Harnessing the Potential of Self-Assembled Peptide Hydrogels for Neural Regeneration and Tissue Engineering.

Spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, and neurosurgery procedures usually lead to neural tissue damage. Self-assembled peptide (SAP) hydrogels, a type of innovative hierarchical nanofiber-forming peptide sequences serving as hydrogelators, have emerged as a promising solution for repairing tissue defects and promoting neural tissue regeneration. SAPs possess numerous features, such as adaptable morphologies, biocompatibility, injectability, tunable mechanical stability, and mimicking of the native extracellular matrix. This review explores the capacity of neural cell regeneration and examines the critical aspects of SAPs in neuroregeneration, including their biochemical composition, topology, mechanical behavior, conductivity, and degradability. Additionally, it delves into the latest strategies involving SAPs for central or peripheral neural tissue engineering. Finally, the prospects of SAP hydrogel design and development in the realm of neuroregeneration are discussed.

Chitosan-based emulgel and xerogel film containing Thymus pubescens essential oil as a potential wound dressing.

Controlling the wound exudates accompanied by microbial wound infections has still remained as one the most challenging clinical issues. Herein, a chitosan/gelatin/polyvinyl alcohol xerogel film containing Thymus pubescens essential oil is fabricated for antimicrobial wound dressing application. The chemical and physical characteristics of the devised formulation is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope, and tensile tests. Moreover, swelling capability, water vapour transmission rate, water contact angle, solubility, moisture content, and release properties are also studied. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm tests are performed using the broth microdilution and XTT assay, respectively. The produced formulation shows excellent antimicrobial efficacy against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida species. It is also demonstrated that the obtained film can reduce (∼80 %) Candida albicans biofilm formation, and its biocompatibility is confirmed with MTT (∼100 %) and hemolysis tests. The antimicrobial activity can be correlated to the microbial membrane attraction for Candida albicans cells, illustrated by flow cytometry. This proposed film with appropriate mechanical strength, high swelling capacity in different pH values (∼200-700 %), controlled release property, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities as well as biocompatibility can be used as a promising candidate for antimicrobial wound dressing applications.

Nanotechnology-based cell-mediated delivery systems for cancer therapy and diagnosis.

The global prevalence of cancer is increasing, necessitating new additions to traditional treatments and diagnoses to address shortcomings such as ineffectiveness, complications, and high cost. In this context, nano and microparticulate carriers stand out due to their unique properties such as controlled release, higher bioavailability, and lower toxicity. Despite their popularity, they face several challenges including rapid liver uptake, low chemical stability in blood circulation, immunogenicity concerns, and acute adverse effects. Cell-mediated delivery systems are important topics to research because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, prolonged delivery, high loading capacity, and targeted drug delivery capabilities. To date, a variety of cells including blood, immune, cancer, and stem cells, sperm, and bacteria have been combined with nanoparticles to develop efficient targeted cancer delivery or diagnosis systems. The review paper aimed to provide an overview of the potential applications of cell-based delivery systems in cancer therapy and diagnosis.

Study of Biological Degradation of New Poly(Ether-Urethane-Urea)s Containing Cyclopeptide Moiety and PEG by Bacillus amyloliquefaciens Isolated from Soil.

The present work for the first time investigates the effect of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, M3, on a new poly(ether-urethane-urea) (PEUU). PEUU was synthesized via reaction of 4,4'-methylenebis(4-phenylisocyanate) (MDI), L-leucine anhydride cyclopeptide (LACP) as a degradable monomer and polyethylene glycol with molecular weight of 1000 (PEG-1000). Biodegradation of the synthesized PEUU as the only source for carbon and nitrogen for M3 was studied. The co-metabolism biodegradation of the polymer by this organism was also investigated by adding mannitol or nutrient broth to the basic media. Biodegradation of the synthesized polymer was followed by SEM, FT-IR, TGA, and XRD techniques. It was shown that incubation of PEUU with M3 resulted in a 30-44 % reduction in polymer's weight after 1 month. This study indicates that the chemical structure of PEUU significantly changes after exposure to M3 due to hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation of polymer chains. The results of this work supports the idea that this poly(ether-urethane) is used as a sole carbon source by M3 and this bacterium has a good capability for degradation of poly(ether-urethane)s.