Precise control methods of the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles for personalized medicine
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 20;87:103108. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103108. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBiomedical applications of nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted much attention. With the advancement of personalized medicine, researchers are now proposing the concept that the design of NPs needs to be optimized according to the individual patient. To realize this concept, an important question is how precisely we can tailor the physicochemical properties of NPs, such as size, shape, and surface chemistry, using current technology. This review discusses recent advances and challenges in the precise control of the s...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 21, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Noriko Nakamura Seiichi Ohta Source Type: research
Combining enzyme and metabolic engineering for microbial supply of therapeutic phytochemicals
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 18;87:103110. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103110. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe history of pharmacology is deeply intertwined with plant-derived compounds, which continue to be crucial in drug development. However, their complex structures and limited availability in plants challenge drug discovery, optimization, development, and industrial production via chemical synthesis or natural extraction. This review delves into the integration of metabolic and enzyme engineering to leverage micro-organisms as platforms for the sustainable and reliable production of therapeutic phytochemicals. We a...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 19, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Maxence Holtz Carlos G Acevedo-Rocha Michael K Jensen Source Type: research
Combining enzyme and metabolic engineering for microbial supply of therapeutic phytochemicals
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 18;87:103110. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103110. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe history of pharmacology is deeply intertwined with plant-derived compounds, which continue to be crucial in drug development. However, their complex structures and limited availability in plants challenge drug discovery, optimization, development, and industrial production via chemical synthesis or natural extraction. This review delves into the integration of metabolic and enzyme engineering to leverage micro-organisms as platforms for the sustainable and reliable production of therapeutic phytochemicals. We a...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 19, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Maxence Holtz Carlos G Acevedo-Rocha Michael K Jensen Source Type: research
Combining enzyme and metabolic engineering for microbial supply of therapeutic phytochemicals
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 18;87:103110. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103110. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe history of pharmacology is deeply intertwined with plant-derived compounds, which continue to be crucial in drug development. However, their complex structures and limited availability in plants challenge drug discovery, optimization, development, and industrial production via chemical synthesis or natural extraction. This review delves into the integration of metabolic and enzyme engineering to leverage micro-organisms as platforms for the sustainable and reliable production of therapeutic phytochemicals. We a...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 19, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Maxence Holtz Carlos G Acevedo-Rocha Michael K Jensen Source Type: research
Neutrophils, an emerging new therapeutic platform
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13;87:103106. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103106. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNeutrophils possess unique characteristics that render them indispensable to health, and patients with irregular neutrophil counts or functions suffer from increased morbidity and mortality. As neutrophils are short-lived postmitotic cells, genetic aberrations cannot be corrected directly in neutrophils and must be targeted in their progenitors. Neutrophils are increasingly being contemplated for a range of therapeutic applications, including restoration or modulation of immune function and targeting of solid tumor...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Alejandra L ópez-Arredondo Jos é A Cruz-Cardenas Jorge A C ázares-Preciado Nicholas E Timmins Marion Eg Brunck Source Type: research
Neutrophils, an emerging new therapeutic platform
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13;87:103106. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103106. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNeutrophils possess unique characteristics that render them indispensable to health, and patients with irregular neutrophil counts or functions suffer from increased morbidity and mortality. As neutrophils are short-lived postmitotic cells, genetic aberrations cannot be corrected directly in neutrophils and must be targeted in their progenitors. Neutrophils are increasingly being contemplated for a range of therapeutic applications, including restoration or modulation of immune function and targeting of solid tumor...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Alejandra L ópez-Arredondo Jos é A Cruz-Cardenas Jorge A C ázares-Preciado Nicholas E Timmins Marion Eg Brunck Source Type: research
Neutrophils, an emerging new therapeutic platform
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13;87:103106. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103106. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTNeutrophils possess unique characteristics that render them indispensable to health, and patients with irregular neutrophil counts or functions suffer from increased morbidity and mortality. As neutrophils are short-lived postmitotic cells, genetic aberrations cannot be corrected directly in neutrophils and must be targeted in their progenitors. Neutrophils are increasingly being contemplated for a range of therapeutic applications, including restoration or modulation of immune function and targeting of solid tumor...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Alejandra L ópez-Arredondo Jos é A Cruz-Cardenas Jorge A C ázares-Preciado Nicholas E Timmins Marion Eg Brunck Source Type: research
Biotechnological polyphosphate as an opportunity to contribute to the circularization of the phosphate economy
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13;87:103107. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103107. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPolyphosphates, chains of polymerized phosphate subunits, are used as food additives for various applications such as conservation, water retention, and pH buffering. Currently, the value chain of phosphates is linear, based on mining fossil phosphate rock, which is anticipated to be depleted in a few hundred years. With no replacement available, a transition to a circular phosphate economy, to which biological systems can contribute, is required. Baker's yeast can hyperaccumulate phosphate from various phosphate-r...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 14, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Philipp Demling Makarius Baier Alexander Deitert Jana Fees Lars M Blank Source Type: research
Biotechnological polyphosphate as an opportunity to contribute to the circularization of the phosphate economy
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 13;87:103107. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103107. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPolyphosphates, chains of polymerized phosphate subunits, are used as food additives for various applications such as conservation, water retention, and pH buffering. Currently, the value chain of phosphates is linear, based on mining fossil phosphate rock, which is anticipated to be depleted in a few hundred years. With no replacement available, a transition to a circular phosphate economy, to which biological systems can contribute, is required. Baker's yeast can hyperaccumulate phosphate from various phosphate-r...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 14, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Philipp Demling Makarius Baier Alexander Deitert Jana Fees Lars M Blank Source Type: research
Can biotechnology lead the way toward a sustainable pharmaceutical industry?
