Mechanical effects modulate drug resistance in MCF-7-derived organoids: Insights into the wnt/β-catenin pathway

Addressing drug resistance poses a significant challenge in cancer treatment, as cancer cells develop diverse mechanisms to evade chemotherapy drugs, leading to treatment failure and disease relapse. Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture has emerged as a valuable model for studying drug resistance, although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. By obtaining a better understanding of drug resistance within the 3D culture environment, we can develop more effective strategies to overcome it and improve the success of cancer treatments. Notably, the physical structure undergoes notable changes in 3D culture, with mechanical effects believed to play a pivotal role in drug resistance. Hence, our study aimed to explore the influence of mechanical effects on drug resistance by analyzing data related to "drug resistance" and "mechanobiology". Through this analysis, we identified β-catenin and JNK1 as potential factors, which were further examined in MCF-7 cells cultivated under both 2D and 3D culture conditions. Our findings demonstrate that β-catenin is activated through canonical and non-canonical pathways and associated with the drug resistance, particularly in organoids obtained under 3D culture.

Recent Advances in Efficacy of Using Doxorubicin Gold Nanoparticles for Chemo-, Radio-, Photothermal, and Photodynamic therapy

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used in drug delivery systems specifically for chemo-, radio-, photothermal, and photodynamic therapy. Due to the lack of selectivity toward tumor cells the main target in therapies is to deliver drugs to cancer cells to reduce side effects. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been described as "promising nanocarriers for therapeutics" due to many properties such as low inherent toxicity, high water solubility and biocompatibility. Many research groups have focused on taking advantage of two or more therapies simultaneously to have increased efficacy using a lower dosage of the therapeutic drug and reduced multi drug resistance (MDR). Alternatively, doxorubicin (Dox) modification has been used as a strategy for increased selectivity toward target cells. Over the years, many studies have been performed on NPs to eliminate side effects using polymers, peptides, proteins, DNA, metallic NPs, microgels, and hydrogels on drug carrierse. In this review, recent advances of using Dox-AuNPs for chemo-, radio-, photothermal, photodynamic and combination therapy are briefly discussed, and we highlight recent progression in the application of Dox-AuNPs for effective cancer therapy.

An improvement in acute wound healing in rats by the synergistic effect of photobiomodulation and arginine

In this probe, at first we examined the best route and dosage of arginine administration on wound healing in an excisional wound model in rats. Next, we intend to assess the impact of photobiomodulation (PBM) and arginine, individually and together, on the wound healing. In the pilot study, an excisional wound was made in each of 24 rats. There were 4 groups. Group 1 was the control group. In groups 2 and 3, wounds were topically treated with arginine ointments (ARG.) 2% and 5%, respectively. In group 4, arginine was injected (ARG. INJ.,i.p.). In the main phase, in 24 new rats, an excisional wound was made. There were 4 groups: group 5 served as the control. Wounds in group 6 were topically treated with ARG 2%. Wounds in group 7 were subjected to PBM. Wounds in group 8 were treated with PBM+ARG. 2%. On day 15, wound area measurement, wound strength, and stereological examination were performed. In the pilot study, we found that the ARG 2% ointment significantly decreased wound area than ARG. 5%, ARG. INJ. and control groups, and significantly increased wound strength compared to the control and ARG.5% groups. In the main phase, a significant decrease of wound area in all treatment regimens was induced. PBM + ARG. 2% and PBM treatment regimens significantly improved wound strength and almost all stereological parameters, compared to the control and ARG. 2% groups. PBM + ARG. 2% induced anti-inflammatory and angiogenic activities, and hastened the wound healing process in an excisional wound model in rats.