BME frontiers最新文献

Objective: This study aims to develop and characterize electroactive hydrogels based on reduced bacterial cellulose (BC) and Ti₃C₂T _x -MXene for their potential application in wound healing and real-time monitoring. Impact Statement: The integration of Ti₃C₂T _x -MXene into BC matrices represents a novel approach to creating multifunctional hydrogels that combine biocompatibility, electrical conductivity, and mechanical durability. These properties make the hydrogels promising candidates for advanced wound care and real-time monitoring applications. Introduction: Wound healing requires materials that support cell growth, promote tissue regeneration, and enable real-time monitoring. MXenes, a class of 2-dimensional materials, offer unique electrical and mechanical properties, making them suitable for biomedical applications. This study explores the integration of Ti₃C₂T _x -MXene with BC, a biopolymer known for its excellent biocompatibility and mechanical strength, to create electroactive composite hydrogel films for advanced wound care. Methods: Ti₃C₂T _x -MXene was synthesized by etching Ti₃AlC₂ with hydrofluoric acid and integrated into BC pellicles produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinum. The composite hydrogel films underwent characterization through x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to determine structural, chemical, and thermal properties. Mechanical testing assessed tensile and compressive strengths. Biological assessments, including cell viability, hemolysis rate, and protein expression, evaluated biocompatibility and regenerative potential. Results: XRD confirmed the crystallographic structure of MXene and BC composite film. XPS and FTIR validated the successful incorporation of MXene into the film matrix. Composite hydrogel films demonstrated a tensile strength of 3.5 MPa and a compressive strength of 4.2 MPa. TGA showed stability up to 350 °C, and the electrical conductivity reached 9.14 × 10^-4 S/m, enabling real-time monitoring capabilities. Cell viability exceeded 95%, with a hemolysis rate below 2%. Protein expression studies revealed the ability to promote skin regeneration through collagen I, K10, K5, and filaggrin expression. Conclusion: The BC/MXene composite hydrogel films exhibit important potential as electronic-skin patches for accelerating wound healing and enabling real-time monitoring. Their unique combination of mechanical durability, electrical conductivity, and biocompatibility highlights their promise for advanced wound care applications.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by joint swelling and bone destruction. Despite an incomplete understanding of its genesis, RA is tightly linked to the intricate immunological milieu, involving disruptions in molecular signaling and an imbalance between the innate and adaptive immune systems. With advancements in biomaterials science, the role of biomaterials in RA treatment has evolved from mere drug delivery systems to therapeutic microenvironment modulators, providing drug-independent treatment strategies for RA. In this review, we will delve into the immune microenvironment of RA, focusing on contributions of adaptive immunity, innate immunity, damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), cytokines, and signaling pathways to disease's pathogenesis and inflammation. We provide a detailed analysis of the applications of novel nonpharmaceutical biomaterials in RA treatment, categorized into 3 key mechanisms: biofactor and signaling pathway regulation, endogenous gas adjustment, and immune cell modulation. The composition, form, therapeutic principles, and treatment efficacy of these biomaterials will be explored. The thorough discussion of these topics will offer a fresh viewpoint on RA treatment strategies and guide future research directions.

Nanotechnology offers innovative solutions for addressing the challenges posed by biofilm-forming bacteria, which are highly resistant to conventional antimicrobial therapies. This review explores the integration of pharmaceutical nanotechnology with antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to enhance the treatment of biofilm-related infections. The use of various nanoparticle systems-including inorganic/metallic, polymeric, lipid-based, and dendrimer nanostructures-provides promising avenues for improving drug delivery, targeting, and biofilm disruption. These nanocarriers facilitate the penetration of biofilms, down-regulate biofilm-associated genes, such as ALS1, ALS3, EFG1, and HWP1, and inhibit bacterial defense mechanisms through membrane disruption, reactive oxygen species generation, and intracellular targeting. Furthermore, nanoparticle formulations such as NZ2114-NPs demonstrate enhanced efficacy by reducing biofilm bacterial counts by several orders of magnitude. This review highlights the potential of combining nanotechnology with AMPs to create novel, targeted therapeutic approaches for combatting biofilm-related infections and overcoming the limitations of traditional antimicrobial treatments.

Objective: Current laboratory studies on the effect of biomaterial properties on immune reactions are incomplete and based on a single or a few combination features of the biomaterial design. This study utilizes intelligent prediction models to explore the key features of titanium implant materials in macrophage polarization. Impact Statement: This pilot study provided some insights into the great potential of machine learning in exploring bone immunomodulatory biomaterials. Introduction: Titanium materials are commonly utilized as bone replacement materials to treat missing teeth and bone defects. The immune response caused by implant materials after implantation in the body has a double-edged sword effect on osseointegration. Macrophage polarization has been extensively explored to understand early material-mediated immunomodulation. However, understanding of implant material surface properties and immunoregulations remains limited due to current experimental settings, which are based on trial-by-trial approaches. Artificial intelligence, with its capacity to analyze large datasets, can help explore complex material-cell interactions. Methods: In this study, the effect of titanium surface properties on macrophage polarization was analyzed using intelligent prediction models, including random forest, extreme gradient boosting, and multilayer perceptron. Additionally, data extracted from the newly published literature were further input into the trained models to validate their performance. Results: The analysis identified "cell seeding density", "contact angle", and "roughness" as the most important features regulating interleukin 10 and tumor necrosis factor α secretion. Additionally, the predicted interleukin 10 levels closely matched the experimental results from newly published literature, while the tumor necrosis factor α predictions exhibited consistent trends. Conclusion: The polarization response of macrophages seeded on titanium materials is influenced by multiple factors, and artificial intelligence can assist in extracting the key features of implant materials for immunoregulation.

Objective: In addition to its positive benefits, caffeine also has harmful consequences. Therefore, it is essential to ascertain its content in various substances. Impact Statement: The present study emphasizes a novel way of quantification of caffeine in real as well as laboratory samples based on a nanomaterial-assisted electrochemical technique. Introduction: Electrochemical sensing is a prominent analytical technique because of its efficiency, speed, and simple preparation and observations. Due to its low chemical potential, SnO₂ (tin oxide) demonstrates rapid redox reactions when used as an electrode. The presence of shielded 4f levels contributes to its distinctive optical, catalytic, and electrochemical capabilities. Methods: An efficient coprecipitation approach, which is simple and rapid and operates at low temperatures, is utilized to produce zinc-doped tin oxide nanoparticles (Zn-SnO₂ nanoparticles). Zinc doping is used to modify the optoelectronic characteristics of tin oxide nanoparticles, rendering them very efficient as electrochemical sensors. Results: The crystal structure of samples was analyzed using x-ray diffraction, electronic transitions were calculated using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and surface morphology was analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. The x-ray diffraction investigation revealed that the produced Zn-doped SnO₂ nanoparticles exhibit tetragonal phases, and the average size of their crystallites reduces upon doping Zn with SnO₂. The bandgap energy calculated using the Tauc plot was found to be 3.77 eV. Conclusion: The fabricated caffeine sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 0.605 μA μM ^-1 cm^-2, and its limit of detection was found to be 3 μM.

Catheter-related infections (CRIs) caused by hospital-acquired microbial infections lead to the failure of treatment and the increase of mortality and morbidity. Surface modifications of the implant catheters have been demonstrated to be effective approaches to improve and largely reduce the bacterial colonization and related complications. In this work, we focus on the last 5-year progress in the surface modifications of biomedical catheters to prevent CRIs. Their antibacterial strategies used for surface modifications are further divided into 5 classifications through the antimicrobial mechanisms, including active surfaces, passive surfaces, active and passive combination surfaces, stimulus-type response surfaces, and other types. Each feature and the latest advances in these abovementioned antibacterial surfaces of implant catheters are highlighted. Finally, these confronting challenges and future prospects are discussed for the antibacterial modifications of implant catheters.

Objective: This study aims to clarify the effects of bioceramic interface cues on macrophages. Impact Statement: Recently, there have been many researches exploring the effects of interface topography cues on macrophage polarization and cytokine secretion. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of bioceramic interface cues on macrophages still need exploring. This study provides insights into the effects of bioceramic micro-groove surface structures on macrophages. Introduction: With the development of bone tissue engineering methods, bioceramics have been used for bone repair. After the implantation of bioceramics, innate immune response that occurs at the interface of materials can deeply influence the subsequent inflammation and bone regeneration progress. Therefore, the exploration and regulation of immune response of the bioceramic interface will be beneficial to promote the bone regeneration effects. Methods: In this study, bioceramics with micro-groove structures on the surface are fabricated by digital light processing 3-dimensional printing technology. Then, micro-groove structures with different spacings (0, 25, 50, and 75 μm) are prepared separately to explore the effects on macrophages. Results: The large spacing micro-groove structure can promote the M2 polarization and osteoinductive cytokine secretion of macrophage. The reason is that the large spacing micro-groove structure can induce directional arrangement of macrophage so as to change the phenotype and cytokine secretion. Further researches show that macrophage of the large spacing micro-groove structure can promote the osteogenic differentiation of bone mesenchymal stem cells, which can benefit osteogenesis and osteointegration. Conclusion: This study offers an effective and application potential method for bone repair.

Combining transparent embedding with sectioning is likely to be the future direction for tissue clearing and 3-dimensional (3D) imaging. A newly published transparent embedding system, TESOS (Transparent Embedding Solvent System), ensures consistent submicron resolution imaging throughout the entire sample, and can be compatible with different microscopy systems. This method shows great potential in connectome mapping, and might be an optimal option for future 3D multiplex immunofluorescence and RNA in situ hybridization imaging. Additional efforts would be needed to innovate labeling, imaging, and data processing strategies to fully utilize the potential of transparent embedding systems in high-resolution imaging of large-scale samples.

Deep-tissue solid cancer treatment has a poor prognosis, resulting in a very low 5-year patient survival rate. The primary challenges facing solid tumor therapies are accessibility, incomplete surgical removal of tumor tissue, the resistance of the hypoxic and heterogeneous tumor microenvironment to chemotherapy and radiation, and suffering caused by off-target toxicities. Here, sonodynamic therapy (SDT) is an evolving therapeutic approach that uses low-intensity ultrasound to target deep-tissue solid tumors. The ability of ultrasound to deliver energy safely and precisely into small deep-tissue (>10 cm) volumes makes SDT more effective than conventional photodynamic therapy. While SDT is currently in phase 1/2 clinical trials for glioblastoma multiforme, its use for other solid cancer treatments, such as breast, pancreatic, liver, and prostate cancer, is still in the preclinical stage, with further investigation required to improve its therapeutic efficacy. This review, therefore, focuses on recent advances in SDT cancer treatments. We describe the interaction between ultrasound and sonosensitizer molecules and the associated energy transfer mechanism to malignant cells, which plays a central role in SDT-mediated cell death. Different sensitizers used in clinical and preclinical trials of various cancer treatments are listed, and the critical ultrasound parameters for SDT are reviewed. We also discuss approaches to improve the efficacies of these sonosensitizers, the role of the 3-dimensional spheroid in vitro investigations, ultrasound-controlled CAR-T cell and SDT-based multimodal therapy, and machine learning for sonosensitizer optimization, which could facilitate clinical translation of SDT.

Objective and Impact Statement: This study aims to couple C-reactive protein (CRP) antibodies onto latex spheres of 2 different sizes to enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of CRP detection. Furthermore, it seeks to establish a robust methodological framework crucial for advancing the development of latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetric detection reagents. Introduction: CRP, an acute-phase protein, rapidly elevates in response to infections or tissue damage. Double-particle latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetry offers important advantages for accurately measuring CRP levels. Methods: CRP antibodies were coupled with 2 sizes of polystyrene latex spheres. Coupling rates were evaluated to determine optimal conditions. Particle sizes suitable for CRP detection, as well as coupling and mixing ratios, were optimized using automated biochemical analysis. Transmission electron microscopy and nanoparticle size analysis were employed to characterize the morphology and size changes of CRP antibodies and coupled latex spheres before and after immune reaction. Results: Optimization identified 168- and 80-nm latex sphere sizes, with CRP antibody coupling rates of 92% and 91%, respectively. The optimal ratios were 10:1.5 for large latex spheres to polyclonal antibodies and 5:1.5 for small latex spheres to monoclonal antibodies. A 1:8 mixing ratio of large to small latex spheres was effective. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed uniform sizes postcoupling, maintaining dispersion with no morphological changes. CRP reacted with the double-particle latex reagent, forming immune complexes that exhibited agglutination. Mixed latex spheres showed varied agglutination states with CRP concentration, altering solution absorbance. Conclusion: This study validates the efficacy of the dual-particle-size CRP antibody latex reagent, highlighting its potential for future immunoturbidimetric analysis applications.