Traditional Uses, Phytochemical Constituents and Ethnopharmacological Properties of Mistletoe from Phoradendron and Viscum Species.

Plants from the genus Phoradendron and Viscum, also known as American and European mistletoe, are a group of hemiparasitic plants traditionally used to treat many diseases. Mistletoes have a rich content of natural compounds like terpenes, alkaloids, proteins, and phenolic compounds associated with their potential medicinal properties. In this sense, mistletoes have shown antiproliferative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activity, which has been attributed to their phytochemical constituents. The mechanisms in which mistletoe plants act vary and depend on their phytochemical content and distribution, which in part will depend on the mistletoe species. In this sense, recent literature research is needed to visualize state of the art in the ethnopharmacological potential of mistletoe. Thus, this literature review aims to systematically report recent studies (2010-2023) on the phytochemical characterization and bioactive studies of mistletoe plants, mainly the Viscum and Phoradendron genera. We gather recent information of 161 references selected in our research. Here we report that although there are several bioactivity studies of mistletoe species, bioavailability studies are still scarce, and the precise mechanisms of action are not fully known. We encourage that further studies include a systematic strategy to cover these areas of opportunity.

An overview of remote monitoring methods in biodiversity conservation.

Conservation of biodiversity is critical for the coexistence of humans and the sustenance of other living organisms within the ecosystem. Identification and prioritization of specific regions to be conserved are impossible without proper information about the sites. Advanced monitoring agencies like the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) had accredited that the sum total of species that are now threatened with extinction is higher than ever before in the past and are progressing toward extinct at an alarming rate. Besides this, the conceptualized global responses to these crises are still inadequate and entail drastic changes. Therefore, more sophisticated monitoring and conservation techniques are required which can simultaneously cover a larger surface area within a stipulated time frame and gather a large pool of data. Hence, this study is an overview of remote monitoring methods in biodiversity conservation via a survey of evidence-based reviews and related studies, wherein the description of the application of some technology for biodiversity conservation and monitoring is highlighted. Finally, the paper also describes various transformative smart technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and/or machine learning algorithms for enhanced working efficiency of currently available techniques that will aid remote monitoring methods in biodiversity conservation.

Wildlife forensics: A boon for species identification and conservation implications.

Wildlife trade and fraudulence in food, artefacts and cosmetic industries had raised serious concern in protection of the wild faunal diversity. Lack of proper tools and molecular based techniques for identification of wild species are some of the major constrains faced by the judiciary and law enforcement agencies while framing charges against poachers and illicit agitator. The emergence of wildlife forensics serves as a boon in solving long pending cases of wildlife crimes. Wildlife forensics have proven to be fast, accurate and reliable criminal investigation processes with comprehensive coverage and easy accessibility. It has also helped resolving taxonomic disputes, determining spatiotemporal genetic divergence, evolutionary history, origins and even endemism. Collaboration among inter-disciplinary fields has even led to engineered signature markers and phylogenetics for several species. Development in fields of genetics, molecular and evolutionary biology and other omics techniques have further contributed in accurate identification of species. Wildlife forensics, with the support of proper international mega database units for population reference, will be fundamental in wildlife investigations through its unlimited information sharing ability. The efficient conservation of species will, however, require a collaborative approach consisting of national policy makers, local stakeholders and implementation agencies in addition to experts from the scientific communities.

Metagenomics Approaches in Discovery and Development of New Bioactive Compounds from Marine Actinomycetes.

Marine actinomycetes are prolific sources of marine drug discovery system contributing for several bioactive compounds of biomedical prominence. Metagenomics, a culture-independent technique through its sequence- and function-based screening has led to the discovery and synthesis of numerous biologically significant compounds like polyketide synthase, Non-ribosomal peptide synthetase, antibiotics, and biocatalyst. While metagenomics offers different advantages over conventional sequencing techniques, they also have certain limitations including bias classification, non-availability of quality DNA samples, heterologous expression, and host selection. The assimilation of advanced amplification and screening methods such as φ29 DNA polymerase, Next-Generation Sequencing, Cosmids, and recent bioinformatics tools like automated genome mining, anti-SMASH have shown promising results to overcome these constrains. Consequently, functional genomics and bioinformatics along with synthetic biology will be crucial for the success of the metagenomic approach and indeed for exploring new possibilities among the microbial consortia for the future drug discovery process.

