Nanotechnology against the novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2): diagnosis, treatment, therapy and future perspectives.

COVID-19, as an emerging infectious disease, has caused significant mortality and morbidity along with socioeconomic impact. No effective treatment or vaccine has been approved yet for this pandemic disease. Cutting-edge tools, especially nanotechnology, should be strongly considered to tackle this virus. This review aims to propose several strategies to design and fabricate effective diagnostic and therapeutic agents against COVID-19 by the aid of nanotechnology. Polymeric, inorganic self-assembling materials and peptide-based nanoparticles are promising tools for battling COVID-19 as well as its rapid diagnosis. This review summarizes all of the exciting advances nanomaterials are making toward COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis and therapy.

Anti-Proliferative Properties, Biocompatibility, and Chemical Composition of Different Extracts of Plantago major Medicinal Plant.

Background: To study the anticancer activity of Plantago major, we assessed the effect of ethanolic, methanolic and acetonic extracts of this plant on HCT-116, SW-480, and HEK-293 cell lines as control. Methods: The cytotoxic activity, biocompatibility, and toxicity were evaluated by MTT assay, hemolysis, and Artemia salina-LD50 (on mice) tests, respectively. The analysis of the extracts was performed by GC-MS analysis. Results: The results showed that all the extracts had the most antiproliferative properties on the HCT-116 cell line. The P. major root extract was more effective than the aerial parts, and IC50 values for ethanolic, methanolic and acetonic root extracts were 405.59, 470.16, and 82.26 µg/mL, respectively on HCT-116 cell line at 72 h. Hemolysis degree of the ethanolic extract of aerial and root parts were approximately 1% at 400 µg/mL.. Using the ethanolic extracts, the Artemia survived every concentration, and no toxicity was observed. One week after the oral administration of different parts of P. major extracts, none of the mice died, even those were administered 2000 mg/kg. The results of GC/MS analysis showed that P. major extracts contain potential anticancer compounds, such as stearic acid (8.61%) in aerial parts of methanolic extract and 1,2- Benzenedicarboxylic acid, mono(2-ethylhexyl)ester (88.07% and 40.63%) in aerial and root parts of acetonic extract of P. major. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the P. major is a source of potential compounds with antiproliferative properties.

Establishment and elicitation of transgenic root culture of Plantago lanceolata and evaluation of its anti-bacterial and cytotoxicity activity.

Hairy root induction in Plantago lanceolata was optimized to take advantage of transformed root cultures. The highest frequency of transformation was achieved using leaf explant, A4 strain, pre-cultivation of explant, 150 µM Acetosyringone, 5 min inoculation, half-strength Murashige and Skoog basal medium as co-cultivation, and half-strength Gamborg's basal medium as a selective medium with 3% sucrose. Among the studied compound encompassing gallic acid, catalpol and apigenin, only the production of gallic acid in hairy roots was affected by 20 mg L-1 AgNO3 and 100 mg L-1 chitosan at 24 hr which yielded 7.63, 4.76-fold increase in its content, respectively. The methanolic extracts of hairy roots elicited by 20 mg L-1 AgNO3 exhibited anti-bacterial activity (MIC and MBC = 25 mg mL-1) against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Salmonella typhi and anti-bacterial potential of non-elicited hairy roots of P. lanceolata (MIC = 25 mg mL-1 and MBC = 35 mg mL-1) were more active against Klebsiella pneumoniae and P. vulgaris than other bacteria. The methanolic extracts of the P. lanceolata hairy roots demonstrated significant cytotoxic activity on colorectal carcinoma cell line (SW-480) with IC50 = 250.65 ± 6.8 µg mL-1 in comparison to human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) with IC50 = 5263.65 ± 4.6 µg mL-1. Plantago lanceolata hairy roots showed important biological activity explaining its role in traditional medicine.

Anti-carcinogenic and anti-angiogenic properties of the extracts of Acorus calamus on gastric cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE: Acorus calamus (A. calamus) has been used as a medicinal plant in Asia for its effects on digestive system for the last 2000 years. To investigate the anti-cancer activity of rhizome of A. calamus, the ethanolic and methanolic extracts and essential oil of the rhizome were prepared and their effects were assessed on human gastric cancer cell line (AGS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The viability of cells which were treated with the extracts and the essential oil was assessed by MTT assay. To evaluate the anti-angiogenic property of the extracts, in vitro tube formation assay was done. Cell cycle distribution and the expression of Oct4 and Nucleostemin, after treatments, were checked by flowcytometry and quantitative RT-PCR, respectively. Furthermore, analysis of essential oil from A.calamus was done by GC-MS. RESULTS: Our results showed that the growth of AGS cells was inhibited by the extracts and essential oil and the extracts inhibited the angiogenesis in HUVEC cells. Our data revealed that the extracts and essential oil of A. calamus caused G1 arrest in AGS cells and downregulation of Oct4 and NS after treatment. By GC-MS analysis, we found new compounds such as epiprezizaene, valencene and isocyclocitral in essential oil of A. CONCLUSION: All together, our results showed that the extracts of A. calamus have anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic effects on cancer cells.