Owing to peculiar properties of nanobody, including nanoscale size, robust structure, stable and soluble behaviors in aqueous solution, reversible refolding, high affinity and specificity for only one cognate target, superior cryptic cleft accessibility, and deep tissue penetration, as well as a sustainable source, it has been an ideal research tool for the development of sophisticated nanobiotechnologies. Currently, the nanobody has been evolved into versatile research and application tool kits for diverse biomedical and biotechnology applications. Various nanobody-derived formats, including the nanobody itself, the radionuclide or fluorescent-labeled nanobodies, nanobody homo- or heteromultimers, nanobody-coated nanoparticles, and nanobody-displayed bacteriophages, have been successfully demonstrated as powerful nanobiotechnological tool kits for basic biomedical research, targeting drug delivery and therapy, disease diagnosis, bioimaging, and agricultural and plant protection. These applications indicate a special advantage of these nanobody-derived technologies, already surpassing the “me-too” products of other equivalent binders, such as the full-length antibodies, single-chain variable fragments, antigen-binding fragments, targeting peptides, and DNA-based aptamers. In this review, we summarize the current state of the art in nanobody research, focusing on the nanobody structural features, nanobody production approach, nanobody-derived nanobiotechnology tool kits, and the potentially diverse applications in biomedicine and biotechnology. The future trends, challenges, and limitations of the nanobody-derived nanobiotechnology tool kits are also discussed.

Although tremendous efforts have been put into the treatment of infectious diseases to prevent epidemics and mortality, it is still one of the major health care issues that have a profound impact on humankind. Therefore, the development of specific, sensitive, accurate, rapid, low-cost, and easy-to-use diagnostic tools is still in urgent demand. Nanodiagnostics, defined as the application of nanotechnology to medical diagnostics, can offer many unique opportunities for more successful and efficient diagnosis and treatment for infectious diseases. In this review, we provide an overview of the nanodiagnostics for infectious diseases from nanoparticle-based, nanodevice-based, and point-of-care test (POCT) platforms. Most importantly, emphasis focused on the recent trends in the nanotechnology-based POCT system. The current state-of-the-art and most promising point-of-care nanodiagnostic technologies, including miniaturized diagnostic magnetic resonance platform, magnetic barcode assay system, cell phone-based polarized light microscopy platform, cell phone-based dongle platform, and paper-based POCT platform, for infectious diseases were fully examined. The limitations, challenges, and future trends of the nanodiagnostics in POCTs for infectious diseases are also discussed.

Synbiotics (Bifidobacterium infantis + xylooligosaccharides) had the strongest efficacy on colitis through inhibiting inflammation and oxidative stress and protecting epithelial integrity.

It is widely believed that grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) exerts antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Dietary supplementation with GSPE has been reported to alleviate colitis signs in mice, but the...

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Dysbiosis leads to continuous progress of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, current therapeutic approaches for IBD have limited efficacy and are associated with various side effects. This study focused on exploring the positive effect of a new Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) strain (HMPM18123) in a colitis mouse model and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. The colitis symptoms were alleviated by the B. cereus administration as evidenced by decreased body weight loss, colon length shortening, disease activity index score, and histopathological score. The B. cereus mitigated intestinal epithelial barrier damage by upregulating tight junction protein expression. Moreover, B. cereus exerted anti-inflammatory effects by regulating macrophage polarization and suppressing the TLR4-NF-κB-NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathways. B. cereus also rebalanced the damaged gut microbiota. Thus, the molecular mechanism of alleviating colitis by B. cereus treatment involved the regulation of the TLR4-NF-κB-NLRP3 inflammasome signaling pathways in intestinal mucosal barriers by modulating gut microbiota composition.

Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) has health benefits. However, these phenolic compounds undergo degradation reactions and have undesirable sensorial characteristics. GSPE was encapsulated using sodium alginate (SA), SA-methyl cellulose (MC) and SA-hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) for promoting controlled release, pH stability, temperature and storage period tolerance of GSPE. The microcapsules were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. The SA-MC and SA-HPMC microcapsules appeared to have a more compact surface than SA-alone microcapsules. FTIR analysis indicated successful immobilisation of GSPE into the polymeric microcapsules. Moreover, the SA-MC and SA-HPMC microcapsules showed higher thermal stability. The microcapsules showed a relatively higher amount of released GSPE at a pH above six than at a lower pH. The SA-MC and SA-HPMC microcapsules could be used to retain more GSPE content in the gastric phase and to release it in the intestinal phase for possible absorption. Furthermore, after 28 days of storage at 25 °C, the GSPE retention rate of the microcapsules was still higher than 80%. GSPE encapsulated in SA-MC and SA-HPMC microcapsules results in lesser degradation and can be absorbed more effectively. This method has potential for the delivery of colon-specific materials while exhibiting a sustained-release characteristic.

BACKGROUNDSanghuang mushrooms are medicinal fungi widely used in eastern Asia. In this study, the antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity of a novel extracellular polysaccharopeptide, sanghuang extracellular polysaccharopeptide (SePSP) was investigated. The SePSP was purified from the submerged fermentation broth of a sanghuang mycelium, Sanghuangporus lonicericola strain CBS17, which was isolated from a wild sanghuang fruiting body.RESULTSThe SePSP was extracted using an ethanol precipitation procedure, followed by diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) anion‐exchange and size‐exclusion chromatography. The mass ratio of the polysaccharide and peptide components in the purified SePSP was approximately 4.87:1. By determining its free radical scavenging abilities using 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), the hydroxyl free radical, and the superoxide anion free radical, as well as its total reducing power, SePSP was shown to have strong concentration‐dependent antioxidant activity in vitro. Further, SePSP effectively alleviated dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)‐induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice. Administration of 200 mg kg−1 SePSP by gavage for 7 days prevented body weight loss; significantly reduced the mRNA levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including TNF‐α and IL‐1β; increased mRNA level of the anti‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐10 in the colon, and decreased the malondialdehyde concentration from 6.42 to 4.82 μmol L−1 in the blood in UC mice.CONCLUSIONThe SePSP had strong concentration‐dependent antioxidant activity in vitro and effectively alleviated DSS‐induced UC in mice. The in vivo therapeutic efficacy in DSS‐induced UC may be mediated by modulating the expression of inflammatory cytokines and inhibiting oxidative stress. The findings provide a scientific rationale for the use of bioactive nutraceuticals from sanghuang mushrooms to develop functional foods for the prevention and treatment of UC. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry