Research progress on mesenchymal stem cells and their exosomes in systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease with an unknown etiology. Clinically, it is characterized by localized or diffuse skin thickening and fibrosis. The pathogenesis of SSc includes microvascular injury, autoimmune-mediated inflammation, and fibroblast activation. These processes interact and contribute to the diverse clinicopathology and presentation of SSc. Given the limited effectiveness and substantial side effects of traditional treatments, the treatment strategy for SSc has several disadvantages. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are expected to serve as effective treatment options owing to their significant immunomodulatory, antifibrotic, and pro-angiogenic effects. Exosomes, secreted by MSCs via paracrine signaling, mirror the effect of MSCs as well as offer the benefit of targeted delivery, minimal immunogenicity, robust reparability, good safety and stability, and easy storage and transport. This enables them to circumvent the limitations of the MSCs. When using exosomes, it is crucial to consider preparation methods, quality standards, and suitable drug delivery systems, among other technical issues. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the latest research progress on MSCs and exosomes in SSc, offering novel ideas for treating SSc.

Ferricyanide Armed Anodes Enable Stable Water Oxidation in Saturated Saline Water at 2 A/cm2.

The direct seawater electrolysis at high current density and low overpotential affords an effective strategy toward clean and renewable hydrogen fuel production. However, the severe corrosion of anode as a result of the saturation of Cl- upon continuous seawater feeding seriously hamper the electrolytic process. Herein, cobalt ferricyanide / cobalt phosphide (CoFePBA/Co2 P) anodes with Cap/Pin structure are synthesized, which stably catalyze alkaline saturated saline water oxidation at 200-2000 mA cm-2 over hundreds of hours without corrosion. Together with the experimental findings, the molecular dynamics simulations reveal that PO4 3- and Fe(CN)6 3- generated by the electrode play synergistic role in repelling Cl- via electrostatic repulsion and dense coverage, which reduced Cl- adsorption by nearly 5-fold. The novel anionic synergy endow superior corrosion protection for the electrode, and is expected to promote the practical application of saline water electrolysis.

New cytotoxic compounds from flowers of Lawsonia inermis L.

Three new compounds, a bicoumarin A (1), a biflavonoid A (2), and a biquinone A (3), as well as 12 other known compounds, were isolated from the flower of Lawsonia inermis L. The structures were elucidated by spectral analysis and new compounds 2 and 3 then were further confirmed by ECD calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography respectively. The cytotoxicity of the compounds against four cancer cell lines, including MCF-7, Hela, HCT-116, and HT-29 were evaluated using MTT assay. The IC50 values of compounds 3 and 5 against MCF-7, Hela, HCT-116, and HT-29 were 2.24, 1.42, 24.29, and 7.02 µM and 6.1, 2.44, 5.58, and 10.21 µM respectively. The two compounds exhibited stronger inhibitory activities than the positive control 5-fluorouracil (IC50=7.34, 11.50, 36.17, 18.83 µM) against the four tested cell lines. These results demonstrated that compounds from the flowers of L. inermis L. showed cytotoxic activity on MCF-7, Hela, HCT-116, and HT-29 cell lines.

[Advances in studies on chemical constituents and biological activities of Lawsonia inermis].

Lawsonia inermis is a single-species genus of the Lythraceae family, its leaves, stem bark, roots, flowers and seeds have been used in traditional medicine. It has been paid more attention by scholars from many countries because of their various types of compounds and significant physiological activities. The plant is reported to contain quinones, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds and fatty acids. Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that the plant performs antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer and antiparasitic activity. This article mainly summarizes the research advances of chemical constituents and biological activities of Lawsonia inermis, for its further development and utilization.