[Meta-analysis of the effects of xenogeneic acellular dermal matrix dressings in the treatment of wounds in burn patients].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of xenogeneic acellular dermal matrix (ADM) dressings for the treatment of wounds in burn patients. Methods: The meta-analysis method was adopted. Databases including Chinese Journal Full-text Database, Wanfang Database, VIP Database, and Chinese Biomedical Database were retrieved with the search terms in Chinese version of ", , , " and PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were retrieved with the search terms in English version of "xenogeneic acellular dermal matrix, dressing, burn wound, burn" to obtain the publicly published randomized controlled trials on the efficacy of xenogeneic ADM dressings for the treatment of wounds in burn patients from the establishment of each database to December 2021. The outcome indexes included wound healing time, ratio of scar hyperplasia, Vancouver scar scale (VSS) score, ratio of complications, ratio of skin grafting, and ratio of bacteria detection. Rev Man 5.3 and Stata 14.0 statistical softwares were used to conduct a meta-analysis of eligible studies. Results: A total of 1 596 burn patients from 16 studies were included, including 835 patients in experimental group who received xenogeneic ADM dressings therapy and 761 patients in control group who received other methods therapy. The bias risk of all the 16 included studies was uncertain. Compared with those in control group, patients in experimental group had significantly shorter wound healing time, lower VSS scores (with standardized mean differences of -2.50 and -3.10, 95% confidence intervals of -3.02--1.98 and -4.87--1.34, respectively, P values both <0.05), and lower ratios of scar hyperplasia, complications, skin grafting, and bacteria detection (with relative risks of 0.58, 0.23, 0.32, and 0.27, 95% confidence intervals of 0.43-0.80, 0.14-0.37, 0.15-0.67, and 0.11-0.69, respectively, P<0.05). Subgroup analysis showed that the difference of intervention measures in control group might be the source of heterogeneity in wound healing time. There was no publication bias in ratio of scar hyperplasia (P≥0.05), while there was publication bias in wound healing time, VSS score, and ratio of complications (P<0.05). Conclusions: Xenogeneic ADM dressings can shorten the wound healing time of burn patients, reduce the VSS score and the ratios of scar hyperplasia, complications, skin grafting, and bacteria detection.

A miniaturized arrayed assay format for detecting small molecule-protein interactions in cells.

BACKGROUND: Two complementary approaches to studying the cellular function of proteins involve alteration of function either by mutating protein-encoding genes or by binding a small molecule to the protein. A mutagen can generate millions of genetic mutations; correspondingly, split-pool synthesis can generate millions of unique ligands attached to individual beads. Genetic screening of mutations is relatively straightforward but, in contrast, split-pool synthesis presents a challenge to current methods of screening for compounds that alter protein function. The methods used to screen natural products are not feasible for large libraries composed of covalently immobilized compounds on synthesis beads. The sheer number of compounds synthesized by split-pool synthesis, and the small quantity of individual compound attached to each bead require assay miniaturization for efficient screening. RESULTS: We present a miniaturized cell-based technique for the screening of ligands prepared by split-pool synthesis. Spatially defined droplets with uniform volumes of approximately 50-150 nanoliters (depending on well dimensions) are arrayed on plastic devices prepared using a combination of photolithography and polymer molding. Using this microtechnology, approximately 6,500 assays using either yeast cells or mammalian tissue culture can be performed within the dimensions of a standard 10 cm petri dish. We demonstrate that the biological effect of a small molecule prepared by split-pool synthesis can be detected in this format following its photorelease from a bead. CONCLUSIONS: The miniaturized format described here allows uniformly sized nanodroplets to be arrayed on plastic devices. The design is amenable to a large number of biological assays and the spatially arrayed format ensures uniform and controlled ligand concentrations and should facilitate automation of assays. The screening method presented here provides an efficient means of rapidly screening large numbers of ligands made by split-pool synthesis in both yeast and mammalian cells.