Dentritic cell (DC)-based cancer immunotherapy faces challenges in both efficacy and practicality. However, DC-based vaccination requires multiple injections and elaborates ex vivo manipulation, which substantially limits their use. Therefore, we sought to develop a chitosan nanoparticle (CH-NP)-based platform for the next generation of vaccines to bypass the ex vivo manipulation and induce immune responses via active delivery of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid sodium salt (poly I:C) to target Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in endosomes. We developed CH-NPs encapsulating ovalbumin (OVA) as a model antigen and poly I:C as the adjuvant in an ionic complex. These CH-NPs showed increased in vivo intracellular delivery to the DCs in comparison with controls after injection into tumor-bearing mice, and promoted DC maturation, leading to emergence of antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Finally, the CH-NPs showed significantly greater antitumor efficacy in EG.7 and TC-1 tumor-bearing mice compared to the control (p < 0.01). Taken together, these data show that the CH-NP platform can be used as an immune response modulatory vaccine for active cancer immunotherapy without ex vivo manipulation, thus resulting in increased anticancer efficacy.

Biofilm formation and microbial colonization on the surface of implant devices may cause dental caries and peri-implantitis. Therefore, various surface treatments have been developed to improve the antibacterial activity of titanium implant. Silver-loaded polydopamine coating was formed by immersing pure titanium in dopamine hydrochloride/HCl buffer solution for 24 h in 50 mL silver nitrate solutions with different concentrations for 30 min. Microbial growth inhibition and microbial growth curve analyses for bacterial solutions of Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis incubated with the specimens were respectively conducted by counting the numbers of colonies on agar solid medium and by measuring absorbance using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay reader. Silver nanoparticles were uniformly distributed over the whole surface of the polydopamine and silver-coated titanium specimens. The numbers of microbial colonies for both bacteria cultured with surface-modified titanium were significantly lower than those cultured with uncoated titanium. When Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis were cultured with surface-modified titanium, the lag phase of the growth curves for both bacteria was continually maintained, whereas the lag phase for Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis changed to exponential phase after 9 and 15 h, respectively, when both bacteria were cultured with uncoated titanium. It was confirmed that the coating of polydopamine and silver on the surface of titanium effectively retards the microbial growth, which can cause the formation of biofilm and pathogenesis of gum disease in the mouth.

Neoagarohexaose-mediated activation of dendritic cells via Toll-like receptor 4 leads to stimulation of natural killer cells and enhancement of antitumor immunity Antitumor immunity;Dendritic cells;Natural killer cells;Neoagarohexaose;Toll-like receptor 4; ${\beta}$-Agarase cleaves the ${\beta}$-1,4 linkages of agar to produce neoagarooligosaccharides (NAO), which are associated with various physiological functions. However, the immunological functions of NAO are still unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that ${\beta}$-agarase DagA-produced neoagarohexaose (DP6), an NAO product, promoted the maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) by Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). DP6 directly and indirectly enhanced the activation of natural killer (NK) cells in a TLR4-dependent manner in vitro and in vivo. Finally, the antitumor activity of DP6 against B16F1 melanoma cells was inhibited in NK cell-depletion systems by using NK-cell depleting antibodies in vivo. Collectively, the results indicated that DP6 augments antitumor immunity against B16F1 melanoma cells via the activation of DC-mediated NK cells in a TLR4-dependent manner. Thus, DP6 is a potential candidate adjuvant that acts as an immune cell modulator for the treatment of melanoma.

This study investigated the effect of oral health education using a mobile app (OHEMA) on the oral health and swallowing-related quality of life (SWAL-QoL) of the elderly population in a community-based integrated care project (CICP). Forty elderly individuals in the CICP were randomized into intervention and control groups. OHEMA provided information on customized oral health care management, oral exercises, and intraoral and extraoral massage methods for 50 min/session, once a week, for 6 weeks. Pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed the unstimulated salivary flow rate, subjective oral dryness, tongue pressure, and SWAL-QoL, which were analyzed using ANCOVA and repeated measures ANOVA. In the intervention group, tongue pressure increased significantly from pre- (17.75) to post-intervention (27.24) (p < 0.001), and subjective oral dryness decreased from pre- (30.75) to post-intervention (18.50). The unstimulated salivary flow rate had a higher mean score in the intervention group (7.19) than in the control group (5.04) (p < 0.001). The SWAL-QoL significantly improved from pre- (152.10) to post-intervention (171.50) in the intervention group (p < 0.001) but did not change significantly in the control group (p > 0.05). OHEMA appears to be a useful tool for oral health education for the elderly as it improved the SWAL-QoL, with increased tongue pressure and reduced oral dryness.

TiO₂ nanotubes (TNT) formation is beneficial for improving bone cell–material interaction and drug delivery for Ti dental implants. Among the natural drugs to be installed in TNT, selected propolis has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is a resinous natural product which is collected by the honeybees from the various types of plants with their salivary enzymes. This study concludes that TNT loaded with a propolis (PL-TNT-Ti) dental implant has the ability to improve osseointegration. The propolis particles were embedded within the TNT or adhered to the top. In a cytotoxicity test using osteoblast, PL-TNT-Ti group exhibited an increased cell proliferation and differentiation. A Sprague Dawley rat mandibular model was used to evaluate the osseointegration and bone bonding of TNT or PL-TNT-Ti. From the µ-CT and hematoxylin and eosin (HE) histological results after implantation at 1 and 4 weeks to rat mandibular, an increase in the extent of new bone formation and mineral density around the PL-TNT-Ti implant was confirmed. The Masson’s trichrome staining showed the expression of well-formed collagenous for bone formation on the PL-TNT-Ti. Immunohistochemistry staining indicate that bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP-2 and BMP-7) around the PL-TNT-Ti increased the expression of collagen fibers and of osteogenic differentiation whereas the expression of inflammatory cytokine such as interleukin-1 beta (IL-1ß) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is decreased.