Cell sheet technology: a promising strategy in regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine is a burgeoning field that is important to combat challenging diseases and functional impairments. Compared with traditional cell therapies with evident shortcomings (e.g., cell suspension injection or tissue engineering with scaffolds), scaffold-free cell sheet technology enables transplanted cells to be grafted and fully maintain their viability on target sites. Clinical and experimental studies have advanced the application of cell sheet technology to numerous tissues and organs (e.g., liver, cornea and bone). However, previous reviews have failed to discuss vital aspects of this rapidly developing technology, and many new challenges are gradually emerging. This review aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to cell sheet technology from cell selection to the ultimate applications of cell sheets, and challenges and future visions are also described.     

Effectiveness of Petasites hybridus preparations in the prophylaxis of migraine: A systematic review

The objective of this review was to evaluate the strength of evidence of effectiveness for Petasites hybridus in the prophylaxis of migraine. Several databases and other sources were searched to identify randomised-controlled trials investigating P. hybridus preparations. Two trials totalling 293 patients (60 and 233 patients) were included in this review. Both trials investigated the proprietary Petasites root extract Petadolex^®. The trials were described in narrative way, taking into consideration methodological quality scores. Pooling of data was not carried out due to the heterogeneity of the results. The extract at higher dose (150 mg) showed a greater decreased frequency of migraine attacks and a greater number of responders (improvement >50%) after treatment over 3–4 months than the extract at lower dose (100 mg) and placebo. Moderate evidence of effectiveness is, thus, available for a higher than the recommended dose of the proprietary Petasites root extract Petadolex^® in the prophylaxis of migraine. Further rigorous studies are required to confirm effectiveness and safety in long-term use before treatment with Petasites root extract can be recommended as an alternative option in the treatment schedule for the prophylaxis of migraine.     

Fibrous Aggregates of Short Peptides Containing Two Distinct Aromatic Amino Acid Residues

The aim of the study was the assessment of the ability of short peptides to form aggregates under physiological conditions. The dipeptides studied were derived from different aromatic amino acids (heteroaromatic peptides). Tripeptides were obtained from two distinct aromatic amino acids and cysteine or methionine residue in the C‐terminal, N‐terminal, or central position. The ability of the peptides to form fibrous aggregates under physiological conditions was evaluated using three independent methods: the Congo Red assay, the Thioflavin T assay, and microscopic examinations using normal and polarized light. Materials potentially useful for regenerative medicine were selected based on their cytotoxicity to the endothelial cell line EA.hy 926 and physicochemical properties of films formed by peptides. The required parameters of biocompatibility were fulfilled by H?PheCysTrp?OH, H?PheCysTyr?OH, H?PheTyrMet?OH, and H?TrpTyr?OH.     

基于机器学习的医学影像分析在药物研发和精准医疗方面的应用

MRI,PET,和CT等医学影像在新药研发和精准医疗中起着越来越重要的作用。影像技术可以被用来诊断疾病,评估药效,选择适应患者,或者确定用药剂量。 随着人工智能技术的发展,特别是机器学习以及深度学习技术在医学影像中的应用,使得我们可以用更短的时间,更少的放射剂量获取更高质量的影像。这些技术还可以帮助放射科医生缩短读片时间,提高诊断准确率。除此之外,机器学习技术还可以提高量化分析的可行性和精度,帮助建立影像与基因以及疾病的临床表现之间的关系。首先根据不同形态的医学影像,简单介绍他们在药物研发和精准医疗中的应用。并对机器学习在医学影像中的功能作一概括总结。最后讨论这个领域的挑战和机遇。     

诱导多能干细胞在医学方面的应用

2006年,首次报道在体外简单的转录因子就可以使体细胞重编程为多能性细胞。自从这项技术诞生以来,人们为改善诱导多能干细胞(iPSCs)技术做出了巨大努力,发展各种方法用于将重编程因子导入体细胞制备诱导多能干细胞(iPSCs)。诱导多能干细胞(iPSCs)技术彻底改变了人类对疾病发病机制的探索和药物开发的进程。本文简述了诱导多能干细胞的来源及诱导策略、近年来iPSCs在疾病建模、药物研发、再生医学等方面的应用,同时探讨了该技术当前存在的问题,并对未来进行了展望。     

Driving Precision Medicine through Proteomics and Metabolomics - 12th Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC), Bucharest,Romania

