Cancer is a worldwide health problem. Nevertheless, new technologies in the immunotherapy field have emerged. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology is a novel biological form to treat cancer; CAR-T cell genetic engineering has positively revolutionized cancer immunotherapy. In this paper, we review the latest developments in CAR-T in cancer treatment. We present the structure of the different generations and variants of CAR-T cells including TRUCK (T cells redirected for universal cytokine killing. We explain the approaches of the CAR-T cells manufactured ex vivo and in vivo. Moreover, we describe the limitations and areas of opportunity for this immunotherapy and the current challenges of treating hematological and solid cancer using CAR-T technology as well as its constraints and engineering approaches. We summarize other immune cells that have been using CAR technology, such as natural killer (NK), macrophages (M), and dendritic cells (DC). We conclude that CAR-T cells have the potential to treat not only cancer but other chronic diseases.

Recently, functional therapies targeting a specific organ without affecting normal tissues have been designed. The use of magnetic force to reach this goal is studied in this work. Previously, we demonstrated that nanocarriers based on magnetic nanoparticles could be directed and retained in the lungs, with their gene expression under the control of a promoter activated by a magnetic field. Magnetic nanoparticles containing the TRAIL gene and chitosan were constructed using the ionic gelation method as a nanosystem for magnetofection and were characterized by microscopy, ζ-potential, and retention analysis. Magnetofection in the mouse melanoma cell line B16F10 in vitro induced TRAIL-protein expression and was associated with morphological changes indicative of apoptosis. Systemic administration of the nanosystem in the tail vein of mice with melanoma B16F10 at the lungs produced a very significant increase in apoptosis in tumoral cells that correlated with the number of melanoma tumor foci observed in the lungs. The high levels of apoptosis detected in the lungs were partially related to mouse survival. The data presented demonstrate that the magnetofection nanosystem described here efficiently induces apoptosis and growth inhibition of melanoma B16F10 in the lungs. This new approach for systemic delivery and activation of a gene based in a nanocomplex offers a potential application in magnetic gene delivery for cancer.

Steady growth in beer production is increasing the number of by-products named brewers’ spent grain. Such by-products are a source of several components, where cellulose is usually present in high amounts. The aim of this study was to develop a protocol to obtain a mix of cellulose microfibers with an average diameter of 8–12 µm and cellulose nanoplatelets with an average thickness of 100 nm, which has several applications in the food industry. The process comprised one alkaline treatment followed by acid hydrolysis, giving a new mix of micro and nanocellulose. This mix was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and laser scanning microscopy corroborating the presence and measurements of the cellulose nanostructure, showing an aspect ratio of up to 500. Finally, we demonstrated that the administration of this new type of nanocellulose allowed us to control the weight of mice (feed intake), showing a significant percentage of weight reduction (4.96%) after 15 days compared with their initial weight, indicating the possibility of using this material as a dietary fiber.

Worldwide mobile telephone and microwave use have resulted in an increasing presence of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field radiations (ELF-EMFs) in ecosystems. ELF-EMFs have been associated with altered physiological processes that can adversely affect exposed organisms. In this study, Trichoplusia ni Hübner larvae were exposed for 24, 48, or 72 h to ELF-EMFs (60 Hz and 2.0 mT) to assess effects on immune response parameters and fertility. Trichoplusia ni life cycle and fertility were not affected by 24-h exposure. However, the number of apoptotic-like cells and cellular immune response significantly increased (P < 0.01) after 72-h exposure (2- and 1.1-fold, respectively), whereas hemolymph total protein and hemocyte cells were reduced (P < 0.01; 16 and 50%, respectively) after 48-h exposure. Hemocyte cell type analysis resulted in significantly (P < 0.01) higher granulocytes number in the unexposed (2-fold increase) and oenocytoids in the 72-h-exposed larvae (28.6-fold increase). Quantitative retrotranscription (RT-qPCR) showed that after 72-h ELF-EMF exposure, the antimicrobial peptides cecropin, lysozyme, gallerimycin, and pgrp were downregulated by 24,866.0, 2.69-, 119.1-, and 1.45-fold, respectively, whereas attacin and defensin were upregulated by 1.59- and 1.85-fold, respectively. The effect of ELF-EMFs on the T. ni larvae immune response and their potential impact on its physiology and susceptibility to pathogens are discussed. This information may provide new insight of ELF-EMFs on other pest species, as well as for the preservation of ecologically important species.

The Apoptosis is an intensely studied mechanism for cancer therapy. Various genes, drugs, and molecules have been combined to potentiate the apoptotic effect against tumor cells. Magnetic nanocomplexes with biopolymers have been proposed as nanocarriers for delivery of active molecules and improve apoptosis induction. To these purpose were formulated magnetic nanoparticles with curcumin coated chitosan (MNPs-CHI-TPP-CUR) and magnetic nanoparticles with pCEM-TRAIL plasmid coated chitosan (MNPs-CHI-TPP-TRAIL) for use alone or in combination to induce the apoptosis of B16F10 tumor cells because curcumin is capable of overexpressing receptors TRAIL required for apoptosis induction. Also, curcumin (CUR) has been used as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this work, it was produced and characterized nanoparticles with curcumin and nanoparticles with TRAIL gene. Both types of nanoparticles were ~ 200 nm size. The results showed that the combination of (MNPs-CHI-TPP-CUR) and (MNPs-CHI-TPP-TRAIL) induced a significant increase in cellular death within 48 h compared with the effect of each nanocomplex individually, demonstrating a synergic effect. This is the first description the synergic interaction between TRAIL gene and curcumin drug to improve the apoptosis in cancer cells. Also, it was determined that cellular death was potentiated when the treated cells were exposed to laser photoactivation with wavelengths of 405 nm and 532 nm for 15 min. Graphical abstract