Hui Cai

By Shixun Ma, Li Li, Jintang Yin, Xiaohu Wang, Chongya Yang, Leisheng Zhang, Tiankang Guo and Hui Cai

Gastric cancer is one of the common malignant tumors in the gastrointestinal tract, and the treatment of gastric cancer includes the main ways such as radical resection, adjuvant chemotherapy, palliative care, and drug therapy; however, patients often have defects such as high recurrence rate, high treatment burden, and serious side effects, which impose a heavy burden on the economic and social construction and patients’ families. In recent years, novel gastric cancer treatment methods featuring tumor immunotherapy have provided new treatment strategies to improve the above-mentioned defects and increase the cure rate of patients. Natural killer cells (NK cells) are key components of the body’s intrinsic immune response and can participate in both the intrinsic and adaptive immune responses, exercising the functions of tumor killing, removing pathogenic microorganisms or abnormal cells and enhancing immunity, and thus have broad prospects for new drug development and clinical treatment. This article reviews the biological properties and functions of NK cells and their interrelationship with gastric cancer treatment, and provides a reference for clinical research.

Part of the book: Natural Killer Cells

By Leisheng Zhang, Xiaowei Gao, Shixun Ma, Miao Yu, Xianghong Xu, Yuanguang Zhao, Shuang Chen, Yonghong Li, Xiaonan Yang, Tiankang Guo and Hui Cai

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), also known as mesenchymal stromal cells or medicinal signaling cells or multipotent stem cells, are heterogeneous cell populations with unique immunomodulatory feature and hematopoietic-supporting capacity. MSCs function through a variety of approaches including paracrine and autocrine, direct- or trans-differentiation, bidirectional immunomodulation, and serving as constitutive microenvironment. Of them, exosomes and microvesicles function as the pivotal vehicle for mediating the ameliorative and therapeutic effect of MSCs toward various recurrent and refractory diseases, such as xerophthalmia, radioactive nasal mucosa injury, acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), dermal chronic ulcers, and intrauterine adhesions. State-of-the-art renewal has also highlighted the promising prospective of MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-exo) and diverse biomaterial composites in regenerative medicine. In this book chapter, we mainly focus on the concept, biological phenotypes, preclinical research, and clinical practice of MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exos) and/or biomaterials, which will collectively supply overwhelming new references for the further development of MSC-Exos-based biotherapy and disease diagnosis in future.

Part of the book: Exosomes

By Leisheng Zhang, Xiaonan Yang, Zhihai Han, Zhongchao Han, Tiankang Guo, Xiaowei Gao and Hui Cai

Longitudinal studies have indicated the multifaceted regimens for atopic dermatitis (AD) administration, including ultraviolet phototherapy, oral JAK inhibitors, and the concomitant adjunctive therapies according to the American Academy of Dermatology published Guidelines of Care for the Management of Atopic Dermatitis. As a disease with typical characteristics of relapsing pruritus and chronic inflammation, AD has caused heavy burden on children and adults, as well as healthcare providers and family members. As a multi-factorial disease, AD has been considered primarily derived by Th2 dysfunction, with clinical and molecular heterogeneity. The current therapeutic regimens are various and largely due to the diversity in the wide spectrum of the clinical phenotypes based on epidermal barrier disruption, genetic predisposition, and dysregulation of patients’ immune system. Meanwhile there’s an urgent need for developing safer and long-term agents to efficiently control moderate to severe AD. In this book chapter, we mainly summarized the fundamental concept, clinical manifestation, pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms of AD, and in particular, the biofunction and modulation of natural killer (NK) cells for AD. Collectively, the contents in this chapter will help further understand the landscape of this disease and the rationale behind new emerging therapies.

Part of the book: Latest Breakthroughs in the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis