Effects of hydrostatic pressure, osmotic pressure, and confinement on extracellular matrix associated responses in the nucleus pulposus cells ex vivo.

Spinal movement in both upright and recumbent positions generates changes in physicochemical stresses including hydrostatic pressure (HP), deviatoric stress, and confinement within the intradiscal compartment. The nucleus pulposus (NP) of the intervertebral disc is composed of highly negatively charged extracellular matrix (ECM), which increases osmotic pressure (OP) and generates tissue swelling. In pursuing regenerative therapies for intervertebral disc degeneration, the effects of HP on the cellular responses of NP cells and the ECM environment remain incompletely understood.

Bidirectionally validated and formation of specific depth zone-derived chondrocyte spheroids and clusters.

3D multicellular self-organized cluster models, e.g., organoids are promising tools for developing new therapeutic modalities including gene and cell therapies, pharmacological mechanistic and screening assays.

[Development of a nanomachine for efficient drug delivery to the brain].

Recently, bottom-up technologies, in particular the utilization of self-assembly of functional polymers to form nanostructures in solutions have been collecting attention. These technologies are being explored for various applications, especially for usage in therapeutics. One of the goals of such studies is to develop a drug delivery system (DDS) that delivers bioactive substances to specific targets within our body, eliciting the desired functionality.

Triphenylphosphonium-modified catiomers enhance mRNA delivery through stabilized polyion complexation.

Nanocarriers based on cationic materials play a central role in the success of mRNA-based therapies. Traditionally, amine-bearing lipids and polymers have been successfully employed for creating mRNA-loaded nanocarriers, though they still present challenges, such as physical and biological instability, limiting both delivery efficiency and therapeutic potential. Non-amine cations could be a promising avenue in addressing these limitations.

Folic acid-mediated enhancement of the diagnostic potential of luminescent europium-doped hydroxyapatite nanocrystals for cancer biomaging.

Early and accurate cancer diagnosis is crucial for improving patient survival rates. Luminescent nanoparticles have emerged as a promising tool in fluorescence bioimaging for cancer diagnosis. To enhance diagnostic accuracy, ligands promoting endocytosis into cancer cells are commonly incorporated onto nanoparticle surfaces.

Site preference and local structural stability of Bi(III) substitution in hydroxyapatite using first-principles simulations.

Bismuth (Bi(III)) substitution in hydroxyapatite (HAp) lattice confers unique properties such as antibacterial, catalytic, radiosensitization, and conductive properties while preserving the innate bioactivity. Understanding the local structural changes upon Bi substitution is essential for controlling the stability and optimizing the properties of HAp. Despite numerous experimental studies, the precise substitution behaviors, such as site preference and structural stability, remain incompletely understood.

Ligand Installation to Polymeric Micelles for Pediatric Brain Tumor Targeting.

Medulloblastoma is a life-threatening disease with poor therapeutic outcomes. In chemotherapy, low drug accumulation has been a cause of these outcomes. Such inadequate response to treatments has been associated with low drug accumulation, particularly with a limited cellular uptake of drugs.

Effect of PEGylation on the Drug Release Performance and Hemocompatibility of Photoresponsive Drug-Loading Platform.

Coronary stenosis has been one of the most common heart diseases that drastically increases the risk of fatal disorders such as heart attack. Angioplasty using drug coated balloons (DCB) has been one of the most safe and promising treatments. To minimize the risk of thrombosis of such DCBs during intervention, a different approach that can secure high hemocompatibility under blood flow is necessary.

Relationship between Bulk Physicochemical Properties and Surface Wettability of Hydrogels with Homogeneous Network Structure.

Controlling hydrogel surface wettability is of great importance in the viewpoint of engineering biomaterials that are in contact with cells and tissues. However, studies reporting how the hydrogel bulk properties would affect the surface is scarce, and thus it has been difficult to fabricate hydrogels with the desired properties. Also, there has been no effective method to elucidate this, due to the inhomogeneity introduced in the network structure of conventional hydrogels.