Search

Introduction: Urethral injury caused by various reasons usually leads to urethral stricture. And severe urethral stricture can further induce complications such as bladder stones, fistulas, sepsis, and even renal failure. At present, surgical methods such as urethral reconstruction and end-to-end anastomosis are commonly used to solve this problem. But this treatment method often has a high recurrence rate. So simply relying on the repair of surrounding autologous tissue cells to reconstruct the urethra is difficult to achieve long-term stability, and constructing a suitable urethral graft is an effective and feasible solution., Methods: Here, we designed and prepared a double-layer PLGA/CoI-MeHA tissue engineering scaffold to better simulate the natural anatomy of the urethra and achieve urethral tissue regeneration and reconstruction in patients with urethral stricture and Hypospadias caused by various reasons. The double-layer tissue engineering scaffold was generated using electrospinning and light curing technology., Results: Through electrospinning and light curing technology, we successfully screened the PLGA/CoI (7:3) electrospun membrane and MeHA (40.72%) hydrogel. Furthermore, we successfully prepared PLGA/CoI-MeHA bilayer urethral stents loaded with rabbit urethral smooth muscle cells and rabbit urethral epithelial cells, respectively, and achieved favorable results for urethral defect repair and urethral reconstruction in rabbits. The mechanical characterization of the scaffold indicates that it has sufficient mechanical strength to meet experimental and clinical needs. In addition, it showed satisfactory biocompatibility in cell experiments and in the in vitro degradation experiments. The double-layer urethral stents demonstrated exceptional performance in repairing urethral defects in rabbits., Discussion: We had successfully designed and prepared a double-layer PLGA/CoI-MeHA tissue engineering scaffold. The stent displayed sufficient mechanical strength, good biocompatibility and degradation characteristics, and effectively simulated the natural anatomy of urethra, achieving satisfactory urethral defect reconstruction results., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Chang, Tan, Bian, Zhang, Lv, Su and Wang.)

Over the past 20 years, early diagnosis of prostate cancer has become increasingly prevalent due to the promotion of prostate-specific antigens, and its treatment has become a focal point. However, there are some drawbacks associated with therapies for early prostate cancer, such as active surveillance and radical prostatectomy, which may include urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and urinary tract infection. In contrast, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is introduced into the treatment of prostate cancer because of its advantages, such as high precision to tumor cells, low toxicity, and no radiation. Compared to radical prostatectomy, the PDT has low risk and minimal trauma. Although PDT is in the early stages of clinical development, it holds promise for the effective treatment of localized prostate cancer. Herein, we reviewed studies on the mechanisms of PDT and photosensitizers for prostate cancer. Given the rapid development of nanotechnology, photosensitizers wrapped by nanomaterials have emerged as new option with significant advantages, particularly of in achieving high tumor selectivity using functional nanomaterials. Numerous PDT clinical trials on prostate cancer have been conducted worldwide. We also reviewed the results of a few photosensitizers in these clinical trials. However, a few limitations and challenges regarding PDT for prostate cancer still exist. In addition, future development and potential clinical application strategies of future PDT are predicted., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2025 Xu, Tan, Sun, Jia, Li and Yang.)

Injuries to the urethra can be caused by malformations, trauma, inflammation, or carcinoma, and reconstruction of the injured urethra is still a significant challenge in clinical urology. Implanting grafts for urethroplasty and end-to-end anastomosis are typical clinical interventions for urethral injury. However, complications and high recurrence rates remain unsatisfactory. To address this, urethral tissue engineering provides a promising modality for urethral repair. Additionally, developing tailor-made biomimetic natural and synthetic grafts is of great significance for urethral reconstruction. In this work, tailor-made biomimetic natural and synthetic grafts are divided into scaffold-free and scaffolded grafts according to their structures, and the influence of different graft structures on urethral reconstruction is discussed. In addition, future development and potential clinical application strategies of future urethral reconstruction grafts are predicted., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a serious primary bone malignant tumor that can easily affect children and adolescents. Chemotherapy is one of the important and feasible clinical treatment strategies for the treatment of OS at present, which is severely limited due to insufficient retention time, poor penetration ability, and serious side effects of current anti-tumor drug preparations. In this work, a novel injectable thermo-sensitive hydrogel (mPEG 45 -PLV 19 ) loaded with methotrexate and alendronate, and the sustained release at the tumor site synergistically inhibited the progression of OS. The mPEG 45 -PLV 19 shows excellent physical and chemical properties. Compared with other treatment groups, the in vivo treatment of gel+ methotrexate + alendronate effectively inhibited the growth of tumor. More importantly, it significantly reduced bone destruction and lung metastasis caused by OS. Therefore, this injectable thermo-sensitive hydrogel drug delivery system has broad prospects for OS chemotherapy., (Copyright © 2020 Shan, Li, Zhao, Chi, Tan, Wang, Yu and Piao.)