Jhuma Bhadra

This review investigates biomaterial-based strategies for improved treatment of MPXV. We focus on emerging synthetic biomedical approaches to combating the virus. These include peptide nucleic acids, CRISPR-based systems, and small-molecule therapeutics. These methods work by targeting and blocking viral proteins and enzymes. Such synthetic platforms may help reduce viral transmission and minimize side effects. They also offer potential solutions to challenges such as viral resistance in humans. In addition, biomaterials contribute to the development of more stable and effective vaccines. Combining these biomaterials with mRNA technology provides a promising framework for future vaccine development. Overall, this review underscores biomaterial-driven antiviral systems as a major frontier in translational medicine with profound implications for global health and pandemic awareness.

Aminoglycosides have long served as indispensable antibacterial agents, yet their clinical utility has diminished due to toxicity and pervasive resistance with the advent of superbugs. Over the past decade, however, a renewed chemical interest transformed these classical antibiotics into versatile molecular scaffolds through various covalent modifications. Among these the lipidation, a strategy that fundamentally reprograms their biological behavior is of particular interest. By installing hydrophobic or amphiphilic domains onto the polycationic 2-deoxystreptamine framework, aminoglycosides acquire a new mode of action that diverges strikingly from ribosomal targeting. Lipidated aminoglycosides emerge as potent membrane-active agents capable of overcoming multidrug resistance, penetrating biofilms, eradicating persister cells, and displaying broad-spectrum antifungal activity. In parallel, their intrinsic RNA affinity and enriched cationic functionality enable efficient condensation with nucleic acids, endosomal escape, and the formation of self-assembled nanostructures. This positions lipidated aminoglycosides as promising candidates for nonviral DNA, siRNA, and mRNA delivery. This review focuses on the chemical logic, methods, and mechanistic insights that underpin the evolution of lipidated aminoglycosides from early acylated derivatives to modern amphiphilic, guanidinium-linked, sterol conjugated, and ionizable aminoglycoside lipids.

To overcome neomycin's limited efficacy against complex Gram-positive and Gram-negative co-infections, we have developed a novel guanidinium-linked neomycin–lipid conjugate (guanidino Neo-lipid).

Cellular memory is the competence of cells to preserve information from past experiences and respond aptly. This memory is maintained and controlled by gene regulatory networks (GRNs). GRNs are crucial for understanding why some cells are resistant to treatment, particularly for cancer. In our study, we created a new mathematical model to understand how “noise” affects cellular memory in GRNs, focusing on a “double positive feedback loop”. Our theoretical perspective article equipped with mathematical modeling exhibits how noise and feedback loops interact in GRNs. It also proposes a potential theoretical avenue for future therapy. By targeting the mechanisms that maintain drug resistance in cells, we aim to develop therapies that can restore the sensitivity of cancer cells to treatment.