Zongjin Li

Nankai University | NKU · Department of Pathophysiology

Low cell retention and engraftment after transplantation limit the successful application of stem cell therapy for AKI. Engineered microenvironments consisting of a hydrogel matrix and growth factors have been increasingly successful in controlling stem cell fate by mimicking native stem cell niche components. Here, we synthesized a bioactive hydro...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been shown to stimulate regeneration in the treatment of kidney injury. Renal regeneration is also thought to be stimulated by the activation of Sox9+ cells. However, whether and how the activation mechanisms underlying EV treatment and Sox9+ cell-dependent regeneration intersect...

Endothelial cell injury plays a critical part in ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) and participates in the progression of AKI. Targeting renal endothelial cell therapy may ameliorate vascular injury and further improve the prognosis of ischemic AKI. Here, P-selectin as a biomarker of ischemic AKI in endothelial cells is identified and P-selectin b...

ELife digest Animals are made up of cells of different types, with each type of cell specializing on a specific role. But for the body to work properly, the different types of cells must be able to coordinate with each other to respond to internal and external stimuli. This can be achieved through signaling molecules, that is, molecules released by...

The management of dysfunctional intestinal epithelium by promoting mucosal healing and modulating the gut microbiota represents a novel therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). As a convenient and well‐tolerated method of drug delivery, intrarectal administration may represent a viable alternative to oral administration for the tr...

Interleukin-4 (IL-4), which is traditionally associated with inflammation, has emerged as a key player in tissue regeneration. Produced primarily by T-helper 2 (Th2) and other immune cells, IL-4 activates endogenous lymphocytes and promotes M2 macrophage polarization, both of which are crucial for tissue repair. Moreover, IL-4 stimulates the prolif...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a prevalent and deadly cancer, poses a significant challenge with current treatments due to limitations such as poor stability, off-target effects, and severe side effects. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), derived from tumor cells, have the remarkable ability to home back to their cells of origin and can serve as Trojan...

Liver fibrosis poses a significant global health burden, in which hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play a crucial role. Targeted nanomedicine delivery systems directed at HSCs have shown immense potential in the treatment of liver fibrosis. Herein, a bioinspired material, engineered therapeutic miR‐181a‐5p (a miRNA known to inhibit fibrotic signaling...

Compelling evidence suggests that mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) promote regeneration in animal models of liver injury by delivering signaling molecules. However, their target cells and uptake mechanism remain elusive. In this study, MSC-EVs were intravenously administered in a mouse model of liver ischemia-reperfusi...

Background: Radiation-induced intestinal injuries are common in patients with pelvic or abdominal cancer. However, these injuries are currently not managed effectively. Mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) have been extensively used in regenerative medicine. However, the results of MSC-EVs in the repair of radiation-induce...

Previous studies have highlighted the antitumor effects of mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesi-cles (MSC-EVs), positioning them as a promising therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment. However, some researchers have proposed a bidirectional influence of MSC-EVs on tumors, determined by the specific tissue origin of the MSCs and the type...

Cartilage, an important connective tissue, provides structural support to other body tissues, and serves as a cushion against impacts throughout the body. Found at the end of the bones, cartilage decreases friction and averts bone-on-bone contact during joint movement. Therefore, defects of cartilage can result from natural wear and tear, or from t...

Uncovering mechanisms of endogenous regeneration and repair through resident stem cell activation will allow us to develop specific therapies for injuries and diseases by targeting resident stem cell lineages. Sox9⁺ stem cells have been reported to play an essential role in acute kidney injury (AKI). However, a complete view of the Sox9⁺ lineage wa...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny vesicles released by various cells that contain a variety of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids, which can have a wide range of effects on other cells. The dynamic composition and contents of EVs can serve as sensitive biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). In addition...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have gained substantial attention in regenerative medicine due to their multi-lineage differentiation potential and immunomodulatory capabilities. MSCs have demonstrated therapeutic promise in numerous preclinical and clinical studies across a variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular d...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used to treat various inflammatory and immune-related diseases in preclinical and clinical settings. Intravital microscopy (IVM) is considered the gold standard for investigating pathophysiological conditions in living animals. However, the potential for real-time monitoring of MSCs in the pulmonary mi...

