Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a head and neck cancer with poor clinical outcomes and insufficient treatments in Southeast Asian populations. Although concurrent chemoradiotherapy has improved recovery rates of patients, poor overall survival and low efficacy are still critical problems. To improve the therapeutic efficacy, we focused on a tumor-associated protein called Annexin A2 (ANXA2). This review summarizes the mechanisms by which ANXA2 promotes cancer progression (e.g., proliferation, migration, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion, and cancer stem cell formation) and therapeutic resistance (e.g., radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy). These mechanisms gave us a deeper understanding of the molecular aspects of cancer progression, and further provided us with a great opportunity to overcome therapeutic resistance of NPC and other cancers with high ANXA2 expression by developing this prospective ANXA2-targeted therapy.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is rich in growth factors and has commonly been utilized in the repair and regeneration of damaged articular cartilage. However, the major drawbacks of direct PRP injection are unstable biological fixation and fast or burst release of growth factors. Fucoidan is a heparinoid compound that can bind growth factors to control their release rate. Furthermore, fucoidan can reduce arthritis through suppressing inflammatory responses and thus it has been reported to prevent the progression of osteoarthritis, promote bone regeneration and accelerate healing of cartilage injury. Injectable hydrogels can be used to deliver cells and growth factors for an alternative, less invasive treatment of cartilage defects. In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) and fucoidan (FD) was blended with gelatin (GLT) and the GLT/HA/FD hybrid was further cross-linked with genipin (GP) to prepare injectable GP-GLT/HA/FD hydrogels. The gelation rate was affected by the GP, GLT, HA and FD concentrations, as well as the pH values. The addition of HA and FD to GLT networks improved the mechanical strength of the hydrogels and facilitated the sustained release of PRP growth factors. The GP-GLT/HA/FD hydrogel showed adequate injectability, shape-persistent property and strong adhesive ability, and was more resistant to enzymatic degradation. The PRP-loaded GP-GLT/HA/FD hydrogel promoted cartilage regeneration in rabbits, which may lead to an advanced PRP therapy for enhancing cartilage repair.

Aim: This study aims to validate the anti-Helicobacter pylori efficacy of amoxicillin-loaded nanoparticles and nanogels with pH-responsive and site-specific drug release properties against H. pylori infection. Materials & methods: Genipin-crosslinked low molecular weight fucoidan/chitosan-N-arginine nanogels (FCSA) were prepared for targeted delivery of amoxicillin to the site of H. pylori infected AGS gastric epithelial cells. Results: The negatively charged nanogels (n-FCSA) adhered to H. pylori and exhibited pH-responsive drug release property to reduce cytotoxic effects in H. pylori infected AGS cells. Conclusion: These in vitro findings suggest that n-FCSA nanogels are potential carriers for H. pylori specific delivery of antibacterial agents, and provide the basis for further studies on the clinical use of the nanogels.

// <![CDATA[ $('.header-date').hide();$('#titleAuthors').hide();$('#abstractHeader').hide(); // ]]> Chang-Yu Chen1, *, Yung-Song Lin2, 3, *, Chi-Long Chen4, *, Pin-Zhir Chao5, Jeng-Fong Chiou6, 7, 8, Chia-Chun Kuo6, Fei-Peng Lee9, Yung-Feng Lin1, Yu-Hsuan Sung1, Yun-Tien Lin1, Chang-Fan Li1, Yin-Ju Chen6, 10, *, Chien-Ho Chen1, * 1School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 2Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 3Department of Otolaryngology, Chi Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan 4Department of Pathology, Taipei Medical University Hospital; Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 5Department of Otolaryngology, Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan 6Department of Radiation Oncology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 7Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 8Cancer Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 9Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Wan-Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 10Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Engineering, College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan *These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Chien-Ho Chen, e-mail: chenchho@tmu.edu.tw Yin-Ju Chen, e-mail: yjchen1113@gmail.com Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), annexin A2 (ANXA2), chemotherapy, radiotherapy, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) Received: January 29, 2015 Accepted: June 26, 2015 Published: July 09, 2015