{"title":"Neuroprotective Potential of Human Platelet Lysate in Parkinson's Disease: Insights Into Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Cell Death, and Reactive Gliosis in Experimental Models","authors":"Samir Kumar Beura, Abhishek Kumar Maurya, Sneha Kumari, Divya Soni, Prajjwal Sharma, Nisha Yadav, Abhishek Ramachandra Panigrahi, Pooja Yadav, Puneet Kumar, Dibbanti Harikrishna Reddy, Debapriya Garabadu, Sunil Kumar Singh","doi":"10.1002/biot.70064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70064","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Parkinson's disease (PD) entails complex pathology, with current treatments managing symptoms but failing to halt neurodegeneration. Preclinical evidence suggests human platelet lysate (HPL) from healthy donors as a neuroprotective candidate due to its rich neurotrophic content, though its potential in PD models remains largely underexplored. In this study, we present substantial experimental findings demonstrating the neuroprotective effects of HPL administration in both rotenone (ROT)-induced in vitro as well as in vivo models of PD. Our findings reveal that freshly prepared HPL from healthy humans, obtained through freeze-thaw cell lysis followed by heat treatment and ultrafiltration, exhibits significant neuroprotective effects. This protection, evidenced by the attenuation of ROT-induced cell death in SH-SY5Y cells, was mediated through the reduction of oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, calcium dysregulation, and apoptosis. Additionally, in PD rats, intranasal HPL administration at various doses counteracted ROT-induced weight loss, improved motor function, balance, and grip strength, and alleviated anxiety, stress, and depression. Additionally, HPL promoted neuronal regeneration, suppressed astrocytic and microglial activation in the substantia nigra and striatum, enhanced antioxidant enzyme expression (glutathione and catalase), and reduced pro-oxidants (malondialdehyde and nitric oxide). These findings underscore HPL's potential as a promising therapeutic strategy for PD, representing a significant advancement in regenerative medicine.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144551091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mikis R. Saridis, Alla B. Salmina, Sofia A. Korsakova, Stanislav O. Yurchenko
{"title":"Advances in Miniaturized Bioreactors: Bridging Biotechnology and Tissue Engineering for Enhanced Drug Development","authors":"Mikis R. Saridis, Alla B. Salmina, Sofia A. Korsakova, Stanislav O. Yurchenko","doi":"10.1002/biot.70065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70065","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We review the recent advances in micro-scale bioreactors, analyzing their structural designs, limitations, and benefits for drug development, advanced biotechnology, and tissue engineering.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144551093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Melanie Oey, Ute Marx, Horst Joachim Schirra, Ian L. Ross, Robert G. Parton, Ben Hankamer, Harriet P. Lo
{"title":"Co-Cultivation With New Glucose-Sparing Chlorella Algae Boosts Tissue Culture Efficiency by Reducing Cell Waste","authors":"Melanie Oey, Ute Marx, Horst Joachim Schirra, Ian L. Ross, Robert G. Parton, Ben Hankamer, Harriet P. Lo","doi":"10.1002/biot.70067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70067","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mammalian cell culture technologies are crucial for recombinant protein production, organoid generation, medical applications, and the generation of in vitro cultivated meat. However, they are limited by high costs, lack of vascular O<sub>2</sub>-provision, and the resultant inhibition of 3D tissue formation. Effective media and nutrient usage, oxygenation, and waste management are key to improvement. Microalgae utilize organic or inorganic CO<sub>2</sub> to produce O<sub>2</sub> from light, which complements O<sub>2</sub>-consuming and CO<sub>2</sub>-respiring mammalian cells in culture. However, common microalgal cultivation conditions differ in temperature and salinity from mammalian cell cultivation environments, making co-cultivation short-lived and challenging. We screened several different microalgae species to identify <i>Chlorella</i> sp. BDH-1 (BDH-1), which has high growth rates in mammalian culture conditions, but unlike other <i>Chlorella</i> species, does not compete for glucose as an energy source. In co-culture, BDH-1 reduces cellular waste production