Compounding engineered mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes: A potential rescue strategy for retinal degeneration.

The prevalence of retinal degenerative diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, has been increasing globally and is linked to the aging population and improved life expectancy. These diseases are characterized by chronic, progressive neuronal damage or depletion of the photoreceptor cells in the retina, and limited effective treatment options are currently available. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-EXOs) containing cytokines, growth factors, lipids, mRNA, and miRNA, which act as mediators of intercellular communication transferring bioactive molecules to recipient cells, offer an appealing, non-cellular nanotherapeutic approach for retinal degenerative diseases. However, treatment specificity is compromised due to their high heterogeneity in size, content, functional effects, and parental cellular source. To improve this, engineered MSC-EXOs with increased drug-loading capacity, targeting ability, and resistance to bodily degradation and elimination have been developed. This review summarizes the recent advances in miRNAs of MSC-EXOs as a treatment for retinal degeneration, discussing the strategies and methods for engineering therapeutic MSC-EXOs. Notably, to address the single functional role of engineered MSC-EXOs, we propose a novel concept called "Compound Engineered MSC-EXOs (Co-E-MSC-EXOs)" along with its derived potential therapeutic approaches. The advantages and challenges of employing Co-E-MSC-EXOs for retinal degeneration in clinical applications, as well as the strategies and issues related to them, are also highlighted.

Photo-crosslinked enhanced double-network hydrogels based on modified gelatin and oxidized sodium alginate for diabetic wound healing.

The diabetic wound is hard to repair due to bacterial infection, lasting inflammation, and so on. Therefore, it is vital to fabricate a multi-functional hydrogel dressing for the diabetic wound. In this study, a kind of dual-network hydrogel loaded with gentamicin sulfate (GS) based on sodium alginate oxide (OSA) and glycidyl methacrylate gelatin (GelGMA) was designed through the Schiff base bonding and photo-crosslinking to promote the diabetic wound healing. The hydrogels exhibited stable mechanical properties, high water absorbency, and good biocompatibility and biodegradability. Antibacterial results showed that gentamicin sulfate (GS) had a remarkable antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In a diabetic full-thickness skin wound model, the GelGMA-OSA@GS hydrogel dressing dramatically decreases inflammation and accelerated re-epithelialization and granulation tissue formation, promising applications in promoting diabetic wound healing.

Impact of water stress on the demographic traits and population projection of Colorado potato beetle.

Introduction: The Colorado potato beetle is one of the famous quarantine pests in China which is extremely destructive to Solanaceae crops and causes serious losses to the potato industry. Methods: In this experiment, the host plant potato was subjected to different degrees of water stress to observe the oviposition selection, growth and development, survival, reproduction and population growth of Colorado potato beetles. Results: The results showed that adult Colorado potato beetles laid more eggs on potato plants suitable for water treatment, but fewer eggs on potato plants treated with water stress. The developmental duration of Colorado potato beetles in light drought treatment was shorter than that in control treatment, and the survival rate was higher than that in control treatment. With the aggravation of water stress, the developmental duration was prolonged, survival rate was decreased, and the number of eggs was decreased. Under different water stress levels, the intrinsic rate of increase (r), finite rate of increase (λ), net reproductive rate (R 0), and mean generation time (T) of the Colorado potato beetle population were significantly lower than those of control treatment, but there was no significant difference between light drought and control treatment. The TIMING-MS Chart program was used to predict the population dynamics of Colorado potato beetle for 110 days, which showed the fastest population growth in CK treatments and the slowest in HD treatments. The reduced water content of the leaves also reduces the survival rate of adult Colorado potato beetles. The growth, development, survival, and reproduction of Colorado potato beetles are affected by water stress of host plants. Moderate and heavy droughts have negative effects on the development and reproduction of Colorado potato beetles. Discussion: This information can be used to clarify the impact of water stress on the growth, development and population dynamics of Colorado potato beetle, to provide a theoretical basis for the control of this pest.