According to tradition, plants and herbs are potential cures for numerous illnesses. In recent decades, they have gained worldwide recognition as critical sources of new drugs, especially for cancer, and the focus on medicinal plant research has increased tremendously. Currently, research scientists attribute the occurrence of post-chemotherapy tumour exacerbation to the presence of cancer stem cells hidden in the bulk of the malignant tumour, forming a rare subpopulation that plays a major role in tumour re-initiation, progression and recurrence. There is increasing evidence of cancer stem cells in a wide array of tumours, and these cells could be the crucial target for future chemotherapy approaches. This review of the major plant-basedphy to chemicals with documented antagonistic activities against cancer stem cells, their molecular targets and the mechanisms involved, may serve as a guide for developing from the existing natural agents, more effective, and broader spectrum anti-cancer stem cell compounds with the potential for clinical application.
Peptides have acquired increasing interest as promising therapeutics, particularly as anticancer alternatives during recent years. They have been reported to demonstrate incredible anticancer potentials due to their low manufacturing cost, ease of synthesis and great specificity and selectivity. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the leading cause of cancer death globally, and the effectiveness of current liver treatment has turned out to be a critical issue in treating the disease efficiently. Hence, new interventions are being explored for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Anticancer peptides (ACPs) were first identified as part of the innate immune system of living organisms, demonstrating promising activity against infectious diseases. Differentiated beyond the traditional effort on endogenous human peptides, the discovery of peptide drugs has evolved to rely more on isolation from other natural sources or through the medicinal chemistry approach. Up to the present time, the pharmaceutical industry intends to conduct more clinical trials for the development of peptides as alternative therapy since peptides possess numerous advantages such as high selectivity and efficacy against cancers over normal tissues, as well as a broad spectrum of anticancer activity. In this review, we present an overview of the literature concerning peptide's physicochemical properties and describe the contemporary status of several anticancer peptides currently engaged in clinical trials for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
MicroRNAs have a plethora of roles in various biological processes in the cells and most human cancers have been shown to be associated with dysregulation of the expression of miRNA genes. MiRNA biogenesis involves two alternative pathways, the canonical pathway which requires the successful cooperation of various proteins forming the miRNA-inducing silencing complex (miRISC), and the non-canonical pathway, such as the mirtrons, simtrons, or agotrons pathway, which bypasses and deviates from specific steps in the canonical pathway. Mature miRNAs are secreted from cells and circulated in the body bound to argonaute 2 (AGO2) and miRISC or transported in vesicles. These miRNAs may regulate their downstream target genes via positive or negative regulation through different molecular mechanisms. This review focuses on the role and mechanisms of miRNAs in different stages of breast cancer progression, including breast cancer stem cell formation, breast cancer initiation, invasion, and metastasis as well as angiogenesis. The design, chemical modifications, and therapeutic applications of synthetic anti-sense miRNA oligonucleotides and RNA mimics are also discussed in detail. The strategies for systemic delivery and local targeted delivery of the antisense miRNAs encompass the use of polymeric and liposomal nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, extracellular vesicles, as well as viral vectors and viruslike particles (VLPs). Although several miRNAs have been identified as good candidates for the design of antisense and other synthetic modified oligonucleotides in targeting breast cancer, further efforts are still needed to study the most optimal delivery method in order to drive the research beyond preclinical studies.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells that are gaining worldwide attention for their multi-potential use in tissue engineering-based regenerative medicine. They can be obtained from numerous sources and one of the excellent sources is the dental tissue, such as Stem cells that are extracted from the Human Exfoliated Deciduous teeth (SHED). SHED are considered ideal due to their inherent characteristics, including the capability to proliferate quickly with minimal oncogenesis risk, multipotency capacity and their ability to suppress the immune system. On top of these positive cell traits, SHED are easily accessible with the patient's safety assured, posing less ethical issues and could also provide a sufficient number of cells for prospective clinical uses. This is primarily attributed to their ability to differentiate into multiple cell linages, including osteoblasts, odontoblasts, neuronal cells, adipocytes, as well as endothelial cells. Albeit SHED having a bright future, there still remains an obstacle to develop reliable experimental techniques to retain the long-term regeneration potential of the stem cells for prospective research and clinical applications. Therefore, this review aims to describe the various isolation, expansion and cryopreservation techniques used by researchers in this stem cell field. Optimization of these techniques is crucial to obtain distinct SHED culture with preserved stem cell properties, which enable more reproducible results that will be the key for further stem cell therapy development.
The human gastrointestinal tract is populated with a diverse microbial community. The vast genetic and metabolic potential of the gut microbiome underpins its ubiquity in nearly every aspect of human biology, including health maintenance, development, aging, and disease. The advent of new sequencing technologies and culture-independent methods has allowed researchers to move beyond correlative studies toward mechanistic explorations to shed light on microbiome-host interactions. Evidence has unveiled the bidirectional communication between the gut microbiome and the central nervous system, referred to as the "microbiota-gut-brain axis". The microbiota-gut-brain axis represents an important regulator of glial functions, making it an actionable target to ameliorate the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of the microbiota-gut-brain axis in neurodegenerative diseases. As the gut microbiome provides essential cues to microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, we examine the communications between gut microbiota and these glial cells during healthy states and neurodegenerative diseases. Subsequently, we discuss the mechanisms of the microbiota-gut-brain axis in neurodegenerative diseases using a metabolite-centric approach, while also examining the role of gut microbiota-related neurotransmitters and gut hormones. Next, we examine the potential of targeting the intestinal barrier, blood-brain barrier, meninges, and peripheral immune system to counteract glial dysfunction in neurodegeneration. Finally, we conclude by assessing the pre-clinical and clinical evidence of probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation in neurodegenerative diseases. A thorough comprehension of the microbiota-gut-brain axis will foster the development of effective therapeutic interventions for the management of neurodegenerative diseases.