by maintaining mammalian cells in oxidative phosphorylation, which stabilizes pH, tripling culture longevity, and optimizes nutrient usage, which increases growth performance up to 80%. It further allows the reduction of expensive and ethically challenging fetal bovine serum requirements. Collectively, mammalian cell/BDH-1 co-cultivation improves tissue culture health and reduces costs, paving the path for applications in the biotechnology and medical sectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/biot.70067","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144551090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Novel Data-Driven Mechanistic Modeling of Untargeted Metabolome Data Reveals Feed Component Effects in CHO Cell Bioprocess Using Column Generation-Based EFMs","authors":"Meeri E.-L. Mäkinen, Markella Zacharouli, Sigrid Särnlund, Yun Jiang, Veronique Chotteau","doi":"10.1002/biot.70008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70008","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study presents a novel approach for applying mechanistic metabolic modeling to untargeted metabolomics data. The approach was applied to the production process of a difficult-to-express enzyme by CHO cells, to identify key feed medium component candidates responsible for improved productivity through feed modification. The exploitation of untargeted metabolomics implies no prior decision of the metabolites or pathways and thus allows screening of metabolic phenomena and bringing an objective perspective. However, such exploitation is challenging due to the high-dimensionality, complexity, relative quantitative information, and high analysis cost of the data, leading to data scarcity. A combination of untargeted metabolomics data exploration and mechanistic modeling was developed to leverage metabolomics data. The study analyzed LC/MS/MS metabolomics data (563 cellular and 386 supernatant metabolites) to determine the key metabolites involved in the productivity increase associated with a feeding modification. The metabolome data was utilized to expand the original stoichiometric reaction network of 127 reactions to 370 reactions. Mechanistic modeling using elementary flux modes-based column generation identified and simulated the underlying metabolic pathways. Twenty-one key metabolites significant for productivity improvement were revealed. This included several unexpected metabolites, such as citraconate and 5-aminovaleric acid, in addition to well-known components, as well as their underlying metabolic pathways. This study offers a novel approach for investigating nutrient supplementation in terms of metabolic fluxes and process performance, paving the way for rational process optimization supported by mechanistic understanding.</p>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/biot.70008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144551089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yudian Yu, Qianjin Kang, Yusi Yan, Xiaofang Liu, Linquan Bai
{"title":"Identification of Thermoregulatory Factors Involved in Validamycin Biosynthesis and Reconstitution of a Thermoregulated Expression System","authors":"Yudian Yu, Qianjin Kang, Yusi Yan, Xiaofang Liu, Linquan Bai","doi":"10.1002/biot.70068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70068","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Thermoregulatory systems are rarely utilized in the synthetic biology of <i>Streptomyces</i>. In <i>Streptomyces hygroscopicus</i> TL01, the previous finding of enhanced validamycin biosynthesis at 37°C indicated the involvement of a thermoregulatory system. In this study, the <i>P<sub>valA</sub></i> (<i>P<sub>KA</sub></i>) promoter was thermoregulated in <i>Streptomyces albus</i> J1074, and its regulation was determined by a GC-rich DNA clamp. <i>P<sub>KA</sub></i>-binding regulatory proteins were identified through DNA affinity chromatography. Overexpression of <i>SHJG_5852</i> and <i>SHJG_8253</i> in <i>S. albus</i> resulted in the <i>P<sub>KA</sub></i> strength ratios of 2.61 and 4.34 at 37°C and 30°C, respectively. In contrast, the overexpression of SHJG_6392 led to an inhibited transcription of the <i>P<sub>KA</sub></i> at 30°C. A thermoregulatory system was reconstituted in <i>S. albus</i> J1074 with a shorter but more efficient promoter derived from the <i>P<sub>KA</sub></i>, <i>SHJG_5852</i>, and <i>SHJG_6392</i>. With this system, the induced indigoidine titer at 37°C was 3.56 times that at 30°C. In summary, we identified thermoregulatory factors involved in validamycin biosynthesis and reconstituted a system for the thermoregulated production of actinobacterial natural products.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144551092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joana Saraiva Rodrigues, Sofia Relvas, Pedro Monteiro Condelipes, Bárbara Silva, Raquel Bozzo, Paula Guedes de Pinho, Virginia Chu, Fernando Remião, João Pedro Conde, Joana Paiva Miranda
