Enzymes have played a crucial role in mankind’s challenges to use different types of biological systems for a diversity of applications. They are proteins that break down and convert complicated compounds to produce simple products. Fungal enzymes are compatible, efficient, and proper products for many uses in medicinal requests, industrial processing, bioremediation purposes, and agricultural applications. Fungal enzymes have appropriate stability to give manufactured products suitable shelf life, affordable cost, and approved demands. Fungal enzymes have been used from ancient times to today in many industries, including baking, brewing, cheese making, antibiotics production, and commodities manufacturing, such as linen and leather. Furthermore, they also are used in other fields such as paper production, detergent, the textile industry, and in drinks and food technology in products manufacturing ranging from tea and coffee to fruit juice and wine. Recently, fungi have been used for the production of more than 50% of the needed enzymes. Fungi can produce different types of enzymes extracellularly, which gives a great chance for producing in large amounts with low cost and easy viability in purified forms using simple purification methods. In the present review, a comprehensive trial has been advanced to elaborate on the different types and structures of fungal enzymes as well as the current status of the uses of fungal enzymes in various applications.

Lactoferrin (LF) is an 80-kDa globular glycoprotein with high affinity for metal ions, particularly for iron. This protein possesses many biological functions, including the binding and release of iron and serves as one of the important components of the innate immune system, where it acts as a potent inhibitor of several pathogens. LF has efficacious antibacterial and antiviral activities against a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and against both naked and enveloped DNA and RNA viruses. In its antiviral pursuit, LF acts predominantly at the acute phase of the viral infection or even at the intracellular stage, as in hepatitis C virus infection. LF inhibits the entry of viral particles into host cells, either by direct attachment to the viral particles or by blocking their cellular receptors. This wide range of activities may be attributed to the capacity of LF to bind iron and its ability to interfere with the cellular receptors of both hosts and pathogenic microbes.

Purpose: The prevalence of HCV infection has increased during recent years and the incidence reach 3% of the world's population, and in some countries like Egypt, may around 20%. The developments of effective and preventive agents are critical to control the current public health burden imposed by HCV infection. Lactoferrin in general and camel lactoferrin specifically has been shown to have a compatitive anti-viral activity against hepatitis C virus (HCV). The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the anti-infectivity of native human, camel, bovine and sheep lactoferrin on continuous of HCV infection in HepG2 cells. Material and methods: Used Lfs were purified by Mono S 5/50 GL column and Superdex 200 5/150 column. The purified Lfs were evaluated in two ways; 1. the pre-infected cells were treated with the Lfs to inhibit intracellular replication at different concentrations and time intervals, 2. Lfs were directly incubated with the virus molecules then used to cells infection. The antiviral activity of the Lfs were determined using three techniques; 1. RT-nested PCR, 2. Real-time PCR and 3. Flowcytometric. Results: Human, camel, bovine and sheep lactoferrin could prevent the HCV entry into HepG2 cells by direct interaction with the virus instead of causing significant changes in the target cells. They were also able to inhibit virus amplification in HCV infected HepG2 cells. The highest anti-infectivity was demonstrated by the camel lactoferrin. Conclusion: cLf has inhibitory effect on HCV (genotype 4a) higher than human, bovine and sheep lactoferrin.

There is no protective vaccine or effective drug against hepatitis C virus (HCV). Sustained virological response to INF/ribavirin treatment regimen has an efficiency of about 50%. Many patients worldwide have used traditional medicines and herbal medicine in particular. A laccase has been purified from oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) to homogeneity by DEAE Affi-gel blue gel, CM-Sephadex G-50 and Sephadex G-100. The molecular weight of the laccase was about 58 kDa in SDS-PAGE. The optimum pH and temperature of the laccase activity were pH 4.0 and 60°C, respectively. The activity of the enzyme increased steadily from 20 to 40°C, then very slowly from 40°to 60°C, while the enzyme activity decreased to 9% at 90°C. The activity of the laccase changed gradually over the pH range 2.0 – 4.0. However, the enzyme activity was totally abrogated at the pH 8 and above. Incubation of peripheral blood cells PBCs and hepatoma HepG2 cells with laccase which were then infected with HCV did not protect the cells from HCV attack and entry, while direct interaction between HCV and the laccase at the concentrations of 2.0 and 2.5 mg/ml led to a complete inhibition of virus entry after seven days of incubation. Meantime, the laccase at the concentrations of 1.0 and 1.5 mg/ml did not display any blocking activity. The potential activity of the laccase on intracellular HCV replication in infected HepG2 cells has been examined. The laccase was capable of inhibiting HCV replication at the concentrations of 1.25 and 1.5 mg/ml after first dose of treatment for four days and at the concentrations of 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 mg/ml after the second dose of treatment for another four days.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) subtype, exosome is an extracellular nano-vesicle that sheds from cells’ surface and originates as intraluminal vesicles during endocytosis. Firstly, it was thought to be a way for the cell to get rid of unwanted materials as it loaded selectively with a variety of cellular molecules, including RNAs, proteins, and lipids. However, it has been found to play a crucial role in several biological processes such as immune modulation, cellular communication, and their role as vehicles to transport biologically active molecules. The latest discoveries have revealed that many viruses export their viral elements within cellular factors using exosomes. Hijacking the exosomal pathway by viruses influences downstream processes such as viral propagation and cellular immunity and modulates the cellular microenvironment. In this manuscript, we reviewed exosomes biogenesis and their role in the immune response to viral infection. In addition, we provided a summary of how some pathogenic viruses hijacked this normal physiological process. Viral components are harbored in exosomes and the role of these exosomes in viral infection is discussed. Understanding the nature of exosomes and their role in viral infections is fundamental for future development for them to be used as a vaccine or as a non-classical therapeutic strategy to control several viral infections.