Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells primed with disease-condition-serum improved therapeutic efficacy in a mouse rheumatoid arthritis model via enhanced TGF-β1 production.

Backgrounds: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation-mediated progressive destruction of the cartilage and bone, resulting in reduced quality of life. We primed human telomerase reverse transcriptase-overexpressing immortalized human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) with serum derived from a non-human primate RA model and studied the immunomodulatory ability of exosomes obtained from primed iMSCs.

Methods: After immunophenotyping, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and in vitro functional tests, Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (dPBS, Group C), exosomes derived from the supernatant of iMSCs (Exo-FBS, Group E), exosomes derived from the supernatant of iMSCs primed with RA serum (Exo-RA, Group F), and methotrexate (Group M) were administered in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model mice.

Individual Postprandial Glycemic Responses to Meal Types by Different Carbohydrate Levels and Their Associations with Glycemic Variability Using Continuous Glucose Monitoring.

This study aimed to investigate individual postprandial glycemic responses (PPGRs) to meal types with varying carbohydrate levels and examine their associations with 14-day glycemic variability using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in young adults. In a two-week intervention study with 34 participants connected to CGM, four meal types and glucose 75 g were tested. PPGRs were recorded for up to 2 h with a 15 min interval after meals.

Hysteresis-free and high sensitivity strain sensing of ionically conductive hydrogels.

Hydrogels are promising materials for soft and implantable strain sensors owing to their large compliance (<100 kPa) and significant extensibility (ε >500%) compared to other polymer networks. Further, hydrogels can be functionalized to seamlessly integrate with many types of tissues. However, most current methods attempt to imbue additional electronic functionality to structural hydrogel materials by incorporating fillers with orthogonal properties such as electronic or mixed ionic conduction.

Poisson-Nernst-Planck framework for modelling ionic strain and temperature sensors.

Ionically conductive hydrogels are gaining traction as sensing and structural materials for use bioelectronic devices. Hydrogels that feature large mechanical compliances and tractable ionic conductivities are compelling materials that can sense physiological states and potentially modulate the stimulation of excitable tissue because of the congruence in electro-mechanical properties across the tissue-material interface. However, interfacing ionic hydrogels with conventional DC voltage-based circuits poses several technical challenges including electrode delamination, electrochemical reaction, and drifting contact impedance.

Recent Progress in Materials Chemistry to Advance Flexible Bioelectronics in Medicine.

Designing bioelectronic devices that seamlessly integrate with the human body is a technological pursuit of great importance. Bioelectronic medical devices that reliably and chronically interface with the body can advance neuroscience, health monitoring, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Recent major efforts focus on investigating strategies to fabricate flexible, stretchable, and soft electronic devices, and advances in materials chemistry have emerged as fundamental to the creation of the next generation of bioelectronics.

Dual Ion Releasing Nanoparticles for Modulating Osteogenic Cellular Microenvironment of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

In this study we developed a dual therapeutic metal ion-releasing nanoparticle for advanced osteogenic differentiation of stem cells. In order to enhance the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and induce angiogenesis, zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) were synthesized together into a nanoparticle with a pH-sensitive degradation property. Zn and Fe were loaded within the nanoparticles to promote early osteogenic gene expression and to induce angiogenic paracrine factor secretion for hMSCs.