From trash to treasure: the role of bacterial extracellular vesicles in gut health and disease

Bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) have emerged as critical factors involved in gut health regulation, transcending their traditional roles as byproducts of bacterial metabolism. These vesicles function as cargo carriers and contribute to various aspects of intestinal homeostasis, including microbial balance, antimicrobial peptide secretion, physical barrier integrity, and immune system activation. Therefore, any imbalance in BEV production can cause several gut-related issues including intestinal infection, inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic dysregulation, and even cancer. BEVs derived from beneficial or commensal bacteria can act as potent immune regulators and have been implicated in maintaining gut health. They also show promise for future clinical applications in vaccine development and tumor immunotherapy. This review examines the multifaceted role of BEVs in gut health and disease, and also delves into future research directions and potential applications

Transcriptional activation of follistatin by Nrf2 protects pulmonary epithelial cells against silica nanoparticle-induced oxidative stress

Silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) cause oxidative stress in respiratory system. Meanwhile, human cells launch adaptive responses to overcome SiO2 NP toxicity. However, besides a few examples, the regulation of SiO2 NP-responsive proteins and their functions in SiO2 NP response remain largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that SiO2 NP induced the expression of follistatin (FST), a stress responsive gene, in mouse lung tissue as well as in human lung epithelial cells (A549). The levels of Ac-H3(K9/18) and H3K4me2, two active gene markers, at FST promoter region were significantly increased during SiO2 NP treatment. The induction of FST transcription was mediated by the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), as evidenced by the decreased FST expression in Nrf2-deficient cells and the direct binding of Nrf2 to FST promoter region. Down-regulation of FST promoted SiO2 NP-induced apoptosis both in cultured cells and in mouse lung tissue. Furthermore, knockdown of FST increased while overexpression of FST decreased the expression level of NADPH oxidase 1 (NOX1) and NOX5 as well as the production of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Taken together, these findings demonstrated a protective role of FST in SiO2 NP-induced oxidative stress and shed light on the interaction between SiO2 NPs and biological systems

CONFORMAL PHASED SURFACES FOR WIRELESS POWERING OF BIOELECTRONIC MICRODEVICES

10.1038/s41551-017-0043NATURE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING1

Expert consensus on multidisciplinary therapy of colorectal cancer with lung metastases (2019 edition)

Abstract The lungs are the second most common site of metastasis for colorectal cancer (CRC) after the liver. Rectal cancer is associated with a higher incidence of lung metastases compared to colon cancer. In China, the proportion of rectal cancer cases is around 50%, much higher than that in Western countries (nearly 30%). However, there is no available consensus or guideline focusing on CRC with lung metastases. We conducted an extensive discussion and reached a consensus of management for lung metastases in CRC based on current research reports and the experts’ clinical experiences and knowledge. This consensus provided detailed approaches of diagnosis and differential diagnosis and provided general guidelines for multidisciplinary therapy (MDT) of lung metastases. We also focused on recommendations of MDT management of synchronous lung metastases and initial metachronous lung metastases. This consensus might improve clinical practice of CRC with lung metastases in China and will encourage oncologists to conduct more clinical trials to obtain high-level evidences about managing lung metastases