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OBJECTIVE Metastasis is a major cause of cancer-related death in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC). In TNBC, there is a significant correlation between metastasis and chemoresistance. Cancer relapse and metastasis are associated with the part of cancer cells with stem cell properties. These cancer stem cells are resistant to current cancer treatments. Due to their resistant nature, a significant relationship exists between the amount of cancer stem cells and chemoresistance. To our knowledge, to date, no comparative study was conducted on the number of these cells in metastatic loci vs. primary tumor site. METHODS In the present study, after developing a metastatic animal model of TNBC, metastatic and primary tumor cells were extracted from the lung and primary tumor of cancerous mice, respectively. In the next step, the sphere formation ability as a reliable in vitro assay to assess the presence and self-renewal ability of CSCs, in metastatic and primary tumor cells was evaluated separately. RESULTS The results showed that sphere formation ability, and consequently the population of cancer stem cells among metastatic tumor cells was significantly higher. CONCLUSION A higher percent of CSCs in lung metastatic site, compared with the primary tumor site, can partly explain the reasons for the chemoresistance and relapse in metastatic TNBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Rosuvastatin (RSV) is a hydrophilic, effective statin with a long half-life that stimulates bone regeneration. The present study aims to develop a new scaffold and controlled release system for RSV with favourable properties for bone tissue engineering (BTE). Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, high porous polycaprolactone (PCL)-gelatin scaffolds that contained different concentrations of RSV (0 mg/10 ml, 0.1 mg/10 ml, 0.5 mg/10 ml, 2.5 mg/10 ml, 12.5 mg/10 ml, and 62.5 mg/10 ml) were fabricated by the thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) method. Mechanical and biological properties of the scaffolds were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), compressive strength, porosity, MTT, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, water contact angle, degradation rate, pH alteration, blood clotting index (BCI), and hemocompatibility. Results: SEM analysis confirmed that the porous structure of the scaffolds contained interconnected pores. FTIR results showed that the RSV structure was maintained during the scaffold's fabrication. RSV (up to 62.5 mg/10 ml) increased compressive strength (16.342 ± 1.79 MPa), wettability (70.2), and degradation rate of the scaffolds. Scaffolds that contained 2.5 mg/10 ml RSV had the best effect on the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (HUC-MSCs) survival, hemocompatibility, and BCI. As a sustained release system, only 31.68 ± 0.1% of RSV was released from the PCL-Gelatin-2.5 mg/10 ml RSV scaffold over 30 days. In addition, the results of ALP activity showed that RSV increased the osteogenic differentiation potential of the scaffolds. Conclusion: PCL-Gelatin-2.5 mg/10 ml RSV scaffolds have favorable mechanical, physical, and osteogenic properties for bone tissue and provide a favorable release system for RSV. They can mentioned as a a promising strategy for bone regeneration that should be further assessed in animals and clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the advances in the regeneration/rehabilitation field of damaged tissues, the functional recovery of peripheral nerves (PNs), especially in a long gap injury, is considered a great medical challenge. Recent progress in nanomedicine has provided great hope for PN regeneration through the strategy of controlling cell behavior by metal nanoparticles individually or loaded on scaffolds/conduits. Despite the confirmed toxicity of metal nanoparticles due to long-term accumulation in nontarget tissues, they play a role in the damaged PN regeneration based on the topography modification of scaffolds/conduits, enhancing neurotrophic factor secretion, the ion flow improvement, and the regulation of electrical signals. Determining the fate of neural progenitor cells would be a major achievement in PN regeneration, which seems to be achievable by metal nanoparticles through altering cell vital approaches and controlling their functions. Therefore, in this literature, an attempt was made to provide an overview of the effective activities of metal nanoparticles on the PN regeneration, until the vital clues of the PN regeneration and how they are changed by metal nanoparticles are revealed to the researcher.