Targeting the Antifungal Activity of Carbon Dots against Candida albicans Biofilm Formation by Tailoring Their Surface Functional Groups.

Carbon dots (CDs) are an emerging class of carbon nanoparticles, which for their characteristics have found applications in many fields such as catalysis, materials and biomedicine. Within this context, the application of CDs as antibacterial agents has received much attention in very recent years, while their use as antifungal nanoparticles has been scarcely investigated. Here we report a systematic investigation of the surface functional groups of CDs to study their influence on these nanoparticles' against Candida albicans. Three classes of CDs have been synthesised and fully characterized. A thorough in vitro and in vivo biological screening against C. albicans was performed to test their antifungal, antiadhesion and antibiofilm formation activities. Moreover, the interaction with C. albicans cells was investigated by microscopic analysis. Our results evidence how the presence of a positively polarised surface results crucial for the internalization into COS-7 cells. Positively charged nanoparticles were also able to inhibit adhesion and biofilm formation, to interact with the cellular membrane of C. albicans, and to increase the survival of G. mellonella infected larvae after the injection with positive nanoparticles. The antifungal activity of CDs and their extremely low toxicity may represent a new strategy to combat infections sustained by C.albicans.

Novel Cellular and Immunotherapy: Toxicities and Perioperative Implications.

Targeted cellular and immunotherapies have welcomed a new chapter in multi-modal cancer therapy. These agents harness our innate immune system and destroy malignant cells in a precise way as compared with "legacy" chemotherapeutic agents that largely rely on abolishing cell division. New therapies can augment the T-cell recognition of tumor antigens and effectively prevent tumor cells from their historically successful ability to evade immune recognition. These novel agents cause acute and chronic toxicities to a variety of organ systems (enteritis, pneumonitis, hypophysitis, and hepatitis), and this may masquerade as other chronic illnesses or paraneoplastic effects. As the perioperative footprint of cancer patients increases, it is essential that perioperative providers-anesthesiologists, surgeons, nurse anesthetists, and inpatient hospital medicine providers-be up to date on the physiologic mechanisms that underlie these new therapies as well as their acute and subacute toxicity profiles. Immunotherapy toxicity can significantly impact perioperative morbidity as well as influence perioperative management, such as prophylaxis for adrenal insufficiency, preoperative pulmonary assessment, and screening for thyroid dysfunction, among others.

Thymol-Functionalized Hyaluronic Acid as Promising Preservative Biomaterial for the Inhibition of Candida albicans Biofilm Formation.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring biopolymer that has been employed for a plethora of medicinal applications. Nevertheless, as HA is a natural polysaccharide, it can be a substrate able to promote microbial growth and proliferation. Biopolymer-drug conjugates have gained attention over the years to overcome drawbacks of each single component. Within this context, thymol (Thy), a phenolic compound occurring in essential oils (EOs) extracted from Thymus and Origanum, has been largely studied for its antimycotic applications. However, it is characterized by a low water solubility and moderate cytotoxicity. Herein, we report an innovative HA-thymol conjugate (HA-Thy) biomaterial to circumvent the drawbacks of free thymol use by providing the polymer conjugate with the beneficial properties of both components. Preliminary biological tests evidenced the decrease of thymol cytotoxicity for the HA-Thy conjugate, paired with a promising antibiofilm formation activity against Candida albicans, similar to pure thymol, highlighting its potential application as a preservative biomaterial in formulations.

Perioperative considerations for cancer patients with obesity: A narrative review.

Cancer in patients with obesity has become increasingly common throughout much of the world. Based on our experiences in a specialized cancer center, we have developed a set of standards and expectations that should streamline the surgical journey for this patient population. These recommendations should inform the perioperative management of oncology patients with obesity and help raise awareness of this critical and under-discussed topic.

Hox repertoires for motor neuron diversity and connectivity gated by a single accessory factor, FoxP1.

The precision with which motor neurons innervate target muscles depends on a regulatory network of Hox transcription factors that translates neuronal identity into patterns of connectivity. We show that a single transcription factor, FoxP1, coordinates motor neuron subtype identity and connectivity through its activity as a Hox accessory factor. FoxP1 is expressed in Hox-sensitive motor columns and acts as a dose-dependent determinant of columnar fate. Inactivation of Foxp1 abolishes the output of the motor neuron Hox network, reverting the spinal motor system to an ancestral state. The loss of FoxP1 also changes the pattern of motor neuron connectivity, and in the limb motor axons appear to select their trajectories and muscle targets at random. Our findings show that FoxP1 is a crucial determinant of motor neuron diversification and connectivity, and clarify how this Hox regulatory network controls the formation of a topographic neural map.