Engineering Complexity: Advances in 3D Breast Cancer Models for Precision Oncology.

Engineered in vitro cancer models are essential tools in cancer research, offering controlled microenvironments to study tumor biology and develop personalized therapies. Breast cancer, known for its complexity and high cellular heterogeneity, poses significant challenges in treatment. To address this, patient-derived in vitro breast cancer models are being used to better predict individual drug responses and guide therapy selection.

Bioprinting Vascularized Constructs for Clinical Relevance: Engineering Hydrogel Systems for Biological Maturity.

Vascularization remains a critical challenge in tissue engineering, limiting graft survival, integration, and clinical translation. Although bioprinting enables spatial control over vascular architectures, many existing approaches prioritize geometric precision over biological performance. Bioprinted vasculature can be understood as a dynamic and time-dependent system that requires tissue-specific maturation.

Development of a Novel Tubular Scaffold for Tissue-Engineered Small Intestine.

Purpose: Infants with short bowel syndrome (SBS) have significant morbidity and mortality, especially if they depend on parenteral nutrition. Tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) has been considered a potential therapeutic option for SBS but normal peristaltic function remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel tubular scaffold that promotes smooth muscle cell (SMC) alignment and ultimately peristalsis of TESI constructs.

A call to standardize the nomenclature of human fetal membrane at the feto-maternal interface.

Despite being one of the largest intrauterine tissues in surface area, the fetal membrane that lines the intrauterine cavity is often overlooked, forgotten, or misidentified in clinical and basic science research. The feto-maternal interface is comprised of the fetal membrane (fetal component) and decidua parietalis (maternal component), which lines the intrauterine cavity and provides essential mechanical, immune, hormonal, and transport support to maintain pregnancy. Fetal membrane plays an important role in triggering and regulating labor via complex signaling cascades.

Engineered Extracellular Vesicles in Arthritic Diseases: Therapeutic Applications & Challenges.

Arthritic diseases are a significant global health challenge, highlighting the urgent need for innovative therapeutic strategies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as promising candidates for treating various intractable diseases. This review explores the therapeutic potential of engineered EVs in joint diseases, particularly in comparison to their parental stem cells.

Stem Cell-Derived Corneal Epithelium: Engineering Barrier Function for Ocular Surface Repair.

The cornea, the transparent anterior window of the eye, critically refracts light and protects intraocular structures. Corneal pathologies, including trauma, infection, chemical injury, metabolic diseases, genetic conditions, and age-related degeneration, can lead to significant visual impairment. While penetrating keratoplasty or full-thickness corneal transplantation remains a standard and effective intervention for severe corneal dysfunction, limitations in donor tissue availability and the risk of immunogenic graft rejection necessitate alternative therapeutic strategies.

Factors that influence unproven stem cell intervention seeking behavior: A qualitative analysis of U.S. patients considering or having undertaken unproven stem cell interventions.

Chronic disease patients seeking information about unproven stem cell interventions (SCIs) routinely encounter misinformation. Identifying differences among patients with little interest in unproven SCIs (low seekers) from those with high interest (high seekers) would help in developing patient communication interventions. This study characterizes patient knowledge, information sources, attitudes, and emotion of 36 patients and carers through in-depth interviews and reports three themes: knowledge; attitudes about safety, efficacy and expectations; and desperation.

Combined treatment with antitoxin and 3,4-diaminopyridine improves survival outcomes after lethal botulinum neurotoxin challenge.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are the most potent toxins known, causing life-threatening flaccid paralysis by blocking acetylcholine release at neuromuscular junctions. Clinical botulism results in respiratory failure, requiring prolonged artificial ventilation for survival. The only specific therapy is antitoxin, which neutralizes circulating toxin but cannot affect toxin within neurons, resulting in a narrow therapeutic window.

Hydrogels in Cardiac Surgery: Versatile Platforms for Tissue Repair, Adhesion Prevention, and Localized Therapeutics.

