Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen frequently associated with delayed wound healing, particularly in chronic skin injuries. Its capability to form biofilms, secrete virulence factors, and the faculty to compete with other microorganisms makes it a major challenge in clinical wound management. Recent literature reveals different molecular and cellular mechanisms through which P. aeruginosa disrupts the wound healing process. Findings highlight that it interferes with key phases of healing by modulating host immune responses, degrading extracellular matrix components, and inhibiting keratinocyte migration. Its quorum-sensing systems regulate the expression of critical virulence factors such as exotoxin A, elastases, pyocyanin, and rhamnolipids. Additionally, the production of the biofilm matrix components alginate, and polysaccharides provide protection against host defenses and antibiotics. Interactions with other microorganisms, including antagonistic effects on Staphylococcus epidermidis and synergistic relationships with Staphylococcus aureus, modify the wound microbiota. Promising therapeutic alternatives have shown efficacy in disrupting biofilms and reducing virulence. These insights remark the importance of targeting both P. aeruginosa and its ecological interactions to enhance wound healing outcomes and develop more effective treatments. This review aimed to highlight the pathogenic role of P. aeruginosa and its interactions with other microbial species in the context of skin wound healing.

Increasing awareness of the structure of microtubules has made tubulin a relevant target for the research of novel chemotherapies. Furthermore, the particularly high sensitivity of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells to microtubule disruption could open new doors in the search for new anti-GBM treatments. However, the difficulties in developing potent anti-tubulin drugs endowed with improved pharmacokinetic properties necessitates the expansion of medicinal chemistry campaigns. The application of an ensemble pharmacophore screening methodology helped to optimize this process, leading to the development of a new tetrazole-based tubulin inhibitor. Considering this scaffold, we have synthesized a new family of tetrazole derivatives that achieved remarkable antimitotic effects against a broad panel of cancer cells, especially against GBM cells, showing high selectivity in comparison with non-tumor cells. The compounds also exerted high aqueous solubility and were demonstrated to not be substrates of efflux pumps, thus overcoming the main limitations that are usually associated with tubulin binding agents. Tubulin polymerization assays, immunofluorescence experiments, and flow cytometry studies demonstrated that the compounds target tubulin and arrest cells at the G2/M phase followed by induction of apoptosis. The docking experiments agreed with the proposed interactions at the colchicine site and explained the structure–activity relationships.

The human papilloma virus (HPV) group comprises approximately 200 genetic types that have a special affinity for epithelial tissues and can vary from producing benign symptoms to developing into complicated pathologies, such as cancer. The HPV replicative cycle affects various cellular and molecular processes, including DNA insertions and methylation and relevant pathways related to pRb and p53, as well as ion channel expression or function. Ion channels are responsible for the flow of ions across cell membranes and play very important roles in human physiology, including the regulation of ion homeostasis, electrical excitability, and cell signaling. However, when ion channel function or expression is altered, the channels can trigger a wide range of channelopathies, including cancer. In consequence, the up- or down-regulation of ion channels in cancer makes them attractive molecular markers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of the disease. Interestingly, the activity or expression of several ion channels is dysregulated in HPV-associated cancers. Here, we review the status of ion channels and their regulation in HPV-associated cancers and discuss the potential molecular mechanisms involved. Understanding the dynamics of ion channels in these cancers should help to improve early diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment in the benefit of HPV-associated cancer patients.

Targeted therapy against cancer plays a key role in delivering safer and more efficient treatments. In the last decades, ion channels have been studied for their participation in oncogenic processes because their aberrant expression and/or function have been associated with different types of malignancies, including ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancer. The altered expression or function of several ion channels have been associated with tumor aggressiveness, increased proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis of cancer cells and with poor prognosis in gynecological cancer patients. Most ion channels are integral membrane proteins easily accessible by drugs. Interestingly, a plethora of ion channel blockers have demonstrated anticancer activity. Consequently, some ion channels have been proposed as oncogenes, cancer, and prognostic biomarkers, as well as therapeutic targets in gynecological cancers. Here, we review the association of ion channels with the properties of cancer cells in these tumors, which makes them very promising candidates to be exploited in personalized medicine. The detailed analysis of the expression pattern and function of ion channels could help to improve the clinical outcomes in gynecological cancer patients.

Background: Contemporary agriculture heavily relies on synthetic chemicals to ensure high yields and food security; however, their overuse has led to health issues and the development of pesticide resistance in pests. Researchers are now exploring natural, eco-friendly alternatives for pest control. Methods: This study evaluated two ethanol-based formulations (1.25% and 2.50%, v/v) derived from the tangerine peel (Citrus reticulata L. var. Clementina) against conventional chemical treatments and an untreated control group in the cultivation of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L. var. Capiro). A randomised block design was used, with three blocks per treatment containing 45 plants. The experiment was conducted during the wet season (February–April 2023). Results: According to visual inspections and yellow traps, following weekly application from days 30 to 105 post-planting to monitor pest (e.g., Frankliniella occidentalis, Aphididae) and beneficial insect (e.g., Coccinellidae, Apis mellifera) populations, the 2.50% formulation performed similarly to chemical treatments against pests, whilst being harmless to beneficial insects. Post-harvest analysis showed that the formulations achieved 73% of conventional yields, with comparable tuber damage and levels of Premnotrypes vorax larvae. Conclusions: Toxicological tests confirmed the eco-friendliness of the formulations, making them suitable for small-scale Andean ‘chakras’ in organic farming and honey production, without the use of chemicals.

Mandarin (Citrus reticulata L.) peel is generated in appreciable quantities as a processing residue in the northern Ecuadorian highlands, and its pilot-scale ethanolic extract has already been developed and compositionally documented by our group as a botanical insecticide. The present study extends that valorisation cascade to postharvest crop protection, and in doing so addresses a methodological problem that pervades the by-product bioactivity literature: the contribution of a crude extract is seldom separated from that of the surface-active adjuvant used to disperse it. An extract produced by the established protocol from peel of documented provenance (d-limonene confirmed in the previous experiments as the principal detected constituent by APGC-MS; extraction yield 9.97% w/w) was assayed at 2.5% (v/v) against Monilinia sp. and Rhizopus stolonifer by the poisoned-medium technique. Colonised area was measured every 24 h from standardised photographs using ImageJ within a completely randomised, vehicle-controlled design (n = 3 dishes per treatment), and analysed by a linear mixed-effects model on log-transformed area with dish as the repeated experimental unit. Relative to untreated medium, the complete formulation inhibited growth by 35.2% (Monilinia sp.) and 37.3% (R. stolonifer); the organosilicone adjuvant alone, however, reproduced 22.7% and 29.1% of that effect respectively, and no consistent incremental contribution of the extract over the vehicle could be demonstrated for either pathogen. The study therefore yields a transferable result for by-product valorisation research: inhibition percentages reported for crude extracts in the absence of a vehicle control are not attributable to the extract, the attribution error here amounting to between roughly two-thirds and four-fifths of the recorded effect.