This study reveals that environmental sustainability assessments have been conducted for only around 0.2% of pharmaceuticals, environmental impacts have significant variations among the assessed products, and different impact categories have not been consistently studied. Highly varied impacts require assessing more products to understand the industry's sustainability status. Reporting all impact categories will be crucial, especially when comparing production technologies. Biological production of (semi)synthetic pharmaceuticals could reduce their environmental costs, though the high impacts of biologically produced monoc...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 12, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Deniz Etit Samir Meramo Ólafur Ögmundarson Michael K Jensen Sumesh Sukumara Source Type: research
Can biotechnology lead the way toward a sustainable pharmaceutical industry?
This study reveals that environmental sustainability assessments have been conducted for only around 0.2% of pharmaceuticals, environmental impacts have significant variations among the assessed products, and different impact categories have not been consistently studied. Highly varied impacts require assessing more products to understand the industry's sustainability status. Reporting all impact categories will be crucial, especially when comparing production technologies. Biological production of (semi)synthetic pharmaceuticals could reduce their environmental costs, though the high impacts of biologically produced monoc...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 12, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Deniz Etit Samir Meramo Ólafur Ögmundarson Michael K Jensen Sumesh Sukumara Source Type: research
Can biotechnology lead the way toward a sustainable pharmaceutical industry?
This study reveals that environmental sustainability assessments have been conducted for only around 0.2% of pharmaceuticals, environmental impacts have significant variations among the assessed products, and different impact categories have not been consistently studied. Highly varied impacts require assessing more products to understand the industry's sustainability status. Reporting all impact categories will be crucial, especially when comparing production technologies. Biological production of (semi)synthetic pharmaceuticals could reduce their environmental costs, though the high impacts of biologically produced monoc...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 12, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Deniz Etit Samir Meramo Ólafur Ögmundarson Michael K Jensen Sumesh Sukumara Source Type: research
Delivery of STING agonists for cancer immunotherapy
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 9;87:103105. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103105. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAgonists of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate synthase (cGAS)-Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) pathway, a critical mediator of innate immune response to foreign invaders with DNA, have gained significant interest in cancer immunotherapy. STING agonists are envisioned as a way of complementing the antitumor activity of the patient's immune system and immune checkpoint blockade therapy. However, their clinical development has been challenging due to the poor pharmacokinetic and physicoch...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 10, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Jianping Wang Fanfei Meng Yoon Yeo Source Type: research
The biomolecular corona of nanomedicines: effects on nanomedicine outcomes and emerging opportunities
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 9;87:103101. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103101. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTUpon administration, nanomedicines adsorb a corona of endogenous biomolecules on their surface, which can affect nanomedicine interactions with cells, targeting, and efficacy. While strategies to reduce protein binding are available, the high selectivity of the adsorbed corona is enabling novel applications, such as for biomarker discovery and rare protein identification. Additionally, the adsorbed molecules can promote interactions with specific cell receptors, thus conferring the nanomedicine new endogenous target...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 10, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Anna Salvati Source Type: research
Spatially structured microbial consortia and their role in food fermentations
Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Mar 9;87:103102. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103102. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMicrobial consortia are important for the fermentation of foods. They bring combined functionalities to the fermented product, but stability and product consistency of fermentations with complex consortia can be hard to control. Some of these consortia, such as water- and milk-kefir and kombucha, grow as multispecies aggregates or biofilms, in which micro-organisms taking part in a fermentation cascade are spatially organized. The spatial organization of micro-organisms in these aggregates can impact what metabolic ...
Source: Current Opinion in Biotechnology - March 10, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Sabine Michielsen Gabriel T Vercelli Otto X Cordero Herwig Bachmann Source Type: research
