Beyond waste: understanding urine's potential in precision medicine
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 17:S0167-7799(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTUrine-derived stem cells (USCs) are a promising source of stem cells for cell therapy, renal toxicity drug testing, and renal disease biomarker discovery. Patients' own USCs can be used for precision medicine. In this review we first describe the isolation and characterization of USCs. We then discuss preclinical studies investigating the use of USCs in cell therapy, exploring the utility of USCs and USC-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (u-iPSCs) in drug toxicity testing, and investigating the use o...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 18, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Pengfei Yu Carol Christine Bosholm Hainan Zhu Zhongping Duan Anthony Atala Yuanyuan Zhang Source Type: research
Beyond waste: understanding urine's potential in precision medicine
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 17:S0167-7799(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTUrine-derived stem cells (USCs) are a promising source of stem cells for cell therapy, renal toxicity drug testing, and renal disease biomarker discovery. Patients' own USCs can be used for precision medicine. In this review we first describe the isolation and characterization of USCs. We then discuss preclinical studies investigating the use of USCs in cell therapy, exploring the utility of USCs and USC-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (u-iPSCs) in drug toxicity testing, and investigating the use o...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 18, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Pengfei Yu Carol Christine Bosholm Hainan Zhu Zhongping Duan Anthony Atala Yuanyuan Zhang Source Type: research
Probiotic Cities: microbiome-integrated design for healthy urban ecosystems
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 16:S0167-7799(24)00005-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.005. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCombining microbiome science and biointegrated design offers opportunities to help address the intertwined challenges of urban ecosystem degradation and human disease. Biointegrated materials have the potential to combat superbugs and remediate pollution while inoculating landscape materials with microbiota can promote human immunoregulation and biodiverse green infrastructure, contributing to 'probiotic cities'.PMID:38368168 | DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.005 (Source: Trends in Biotechnology)
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 17, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Jake M Robinson Martin F Breed Richard Beckett Source Type: research
Engineered immune cells as therapeutics for autoimmune diseases
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 16:S0167-7799(24)00022-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.006. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCurrent treatment options for autoimmune disease (AID) are essentially immunosuppressive, inhibiting the inflammatory cascade, without curing the disease. Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that target B cells showed efficacy, emphasizing the importance of B lymphocytes in autoimmune pathogenesis. Treatments that eliminate more potently B cells would open a new therapeutic era for AID. Immune cells can now be bioengineered to express constructs that enable them to specifically eradicate pathogenic B...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 17, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Moncef Zouali Source Type: research
Hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells with biocathodes
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 14:S0167-7799(23)00366-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.010. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTElectroautotrophic microbes at biocathodes in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction with low energy demand, facilitating long-term stable performance through specific and renewable biocatalysts. However, MECs have not yet reached commercialization due to a lack of understanding of the optimal microbial strains and reactor configurations for achieving high performance. Here, we critically analyze the criteria for the inocula selection, with a focus on the effect o...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Md Tabish Noori Ruggero Rossi Bruce E Logan Booki Min Source Type: research
Hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells with biocathodes
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 14:S0167-7799(23)00366-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.010. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTElectroautotrophic microbes at biocathodes in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction with low energy demand, facilitating long-term stable performance through specific and renewable biocatalysts. However, MECs have not yet reached commercialization due to a lack of understanding of the optimal microbial strains and reactor configurations for achieving high performance. Here, we critically analyze the criteria for the inocula selection, with a focus on the effect o...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Md Tabish Noori Ruggero Rossi Bruce E Logan Booki Min Source Type: research
Hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells with biocathodes
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 14:S0167-7799(23)00366-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.010. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTElectroautotrophic microbes at biocathodes in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) can catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction with low energy demand, facilitating long-term stable performance through specific and renewable biocatalysts. However, MECs have not yet reached commercialization due to a lack of understanding of the optimal microbial strains and reactor configurations for achieving high performance. Here, we critically analyze the criteria for the inocula selection, with a focus on the effect o...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 15, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Md Tabish Noori Ruggero Rossi Bruce E Logan Booki Min Source Type: research
Mapping the microcarrier design pathway to modernise clinical mesenchymal stromal cell expansion
