An industry update: the latest developments in therapeutic delivery covering May 2020.

The present industry update covers the period 1-31 May 2020, with information sourced from company press releases, regulatory and patent agencies as well as scientific literature.

Functional Nanomaterials Enhancing Electrochemical Biosensors as Smart Tools for Detecting Infectious Viral Diseases.

Electrochemical biosensors are known as analytical tools, guaranteeing rapid and on-site results in medical diagnostics, food safety, environmental protection, and life sciences research. Current research focuses on developing sensors for specific targets and addresses challenges to be solved before their commercialization. These challenges typically include the lowering of the limit of detection, the widening of the linear concentration range, the analysis of real samples in a real environment and the comparison with a standard validation method. Nowadays, functional nanomaterials are designed and applied in electrochemical biosensing to support all these challenges. This review will address the integration of functional nanomaterials in the development of electrochemical biosensors for the rapid diagnosis of viral infections, such as COVID-19, middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS), influenza, hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and dengue, among others. The role and relevance of the nanomaterial, the type of biosensor, and the electrochemical technique adopted will be discussed. Finally, the critical issues in applying laboratory research to the analysis of real samples, future perspectives, and commercialization aspects of electrochemical biosensors for virus detection will be analyzed.

Recent development of surface-enhanced Raman scattering for biosensing.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) technology, as a powerful tool to identify molecular species by collecting molecular spectral signals at the single-molecule level, has achieved substantial progresses in the fields of environmental science, medical diagnosis, food safety, and biological analysis. As deepening research is delved into SERS sensing, more and more high-performance or multifunctional SERS substrate materials emerge, which are expected to push Raman sensing into more application fields. Especially in the field of biological analysis, intrinsic and extrinsic SERS sensing schemes have been widely used and explored due to their fast, sensitive and reliable advantages. Herein, recent developments of SERS substrates and their applications in biomolecular detection (SARS-CoV-2 virus, tumor etc.), biological imaging and pesticide detection are summarized. The SERS concepts (including its basic theory and sensing mechanism) and the important strategies (extending from nanomaterials with tunable shapes and nanostructures to surface bio-functionalization by modifying affinity groups or specific biomolecules) for improving SERS biosensing performance are comprehensively discussed. For data analysis and identification, the applications of machine learning methods and software acquisition sources in SERS biosensing and diagnosing are discussed in detail. In conclusion, the challenges and perspectives of SERS biosensing in the future are presented.

Advancements in Nanofiber-Based Electrochemical Biosensors for Diagnostic Applications.

Biosensors are analytical tools that can be used as simple, real-time, and effective devices in clinical diagnosis, food analysis, and environmental monitoring. Nanoscale functional materials possess unique properties such as a large surface-to-volume ratio, making them useful for biomedical diagnostic purposes. Nanoengineering has resulted in the increased use of nanoscale functional materials in biosensors. Various types of nanostructures i.e., 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D, have been intensively employed to enhance biosensor selectivity, limit of detection, sensitivity, and speed of response time to display results. In particular, carbon nanotubes and nanofibers have been extensively employed in electrochemical biosensors, which have become an interdisciplinary frontier between material science and viral disease detection. This review provides an overview of the current research activities in nanofiber-based electrochemical biosensors for diagnostic purposes. The clinical applications of these nanobiosensors are also highlighted, along with a discussion of the future directions for these materials in diagnostics. The aim of this review is to stimulate a broader interest in developing nanofiber-based electrochemical biosensors and improving their applications in disease diagnosis. In this review, we summarize some of the most recent advances achieved in point of care (PoC) electrochemical biosensor applications, focusing on new materials and modifiers enabling biorecognition that have led to improved sensitivity, specificity, stability, and response time.

Programmable Nanostructures Based on Framework-DNA for Applications in Biosensing.

DNA has been actively utilized as bricks to construct exquisite nanostructures due to their unparalleled programmability. Particularly, nanostructures based on framework DNA (F-DNA) with controllable size, tailorable functionality, and precise addressability hold excellent promise for molecular biology studies and versatile tools for biosensor applications. In this review, we provide an overview of the current development of F-DNA-enabled biosensors. Firstly, we summarize the design and working principle of F-DNA-based nanodevices. Then, recent advances in their use in different kinds of target sensing with effectiveness have been exhibited. Finally, we envision potential perspectives on the future opportunities and challenges of biosensing platforms.

Electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer biosensing platform between g-C3N4 nanosheet and Ru-SiO2@FA for dual-wavelength ratiometric detection of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp gene.

Rational detection of syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is crucial to prevention, control, and treatment of disease. Herein, a dual-wavelength ratiometric electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor based on resonance energy transfer (RET) between g-C3N4 nanosheets and Ru-SiO2@folic acid (FA) nanomaterials was designed to realize ultrasensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus (RdRp gene). Firstly, the unique g-C3N4 nanosheets displayed very intense and stable ECL at 460 nm, then the triple helix DNA was stably and vertically bound to g-C3N4 on electrode by high binding affinity between ssDNA and g-C3N4. Meanwhile, trace amounts of target genes were converted to a large number of output by three-dimensional (3D) DNA walker multiple amplification, and the output bridged a multifunctional probe Ru-SiO2@FA to electrode. Ru-SiO2@FA not only showed high ECL at 620 nm, but also effectively quenched g-C3N4 ECL. As a result, ECL decreased at 460 nm and increased at 620 nm, which was used to design a rational ECL biosensor for detection of SARS gene. The results show that the biosensor has excellent detection sensitivity for RdRp gene with a dynamic detection range of 1 fM to 10 nM and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.18 fM. The dual-wavelength ratio ECL biosensor has inestimable value and application prospects in the fields of biosensing and clinical diagnosis.

Stimulus-Responsive DNA Hydrogel Biosensors for Food Safety Detection.

Food safety has always been a major global challenge to human health and the effective detection of harmful substances in food can reduce the risk to human health. However, the food industry has been plagued by a lack of effective and sensitive safety monitoring methods due to the tension between the cost and effectiveness of monitoring. DNA-based hydrogels combine the advantages of biocompatibility, programmability, the molecular recognition of DNA molecules, and the hydrophilicity of hydrogels, making them a hotspot in the research field of new nanomaterials. The stimulus response property greatly broadens the function and application range of DNA hydrogel. In recent years, DNA hydrogels based on stimulus-responsive mechanisms have been widely applied in the field of biosensing for the detection of a variety of target substances, including various food contaminants. In this review, we describe the recent advances in the preparation of stimuli-responsive DNA hydrogels, highlighting the progress of its application in food safety detection. Finally, we also discuss the challenges and future application of stimulus-responsive DNA hydrogels.

New and Improved Nanomaterials and Approaches for Optical Bio- and Immunosensors.

The current state in the development of biosensors is largely associated with the search for new approaches to simplify measurements and lower detection limits [...].

Advanced Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemical Biosensors for Catecholamines Detection: Challenges and Trends.

Catecholamines, including dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, are considered one of the most crucial subgroups of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system (CNS), in which they act at the brain's highest levels of mental function and play key roles in neurological disorders. Accordingly, the analysis of such catecholamines in biological samples has shown a great interest in clinical and pharmaceutical importance toward the early diagnosis of neurological diseases such as Epilepsy, Parkinson, and Alzheimer diseases. As promising routes for the real-time monitoring of catecholamine neurotransmitters, optical and electrochemical biosensors have been widely adopted and perceived as a dramatically accelerating development in the last decade. Therefore, this review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on the recent advances and main challenges in catecholamines biosensors. Particular emphasis is given to electrochemical biosensors, reviewing their sensing mechanism and the unique characteristics brought by the emergence of nanotechnology. Based on specific biosensors' performance metrics, multiple perspectives on the therapeutic use of nanomaterial for catecholamines analysis and future development trends are also summarized.

Piezoelectric Biosensors and Nanomaterials-based Therapeutics for Coronavirus and Other Viruses: A Mini-review.

Since late 2019, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused considerable mortality worldwide. This pandemic raised concerns and provoked research on the diagnosis and treatment of viruses-based diseases. The accurate diagnosis of a virus requires high specificity and sensitivity. Piezoelectric sensors are analytical devices that work on mass-sensitivity-based micromechanical transducers. The change in the mass by the interaction between biological elements and the frequency is recorded by measuring the alternate current and voltage. In addition to diagnosis, antiviral intervention strategies for mitigating various viral diseases are required. Nanomaterialsbased antiviral therapy is efficient, particularly with carbon/metal/metal oxide (organic/inorganic) nanoparticles. Metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, such as gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), selenium (Se), zinc oxide (ZnO), magnesium oxide (MgO), carbon dots (CDs), and carbon quantum dots (CQDs), are promising candidates for antiviral therapy. This review discusses the piezoelectric sensors used to detect various viruses, including COVID-19, and the various organic and inorganic nanoparticles involved in the antiviral therapy.

Single-Molecule Evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein Using Gold Particle-in-a-Frame Nanostructures Enhanced Fluorescent Assay.

Ultrasensitive evaluation of low-abundance analytes, particularly with limits approaching a single molecule, is a key challenge in the design of an assay for profiling severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen. Herein, we report an aptamer claw strategy for directly evaluating the SARS-CoV-2 antigen based on gold particle-in-a-frame nanostructures (Au PIAFs). Au PIAF was used as a metal-enhanced fluorescence material. The assay integrated with a microplate reader achieved a sensitivity of 44 fg·mL-1 in under 3 min and accurately detected the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (N protein) in human saliva samples. When our assay is combined with a single-molecule counting platform, the limit of detection can be as low as 0.84 ag·mL-1. This rapid and ultrasensitive assay holds promise as a tool for screening SARS-CoV-2 and other contagious viruses.

Safety and Biodistribution of Nanoligomers Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Genome for the Treatment of COVID-19.

As the world braces to enter its fourth year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the need for accessible and effective antiviral therapeutics continues to be felt globally. The recent surge of Omicron variant cases has demonstrated that vaccination and prevention alone cannot quell the spread of highly transmissible variants. A safe and nontoxic therapeutic with an adaptable design to respond to the emergence of new variants is critical for transitioning to the treatment of COVID-19 as an endemic disease. Here, we present a novel compound, called SBCoV202, that specifically and tightly binds the translation initiation site of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase within the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome, inhibiting viral replication. SBCoV202 is a Nanoligomer, a molecule that includes peptide nucleic acid sequences capable of binding viral RNA with single-base-pair specificity to accurately target the viral genome. The compound has been shown to be safe and nontoxic in mice, with favorable biodistribution, and has shown efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. Safety and biodistribution were assessed using three separate administration methods, namely, intranasal, intravenous, and intraperitoneal. Safety studies showed the Nanoligomer caused no outward distress, immunogenicity, or organ tissue damage, measured through observation of behavior and body weight, serum levels of cytokines, and histopathology of fixed tissue, respectively. SBCoV202 was evenly biodistributed throughout the body, with most tissues measuring Nanoligomer concentrations well above the compound KD of 3.37 nM. In addition to favorable availability to organs such as the lungs, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, the compound circulated through the blood and was rapidly cleared through the renal and urinary systems. The favorable biodistribution and lack of immunogenicity and toxicity set Nanoligomers apart from other antisense therapies, while the adaptability of the nucleic acid sequence of Nanoligomers provides a defense against future emergence of drug resistance, making these molecules an attractive potential treatment for COVID-19.

Advances in Electrochemical Biosensors Based on Nanomaterials for Protein Biomarker Detection in Saliva.

The focus on precise medicine enhances the need for timely diagnosis and frequent monitoring of chronic diseases. Moreover, the recent pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 poses a great demand for rapid detection and surveillance of viral infections. The detection of protein biomarkers and antigens in the saliva allows rapid identification of diseases or disease changes in scenarios where and when the test response at the point of care is mandated. While traditional methods of protein testing fail to provide the desired fast results, electrochemical biosensors based on nanomaterials hold perfect characteristics for the detection of biomarkers in point-of-care settings. The recent advances in electrochemical sensors for salivary protein detection are critically reviewed in this work, with emphasis on the role of nanomaterials to boost the biosensor analytical performance and increase the reliability of the test in human saliva samples. Furthermore, this work identifies the critical factors for further modernization of the nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors, envisaging the development and implementation of next-generation sample-in-answer-out systems.

Proteolytic Biosensors with Functional Nanomaterials: Current Approaches and Future Challenges.

Proteolytic enzymes are one of the important biomarkers that enable the early diagnosis of several diseases, such as cancers. A specific proteolytic enzyme selectively degrades a certain sequence of a polypeptide. Therefore, a particular proteolytic enzyme can be selectively quantified by changing detectable signals causing degradation of the peptide chain. In addition, by combining polypeptides with various functional nanomaterials, proteolytic enzymes can be measured more sensitively and rapidly. In this paper, proteolytic enzymes that can be measured using a polypeptide degradation method are reviewed and recently studied functional nanomaterials-based proteolytic biosensors are discussed. We anticipate that the proteolytic nanobiosensors addressed in this review will provide valuable information on physiological changes from a cellular level for individual and early diagnosis.

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in Gomti-Ganga Alluvial Plain, associated human health risks assessment and potential remediation using novel-nanomaterials.

The health risks associated with consumption of water from river Gomti polluted with potentially toxic elements (PTEs), including As, Fe, Pb, Cd, Mn, Cr, Ni, and Hg were investigated at the initiation of unlocking of COVID-19 lockdown and compared with pre-COVID-19 lockdown status. In the current investigation, the total hazard index (THI) values exceeded the acceptable limit of "unity" at all sampling stations. The use of river water for drinking and domestic purposes by millions of people with high THI values has emerged as a matter of huge concern. The individual hazard quotients associated with Cd and Pb were found to be most severe (> 1). A vivid difference between the THI values during the two study phases indicated the positive impact of COVID-19 lockdown signifying the prominent impact of anthropogenic activities on the PTE concentrations. The closure of local manufacturing units (textile, battery, etc.) emerged as a potential reason for decreased health risks associated with PTE levels. The higher susceptibility of children to health risks in comparison with adults through the values of THI and HQs was interpreted across the study area. Potential remedial measures for PTE contamination have also been suggested in the study.

CdSe-Co3O4@TiO2 nanoflower-based photoelectrochemical platform probing visible light-driven virus detection.

The design and construction of a visible light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) device is described based on a CdSe-Co3O4@TiO2 nanoflower (NF). Moreover, an application to the ultrasensitive detection of viruses, such as hepatitis E virus (HEV), HEV-like particles (HEV-LPs), and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in complicated lysate solution, is demonstrated. The photocurrent response output of a PEC device based on CdSe-Co3O4@TiO2 is enhanced compared with the individual components, TiO2 and CdSe-Co3O4. This can be attributed to the CdSe quantum dot (QD) sensitization effect and strong visible light absorption to improve overall system stability. A robust oxygen-evolving catalyst (Co3O4) coupled at the hole-trapping site (CdSe) extends the interfacial carrier lifetime, and the energy conversion efficiency was improved. The effective hybridization between the antibody and virus resulted in a linear relationship between the change in photocurrent density and the HEV-LP concentration ranging from 10 fg mL-1 to 10 ng mL-1, with a detection limit of 3.5 fg mL-1. This CdSe-Co3O4@TiO2-based PEC device achieved considerable sensitivity, good specificity, and acceptable stability and demonstrated a significant ability to develop an upgraded device with affordable and portable biosensing capabilities.

Plasmonic Biosensors with Nanostructure for Healthcare Monitoring and Diseases Diagnosis.

Nanophotonics has been widely utilized in enhanced molecularspectroscopy or mediated chemical reaction, which has major applications in the field of enhancing sensing and enables opportunities in developing healthcare monitoring. This review presents an updated overview of the recent exciting advances of plasmonic biosensors in the healthcare area. Manufacturing, enhancements and applications of plasmonic biosensors are discussed, with particular focus on nanolisted main preparation methods of various nanostructures, such as chemical synthesis, lithography, nanosphere lithography, nanoimprint lithography, etc., and describing their respective advances and challenges from practical applications of plasmon biosensors. Based on these sensing structures, different types of plasmonic biosensors are summarized regarding detecting cancer biomarkers, body fluid, temperature, gas and COVID-19. Last, the existing challenges and prospects of plasmonic biosensors combined with machine learning, mega data analysis and prediction are surveyed.

Development of Computational In Silico Model for Nano Lipid Carrier Formulation of Curcumin.

The oral delivery system is very important and plays a significant role in increasing the solubility of drugs, which eventually will increase their absorption by the digestive system and enhance the drug bioactivity. This study was conducted to synthesize a novel curcumin nano lipid carrier (NLC) and use it as a drug carrier with the help of computational molecular docking to investigate its solubility in different solid and liquid lipids to choose the optimum lipids candidate for the NLCs formulation and avoid the ordinary methods that consume more time, materials, cost, and efforts during laboratory experiments. The antiviral activity of the formed curcumin-NLC against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) was assessed through a molecular docking study of curcumin's affinity towards the host cell receptors. The novel curcumin drug carrier was synthesized as NLC using a hot and high-pressure homogenization method. Twenty different compositions of the drug carrier (curcumin nano lipid) were synthesized and characterized using different physicochemical techniques such as UV-Vis, FTIR, DSC, XRD, particle size, the zeta potential, and AFM. The in vitro and ex vivo studies were also conducted to test the solubility and the permeability of the 20 curcumin-NLC formulations. The NLC as a drug carrier shows an enormous enhancement in the solubility and permeability of the drug.

Nanotechnology-Enabled Biosensors: A Review of Fundamentals, Design Principles, Materials, and Applications.

Biosensors are modern engineering tools that can be widely used for various technological applications. In the recent past, biosensors have been widely used in a broad application spectrum including industrial process control, the military, environmental monitoring, health care, microbiology, and food quality control. Biosensors are also used specifically for monitoring environmental pollution, detecting toxic elements' presence, the presence of bio-hazardous viruses or bacteria in organic matter, and biomolecule detection in clinical diagnostics. Moreover, deep medical applications such as well-being monitoring, chronic disease treatment, and in vitro medical examination studies such as the screening of infectious diseases for early detection. The scope for expanding the use of biosensors is very high owing to their inherent advantages such as ease of use, scalability, and simple manufacturing process. Biosensor technology is more prevalent as a large-scale, low cost, and enhanced technology in the modern medical field. Integration of nanotechnology with biosensors has shown the development path for the novel sensing mechanisms and biosensors as they enhance the performance and sensing ability of the currently used biosensors. Nanoscale dimensional integration promotes the formulation of biosensors with simple and rapid detection of molecules along with the detection of single biomolecules where they can also be evaluated and analyzed critically. Nanomaterials are used for the manufacturing of nano-biosensors and the nanomaterials commonly used include nanoparticles, nanowires, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nanorods, and quantum dots (QDs). Nanomaterials possess various advantages such as color tunability, high detection sensitivity, a large surface area, high carrier capacity, high stability, and high thermal and electrical conductivity. The current review focuses on nanotechnology-enabled biosensors, their fundamentals, and architectural design. The review also expands the view on the materials used for fabricating biosensors and the probable applications of nanotechnology-enabled biosensors.