Hydroxysafflor yellow A ameliorates alcohol-induced liver injury through PI3K/Akt and STAT3/NF-κB signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a prevalent liver ailment. It has escalated into a significant public health issue, imposing substantial burdens on medical, economic, and social domains. Currently, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis are recognized as crucial culprits in improving ALD. Consequently, mitigating these issues has emerged as a promising avenue for enhancing ALD. Hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) is the main ingredient in safflower, showing excellent antioxidative stress, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis traits. However, there are limited investigations into the mechanisms by which HSYA ameliorates ALD PURPOSE: We investigated whether HSYA, a significant constituent of Asteraceae safflower, exerts antioxidant stress and attenuates inflammation and anti-apoptotic effects through PI3K/Akt and STAT3/NF-κB pathways, thereby ameliorating ALD METHODS: We established two experimental models: an ethanol-induced liver damage mouse model in vivo and a HepG2 cell alcohol injury model in vitro RESULTS: The results demonstrated that HSYA effectively ameliorated liver tissue damage, reduced levels of ALT, AST, LDL-C, TG, TC, and MDA, enhanced HDL-C levels, SOD and GSH activities, reduced ROS accumulation in cells, and activated the Nrf2 pathway, a transcription factor involved in antioxidant defense. By regulating the PI3K/Akt and STAT3/NF-κB pathways, HSYA exhibits notable antioxidative stress, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects, effectively impeding ALD's advancement. To further confirm the regulatory effect of HSYA on PI3K/Akt and downstream signaling pathways, the PI3K activator 740 Y-P was used and was found to reverse the downregulation of PI3K by HSYA CONCLUSION: This study supports the effectiveness of HSYA in reducing ALD by regulating the PI3K/Akt and STAT3/NF-κB pathways, indicating its potential medicinal value.

Safflower polysaccharide ameliorates acute ulcerative colitis by regulating STAT3/NF-κB signaling pathways and repairing intestinal barrier function.

This study is to investigate the effect of SPS on the UC model. An animal model of UC induced by DSS was developed using C57BL/6 mice. The body weight was recorded every day, and the symptoms related to UC were detected. H&E staining, AB-PAS staining and PSR staining were used to evaluate the histopathological changes of the colon. Inflammation and mucosal barrier indicators were detected by qRT-PCR, and the 16 S rRNA sequence was used to detect the intestinal flora. SPS can significantly prevent and treat DSS-induced ulcerative colitis in animals. SPS significantly improved clinical symptoms, alleviated pathological damage, inhibited the infiltration of intestinal inflammatory cells. SPS treatment can protect goblet cells, enhance the expression of tight junction proteins and mucins, inhibit the expression of antimicrobial peptides, thereby improving intestinal barrier integrity. The prevention and treatment mechanism of SPS may be related to the inhibition of STAT3/NF-κB signaling pathway to regulate intestinal barrier function. In particular, SPS also significantly adjusted the structure of intestinal flora, significantly increasing the abundance of Akkermansia and Limosilactobacillus and inhibiting the abundance of Bacteroides. Overall, SPS has a significant therapeutic effect on ulcerative colitis mice, and is expected to play its value effectively in clinical treatment.

Relaxin-Loaded Inhaled Porous Microspheres Inhibit Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Improve Pulmonary Function Post-Bleomycin Challenges.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) causes worsening pulmonary function, and no effective treatment for the disease etiology is available now. Recombinant Human Relaxin-2 (RLX), a peptide agent with anti-remodeling and anti-fibrotic effects, is a promising biotherapeutic candidate for musculoskeletal fibrosis. However, due to its short circulating half-life, optimal efficacy requires continuous infusion or repeated injections. Here, we developed the porous microspheres loading RLX (RLX@PMs) and evaluated their therapeutic potential on IPF by aerosol inhalation. RLX@PMs have a large geometric diameter as RLX reservoirs for a long-term drug release, but smaller aerodynamic diameter due to their porous structures, which were beneficial for higher deposition in the deeper lungs. The results showed a prolonged release over 24 days, and the released drug maintained its peptide structure and activity. RLX@PMs protected mice from excessive collagen deposition, architectural distortion, and decreased compliance after a single inhalation administration in the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model. Moreover, RLX@PMs showed better safety than frequent gavage administration of pirfenidone. We also found RLX-ameliorated human myofibroblast-induced collagen gel contraction and suppressed macrophage polarization to the M2 type, which may be the reason for reversing fibrosis. Hence, RLX@PMs represent a novel strategy for the treatment of IPF and suggest clinical translational potential.

Isoliquiritigenin alleviates the development of alcoholic liver fibrosis by inhibiting ANXA2.

The study aimed to investigate the effect of isoliquiritigenin (ISL) on model of alcoholic liver fibrosis (ALF). C57BL/6 mice were used to establish animal model of ALF, HSC-T6 cells were used to establish alcohol-activated cell model, and tandem mass tag (TMT) assays were used to analyze the proteome. The results showed that ISL obviously alleviated hepatic fibrosis in model mice. ISL visually improved the area of liver pathological stasis and deposition of fibrillar collagen (Sirius Red staining, Masson staining), inhibited the mRNA expression levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) in liver tissues. ISL down-regulated the mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and transforming growth factor-ß1(TGF-ß1) in activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). And ISL significantly reduced annexin A2 (ANXA2) in vitro detected by TMT proteomics technology. Interestingly, it was found for the first time that ISL could inhibit ANXA2 expression both in vivo and in vitro, block the sphingosine kinases (SPHKs)/sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P)/interleukin 17 (IL-17) signaling pathway and regulate the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) by inhibiting the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) at the downstream signal to finally reverse HSCs activation and hepatic fibrosis. Thus, we demonstrated that ISL is a drug monomer with notable anti-hepatic fibrosis activity.

Combination of oxaliplatin and POM-1 by nanoliposomes to reprogram the tumor immune microenvironment.

Some chemotherapy can damage tumor cells, releasing damage-related molecular patterns including ATP to improve immunological recognition against the tumor by immunogenic cell death (ICD). However, the immune-stimulating ATP may be rapidly degraded into immunosuppressive adenosine by highly expressed CD39 and CD73 in the tumor microenvironment, which leads to immune escape. Based on the above paradox, a liposome nanoplatform combined with ICD inducer (oxaliplatin) and CD39 inhibitor (POM-1) is designed for immunochemotherapy. The liposomes efficiently load the phospholipid-like oxaliplatin prodrug, and the cationic charged surface could adsorb POM-1. Rationally designed DSPE-PEGn-pep, on the one hand, could cover and hide POM-1 to avoid systematic toxicity and, on the other, achieve a response and charge reversal to favor POM-1 shedding and tumor deep penetration. This combination maximizes the ICD effect, and takes two-pronged advantage of stimulating the immune response and relieving immune suppression. The designed POL can effectively inhibit the growth of in situ, lung metastasis and postoperative recurrence melanoma model and form long-term immune memory. With the powerful clinical transformation potential of nanoliposome platforms, this new synergistic strategy is expected to enhance anticancer effects safely and effectively.

Development of Effective Tumor Vaccine Strategies Based on Immune Response Cascade Reactions.

To solve the problems of high toxicity and poor efficacy of existing tumor treatment methods, researchers have developed a variety of tumor immunotherapies. Among them, tumor vaccines activate antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes upstream of the cancer-immunity cycle are considered the most promising therapy to activate the immune system. Nanocarriers are considered the most promising tumor vaccine delivery vehicles, including polymer nanocarriers, lipid nanocarriers, inorganic nanocarriers, and biomimetic nanocarriers that have been developed for vaccine delivery. Based on the cascade reaction for tumor vaccines to exert their effects, this review summarizes the four key factors for the design and construction of nano-tumor vaccines. The composition and functional characteristics of the corresponding preferred nanocarriers are illustrated to provide a reference for the development of effective tumor vaccines. Finally, potential challenges and perspectives are illustrated in the hope of improving the efficacy of tumor vaccine immunotherapy and accelerating the clinical transformation of next-generation tumor vaccines.

Precise design strategies of nanomedicine for improving cancer therapeutic efficacy using subcellular targeting.

Therapeutic efficacy against cancer relies heavily on the ability of the therapeutic agents to reach their final targets. The optimal targets of most cancer therapeutic agents are usually biological macromolecules at the subcellular level, which play a key role in carcinogenesis. Therefore, to improve the therapeutic efficiency of drugs, researchers need to focus on delivering not only the therapeutic agents to the target tissues and cells but also the drugs to the relevant subcellular structures. In this review, we discuss the most recent construction strategies and release patterns of various cancer cell subcellular-targeting nanoformulations, aiming at providing guidance in the overall design of precise nanomedicine. Additionally, future challenges and potential perspectives are illustrated in the hope of enhancing anticancer efficacy and accelerating the translational progress of precise nanomedicine.

The role of antibody delivery formation in cancer therapy.

Cancer has become one of the major threats to human survival. Because of antibodies specificity and low toxicity, it is the primary choice to diagnose and treat cancer. It is easy to be cleared from the blood circulation or distributing throughout the body and causes unnecessary side effects. It is necessary to delivery antibodies to the tumour region in a stable, safe and effective manner. In this review, we discuss the latest studies that aimed to delivery antibodies to tumour sites via several vector forms, such as liposomes, carbon nanomaterials, and gold nanomaterials. How to deliver antibodies to the target site is a difficulty for antibody therapy. This review summarises the antibody's therapeutic forms and carrier materials in recent years, and to explore how antibodies can be safely and stably delivered to the target site.

Ethosomal Gel for Improving Transdermal Delivery of Thymosin ß-4.

PURPOSE: Thymosin ß-4(Tß-4) is a macromolecular protein drug with potential for drug development in wound repair but is limited by the shortcomings of macromolecular protein, such as large volumes, poor membrane permeability, and unstable physicochemical characteristics. Ethosomes could enhance cell membrane fluidity and reduce epidermal membrane density to make macromolecular drugs through the stratum corneum into the deeper layers of the skin easily. Herein, we developed and characterized a novel transdermal delivery vehicle to load macromolecular protein peptides and use Tß-4 as a model drug wrapped into ethosomes. METHODS: We used the orthogonal method to optimize the formulation of the ethosome preparation prepared by the ethonal infusion method. Ethosomal gels were characterized by using different analytical methods. Transdermal release rate in vitro have been demonstrated in Franz diffusion cells and the efficacy of drug-loaded nanocarriers in vivo was investigated in a mouse model. RESULTS: Optimized Tß-4 ethosomal gels have good physicochemical properties. The drug amounts of the cumulative release in the ethosomal gel within 5 hours were 1.67 times that of the T-ß4 gel in vitro release study, and the wound healing time of ethosomal gel group was only half of the T-ß4 gel group in vivo pharmacokinetic study. Compared with the free drug group, the ethosome preparation not only promotes the percutaneous absorption process of the macromolecular protein drugs but also shortened wound recovery time. CONCLUSION: Hence, we provide a possible good design for ethosomal gel system that can load macromolecular protein peptide drugs to achieve transdermal drug administration, promoting the percutaneous absorption of the drug and improving the effect.

Enzyme responsiveness enhances the specificity and effectiveness of nanoparticles for the treatment of B16F10 melanoma.

The clinical treatment of melanoma continues to present many challenges including poor prognosis because neither monotherapy nor combination therapies have shown maximal treatment efficacy. In this study, an enzyme-responsive nanoparticle was designed for tumor subtypes with the high expression of heparanase-1, since highly metastatic tumors such as melanoma generally express significant levels of heparanase-1. PTX-DOTAP@alloferon-1-heparin/protamine, an enzyme-responsive nanoparticle, has a particle size of 106.1 ± 1.113 nm and a ζ-potential of -45.1 ± 0.455 mV, which enables enrichment in the tumor site by passive targeting. Subsequently, heparanase-1, which is highly expressed in the extracellular matrix, rapidly recognizes and degrades heparin in the outer layer of the nanoparticle and releases encapsulated alloferon-1 by ion diffusion to activate inhibited NK cells in the tumor microenvironment. The size of the smart nanoparticle will eventually decrease to 59.30 ± 0.783 nm and the ζ-potential will reverse to 25.4 ± 0.257 mV, which is beneficial for deep penetration and tumor cell uptake (due to the high negative charge on the tumor cell surface) of PTX-DOTAP cores. Paclitaxel is released in the cytoplasm, and the tumor cells are arrested in the G2/M phase. The nanoparticle characterization experiment demonstrated that in vivo drug delivery could be completed. In subsequent cell and animal experiments, the experimental data demonstrated the efficient therapeutic effects of the nanoparticle. This study provides an excellent template nanoparticle for the treatment of highly metastatic tumors to enhance future prognosis.