Exogenous pulmonary surfactant: A review focused on adjunctive therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 including SP-A and SP-D as added clinical marker.

Type I and type II pneumocytes are two forms of epithelial cells found lining the alveoli in the lungs. Type II pneumocytes exclusively secrete 'pulmonary surfactants,' a lipoprotein complex made up of 90% lipids (mainly phospholipids) and 10% surfactant proteins (SP-A, SP-B, SP-C, and SP-D). Respiratory diseases such as influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection are reported to preferentially attack type II pneumocytes of the lungs.

Formation of functional nanobiocatalysts with a novel and encouraging immobilization approach and their versatile bioanalytical applications.

The discovery of functional organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (FNFs) consisting of proteins/enzymes as the organic components and Cu(ii) ion as the inorganic component has made an enormous impact on enzyme immobilization studies. The FNFs synthesized by an encouraging and novel approach not only showed high stabilities but also much enhanced catalytic activities as compared to free and conventionally immobilized enzymes. A recent development demonstrated that FNF formation has moved beyond the initial discovery in which enzymes and Cu ions used as the organic and inorganic parts, respectively, are replaced with new organic (chitosan, amino acid and plant extracts) and inorganic (Cu and Fe) materials.

Nanotechnology in Plants.

The integration of nanotechnology in medicine has had a tremendous impact in the past few decades. The discovery of synthesis of nanomaterials (NMs) and their functions as versatile tools promoted various applications in nano-biotechnology and nanomedicine. Although the physical and chemical methods are still considered as commonly used methods, they introduce several drawbacks such as the use of toxic chemicals (solvent, reducing, and capping agents) and poor control of size, size distribution, and morphology, respectively.