Near-infrared (NIR) organic small molecule dyes (OSMDs) are effective photothermal agents for photothermal therapy (PTT) due to their advantages of low cost and toxicity, good biodegradation, and strong NIR absorption over a wide wavelength range. Nevertheless, OSMDs have limited applicability in PTT due to their low photothermal conversion efficiency and inadequate destruction of tumor regions that are nonirradiated by NIR light. However, they can also act as photosensitizers (PSs) to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can be further eradicated by using ROS-related therapies to address the above limitations of PTT. In this review, the synergistic mechanism, composition, and properties of photodynamic therapy (PDT)–PTT nanoplatforms were comprehensively discussed. In addition, some specific strategies for further improving the combined PTT and PDT based on OSMDs for cancer to completely eradicate cancer cells were outlined. These strategies include performing image-guided co-therapy, enhancing tumor infiltration, increasing H₂O₂ or O₂ in the tumor microenvironment, and loading anticancer drugs onto nanoplatforms to enable combined therapy with phototherapy and chemotherapy. Meanwhile, the intriguing prospects and challenges of this treatment modality were also summarized with a focus on the future trends of its clinical application. Graphical Abstract

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease caused by insufficient insulin secretion and insulin resistance. Natural product is one of the most important resources for anti-diabetic drug. However, due to the extremely complex composition, this research is facing great challenges. After the advent of ligand fishing technology based on enzyme immobilization, the efficiency of screening anti-diabetic components has been greatly improved. In order to provide critical knowledge for future research in this field, the application progress of immobilized enzyme in screening anti-diabetic components from complex natural extracts in recent years was reviewed comprehensively, including novel preparation technologies and strategies of immobilized enzyme and its outstanding application prospect in many aspects. The basic principles and preparation steps of immobilized enzyme were briefly described, including entrapment, physical adsorption, covalent binding, affinity immobilization, multienzyme system and carrier-free immobilization. New formatted immobilized enzymes with different carriers, hollow fibers, magnetic materials, microreactors, metal organic frameworks, etc., were widely used to screen anti-diabetic compositions from various natural products, such as Ginkgo biloba, Morus alba, lotus leaves, Pueraria lobata, Prunella vulgaris, and Magnolia cortex. Furthermore, the challenges and future prospects in this field were put forward in this review.

Gracilaria lemaneiformis, an edible alga, with various bioactivities is a traditional dish and a favorite food. In the present study, its n-hexane extract showed strong protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory activity after screening. To understand the activity composition, nineteen compounds were identified from this extract by GC-MS. The protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory activity of the identified compounds was further screened by means of molecular docking individually. As a result, 2,2′-methylenebis-6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methyl-phenol with the lowest binding energy of −6.70 kcal mol⁻¹ was discovered from the complex extract, and its inhibitory activity against protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B was proved in vitro. The IC₅₀ value was 53.27 ± 0.54 μM. Therefore, this compound and its source Gracilaria lemaneiformis were suggested to be utilized as a functional food with potential protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory activity.