{"title":"Antibacterial and Proangiogenic Hydrogel Microneedle Patches for Wound Healing.","authors":"Junyi Zhang, Yunjie Shi, Yixin Zhang, Zhiju Fang, Yechao Zhou, Feika Bian, Yuyang Zhang, Weijian Sun","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70014","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wounds represent a global and challenging healthcare issue, resulting in a cascade of consequences. Despite the widespread application of existing wound dressings, their performance and efficacy are significantly limited in terms of biocompatible matrices and functionalization for promoting vascularization and antimicrobial activity. In this study, we propose a drug-loaded microneedle based on a copolymer hydrogel composed of methacrylated chitosan and polyethylene glycol diacrylate incorporating antimicrobial peptide and vascular endothelial growth factor. These microneedles were applied to wounds where their degradation facilitated the release of the loaded drugs to exert antibacterial and angiogenic effects. In vitro experiments demonstrated that our microneedles exhibit uniform morphology, good structural integrity, controlled drug release, and other excellent properties. Upon interaction with cells and bacteria, they displayed biocompatibility and superior dual antibacterial capabilities. In an in vivo infectious wound model, the microneedles significantly promoted wound healing through their antibacterial and angiogenic effects, showing clear advantages over the control group. Thus, these drug-loaded microneedles serve as a multifunctional dressing, offering a promising novel strategy for wound repair.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70014"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12442652/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145088538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pollen Integrated Hydrogel Patches With Hierarchical Structures and Spatio-Temporal Actives Release for Wound Healing.","authors":"Xinyu Zhu, Lijun Cai, Yu Wang, Hong Chen, Chenjie Yu, Yuanjin Zhao","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70017","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydrogel patches have been serving as powerful tools for wound healing. Scientific attention in this field is focused on imparting the patches with novel structures, functions, and actives for promoting wound healing. In this paper, we have developed an innovative hydrogel patch with hierarchical structure and spatiotemporal actives release for efficient wound healing. This hydrogel patch was achieved by integrating asiatic acid (AA)-loaded pollens with chlorogenic acid (CA)-containing gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel. The high specific surface area and nanoporous structure of the pollens-integrated GelMA promote efficient loading and release of CA and AA, respectively. In wound treatment, the outer layer of GelMA first releases CA to fight infection. With the gradual degradation of GelMA, the pollens are exposed to the wounds and released AA, intensifying anti-inflammatory effects and promoting wound healing. These features indicate that this pollen-integrated hydrogel patch significantly accelerates the wound healing process in a spatiotemporal responsive manner, demonstrating great potential for clinical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70017"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12362785/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-08-12eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.70016
Yu-Ge Wang, Ting-Ting Zeng, Hao Wu, Ting-Ting Zhu, Hui-Jie Shang, Bo-Wen Shao, Chun-Yan Du, Jian-Jun Yang, Pan-Miao Liu
{"title":"Mussel-Inspired Adhesive and Tough Hydrogel Based on Silk-Triggered Dopamine Polymerization for Wound Healing.","authors":"Yu-Ge Wang, Ting-Ting Zeng, Hao Wu, Ting-Ting Zhu, Hui-Jie Shang, Bo-Wen Shao, Chun-Yan Du, Jian-Jun Yang, Pan-Miao Liu","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70016","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tissue engineering is a great alternative to repair and regenerate damaged tissues and organs. Hydrogels are promising materials for tissue repair, but optimizing their various functions-such as adhesion, mechanical properties, and vascularization-to suit the complexity of different organs and tissues remains a significant challenge. In this study, we explore a tough and adhesive polydopamine (PDA)-silk-polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel inspired by the mussel-inspired adhesion of PDA and the vascularization potential of silk. Through a Schiff base reaction, self-polymerization occurs between the free dopamine and the conjugated dopamine on the silk chains, resulting in the formation of a PDA/silk prepolymer. The presence of PDA in the prepolymer endows the resulting PDA-silk-PAM hydrogel with excellent adhesiveness, strong mechanical properties, and good water absorption. By adjusting the degree of crosslinking, the hydrogel also demonstrates impressive deformability, making it suitable for engineering thicker and more complex tissues and organs. Moreover, benefiting from the vascularization capabilities of silk and the adhesive properties of PDA, the PDA-silk-PAM hydrogel effectively promotes vascularization and accelerates wound healing in full-thickness skin wounds on the backs of Sprague-Dawley rats. Overall, our study provides a straightforward approach to create versatile medical hydrogel with strong potential for clinical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70016"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12362727/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Identification of Differential Metabolites in Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media With Non-Targeted and Targeted Metabolomics Approach.","authors":"Lidan Hu, Yifan Zhu, Chengpeng Wu, Xiao Liu, Qi Wang, Yangyiyi Huang, Hongyan Liu, Xiangjun Chen, Wei Wu, Hua Jiang","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70015","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a leading cause of hearing loss and otorrhea, and when associated with cholesteatoma, it can pose a serious threat to patients' lives. This study aims to identify differences in tissue metabolites between patients with CSOM, both with and without cholesteatoma. Metabolomic profiles were measured in tissue samples from 42 surgically treated CSOM patients (35 with cholesteatoma, 7 without cholesteatoma). Significantly altered metabolites associated with CSOM were identified using a non-targeted metabolomics approach and a targeted metabolomics approach. The 42 patients were divided into screening and validation sets. The non-targeted analysis revealed 484 distinct differential metabolites and 32 metabolic pathways that differed between CSOM with and without cholesteatoma in the screening set. Targeted metabolomics confirmed that levels of azobenzene and marimastat in the validation set exhibited trends similar to those observed in the non-targeted analysis. Azobenzene and marimastat were found to be associated with the differences between CSOM with and without cholesteatoma, as well as with bone erosion in the middle ear. This study identified novel potential metabolic pathways and metabolites, providing insights into their possible roles in the inflammatory processes and bone erosion associated with CSOM and cholesteatoma.