Introduction: Stem cell-based therapeutic strategies have shown tremendous potential in attenuating tissue damage and facilitating tissue repair and regeneration. The therapeutic benefits of stem cells are largely dependent on the establishment of a supportive microenvironment that optimizes cell survival, differentiation, and functional integratio...

Stem cells with self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation potential have potential for developing medicines for a range of refractory and recurrent disease. This book mainly focuses on the landscape of the biological properties and translational research of stem cells types, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), neural stem cells (NSCs) a...

Synchronized ferroptosis contributes to nephron loss in acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the propagation signals and the underlying mechanisms of the synchronized ferroptosis for renal tubular injury remain unresolved. Here we report that platelet-activating factor (PAF) and PAF-like phospholipids (PAF-LPLs) mediated synchronized ferroptosis and...

Synchronized ferroptosis contributes to nephron loss in acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the propagation signals and the underlying mechanisms of the synchronized ferroptosis for renal tubular injury remain unresolved. Here we report that platelet-activating factor (PAF) and PAF-like phospholipids (PAF-LPLs) mediated synchronized ferroptosis and...

Ferroptosis is a newly discovered form of cell death that is featured in a wide range of diseases. Exosome therapy is a promising therapeutic option that has attracted much attention due to its low immunogenicity, low toxicity, and ability to penetrate biological barriers. In addition, emerging evidence indicates that exosomes possess the ability t...

Cell therapy by autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a clinically acceptable strategy for treating various diseases. Unfortunately, the therapeutic efficacy is largely affected by the low quality of MSCs collected from patients. Here, we showed that the gene expression of MSCs from patients with diabetes was differentially regulated compared...

Dear esteemed colleagues and readers, With enthusiasm and anticipation, we are delighted to introduce the first issue of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology of 2024. As we embark on this remarkable journey at the intersection of pharmaceutical science and nanotechnology, we are excited to mark this platform dedicated to advancing research, innovation, an...

Transposable elements (TEs), which include long-interspersed element-1 (LINE1) retrotransposon, highly constitute the genome of mammals and their dysregulation is considered the stimulatory factor of genomic damage and innate interferon response and unnatural senescence. The objectives of this study are to determine the functions of LINE1 retrotran...

Aging is a degenerative process that leads to tissue dysfunction and death. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have great therapeutic potential for age-related diseases due to their capacity for self-renewal and plasticity. However, the use of ESCs in clinical treatment is limited by immune rejection, tumourigenicity and ethical issues. ESC-derived extrac...

Chimera formation and germline competence are critical features of mouse pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). However, the factors that contribute to germline competence in the chimeras remain to be understood. To determine the role of Dppa3 in PSCs, we first constructed Dppa3 knockout (Dppa3 KO) and Dppa3 overexpression (Dppa3 OE) PSCs, respectively. U...

Corneal alkali burns cause extensive damage not only on the cornea but also into the intraocular tissues. As an anti-inflammatory therapy, subconjunctival administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for corneal protection after corneal alkali burn has been explored. Little evidence demonstrates the potential of subconjunctival MSCs delivery in...

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic promise for acute lung injury (ALI) and its severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). MSC secretomes contain various immunoregulatory mediators that modulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. Priming MSCs has been widely considered to boost the...

Acute Kidney Injury Endothelial cell injury is one of the specific features of acute kidney injury (AKI). In article number 2204626, Zongjin Li and co‐workers identify P‐selectin as a biomarker of ischemic AKI in endothelial cells and develop P‐selectin binding peptide‐engineered extracellular vesicles (PBP‐EVs) with imaging and therapeutic functio...

PREFACE Welcome to the first issue of 2023! Two years have already passed since I came on board as the editor-in-chief of pharmaceutical nanotechnology (PNT) in 2021. Previously in 2022, we published 5 issues on time. Thanks to all members of the board, associate editors, and staff of Bentham Science Publishers as a whole, as well as enthusiastical...

