Bone is a dynamic tissue with ecological and evolutionary importance, as it can grow and remodel itself in response to mechanical stimuli. In mammals, osteocytes are widely recognised as the central regulators of bone formation and mechanotransduction. However, many advanced teleosts lack these cells yet still exhibit evidence of bone formation and remodelling. This challenges the prevailing view that osteocytes are indispensa...

Background and Aims Beneficial plant–microbe interactions can improve plant performance under drought; however, we know less about how drought-induced shifts in microbial communities affect plant traits. Methods We cultivated Zea mays in fritted clay with soil microbiomes originating from contrasting environments (agriculture or forest) under two irrigation treatments (well-watered or water limited). Using this design, we inve...

Thymoquinone (TQ) is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective compound obtained from the black seed oil of Nigella sativa . However, high hydrophobicity, instability at higher pH levels, photosensitivity, and low oral bioavailability hinder its delivery to the target tissues. A self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) was fabricated using the microemulsification technique to address these issues. Its p...

Azelaic acid (AzA) is a USFDA bioactive prescribed against acne vulgaris . It possesses delivery challenges like poor aqueous solubility, low skin-penetrability, and dose-dependent side effects, which could be overcome by its synergistic combination with tea tree oil (TTO) as a microemulsion (ME)-based hydrogel composite. AzA-TTO ME was prepared to employ pseudo-ternary phase diagram construction. The best AzA-TTO ME was of un...

Summary Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) ameliorate pre-clinical sepsis and sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) but clinical trials of single-dose MSCs have not indicated robust efficacy. This study investigated immunomodulatory effects of a novel MSC product (CD362-selected human umbilical cord-derived MSCs [hUC-MSCs]) in mouse endotoxemia and polymicrobial sepsis models. Initially, mice received intra-peritoneal (...