{"title":"Enhancing the Maturity and Diclofenac Metabolism Ability of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Human Hepatocytes In Vitro Using Microfluidics Technology","authors":"Joana Saraiva Rodrigues, Sofia Relvas, Pedro Monteiro Condelipes, Bárbara Silva, Raquel Bozzo, Paula Guedes de Pinho, Virginia Chu, Fernando Remião, João Pedro Conde, Joana Paiva Miranda","doi":"10.1002/biot.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Human stem cell-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) represent a powerful tool for testing the efficacy and safety of novel therapies. However, most traditional 2D in vitro models yield HLCs with unpaired hepatic functions, hampering HLCs’ adoption in the non-clinical drug development process. Here, we design a novel hepatic perfused microphysiological system (HLC-chip) that upon the optimization of the cell chamber architecture, cell inoculation strategy, and surface coating shows to improve the maturity of human HLCs derived from mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). The HLC-chip is microfabricated by photolithography and soft lithography techniques, based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molding. In particular, the optimized square-shaped HLC-chip design with seven inlets sealed against a collagen-coated polystyrene surface enables the homogeneous distribution of HLCs displaying the typical hepatic morphology. Additionally, HLCs can be maintained in the HLC-chip up to 10 days under perfusion, being positive for the hepatic markers HNF-4a, CK-18, OATP-C, and MRP2, while presenting increased ammonia detoxification ability. Likewise, upon GC-MS analysis, the 11.96- and 6.85-fold augment of diclofenac glucuronidation products in the HLC-chip and 2D cultures, respectively, demonstrate the enhanced biotransformation competence of cells. This study supports the generation of high-quality data from complex in vitro HLC systems and its usefulness for drug metabolism and toxicology studies.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339368","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara Gálvez-Rodríguez, Patricia Asensio-Calavia, Andrea Otazo-Pérez, Patricia Abad-Chico, José M. Pérez de La Lastra, Edgar Pérez-Herrero
{"title":"Improvement of the Antimicrobial Peptide Activity by Means of Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles","authors":"Sara Gálvez-Rodríguez, Patricia Asensio-Calavia, Andrea Otazo-Pérez, Patricia Abad-Chico, José M. Pérez de La Lastra, Edgar Pérez-Herrero","doi":"10.1002/biot.70062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70062","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study demonstrated the enhancement of the bioactivity of Cm-p1 and Lip1 antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) against <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> when included within chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs). The physicochemical properties of these AMPs and the adequacy of CS-NPs for their encapsulation were predicted by in silico studies. When the antimicrobial activities of the free peptides were analyzed, significant differences were found, but their encapsulation in CS-NPs significantly improved their efficacy in reducing conidia germination and hyphal growth against <i>B. cinerea</i>, resulting in a total inhibition of germination at concentrations greater than 800 µM (Cm-p1) or 6.25 µM (Lip1). Both AMPs were successfully encapsulated into 190–239 nm CS-NPs with encapsulation efficiencies (EE%) greater than 96%, when pH of CS solutions was increased to 4.7, and polydispersity indices below 0.329 by the ionic gelation method. Based on the experimental data obtained, the antimicrobial properties of CS are undoubtedly related to the enhancement of the activity of these AMPs when encapsulated into CS-NPs, although the use of a vector to deliver the AMPs to the cells must be the main cause of this effect. However, further studies are needed to demonstrate the penetration of these peptides through microbial membranes because of their transport within the CS-NPs.