Kianna Nguyen, Quang Tuan Che, Quoc Huynh Nguyen, Kihak Gwon, Alan Gonzalez Suarez, Gulnaz Stybayeva, Robert Huebert, Quinn Peterson and Alexander Revzin
{"title":"Microencapsulation of pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic and liver cells: biological needs and technological solutions","authors":"Kianna Nguyen, Quang Tuan Che, Quoc Huynh Nguyen, Kihak Gwon, Alan Gonzalez Suarez, Gulnaz Stybayeva, Robert Huebert, Quinn Peterson and Alexander Revzin","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00696A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00696A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Pluripotent stem cell-derived products are versatile tools for studying disease and developing cellular therapies. Microencapsulation technologies offer solutions for scalability, prolonged survival, and transplantability of these stem-cell derived products. This review describes current methods and materials utilized for stem cell encapsulation. Specifically, the differentiation of stem cell-derived β cells and hepatocytes is explored. This includes the current state of differentiation protocols, examples of microencapsulation for differentiation and transplantation, and future directions.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4003-4023"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Self-targeted liposomes for enhancing chemotherapeutic efficacy of pancreatic cancer by degrading the extracellular matrix and eradicating intra-tumoral bacteria†","authors":"Siyu Zhang, Da-Yuan Wang, Jing Li, Xiaohui Wu, Qinghao Huo, Shuoshuo Song, Xiao-Han Tian, Feihe Ma, Jing Shen and Linqi Shi","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00786K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00786K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Pancreatic cancer is one of the lethal malignancies resulting from the dense extracellular matrix (ECM) hindering the diffusion of cancer-chemotherapeutics and the intra-tumoral bacteria promoting tumor growth and inactivating cancer-chemotherapeutics, causing poor treatment prognoses. It is difficult to exert efficacy spatiotemporally by combined administration of chemotherapeutics, ECM degradation agents and antibiotics, and this may disturb the microflora in critically ill patients. To establish intra-tumor co-delivery of cancer-chemotherapeutics, ECM degradation agents and antibiotics, self-targeting DCPA (2-(4-((1,5-bis(octadecyloxy)-1,5-dioxopentan-2-yl)carbamoyl)pyridin-1-ium-1-yl)acetate) liposomes with complexed water as pH responsive functionality were self-assembled and PEGylated ciprofloxacin was used as a lipid-membrane component, together with bromelain and gemcitabine loaded in-core (B/G–C/DCPA-H<small><sub>2</sub></small>O). These triple-loaded liposomes were stealthily transported in the blood circulation to accumulate in the acidic environment of the tumor site. Upon tumor self-targeting, DCPA-H<small><sub>2</sub></small>O and PEGylated ciprofloxacin became protonated, disturbing the balance in the lipid membrane to cause liposome burst and simultaneous release of bromelain, PEGylated ciprofloxacin and gemcitabine. Treatment of mice with these self-targeting liposomes yielded significantly higher responses in <em>Escherichia coli</em> infected pancreatic cancer with respect to both infection and tumor volume than the administration of bromelain, gemcitabine and gemcitabine loaded C/DCPA-H<small><sub>2</sub></small>O liposomes alone.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4123-4138"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144300717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bo Wang, Meng Zhang, Weijiang Chen, Chengjing Yin, Hongtao Zhao, Guoguang Chen and Feng Cao
{"title":"Recent advances and future perspectives of long-acting ophthalmic preparations (LAOPs) in clinical applications","authors":"Bo Wang, Meng Zhang, Weijiang Chen, Chengjing Yin, Hongtao Zhao, Guoguang Chen and Feng Cao","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00453E","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00453E","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The intricate structure of ocular barriers significantly impedes drug penetration, leading to suboptimal efficacy of conventional ophthalmic formulations. Sustained/controlled-release long-acting ophthalmic preparations (LAOPs) address these limitations by prolonging drug retention, reducing dosing frequency, and enhancing therapeutic precision. This review categorizes clinically validated LAOPs by administration route, highlighting both market-approved products and investigational candidates in ongoing clinical trials. We detail mechanistic principles governing sustained-release systems while critically evaluating their translational challenges, including interspecies prediction gaps, long-term biocompatibility risks, and manufacturing reproducibility issues. The review concludes with a strategic roadmap to accelerate clinical translation of LAOPs, emphasizing molecular-level decoding of ocular disease pathways, computational modeling frameworks, bioengineered organoid models, and artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented manufacturing processes. These multidisciplinary advances position LAOPs to transform ophthalmic care through efficient, safe and personalized therapeutic paradigms. This targeted review aims to provide clinically relevant insights to guide future therapeutic development of LAOPs.