Advancing Tissue Damage Repair in Geriatric Diseases: Prospects of Combining Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes with Hydrogels.

Geriatric diseases are a group of diseases with unique characteristics related to senility. With the rising trend of global aging, senile diseases now mainly include endocrine, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, skeletal, and muscular diseases and cancer. Compared with younger populations, the structure and function of various cells, tissues and organs in the body of the elderly undergo a decline as they age, rendering them more susceptible to external factors and diseases, leading to serious tissue damage. Tissue damage presents a significant obstacle to the overall health and well-being of older adults, exerting a profound impact on their quality of life. Moreover, this phenomenon places an immense burden on families, society, and the healthcare system.In recent years, stem cell-derived exosomes have become a hot topic in tissue repair research. The combination of these exosomes with biomaterials allows for the preservation of their biological activity, leading to a significant improvement in their therapeutic efficacy. Among the numerous biomaterial options available, hydrogels stand out as promising candidates for loading exosomes, owing to their exceptional properties. Due to the lack of a comprehensive review on the subject matter, this review comprehensively summarizes the application and progress of combining stem cell-derived exosomes and hydrogels in promoting tissue damage repair in geriatric diseases. In addition, the challenges encountered in the field and potential prospects are presented for future advancements.

Identification of extracellular matrix-related biomarkers in colon adenocarcinoma by bioinformatics and experimental validation.

Backgrounds: Extracellular matrix (ECM) is an important component of tumor microenvironment, and its abnormal expression promotes tumor formation, progression and metastasis. Methods: Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was used to identify ECM-related hub genes based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) data. COAD clinical samples were used to verify the expression of potential biomarkers in tumor tissues, and siRNA was used to explore the role of potential biomarkers in cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Results: Three potential biomarkers (LEP, NGF and PCOLCE2) related to prognosis of COAD patients were identified and used to construct ERGPI. Immunohistochemical analysis of clinical samples showed that the three potential biomarkers were highly expressed in tumor tissues of COAD patients. Knockdown of LEP, NGF or PCOLCE2 inhibited COAD cell proliferation and EMT. Dictamnine inhibited tumor cell growth by binding to these three potential biomarkers based on molecular docking and transplanted tumor model. Conclusion: The three biomarkers can provide new ideas for the diagnosis and targeted therapy of COAD patients.

Extraction Optimization, Structural Characterization, and Anti-Hepatoma Activity of Acidic Polysaccharides From Scutellaria barbata D. Don.

The Chinese medicinal herb Scutellaria barbata D. Don has antitumour effects and is used to treat liver cancer in the clinic. S. barbata polysaccharide (SBP), one of the main active components extracted from S. barbata D. Don, exhibits antitumour activity. However, there is still a lack of research on the extraction optimization, structural characterization, and anti-hepatoma activity of acidic polysaccharides from S. barbata D. Don. In this study, the optimal extraction conditions for SBP were determined by response surface methodology (RSM): the material-liquid ratio was 1:25, the extraction time was 2 h, and the extraction temperature was 90°C. Under these conditions, the average extraction efficiency was 3.85 ± 0.13%. Two water-soluble polysaccharides were isolated from S. barbata D. Don, namely, SBP-1A and SBP-2A, these homogeneous acidic polysaccharide components with average molecular weights of 1.15 × 105 Da and 1.4 × 105 Da, respectively, were obtained at high purity. The results showed that the monosaccharide constituents of the two components were fucose, galactosamine hydrochloride, rhamnose, arabinose, glucosamine hydrochloride, galactose, glucose, xylose, and mannose; the molar ratio of these constituents in SBP-1A was 0.6:0.3:0.6:30.6:3.3:38.4:16.1:8:1.4, and that in SBP-2A was 0.6:0.5:0.8:36.3:4.4:42.7:9.2:3.6:0.7. In addition, SBP-1A and SBP-2A contained uronic acid and ß-glucan, and the residue on the polysaccharide was mainly pyranose. The in vitro results showed that the anti-hepatoma activity of SBP-2A was better than that of SBP-1A and SBP. In addition, SBP-2A significantly enhanced HepG2 cell death, as cell viability was decreased, and SBP-2A induced HepG2 cell apoptosis and blocked the G1 phase. This phenomenon was coupled with the upregulated expression of P53 and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, as well as the downregulated expression of the cell cycle-regulating protein cyclinD1, CDK4, and Bcl-2 in this study. Further analysis showed that 50 mg/kg SBP-2A inhibited the tumour growth in H22 tumour-bearing mice, with an average inhibition rate of 40.33%. Taken together, SBP-2A, isolated and purified from S. barbata showed good antitumour activity in vivo and in vitro, and SBP-2A may be a candidate drug for further evaluation in cancer prevention. This study provides insight for further research on the molecular mechanism of the anti-hepatoma activity of S. barbata polysaccharide.