Abstract The species belonging to the Sphingomonas genus possess multifaceted functions ranging from remediation of environmental contaminations to producing highly beneficial phytohormones, such as sphingan and gellan gum. Recent studies have shown an intriguing role of Sphingomonas species in the degradation of organometallic compounds. However, the actual biotechnological potential of this genus requires further assessment. Some of the species from the genus have also been noted to improve plant-growth during stress conditions such as drought, salinity, and heavy metals in agricultural soil. This role has been attributed to their potential to produce plant growth hormones e.g. gibberellins and indole acetic acid. However, the current literature is scattered, and some of the important areas, such as taxonomy, phylogenetics, genome mapping, and cellular transport systems, are still being overlooked in terms of elucidation of the mechanisms behind stress-tolerance and bioremediation. In this review, we elucidated the prospective role and function of this genus for improved utilization during environmental biotechnology.
Silvia Crescioli, Hélène Kaplon, Alicia Chenoweth
et al.
The Antibodies to Watch article series provides annual updates on commercial late-stage clinical development, regulatory review, and marketing approvals of antibody therapeutics. Since the first article was published in 2010, the late-stage pipeline has grown from 26 antibody therapeutics to over 200, while during the same time numerous molecules in late-stage studies either transitioned to regulatory review and were approved or were terminated. In this installment of the series, we recap first marketing approvals granted to 19 antibody therapeutics in 2025, discuss 26 molecules currently in regulatory review, including the bispecific antibody-drug conjugate izalontamab brengitecan, and predict which molecules of the 209 currently in the commercial late-stage pipeline might transition to regulatory review by the end of 2026. Most antibody therapeutics in the latter category are for non-cancer indications (16/21, 76%) and have a conventional format (13/21, 62%), but the category also includes numerous antibody-oligo or -drug conjugates, such as delpacibart etedesiran, delpacibart zotadirsen, zeleciment rostudirsen, sonesitatug vedotin, trastuzumab pamirtecan, and ifinatamab deruxtecan, as well as the bispecific petosemtamab. As antibody therapeutics development is a global enterprise, we also discuss trends in annual first approvals granted to antibody therapeutics in any country since 2010, stratified by the antibody’s country of origin, documenting the notable increases in the total number of first approvals and those approved first in China. Finally, to benchmark the time typically required for clinical development and regulatory review, we calculated this period for recently approved antibody therapeutic products stratified by their therapeutic area, mechanism of action, format, and country of origin. Our data show that the development and approval period were typically ~6 years, but on average this period was shorter for China-originated products.
Background:
Eucheuma cottonii (EC) is a seaweed contains active compounds of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and triterpenoids as antioxidants. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a chemical widely consumed as a flavor enhancer. The use of MSG in large amounts and for long durations triggers organ damage, including the kidneys, which is currently still a debate. This study aims to prove whether EC extract can reduce kidney damage due to MSG induction.
Methods:
This was an experimental animal study with probability sampling. Twenty-four Rattus norvegicus were divided into three groups: Group I without treatment, MSG-induced, Group II at 4 g/kg BW intragastric on the 7th day for 14 days, and Group III was induced by MSG and given EC extract at 400 mg/kg body weight (BW) intragastric on the 10th day via intragastric tube for 14 days. At the end of the study, blood samples of experimental animals were taken to examine blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine. Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and Levene’s test for homogeneity.
Results:
MSG induction increased BUN levels but did not increase serum creatinine levels. The group induced by MSG and given EC extract compared to the group induced only by MSG showed no significant difference in all variables.
Conclusion:
MSG induction at 4 g/kg intragastrically for 14 days increased BUN levels but did not increase serum creatinine levels. EC extracts at 400 mg/kg BW in R. norvegicus-induced MSG at 4 g/kg intragastrically for 14 days did not significantly reduce BUN and serum creatinine levels.
Spintronic-based neuron devices for neural network hardware are gaining increasing attention. However, the majority of these devices are designed to replicate a highly simplified neuronal model known as the leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neuron. We present a domain wall motion-based magnetic tunnel junction (DW-MTJ) device that emulates the more bio-plausible FitzHugh–Nagumo neuron model. The neuron characteristics are realized using spin–orbit torque (SOT) driven DW motion in a circular nano-pillar. We obtain sustained magnetization relaxation oscillations in the presence of a DC charge current. The shape, frequency, and phase of the FitzHugh–Nagumo oscillations are controlled by SOT and voltage. A thorough parametric analysis of the proposed neuron device structure is done to assess the device viability with different material systems and environmental conditions. The device consumes energy per spike in the range from 9 to 47.5 fJ, depending upon the parameters. Furthermore, we map the device characteristics to the FitzHugh–Nagumo neuron model by tuning the parameters. The device model is integrated into a fully connected, 3-layer spiking neural network (SNN) framework to classify the MNIST handwritten digit images dataset. We train and test the network under different device conditions. The SNN achieves a classification accuracy of more than 98% in all cases, showcasing its potential for efficient, bio-plausible neuromorphic systems.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains poses a serious public health challenge, urging the need for alternative therapeutic approaches. This study presents, for the first time, the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using Cirsium arvense leaf extract, offering a novel route for generating bioinspired therapeutic agents. The synthesized ZnO NPs were characterized through standard physicochemical techniques, confirming their structure and stability. A distinctive UV-Visible absorption peak at 330 nm validated the successful synthesis. FTIR analysis identified functional groups such as O-H, CC, and C-N stretches that contributed to the reduction, capping, and stabilization of the NPs. The average crystallite size calculated from XRD 14.95 nm was smaller than the particle size observed in SEM 18.25. This difference is attributed to the fact that XRD estimates the size of individual crystallites within the nanoparticles, whereas SEM provides the overall particle size, including possible agglomerates. Such variations are commonly reported in nanoparticle studies. EDX results showed zinc (42.47 %) and oxygen (15.17 %) as the main constituents. The ZnO NPs exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Salmonella enterica, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, with inhibition zones of 18.5 mm, 18.5 mm, 17.5 mm, and 18 mm respectively at 400 μg/ml. Furthermore, ZnO NPs displayed promising antileishmanial activity against Leishmania tropica promastigotes, with a notable mortality rate of 51.89 ± 0.48 % at 1000 μg/ml. These findings suggest that Cirsium arvense-mediated ZnO NPs hold potential as bioinspired therapeutic agents.
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9), an emerging gene-editing technology, has recently gained rapidly increasing attention. However, the lack of efficient delivery vectors to deliver CRISPR-Cas9 to specific cells or tissues has hindered the translation of this biotechnology into clinical applications. Chemically synthesized nanoparticles (NPs), as attractive non-viral delivery platforms for CRISPR-Cas9, have been extensively investigated because of their unique characteristics, such as controllable size, high stability, multi-functionality, bio-responsive behavior, biocompatibility, and versatility in chemistry. In this review, the key considerations for the precise design of chemically synthesized-based nanoparticles include efficient encapsulation, cellular uptake, the targeting of specific tissues and cells, endosomal escape, and controlled release. We discuss cutting-edge strategies to integrate chemical modifications into non-viral nanoparticles that guide the CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing machinery to specific edits. We also highlighted the rationale of intelligent nanoparticle design. In particular, we have summarized promising functional groups and molecules that can effectively optimize carrier function. In addition, this review focuses on advances in the widespread application of NPs delivery in the biomedical fields to promote the development of safe, specific, and efficient NPs for delivering CRISPR-Cas9 systems, providing references for accelerating their clinical translational applications.