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4024-4043"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144323878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ruizhi Zhang, Chenbo Zou, Linlin Jiang, Baoshuai Bai, Chunlin Li, Chi Zhang, Hua Zhao, Shaohui Zong, Hao Li, Kai Jiang, Hengxing Zhou and Shiqing Feng
{"title":"Repair of spinal cord injury using a time-specific four-dimensional multifunctional hydrogel with anti-inflammatory and neuronal differentiated microenvironments","authors":"Ruizhi Zhang, Chenbo Zou, Linlin Jiang, Baoshuai Bai, Chunlin Li, Chi Zhang, Hua Zhao, Shaohui Zong, Hao Li, Kai Jiang, Hengxing Zhou and Shiqing Feng","doi":"10.1039/D4BM01586J","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4BM01586J","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe central nervous system (CNS) condition that often leads to permanent disability. The repair of SCI presents significant challenges globally, primarily due to serious inflammatory damage in the early stage and limited neural regeneration in the long-term stage. In response to these challenges, this study developed a novel time-specific four-dimensional multifunctional SilMA hydrogel (4DMSH) that releases <em>Houttuynia cordata</em> extract (HCT) in the early stage of post-implantation to combat inflammation and a sustained release of neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) in the long-term stage to promote neuronal differentiation of endogenous neural stem cells (eNSCs) for neuronal regeneration. As expected, the time-specific 4DMSH significantly mitigated inflammatory responses, leading to a shift from a pro-inflammatory to a neural regenerative environment, and enhanced the differentiation of eNSCs into neurons, thereby effectively improving the recovery of motor, sensory, and autonomic functions after SCI. Therefore, this study presents a novel time-specific 4DMSH that creates anti-inflammatory and neuroactive microenvironments, contributing to efficient neuronal regeneration and SCI repair.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4153-4167"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144323879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Md Waliullah Hossain, Ian Brand, Swagatam Barman, Alimi Abidoun, JiHyeon Hwang, Adam Parris, Xiaoming Yang, Prakash Nagarkatti, Mitzi Nagarkatti and Chuanbing Tang
{"title":"Antimicrobial cobaltocenium copolymers: tuning amphiphilicity against NDM-1 bacteria†","authors":"Md Waliullah Hossain, Ian Brand, Swagatam Barman, Alimi Abidoun, JiHyeon Hwang, Adam Parris, Xiaoming Yang, Prakash Nagarkatti, Mitzi Nagarkatti and Chuanbing Tang","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00497G","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00497G","url":null,"abstract":"<p >The emergence of Gram-negative superbugs coupled with a steep decline in antibiotic pipelines has imposed a serious threat to global public health. Cationic metallopolymers have gained significant attention due to their antimicrobial efficacy. In this work, we developed a range of broad-spectrum antimicrobial cobaltocenium and ammonium containing copolymers with different compositions, which attain the amphiphilic balance without compromising the total charges for enhanced interaction with bacterial membranes. The copolymers showed high antimicrobial efficacy with greater selectivity than the corresponding ammonium-containing methacrylate polymers. The mechanistic investigations of the lead polymer using bacterial strains harboring the New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase (NDM-1) enzyme revealed its membrane-active nature. The copolymer with 69% dimethyl cobaltocenium showed a minimal increase in the minimal inhibitory concentration over 14 passages, whereas polymyxin-B showed a 256-fold increase. These findings provided insights into metallopolymers with optimal amphiphilicity as potent antimicrobial agents to tackle Gram-negative superbugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4232-4244"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12189181/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144482595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hue Vu, Evelien Peeters, Kenneth Hofkens, Katrien Vandemeulebroecke, Sara T'Sas, Charlotte Martin, Steven Ballet, Richard Hoogenboom, Steven Goossens, Tim Lammens, Maaike Van Trimpont and Annemieke Madder
