a limit dose of 2000 mg/kg did not reveal adverse hematological, biochemical, or histopathological alterations in mice, indicating a non-toxic outcome under the tested conditions. This study revealed that Ru(II)-gallate and Ru(II)-vanillate induce mitochondria-mediated apoptosis driven by reductive stress, and exhibited strong in vivo tolerability, underscoring their potential as attractive contenders for cancer treatment pending further evaluation. Graphical Abstract

A very aggressive and deadly brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) poses formidable obstacles to effective therapy. Despite advancements in conventional therapies like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, the prognosis for GBM patients remains poor, with limited survival outcomes. Nanotechnology is gaining popularity as a promising platform for managing GBM, offering targeted drug delivery, improved therapeutic efficacy, and reduced systemic toxicity. This review offers a comprehensive analysis of the current therapeutic approach for GBM using nanotechnology-based interventions. This study explored various nanocarrier (NC) systems like polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, and mesoporous silica nanoparticles for improved precision as well as efficacy in encapsulating and delivering therapeutic agents to GBM tumors. Methods for improving drug delivery into GBM cells are described in this study, including novel delivery modalities such as convection-enhanced delivery, intranasal administration, magnetic hyperthermia, peptide-guided nanoparticles, and immune liposomes. It also explores the influence of diabetes and obesity on GBM prognosis and survival rates, suggesting that managing glucose levels and using metformin may improve patient outcomes. The discussion focuses on the advancements in nanotechnology-enabled GBM therapy, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in implementing these promising technologies in clinical practice. The study highlights the potential of nanotechnology and metabolic modulation in transforming GBM treatment strategies. To further understand how these factors impact GBM patients and develop innovative nanotechnology-based treatments for GBM and diabetes mellitus, more study is necessary.

The present study deals with the in-silico analyses of several flavonoid derivatives to explore COVID-19 through pharmacophore modelling, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, drug-likeness, and ADME properties. The initial literature study revealed that many flavonoids, including luteolin, quercetin, kaempferol, and baicalin may be useful against SARS β-coronaviruses, prompting the selection of their potential derivatives to investigate their abilities as inhibitors of COVID-19. The findings were streamlined using in silico molecular docking, which revealed promising energy-binding interactions between all flavonoid derivatives and the targeted protein. Notably, compounds 8, 9, 13, and 15 demonstrated higher potency against the coronavirus Mpro protein (PDB ID 6M2N). Compound 8 has a -7.2 Kcal/mol affinity for the protein and binds to it by hydrogen bonding with Gln192 and π-sulfur bonding with Met-165. Compound 9 exhibited a significant interaction with the main protease, demonstrating an affinity of -7.9 kcal/mol. Gln-192, Glu-189, Pro-168, and His-41 were the principle amino acid residues involved in this interaction. The docking score for compound 13 is -7.5 Kcal/mol, and it binds to the protease enzyme by making interactions with Leu-41, π-sigma, and Gln-189. These interactions include hydrogen bonding and π-sulfur. The major protease and compound 15 were found to bind with a favourable affinity of -6.8 Kcal/mol. This finding was further validated through molecular dynamic simulation for 1ns, analysing parameters such as RMSD, RMSF, and RoG profiles. The RoG values for all four of the compounds varied significantly (35.2–36.4). The results demonstrated the stability of the selected compounds during the simulation. After passing the stability testing, the compounds underwent screening for ADME and drug-likeness properties, fulfilling all the necessary criteria. The findings of the study may support further efforts for the discovery and development of safe drugs to treat COVID-19.

Vegetables and fruits are highly perishable agricultural commodities cultivated all over the world. However, inadequate handling practices have led to significant postharvest losses of these agricultural commodities, as well as the wastage of valuable resources, such as time and money. Hence, it can be observed that cultivators often experience significant financial setbacks as a result of inadequate comprehension regarding the nature and origins of these losses, insufficient preservation practices, and ineffective approaches to transportation and marketing. In addition, the utilization of suitable chemical agents during both the pre- and postharvest phases has the potential to prolong the shelf life of agricultural products. This preservation technique safeguards vegetables and fruits from pathogenic organisms and other forms of environmental harm, thereby enabling their availability for an extended duration. Therefore, this review proposes a methodology for managing fruits and vegetables postharvest to minimize losses and optimize returns.