ABSTRACT
Exosomes are a kind of endosomal vesicles that are secreted by most if not all living cells. Due to their capability of delivering a variety of cargos, such as tissue- or cell-specific proteins, lipids, and genetic materials, and their broad biological activities, exosomes have gained substantial attention as emerging therapeutics. Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and dendritic cells (DCs) are two types of exosomes that are widely studied. Many preclinical and clinical studies have shown that they have a satisfactory treatment effect in lung diseases, liver diseases, nervous system diseases, tumors, and other diseases. In addition, exosomes from macrophages, tumor cells, plant cells, and many other cells are getting more attention due to their therapeutic potential. Besides natural exosomes, research on engineered exosomes has also made plenty of progress. There have been several engineering methods of exosomes, such as targeting modification and loading of active ingredients. In this review, we summarize the research progress of therapeutic exosomes from different sources, and further discusses the application prospects of exosomes and possible challenges in the future.
ABSTRACT
The incidence and mortality of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are increasing year by year, which are causing massive social and financial burdens around the world. An increasing number of investigations indicate the possibility of COPD transforming into lung cancer. The pathogenesis of these two diseases have some common aspects, such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition, chronic inflammation, DNA damage, impaired immune system, oxidative stress and tumor angiogenesis, which are heavily complicated. This review summarizes the epidemiological connection between COPD and lung cancer, the molecular-level transformation mechanism as well as the therapeutic strategy. Exploring the transformation mechanism and related signaling pathway of COPD to lung cancer can contribute to block the risk factors for the transformation and provide guidance for the novel drug development and drug therapy.
ABSTRACT
Sepsis is a refractory disease with high mortality in which the host's immune response to the infection is dysfunctional, resulting in life-threatening organ function damage. The pathogenesis of sepsis is complex, involving systemic inflammation, immunosuppressive and coagulation abnormalities, and endothelial barrier damage caused by the infecting pathogenic microorganisms and their toxins. The pathogenesis of sepsis is closely related to multiple systems disorder and multiple organ dysfunction and failure. In recent years, the incidence of sepsis has been increasing globally, with an annual increase of 9%. Since the development of sepsis does not depend on the infecting pathogenic microorganisms and the late inflammatory reaction can be life-threatening, clinical treatment of sepsis can be very difficult. However, the current antibiotic treatments for sepsis are not ideal. Most clinical treatments are not curative, so researchers seek new drug designs based on exploring molecular mechanisms of the pathophysiological process in sepsis patients. This paper reviews the recent development of drugs designed according to the sepsis pathophysiological process.