Smart medicine最新文献

Nerve injury caused by trauma or iatrogenic trauma can lead to loss of sensory and motor function, resulting in paralysis of patients. Inspired by endogenous bioelectricity and extracellular matrix, various external physical and chemical stimuli have been introduced to treat nerve injury. Benefiting from the self-power feature and great biocompatibility, piezoelectric biomaterials have attracted widespread attention in biomedical applications, especially in neural tissue engineering. Here, we provide an overview of the development of piezoelectric biomaterials for neural tissue engineering. First, several types of piezoelectric biomaterials are introduced, including inorganic piezoelectric nanomaterials, organic piezoelectric polymers, and their derivates. Then, we focus on the in vitro and in vivo external energy-driven piezoelectric effects involving ultrasound, mechanical movement, and other external field-driven piezoelectric effects. Neuroengineering applications of the piezoelectric biomaterials as in vivo grafts for the treatment of central nerve injury and peripheral nerve injury are also discussed and highlighted. Finally, the current challenges and future development of piezoelectric biomaterials for promoting nerve regeneration and treating neurological diseases are presented.

Characterized by hepatic lipid accumulation, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a multifactorial metabolic disorder that could promote the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Benefiting from recent advances in omics technologies, such as high-throughput sequencing, voluminous profiling data in HCC-integrated molecular science into clinical medicine helped clinicians with rational guidance for treatments. In this review, we conclude the majority of publicly available omics data on the NAFLD-related disease spectrum and bring up new insights to inspire next-generation therapeutics against this increasingly prevalent disease spectrum in the post-genomic era.

Silk-based conductive materials are widely used in biointerface applications, such as artificial epidermal sensors, soft and implantable bioelectronics, and tissue/cell scaffolds. Such biointerface materials require coordinated physicochemical, biological, and mechanical properties to meet current practical needs and future sophisticated demands. However, it remains a challenge to formulate silk-based advanced materials with high electrical conductivity, good biocompatibility, mechanical robustness, and in some cases, tissue adhesion ability without compromising other physicochemical properties. In this review, we highlight recent progress in the development of functional conductive silk-based advanced materials with different morphologies. Then, we reviewed the advanced paradigms of these silk materials applied as wearable flexible sensors, implantable electronics, and tissue/cell engineering with perspectives on the application challenges. Silk-based conductive materials can serve as promising building blocks for biomedical devices in personalized healthcare and other fields of bioengineering.

TP53 mutation frequently occurs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Senescence also plays a vital role in the ongoing process of HCC. P53 is believed to regulate the advancement of senescence in HCC. However, the exact mechanism of TP53 mutation-related senescence remains unclear. In this study, we found the TP53 mutation was positively correlated with senescence in HCC, and the differential expressed genes were primarily located in macrophages. Our results proved that the risk score could have an independent and vital role in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients. In addition, HCC patients with a high risk score may most probably benefit from immune checkpoint block therapy. We also found the risk score is elevated in chemotherapy-treated HCC samples, with a high level of senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Finally, we validated the risk-score genes in the protein level and noticed the risk score is positively related with M2 polarization. Of note, we considered that the risk score under the TP53 mutation and senescence is a promising biomarker with the potential to aid in predicting prognosis, defining tumor environment characteristics, and assessing the benefits of immunotherapy for HCC patients.

Micro- and nanorobots (MNRs) propelled by external actuations have broad potential in biomedical applications. Among the numerous external excitations, ultrasound (US) features outstanding practical significance with merits of its noninvasiveness, tunability, penetrability, and biocompatibility. Attributing to various physiochemical effects of US, it can propel the MNRs with sophisticated structures through asymmetric acoustic streaming, bubble oscillation, and so on. In this review, we introduce several advanced and representative US-propelled MNRs with inhomogeneous density distribution, asymmetric shape, hollow cavity, etc. The potential biomedical applications of these cutting-edge MNRs are also presented, including intracellular delivery, harmful substances collection, and so on. Furthermore, we conclude the advantages and limitations of US-propelled MNRs and prospect their future developments in multidisciplinary fields.