Oral ulcers, a prevalent mucosal disorder with high recurrence rates, remain challenging to treat due to the oral cavity's dynamic environment and the multifactorial nature of ulcer progression. Here, we report a multifunctional microneedle (MN) patch loaded with astragalus polysaccharide (APS-MN) that integrates rapid mucosal penetration, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, and ferroptosis inhibition to accelerate ulcer healing. Unlike conventional MN systems reliant on synthetic drugs or prolonged dissolution, APS-MN leverages the natural antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties of APS-a traditional Chinese medicine-derived polysaccharide-enabling complete drug release within 2 min and targeted delivery to ulcer bases. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that APS-MN promotes M2 macrophage polarization, suppresses pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β), and inhibits ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1/SLC7A11 axis, achieving 88.2 % wound closure in rats within 6 days. Notably, this work combined herbal polysaccharides with MN technology for oral ulcer therapy, offering a biocompatible, non-invasive alternative to corticosteroids and antibiotics. The rapid dissolution, dual antioxidant/anti-ferroptotic action, and scalability of APS-MN position it as a transformative platform for managing recurrent oral ulcers and other redox-imbalanced mucosal diseases.

Brain low grade gliomas (LGG) often give serious clinical symptoms due to the invasion towards nervous system, affecting the life quality of patients. Collagen type I alpha 1(COL1A1) is the main component of type I collagen. Although there are many reports about abnormal expression of COL1A1 in various tumors, specific role and clinical significance of COL1A1 in LGG have not yet been elucidated. In this work, Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database was used for detecting the expression level of COL1A1 in cancer and normal tissues, and aimed to explore the relationship between COL1A1 and tumor immune infiltration. We applied Kaplan-Meier to analyze the role of COL1A1 in clinical prognosis. Univariate survival rate and multivariate Cox analysis were used to compare clinical characteristics and survival rate. The relativity between the expression of COL1A1 and the tumor microenvironment was evaluated using ESTIMATE algorithm. Finally, the relationship between expression level of COL1A1 and gene marker sets of immune cell infiltration was investigated via TIMER. According to TCGA, COL1A1 overexpression was correlated with overall survival (OS), progression free interval (PFI) and disease specific survival (DSS) of multiple tumors, especially in LGG. Multivariate analysis showed that COL1A1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for LGG. The expression of COL1A1 was positively correlated with the infiltration of CD4 + T and CD8 + T cells, neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells in LGG. In addition, there was a strong correlation between expression of COL1A1 and different immune marker sets in LGG. The results suggest that COL1A1 is related with tumor immune infiltration of LGG.

In this study, macrophage-engulfed MoS ₂ was used for cancer targeted photothermal therapy and we investigated the evolution process of tumors after treatment.

Bacterial infections of the wounds on the skin surface significantly reduce the rate of wound healing, potentially leading to serious systemic infections. Antibiotics are the first-line drugs for the treatment of these infections. However, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics have led to the emergence of bacterial resistance. Therefore, a new antimicrobial strategy is urgently needed. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a novel efficient therapeutic technique that can produce irreversible cell damage to induce death of bacteria, possessing a great potential in infected wound healing. This work describes the use of a new photothermal agent (PTA) such as niobium carbide (NbC) nanoparticles with outstanding near-infrared (NIR) absorption property. NbC nanoparticles converted NIR laser irradiation energy into localized heat for photothermal treatment. In vitro antimicrobial experiments have revealed that NbC nanoparticles exert excellent antimicrobial effects against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Moreover, NbC nanoparticles accelerated E. coli–infected wound healing process, reduced inflammatory response, and showed good biosafety in vivo. Altogether, NbC nanoparticles represent an efficient PTA for antimicrobial treatment and are a bio-safe material with low toxicity in vivo.

Illustration of the mechanism of NbC/TA–GelMA hydrogel with multifunctional properties for potential application in oral mucosal impairment.