Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. There is always a huge demand for novel anticancer drugs and scientists explore various natural and artificial compounds to overcome this. Gallic acid (GA) is one of the phenolic acids found in many dietary substances and herbs used in ancient medicine. It possesses antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial properties. The present review summarizes the anticancer activity of GA and its derivatives. Various in vitro and in vivo experiments of GA against a variety of cancer cell lines were reported. The previous studies show that the anticancer activity of GA is related to the induction of apoptosis through different mechanisms like generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), regulation of apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins, suppression and promotion of oncogenes, inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cellcycle arrest depending upon the type of cancer investigated. Conclusively, GA and its derivatives may be considered as a potent drug for cancer treatment alone as well as in combination with other anticancer drugs to increase the efficiency of chemotherapy. However, there is still a need for more experimentation in knock-out animal models and human clinical trials to promote and place GA and its derivatives on the commercial market.

In spite of ample researches and admirable achievements, still there is a reasonable amount of deaths happening every year due to cancer. Further, the number of new cases recorded are also not considerably reduced despite the advent of various preventive measures. Though current clinical approaches yield commendable results, it elicits dreadful systemic side-effects and also fails to avoid the recurrence of the disease. To address these issues, nanotechnology empowered modern drug delivery systems express fruitful properties for targeting and controlled delivery of biomolecules over a period of time. In the past decade, material based cancer research field has witnessed the exploration of several captivating drug delivery approaches for administration synthetic drug to genetic materials. Among those, the electrospinning based nanofibrous mesh has attracted several works on treating common dreadful cancers like lung, breast and colon respectively. The capability of nanofibers to enable increased drug loading, maintaining significant bioactivity, excellent drug encapsulation, controlled and targeted delivery has helped the researchers to achieve the successful administration of a variety of anti-cancer agents. This review gives an insight about the process of electrospinning, its essential parameters, types of drug incorporation and the works reported on common dreadful cancers. Moreover, the future direction of this effective alternative is also delineated, making electrospun nanofibers as a suitable vehicle for delivering drugs to the cancer sites.

Physico-chemical modification induced improvement in biocompatibility of materials.

Aloe vera is noted for its meritable medicinal as well as commercial usages. From the past until now, it has been used as a promising remedy for several ailments. Recently, the concept of nanotechnology has astonishingly changed its outlook for biomedical applications. Nanotechnology has revolutionized several fields with its admirable capabilities and ground-breaking innovations. In the field of medicine, nanostructured materials have introduced a great range of flexibility by refashioning traditional practices and also by exploring new effective approaches. Accordingly, the usage of Aloe vera in the form of hydrogels, nanoparticles, nanocomposites, nanofibers and bio-inspired sponges has extended its well established application spectrum in the fields of wound healing, tissue engineering and drug delivery. In addition, the growing interest in consuming and synthesizing materials based on green or eco-friendly methods also highly encourages the use of numerous plant-based natural products including Aloe vera.Hence, an effort has been made to discuss the works related to recent advancements made in the use of Aloe vera, especially in the form of biomaterial-based nanostructures. This will encourage scientists to explore the unplumbed abilities of Aloe vera. Moreover, it will also help the industry players to recognise its immense potential and bring significant Aloe products to the market.

No abstract

Neuroregeneration is the regrowth or repair of nervous tissues, cells, or cell products involved in neurodegeneration and inflammatory diseases of the nervous system like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Nowadays, application of nanotechnology is commonly used in developing nanomedicines to advance pharmacokinetics and drug delivery exclusively for central nervous system pathologies. In addition, nanomedical advances are leading to therapies that disrupt disarranged protein aggregation in the central nervous system, deliver functional neuroprotective growth factors, and change the oxidative stress and excitotoxicity of affected neural tissues to regenerate the damaged neurons. Carbon nanotubes and graphene are allotropes of carbon that have been exploited by researchers because of their excellent physical properties and their ability to interface with neurons and neuronal circuits. This review describes the role of carbon nanotubes and graphene in neuroregeneration. In the future, it is hoped that the benefits of nanotechnologies will outweigh their risks, and that the next decade will present huge scope for developing and delivering technologies in the field of neuroscience.

Recent statistics revealed that cancer is one among the main reasons for death throughout the world. Several treatments are available but still there is no cure when it is detected at late stages. One of the treatment modes for cancer is chemotherapy which utilizes anticancer drugs in order to eradicate the cancer cells by apoptosis. Apoptosis is a programmed cell death through which body maintains homeostasis or kills cancer cells by utilizing its cell machinery. Recent researches have concluded that dietary agents have a putative role in instituting apoptosis of cancer cells. Honey, one of the victuals rich in antioxidants, has a long-standing exposure to humans and its role in cancer prevention and treatment is a topic of current interest. Various researchers have been experimenting honey against different cancers and provided valuable insights about the apoptosis induced by the honey. This review will highlight the recent findings of apoptotic mechanism involved in different cancer cells. Further it also reports antitumor activity of honey in some animal models. Hence it is high-time to initiate more preclinical trials as well as clinical experiments which would further add to the knowledge of anticancer nature of honey and also endorse honey as a potential candidate in the war against cancer.

Titanium (Ti) and Ti-based alloys are the best promising orthopaedic metal transplants. The Young's modulus of Ti and bone are nearer and so Ti implants are known as osseointegrated implants. However, the need for enhancing the osseointegration, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility cannot be ruled out in promoting the Ti as a golden standard. This review describes various surface modifications like acid etching, sand blasting, surface coating, alkali-heat treatment, plasma treatment and ion implantation of Ti-based implants which are the best solutions to promote biocompatibility, osseointegration and ultimately the longevity of implants. In addition, it gives an outline to accomplish the risky task in orthopaedics like recovering skeletal function by replacing the damaged bone for human being survival and it will assist the energetic collaboration of specialists in materials science, chemistry and biology for the quality enhancement.