Photothermal therapy (PPT) is a platform to fight cancer by using multiplexed interactive plasmonic nanomaterials as probes in combination with the excellent therapeutic performance of near-infrared (NIR) light. With recent rapid developments in optics and nanotechnology, plasmonic materials have potential in cancer diagnosis and treatment, but there are some concerns regarding their clinical use. The primary concerns include the design of plasmonic nanomaterials which are taken up by the tissues, perform their function and then clear out from the body. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) can be developed in different morphologies and functionalized to assist the photothermal therapy in a way that they have clinical value. This review outlines the diverse Au morphologies, their distinctive characteristics, concerns and limitations to provide an idea of the requirements in the field of NIR-based therapeutics.

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A workflow is designed for the analysis of lipoproteins, high density lipoproteins (HDL), apoproteins, and lipid fraction, employing an organic polymeric anion exchanger through the enrichment of lipoproteins/peptides from serum. Polymeric separation media are chemically stable over the wide pH range. Poly(GMA/DVB), poly(GMA/EGDMA), and poly(GPE/DVB) are synthesized by radical polymerization, derivatized as strong anion exchangers, and used for lipoproteins enrichment. Lipoprotein's surface is covered by phospholipids, having phosphate groups, therefore lipoproteins are enriched by the interaction of anion exchanger with the phosphate groups and eluted at the pH of 7.5. HDL are further isolated by precipitating the very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) with phosphotungstic acid as precipitating reagent, followed by delipidation via liquid/liquid extraction. Apolipoproteins profiling is done by MALDI-MS, and lipids are analyzed using gold nanoparticles in the LDI-MS process. This study introduces a lipoproteomics work flow in separation science which analyses the intact lipoproteins. Furthermore, solid phase extraction (SPE)-based methodology is reported for the first time in lipoproteomics. Use of organic polymers, high reproducibility, detailed analysis of lipoproteins, apoproteins/peptides, and lipids from the single serum sample are the distinctive features of this workflow. Being biomarkers of numerous diseases, lipoproteins have clinical significance, and this workflow can be used at diagnostic and therapeutic levels.

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High‐density lipoproteins (HDLs) have anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant properties and are potentially cardio‐protective. Defective HDL function is caused by alterations in both the proteome and lipidome of HDL particles. As potential biomarkers, the development of analytical methods is necessary for the enrichment of HDLs. Therefore, a method for selective enrichment of HDLs using immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC) and metal oxide affinity chromatography (MOAC) is presented. SPE‐based isolation of HDLs from whole serum is adopted as an alternative to traditional ultracentrifugation methods followed by SDS–PAGE. The enrichment mechanism relies on isoelectric points of lipoproteins and metal oxide. Negatively charged lipoprotein particles interact with positively charged metal oxides and IMAC affinity, which acts as a cation. Identified proteins from HDL through MALDI–MS analysis are apo AI, AII, AIV, CI, CIII, E, J, M, H, serum amyloid A and other nonapoproteins that are part of HDL particles and perform cellular functions. This serum‐based proteomics approach gives insight into the functional role of HDL. HDL‐associated phospholipids have also been analyzed by LDI–MS. Results suggest that the adopted analytical strategy is a feasible idea to extract lipoproteins from serum. A comparative study of healthy and diseased samples using this approach will provide valuable information in future.

One of the most common blood-borne illnesses is hepatitis C virus (HCV), Hepatitis C is referred to as the inflammation of the liver and caused by the HCV virus, HCV is estimated to cause 53000 fatalities per year over the world. The majority of HCV-infected patients are unaware of their infection. No vaccine is available for HCV although Interferon is used to treat HCV but effective only 20-38 %, but at present, only a minority of infected persons have been tested and are aware of their diagnosis. The expense of testing may play a substantial role in patients' ability to get rid of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Costs in many low- and middle-income nations, including Pakistan, force the development of novel and economically advantageous testing methods. The major aim of this study is about the effective diagnostic procedure for detecting Hepatitis C in the samples obtained from Balochistan, for this purpose the samples were collected from the health organization BINUQ (Balochistan Institute of Nephrology and Urology Quetta). Twenty (20) HCV antibodies positive patients in the Molecular Laboratory Department of Biotechnology were processed and then subjected to RNA extraction. cDNA was synthesized by reverse transcriptase enzyme. cDNA was used for qualitative analysis of HCV-RNA through nested PCR. According to the study, 09 samples were detected as positive and 7 samples were HCV negative out of 16 patients’ samples. The findings of the present study show comparison of the price for HCV- RNA tests per sample from patients with hepatitis C at various labs. When compared to the other five PCR-based tests in the laboratory-conducted anti-HCV, HCV qualitative, quantitative, and genotyping tests, Shoukat Khanum laboratory reported the most expensive costs for HCV -RNA tests. Dow laboratory HCV-RNA test is comparatively lower than Shoukat Khanum laboratory, while reported lowest and most cost-effective test of Molecular Diagnostic laboratory for anti-HCV. So, our molecular tests for HCV- RNA detection and quantitation showed very good diagnostic and clinical performance over all five public health laboratories.