This book includes recent advances in the use of clays in the design of medicinal products and medicinal devices. The pharmaceutical applications of nanoclays are far ranging, because of their distinct advantages: they are versatile (possess a wide range of mechanical, chemical and physical properties) and available at reasonable costs. Some special clays (mainly kaolinite, halloysite, montmorillonite, saponite, hectorite, palygorskite and sepiolite), as well as semi-synthetic (organoclays) or synthetic (double layer hydroxides) derivatives, are very useful materials for modulating drug delivery. In the last decade, several actives have been loaded onto nanoclays and similar inorganic excipients to increase solubility, improve stability, reduce toxicity, and enhance bioavailability, with a consequent increase in therapeutic response. Polymer/clay nanocomposites with synergic properties have been developed, showing improved mechanical properties with respect to the pristine polymer matrices and allowing modified release of loaded actives. Moreover, nanoclays have very recently demonstrated positive effects on the proliferation and migration of fibroblasts. The development of clay-based medicinal products and medicinal devices requires experience in the fields of both clay structure and properties and pharmaceutical technology design.

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This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Looking Forward to the Future of Heparin: New Sources, Developments and Applications that was published in Molecules

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The very first marine-derived anticancer drug, Cytarabine (aka Ara-C, Cytosar-U®), was approved by the FDA in 1969 for the treatment of leukemia. At the beginning of 2021, the list of approved marine-derived anticancer drugs consists of nine substances, five of which received approval within the last two years, demonstrating the rapid evolution of the field. The current book is a collection of scientific articles related to the exponentially growing field of anticancer marine compounds. These articles cover the whole field, from agents with cancer-preventive activity, to novel and previously characterized compounds with anticancer activity, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as the latest status of compounds under clinical development.

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Zinc-dependent matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) belong to metzincins that comprise not only 23 human MMPs but also other metalloproteinases, such as 21 human ADAMs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain) and 19 secreted ADAMTSs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase thrombospondin domain). The many setbacks from the clinical trials of broad-spectrum MMP inhibitors for cancer indications in the late 1990s emphasized the extreme complexity of the participation of these proteolytic enzymes in biology. This editorial mini-review summarizes the Special Issue, which includes four review articles and 10 original articles that highlight the versatile roles of MMPs, ADAMs, and ADAMTSs, in normal physiology as well as in neoplastic and destructive processes in tissue. In addition, we briefly discuss the unambiguous involvement of MMPs in wound healing.

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In recent years, researchers have shown a special interest in natural products as alternative methods for the prevention, treatment, and/or management of various skin illnesses and disorders, primarily due to their natural availability, efficacity, reduced cost, and minimal toxicity. In a similar vein, synthetic bioactives, as well as small molecules, have been studied in vitro, in vivo, and in clinical studies as potential drugs or supplements. This Special Issue of Nutrients comprises an array of literature reviews, original communications, and studies on the roles of natural products, synthetic bioactives, and small molecules in a variety of skin disorders and diseases, such as aging, atopic dermatitis, cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, melanoma, allergies, hyperpigmentation, inflammation, and more, which were investigated through in vitro and ex vivo approaches, preclinical trials, cell-based assays, and animal models. The mechanisms of action of certain compounds are proposed, while others are currently under investigation. The authors of the papers also explore technologies designed to improve the bioavailability and delivery of certain compounds. In lieu of ongoing research on a variety of skin disorders, the wealth of information published in this Special Issue can act as a springboard for the development of new preventive and therapeutic modalities for the management of skin diseases.

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This Nutrients Special Issue focuses on neonatal nutritional advances for inflammatory disorders affecting infants such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Nutrition can significantly impact the development of certain diseases that afflict infants. This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research on the role of nutrition in preventing or impacting neonatal disorders. Specifically, this Special Issue focuses on the role of breast milk or donor breast milk and the various components in milk that have been demonstrated to protect against NEC and other inflammatory diseases. This issue provides a comprehensive composite of the advances in nutritional strategies that can modulate or prevent neonatal intestinal disorders.

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Protein–ligand interactions play a fundamental role in most major biological functions. The number and diversity of small molecules that interact with proteins, whether naturally or not, can quickly become overwhelming. They are as essential as amino acids, nucleic acids or membrane lipids, enabling a large number of essential functions. One need only think of carbohydrates or even just ATP to be certain. They are also essential in drug discovery. With the increasing structural information of proteins and protein–ligand complexes, molecular modelling, molecular dynamics, and chemoinformatics approaches are often required for the efficient analysis of a large number of such complexes and to provide insights. Similarly, numerous computational approaches have been developed to characterize and use the knowledge of such interactions, which can lead to drug candidates. "Recent Developments on Protein–Ligand Interactions: From Structure, Function to Applications" was dedicated to the different aspect of protein–ligand analysis and/or prediction using computational approaches, as well as new developments dedicated to these tasks. It will interest both specialists and non-specialists, as the presented studies cover a very large spectra in terms of methodologies and applications. It underlined the variety of scientific area linked to these questions, i.e., chemistry, biology, physics, informatics, bioinformatics, structural bioinformatics and chemoinformatics.

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