{"title":"Peptide hydrogels as slow-release formulations of protein therapeutics: case study of asparaginase-loaded hydrogels†","authors":"Hue Vu, Evelien Peeters, Kenneth Hofkens, Katrien Vandemeulebroecke, Sara T'Sas, Charlotte Martin, Steven Ballet, Richard Hoogenboom, Steven Goossens, Tim Lammens, Maaike Van Trimpont and Annemieke Madder","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00138B","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00138B","url":null,"abstract":"<p >In this study, hexamer peptide-based hydrogels were loaded with different model protein cargos and the release profiles investigated to explore the balance between injectability and loading capacity permitting the release of a therapeutically relevant dose. We demonstrate that the release of protein cargos from our hexamer peptide hydrogels depends on the stability of the hydrogel network, the mobility of the cargo to diffuse out of the network, and the interaction between the hydrogel network and the cargo. For the first time, our peptide hydrogels were used to develop an injectable sustained release formulation of a therapeutic enzyme, namely Erwinase®, an FDA-approved asparaginase for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We show that the current hexamer peptide-based hydrogels allow sufficient protein loading and sustained release of the fully active asparaginase enzyme both <em>in vitro</em> and <em>in vivo</em>. Altogether, this study describes how peptide hydrogels can be exploited to provide injectable slow-release formulations of biologics, including enzyme therapeutics, to enhance their clinical applicability.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4139-4152"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2025/bm/d5bm00138b?page=search","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yun Tang, Jinghan Lin, Tingting Zhao, Lina Sun and Tingjiao Liu
{"title":"CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D extracts induce CGRP production in dorsal root ganglion neurons to facilitate osteogenesis in rats†","authors":"Yun Tang, Jinghan Lin, Tingting Zhao, Lina Sun and Tingjiao Liu","doi":"10.1039/D4BM01635A","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D4BM01635A","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Clinical trials have proven the beneficial effect of biodegradable orthopedic composites on bone repair; however, the mechanisms underlying composite-induced bone formation have not yet been fully explored. AZ91D magnesium alloy coated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and calcium phosphate (CaP)/chitosan (CS) (CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D) is a synthetic composite consisting of magnesium alloy, CNTs and CaP/CS. Its extracts induce the production of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), a local neuropeptide that contributes to osteogenic differentiation, in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. This study was aimed at validating the upregulation of CGRP in CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D extract-induced DRG neurons. Besides, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) showed greater osteogenic capacity after co-culture with CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D extract-induced DRG neurons, and this co-culture promoted autophagy in BMSCs to facilitate osteogenic differentiation. The dysregulation of CREB1/TRIM16/JAK1/STAT3 signaling was determined in BMSCs co-cultured with CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D extract-induced DRG neurons. However, all these results were counteracted by the knockdown of the CGRP receptor. <em>In vivo</em> study showed accelerated osteogenesis in the femur of CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D-implanted rats; however, this effect was inhibited by the CGRP receptor antagonist BIBN4096BS. In summary, this study highlights the critical role of the peripheral nervous system in osteogenesis and suggests the potential of CNTs-CaP/CS-AZ91D for improving bone formation in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4199-4210"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144367653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zihan Zhu, Yan Zhang, Lianggan Luo, Xuan Shang, Xinli Fan, Wei Bian, Jing Wang and Xinjing Tang
{"title":"Salivary acid-modified carbon dots loaded with paclitaxel for imaging-guided combination treatment of breast cancer†","authors":"Zihan Zhu, Yan Zhang, Lianggan Luo, Xuan Shang, Xinli Fan, Wei Bian, Jing Wang and Xinjing Tang","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00139K","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00139K","url":null,"abstract":"<p >Due to the high morbidity and mortality, cancer has become a global health crisis, posing a great threat to human health. Traditional cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but these methods can lead to serious adverse reactions. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop new and effective methods for cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this article, orange fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using biogenic amines. Upon further surface modification with a salivary acid, a novel nanocomplex (CDs-SA-PTX) was prepared by loading the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel that could be released under a pH-responsive behavior. In addition, upon irradiation with a near-infrared laser, the temperature of the CDs-SA-PTX nanocomplexes increased to 45.7 °C, indicating a good photothermal effect with a conversion efficiency of 43.8%. In the cellular uptake experiment, CDs-SA-PTX exhibited good capability for nucleolar targeting similar to CDs. The cell viability experiment showed that CDs-SA-PTX together with laser irradiation demonstrated the best breast cancer cell killing ability than other groups. Further <em>in vivo</em> data indicated that CDs-SA-PTX could be efficiently enriched in tumor tissues and could almost completely inhibit tumor growth with laser irradiation. The nanocomplexes provide an ideally versatile platform with the advantages of simple ingredients, easy preparation, active targeting, imaging-guided photothermal therapy and chemotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 15","pages":" 4168-4179"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144332068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cytosolic protein delivery <i>via</i> protein-bound microparticles based on anionic boron clusters and cationic polymers.","authors":"Yuya Hirai, Yoshimasa Makita, Makoto Nakagawa, Rie Kakehashi, Shin-Ichi Fujiwara","doi":"10.1039/d5bm00346f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d5bm00346f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Direct protein delivery to the cytosol facilitates immediate functional expression of proteins without the risks associated with gene introduction. However, the technology for delivering various proteins to the cytosol is still in its infancy. Herein, the formation of microparticles comprising anionic boron clusters and the cationic polymer hexadimethrine bromide (HDB) is demonstrated. In particular, the microparticles formed from dodecabromododecaborate clusters and HDB are confirmed to be bound with proteins. The protein-bound boron cluster/polymer-based microparticles (protein·BPMs) are internalized into cells <i>via</i> endocytosis. Upon internalization, the protein·BPMs release the proteins with different isoelectric points and sizes into the cytosol. Furthermore, an enzyme is delivered by protein·BPMs into the cytosol of various cell types while maintaining its functional activity. This method, owing to the simple preparation of protein·BPMs, represents a promising approach for delivering diverse proteins to various cell types. Our findings open new avenues for utilizing boron clusters in cytosolic delivery systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144256846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of rapamycin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles for treating retinopathy of prematurity","authors":"Hui Shi, Yuqiao Ju, Qing Chang and Lian Cen","doi":"10.1039/D5BM00555H","DOIUrl":"10.1039/D5BM00555H","url":null,"abstract":"<p >With the increasing incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and the gradual emergence of side effects associated with existing treatments, the development of novel nano-therapy strategies for ROP has become critically urgent. The aim of the current study was to explore the possibility of developing PLGA nanoparticles loaded with rapamycin (RPM) (RPM-PLGA NPs) for the sustained release of RPM as a nano-therapy for ROP intervention. RPM-PLGA NPs were prepared using a nanoprecipitation method, and their physicochemical properties were characterized. The safety profile and therapeutic efficacy of RPM-PLGA NPs were evaluated in BV2, HUVEC cells and in an oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mouse model. RPM-PLGA NPs of 144.23 ± 3.40 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.05 ± 0.02, an encapsulation efficiency of 81.39%, and a drug loading capacity of 16.28% were successfully prepared. The sustained and gradual release of RPM from these NPs was achieved for over 35 days. It was demonstrated that RPM-PLGA NPs had no significant effect on the viability and migration of BV2 and HUVECs. In the oxygen-induced OIR model, RPM-PLGA NPs significantly reduced the areas of vaso-obliteration and pathological neovascularization in the mouse retina, showing superior therapeutic effects compared to RPM alone. These findings validated the feasibility of RPM-PLGA NPs as an intravitreal injection for the treatment of ROP. It is believed that the current study could provide promising experimental data for nano-therapy as an effective and superior treatment for ROP with few side effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":65,"journal":{"name":"Biomaterials Science","volume":" 14","pages":" 3929-3941"},"PeriodicalIF":5.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144256847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}