Ongoing advances in nanotechnology research have established a variety of methods to synthesize nanoparticles (NPs) from a diverse range of materials, including metals, semiconductors, ceramics, metal oxides, polymers, etc. Depending upon their origin and synthesis methods, NPs possess unique physicochemical, structural and morphological characteristics, which are important in a wide variety of applications concomitant to electronic, optoelectronic, optical, electrochemical, environment and biomedical fields. This review provides a comprehensive overview on various physical, chemical and bio-assisted methods largely employed to synthesize and fabricate NPs of varying size, surface characteristics, functionalities and physicochemical behavior. The key applications of nanoparticles have also been discussed.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to global public health, with approximately 5 million deaths associated with bacterial AMR in 2019. Tackling AMR requires a multifaceted and cohesive approach that ranges from increased understanding of mechanisms and drivers at the individual and population levels, AMR surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, improved infection prevention and control measures, and strengthened global policies and funding to development of novel antimicrobial therapeutic strategies. In this rapidly advancing field, this Review provides a concise update on AMR, encompassing epidemiology, evolution, underlying mechanisms (primarily those related to last-line or newer generation of antibiotics), infection prevention and control measures, access to antibiotics, antimicrobial stewardship, AMR surveillance, and emerging non-antibiotic therapeutic approaches. The Review also discusses the potential roles of artificial intelligence in addressing AMR, including antimicrobial susceptibility testing, AMR surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, diagnosis, and antimicrobial drug discovery and development. This Review highlights the urgent need for addressing the global effects of AMR and for rapid advancement of relevant technology in this dynamic field.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising next generation antibiotics that hold great potential for combating bacterial resistance. AMPs can be both bacteriostatic and bactericidal, induce rapid killing and display a lower propensity to develop resistance than do conventional antibiotics. Despite significant progress in the past 30 years, no peptide antibiotic has reached the clinic yet. Poor understanding of the action mechanisms and lack of rational design principles have been the two major obstacles that have slowed progress. Technological developments are now enabling multidisciplinary approaches including molecular dynamics simulations combined with biophysics and microbiology toward providing valuable insights into the interactions of AMPs with membranes at atomic level. This has led to increasingly robust models of the mechanisms of action of AMPs and has begun to contribute meaningfully toward the discovery of new AMPs. This review discusses the detailed action mechanisms that have been put forward, with detailed atomistic insights into how the AMPs interact with bacterial membranes. The review further discusses how this knowledge is exploited towards developing design principles for novel AMPs. Finally, the current status, associated challenges and future directions for the development of AMP therapeutics are discussed.

Nanotechnology refers to the fabrication, characterization, and application of substances in nanometer scale dimensions for various ends. The influence of nanotechnology on the healthcare industry is substantial, particularly in the areas of disease diagnosis and treatment. Recent investigations in nanotechnology for drug delivery and tissue engineering have delivered high-impact contributions in translational research, with associated pharmaceutical products and applications. Over the past decade, the synthesis of nanofibers or nanoparticles via electrostatic spinning or spraying, respectively, has emerged as an important nanostructuring methodology. This is due to both the versatility of the electrospinning/electrospraying process and the ensuing control of nanofiber/nanoparticle surface parameters. Electrosprayed nanoparticles and electrospun nanofibers are both employed as natural or synthetic carriers for the delivery of entrapped drugs, growth factors, health supplements, vitamins, and so on. The role of nanofiber/nanoparticle carriers is substantiated by the programmed, tailored, or targeted release of their contents in the guise of tissue engineering scaffolds or medical devices for drug delivery. This review focuses on the nanoformulation of natural materials via the electrospraying or electrospinning of nanoparticles or nanofibers for tissue engineering or drug delivery/pharmaceutical purposes. Here, we classify the natural materials with respect to their animal/plant origin and macrocyclic, small molecule or herbal active constituents, and further categorize the materials according to their proteinaceous or saccharide nature.