Advanced Nanobiomed Research最新文献

Williamson, A., Khoshmanesh, K., Pirogova, E., Yang, P., Snow, F., Williams, R., Quigley, A. and Kapsa, R.M.I. (2024), Bioreactors: A Regenerative Approach to Skeletal Muscle Engineering for Repair and Replacement. Adv. NanoBiomed Res., 4: 2400030. https://doi.org/10.1002/anbr.202400030

Correction to “Table 1. Myogenic Markers”

Table 1, in paragraph 7 of the “Introduction” section, the text “Initiates differentiation of myoblasts to stem cells” was incorrect for myogenic factors Myf5 and MyoD. This should have read: “Initiates differentiation of stem cells to myoblasts.”

We apologize for this error.

Kidney stone ranks as one of the most prevalent disorders in the urology department, causing substantial personal suffering and healthcare costs globally. However, the prediction, early diagnosis, and treatment of kidney stone disease are still limited. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), loaded with nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites, and lipids, are released by a wide variety of cell types and have potential as biomarkers for kidney stone disease. Meanwhile, some natural EVs derived from plants and animals have been evidenced to have substantial effects on the elimination of calcium oxalate crystals. More importantly, recent explorations have elucidated the multifaceted role of EVs in therapeutic applications. These engineered EVs can be loaded with therapeutic RNAs, oligonucleotides, peptides, and small molecules; this approach has shown great promise in targeted drug delivery and presents a potential solution to the challenges of kidney stone prevention and treatment. This review focuses on EVs derived from blood, urine, kidney, gut microbiota, and urine bacteria, which contribute to calcium oxalate crystal elimination. The therapeutic potential of EVs is significant, offering personalized treatment options. However, it is crucial to assess the challenges in moving EV-based therapies from laboratory settings to clinical applications.

Inflammatory macrophages play a role in cartilage degeneration associated with osteoarthritis (OA) via signaling cascades that result in production of inflammatory substances. This study aims to characterize compound F2, C₆₀(NCH₂CH₂OCH₂CH₂OH)₅, a newly synthesized ethoxyethanol derivative of iminofullerene, and its potential to reduce inflammatory macrophage activity. First, compound F2 is synthesized and labeled with ^99mTc to create ^99mTc-F2. It is then added to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-exposed bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) to determine its effect on macrophage activation, nitric oxide production, and expression of inflammatory markers iNOS, IL-6, Fpr2, and TLR4. An animal model of osteoarthritis is also injected with ^99mTc-F2 to visualize its localization in vivo. This study demonstrates successful synthesis and radiolabeling of the compound F2 molecule. It also demonstrates that compound F2 reduces nitrite production and suppresses the expression of TNF α, IL-6, iNOS, Fpr2, and TLR4 in BMMs exposed to LPS. Additionally, in rats with surgically transected anterior cruciate ligaments, intravenous administration of radioisotope-labeled compound F2 exhibits selective enrichment in the injured knee. These findings suggest that compound F2 mitigates macrophage activation, decreases inflammatory marker expression, and is located to damaged areas, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic option for OA management.

The development of effective anticancer drugs remains a critical challenge despite significant advancements in technology and medicine. In this review, we explore the progress made in leveraging biomimetic microdevices for anticancer drug screening and their potential to enhance in vivo efficacy. Specifically, we discuss the utilization of innovative platforms such as xenograft models, patient-derived xenografts, humanized immune system models, and transgenic models, alongside conventional multiwell plates, to mimic the tumor microenvironment and cellular interactions more accurately. Through the integration of advanced technologies, researchers have achieved remarkable improvements in drug screening, efficacy prediction, and identification of optimal drug combinations. This review provides insights into the strengths and limitations of these biomimetic microdevices compared to conventional multiwell plates, offering perspectives on their future role in personalized cancer medicine.

The dissemination of primary solid tumor cells to distant organs, termed metastasis, is a major cause of cancer-related deaths. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which can exist as individual cells or multicellular clusters, travel through the bloodstream. Their isolation from liquid biopsy samples is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment guidance for cancer patients. Current isolation methods typically rely on biomarkers like epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) and utilize technologies such as magnetic beads or microfluidic chips. However, these methods face limitations due to tumor heterogeneity. Furthermore, tumor cells that transfer into CTCs often undergo epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, gaining invasive characteristics while losing epithelial markers. As a result, these cells are difficult to detect using EpCAM-based methods. Label-free microscale isolation technologies tackle the limitations of biomarker-based methods by leveraging the distinctive physical properties of CTCs, such as their size, electrical charge, viscoelasticity, and deformability that contrast them from normal blood cells. This review evaluates primary label-free isolation methods, including deterministic lateral displacement, microfiltration, acoustophoresis, and dielectrophoresis, and whether they can offer a deeper insight into tumor heterogeneity and the dynamics of cancer progression and treatment. Additionally, it highlights automated platforms for high-throughput CTC isolation and analysis.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, owing to its aggressive nature, late-stage diagnosis, and resistance to conventional therapies. Gene therapy offers a promising alternative by modulating specific genetic pathways to target cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. This study investigates the potential of chemically functionalized nanoscale graphene oxide (GO) as carriers for delivering therapeutic genes in a 3D tumor microenvironment (TME) model, incorporating lung cancer cells, human lung fibroblasts, and macrophages in a Matrigel-collagen matrix to mimic the structural properties and immune functions. These therapeutic genes, including small interfering RNAs and plasmid DNAs, regulate immune evasion markers (CD47 and CD24) and apoptosis-inducing proteins (ANT1). GO nanocarriers demonstrate preferential uptake in cancer cells, achieving transfection and gene modulation within the TME model. The individual delivery of genes downregulates cancer markers and induces ANT1 expression, resulting in lung cancer cell elimination. Co-delivery of CD47_siRNA and ANT1_pDNA produces synergistic efficacy, enhancing cancer cell elimination. These findings highlight the potential of GO-based gene therapies as a targeted and effective approach for lung cancer treatment, setting the stage for in vivo validation and clinical translation.

