Phototherapy began in ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians treated some skin diseases with herbs and sunlight. They applied natural photosensitizers such as psoralens (extracted from particular plants such as Parsley and Stjohn's-wort) for treatment of leprosy lesions 1, 2). Osar Raab, a medical student who worked in Munich was the first one to notice that dyes like acrydine along with light can kill paramecia. He discovered that the incubation of paramecium with acridine and consequent exposure to light potentially kills paramecium. However, the mere application of acridine without light exposure was not effective 3). In following years, Von Tappeiner coined the term "photodynamic action" and attested that the presence of oxygen is essential in photodynamic action. The first PDT was performed on a patient with skin carcinoma. It was carried out by T. Appaeiner and H. Jesionek in 1904. They used Eosin as PS along with white light. In recent years, more advances have been made in anticancer photodynamic therapy and different PSs are discovered 1, 2, 4, 5). Antibacterial Photodynamic Therapy (APDT) was first introduced in 1960. Macmillan used toluidine blue against microorganisms like bacteria, algae, and yeast. It was observed that 99% of bacteria were killed within 30 min of irradiation with 21-30 mW of light at 632 nm from

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The interactions between the tumor microenvironment and the tumor cells confers a condition that accelerate or decelerate the development of tumor. Of these cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to modulate the tumor cells. MSCs have been established with double functions, whereby contribute to a tumorigenic or anti-tumor setting. Clinical studies have indicated the potential of MSCs to be used as tool in treating the human cancer cells. One of the advantageous features of MSCs that make them as a well-suited tool for cancer therapy is the natural tumor-trophic migration potential. A key specification of the tumor development has been stablished to be angiogenesis. As a result, manipulation of angiogenesis has become an attractive approach for cancer therapy. This review article will seek to clarify the anti-angiogenesis strategy in modulating the MSCs to treat the tumor cells.

Background The persistent the inflammatory condition in multiple sclerosis (MS) may due to the aberrant regulation of the elimination of the pathogenic autoreactive lymphocytes through apoptosis. Survivin, encoded by the BIRC5 gene, has been indicated to be involved in the regulation of apoptosis. This survey intended to investigate the genetic and microRNA mediated regulation of survivin in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) disease. Results It was observed that the C allele (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.05–1.348, P = 0.022) and CC genotype (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.06–3.19; P = 0.029) in the rs9904341 polymorphism increased the disease risk. Furthermore, miR-34a was significantly downregulated (Fold change = 0.41, P = 0.001) in the PBMCs from RRMS subjects. Survivin mRNA expression in PBMCs and serum survivin level were increased in RRMS patients in comparison to the controls. Downregulation of miR-34a was negatively correlated with increased survivin level. Conclusion Although the genetic polymorphism of BIRC5 gene was associated with the disease risk, miR-34a was suggested to be involved in the regulation of survivin in the RRMS patients.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stem cells that have multilinear differentiation and self-renewal abilities. These cells are immune-privileged as they express no or low level of class-II major histocompatibility complex (MHC-II) and other costimulatory molecules. Having neuroprotective and regenerative properties, MSCs can be used to ameliorate several intractable neurodegenerative disorders by affecting both innate and adaptive immune systems. Several manipulations like pretreating MSCs with different conditions or agents, and using molecules derived from MSCs or genetically manipulating them, are the common and practical ways that can be used to strengthen MSCs survival and potency. Improved MSCs can have significantly enhanced impacts on diseases compared to MSCs not manipulated. In this review, we describe some of the most important manipulations that have been exerted on MSCs to improve their therapeutic functions and their applications in ameliorating three prevalent neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease.