Acute lung injury (ALI) is a frequent complication of sepsis that aggravates sepsis mortality and morbidity, which is tightly related to the inflammatory process. Oroxin B (OB), a flavonoid from Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent, has exhibited anti-inflammatory properties in several illnesses. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how OB affects sepsis-induced ALI and how it works. RAW264.7 cells were challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 μg/mL), and mice received cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) to produce sepsis-evoked ALI in in vitro and in vivo models. The action of OB on sepsis-elicited ALI was probed through cell counting kit-8, pathological staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and western blot. The results showed that OB improved pathological damage and pulmonary fibrosis in CLP-challenged mice. OB also reduced the concentration of MPO, the protein content in BALF, and macrophage and neutrophil numbers in BALF from CLP-challenged mice. Molecularly, OB decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, CD86, and iNOS but increased the level of Arg1 and CD206 in both LPS-evoked RAW264.7 cells and CLP-treated mice. Mechanistically, OB downregulated the level of the TLR4/NF-κB axis in both LPS-challenged RAW264.7 cells and CLP-treated mice. Overexpression of TLR4 abrogated the effect of OB on the above-mentioned indicators in LPS-elicited RAW264.7 cells. Therefore, OB improved sepsis-elicited ALI by attenuating inflammation and promoting M2 macrophage polarization through the TLR4/NF-KB signaling pathway.
©The Author(s) 2025. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons CC-BY International License.

Chemoresistance is still an important factor affecting the efficacy of treatment in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Hypoxia is related to poor prognosis and treatment resistance in cancer. Relevant studies have shown that a hypoxic microenvironment can promote the polarization of M2 macrophages and thus promote tumor development. Previous research has found that bufalin has a wide range of antitumor effects, but whether bufalin can reverse tumor resistance by improving the hypoxic tumor microenvironment is still unclear. In present research, it was found that high expression of SRC-3 in CRC cells under hypoxic conditions promoted the polarization of M2 and caused chemotherapy resistance, while bufalin, a monomeric drug used in Chinese medicine, reduced the level of SRC-3 and HIF-1α, thereby reversing chemoresistance. In addition, overexpression of SRC-3 reduced the hypoxia-mitigating effect of bufalin on CRC cells to promote the polarization of M2. Bufalin also inhibits the polarization of M2 caused by hypoxic CRC cells. Therefore, bufalin has the potential to become a new adjuvant therapy that can be further explored in future studies on its treatment of CRC.

Excessive oxidative response, unbalanced immunomodulation, and impaired mesenchymal stem cell function in periodontitis in diabetes makes it a great challenge to achieve integrated periodontal tissue regeneration. Here, a polyphenol-mediated redox-active algin/gelatin hydrogel encapsulating a conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene)-assembled polydopamine-mediated silk microfiber network and a hydrogen sulfide sustained-release system utilizing bovine serum albumin nanoparticles is developed. This hydrogel is found to reverse the hyperglycemic inflammatory microenvironment and enhance functional tissue regeneration in diabetic periodontitis. Polydopamine confers the hydrogel with anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activity. The slow, sustained release of hydrogen sulfide from the bovine serum albumin nanoparticles recruits mesenchymal stem cells and promotes subsequent angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Moreover, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene)-assembled polydopamine-mediated silk microfiber confers the hydrogel with good conductivity, which enables it to transmit endogenous bioelectricity, promote cell arrangement, and increase the inflow of calcium ion. In addition, the synergistic effects of hydrogen sulfide gaseous-bioelectric coupling promotes bone formation by amplifying autophagy in periodontal ligament stem cells and modulating macrophage polarization via lipid metabolism regulation. This study provides innovative insights into the synergistic effects of conductivity, reactive oxygen species scavenging, and hydrogen sulfide on the periodontium in a hyperglycemic inflammatory microenvironment, offering a strategy for the design of gaseous-bioelectric biomaterials to promote functional tissue regeneration in immune-related diseases.
© 2024. The Author(s).

Even after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-based immunotherapy has dramatically changed therapeutic approaches for malignancies, balancing therapeutic efficacy with labor and financial cost remains a major problem for immunotherapy. Current study developed a cost-effective and enhanced approach to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-macrophage therapy for cancer and demonstrated its therapeutic effects by repeated administration of anti-HER2 CAR macrophages generated from human pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived immortalized myeloid cell lines (ML). These ML-derived CAR macrophages (CAR-ML-MPs) exhibit potent antigen-specific killing activity against HER2-expressing tumor cells by phagocytosis in vitro and effectively inhibit tumor progression in vivo , which is enhanced by repeated administration. CAR-ML-MPs provide a promising off-the-shelf cellular resource for tumor adoptive cell immunotherapy, solving the cost and time problems associated with conventional CAR-based immunotherapy.

Cancer immunity is subjected to spatiotemporal regulation by leukocyte interaction with neoplastic and stromal cells, contributing to immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance. Here, we identify a distinct mesenchymal-like population of endothelial cells (ECs) that form an immunosuppressive vascular niche in glioblastoma (GBM). We reveal a spatially restricted, Twist1/SATB1-mediated sequential transcriptional activation mechanism, through which tumor ECs produce osteopontin to promote immunosuppressive macrophage (Mφ) phenotypes. Genetic or pharmacological ablation of Twist1 reverses Mφ-mediated immunosuppression and enhances T cell infiltration and activation, leading to reduced GBM growth and extended mouse survival, and sensitizing tumor to chimeric antigen receptor T immunotherapy. Thus, these findings uncover a spatially restricted mechanism controlling tumor immunity and suggest that targeting endothelial Twist1 may offer attractive opportunities for optimizing cancer immunotherapy.