Burn wounds are highly debilitating injuries, with significant morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. In association with the damage of the skin integrity, the risk of infection is increased, posing an obstacle to healing and potentially leading to sepsis. Another limitation against healing is associated with antibiotic resistance mainly due to the use of systemic antibiotics for the treatment of localized infections. Nanotechnology has been successful in finding strategies to incorporate antibiotics in nanoparticles for the treatment of local wounds, thereby avoiding the systemic exposure to the drug. This review focuses on the most recent advances on the use of nanoparticles in wound dressing formulations and in tissue engineering for the treatment of burn wound infections.

Technological development is in constant progress in the oncological field. The search for new concepts and strategies for improving cancer diagnosis, treatment and outcomes constitutes a necessary and continuous process, aiming at more specificity, efficiency, safety and better quality of life of the patients throughout the treatment. Nanotechnology embraces these purposes, offering a wide armamentarium of nanosized systems with the potential to incorporate both diagnosis and therapeutic features, towards real-time monitoring of cancer treatment. Within the nanotechnology field, magnetic nanosystems stand out as complex and promising nanoparticles with magnetic properties, that enable the use of these constructs for magnetic resonance imaging and thermal therapy purposes. Additionally, magnetic nanoparticles can be tailored for increased specificity and reduced toxicity, and functionalized with contrast, targeting and therapeutic agents, revealing great potential as multifunctional nanoplatforms for application in cancer theranostics. This review aims at providing a comprehensive description of the current designs, characterization techniques, synthesis methods, and the role of magnetic nanoparticles as promising nanotheranostic agents. A critical appraisal of the impact, potentialities and challenges associated with each technology is also presented.

<!----> <!----> The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is essential for the regulation and maintenance of the neurological function and homeostasis of the brain, being a complex cellular system which strictly controls the transport of substances between the blood circulation and brain tissue. Several central nervous system (CNS) disorders may, however, lead to impairment in the BBB integrity. As such, further insights on the brain pathophysiology are required. An understanding of the brain microenvironment and underlying response mechanisms is 384crucial for the development of several in vitro models which mimic in vivo conditions, designed for diverse purposes and studies. Through the correlation between BBB function and the pathogenicity of the target disease, in vitro models enable both the analysis of the BBB influence in the CNS disorders and the exploration of the BBB as a promising target for pharmacological modulation. <!----> <!---->