ABSTRACT
Apart from ATP generation, mitochondria are involved in a wide range of functions, making them one of the most prominent organelles of the human cell. Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the pathophysiology of several diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic disorders. This makes it a target for a variety of therapeutics for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. The use of nanoparticles to target mitochondria has significant importance in modern times because they provide promising ways to deliver drug payloads to the mitochondria by overcoming challenges, such as low solubility and poor bioavailability, and also resolve the issues of the poor biodistribution of drugs and pharmacokinetics with increased specificity. This review assesses nanoparticle-based drug-delivery systems, such as liposomes, DQAsome, MITO-Porters, micelles, polymeric and metal nanocarriers, as well as quantum dots, as mitochondria-targeted strategies and discusses them as a treatment for mitochondrial disorders.
ABSTRACT
Comparative molecular docking and vixualization analysis of the human thrombin with the SARS CoV-2 Spike glycoprotein and the human ACE-2 receptors is of interest. The data shows that residues spanning positions 30-41 in the ACE-2 have interaction with the spike glycoprotein (UniProt ID: Q9BYF1). Results also shows that thrombin binds with SER494 in the spike protein, and GLU37 in the ACE2 receptor. SER494 in the viral receptor-binding domain provides support for hotspot-353 reported elsewhere. These preliminary data provide insights for further probe.