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Blood transfusion in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is at a crossroad. Significant recent developments may help meet local needs in safe blood products and fulfil a global health target, as highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals, in improving supply and safety, and ensuring the gradual implementation of selective haemotherapy. When WHO recommended the evaluation of convalescent blood or plasma to treat Ebola-infected patients during the recent epidemics, substantial gaps in local blood collection, testing and technology infrastructure and safety, as compared to best accepted quality standards, became evident. This evidence should now serve as an 'electro-shock'/awakening call used to highlight the needs for local governments to support National Blood Transfusion Services and establish robust national regulatory authorities that are mandated to bear regulatory responsibilities of blood establishments. A nationally co-ordinated blood programme is the best tool to gather reliable epidemiological data, address local needs in blood and blood products and serve public health. A literature review using WHO website and PubMed was conducted in this article to outline the current clinical use of blood products and plasma derivatives in SSA. This text also intends to highlight the gaps to be filled in the coming years with respect to quality, safety, supply and efficacy of blood and plasma products, in line with WHO guidelines for transfusion.

Sleep is a crucial and evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, but the mechanisms that control sleep-wake behavior and underlie sleep disorders are not yet fully understood. One major challenge for sleep research was the lack of technology that allows for cell-type- and circuit-specific investigation of neurons and neural circuitry. A decade ago, a novel methodology known as optogenetics was developed, which uses light to control specific cell types of neurons, either to activate or inhibit neuronal firings. The strength of optogenetics in neuroscience is the precise control of neuronal activities in millisecond scale and the ability to dissect the neural circuits and cell types to understand their functions. There have been substantial advancements made in the field of sleep research through the implementation of optogenetics. This review provides a brief introduction on the optogenetics and a consolidated summary of recent findings published in sleep research using optogenetics.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a relatively common inflammatory skin disease identified by swollen, cracked or inflamed skin. Currently, the primary treatments for AD are corticosteroids. However, after prolonged usage, corticosteroids have the potential to produce severe side effects. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound found in tea, provides anti-inflammatory properties that offer a potential alternative to corticosteroids in treating AD. However, the delivery method of EGCG greatly affects its bioavailability. The skin’s barrier makes it hard to delivery EGCG directly through intact skin. Nanoparticles provide an intriguing option for atopic transdermal delivery of EGCG due to their biochemical properties and ease of application. In this study, biodegradable self-assembling gelatin/EGCG nanoparticles (GE NPs) were synthesized for AD treatment. GE NPs had a spherical morphology with an average diameter of 112 nm and a zeta potential of nearly 23 mV. Cell viability assays indicated 10 μg/mL concentrations of EGCG or GE were non-toxic to human dermal fibroblast (WS1) cells. Intracellular quantification of dye conjugated GE was proceeded, and it revealed high amounts of fluorescence dye in cells. Lipopolysaccharide-inflamed WS1 cells were treated with EGCG solution or GE NPs, and IL-6 and IL-8 cytokine expression was assessed by ELISA method. GE NPs decreased inflammation as demonstrated by reducing IL-6 and IL-8 expression in WS1 cells in vitro with EGCG concentrations as low as 1 μg/mL. The topical delivery of GE NPs in vivo was examined by dropping different formulations on nude mice skin. GE NPs demonstrate greater skin absorbance than free EGCG in vivo and without eliciting adverse effects. This approach provides a novel alternative potential treatment for skin inflammatory diseases.

