Tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) represents a major obstacle to the diffusion of therapeutics and drug delivery systems in cancer parenchyma. This biological barrier limits the efficacy of promising therapeutic approaches including the delivery of siRNA or agents intended for thermoablation. After extravasation due to the enhanced penetration and retention effect of tumor vasculature, typical nanotherapeutics are unable to reach the nonvascularized and anoxic regions deep within cancer parenchyma. Here, we developed a simple method to provide mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with a proteolytic surface. To this extent, we chose to conjugate MSN to Bromelain (Br–MSN), a crude enzymatic complex, purified from pineapple stems, that belongs to the peptidase papain family. This surface modification increased particle uptake in endothelial, macrophage, and cancer cell lines with minimal impact on cellular viability. Most importantly Br–MSN showed an increased ability to digest and diffuse in tumor ECM in vitro and in vivo.

Omics-based technologies have been largely adopted during this unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the scientific community to perform research on a large scale to understand the pathobiology of the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its replication into human cells. The application of omics techniques has been addressed to every level of application, from the detection of mutations, methods of diagnosis or monitoring, drug target discovery, and vaccine generation, to the basic definition of the pathophysiological processes and the biochemical mechanisms behind the infection and spread of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, the term COVIDomics wants to include those efforts provided by omics-scale investigations with application to the current COVID-19 research. This review summarizes the diverse pieces of knowledge acquired with the application of COVIDomics techniques, with the main focus on proteomics and metabolomics studies, in order to capture a common signature in terms of proteins, metabolites, and pathways dysregulated in COVID-19 disease. Exploring the multiomics perspective and the concurrent data integration may provide new suitable therapeutic solutions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Functional beverages represent a palatable and efficient way to hydrate and reintegrate electrolytes, carbohydrates, and other nutrients employed and/or lost during physical training and/or competitions. Bodily hydration during sporting activity is one of the best indicators of health in athletes and can be a limiting factor for sport performance. Indeed, dehydration strongly decreases athletic performance until it is a risk to health. As for other nutrients, each of them is reported to support athletes’ needs both during the physical activity and/or in the post-workout. In this study, we review the current knowledge of macronutrient-enriched functional beverages in sport taking into account the athletes’ health, sports performance, and recovery.

Nanocarriers are designed to specifically accumulate in diseased tissues. In this context, targeting of intracellular compartments was shown to enhance the efficacy of many drugs and to offer new and more effective therapeutic approaches. This is especially true for therapies based on biologicals that must be encapsulated to favor cell internalization, and to avoid intracellular endosomal sequestration and degradation of the payload. In this review, we discuss specific surface modifications designed to achieve cell cytoplasm delivery and to improve targeting of major organelles; we also discuss the therapeutic applications of these approaches. Last, we describe some integrated strategies designed to sequentially overcome the biological barriers that separate the site of administration from the cell cytoplasm, which is the drug's site of action.

The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system, which is constituted by the IGF-1 and IGF-2 peptide hormones, their corresponding receptors and several IGF binding proteins, is involved in physiological and pathophysiological processes. The IGF system promotes cancer proliferation/survival and its signaling induces the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype, which contributes to the migration, invasiveness, and metastasis of epithelial tumors. These cancers share two major IGF-1R signaling transduction pathways, PI3K/AKT and RAS/MEK/ERK. However, as far as we could review at this time, each type of cancer cell undergoes EMT through tumor-specific routes. Here, we review the tumor-specific molecular signatures of IGF-1-mediated EMT in breast, lung, and gastric cancers.