Advances on Natural Polyphenols as Anticancer Agents for Skin Cancer.

Polyphenols are one of most important phytochemicals distributing in herb plants, vegetables and fruits, which known as important anticancer agents. Given the high incidence and mortality of skin cancer, this study aimed to uncover the chemopreventive effects of polyphenols against skin cancer metastasis. Electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, and Cochrane library were used to compile the literature from 2000 to August 2019. Only in vivo mechanistic studies with English full-texts were chosen for this review. Polyphenols were included in this study if they were administered in purified form; while total extract and fractions were excluded. Among the 8254 primarily selected papers, only a final number of 34 studies were included. The chemopreventive effects of polyphenols as anthocyanins, ellagitanins, EGCG, oleuropeindihydroxy phenyl, punicalagin, quercetin, resveratrol and theaflavin, were mainly examined in treatment of melanoma as the highly metastatic form of this cutaneous cancer. Those properties are mediated by modulation of angiogenesis, apoptosis, inflammation, metastasis, proliferation, pathways such as EGFR/MAPK, mTOR/PI3K/Akt, JAK/STAT, FAK/RTK2, PGE-2/VEGF, PGE-1/ERK/HIIF-1α, and modulation of related signals including NF-κB, P21WAF/CIP1, Bim, Bax, Bcl2, Bclx, Bim, Puma, Noxa, ILs and MMPs. Chemopreventive effects of polyphenols are mediated by several signaling pathways against skin carcinogenesis and metastasis, implying the importance of polyphenols to open up new horizons in development of anti-skin cancer therapeutic strategies.

Benefaction of probiotics for human health: A review.

Humans are a unique reservoir of heterogeneous and vivacious group of microbes, which together forms the human-microbiome superorganism. Human gut serves as a home to over 100-1000 microbial species, which primarily modulate the host internal environment and thereby, play a major role in host health. This spectacular symbiotic relationship has attracted extensive research in this field. More specifically, these organisms play key roles in defense function, eupepsia along with catabolism and anabolism, and impact brain-gut responses. The emergence of microbiota with resistance and tolerance to existing conventional drugs and antibiotics has decreased the drug efficacies. Furthermore, the modern biotechnology mediated nano-encapsulated multiplex supplements appear to be high cost and inconvenient. Henceforth, a simple, low-cost, receptive and intrinsic approach to achieve health benefits is vital in the present era. Supplementation with probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics has shown promising results against various enteric pathogens due to their unique ability to compete with pathogenic microbiota for adhesion sites, to alienate pathogens or to stimulate, modulate and regulate the host's immune response by initiating the activation of specific genes in and outside the host intestinal tract. Probiotics have also been shown to regulate fat storage and stimulate intestinal angiogenesis. Hence, this study aims to underline the possible beneficial impact of probiotics for human health and medical sectors and for better lifestyle.

Current advances in nanocarriers for biomedical research and their applications.

Nanodrug delivery systems sometimes referred to as nanocarriers (NCs) are nanoengineered biocompatible materials or devices, which in conjugation with desired bioactive compounds plays an indispensable functional role in the field of pharmaceutical and allied sciences. The diversified ability of this bioengineered colloidal or noncolloidal molecule to breach the biological barriers to reach the targeted location in the biological system uplifts its other versatile natures of mono- or polydispersity in biodistribution. Furthermore, its nontoxicity and biodegradability result in making it a unique candidate for its purpose as drug delivery system. A number of different conjugations of chemical and biological substances are currently implemented for the synthesis of this biofunctional hybrid nanomaterial by simple methods. The use of these bioconjugated as a nanoparticulated system is currently being used for the treatment of various deadly incurable infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and disorders such as diabetes and cancers of various forms. Henceforth, the objective of the present review article is to provide overviews of the diversified and types of nanoparticulated systems, their beneficial as well as deleterious impacts along with the future prospect of nanodrug delivery system based on present status.

