Long-term survival benefits of intrathecal autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Neuronata-R®: lenzumestrocel) treatment in ALS: Propensity-score-matched control, surveillance study

ObjectiveNeuronata-R® (lenzumestrocel) is an autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) product, which was conditionally approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KMFDS, Republic of Korea) in 2013 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the present study, we aimed to investigate the long-term survival benefits of treatment with intrathecal lenzumestrocel.MethodsA total of 157 participants who received lenzumestrocel and whose symptom duration was less than 2 years were included in the analysis (BM-MSC group). The survival data of placebo participants from the Pooled-Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PROACT) database were used as the external control, and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to reduce confounding biases in baseline characteristics. Adverse events were recorded during the entire follow-up period after the first treatment.ResultsSurvival probability was significantly higher in the BM-MSC group compared to the external control group from the PROACT database (log-rank, p < 0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis showed a significantly lower hazard ratio for death in the BM-MSC group and indicated that multiple injections were more effective. Additionally, there were no serious adverse drug reactions found during the safety assessment, lasting a year after the first administration.ConclusionThe results of the present study showed that lenzumestrocel treatment had a long-term survival benefit in real-world ALS patients

Double Hydrophilic Block Copolymer Templated Au Nanoparticles with Enhanced Catalytic Activity toward Nitroarene Reduction

We present a facile method for synthesizing water-dispersible gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) using a double hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC), poly­(ethylene oxide)-<i>block</i>-poly­(acrylic acid) (PEO-<i>b</i>-PAA), as a template and demonstrate their application in the reduction of nitroarenes. Selective coordinative interactions between a gold precursor and the PAA block of the DHBC lead to the formation of micelles, which are subsequently transformed into Au NPs with an average diameter of 10 nm using a reducing agent. The DHBC-templated Au NPs (Au@DHBC NPs) remain stable in water for several months without any noticeable aggregation. Furthermore, Au@DHBC NPs are found to be highly effective in catalyzing the reduction of a series of nitroarenes. Remarkably, the turnover frequency in the case of 4-nitrophenol using Au@DHBP NPs reaches 800 h^–1, outperforming previously reported Au NP-based catalytic systems. We believe the enhanced catalytic activity is due to the DHBC shell around Au NPs, which templates the formation of spherical Au NPs and, more importantly, provides the confined interior for the enhanced catalytic activity in nitroarene reduction. Considering the wide potential application of DHBC as a template for the synthesis of novel metal NPs, we anticipate that the approach presented in this study will offer a new means to create a variety of water-stable catalytic nanomaterials in various fields of green chemistry

Data_Sheet_2_Long-term survival benefits of intrathecal autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Neuronata-R®: lenzumestrocel) treatment in ALS: Propensity-score-matched control, surveillance study.docx

ObjectiveNeuronata-R® (lenzumestrocel) is an autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (BM-MSC) product, which was conditionally approved by the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (KMFDS, Republic of Korea) in 2013 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the present study, we aimed to investigate the long-term survival benefits of treatment with intrathecal lenzumestrocel.MethodsA total of 157 participants who received lenzumestrocel and whose symptom duration was less than 2 years were included in the analysis (BM-MSC group). The survival data of placebo participants from the Pooled-Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PROACT) database were used as the external control, and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to reduce confounding biases in baseline characteristics. Adverse events were recorded during the entire follow-up period after the first treatment.ResultsSurvival probability was significantly higher in the BM-MSC group compared to the external control group from the PROACT database (log-rank, p ConclusionThe results of the present study showed that lenzumestrocel treatment had a long-term survival benefit in real-world ALS patients.</p

Double hydrophilic block copolymer templated Au nanoparticles with enhanced catalytic activity toward nitroarene reduction

We present a facile method for synthesizing water-dispersible gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) using a double hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC), poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(acrylic acid) (PEO-b-PAA), as a template and demonstrate their application in the reduction of nitroarenes. Selective coordinative interactions between a gold precursor and the PAA block of the DHBC lead to the formation of micelles, which are subsequently transformed into Au NPs with an average diameter of 10 nm using a reducing agent. The DHBC-templated Au NPs (Au@DHBC NPs) remain stable in water for several months without any noticeable aggregation. Furthermore, Au@DHBC NPs are found to be highly effective in catalyzing the reduction of a series of nitroarenes. Remarkably, the turnover frequency in the case of 4-nitrophenol using Au@DHBP NPs reaches 800 h-1, outperforming previously reported Au NP-based catalytic systems. We believe the enhanced catalytic activity is due to the DHBC shell around Au NPs, which templates the formation of spherical Au NPs and, more importantly, provides the confined interior for the enhanced catalytic activity in nitroarene reduction. Considering the wide potential application of DHBC as a template for the synthesis of novel metal NPs, we anticipate that the approach presented in this study will offer a new means to create a variety of water-stable catalytic nanomaterials in various fields of green chemistry.close9