Nanotechnology has revolutionised biomedical research, offering innovative healthcare solutions. Plant-based nanotechnology is emerging as a sustainable alternative, minimising environmental impacts and enhancing therapeutic effectiveness. This paper explores the potential of plant-derived nanoparticles (PNPs) in medicine, highlighting their biocompatibility, multifunctionality, and eco-friendliness. PNPs, synthesised through green methods, have demonstrated promising applications in drug delivery, cancer therapy, antimicrobial treatments, and tissue regeneration. Their unique properties, such as a high surface area and bioactive components, enable improved drug delivery, targeting, and controlled release, reducing side effects and enhancing treatment efficacy. Additionally, plant-derived compounds’ inherent antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, retained within platinum nanoparticles (PNPs), present innovative opportunities for combating antimicrobial resistance and promoting wound healing. Despite their potential, challenges remain in standardising PNP synthesis, ensuring consistency, and scaling up production for industrial applications. This review emphasises the need for further research on PNP toxicity, biocompatibility, and regulatory frameworks to fully harness their capabilities in clinical and commercial applications. Plant-based nanotechnology represents a promising, greener alternative for advancing healthcare solutions, aligning with global sustainability goals.

Starch-based edible packaging films have emerged as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics due to their biodegradable nature, low cost, and abundance. Recent innovations focus on overcoming limitations such as low mechanical strength, moisture sensitivity, and limited barrier properties. Incorporating nanomaterials like cellulose nanofibers and montmorillonite has significantly improved mechanical and barrier properties. Composite films combining starch with biopolymers like chitosan and PVA have enhanced flexibility and antimicrobial capabilities, making them ideal for food packaging. Advances in active and intelligent packaging are transforming these films into multifunctional solutions. For instance, films infused with natural extracts such as clove oil exhibit antimicrobial properties, while pH-sensitive indicators provide real-time food freshness monitoring. Emerging technologies like 3D printing and reactive extrusion enable tailored film designs while utilizing agricultural waste as raw material to enhance sustainability. These advancements make starch-based films pivotal in addressing environmental concerns and meet evolving consumer demands for eco-friendly packaging solutions, though challenges in industrial scalability and cost-effectiveness remain.

Cancer persists as a ubiquitous global challenge despite the remarkable advances. It is caused by uncontrolled cell growth and metastasis. The Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway is considered a primary regulator of various normal physiological processes in the human body. Recently, factors determining the nature of TGF-β response have received attention, specifically its signaling pathway which can be an attractive therapeutic target for various cancer treatments. The TGF-β receptor is activated by its ligands and undergoes transduction of signals via canonical (SMAD dependent) or non-canonical (SMAD independent) signaling pathways regulating several cellular functions. Furthermore, the cross talk of the TGF-β signaling pathway cross with other signaling pathways has shown the controlled regulation of cellular functions. This review highlights the cross talk between various major signaling pathways and TGF-β. These signaling pathways include Wnt, NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, and Hedgehog (Hh). TGF-β signaling pathway has a dual role at different stages. It can suppress tumor formation at early stages and promote progression at advanced stages. This complex behaviour of TGF-β has made it a promising target for therapeutic interventions. Moreover, many strategies have been designed to control TGF-β signaling pathways at different levels, inhibiting tumor-promoting while enhancing tumor-suppressive effects, each with unique molecular mechanisms and clinical implications. This review also discusses various therapeutic inhibitors including ligand traps, small molecule inhibitors (SMIs), monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), and antisense oligonucleotides which target specific components of TGF-β signaling pathway to inhibit TGF-β signaling and are studied in both preclinical and clinical trials for different types of cancer. The review also highlights the prospect of TGF-β signaling in normal physiology and in the case of dysregulation, TGF-β inhibitors, and different therapeutic effects in cancer therapy along with the perspective of combinational therapies to treat cancer.

