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Objective: Liver fibrosis, a hallmark of chronic liver diseases, is characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and scar tissue formation. Current antifibrotic nanomedicines face significant limitations, including poor penetration into fibrotic tissue, rapid clearance, and suboptimal therapeutic efficacy. The dense fibrotic ECM acts as a major physiological barrier, necessitating the development of a targeted delivery strategy to achieve effective therapeutic outcomes. Methods: We designed a liposomal delivery system functionalized with the GBI-10 aptamer and encapsulating obeticholic acid (OCA lips@Apt) to enhance selective delivery to fibrotic liver tissue while minimizing systemic toxicity. Results: Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that the aptamer-modified OCA liposomes effectively treated hepatic fibrosis through dual mechanisms: modulation of abnormal bile acid metabolism and attenuation of inflammation. The targeted delivery system leveraged the overexpression of Tenascin-C (TnC), a key ECM component in fibrotic tissues, for precise localization and enhanced endocytosis via the exposed cationic liposome surface. Conclusions: The OCA lips@Apt nanodrug demonstrated superior therapeutic efficacy with minimal off-target effects, offering a promising strategy to overcome critical barriers in liver fibrosis treatment. By precisely targeting the fibrotic ECM and modulating key pathological pathways, this TnC-guided liposomal delivery system provides a significant advancement in antifibrotic nanomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), one of the crucial precursors of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, has garnered considerable interest for its pharmacological and anti-aging effects, conferring potential health and economic benefits for humans. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are one of the most important probiotics, which is commonly used in the dairy industry. Due to its probiotic properties, it presents an attractive platform for food-grade NMN production. LAB have also been extensively utilized to enhance the functional properties of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, making them promising candidates for large-scale up synthesis of NMN. This review provides an in-depth analysis of various metabolic engineering strategies, including enzyme optimization, pathway rewiring, and fermentation process enhancements, to increase NMN yields in LAB. It explores both CRISPR/Cas9 and traditional methods to manipulate key biosynthetic pathways. In particular, this study discussed future research directions, emphasizing the application of synthetic biology, systems biology, and AI-driven optimization to further enhance NMN production. It provides invaluable insights into developing scalable and industrially relevant processes for NMN production to meet the growing market demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is an important compound in living organisms and has a number of different roles, such as polyamine synthesis. It can also be used for the treatment of diseases. Gene targeting with homologous recombination in Komagataella phaffii (K. phaffii) created DAS1 and DAS2 gene knockout strains, which use the methanol pathway to generate more ATP and increase SAM production. These strains showed an increase in the flux of methanol oxidation and an increase in ATP production. The gene knockout retarded the cell growth in the late phase of induction, did not influence the total methanol consumption or the activity of SAM synthetase, but did significantly increase the yield of SAM by 43.7%. The metabolic flux of methanol oxidation is increased by DAS1 and DAS2 gene knockout, which leads to an increase in ATP and higher SAM production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xylanase is widely used in agriculture and food industry. To increase heterologous xylanase expression by Komagataella phaffii under the condition of mixed carbon source feeding, the atg30 gene was knocked out from this yeast to inhibit pexophagy for increasing sorbitol consumption. Komagataella phaffii atg30Δ was constructed through homologous recombination that resulted in the inhibition of pexophagy. When compared with the control, the yield of secretory xylanase increased by 4.1 ± 0.2%, 5.7 ± 0.5%, 11.8 ± 0.4% and 11.4 ± 0.7% under the conditions of 1.5% methanol and 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% sorbitol addition, respectively. The residual sorbitol analysis showed that sorbitol consumed by Komagataella phaffii atg30Δ increased by 121.3 ± 9.3%, 66.8 ± 15.2% and 31.2 ± 3.2% following 1, 1.5 and 2 sorbitol addition, respectively. Thus, non-methanol carbon source, co-feeding with methanol, provided more energy without pexophagy by atg30 gene knockout. Pexophagy inhibition increased the heterologous protein expression by Komagataella phaffii, which provided basis for increased yield of xylanase through pexophagy monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the highest proportion of ageing population in Asia, Japan has evolved into an ageing society earlier than many other countries. Compared to the other Asian countries, Japan has established more extensive and comprehensive social welfare policies for the senior citizens. Since 2000, faced with the fast-growing ageing population in China, the government has made great efforts to formulate and improve a wide range of social welfare policies. Meanwhile, China is likely to gain insights by referring to the Japanese experience, which may include the following aspects--highlighting research on social welfare policies for the old to facilitate evidence-based policy making; incorporating the older adults' mental health and spiritual comfort into relevant laws, regulations and policies; recognizing old people's self-efficacy, existence and meaning of life; and training professional and socialized workers to deliver quality services for the aged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]