infections associated with the formation of biofilms on medical implants or host tissue play a critical role in the persistence of chronic infections. One critical mechanism of biofilm infection that leads to persistent infection lies in the capacity of biofilms to evade the macrophage-mediated innate immune response. It is now increasingly apparent that microorganisms exploit the negative regulatory mechanisms of the pattern recognition receptor (PRR)-mediated inflammatory response to subvert host cell functions by using various virulence factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe process of wound repair requires the coordinated participation of multiple types of cells, which are sequentially recruited during the healing process. In response to tissue injury, both macrophages and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recruited to the site of injury, where they participate in the repair process. Despite considerable understanding of the role of each cell type in the process of wound repair, the nature of the dynamic interplay between these two cell types and how this interaction influences the process of wound repair are not well understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMagnetically-responsive nano/micro-engineered biomaterials that enable a tightly controlled, on-demand drug delivery have been developed as new types of smart soft devices for biomedical applications. Although a number of magnetically-responsive drug delivery systems have demonstrated efficacies through either in vitro proof of concept studies or in vivo preclinical applications, their use in clinical settings is still limited by their insufficient biocompatibility or biodegradability. Additionally, many of the existing platforms rely on sophisticated techniques for their fabrications.
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