Nanobiotechnology, at the intersection of nanotechnology and biology, represents a burgeoning field poised to revolutionize medicine through the use of advanced nanocarriers. These nanocarriers, endowed with distinctive physiobiological attributes, are instrumental in diverse therapeutic domains including drug delivery for microbial infections, cancer treatment, tissue engineering, immunotherapy, and gene therapy. Despite the transformative potential, several challenges hinder their efficacy, such as limited drug capacity, suboptimal targeting, and poor solubility. This review delves into the latest advancements in nanocarrier technologies, examining their properties, associated limitations, and the innovative solutions developed to address these issues. It highlights promising nanocarrier systems like nanocomposites, micelles, hydrogels, microneedles, and artificial cells that employ advanced conjugation techniques, sustained and stimulus-responsive release mechanisms, and enhanced solubility. By exploring these novel structures and their contributions to overcoming existing barriers, the article emphasizes the vital role of interdisciplinary research in advancing nanobiotechnology. This field offers unparalleled opportunities for precise and effective therapeutic delivery, underscoring its potential to reshape healthcare through personalized, targeted treatments and improved drug performance.

The study was conducted to determine the rigor mortis in common carp Cyprinus carpio , weighing 1100 ± 163 g and measuring 37.5 ± 1.87 cm in total length. Immediately after catching, the fish were killed by a blow to the head, followed by washing with tap water, before being placed in six insulated boxes, either at the ambient temperature (25 ± 3°C) or at a chilled temperature of (0°C). The rigor mortis and biochemical changes were monitored at regular times to measure the rigor mortis index (%), pH, and chemical composition. The rate of rigor mortis index in fish kept at ambient temperature was 100% within 10 h after fishing, while it was 100% after 20 h in fish kept at a chilled temperature. During the later postmortem changes, pH slightly increased to reach a value of 7.2 for fish kept at ambient temperature and 7 for fish kept at a chilled temperature. The results also showed nonsignificant differences ( p > 0.05) in the chemical composition of fish before and after rigor mortis. Therefore, it was considered that the development of rigor mortis in common carp occurring more rapidly at ambient temperature than at chilled temperature.

Fires at the wildland–urban interface (WUI) result in the release of ash into the atmosphere that can be transported for long distances and deposited on land and in oceans. Wildfire ash has the potential to increase phytoplankton biomass in the open ocean by providing both major nutrients and trace metals. However, fires that originate at the WUI contain potentially toxic concentrations of metals such as Ti, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn, especially in coastal oceans close to WUI fires, where ash deposition rates are high. Here, we investigated the impact of fire ash from different sources originating from vegetation, structures, and vehicles on growth of the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii (T. weissflogii). The diatom was exposed to ash suspensions containing equimolar concentrations of 10 and 50 µM Fe. The concentration of potentially toxic metals (e.g., Ti, Cu, and Zn) in the exposure suspensions decreased following the order vehicle ash suspension > structural ash suspension > vegetation ash suspension. Growth rates (GR) of T. weissflogii were between 0.44 d⁻¹ and 0.52 d⁻¹ in the controls, and varied with ash types, following the order vegetation (GR = 0.40 d⁻¹ to 0.48 d⁻¹) > vehicle (GR = 0.06 d⁻¹ to 0.46 d⁻¹) > structure (GR = 0.02 d⁻¹ to 0.31 d⁻¹) ash. Two ash samples (A 131 and A136) completely inhibited the growth of T. weissflogii, possibly due to high Ti, Cu, and Zn concentrations in the form of (nano)particles. Overall, this study showed that structural and vehicle ash, with high concentrations of potentially toxic metals, significantly suppress the growth of T. weissflogii, whereas vegetation ash with high concentrations of Fe and Mn but low concentrations of potentially toxic metals had no significant beneficial or suppressive effect. High concentrations of the metals Ti, Cu, and Zn in the form of nano(particles) in structural and vehicle ash are possible sources of toxicity to diatom growth. This study provides valuable insights into the potential impacts of WUI fires on aquatic ecosystems and can inform management strategies aimed at reducing these impacts.