Hydrogels have emerged as multifunctional biomaterials in cardiac surgery, offering promising solutions for myocardial regeneration, adhesion prevention, valve engineering, and localized drug and gene delivery. Their high water content, biocompatibility, and mechanical tunability enable close emulation of the cardiac extracellular matrix, supporting cellular viability and integration under dynamic physiological conditions. In myocardial repair, injectable and patch-forming hydrogels have been shown to be effective in reducing infarct size, promoting angiogenesis, and preserving contractile function.

Mast Cells and Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Revisited.

Introduction And Hypothesis: There is significant variation in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) biopsy processing and reporting. The objective of this study was to review pathology reports from a large IC/BPS patient cohort to identify differences in findings. We hypothesize that variation in IC/BPS bladder biopsy reporting might be most frequent when it comes to mast-cell counts.

Genomics and Histopathology in Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome.

Aims: In April of 2025, a Global Consensus meeting on IC/BPS was held in Winston-Salem, NC. The goal of this meeting was to establish global consensus in diagnostic criteria, phenotyping, treatment outcome assessment, and possible etiopathology in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Our sub-committee focused on developing a consensus document on histopathology in IC/BPS.

Pharmacological inhibition of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 decreases high-fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis in mice.

G protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity in both humans and rodent models. Our previous work demonstrated that genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of GRK5 suppresses 3T3-L1 adipocyte differentiation. Here, we assessed the small-molecule GRK5 inhibitor, GRK5-IN-2, for its effects on metabolic tissues and therapeutic potential in a diet-induced obesity mouse model.

Mosaic Loss of Y Chromosome Defines a Proximal Tubular Cell State Associated with Recovery from DGF and of Allograft Quality and Functional Reserve Post DCD Kidney Transplantation.

Objective: To determine the drivers of proximal tubular cell regeneration and repair over time in the setting of recovery from delayed graft function (DGF) post donation after cardiac death (DCD) kidney transplantation.

Background: DCD Kidney allografts are at increased risk of graft loss. Despite this, due to organ shortages, DCD transplantation is increasing, which offers a novel and valuable platform for the study of adaptive/maladaptive repair mechanisms after injury.

Bisphosphonate Use in Acute Spinal Cord Injury: A Focused Systematic Review on Zoledronic Acid.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes significant bone loss as a long-term complication, increasing fracture risk and healthcare costs. Bisphosphonates are widely studied for mitigating bone loss since they can prevent fractures and preserve rehabilitation potential in acute SCI patients. Zoledronic acid, in particular, stands out due to its high potency, dosing convenience, and better patient adherence.

The need for an organoid manufacturing, preservation, and distribution center.

Organoids, which are tiny, lab-grown 3D structures that mimic some organizational and functional properties of human organs, are slowly transforming the face of systems and developmental biology, biomedical research, pharmaceutical testing, environmental toxin testing, and healthcare. Significant investments are essential for the mass production, preservation, and distribution of organoids, with the aim to accelerate innovation and progress across multiple fields-much like the investments made in cell and biologics manufacturing over the past 2 decades.

Distributed Temporal Coding of Visual Memory Categories in Human Hippocampal Neurons Revealed by an Interpretable Decoding Model.

The hippocampus is crucial for forming new episodic memories. While its role in encoding spatial and temporal information (where and when) is well understood, how it encodes objects (what) remains unclear due to the high dimensionality of object space. Rather than encoding each object separately, the hippocampus may encode object categories to reduce complexity.

Tracing the evolutionary pathway of SARS-CoV-2 through RNA sequencing analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic, driven by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has underscored the need to understand the virus's evolution due to its global health impact. This study employed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to analyze gene expression differences across multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants. We used publicly available datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) with IDs GSE157103, GSE171110, GSE189039, and GSE201530, which contain RNA-Seq data extracted from white blood cells, whole blood, or PBMCs of individuals infected with the Original Wuhan variant (both hospitalized and non-hospitalized), the French variant (hospitalized), the Beta variant (hospitalized), and the Omicron variant (moderate and mild cases), along with COVID-negative controls.

Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome in Men.

Aims: In April 2025, the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine hosted a Global Consensus meeting on interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) in Winston-Salem, NC. The goal of this meeting was to establish attainable targets in phenotyping, diagnosis, and biomarkers for IC/BPS. Our subcommittee focused on developing a consensus document addressing IC/BPS in men.

A single-cell atlas of the murine limb skeleton integrating the developmental and adult stages.

The recent growth of single-cell transcriptomics has made single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) into a near-routine technique. Breakthroughs in scalability have led to the creation of organism-wide transcriptomic datasets, aiming to comprehensively profile the cell types and states within an organism throughout its lifecycle. However, the skeleton remains an underrepresented organ system in organism-wide atlases.

3D Bioprinted Renal Constructs Using Kidney-Specific ECM Bioink System on Kidney Regeneration.

The final stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains an irreversible condition, with dialysis and transplantation as the only treatment options. Recently, 3D bioprinting has emerged as a promising strategy for bioengineering renal constructs capable of restoring damaged kidney. A critical challenge in this approach is the development of a kidney-specific bioink that provides an optimal biochemical and biomechanical microenvironment to support renal cell organization, maturation, and functional restoration.

Therapeutic transplantation of mitochondria and Extracellular Vesicles: Mechanistic insights into mitochondria bioenergetics, redox signaling, and organelle dynamics in preclinical models.

Mitochondrial and extracellular vesicles (EV) transplantation have emerged as promising therapeutic strategies targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, a central feature of numerous pathologies. This review synthesizes preclinical data on artificial mitochondrial and EV transfer, emphasizing their therapeutic potential and underlying mechanisms. A systematic analysis of 123 animal studies revealed consistent benefits across diverse models, including ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), neurological disorders, drug-induced toxicities, and sepsis.

Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Patient Phenotyping.

Aims: In April of 2025, the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine hosted a Global Consensus meeting on IC/BPS in Winston-Salem, NC. The goal of this meeting was to establish global consensus regarding diagnostic criteria, phenotyping, treatment outcome assessment, and etiopathology in interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Our sub-committee was tasked with developing a consensus document on patient phenotyping in IC/BPS.

Multifunctional Hydrogels for Advanced Cancer Treatment: Diagnostic Imaging and Therapeutic Modalities.

Multifunctional hydrogels represent an emerging technological advancement in cancer therapeutics, integrating diagnostic imaging capabilities with therapeutic modalities into comprehensive, multifunctional systems. These hydrogels exhibit exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, high water retention capacity, and tunable mechanical properties, enabling precise drug delivery while minimizing systemic side effects. Recent innovations in stimuli-responsive components facilitate intelligent, controlled drug release mechanisms triggered by various stimuli, including changes in pH, temperature, magnetic fields, and near-infrared irradiation.

Multiple sclerosis: etiology in the context of neurovascular unit and immune system involvement and advancements with blood-brain barrier models.

Multiple sclerosis affects a significant portion of the world's adult population and is the most common nontraumatic neuroimmunology disorder. Although the specific etiology of multiple sclerosis remains unknown, it has been associated with autoimmune components. While current treatment options relieve some symptoms in MS patients, most are immunosuppressive and only delay the progression of the disease without conferring definitive curative measures.

Enhanced Bone Repair using Callus Organoids Derived from Urine-Derived Stem Cells with Silk Fibroin.

To address the increasing need of bone grafts for bone defect repair and the limitations of current strategies, this study introduces an innovative approach to bone reconstruction. Toward this end, a novel porous callus organoid that leverages self-organized human urine-derived stem cells (USCs), within a meticulously engineered cell-aligned silk fibroin (SF) fiber network is developed to mimic the callus tissue formed during the osteogenesis of bone defects. This unique combination capitalizes on the exceptional mechanical properties and osteogenic potential of SF, along with the readily accessible and low-risk nature of USCs.