Circulating Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA as a Prognostic Biomarker in Patients With HBV-Related Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), particularly hepatitis B virus-related ACLF (HBV-ACLF), is a severe condition with high short-term mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) in predicting short-term mortality in HBV-ACLF patients. A total of 320 HBV-ACLF patients were included in the study population, with 192 patients in the derivation cohort and 128 in the validation cohort.

Carrier-Free Nanoadjuvant-Loaded Bilayer Microneedles for Programmed and Individualized Cancer Chemo-Immunotherapy.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits low response rates to current immunotherapies. In this study, we present a double-layer dissolvable microneedle (MN) patch consisting of chemotherapeutic drugs in the shell layer and a carrier-free nanoadjuvant in the core for boosted chemo-immunotherapy. The rapid release of doxorubicin (DOX) elicits immunogenic cell death (ICD) to induce the production of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs).

mRNA lipid nanoparticles in CAR-T therapy: a novel strategy to improve efficacy.

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) immunotherapy has achieved remarkable progress in the treatment of hematological malignancies. However, it encounters challenges including complex manufacturing processes, high cost, and safety issues. Lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, as an advanced gene delivery platform, offers significant advancements to CAR-T therapy through its high efficiency, low immunogenicity, and safety.

Oral microbes and gastrointestinal cancers: new strategies and insights.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers are among the most prevalent cancers globally and represent a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. A distinctive characteristic of these cancers is their association with the microbes. Gut microbiota dysbiosis is widely recognized as a contributing factor in cancer development.

Nonfouling Core-Shell Microneedle for Sequential and Sustained Drug Release: Enhancing Synergistic Photothermal Chemotherapy in Melanoma Treatment.

Melanoma is a highly aggressive and metastatic malignancy, where current treatment methods often result in damage to healthy tissues, suboptimal therapeutic outcomes, and immune-related side effects. Microneedles, as a drug delivery system, offer advantages such as localized administration, minimal invasiveness, and high delivery efficiency. In this study, we first synthesized tetradecyl-thiol-grafted PAMAM dendrimers, which significantly enhanced cellular uptake and enabled sustained release of doxorubicin (DOX), improving cumulative drug release efficiency.

Extrathymic CD8 and CD4 Double Positive T Cells Presenting Vigorous HBV-Specific Responses Accelerate HBV Clearance.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health problem. Both CD4+ and CD8 + T cells play crucial roles in HBV clearance from acute patients. Nevertheless, an extrathymic CD4 and CD8 double positive T (DPT) cell subset have been reported earlier, the function of these cells in HBV infection is still poorly understood.

Compensatory effect-based oxidative stress management microneedle for psoriasis treatment.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) at elevated levels trigger oxidative DNA damage, which is a significant factor in psoriasis exacerbation. However, normal ROS levels are essential for cell signaling, cell growth regulation, differentiation, and immune responses. To address this, we developed ROS control strategies inspired by compensatory effects.

Microneedles as transdermal drug delivery system for enhancing skin disease treatment.

Microneedles (MNs) serve as a revolutionary paradigm in transdermal drug delivery, heralding a viable resolution to the formidable barriers presented by the cutaneous interface. This review examines MNs as an advanced approach to enhancing dermatological pathology management. It explores the complex dermis structure and highlights the limitations of traditional transdermal methods, emphasizing MNs' advantage in bypassing the stratum corneum to deliver drugs directly to the subdermal matrix.

Dynamic and photodegradable dextran/gelatin hydrogel niche crosslinked with disulfide bonds: Promoting growth and release of stem cells.

Due to the utilization of well-defined artificial niches, stem cell culture in a three-dimensional hydrogel matrix has been a promising method for obtaining sufficient seed cells. Although various hydrogels can support desirable cell proliferation, establishing a normalized hydrogel that adequately mimics the extracellular matrix (ECM), maintains stemness and allows for controlled release of stem cells remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a hydrogel composed of sulfobetaine-modified dextran and gelatin to maintain stemness and enable the rapid release of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs).

Combination of spatial transcriptomics analysis and retrospective study reveals liver infection of SARS-COV-2 is associated with clinical outcomes of COVID-19.

Background: Liver involvement is a common complication of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in hospitalized patients. However, the underlying mechanisms involved are not fully understood.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins was conducted on liver tissues from six patients with COVID-19.

Hepatitis B surface antigen impairs TLR4 signaling by upregulating A20 expression in monocytes.

Unlabelled: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a crucial role in eliminating viral infection. Conversely, viruses have evolved various strategies to disrupt TLR signaling during chronic infection. In the case of hepatitis B virus (HBV), we previously reported that plasma hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is closely associated with impaired TLR responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, but the reasons remain unclear.

Temperature-Responsive "Nano-to-Micro" Transformed Polymersomes for Enhanced Ultrasound/Fluorescence Dual Imaging-Guided Tumor Phototherapy.

