Multifunctional polymeric nanocapsules with enhanced cartilage penetration and retention for osteoarthritis treatment.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent joint disease characterized by cartilage degeneration and subchondral bone homeostasis imbalance. Effective topical OA therapy is challenging, as therapeutic drugs often suffer from insufficient penetration and rapid clearance. We develop miniature polydopamine (PDA) nanocapsules (sub-60 nm), which are conjugated with collagen-binding polypeptide (CBP) and loaded with an anabolic drug (i.e., parathyroid hormone 1-34, PTH 1-34) for efficient OA treatment. Such multifunctional polymeric nanocapsules, denoted as PDA@CBP-PTH, possess deformability when interacting with the dense collagen fiber networks, enabling the efficient penetration into 1 mm cartilage in 4 h and prolonged retention within the joints up to 28 days. Moreover, PDA@CBP-PTH nanocapsules exhibit excellent reactive oxygen species scavenging property in chondrocytes and enhance the anabolism in subchondral bone. The nanosystem, as dual-mode treatment for OA, demonstrates rapid penetration, long-lasting effects, and combinational therapeutic impact, paving the way for reversing the progression of OA for joint health care.

Sema3A secreted by sensory nerve induces bone formation under mechanical loads.

Bone formation and deposition are initiated by sensory nerve infiltration in adaptive bone remodeling. Here, we focused on the role of Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A), expressed by sensory nerves, in mechanical loads-induced bone formation and nerve withdrawal using orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) model. Firstly, bone formation was activated after the 3rd day of OTM, coinciding with a decrease in sensory nerves and an increase in pain threshold. Sema3A, rather than nerve growth factor (NGF), highly expressed in both trigeminal ganglion and the axons of periodontal ligament following the 3rd day of OTM. Moreover, in vitro mechanical loads upregulated Sema3A in neurons instead of in human periodontal ligament cells (hPDLCs) within 24 hours. Furthermore, exogenous Sema3A restored the suppressed alveolar bone formation and the osteogenic differentiation of hPDLCs induced by mechanical overload. Mechanistically, Sema3A prevented overstretching of F-actin induced by mechanical overload through ROCK2 pathway, maintaining mitochondrial dynamics as mitochondrial fusion. Therefore, Sema3A exhibits dual therapeutic effects in mechanical loads-induced bone formation, both as a pain-sensitive analgesic and a positive regulator for bone formation.

An IgM-like inhalable ACE2 fusion protein broadly neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Many of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics are not effective against newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants. Here, we developed the metallo-enzyme domain of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-the cellular receptor of SARS-CoV-2-into an IgM-like inhalable molecule (HH-120). HH-120 binds to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein with high avidity and confers potent and broad-spectrum neutralization activity against all known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. HH-120 was developed as an inhaled formulation that achieves appropriate aerodynamic properties for rodent and monkey respiratory system delivery, and we found that early administration of HH-120 by aerosol inhalation significantly reduced viral loads and lung pathology scores in male golden Syrian hamsters infected by the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain (GDPCC-nCoV27) and the Delta variant. Our study presents a meaningful advancement in the inhalation delivery of large biologics like HH-120 (molecular weight (MW) ~ 1000 kDa) and demonstrates that HH-120 can serve as an efficacious, safe, and convenient agent against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Finally, given the known role of ACE2 in viral reception, it is conceivable that HH-120 has the potential to be efficacious against additional emergent coronaviruses.