Cure of tuberculosis using nanotechnology: An overview.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), a major health issue of the present era. The bacterium inhabits the host macrophage and other immune cells where it modulates the lysosome trafficking protein, hinders the formation of phagolysosome, and blocks the TNF receptor-dependent apoptosis of host macrophage/monocytes. Other limitations such as resistance to and low bioavailability and bio-distribution of conventional drugs aid to their high virulence and human mortality. This review highlights the use of nanotechnology-based approaches for drug formulation and delivery which could open new avenues to limit the pathogenicity of tuberculosis. Moreover phytochemicals, such as alkaloids, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids, extracted from terrestrial plants and mangroves seem promising against M. tuberculosis through different molecular mechanisms. Further understanding of the genomics and proteomics of this pathogenic microbe could also help overcome various research gaps in the path of developing a suitable therapy against tuberculosis.

Revitalization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for sustainable development in agriculture.

The progression of life in all forms is not only dependent on agricultural and food security but also on the soil characteristics. The dynamic nature of soil is a direct manifestation of soil microbes, bio-mineralization, and synergistic co-evolution with plants. With the increase in world's population the demand for agriculture yield has increased tremendously and thereby leading to large scale production of chemical fertilizers. Since the use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agricultural fields have caused degradation of soil quality and fertility, thus the expansion of agricultural land with fertile soil is near impossible, hence researchers and scientists have sifted their attention for a safer and productive means of agricultural practices. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been functioning as a co-evolution between plants and microbes showing antagonistic and synergistic interactions with microorganisms and the soil. Microbial revitalization using plant growth promoters had been achieved through direct and indirect approaches like bio-fertilization, invigorating root growth, rhizoremediation, disease resistance etc. Although, there are a wide variety of PGPR and its allies, their role and usages for sustainable agriculture remains controversial and restricted. There is also variability in the performance of PGPR that may be due to various environmental factors that might affect their growth and proliferation in the plants. These gaps and limitations can be addressed through use of modern approaches and techniques such as nano-encapsulation and micro-encapsulation along with exploring multidisciplinary research that combines applications in biotechnology, nanotechnology, agro biotechnology, chemical engineering and material science and bringing together different ecological and functional biological approaches to provide new formulations and opportunities with immense potential.

Endophytes: A Treasure House of Bioactive Compounds of Medicinal Importance.

Endophytes are an endosymbiotic group of microorganisms that colonize in plants and microbes that can be readily isolated from any microbial or plant growth medium. They act as reservoirs of novel bioactive secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, phenolic acids, quinones, steroids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids that serve as a potential candidate for antimicrobial, anti-insect, anticancer and many more properties. While plant sources are being extensively explored for new chemical entities for therapeutic purposes, endophytic microbes also constitute an important source for drug discovery. This review aims to comprehend the contribution and uses of endophytes as an impending source of drugs against various forms of diseases and other possible medicinal use.

Photo-mediated green synthesis of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles using aqueous extracts of two mangrove plant species, Heritiera fomes and Sonneratia apetala and investigation of their biomedical applications.

Green synthesis by using biological agents has been a simple and effective approach for the synthesis of various forms of nanoparticles. The present investigation was intended to synthesis Ag-NPs and ZnO-NPs under photo-condition using the aqueous extracts of two mangrove plants namely Heritiera fomes and Sonneratia apetala and evaluate their potential biomedical applications. The formation of nanoparticles in aqueous solution of H. fomes and S. apetala under exposure to sun light was validated by change in color and formation of monodispersed NPs with a narrow particle size distribution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) reveals the presence of Oxime and other heterocyclic compounds to be the most probable compounds responsible for the reduction and stability of nanoparticles in the solutions. The synthesized NPs displayed moderate free radical scavenging properties. The anti-inflammatory potential of ZnO-NPs was recorded to be comparatively higher than that of Ag-NP with 79% and 69.1% respectively. The Ag-NPs with unique properties of inhibiting α-amylase (91.14% and 89.16%) were found to be significantly high indicating its antidiabetic property. The synthesized NPs showed varied zone of inhibition (9-16mm) against the tested microbial pathogens. The synthesized nanoparticles possess strong biological activities in terms of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antibacterial, potentials which could be utilized in various biological applications by the cosmetic, food and biomedical industries.