Mesenchymal stem cells-based therapies have been widely used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, providing new strategies for the treatment of a variety of diseases. However, due to the variational microenvironment, the problems of the transferred MSCs, including low survival and retention rate and limited function, make the therapies...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells derived from different tissues, such as bone marrow, peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood, and amniotic fluid. They have been widely used for the treatment of different diseases because of their multilineage differentiation, self-renewal, immunomodulation, and antiinflammatory effects. In a...

Nitric oxide (NO), as a gaseous therapeutic agent, shows great potential for the treatment of many kinds of diseases. Although various NO delivery systems have emerged, the immunogenicity and long-term toxicity of artificial carriers hinder the potential clinical translation of this gas therapeutics. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with the capaciti...

Accumulating evidence shows that stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have shown great promise for tissue regeneration and are considered an alternative to cell-based therapy. However, the mechanisms by which EVs induce tissue repair have not been well demonstrated. Previous work indicates that activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs)...

Background and purpose Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (UC-MSCs) are advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) and thus act as an alternative to liver transplantation for acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Therewith, we are aiming to evaluate the pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of GMP-grade UC-MSCs products on carbon t...

Prostaglandin metabolism is involved in the regulation of the periodic process of hair follicles. Preliminary research data reported that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) exhibits potential in hair growth. However, the relevant evidence is still insufficient. Herein, we prepared a PGE2 matrix by conjugating PGE2 with collagen via crosslinkers to avoid rapid...

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Dendritic cell (DC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (DEVs) are recognized as a highly promising alternative to DC vaccines; however, the clinical testing of DEV-based immunotherapy has shown limited therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we develop a straightforward strategy in which DCs serve as a cell reactor to exocytose high-efficient DEV-mimicking...

Aims: Intravenous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) confer considerable cardiovascular benefits to patients. The lung, but not the heart, is the main trapped site for intravenous MSCs. It remains unclear how intravenous MSCs bridge this spatial gap between the lung and the heart to achieve cardiac repair. To investigate how intravenous MSCs, like an en...

Screening serum biomarkers for acute and subacute pain is important for precise pain management. This study aimed to examine serum levels of angiogenic factors in patients with acute and subacute pain as potential biomarkers. Serum samples were collected from 12 healthy controls, 20 patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), 4 with low back pain (...

6 Angiogenesis is a prerequisite for tumor growth and invasion, and anti-angiogenesis has become a highlight 7 in tumor treatment research. However, so far, there is no reliable solution for how to simultaneously 8 visualize the relationship between tumor progression and angiogenesis. Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) has 9 been broadly utilized and is...

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with damage to the nephrons and tubular epithelial cells (TECs), which can lead to chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. Identifying new biomarkers before kidney dysfunction will offer crucial insight into preventive and therapeutic options for the treatment of AKI. Early growth resp...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy was an ideal strategy for therapeutic angiogenesis in ischemic tissues. However, limitations such as heterogeneous proangiogenic nature and low cell survival following transplantation is a key challenge for clinical applications. Biofunctional materials such as extracellular matrix (ECM) and hydrogels are c...

Background Intravenous administration of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) has an acknowledged competence of cardiac repair, despite a lack of systematic description of the underlying biological mechanisms. The lung, but not the heart, is the main trapped site for intravenously transplanted MSCs, which leaves a spatial gap between intravenously tran...

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) contain a rare cell population of “two-cell embryonic like” cells (2CLCs) that display similar features to those found in the two-cell (2C) embryo and thus represent an in vitro model for studying the progress of zygotic genome activation (ZGA). However, the positive regulator determinants of the 2CLCs’ conversion...

Vascular bypass surgery continues to use autologous grafts and often suffers from a shortage of donor grafts. Decellularized xenografts derived from porcine veins provide a promising candidate because of their abundant availability and low immunogenicity. Unfortunately, transplantation outcomes are far from satisfactory because of insufficient rege...

EDITORIAL I came on board as the Editor-in-Chief of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology (PNT) in 2021. For many years, this journal has focused on pharmacology and nanotechnology that provide insight into the synthesis , characterization, and pharmaceutical application of materials at the nanoscale. I would like to join all members of PNT in thanking the...

