Tumor-associated macrophages-educated reparative macrophages promote diabetic wound healing.

Nonhealing diabetic wounds, with persistent inflammation and damaged vasculature, have failed conventional treatments and require comprehensive interference. Here, inspired by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) that produce abundant immunosuppressive and proliferative factors in tumor development, we generate macrophages to recapitulate TAMs' reparative functions, by culturing normal macrophages with TAMs' conditional medium (TAMs-CM). These TAMs-educated macrophages (TAMEMs) outperform major macrophage phenotypes (M0, M1, or M2) in suppressing inflammation, stimulating angiogenesis, and activating fibroblasts in vitro.

Effect of marine microalgae Synechococcus sp., Chlorella sp., Thalassiosira sp. on corrosion behavior of Q235 carbon steel in f/2 medium.

The effect of marine microalgae on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel (CS) still needs further investigation due to their dual roles. In this study, the corrosion behavior of Q235 CS specimens in f/2 medium with absence and presence of three classes of marine microalgae Synechococcus sp., Chlorella sp.

Holistic immunomodulation for small cell lung cancer.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by a high mortality rate, rapid growth, and early metastasis, which lead to a poor prognosis. Moreover, limited clinical treatment options further lower the survival rate of patients. Therefore, novel technology and agents are urgently required to enhance clinical efficacy.

Machine learning in accelerating microsphere formulation development.

Microspheres have gained much attention from pharmaceutical and medical industry due to the excellent biodegradable and long controlled-release characteristics. However, the drug release behavior of microspheres is influenced by complicated formulation and manufacturing factors. The traditional formulation development of microspheres is intractable and inefficient by the experimentally trial-and-error methods.

Interference reduction isothermal nucleic acid amplification strategy for COVID-19 variant detection.

Common reference methods for COVID-19 variant diagnosis include viral sequencing and PCR-based methods. However, sequencing is tedious, expensive, and time-consuming, while PCR-based methods have high risk of insensitive detection in variant-prone regions and are susceptible to potential background signal interference in biological samples. Here, we report a loop-mediated interference reduction isothermal nucleic acid amplification (LM-IR-INA) strategy for highly sensitive single-base mutation detection in viral variants.

Double-Sided Sapphire Optrodes with Conductive Shielding Layers to Reduce Optogenetic Stimulation Artifacts.

Optrodes, which are single shaft neural probes integrated with microelectrodes and optical light sources, offer a remarkable opportunity to simultaneously record and modulate neural activities using light within an animal's brain; however, a common problem with optrodes is that stimulation artifacts can be observed in the neural recordings of microelectrodes when the light source on the optrode is activated. These stimulation artifacts are undesirable contaminants, and they cause interpretation complexity when analyzing the recorded neural activities. In this paper, we tried to mitigate the effects of the stimulation artifacts by developing a low-noise, double-sided optrode integrated with multiple Electromagnetic Shielding (EMS) layers.

MiR-125b-5p modulates the function of regulatory T cells in tumor microenvironment by targeting TNFR2.

Background: Tumor necrosis factor receptor type 2 (TNFR2) is primarily expressed by CD4FoxP3 regulatory T cells (Tregs), especially those present in tumor microenvironment. There is compelling evidence that TNFR2 plays a crucial role in the activation, expansion, and phenotypic stability of Tregs and promotes tumor immune evasion. Understanding of epigenetic regulation of TNFR2 expression in Tregs may help device a novel strategy in cancer immunotherapy.

Jatrorrhizine Improves Endothelial Function in Diabetes and Obesity through Suppression of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress.

Jatrorrhizine (JAT) is one of the major bioactive protoberberine alkaloids found in rhizoma coptidis, which has hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential. This study aimed to evaluate the vasoprotective effects of JAT in diabetes and obesity and the underlying mechanism involved. Mouse aortas, carotid arteries and human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were treated with risk factors (high glucose or tunicamycin) with and without JAT ex vivo and in vitro.

Understanding the tonifying and the detoxifying properties of Chinese medicines from their impacts on gut microbiota and host metabolism: a case study with four medicinal herbs in experimental colitis rat model.

Background: Chinese medicines (CMs) have emerged as an alternative therapy for ulcerative colitis through reinforcing the vital qi and/or eliminating the pathogenic factors according to the traditional Chinese medicinal theory. Presystemic interactions of CMs with gut microbiota and the associated metabolic network shift are believed to be essential to achieve their holistic health benefits in traditional oral application.

Methods: This study first employed 16S rDNA-based microbial profiling and mass spectrometry-based urinary metabolomics to simultaneously evaluate four single CMs frequently prescribed as main constituent herbs for alleviating UC, the tonic ginseng and Astragali Radix (AR) and the detoxifying Scutellaria Radix (SR) and Rhubarb, on a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis rat model, with aims to understanding the tonifying or detoxifying properties of CMs through clinical phenotypes, the common features and herb-specific signatures in gut microbial alterations and the associated host metabolic shifts.

Cell metabolomics study on the anticancer effects of against lung cancer cells using UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS analysis.

(OJ) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for thousands of years. Recently, the anticancer effects of OJ have been reported in multiple types of cancer, particularly in lung cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

A "Nonsolvent Quenching" Strategy for 3D Printing of Polysaccharide Scaffolds with Immunoregulatory Accuracy.

3D printing enables the customized design of implant structures for accurately regulating host responses. However, polysaccharides, as a major biomaterial category with versatile immune activities, are typically "non-printable" due to the collapse of their filaments extruded during printing. This challenge renders their potential as immunomodulatory scaffolds underexploited.

Targeted delivery of Chinese herb pair-based berberine/tannin acid self-assemblies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

Introduction: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic recurrent idiopathic disease characterized by damage to the colonic epithelial barrier and disruption of inflammatory homeostasis. At present, there is no curative therapy for UC, and the development of effective and low-cost therapies is strongly advocated.

Objectives: Multiple lines of evidence support that tannic acid (TA) and berberine (BBR), two active ingredients derived from Chinese herb pair (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma and Coptidis Rhizoma), have promising therapeutic effects on colonic inflammation.

Ginger polysaccharides relieve ulcerative colitis via maintaining intestinal barrier integrity and gut microbiota modulation.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an autoimmune disease afflicting an increasing number of patients and increasing demands towards the development of efficacious and safe drugs. Recently, with increasing interest in alternative medicines, natural resources have become a hotspot for drug discovery against UC. In addition to being consumed as a food and spice, ginger is also widely used as a well-recognized gastrointestinal herbal medicine.

Metabolic Competency of Larval Zebrafish in Drug-Induced Liver Injury: A Case Study of Acetaminophen Poisoning.

Larval zebrafish is emerging as a new model organism for studying drug-induced liver injury (DILI) with superiorities in visual assessment, genetic engineering as well as high throughput. Metabolic bioactivation to form reactive intermediates is a common event that triggers DILI. This study first addressed the correlation between acetaminophen metabolism and hepatotoxicity in zebrafish larvae (3-day postfertilization) and demonstrated the occurrence of cytochrome P450 enzymes-mediated acetaminophen (APAP) bioactivation at early developmental stage through characterizing the dose-effect (0-1.

Mouse Strain- and Charge-Dependent Vessel Permeability of Nanoparticles at the Lower Size Limit.

Remarkable advancement has been made in the application of nanoparticles (NPs) for cancer therapy. Although NPs have been favorably delivered into tumors by taking advantage of the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) effect, several physiological barriers present within tumors tend to restrict the diffusion of NPs. To overcome this, one of the strategies is to design NPs that can reach lower size limits to improve tumor penetration without being rapidly cleared out by the body.

3,4',5-Trimethoxy--stilbene Alleviates Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic and Obese Mice via Activation of the AMPK/SIRT1/eNOS Pathway.

3,4',5-trimethoxy--stilbene (TMS) is a methoxylated derivative of resveratrol. Previous studies showed the vaso-protective effects of resveratrol; nevertheless, research on this derivative is scarce. The current study aimed to explore whether TMS can alleviate endothelial dysfunction in diabetic and obese mice, along with the underlying mechanisms.

