Polyhydroxyalkanoates: the natural biopolyester for future medical innovations.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a family of natural microbial biopolyesters with the same basic chemical structure and diverse side chain groups. Based on their excellent biodegradability, biocompatibility, thermoplastic properties and diversity, PHAs are highly promising medical biomaterials and elements of medical devices for applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery. However, due to the high cost of biotechnological production, most PHAs have yet to be applied in the clinic and have only been studied at laboratory scale. This review focuses on the biosynthesis, diversity, physical properties, biodegradability and biosafety of PHAs. We also discuss optimization strategies for improved microbial production of commercial PHAs via novel synthetic biology tools. Moreover, we also systematically summarize various medical devices based on PHAs and related design approaches for medical applications, including tissue repair and drug delivery. The main degradation product of PHAs, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB), is recognized as a new functional molecule for cancer therapy and immune regulation. Although PHAs still account for only a small percentage of medical polymers, up-and-coming novel medical PHA devices will enter the clinical translation stage in the next few years.

Advances in modified hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels for skin wound healing.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural linear anionic polysaccharide with many unique characteristics such as excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, native biofunctionality, hydrophilicity, and non-immunoreactivity. HA plays crucial roles in numerous biological processes, including the inflammatory response, cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, angiogenesis, and tissue regeneration. All these properties and biological functions of HA make it an appealing material for the synthesis of biomedical hydrogels for skin wound healing. Since HA is not able to be gelate alone, it must be processed and functionalized through chemical modifications and crosslinking to generate versatile HA-based hydrogels. In recent years, different physical and chemical crosslinking strategies for HA-based hydrogels have been developed and designed, such as radical polymerization, Schiff-base crosslinking, enzymatic crosslinking, and dynamic covalent crosslinking, and they have broad and promising applications in skin wound healing and tissue engineering. In this review, we focus on chemical modification and crosslinking strategies for HA-based hydrogels, aiming to provide an overview of the latest advances in the development of HA-based hydrogels for skin wound healing. We summarize and propose feasible measures for the application of HA-based hydrogels for skin treatment, and discuss future application trends, which may ultimately promote HA-based hydrogels as a promising biomaterial for clinical applications.

Affinity of Streptococcal G Protein to Forest Musk Deer (Moschus berezovskii) Serum Immunoglobulin G.

Forest musk deer (FMD; Moschus berezovskii) immunoglobulin G efficiently bound to streptococcal G protein (SPG) and weakly bound to staphylococcal A protein. The results suggested that horseradish peroxidase-conjugated SPG could be chosen as an enzyme-labeled antibody substitute and laid a foundation for immunologic research in FMD disease.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of N-phenylquinazolin-4-amine hybrids as dual inhibitors of VEGFR-2 and HDAC.

A single agent that simultaneously inhibits multiple targets may offer greater therapeutic benefits in cancer than single-acting agents through interference with multiple pathways and potential synergistic action. In this work, a series of hybrids bearing N-phenylquinazolin-4-amine and hydroxamic acid moieties were designed and identified as dual VEGFR-2/HDAC inhibitors. Compound 6fd exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity against HDAC with IC50 of 2.2 nM and strong inhibitory effect against VEGFR-2 with IC50 of 74 nM. It also showed the most potent inhibitory activity against a human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with IC50 of 0.85 µM. Docking simulation supported the initial pharmacophoric hypothesis and suggested a common mode of interaction at the active binding sites of VEGFR-2 and HDLP ((Histone Deacetylase-Like Protein), which demonstrates that compound 6fd is a potential agent for cancer therapy deserving further researching.

Hybrids from 4-anilinoquinazoline and hydroxamic acid as dual inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 and histone deacetylase.

A series of hybrids derived from 4-anilinoquinazoline and hydroxamic acid were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as dual inhibitors of vascular endothelia growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase and histone deacetylase (HDAC). Most of these compounds exhibited potent HDAC inhibition and moderate VEGFR-2 inhibition. Among them, compound 6l exhibited the most potent inhibitory activities against VEGFR-2 (IC50=84 nM) and HDAC (IC50=2.8 nM). It also showed the most potent antiproliferative ability against MCF-7, a human breast cancer line, with IC50 of 1.2 µM. Docking simulation supported the initial pharmacophoric hypothesis and suggested a common mode of interaction of compound 6l at the active binding sites of VEGFR-2 and HDAC.