Background: Essential oils are liquid extracts from aromatic plants, which have numerous applications in multiple industries. There are a variety of methods used for the extraction of essential oils, with each method exhibiting certain advantages and determining the biological and physicochemical properties of the extacted oils. Essential oils from different plant species contain more than 200 constituents which are comprised of volatile and non-volatile components. The application of essential oils as antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral agents are due to their effective and efficient properties, inter alia. Methods: Several advanced (supercritical fluid extraction, subcritical extraction liquid, solvent free microwave extraction) and conventional (hydrodistillation, steam distillation, hydrodiffusion, solvent extraction) methods have been discussed for the extraction of essential oils. Advanced methods are considered as the most promising extraction techniques due to less extraction time, low energy consumption, low solvent used and less carbon dioxide emission. Conclusion: This manuscript reviewed the major research studies in the field and discussed several research findings on the chemical composition of essential oils, methods of oil extraction, and application of these oils in pharmaceutical and therapeutic fields. These essential oils can be used as anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, and as skin permeation enhancer agents.

The effect of mechanical stirring on sol-gel synthesis of thorn-like ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and antimicrobial activities is successfully reported in this study. The in-house synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, TGA, DSC and UV-visible spectroscopy. The X-Ray Diffraction analysis revealed the wurtzite crystal lattice for ZnO-NPs with no impurities present. The diametric measurements of the synthesized thorn-like ZnO-NPs (morphology assessed by SEM) were well accounted to be less than 50 nm with the help of TEM. Relative decrease in aspect ratio was observed on increasing the agitation speed. The UV-visible spectroscopy showed the absorption peaks of the ZnO-NPs existed in both UVA and UVB region. A hypsochromic shift in λmax was observed when stirring pace was increased from 500 rpm to 2000 rpm. The FTIR spectroscopy showed the absorption bands of the stretching modes of Zn-O between 500 cm⁻¹ to 525 cm⁻¹. The Thermal analysis studies revealed better stability for ZnO-NPs prepared at 2000 rpm (ZnO-2000 rpm). TGA revealed the weight loss between two main temperatures ranges viz. around (90 °C–120 °C) and (240 °C–280 °C). Finally, the effect of ZnO-NPs prepared at different stirring conditions on the growth of Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis), Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria and a fungi (Candida albicans) were examined; which showed good antibacterial as well as antifungal properties. These findings introduce a simple, inexpensive process to synthesize ZnO-NPs using conventional methods without the use of sophisticated equipments and its application as a potent nano-antibiotic.

Nanotechnology is a scientific and engineering technology conducted at the Nano-scale, such as in the fields of compound fabric manufacturing, food processing, agricultural processing, and engineering, as well as in medical and medicinal application. In recent decade, nanomaterial applications for antimicrobial works have been interested by many researchers. Available reports show that some of the metal oxide Nanoparticles including; Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, CuO, Co3O4, In2O3, MgO, SiO2, ZrO2, Cr2O3, Ni2O3, Mn2O3, CoO, and Nickel oxide have toxicity toward several microorganisms and they could successfully kill numerous bacteria. Based on our literature review there are some effective factors that can influence the ability of nanomaterial in reducing or killing the cells, and there are mechanisms for nanomaterial against bacteria, which are briefly listed as follows: surface charge of the metal nanomaterial, shape, type and material, concentration of nanomaterial, dispersion and contact of nanomaterial to the bacterial cell, presence of active oxygen, liberation of antimicrobial ions, medium components and pH, physicochemical properties, specific surface-area-to-volume ratios, size, role of growth rate, role of biofilm formation, cell wall of bacteria, and effect of UV illumination. It can be considered that in the use of nanomaterial as antimicrobial agents, consideration of the many factors is in principal. Antibacterial resistance to common chemical antibacterial agents can be due to long production–consumption cycle, thereby reducing their efficiency, and use of poor quality or fake medicines in undeveloped and developing countries. Nanoparticles as an antimicrobial agent have become the new approach against this challenge, which can establish an effective nanostructure to deliver the antimicrobial agent for targeting the bacterial community efficiently; in addition, they are so potent that microbial pathogens cannot develop resistance to them. On the other hand, most of the metal oxide nanoparticles have no toxicity toward humans at effective concentrations used to kill bacterial cells, which thus becomes an advantage for using them in a full scale. However, over the present decade, several studies have suggested that NPs are excellent antibacterial agents, at least at the research level.

Background: The investigation of the cellular components, their interactions and related functions constitute the major conditions in order to understand the cell as an integrated system. More specifically, the Protein-Protein Interactions and the obtained networks are very important in the majority of biological functions and processes, while most of the proteins appear to activate their functionalities through their interaction. Methods: Our in depth review analysis, include Sixty-five peer-reviewed research and review studies from several bibliographic databases. The most significant components were fully described, filtered, combined and analyzed in order to provide documented proofs on the Protein-Protein Interaction Network' applications in biomedicine. Results: The Protein-Protein Interaction Network' alignment and mapping give the opportunity of further knowledge extraction concerning the evolutionary relationships between the species through conserved pathways and protein complexes. Additionally, Protein-Protein Interaction Network information has been demonstrated to be able to predict functionally orthologous proteins within sequence homology clusters. Our review analysis concluded that, while Protein- Protein Interaction was used to be characterized just by their large and plain interacting surfaces, they were considered inapplicable for drug discovery studies for a long time. Conclusion: The present review explores multiple technologies implicated in Protein-Protein Interaction Networks, implicating their potential role in drug discovery mechanisms.

In general, proteins can only execute their various biological functions when they are appropriately folded. Their amino acid sequence encodes the relevant information required for correct three-dimensional folding, with or without the assistance of chaperones. The challenge associated with understanding protein folding is currently one of the most important aspects of the biological sciences. Misfolded protein intermediates form large polymers of unwanted aggregates and are involved in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). AD is one of the most prevalent neurological disorders and has worldwide impact; whereas T2DM is considered a metabolic disease that detrementally influences numerous organs, afflicts some 8% of the adult population, and shares many risk factors with AD. Research data indicates that there is a widespread conformational change in the proteins involved in AD and T2DM that form β-sheet like motifs. Although conformation of these β-sheets is common to many functional proteins, the transition from α-helix to β-sheet is a typical characteristic of amyloid deposits. Any abnormality in this transition results in protein aggregation and generation of insoluble fibrils. The abnormal and toxic proteins can interact with other native proteins and consequently catalyze their transition into the toxic state. Both AD and T2DM are prevalent in the aged population. AD is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) in brain, while T2DM is characterized by the deposition of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP, also known as amylin) within beta-cells of the pancreas. T2DM increases pathological angiogenesis and immature vascularisation. This also leads to chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, which results in dysfunction and degeneration of neuroglial cells. With an abundance of common mechanisms underpinning both disorders, a significant question that can be posed is whether T2DM leads to AD in aged individuals and the associations between other protein misfolding diseases.