</p>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/biot.70062","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Engineering an Agro-Infectious Apple Stem Grooving Virus Clone for Virus-Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) in Plants","authors":"Sampurna Devi, Asha Rani, Nisha Devi, Vasudha Sharma, Gourav Vats, Vanita Chandel, Ashish Srivastava, Md Salik Noorani, Naveen K. Kaushik, Yashika Walia, Sunny Dhir","doi":"10.1002/biot.70063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70063","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) is an important pathogen with a broad host range, infecting both monocot and dicot species, making it a promising candidate for virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) applications in functional genomics. In this study, we developed an infectious cDNA clone of an ASGV apple isolate and demonstrated its infectivity across 10 diverse plant species from families’ including Solanaceae, Fabaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Amaranthaceae. The clone also successfully infected woody hosts such as <i>Citrus limon</i> and <i>Malus domestica</i>, and resulted in systemic infection through back-inoculation in <i>Cucumis sativus</i>, thereby fulfilling Koch's postulates. To engineer a VIGS vector, we inserted a duplicated coat protein gene minimal promoter sequence, into the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of the viral genome, which exhibited full promoter activity confirmed by GUS expression assays. Cloning of the phytoene desaturase (<i>PDS</i>) gene initially caused plasmid instability, which was resolved by introducing a stop codon mutation in ORF1. The resulting vector carrying a partial <i>PDS</i> insert induced a silencing phenotype in cucumber and was further validated in <i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i>, where effective gene silencing was achieved. The result demonstrates the utility of ASGV as a functional VIGS platform, enabling gene functional analysis in economically important crop species, including both monocots and dicots.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yang Sun, Tingqi Yang, Xiaotong Liu, Jianqi Nie, Kuiqi Jin, Hua Li, Pei Zhou, Yinbiao Xu, Yupeng Liu, Zhonghu Bai
{"title":"Enhancement of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Production in HEK293 Cells by Application of Small Molecule Additives and Genetic Regulation Based on Perfusion Technique","authors":"Yang Sun, Tingqi Yang, Xiaotong Liu, Jianqi Nie, Kuiqi Jin, Hua Li, Pei Zhou, Yinbiao Xu, Yupeng Liu, Zhonghu Bai","doi":"10.1002/biot.70053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.70053","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors offer numerous advantages, including low immunogenicity and a high safety profile, but their development and wide application are still hindered by some technical limitations. Recent studies have shown that small molecule chemical additives can significantly increase the yield of rAAV vectors in HEK293. Our study found that the antimitotic nocodazole, a positive regulator of the rAAV genomic titer, approximately doubled the yield of rAAV vectors. In triple-transfected HEK293 suspension cells used for rAAV production, the addition of nocodazole caused the cells to arrest at G2/M phase. Compared to untreated cells, nocodazole-treated cells-initiated mitosis but were unable to undergo cytokinesis, resulting in prolonged mitotic arrest and apoptosis, this reduced the viable cell density at harvest. The final crude genomic vector titer of nocodazole-treated cultures was more than 1.7-fold higher than that of untreated controls. Optimal enhancement was observed when nocodazole was administered 2 hours post-transfection (hpt). Subsequent transcriptome analyses comparing cultures with and without nocodazole identified the key genes <i>ZFP91</i> and <i>SFRP5</i>. Overexpression of <i>ZFP91</i> and silencing of <i>SFRP5</i> led to an increase in the G2/M phase arrested cells, reflecting the effect of nocodazole treatment. This delay in spindle formation increased packaging time and significantly increased rAAV vector yield by 2 to 3-fold. These findings highlight the potential for optimizing cellular conditions through small molecule additives and genetic modifications to overcome existing bottlenecks in AAV production.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":134,"journal":{"name":"Biotechnology Journal","volume":"20 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144339241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}