Purpose: To assess the potential therapeutic target on the alpha 9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α9-nAChR) and the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I receptor (IGF-IR) for preventing distant metastasis in TNBC patients. Experimental Design: Expression levels of stemness-related genes, α9-nAChR and IGF-IR in clinical tissues (n = 67) were analyzed by RT-qPCR and the Pearson correlation analysis. The α9-nAChR, OCT4, IGF-1R, and p-IGF-1R protein in tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining (n = 200). The effects of either α9-nAChR activation or IGF-1R transactivation on stemness expression in TNBC were examined using Western blot, ALDH activity assay with flow cytometry, shRNA silencing, wound closure/migration/invasion assay, as well as microCT scanning and IVIS assay for animal models. Results: A high positive correlation between the gene expression levels of OCT4/NANOG/CD24/CD44 and α9-nAChR/IGF-IR in human breast cancer tissues was observed. IGF-1R and OCT4 highly expressed in tumor part compared than that of in normal part. Moreover, IGF-1R positively correlated with OCT4 in tumor tissues. We also show that nicotine induced α9-nAChR activation trans-activates the expression of IGF-1R and pluripotent protein OCT4, which mediated stemness-related properties in TNBC cell lines. Our results reveal that knockdown α9nAChR and IGF-1R diminish the pernicious effects of nicotine, inhibit stemness activities, and suppress metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: A crosstalk between α9-nAChR and IGF-IR signal mediates the stemness-related properties and metastasis therefore convene poor prognosis in TNBCs. Citation Format: Yung-Che Kuo, Jan-Show Chu, Kha-Liang Lee, Hsiao-Feng Wang, Victor James Drew, Wei-Zhan Zhuang, Chi-Long Chen, Yuan-Soon Ho, Yen-Hua Huang. Alpha 9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor promotes tumor progression in triple negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4203.

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is one of the most common types of ocular diseases. There is a major need to treat DES in a simple yet efficient way. Artificial tears (AT) are the most commonly used agents for treating DES, but are not very effective. Herbal extractions of ferulic acid (FA), an anti-oxidant agent, and kaempferol (KM), an anti-inflammatory reagent, were added to buffer solution (BS) to replace ATs for DES treatment. The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects were examined in vitro by co-culture with human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) to obtain the optimal concentration of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Physical properties of BS, such as pH value, osmolality, and refractive index were also examined. Then, rabbits with DES were used for therapeutic evaluation. Tear production, corneal damage, and ocular irritation in rabbits’ eyes were examined. The non-toxic concentrations of KM and FA for HCEC cultivation over 3 days were 1 µM and 100 µM, respectively. Live/dead stain results also show non-toxicity of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated HCECs in inflammatory conditions treated with 100 µM FA and 1 µM KM (FA100/KM1) showed lower IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and TNFα expression when examined by real-time PCR. The BS with FA100/KM1 had neutral pH, and a similar osmolality and refractive index to human tears. Topical delivery of BS + FA100/KM1 showed no irritation to rabbit eyes. The corneal thickness in the BS + FA100/KM1 treated group was comparable to normal eyes. Results of DES rabbits treated with BS + FA100/KM1 showed less corneal epithelial damage and higher tear volume than the normal group. In conclusion, we showed that the combination of FA (100 µM) and KM (1 µM) towards treating inflamed HCECs had an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is effective in treating DES rabbits when BS is added in combination with these two herbal supplements and used as a topical eye drop.

Purpose: To determine the role of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I receptor (IGF-IR) in alpha 9 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α9-nAChR)-induced stemness-related properties and to assess the therapeutic potential for preventing early tumor relapse and metastasis of TNBCs. Experimental Design: Expression levels of stemness-related genes, α9-nAChR and IGF-IR in tissues (n = 67) were analyzed by real-time Q-PCR and the correlation of different gene levels were calculated by the Pearson correlation analysis. The effects of either α9-nAChR activation or IGF-1R transactivation on stemness expression in TNBC were examined using ALDEFLUOR assay with flow cytometry, RNA interference, wound closure/migration/invasion assay, and animal models. The α9-nAChR, OCT4 and IGF-1R protein, p-IGF-1R in tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining. Results: A high positive correlation between the gene expression levels of OCT4/NANOG/CD24/CD44 and α9-nAChR/IGF-IR in human breast cancer tissues was observed. Nicotine induced α9-nAChR activation trans-activates an IGF-IR expression and a phosphorylation of STAT3, which stimulated stemness-related properties in both the cell lines and the xenografted mouse tumors. The inhibition of either α9-nAChR or IGF-IR activation by RNA interference significantly suppressed the nicotine-induced stemness-related properties and cell metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: IGF-1R signal regulates the nicotine/α9-nAChR-induced stemness properties and cell metastasis therefore convene poor prognosis in TNBCs. Citation Format: Yung-Che Kuo, Jan-Show Chu, Kha-Liang Lee, Victor James Drew, Wei-Zhan Zhuang, Chi-Long Chen, Yuan-Soon Ho, Yen-Hua Huang. Nicotine promotes stemness-related properties and cell migration/metastasis through IGF-1R regulation in triple negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5739. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5739