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70015"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12362737/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mechanistic Insights Into Overloading-Induced Terminal Differentiation of TMJ Condylar Cartilage at the Single Cell Level.","authors":"Dian Zhou, Yiling Jiang, Yingcui Li, Huanyu Zeng, Xinchun Li, Yufang He, Xin Wang, Yiteng Liang, Vojtech Parizek, Ousheng Liu, Zhangui Tang, Yueying Zhou","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70011","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The incidence of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) degeneration has been steadily increasing, with overloading identified as a major risk factor. This condition often leads to condylar cartilage degeneration, significantly affecting patients' quality of life; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood, and effective treatments are still lacking. We utilized single-nucleus RNA sequencing to analyze the condylar cartilage in an overloading mouse model. This approach enabled the identification of 11 distinct cell types within the condylar chondrocytes. Through the application of pseudotime trajectory Analysis and cellchat analyses, we identified the key gene Acvr1b and its associated signaling pathway, which are crucial for regulating the terminal differentiation of condylar chondrocytes. This study utilized single-nucleus RNA sequencing and in vitro validation to investigate the role of Acvr1b in TMJ cartilage degeneration under overloading stress. Our findings reveal key pathways involved in chondrocyte differentiation, providing a theoretical basis for the development of targeted therapeutic interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70011"},"PeriodicalIF":11.6,"publicationDate":"2025-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12362756/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144981907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-07-12eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.70013
Haiwen Su, Yuanhai Chen, Zhiyan Xuan, Haoyu Ren, Peihua Lu, Miaoqing Zhao, Huan Wang
{"title":"Permeable Hydrogel Encapsulated Osteosarcoma-on-a-Chip for High-Throughput Multi-Drugs Screening.","authors":"Haiwen Su, Yuanhai Chen, Zhiyan Xuan, Haoyu Ren, Peihua Lu, Miaoqing Zhao, Huan Wang","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70013","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pharmacological chemotherapy remains a cornerstone in treating osteosarcoma (OS), where the application of drug combinations not only enhances therapeutic efficacy but also mitigates adverse side effects. However, the absence of an efficient and reliable drug screening platform poses a significant challenge in optimizing these combination therapies. In this study, we introduce a novel OS chip designed to facilitate the high-throughput and precise evaluation of drug combination efficacy, addressing this critical gap in OS treatment research. Leveraging the precise control of microfluidic electrospray technology, we successfully fabricated core-shell microcarriers (CSMs) encapsulating OS cells with uniform size and monodisperse distribution. Through three-dimensional culture, OS cell spheroids were efficiently formed within the CSMs, which were subsequently integrated into a microfluidic chip equipped with a concentration gradient generator and cell culture chambers. This innovative platform enables high-throughput screening of single drugs and diverse drug combinations. Our results demonstrate that this OS-on-a-chip exhibits significant potential for clinical drug screening, offering a robust tool for optimizing therapeutic strategies in OS treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 3","pages":"e70013"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12257891/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144638798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-04-25eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.70007
Nimet Temur, Esma Eryilmaz- Eren, Ilhami Celik, Ilknur E Yıldız, Mustafa Nisari, Ilay S Unal, Cagla Celik, Nilay Ildiz, Ismail Ocsoy
{"title":"The Recent Development in the Diagnosis of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>.","authors":"Nimet Temur, Esma Eryilmaz- Eren, Ilhami Celik, Ilknur E Yıldız, Mustafa Nisari, Ilay S Unal, Cagla Celik, Nilay Ildiz, Ismail Ocsoy","doi":"10.1002/smmd.70007","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.70007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> (MTB) remains a global health issue and continues to rank among the leading causes of death from infectious diseases worldwide. Its persistence is primarily attributed to the microorganism's challenging and time-consuming diagnosis and treatment, which drives the need for new diagnostic tests. The development of rapid, highly sensitive point-of-care (POC) tests is crucial, as these tests address the limitations of traditional methods, which are lengthy and exhibit low sensitivity. Early and rapid diagnostic tests ensure timely diagnoses and treatments for individuals while playing a pivotal role in preventing the spread of MTB and curbing societal transmission. These diagnostic tests significantly impact TB diagnosis and treatment, potentially breaking the chain of transmission and presenting a promising step toward combating the infection. Rapid and accurate diagnostic tests for MTB detection continue to attract significant attention in the literature and show promise for widespread application. However, they face challenges such as limited accessibility and usability, particularly in underdeveloped countries. The implementation of rapid tests requires careful consideration of time and resource efficiency compared with traditional tests. This study reviews the diagnostic tests developed for MTB detection, tracing their evolution from the past to the present.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 2","pages":"e70007"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12039354/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144103173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-02-26eCollection Date: 2025-03-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.136
