The proportion of obese or diabetic population has been anticipated to increase in the upcoming decades, which rises the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Recent evidence indicates that NASH is the main cause of chronic liver diseases and it is an important risk factor for development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although the literature addressing NASH-HCC is growing rapidly, limited data is available about the etiology of NASH-related HCC. Experimental studies on the molecular mechanism of HCC development in NASH reveal that the carcinogenesis is relevant to complex changes in signaling pathways that mediate cell proliferation and energy metabolism. Genetic or epigenetic modifications and alterations in metabolic, immunologic, and endocrine pathways have been shown to be closely related to inflammation, liver injury, and fibrosis in NASH along with its subsequent progression to HCC. In this review, we provide an overview on the current knowledge of NASH-related HCC development and emphasize molecular signaling pathways regarding their mechanism of action in NASH-derived HCC.

Photovoltaic biointerfaces offer wireless and battery-free bioelectronic medicine via photomodulation of neurons. Near-infrared (NIR) light enables communication with neurons inside the deep tissue and application of high photon flux within the ocular safety limit of light exposure. For that, nonsilicon biointerfaces are highly demanded for thin and flexible operation. Here, we devised a flexible quantum dot (QD)-based photovoltaic biointerface that stimulates cells within the spectral tissue transparency window by using NIR light (λ = 780 nm). Integration of an ultrathin QD layer of 25 nm into a multilayered photovoltaic architecture enables transduction of NIR light to safe capacitive ionic currents that leads to reproducible action potentials on primary hippocampal neurons with high success rates. The biointerfaces exhibit low in vitro toxicity and robust photoelectrical performance under different stability tests. Our findings show that colloidal quantum dots can be used in wireless bioelectronic medicine for brain, heart, and retina.

Protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes are members of the Serine/Threonine kinase family regulating cellular events following activation of membrane bound phospholipids. The breakdown of the downstream signaling pathways of PKC relates to several disease pathogeneses particularly neurodegeneration. PKC isozymes play a critical role in cell death and survival mechanisms, as well as autophagy. Numerous studies have reported that neurodegenerative disease formation is caused by failure of the autophagy mechanism. This review outlines PKC signaling in autophagy and neurodegenerative disease development and introduces some polyphenols as effectors of PKC isozymes for disease therapy.

Bacterial infections are a major healthcare concern. Clinical application of photo‐activated quantum dots to efficiently treat bacterial infections has been hindered by inadequate production of reactive oxygen species. In this study, photoactive antimicrobial carboxyl‐functionalized graphene quantum dots (cGQDs) are synthesized with an exceptionally high singlet oxygen (¹O₂) quantum yield of 0.88. Compared to non‐functionalized GQDs, cGQDs exhibit over a 20‐fold enhancement in the ¹O₂ quantum yield. According to the density functional theory simulations, the dramatic increase of ¹O₂ quantum yield is due to significantly enhanced spin–orbit coupling between singlet and triplet excited states of GQDs with addition of ─COOH groups. Under low‐intensity blue light (5 mW cm^{− 2}), Staphylococcus aureus is completely eliminated with just 0.8 µg mL⁻¹ of cGQDs, and a minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of 0.4 µg mL⁻¹ is determined, representing the lowest MBC reported against S. aureus using light‐activated quantum dots. Layer‐by‐layer assembly of cGQD films also results in over a 99.9% reduction against multi‐drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli under illumination. cGQDs, both in suspension and as a nano‐assembled film, exhibit good cell viability in mammalian cells under both dark and light conditions. These results highlight the strong potential of cGQDs as an effective nanomaterial for antibacterial applications.