Homocysteine-targeting compounds as a new treatment strategy for diabetic wounds via inhibition of the histone methyltransferase SET7/9.

In hypoxia and hyperglycemia, SET7/9 plays an important role in controlling HIF-1α methylation and regulating the transcription of HIF-1α target genes, which are responsible for angiogenesis and wound healing. Here, we report the Ir(III) complex Set7_1a bearing acetonitrile (ACN) ligands as a SET7/9 methyltransferase inhibitor and HIF-1α stabilizer. Interestingly, Set7_1a could engage SET7/9 and strongly inhibit SET7/9 activity, especially after preincubation with homocysteine (Hcy), which is elevated in diabetes.

How the brain encodes morphological constraints during Chinese word reading: An EEG-fNIRS study.

Although the role of morphology in alphabetic language processing has been extensively studied, it is still unclear how morphology is enabled and constrained in morpho-syllabic languages like Chinese. This study aims to inspect the time courses and patterns of brain activation associated with Chinese morphological constraint encoding. Chinese native speakers were recruited to perform visual lexical decisions on real Chinese compound words, pseudowords, and nonwords, whilst behavioral, electroencephalographic, and functional near infrared spectroscopy data were simultaneously recorded.

Panax notoginseng extract and total saponin suppress diet-induced obesity and endoplasmic reticulum stress in epididymal white adipose tissue in mice.

Background: Investigation on protective effects of Panax notoginseng against obesity and its related mechanisms is incomplete. Present study aimed to investigate the potential anti-obesity effect of the total saponins (PNS) and ethanolic extract of P. notoginseng (PNE).

Chemical Comparison of Monk Fruit Products Processed by Different Drying Methods Using High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography Combined With Chemometric Analysis.

Monk fruit, also named Luo Han Guo, is the fruit of (Swingle) C. Jeffrey ex A. M.

Adaptive Sliding Mode Disturbance Observer and Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Motion Control for Micropositioners.

The motion control of high-precision electromechanitcal systems, such as micropositioners, is challenging in terms of the inherent high nonlinearity, the sensitivity to external interference, and the complexity of accurate identification of the model parameters. To cope with these problems, this work investigates a disturbance observer-based deep reinforcement learning control strategy to realize high robustness and precise tracking performance. Reinforcement learning has shown great potential as optimal control scheme, however, its application in micropositioning systems is still rare.

Global Patent Landscape of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Drugs.

Objective: To characterize the changing landscape of BPH drugs by investigating patent documents derived from pipeline projects. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) drugs were first approved for the mainstream market about 20 years ago. The fixed patent term warns of possibly transforming the landscape of BPH drugs as technological and commercial substitution causes the displacement of established technologies and competitors by newer ones.

Interference Reduction Biosensing Strategy for Highly Sensitive microRNA Detection.

MicroRNAs are potential biomarkers for human cancers and other diseases due to their roles as post-transcriptional regulators for gene expression. However, the detection of miRNAs by conventional methods such as RT-qPCR, in situ hybridization, northern blot-based platforms, and next-generation sequencing is complicated by short length, low abundance, high sequence homology, and susceptibility to degradation of miRNAs. In this study, we developed a nicking endonuclease-mediated interference reduction rolling circle amplification (NEM-IR-RCA) strategy for the ultrasensitive and highly specific detection of miRNA-21.

Rapid Screening of Lipase Inhibitors from Ophiopogonis Radix Using High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography by Two Step Gradient Elution Combined with Bioautographic Method.

In this study, a high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method by two step gradient elution with two mobile phases was developed for the simultaneous analysis of seven constituents in Ophiopogonis Radix. The chromatography was performed on silica gel 60 F plate with dichloromethane-methanol-ethyl acetate-water (70:25:12:3, ///) and dichloromethane-methanol (300:1, /) as the mobile phase for two step gradient elution. Then, the HPTLC profiles were observed after derivatization with 10% sulfuric acid in ethanol solution.

Key quality factors for Chinese herbal medicines entering the EU market.

Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of diseases, which are widely recognized in the world. More and more CHMs are becoming increasingly popular in the international markets. However, the quality control of CHMs is a significant issue for their acceptance and recognition in the international market.