Nanocellulose, a biopolymer, has received wide attention from researchers owing to its superior physicochemical properties, such as high mechanical strength, low density, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Nanocellulose can be extracted from wide range of sources, including plants, bacteria, and algae. Depending on the extraction process and dimensions (diameter and length), they are categorized into three main types: cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), and bacterial nanocellulose (BNC). CNCs are a highly crystalline and needle-like structure, whereas CNFs have both amorphous and crystalline regions in their network. BNC is the purest form of nanocellulose. The nanocellulose properties can be tuned by chemical functionalization, which increases its applicability in biomedical applications. This review highlights the fabrication of different surface-modified nanocellulose to deliver active molecules, such as drugs, proteins, and plasmids. Nanocellulose-mediated delivery of active molecules is profoundly affected by its topographical structure and the interaction between the loaded molecules and nanocellulose. The applications of nanocellulose and its composites in tissue engineering have been discussed. Finally, the review is concluded with further opportunities and challenges in nanocellulose-mediated delivery of active molecules.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. The main modality to fight against cancer is surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and more recently targeted therapy, gene therapy and immunotherapy, which play important roles in treating cancer patients. In the last decades, chemotherapy has been well developed. Nonetheless, administration of the drug is not always successful, as limited drug dosage can reach the tumor cells.. In this context, the possibility to use an encapsulated anti-cancer drug may potentially solve the problem. Liposomal cytarabine is a formulation with pronounced effectiveness in lymphomatous meningitis and reduced cardiotoxicity if compared to liposomal anthracyclines. Thus, the future liposomal cytarabine use could be extended to other diseases given its reduction in cytotoxic side effects compared to the free formulation. This review summarizes the chemistry and biology of liposomal cytarabine, with exploration of its clinical implications.

The investigation of human disease mechanisms is difficult due to the heterogeneity in gene expression and the physiological state of cells in a given population. In comparison to bulk cell measurements, single-cell measurement technologies can provide a better understanding of the interactions among molecules, organelles, cells, and the microenvironment, which can aid in the development of therapeutics and diagnostic tools. In recent years, single-cell technologies have become increasingly robust and accessible, although limitations exist. In this review, we describe the recent advances in single-cell technologies and their applications in single-cell manipulation, diagnosis, and therapeutics development.

The ability to deliver foreign molecules into a single living cell with high transfection efficiency and high cell viability is of great interest in cell biology for applications in therapeutic development, diagnostics and drug delivery towards personalized medicine. Many chemical and physical methods have been developed for cellular delivery, however most of these techniques are bulk approach, which are cell-specific and have low throughput delivery. On the other hand, electroporation is an efficient and fast method to deliver exogenous biomolecules such as DNA, RNA and oligonucleotides into target living cells with the advantages of easy operation, controllable electrical parameters and avoidance of toxicity. The rapid development of micro/nanofluidic technologies in the last two decades, enables us to focus an intense electric field on the targeted cell membrane to perform single cell micro-nano-electroporation with high throughput intracellular delivery, high transfection efficiency and cell viability. This review article will emphasize the basic concept and working mechanism associated with electroporation, single cell electroporation and biomolecular delivery using micro/nanoscale electroporation devices, their fabrication, working principles and cellular analysis with their advantages, limitations, potential applications and future prospects.

Fluorescence probes are essential for in vivo molecular imaging as well as cell tracking applications. Probes that emit in the far red wavelength penetrate better through biological tissue and the autofluorescence background is reduced at higher wavelengths, making such probes highly desirable. We report the application of Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) as efficient fluorescence probes for single cell tracking using high-resolution confocal microscopy as well as a potential in vivo fluorescent imaging agent. High-quality water soluble GQDs were synthesized by ablating highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) in liquid using a nanosecond pulsed laser. Refluxing GQDs at 200 °C for 20 minutes and 1 hour produces excitation independent broad emission peaking at 600 nm and excitation dependent color-tunable emission, respectively. These emission properties can be attributed to the functional groups such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups on the surface or edges. MTT assays with the breast cancer (MCF-7) cell line suggest that 20 min and 1 h GQDs had 80% viability post incubation with concentrations as high as 2 mg mL⁻¹. The paper also explores the molecular tracking functionality of GQDs. Fluorescence microscopy showed that MCF-7 cells incubated for up to 48 hours with GQDs, internalized the GQDs, by caveolae-mediated endocytosis without any targeting moiety. In addition, high-resolution Z stacking and 3D confocal microscopy of a single live MCF-7 cell confirm successful uptake of GQDs into the cytoplasm by endocytosis. Fluorescence imaging of GQDs loaded in polyacrylamide gel and subcutaneously implanted near the thoracic region of an euthanized mice was done to explore the feasibility of in vivo imaging using GQDs. Deep red fluorescence (610 nm emission filter) was observed from the implanted region with relatively low autofluorescence background.