Yuwei Wang, Lijun Cai, Yuanyuan Zhang, Yan Cong, Yuanjin Zhao
{"title":"Natural Matrine-Integrated Pollen Delivery Systems for Allergic Contact Dermatitis Treatment.","authors":"Yuwei Wang, Lijun Cai, Yuanyuan Zhang, Yan Cong, Yuanjin Zhao","doi":"10.1002/smmd.136","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.136","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is an inflammatory dermatitis with a high morbidity and recurrence rate. Scientific attention is focused on the development of safe and comfortable therapeutics of ACD. Herein, we propose a natural matrine-integrated pollen delivery system for the ACD treatment. Sunflower pollens were collected and defatted to serve as adhesive drug carriers for matrine. Specifically, the exquisite porous and hollow structures of the pollen shells can absorb matrine and realize the sustained drug release. Besides, the prickly surface morphology can strongly adhere to the inflamed skin sites, which can prolong the duration of the drug. By utilizing them in an ACD model and an acute pruritus model of mice, we have demonstrated that these matrine-integrated pollen shells can decrease the swelling degree of mice ears and weight loss, down-regulate inflammatory response, and improve the scratching times. These results indicate that our matrine-integrated pollen delivery systems have great potential to serve as natural topical preparations for skin disease therapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 1","pages":"e136"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11862104/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-02-26eCollection Date: 2025-03-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.137
Lu Fan, Li Wang, Xiaoju Wang, Minli Li, Hongcheng Gu, Hongbo Zhang
{"title":"Multifunctional Silk and Gelatin Composed Microneedle Patches for Enhanced Wound Healing.","authors":"Lu Fan, Li Wang, Xiaoju Wang, Minli Li, Hongcheng Gu, Hongbo Zhang","doi":"10.1002/smmd.137","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wound healing has been a continuous critical focus in clinical practice, posing the ongoing challenges and burdens to patients. Current attempts tend to develop multi-drug loaded patches with spatial design. Herein, we present a multifunctional microneedle patch that integrates different drugs into separated regions for wound treatment. The microneedle patch is composed of silk fibroin-methacryloyl (SilMA) as the base, loaded with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and has gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) tips loaded with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The backing is endowed with antimicrobial properties by AgNPs act as an antimicrobial barrier against bacterium invasion. In addition, the tips encapsulated with VEGF can effectively promote cell proliferation and angiogenesis, which is favorable for wound repair. Based on these characteristics, such an integrated microneedle system significantly prevented bacterial infection and promoted wound healing in vivo. Therefore, it is conceived that such a system can find more practical values in wound healing and other fields.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 1","pages":"e137"},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11862109/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Smart medicinePub Date : 2025-02-26eCollection Date: 2025-03-01DOI: 10.1002/smmd.134
Jun-Nian Zhou, Chang Liu, Yonghui Wang, Yong Guo, Xiao-Yu Xu, Elina Vuorimaa-Laukkanen, Oliver Koivisto, Anne M Filppula, Jiangbin Ye, Hongbo Zhang
{"title":"Biomineralize Mitochondria in Metal-Organic Frameworks to Promote Mitochondria Transplantation From Non-Tumorigenic Cells Into Cancer Cells.","authors":"Jun-Nian Zhou, Chang Liu, Yonghui Wang, Yong Guo, Xiao-Yu Xu, Elina Vuorimaa-Laukkanen, Oliver Koivisto, Anne M Filppula, Jiangbin Ye, Hongbo Zhang","doi":"10.1002/smmd.134","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smmd.134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mitochondria are crucial to cellular physiology, and growing evidence highlights the significant impact of mitochondrial dysfunction in diabetes, aging, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancers. Therefore, mitochondrial transplantation shows great potential for therapeutic use in treating these diseases. However, transplantation process is notably challenging due to very low efficiency and rapid loss of bioactivity post-isolation, leading to poor reproducibility and reliability. In this study, we develop a novel strategy to form a nanometer-thick protective shell around isolated mitochondria using Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) through biomineralization. Our findings demonstrate that this encapsulation method effectively maintains mitochondria bioactivity for at least 4 weeks at room temperature. Furthermore, the efficiency of intracellular delivery of mitochondria is significantly enhanced through the surface functionalization of MOFs with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and the cell-penetrating peptide Tat. The successful delivery of mitochondria isolated from non-tumorigenic cells into cancer cells results in notable tumor-suppressive effects. Taken together, our technology represents a significant advancement in mitochondria research, particularly on understanding their role in cancer. It also lays the groundwork for utilizing mitochondria as therapeutic agents in cancer treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74816,"journal":{"name":"Smart medicine","volume":"4 1","pages":"e134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11862567/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143588475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}