Free radicals, reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress, oxidation, antioxidants; these terms are used in both scientific and non-scientific contexts, though their meaning and relationships with one another often get confused. These molecules have very important biological roles. First, let’s unravel these terms.
Regenerative medicine aims to address the underlying causes of a patient’s condition to replace lost tissue and restore normal function. But the challenge for regenerative medicine of translating basic research into clinical therapies is immense.
Dr Shu discusses his recent review paper "Co-Isolation of Cytokines and Exosomes: Implications for Immunomodulation Studies". Exosomes play a vital role in intercellular communication and their immunomodulatory potential has become an important focus in cancer research. In melanoma, tumor-derived exosomes drive immunosuppression within the tumor microenvironment.
Radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBEs) describe damage to tissues that lie outside of the radiation field. Even though these tissues were not exposed to radiation, they demonstrate responses. Growing evidence supports a role for exosomes mediating these effects.
The role of exosomes in the development of autoimmune diseases is increasingly well understood. Amongst these, rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common. It affects about 1% of women and 0.5% of men in OECD nations. Over the last decade, the potential use of exosomes for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis has become a hot topic.
An unprecedented effort led to the rapid development of vaccines and therapeutics to mitigate the impact of Covid 19. Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are highly effective in limiting the incidence of severe disease. But with new variants emerging and patchy vaccination coverage, large numbers of people are still becoming severely affected and dying.
