The advent of cancer therapeutics brought a paradigm shift from conventional therapy to precision medicine. The new therapeutic modalities accomplished through the properties of nanomaterials have extended their scope in cancer therapy beyond conventional drug delivery. Nanoparticles can be channeled in cancer therapy to encapsulate active pharmaceutical ingredients and deliver them to the tumor site in a more efficient manner. This review enumerates various types of nanoparticles that have entered clinical trials for cancer treatment. The obstacles in the journey of nanodrug from clinic to market are reviewed. Furthermore, the latest developments in using nanoparticles in cancer therapy are also highlighted.

Morus species had been used widely in the traditional medicines for various diseases. In this study we report the in vitro antiproliferative activity of the methanol extract of Morus alba. The extract is capable of inducing cytotoxicity in human colon cancer (HCT-15) cells (IC₅₀ = 13.8 μg/ml) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells (IC₅₀ = 9.2 μg/ml), resulted in significant morphological changes of the cells, fragmentation of DNA, and caspase-3 activation- characteristics of apoptosis. It downregulated the amount of nitric oxide (NO) produced as a result of inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) activation. The HPLC analysis of the extract showed epicatechin (20%), myricetin (10%), quercetin hydrate (12%), luteolin (12%), and kaempferol (6%) as the major active components and ascorbic acid, gallic acid, pelargonidine, and p-coumaric acid as the minor components. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing the downregulation of iNOS and induction of apoptosis by M. alba extract.

Due to the diverse medicinal and pharmacokinetic properties of turmeric, it is well-known in the therapeutic, pharmaceutic, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and dietary industries. It gained importance due to its multitude of properties, such as wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, cytoprotective, anti-aging, anti-cancer, and immunomodulatory effects. Even though the natural healing effect of turmeric has been known to Indians as early as 2500 BCE, the global demand for turmeric has increased only recently. A major reason for the beneficiary activities of turmeric is the presence of the yellow-colored polyphenolic compound called curcumin. Many studies have been carried out on the various properties of curcumin and its derivatives. Despite its low bioavailability, curcumin has been effectively used for the treatment of many diseases, such as cardiovascular and neurological diseases, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. The advent of nanobiotechnology has further opened wide opportunities to explore and expand the use of curcumin in the medical field. Nanoformulations using curcumin and its derivatives helped to design new treatment modalities, specifically in cancer, because of the better bioavailability and solubility of nanocurcumin when compared to natural curcumin. This review deals with the various applications of curcumin nanoparticles in cancer therapy and broadly tries to understand how it affect the immunological status of the cancer cell.

In the recent era, carbon dots (C-dots) have been extensively considered as a potential tool in drug delivery analysis. However, there have been fewer reports in the literature on their application in the sensing of amino acids. As part of our ongoing research on coconut-husk-derived C-dots, we synthesized C-dots under different temperature conditions and utilized them in the field of amino acid sensing and found them to be highly selective and sensitive towards tyrosine. The detailed characterization of the prepared C-dots was carried out. The developed C-dots exhibit good values of quantum yield. BSA, HSA and glutamic acid were utilized to explore the binding efficiency of C-dots with biologically active components. Hemolysis, blood clotting index activity and cell viability assays using the prepared C-dots were evaluated and they were found to be biocompatible. Therefore, the C-dots described in this work have high potential to be utilized in the field of amino acid sensing, especially L-tyrosine. The limit of detection and the binding constant for the developed C-dots in the presence of tyrosine were found to be 0.96 nM and 296.38 nM⁻¹, respectively. The efficiency of the developed C-dots was also investigated in the presence of various other amino acids and different water mediums in order to enhance the working scope of the developed sensors.