Sex-specific outcomes in cancer therapy: the central role of hormones.

Sex hormones play a pivotal role in modulating various physiological processes, with emerging evidence underscoring their influence on cancer progression and treatment outcomes. This review delves into the intricate relationship between sex hormones and cancer, elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms and their clinical implications. We explore the multifaceted roles of estrogen, androgens, and progesterone, highlighting their respective influence on specific cancers such as breast, ovarian, endometrial, and prostate.

Competition of opsonins and dysopsonins on the nanoparticle surface.

The biological behavior and fate of nanoparticles are dependent on their retention time in the blood circulation system. The protein corona components, especially opsonins, and dysopsonins, adsorbed on the nanoparticle surface determine their blood circulation time. The protein corona formation is a dynamic process that involves the competition between different proteins to be adsorbed on the nanoparticles.

Designing and developing a sensitive and specific SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG detection kit for identifying positive human samples.

Background: More than 3 y into the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to undergo mutations. In this context, the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) is the most antigenic region among the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and has emerged as a promising candidate for immunological development. We designed an IgG-based indirect enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) kit based on recombinant RBD, which was produced from the laboratory to 10 L industry scales in Pichia pastoris.

Immunotherapy of glioblastoma explants induces interferon-γ responses and spatial immune cell rearrangements in tumor center, but not periphery.

A patient-tailored, ex vivo drug response platform for glioblastoma (GBM) would facilitate therapy planning, provide insights into treatment-induced mechanisms in the immune tumor microenvironment (iTME), and enable the discovery of biomarkers of response. We cultured regionally annotated GBM explants in perfusion bioreactors to assess iTME responses to immunotherapy. Explants were treated with anti-CD47, anti-PD-1, or their combination, and analyzed by multiplexed microscopy [CO-Detection by indEXing (CODEX)], enabling the spatially resolved identification of >850,000 single cells, accompanied by explant secretome interrogation.

COVID-19 and Preexisting Comorbidities: Risks, Synergies, and Clinical Outcomes.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated symptoms, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have rapidly spread worldwide, resulting in the declaration of a pandemic. When several countries began enacting quarantine and lockdown policies, the pandemic as it is now known truly began. While most patients have minimal symptoms, approximately 20% of verified subjects are suffering from serious medical consequences.

Long-Term Immunity and Antibody Response: Challenges for Developing Efficient COVID-19 Vaccines.

Questions and concerns regarding the efficacy and immunogenicity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have plagued scientists since the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine was introduced in late 2020. As a result, decisions about vaccine boosters based on breakthrough infection rates and the decline of antibody titers have commanded worldwide attention and research. COVID-19 patients have displayed continued severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-spike-protein-specific antibodies and neutralizing antibodies in longitudinal studies; in addition, cytokine activation has been detected at early steps following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The immune response to COVID-19: Does sex matter?

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented challenges worldwide. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19 and has a complex interaction with the immune system, including growing evidence of sex-specific differences in the immune response. Sex-disaggregated analyses of epidemiological data indicate that males experience more severe symptoms and suffer higher mortality from COVID-19 than females.

Restoring Endogenous Repair Mechanisms to Heal Chronic Wounds with a Multifunctional Wound Dressing.

Current treatment of chronic wounds has been critically limited by various factors, including bacterial infection, biofilm formation, impaired angiogenesis, and prolonged inflammation. Addressing these challenges, we developed a multifunctional wound dressing-based three-pronged approach for accelerating wound healing. The multifunctional wound dressing, composed of nanofibers, functional nanoparticles, natural biopolymers, and selected protein and peptide, can target multiple endogenous repair mechanisms and represents a promising alternative to current wound healing products.

Combined OX40 Agonist and PD-1 Inhibitor Immunotherapy Improves the Efficacy of Vascular Targeted Photodynamic Therapy in a Urothelial Tumor Model.

Purpose: Vascular targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) is a nonsurgical tumor ablation approach used to treat early-stage prostate cancer and may also be effective for upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) based on preclinical data. Toward increasing response rates to VTP, we evaluated its efficacy in combination with concurrent PD-1 inhibitor/OX40 agonist immunotherapy in a urothelial tumor-bearing model.

Experimental Design: In mice allografted with MB-49 UTUC cells, we compared the effects of combined VTP with PD-1 inhibitor/OX40 agonist with those of the component treatments on tumor growth, survival, lung metastasis, and antitumor immune responses.

The role of macrophage polarization and function in environmental toxicant-induced cancers.

Macrophages are a critical member of the innate immune system and can intensify tumor invasiveness and assist the growth of neoplastic cells. Moreover, they have the capability to reinforce immunosuppression and angiogenesis. Various investigations suggest that health-related issues, including inflammatory disorders and neoplastic diseases may be caused by environmental toxicant exposure.

Microglia-Centered Combinatorial Strategies Against Glioblastoma.

Tumor-associated microglia (MG) and macrophages (MΦ) are important components of the glioblastoma (GBM) immune tumor microenvironment (iTME). From the recent advances in understanding how MG and GBM cells evolve and interact during tumorigenesis, we emphasize the cooperation of MG with other immune cell types of the GBM-iTME, mainly MΦ and T cells. We provide a comprehensive overview of current immunotherapeutic clinical trials and approaches for the treatment of GBM, which in general, underestimate the counteracting contribution of immunosuppressive MG as a main factor for treatment failure.

Impact of plasma concentration of transferrin on targeting capacity of nanoparticles.

It is becoming increasingly accepted that various diseases have a capacity to alter the composition of plasma proteins. This alteration in protein composition may consequently change the targeting capacity of nanoparticles (NPs). In this study, the impact of a model targeting ligand's (i.

Nanoscale Technologies for Prevention and Treatment of Heart Failure: Challenges and Opportunities.

The adult myocardium has a limited regenerative capacity following heart injury, and the lost cells are primarily replaced by fibrotic scar tissue. Suboptimal efficiency of current clinical therapies to resurrect the infarcted heart results in injured heart enlargement and remodeling to maintain its physiological functions. These remodeling processes ultimately leads to ischemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure (HF).

Immunoengineering in glioblastoma imaging and therapy.

Patients diagnosed with glioblastoma have poor prognosis. Conventional treatment strategies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy demonstrated limited clinical success and have considerable side effects on healthy tissues. A central challenge in treating brain tumors is the poor permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to therapeutics.