As Romanians prepared to celebrate 100 years of the '‘Great Unification of 1918?' which united all provinces into one Romania, the 12^th Central and Eastern European Proteomic Conference (CEEPC) jointly with the 39^th Anniversary of the Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology '‘N. Simionescu’' (ICBP-NS), held their inaugural meeting at the Romanian Academy in Bucharest – a national forum of highest scientific recognition. With an exciting theme entitled, ‘Advances in Proteomics and Progress in Precision Medicine’, delegates gathered to debate Precision medicine’s revolution in diagnosis and treatment, which now accounts for predictive, preventative, and targeted treatment strategies with informed decisions according to individual’s unique clinical, molecular and genetic profile. Proteomics has a pivotal role to play in furthering precision health and medicine for the benefit of mankind. To this end, CEEPC continues to drive advances in proteomics, metabolomics, and diseases as well as raising awareness of pressing global humanitarian and health-care issues including mental health diseases, aging, chronic diseases, global epidemics and environmental issues. Today, CEEPC is a well-recognized major annual conference with a focused vision and a highly valued ideology as it continues to propagate scientific, medical and proteomic collaborations whilst expanding as more Eastern European countries prepare to join.     

Proteome Analysis of Human Neutrophil Granulocytes From Patients With Monogenic Disease Using Data-independent Acquisition

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Highlights

• •Data-independent acquisition proteomics analysis of naive neutrophils from patients with rare monogenic diseases.
• •Proteomics analysis helps guide targeted genetic diagnostics of patients for which routine clinical diagnostics proved inconclusive.

     

Latest Advances on Bacterial Cellulose‐Based Materials for Wound Healing,Delivery Systems,and Tissue Engineering

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a nanocellulose form produced by some nonpathogenic bacteria. BC presents unique physical, chemical, and biological properties that make it a very versatile material and has found application in several fields, namely in food industry, cosmetics, and biomedicine. This review overviews the latest state‐of‐the‐art usage of BC on three important areas of the biomedical field, namely delivery systems, wound dressing and healing materials, and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine. BC will be reviewed as a promising biopolymer for the design and development of innovative materials for the mentioned applications. Overall, BC is shown to be an effective and versatile carrier for delivery systems, a safe and multicustomizable patch or graft for wound dressing and healing applications, and a material that can be further tuned to better adjust for each tissue engineering application, by using different methods.     

Current methods for the maturation of induced pluripotent stem cellderived cardiomyocytes

Induced pluripotent stem cells(iPSCs) were first generated by Yamanaka and colleagues over a decade ago. Since then, iPSCs have been successfully differentiated into many distinct cell types, enabling tissue-, disease-, and patientspecific in vitro modelling. Cardiovascular disease is the greatest cause of mortality worldwide but encompasses rarer disorders of conduction and myocardial function for which a cellular model of study is ideal. Although methods to differentiate iPSCs into beating cardiomyocytes(iPSC-CMs) have recently been adequately optimized and commercialized, the resulting cells remain largely immature with regards to their structure and function,demonstrating fetal gene expression, disorganized morphology, reliance on predominantly glycolytic metabolism and contractile characteristics that differ from those of adult cardiomyocytes. As such, disease modelling using iPSC-CMs may be inaccurate and of limited utility. However, this limitation is widely recognized, and numerous groups have made substantial progress in addressing this problem. This review highlights successful methods that have been developed for the maturation of human iPSC-CMs using small molecules,environmental manipulation and 3-dimensional(3 D) growth approaches.     

Effect of Panax ginseng combined with Angelica sinensis on the dissolution of ginsenosides and in chemotherapy mice hematopoietic function

ObjectiveTo study the changes of ginsenoside content in different proportion of Panax ginseng-Angelica sinensis (GA) co-decoction, and to explore the amelioration of hematopoietic function in mice after combined use of the two drugs. The active ingredient profiles in P. ginseng single decoction and co-decoction of GA were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experimental pharmacology method was used to explore the effect of GA co-decoction on the hematopoietic function of chemotherapy mice.ResultsThe active ingredient profiles of the co-decoction of GA significantly changed compared with those of the single decoction. Compared with GA1:0 (single decoction of Panax ginseng), the routine ginsenosides of all proportions of GA decreased significantly, but the proportion of rare ginsenosides increased significantly. The changes of contents of rare ginsenosides of GA were basically consistent with the trends of effects on the myelosuppression induced by CY. Compared with the model group, GA significantly increased the number of bone marrow nucleated cells, thymus index, peripheral blood leukocytes and platelets, and significantly reduced the spleen index. Moreover, GA could promote G1 phase bone marrow cells to enter the cell cycle, increase the proportion of S phase cells and G2/M phase cells, and increase the cell proliferation index.ConclusionGA can ameliorate the hematopoietic function of mice after chemotherapy, and GA2:3, GA3:2 were the best, which may be due to the changes of the pharmacodynamic material basis of GA after compatibility. All these results implied that GA may be an ideal drug and food supplement for the treatment of toxic and side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs.