Recently, the eye drug delivery system has received increasing attention. The in situ ophthalmic gel is a semisolid ophthalmic preparation that can be changed in the eyes immediately after the solution is administered, showing unique advantages as a new drug delivery system. Although there are still some problems to be solved, the in situ ophthalmic gel is a promising drug delivery system to treat ocular diseases, due to its properties in improving the bioavailability, prolonging the retention time of the drug, producing a sustained-release effect, and possessing little toxicity and irritation. In this review, the characteristics, classification, ocular barrier, and route of administration of in situ ophthalmic gel have been introduced in detail for expanding the horizon of nanoscale technologies in the treatment of ocular diseases in the foreseeable future.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, and its incidence and mortality rates have been increasing annually in recent years. A variety of different small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are important mediators of intercellular communication and have an important role in tumor metastasis and progression. The development and metastasis of CRC are closely linked to tumor-cell-derived sEVs, non-tumor-cell-derived sEVs, and intestinal-microbiota-derived sEVs. Numerous studies have shown that the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a key component in the regulation of CRC proliferation, development, and metastasis. These sEVs can create a TME conducive to CRC growth and metastasis by forming an immunosuppressive microenvironment, remodeling the extracellular matrix, and promoting tumor cell metabolism. Therefore, in this paper, we review the role of different types of sEVs in colorectal cancer development and metastasis. Furthermore, based on the properties of sEVs, we further discuss the use of sEVs as early biomarkers for colorectal cancer diagnosis and the potential for their use in the treatment of CRC.

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Cancer immunotherapy, a major breakthrough in cancer treatment, has been successfully applied to treat a number of tumors. However, given the presence of factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME) that impede immunotherapy, only a small proportion of patients achieve a good clinical response. With the ability to increase permeability and cross biological barriers, nanomaterials have been successfully applied to deliver immunotherapeutic agents, thus realizing the anti-cancer therapeutic potential of therapeutic agents. This has driven a wave of research into systems for the delivery of immunotherapeutic agents, which has resulted in widespread interest in nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems. Nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems are able to overcome the challenges from TME and thus achieve good results in cancer immunotherapy. If it can make a breakthrough in improving biocompatibility and reducing cytotoxicity, it will be more widely used in clinical practice. Different types of nanomaterials may also have some subtle differences in enhancing cancer immunotherapy. Moreover, delivery systems made of nanomaterials loaded with drugs, such as cytotoxic drugs, cytokines, and adjuvants, could be used for cancer immunotherapy because they avoid the toxicity and side effects associated with these drugs, thereby enabling their reuse. Therefore, further insights into nanomaterial-based drug delivery systems will provide more effective treatment options for cancer patients.

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Although an imbalanced gut microbiome is closely associated with colorectal cancer (CRC), how the gut microbiome affects CRC is not known. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can affect important cellular functions such as cell division, proliferation, and apoptosis. The abnormal expression of lncRNAs can promote CRC cell growth, proliferation, and metastasis, mediating the effects of the gut microbiome on CRC. Generally, the gut microbiome regulates the lncRNAs expression, which subsequently impacts the host transcriptome to change the expression of downstream target molecules, ultimately resulting in the development and progression of CRC. We focused on the important role of the microbiome in CRC and their effects on CRC-related lncRNAs. We also reviewed the impact of the two main pathogenic bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum and enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis, and metabolites of the gut microbiome, butyrate, and lipopolysaccharide, on lncRNAs. Finally, available therapies that target the gut microbiome and lncRNAs to prevent and treat CRC were proposed.

Two-dimensional ferromagnetic monolayers have attracted growing interest due to their promising applications in spintronic devices. To explore the potential application of monolayer VS2 and VCl2 in spintronic devices, previously reported ferromagnetic semiconductor and half-metal, respectively, we investigate the spin transport properties of VS2 homo-junction, VCl2 homo-junction, and lateral VS2–VCl2 heterostructure using first-principles combined with non-equilibrium Green's function. We show that monolayer VS2 exhibit superior spin Seebeck effect along an armchair direction, monolayer VCl2 is an excellent platform to realize a spin valve, and the magnetoresistance ratio is up to 1.3 × 104. Moreover, the VS2–VCl2 heterostructure exhibits an excellent spin diode effect. We explain these effects from the calculated spin-dependent band structure and transmission spectrum. The superior spin transport properties make monolayer VS2 and VCl2 promising candidates for spintronic applications.

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