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 5:S0167-7799(24)00001-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.001. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMicrocarrier expansion systems show exciting potential to revolutionise mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-based clinical therapies by providing an opportunity for economical large-scale expansion of donor- and patient-derived cells. The poor reproducibility and efficiency of cell expansion on commercial polystyrene microcarriers have driven the development of novel microcarriers with tuneable physical, mechanical, and cell-instructive properties. These new microcarriers show innovation toward improving cell e...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 6, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Gretel S Major Vinh K Doan Alessia Longoni Marcela M M Bilek Steven G Wise Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina Giselle C Yeo Khoon S Lim Source Type: research
Context-dependent redesign of robust synthetic gene circuits
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 5:S0167-7799(24)00003-9. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.003. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCells provide dynamic platforms for executing exogenous genetic programs in synthetic biology, resulting in highly context-dependent circuit performance. Recent years have seen an increasing interest in understanding the intricacies of circuit-host relationships, their influence on the synthetic bioengineering workflow, and in devising strategies to alleviate undesired effects. We provide an overview of how emerging circuit-host interactions, such as growth feedback and resource competition, impact both de...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 6, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Austin Stone Abdelrahaman Youssef Sadikshya Rijal Rong Zhang Xiao-Jun Tian Source Type: research
Novel delivery systems for controlled release of bacterial therapeutics
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 2:S0167-7799(24)00002-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2024.01.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTAs more is learned about the benefits of microbes, their potential to prevent and treat disease is expanding. Microbial therapeutics are less burdensome and costly to produce than traditional molecular drugs, often with superior efficacy. Yet, as with most medicines, controlled dosing and delivery to the area of need remain key challenges for microbes. Advances in materials to control small-molecule delivery are expected to translate to microbes, enabling similar control with equivalent benefits. In this p...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 3, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Nadia Zaragoza Grace I Anderson Stephanie Allison-Logan Kirmina Monir Ariel L Furst Source Type: research
Towards single-cell bioprinting: micropatterning tools for organ-on-chip development
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Feb 2:S0167-7799(23)00336-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.11.014. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOrgans-on-chips (OoCs) hold promise to engineer progressively more human-relevant in vitro models for pharmaceutical purposes. Recent developments have delivered increasingly sophisticated designs, yet OoCs still lack in reproducing the inner tissue physiology required to fully resemble the native human body. This review emphasizes the need to include microarchitectural and microstructural features, and discusses promising avenues to incorporate well-defined microarchitectures down to the single-cell level...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - February 3, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: C écile Bosmans N úria Ginés Rodriguez Marcel Karperien Jos Malda Liliana Moreira Teixeira Riccardo Levato Jeroen Leijten Source Type: research
Engineering regulatory networks of cyanobacteria
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Jan 30:S0167-7799(23)00368-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.012. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTEngineering a cell's regulatory networks to dynamically control gene expression has been considered a new frontier in biological engineering. In cyanobacteria, the lack of well-characterized, modular gene regulatory elements makes regulatory network engineering challenging. Here, we suggest potential tools to modify various gene expression steps in cyanobacterial regulatory networks.PMID:38296717 | DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.012 (Source: Trends in Biotechnology)
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - January 31, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Riya Bongirwar Pratyoosh Shukla Source Type: research
3D printing of heart valves
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Jan 17:S0167-7799(23)00323-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.11.001. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACT3D printing technologies have the potential to revolutionize the manufacture of heart valves through the ability to create bespoke, complex constructs. In light of recent technological advances, we review the progress made towards 3D printing of heart valves, focusing on studies that have utilised these technologies beyond manufacturing patient-specific moulds. We first overview the key requirements of a heart valve to assess functionality. We then present the 3D printing technologies used to engineer hea...
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - January 18, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Michael J Vernon Petra Mela Rodney J Dilley Shirley Jansen Barry J Doyle Abdul R Ihdayhid Elena M De-Juan-Pardo Source Type: research
Next-generation digital biomarkers: continuous molecular health monitoring using wearable devices
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Jan 16:S0167-7799(23)00340-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.001. Online ahead of print.NO ABSTRACTPMID:38233230 | DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.001 (Source: Trends in Biotechnology)
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - January 17, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: No é Brasier Joseph Wang Can Dincer Firat G üder Ivo Schauwecker Dietmar Schaffarczyk Roozbeh Ghaffari J örg Goldhahn Source Type: research
Leveraging marine biotechnology for an All-Atlantic sustainable blue economy
Trends Biotechnol. 2024 Jan 17:S0167-7799(23)00367-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.011. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDespite the lack of research, development, and innovation funds, especially in South Atlantic countries, the Atlantic is suited to supporting a sustainable marine bioeconomy. Novel low-carbon mariculture systems can provide food security, new drugs, and climate mitigation. We suggest how to develop this sustainable marine bioeconomy across the entire Atlantic.PMID:38233231 | DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.12.011 (Source: Trends in Biotechnology)
Source: Trends in Biotechnology - January 17, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Cristiane Thompson Alice C Ortmann Thulani Makhalanyane Fabiano Thompson Source Type: research
