A more comprehensive understanding of the human ageing process is required to help mitigate the increasing burden of age-related morbidities in a rapidly growing global demographic of elderly individuals. One exciting novel strategy that has emerged to intervene involves the use of extracellular vesicles to engender tissue regeneration. Specifically, this employs their molecular payloads to confer changes in the epigenetic landscape of ageing cells and ameliorate the loss of functional capacity. Understanding the biology of extracellular vesicles and the specific roles they play during normative ageing will allow for the development of novel cell-free therapeutic interventions. Hence, the purpose of this review is to summarise the current understanding of the mechanisms that drive ageing, critically explore how extracellular vesicles affect ageing processes and discuss their therapeutic potential to mitigate the effects of age-associated morbidities and improve the human health span.

Purpose of Review Microvesicles (MVs) have been recognised as mediators of stem cell function, enabling and guiding their regenerative effects. Recent Findings MVs constitute one unique size class of extracellular vesicles (EVs) directly shed from the cell plasma membrane. They facilitate cell-to-cell communication via intercellular transfer of proteins, mRNA and microRNA (miRNA). MVs derived from stem cells, or stem cell regulatory cell types, have proven roles in tissue regeneration and repair processes. Their role in the maintenance of healthy tissue function throughout the life course and thus in age related health span remains to be elucidated. Summary Understanding the biogenesis and mechanisms of action of MVs may enable the development of cell-free therapeutics capable of assisting in tissue maintenance and repair for a variety of age-related degenerative diseases. This review critically evaluates recent work published in this area and highlights important new findings demonstrating the use of MVs in tissue regeneration.

Controllable surface modification of nanoparticulate drug delivery vectors is key to enhancing specific desirable properties such as colloidal stability, targeting, and stimuli-responsive cargo release. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been proposed as potential delivery devices, with surface modification achieved by various bioconjugate "click" reactions, including copper-catalysed and strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Herein, we show that photo-induced nitrile imine-mediated tetrazole-ene cycloaddition (NITEC) can be used to surface-modify tetrazole-appended Zr MOFs with maleimides, and vice versa, with the extent of this traceless surface functionalisation controlled by the length of photoirradiation. This "photoclick" surface modification protocol is exemplified by the decorating of carboplatin-loaded MOF-808 with galactose units to target asialoglycoprotein receptors of specific cancer cell types. Targeting towards HepG2 cells, which overexpress these receptors, is indicated by enhanced endocytosis and cytotoxicity in both two- and three-dimensional cell cultures compared to other cell lines. The study shows both the power of the NITEC protocol for functionalisation of MOFs, and also the benefits of carbohydrate targeting in drug delivery vectors, with scope for significant additional work diversifying the surface targeting units available for nanoparticle functionalisation under these mild, biocompatible "photoclick" conditions.

Purpose: This study explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming education and proposes a multidimensional framework for AI literacy as a foundation for equitable and ethical integration of AI-driven learning models. It examines how AI can enhance personalization, inclusivity, and creativity while addressing the challenges of ethics, transparency, and bias in educational contexts. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research employs a conceptual and exploratory design grounded in a systematic literature review, case study analysis, and examination of international policy frameworks such as UNESCO’s AI and Education: Guidance for Policymakers (2023). It synthesizes insights from educational technology, ethics, and digital literacy traditions to construct a three-dimensional model of AI literacy—functional, critical, and creative. Findings: The study finds that AI literacy is essential to ensure responsible engagement with intelligent systems. Functional literacy enables effective use of AI tools; critical literacy fosters awareness of biases, limitations, and ethical implications; and creative literacy promotes collaboration with AI in innovation and problem-solving. Together, these dimensions empower learners and educators to act as reflective and active participants in the co-construction of knowledge. Research Limitations/Implications: As a conceptual study, the framework requires empirical validation through classroom implementation and longitudinal evaluation. Future research should examine how AI literacy affects learning outcomes and democratic engagement. Originality/Value: By integrating functional, critical, and creative dimensions, this paper positions AI literacy as a key competency for 21st-century education—bridging technological innovation with humanistic and ethical values.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), comprising microvesicles (MVs) and exosomes (Exos), are membranous vesicles secreted by cells which mediate the repair of cellular and tissue damage via paracrine mechanisms. The action of EVs under normative and morbid conditions in the context of ageing remains largely unexplored. We demonstrate that MVs, but not Exos, from Pathfinder cells (PCs), a putative stem cell regulatory cell type, enhance the repair of human dermal fibroblast (HDF) and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) co-cultures, following both mechanical and genotoxic stress. Critically, this effect was found to be both cellular age and stress specific. Notably, MV treatment was unable to repair mechanical injury in older co-cultures but remained therapeutic following genotoxic stress. These observations were further confirmed in human dermal fibroblast (HDF) and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) co-cultures of increasing cellular age. In a model of comorbidity comprising co-cultures of HDFs and highly senescent abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) VSMCs, MV administration appeared to be senotherapeutic, following both mechanical and genotoxic stress. Our data provide insights into EVs and the specific roles they play during tissue repair and ageing. These data will potentiate the development of novel cell-free therapeutic interventions capable of attenuating age-associated morbidities and avoiding undesired effects.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of death globally. Accurately assessing the risk of CVD manifestation is thus vital to enable early detection, prevention strategies, and clinical decision-making to prevent both future events and associated deaths. In the clinic, risk prediction primarily relies on demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, health parameters, and family history. However, although there is a consensus among cardiologists that genetics contribute to common adult-onset disease appearance, routine genetic screening is currently absent from clinical care, when genetics are the earliest measurable contributor that can be assessed to estimate lifetime predisposition to CVD. To non-invasively and routinely estimate such predisposition, a novel genetic profiling tool has been developed, relying on the Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) to measure the probabilistic susceptibility of an individual to disease. Specifically, the PRS can be defined as the weighted sum of the number of risk alleles carried by an individual, where the risk alleles and their weights are defined by their measured effects as detected by Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS). The aim of this study was to develop a novel PRS for a series of CVDs, comprising coronary artery disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, ischemic stroke, and heart failure, and to further improve its risk estimation through the incorporation of chronological age and behavioral parameters, which would allow us to calculate an adjusted PRS.