Anti-aging is one of the top goals in the field of health care and aesthetics. Anti-aging cosmetics derived from nature are oriented to long-term development, bringing safety to users and being environmentally friendly. The aim of this study was to develop an anti-aging cosmetic formulation process based on coconut oil in combination with deer antler stem cell extract. The results show that the presence of deer antler stem cell extract added to the foundation made the serum product highly stable and helped improve skin aging significantly after 2 weeks of use. The skin site where the serum product was applied showed a smooth and elastic skin surface, with very few fine lines and shallow wrinkles. Serum reduced the number of wrinkles (48.09% compared to commercial serum (ME) and 60.31% compared to positive control (PC)), reduced skin recovery time (39.31% compared to ME and 67.1% of PC) after two weeks of use. After 2 weeks of use, collagen density increased 10.18% compared to ME and 63.76% compared to control. Epidermal thickness increased by 106.1% compared to PC and 121.7% compared to ME.

Stem cells have significant potential in regenerative medicines. However, a major issue with implanting stem cells in the regeneration of new tissue is the methods to implant them and cell viability and functions before and after implantation. Here we developed a simple yet effective method that used photo-crosslinkable gelatin-based hydrogel (LunaGel^TM) as a scaffold for the encapsulation, expansion, and eventually, transplantation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) into mice subcutaneously. We demonstrated the proliferation and maintenance of the original expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers as well as the ability to differentiate into mesoderm-derived cells. The hydrogel was highly stable with no signs of degradation after 20 days in PBS. The hUC-MSCs remained viable after transplantation into mice’s subcutaneous pockets and migrated to integrate with the surrounding tissues. We showed a collagen-rich layer surrounding the transplanted cell-laden scaffold indicating the effects of growth factors secreted by the hUC-MSCs. A connective tissue layer was found between the implanted cell-laden scaffold and the collagen layer, and immunohistochemical staining results suggested that this tissue was derived from the MSCs which migrated from within the scaffold. The results, thus, also suggested a protective effect the scaffold has on the encapsulated cells from the antibodies and cytotoxic cells of the host immune system.

The transplantation of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) sheets derived from human umbilical cords (hUCs) was investigated in this study as a potential application in treating myocardial infarction (MI). Two groups of hUC-MSC sheets were formed by populating LunaGel^TM, which are 3D scaffolds of photo-crosslinkable gelatin-based hydrogel with two different cell densities. An MI model was created by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery of healthy BALB/c mice. After two weeks, the cell sheets were applied directly to the MI area and the efficacy of the treatment was evaluated over the next two weeks by monitoring the mice’s weight, evaluating the left ventricle ejection fraction, and assessing the histology of the heart tissue at the end of the experiment. Higher cell density showed significantly greater efficiency in MI mice treatment in terms of weight gain and the recovery of ejection fraction. The heart tissue of the groups receiving cell sheets showed human-CD44-positive staining and reduced fibrosis and apoptosis. In conclusion, the hUC-MSC sheets ameliorated heart MI injury in mice and the efficacy of the cell sheets improved as the number of cells increased.

African swine fever (ASF), caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV), poses a significant threat to pig populations worldwide. ASFV is a double-stranded DNA virus. In recent years, 54 structural proteins and more than 100 proteins have been involved in viral infection found in macrophages of diseased pigs. Among these, p49 and p72 are essential capsid proteins crucial for forming the viral capsid. Additionally, pE199L and pE248R, located in the inner viral membrane, are critical for membrane fusion, a necessary step for viral entry into host cells. Another important player is CD2v, a type I transmembrane protein involved in the infection process. In this research, to develop subunit vaccines against ASFV, we focused on cloning the genes encoding these five proteins—p49, p72, pE199L, pE248R, and CD2v—into the pPIC9K plasmid for expression in the Pichia pastoris GS115 yeast strain. The viral genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples of infected pigs, and the genes encoding the five proteins were successfully amplified using Phusion PCR. The PCR products of each gene were then digested with EcoRI and NotI restriction enzymes and ligated into the pPIC9K plasmid. After that, we transformed the recombinant plasmids into Escherichia coli DH5α for amplification and purification. The plasmids were subsequently linearized with SalI and introduced into P. pastoris GS115 through electroporation. The selection of appropriate media and PCR analysis of the genomic DNA confirmed the successful generation of five recombinant P. pastoris GS115 strains. This work paves the way for the development of a recombinant protein vaccine against ASF by using the Pichia pastoris GS115 in the future.