The perfect integration of microbubbles for efficient ultrasound imaging and nanocarriers for intelligent tumor-targeting delivery remains a challenge in precise tumor theranostics. Herein, we exquisitely fabricated laser-activated and targeted polymersomes (abbreviated as FIP-NPs) for simultaneously encapsulating the photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) and the phase change agent perfluorohexane (PFH). The formulated FIP-NPs were nanosize and effectively accumulated into tumors as observed by ICG fluorescence imaging.

Multifunctional Nanoparticle-Loaded Injectable Alginate Hydrogels with Deep Tumor Penetration for Enhanced Chemo-Immunotherapy of Cancer.

Chemo-immunotherapy has become a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the inability of the drugs to penetrate deeply into the tumor and form potent tumor vaccines in vivo severely restricts the antitumor effect of chemo-immunotherapy. In this work, an injectable sodium alginate platform is reported to promote penetration of the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) and delivery of personalized tumor vaccines.

Dual-Band Frequency Selective Surface with Different Polarization Selectivity for Wireless Communication Application.

This article proposes a dual-band, frequency- and polarization-selective surface. Multiple resonant modes are introduced using the U-shaped resonator with a ground via to achieve dual-band responses and polarization selectivity. Two symmetrically grounded U-shaped resonators are coupled through electrically coupled apertures in a common ground, resulting in a passband with two transmission zeros per polarization.

Proto-Oncogene FAM50A Can Regulate the Immune Microenvironment and Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Vitro and In Vivo.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a vital global health problem. The characteristics are high morbidity, high mortality, difficulty in early diagnosis and insensitivity to chemotherapy. The main therapeutic schemes for treating HCC mainly include Tyrosine kinase inhibitors represented by sorafenib and lenvatinib.

CHINAT-CD4 Score Predicts Transplant-Free Survival in Patients with Acute-on-Chronic Liver Failure.

Aim: The early prognosis evaluation of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is important to decrease its mortality. We aimed to develop a new score to accurately predict the outcome of patients with ACLF.

Methods: A derivation set of 408 patients with hepatitis B virus-related ACLF (HBV-ACLF) based on the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver criteria is used to develop a prognostic score that was validated in 209 patients with HBV-ACLF and 195 patients with non-HBV-ACLF.

Spatio-temporal delivery of both intra- and extracellular toll-like receptor agonists for enhancing antigen-specific immune responses.

For cancer immunotherapy, triggering toll-like receptors (TLRs) in dendritic cells (DCs) can potentiate antigen-based immune responses. Nevertheless, to generate robust and long-lived immune responses, a well-designed nanovaccine should consider different locations of TLRs on DCs and co-deliver both antigens and TLR agonist combinations to synergistically induce optimal antitumor immunity. Herein, we fabricated lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPNPs) to spatio-temporally deliver model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) on the surface of the lipid layer, TLR4 agonist monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) within the lipid layer, and TLR7 agonist imiquimod (IMQ) in the polymer core to synergistically activate DCs by both extra- and intra-cellular TLRs for enhancing adaptive immune responses.

Development and Validation of a Non-invasive Model to Predict Liver Histological Lesions in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients With Persistently Normal Alanine Aminotransferase and Detectable Viremia.

Background: A critical and controversial issue is whether antiviral therapy should be recommended in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (PNALT) and detectable HBV DNA. The study aimed to develop a non-invasive model for predicting significant liver histological changes (SLHC), which is the histological indication for antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with PNALT and detectable HBV DNA.

Methods: 398 chronic HBV infection patients with PNALT and detectable HBV DNA who underwent liver biopsy were divided into the estimation set ( = 256) and validation set ( = 142).

Using Next-generation Sequencing to Identify Novel Exosomal miRNAs as Biomarkers for Significant Hepatic Fibrosis.

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the role of serum exosomal miRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers for distinguishing no-or-mild fibrosis from significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

Methods: Next-generation sequencing was used to identify fibrosis-related serum exosomal miRNAs in 9 CHB patients. The candidate exosomal miRNAs were further validated by qRT-PCR in 282 CHB patients.

Effects of Content of Soil Rock Fragments on Soil Erodibility in China.

Soil erosion is serious in China-the soil in plateau and mountain areas contain a large of rock fragments, and their content and distribution have an important influence on soil erosion. However, there are still no complete results for calculating soil erodibility factor (K) that have corrected rock fragments in China. In this paper, the data available on rock fragments in the soil profile (RFP); rock fragments on the surface of the soil (RFS); and environmental factors such as elevation, terrain relief, slope, vegetation coverage (characterised by normalised difference vegetation index, NDVI), land use, precipitation, temperature, and soil type were used to explore the effects of content of soil rock fragments on calculating of K in China.

Dynamic Differences of Immunological Parameters Between Severe and Non-severe COVID-19 Patients.

Objective: We aimed to compare the dynamic differences of immunological parameters between severe and non-severe COVID-19 patients.

Methods: The cytokine profiles and lymphocyte subsets of 664 patients with COVID-19 (31 severe cases and 633 non-severe cases) were longitudinally analyzed.

Results: Compared with non-severe cases, severe cases had a higher age (64 vs.