Global overpopulation, industrial expansion, and urbanization have generated massive amounts of wastes. This is considered as a significant worldwide challenge that requires an urgent solution. Additionally, remarkable advances in the field of biomedicine have impacted the entire spectrum of healthcare and medicine. This has paved the way for further refining of the outcomes of biomedical strategies toward early detection and treatment of different diseases. Various nanomaterials (NMs) have been dedicated to different biomedical applications including drug delivery, vaccinations, imaging modalities, and biosensors. However, toxicity is still the main factor restricting their use. NMs recycled from different types of wastes present a pioneering approach to not only avoid hazardous effects on the environment, but to also implement circular economy practices, which are crucial to attain sustainable growth. Moreover, recycled NMs have been utilized as a safe, yet revolutionary alternative with outstanding potential for many biomedical applications. This review focuses on waste recycled NMs, their synthesis, properties, and their potential for multiple biomedical applications with special emphasis on their role in the early detection and control of multiple diseases. Their pivotal therapeutic actions as antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant nanodrugs, and vaccines will also be outlined. The ongoing advancements in the design of recycled NMs are expanding their diagnostic and therapeutic roles for diverse biomedical applications in the era of precision medicine.

Disruption of cellular redox homeostasis is implicated in a wide variety of pathologic conditions and aging. A fundamental factor that dictates such balance is the ratio between mitochondria-mediated complete oxygen reduction into water and incomplete reduction into superoxide radical by mitochondria and NADPH oxidase (NOX) enzymatic activity. Here we determined mitochondrial as well as NOX-dependent rates of oxygen consumption in parallel with H2O2 generation in freshly isolated synaptosomes using high resolution respirometry combined with fluorescence or electrochemical sensory. Our results indicate that although synaptic mitochondria exhibit substantially higher respiratory activities (8–82-fold greater than NOX oxygen consumption depending on mitochondrial respiratory state), NADPH-dependent oxygen consumption is associated with greater H2O2 production (6-7-fold higher NOX-H2O2). We also show that, in terms of the consumed oxygen, while synaptic mitochondria “leaked” 0.71% ± 0.12 H2O2 during NAD+-linked resting, 0.21% ± 0.04 during NAD+-linked active respiration, and 0.07% ± 0.02 during FAD+-linked active respiration, NOX converted 38% ± 13 of O2 into H2O2. Our results indicate that NOX rather than mitochondria is the major source of synaptic H2O2. The present approach may assist in the identification of redox-modulating synaptic factors that underlie a variety of physiological and pathological processes in neurons.

Graphical abstract Sleep/wake cycle-dependent differences in molecular parameters controlling mitochondrial ability to regulate cellular levels of calcium and associated ROS production.

The relatively straightforward methods of designing and assembling various functional nucleic acids into nanoparticles offer advantages for applications in diverse diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. However, due to the novelty of this approach, nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) are not yet used in the clinic. The immune recognition of NANPs is among the areas of preclinical investigation aimed at enabling the translation of these novel materials into clinical settings. NANPs’ interactions with the complement system, coagulation systems, and immune cells are essential components of their preclinical safety portfolio. It has been established that NANPs’ physicochemical properties—composition, shape, and size—determine their interactions with immune cells (primarily blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells and monocytes), enable recognition by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), and mediate the subsequent cytokine response. However, unlike traditional therapeutic nucleic acids (e.g., CpG oligonucleotides), NANPs do not trigger a cytokine response unless they are delivered into the cells using a carrier. Recently, it was discovered that the type of carrier provides an additional tool for regulating both the spectrum and the magnitude of the cytokine response to NANPs. Herein, we review the current knowledge of NANPs’ interactions with various components of the immune system to emphasize the unique properties of these nanomaterials and highlight opportunities for their use in vaccines and immunotherapy.

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Nucleic acid nanoparticles (NANPs) require a carrier to allow for their intracellular delivery to immune cells. Cytokine production, specifically type I and III interferons, allows for reliable monitoring of the carrier effect on NANP immunostimulation. Recent studies have shown that changes in the delivery platform (e.g., lipid-based carriers vs. dendrimers) can alter NANPs’ immunorecognition and downstream cytokine production in various immune cell populations. Herein, we used flow cytometry and measured cytokine induction to show how compositional variations in commercially available lipofectamine carriers impact the immunostimulatory properties of NANPs with different architectural characteristics.

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