Background Developmental pluripotency-associated 3 (Dppa3, also called Stella or PGC7) is a principal maternal protein specially expressed in pre-implantation embryos, embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and primordial germ cells (PGCs). It plays critical role in the regulating of DNA methylation in zygotes and oocytes. However, the effect of Dppa3 in...

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as a promising cell-based therapy for acute kidney injury (AKI). However, the optimal route of MSC transplantation remains controversial, and there have been no comparisons of the therapeutic benefits of MSC administration through different delivery routes. Methods In this study, we encapsulate...

Background The promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD) is to restore blood supply and promote regeneration of skeletal muscle regeneration. Increasing evidence revealed that prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a lipid signaling molecule, has significant therapeutic potential for tissue repair and regeneration. Thoug...

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI). However, MSC-based therapies are limited by their low cell retention and reduced survival rates at the site of injury. YIGSR (Tyr-Ile-Gly-Ser-Arg) and RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) peptides derived from the integral components of the...

Background Current studies have enlightened the rosy prospects of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) in regenerative medicine. However, systematic investigation of their signatures and applications with alternative biomaterials in osteoarthritis (OA) remains indistinct. Methods Herein, we initially too...

Stem cell therapy is widely recognized as a promising strategy for exerting therapeutic effects after injury in degen-erative diseases. However, limitations such as low cell retention and survival rates after transplantation exist in clinical applications. In recent years, emerging biomaterials that provide a supportable cellular microenvironment f...

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) play a key role in intercellular communication. Cargo molecules carried by sEVs may affect the phenotype and function of recipient cells. Epithelial cancer cell-derived sEVs, particularly those enriched in CD151 or tetraspanin8 (TSPAN8) and associated integrins, promote tumour progression. The mechanism of bindin...

With a three-dimensional connective fiber network, the decellularized extracellu-lar matrix (dECM), which is composed of various proteins, glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, collagens, and elastin, has been shown to play critical roles in supporting cells as well as provide the metabolic site for cells. However, the application for tissue repair of...

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) has recently been recognized to play a role in immune regulation and tissue regeneration. However, the short half-life of PGE2 limits its clinical application. Improving the delivery of PGE2 specifically to the target organ with a prolonged release method is highly desirable. Taking advantage of the adequate space and proxim...

Aims: Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for thoracic malignancies, but it can cause pulmonary injury and may lead to respiratory failure in a subset of patients. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are now recognized as a new candidate for cell-free treatment of lung diseases. Here, we investigated whether...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), known from their key role in the regeneration process of tissues, and their abilities to release bioactive factors like extracellular vesicles (EVs) could be considered as a potential, modern tool in the treatment of AKI (acute kidney injury) in both human and veterinary patients. The complex pathophysiology of a rena...

Background Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSC)-based therapy is an outstanding treatment strategy for ischaemic disease. However, the therapeutic efficacy of this strategy is not ideal due to the poor paracrine function and low survival rate of ADSCs in target regions. Platelet extracellular vesicles (PEVs) are nanoparticles derived from...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells that play crucial roles in the microenvironment of injured tissues. The potential therapeutics of MSCs have attracted extensive attention for several diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. MSC-extracellular ve...

Tissue regeneration following injury from disease or medical treatment still represents a challenge in regeneration medicine. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which involves diverse physiological processes via E-type prostanoid (EP) receptor family, favors the regeneration of various organ systems following injury for its capabilities such as activation of...

Using cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), typically HIV-Tat, to deliver the therapeutic gene for cancer treatment has being hampered by low efficient delivery and complicated uptake route of plasmid DNA (pDNA). On the one hand, surface charge, particle size and shape contribute essentially to the endocytosis pathway of Tat/pDNA nanocomplexes, but on...

Background Embryonic stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (ESC-EVs) possess therapeutic potential for a variety of diseases and are considered as an alternative of ES cells. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common acute and severe disease in clinical practice, which seriously threatens human life and health. However, the roles and mechanisms of E...