Development of clove oil based nanoencapsulated biopesticide employing mesoporous nanosilica synthesized from paddy straw via bioinspired sol-gel route

From ocean to meadow: A circular bioeconomy by transforming seaweed, seagrass, grass, and straw waste into high-value products

Biomass waste, both aquatic (seagrass and seaweed) and terrestrial (grass and straw), represents a valuable resource with potential for high-value product creation. This paper reveals the potential across pharmaceuticals, food and feed, chemicals, performance materials, and energy. Notably, chemicals and performance materials offer the greatest value creation potential for both biomass types. Although aquatic and terrestrial biomasses can be used for similar final products, their journey from-waste-to-product differ, facing different facets of barriers such as low local technology readiness and high investment and operational costs. Conversely, the main enablers of this value recovery include increased sustainability and low feedstock costs. Here we also reflect that the value of biomass needs to be rethought, going beyond economic benefits.

Valorizing Banana Peel Waste into Mesoporous Biogenic Nanosilica and Novel Nano-biofertilizer Formulation Thereof via Nano-biopriming Inspired Tripartite Interaction Studies

The present study attempts to valorize banana peel waste (BPW) into high-value precipitated nanosilica-based agri-input. XRD analysis revealed smaller-sized biogenic nanosilica (BNS) with an increase (without heating) or decrease (with heating) in the duration of acid pretreatment during the pre-calcination step. The highest BNS yield was recorded in post-calcinated BPW ash involving simultaneous acid and heat treatment (1 h) (SA-3). FTIR analysis displayed an intense peak at 1078.3 cm-1, indicating "Si-O-Si bond" asymmetric vibrations. FESEM-EDX micrographs revealed high-purity BNS of predominantly spheroid morphology. The BJH plot exhibited mesoporous nanosilica with a median pore diameter of ∼33.82 nm. The bipartite interaction of 0.001 g mL-1 BNS signifies growth-promoting effects on Bacillus subtilis (BS) and Raphanus sativus (RS). The nano-primed RS seeds showed higher germination indices over non-primed seeds at 0.001 g of BNS mL-1. Further, the nano-biopriming studies showed the synergistic response of BNS and BS interaction on RS seeds in terms of higher seedling growth, biomass content, and stress tolerance index. The findings open new avenues for developing nano-biofertilizer formulations that serve multifaceted functions such as waste management and biomass valorization into value-added products and fulfill sustainable development goals.

Immunomodulatory and osteogenic effects of chitosan-based injectable hydrogel with geniposide-loaded mesoporous bioactive glass

The immune response dominated by macrophages plays a pivotal role in the regeneration of bone tissue. In this work, an injectable temperature-responsive hydrogel composed of geniposide-loaded mesoporous bioactive glass, chitosan and β-glycerophosphate (G-M Gel) was prepared, showing robustly networks, uniform pore structure, excellent biocompatibility, immunomodulatory effect and osteogenic potential. In an inflammatory microenvironment elicited by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the proportion of M1 and M2 macrophages measured by flow cytometry were 33.17 % and 2.07 %, respectively. After G-M Gel treatment, the proportion of M1 macrophages decreased to 14.4 %, while the proportion of M2 macrophages increased significantly to 16.2 %. LPS treated macrophage conditioned medium inhibited the expression of osteogenic related factors (OCN, OPN, Runx2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red S (ARS) in MC3T3-E1 cells. In contrast, LPS + G-M Gel treated macrophage conditioned medium significantly increased the expression of osteogenic related factors, ALP and ARS. These results demonstrated that G-M Gel can augment bone formation by promoting the polarization of M2 macrophages, showing great potential clinical application of G-M Gel in bone regeneration field.

Unexpected Inhibitory Role of Silica Nanoparticles on Lung Cancer Development by Promoting M1 Polarization of Macrophages

Introduction

Inhalation exposure to silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) is frequently inevitable in modern times. Although the impact of SiNPs on the ecological niche of the lungs has been extensively explored, the role and mechanism of SiNPs in the microenvironment of lung tumors remain elusive.

Methods

In this investigation, Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) was implanted into the left lung in situ after 28 days of intratracheal SiNPs injection into the lungs of mice. This study evaluates the effects of SiNPs on the tumor immune microenvironment both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings indicate that SiNPs can suppress lung cancer by modulating the immune microenvironment of tumors.

Results

SiNPs treatment promotes macrophage M1 polarization by activating both NF-κB pathway and glycolytic mechanisms. This phenomenon may be associated with lung inflammation and fluctuation in the pre-metastatic and metastatic microenvironments induced by SiNPs exposure in mice. Additionally, we have shown for the first time that SiNPs have an inhibitory effect on lung carcinogenesis and its progression.

Conclusion

This study uniquely demonstrates that SiNPs suppress lung cancer by promoting M1 polarization of macrophages in the immune microenvironment of lung tumors. Our findings are critical in exploring the interaction between SiNPs and lung cancer.

Pore engineering of micro/mesoporous nanomaterials for encapsulation, controlled release and variegated applications of essential oils

Essential oils have become increasingly popular in fields of medical, food and agriculture, owing to their strongly antimicrobial, anti-inflammation and antioxidant effects, greatly meeting demand from consumers for healthy and safe natural products. However, the easy volatility and/or chemical instability of active ingredients of essential oils (EAIs) can result in the loss of activity before realizing their functions, which have greatly hindered the widely applications of EAIs. As an emerging trend, micro/mesoporous nanomaterials (MNs) have drawn great attention for encapsulation and controlled release of EAIs, owing to their tunable pore structural characteristics. In this review, we briefly discuss the recent advances of MNs that widely used in the controlled release of EAIs, including zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs), and provide a comprehensive summary focusing on the pore engineering strategies of MNs that affect their controlled-release or triggered-release for EAIs, including tailorable pore structure properties (e.g., pore size, pore surface area, pore volume, pore geometry, and framework compositions) and surface properties (surface modification and surface functionalization). Finally, the variegated applications and potential challenges are also given for MNs based delivery strategies for EAIs in the fields of healthcare, food and agriculture. These will provide considerable instructions for the rational design of MNs for controlled release of EAIs.