3D printing is a promising technology that enables the creation of intricate structures with tailorable properties, successfully transforming various fields, particularly in medical science, healthcare, and biomaterial technologies. Recent studies have recognized microalgae as sustainable, renewable, and cost-effective bioresources that can be utilized as bioinks for creating constructs with intriguing functionalities, such as oxygen-generating scaffolds for tissue engineering, engineered living materials, and bioremediation. This review discusses the properties and applications of microalgae, presents an overview of the current 3D printing technology, and provides a comprehensive review of the recent advancements in 3D-printed microalgae-based constructs for diverse applications. Finally, the challenges that must be overcome to ensure the widespread applicability of these materials are discussed. This review is expected to inspire future exploration of the innate properties and compositions of microalgae in developing materials with transformative potential in biomedical and biotechnological sectors.

The synovium plays a crucial role in joint function and is a primary site of pathology in inflammatory joint diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), including RA, are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. However, the development of effective treatments remains hindered by the limitations of preclinical modeling techniques. Traditional methods, such as 2D in vitro monolayer cultures and animal models, often fail to replicate the complexity of human tissues. To address these challenges, tissue engineering (TE) and biofabrication strategies have emerged as promising alternatives. These approaches enable the creation of 3D in vitro models that better mimic physiological conditions. Techniques like 3D bioprinting allow researchers to replicate cellular interactions and the extracellular matrix, improving the accuracy of disease models. The application of 3D models in therapy development, drug screening, and personalized medicine has grown significantly. These platforms offer valuable insights into IMID pathophysiology by simulating relevant microenvironments. This review examines current synovium models used in IMID research and explores future directions in TE and 3D biofabrication. Additionally, the impact of inflammation on tissues and discuss the clinical potential of 3D disease models to address current disregarded aspects of coexistent diseases is highlighted.

Bone cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been increasingly investigated as novel acellular strategies for bone regeneration due to their pro-regenerative potency. The evaluation of such bone repair enhancement strategies commonly lies in the assessment of cell-mediated mineral deposition, associated with destructive and nonhigh-throughput methods. Herein, a robust methodology is presented to assess the osteogenic potential of an EV therapy using μ-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ-XRF). Mineralizing osteoblast-derived EVs (MO-EVs) are isolated from conditioned media via ultracentrifugation and comprehensively characterized. Their pro-osteogenic potency is validated via alkaline phosphatase activity, alizarin red, and picrosirius red staining for the evaluation of calcium and matrix deposition, respectively. μ-XRF is first employed to quantify calcium and phosphorous levels as markers of minerals generating 2D elemental maps of the cultures. The in-depth downstream analysis of the elemental maps reveals that MO-EVs modulate mineralization in a time- and concentration-dependent manner as MO-EV concentration from 5 μg mL⁻¹ significantly increases mineral coverage and increases calcium/phosphate levels in mineralized phases. Together, these results demonstrate the potential of μ-XRF, allowing the examination of elemental levels, mineral coverage, and chemical phases in a single process and thus, offering a new platform for the therapeutic screening of osteogenic technologies with a resolution accommodating biological workflows.

Advances in nanotechnology have paved the way for innovative drug delivery systems that enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatment. Cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles (CCM-NPs) and cancer cell-derived small extracellular vesicles (CsEVs) are emerging as promising drug delivery systems for cancer treatment due to their inherent properties such as low immunogenicity and natural targeting capabilities to cancer cells. However, a comprehensive comparison of the advantages, disadvantages, and similarities of these two platforms is lacking. This review summarizes the natural, engineered, and hybrid forms of CCM-NPs and CsEVs-based drug delivery platforms with a focus on comparison of these two platforms, considering key aspects including preparation methods, drug encapsulation strategies, delivery pathways, immune evasion, targeting ability, and their potential for clinical applications. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, the aim is to pave the way for next-generation nanoscale drug delivery platforms and contribute to the development of more effective and personalized cancer therapies.