Considering the unique therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), including their immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory properties as well as their ability to improve tissue regeneration, these cells have attracted the attention of scientists and clinicians for the treatment of different inflammatory and immune system mediated disorders. However, various clinical trials using MSCs for the therapeutic purpose are conflicting and differ from the results of promising preclinical studies. This inconsistency is caused by several factors such as poor migration and homing capacities, low survival rate, low level of proliferation and differentiation, and donor-dependent variation of the cells. Enhancement and retention of persistent therapeutic effects of the cells remain a challenge to overcome in MSC-based therapy. In this review, we summarized various approaches to enhance the clinical outcomes of MSC-based therapy as well as revised current and future perspectives for the creation of cellular products with improved potential for diverse clinical applications.

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Variants of SARS-CoV-2 lineages including the most recently circulated Omicron, and previous pandemic B.1.351, B.1.1.7, which have been public concerns, contain a N501Y mutation located in the spike receptor binding domain. However, the potential interactions with host cells linking N501Y mutation to pathogenic relevance remain elusive. Recently, we and others report that kinases such as PI3K/AKT signaling is essential in SARS-CoV-2 entry. Here we analyzed the predicted potential kinases interacting with the mutation. Bioinformatics tools including structure-prediction based molecular docking analysis were applied. We found kinases such as EGFR might potentially act as new acceptors involving the N501Y mutation binding through possible phosphorylation at Y501 and enhanced affinity in certain variants. To our surprise, the Omicron receptor binding domain harboring N501Y mutation did not enhance binding to EGFR which might be due to the mutations of charged polar to uncharged polar side chains located on the interaction interfaces. Similarly, potent gains of phosphorylation in B.1.351 and B.1.1.7 by mutations were predicted and interaction networks were analyzed with enrichment of pathways. Given kinases might be elevated in cancer patients, the N501Y mutation containing lineages may be possibly much more infectious and additional care for cancer management might be taken into consideration by precision prevention, therapy or recovery.

A combination therapy of RhizomaPolygonati (RP) with goji (Lycium chinense) has earned a long history in the prescriptions to promote male health. However, the mechanisms at both molecular and nanoscale quantum levels are unclear. Here, we found that processed RP extract induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells, thereby inhibiting prostate cancer cell proliferation enhanced by processed goji extract associated with an augment of the nanoscale herbzyme of phosphatase. For network pharmacology analysis, RP-induced PI3K-AKT pathways are essential for both benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer, and the RP/goji combination induces potent pathways which include androgen and estrogen response, kinase regulation, apoptosis, and prostate cancer singling. In addition, the experimental investigation showed that the prostate cancer cells are sensitive to RP extract for inhibiting colony formation. Finally, the natural compound baicalein found in RP ingredients showed a linked activity of top-ranked signaling targets of kinases including MAPK, AKT, and EGFR by the database of cMAP and HERB. Thus, both the nanozyme and ingredients might contribute to the RP in anti-prostate cancer which can be enhanced by goji extract. The proposed nanoscale RP extract might be of significance in developing novel anti-prostate cancer agents by combining goji compositions and targeted therapy compounds.

Nanozyme and natural product-derived herbzyme have been identified in different enzyme types simulating the natural protein-based enzyme function. How to explore and predict enzyme types of novel nanozyme when synthesized...