Over the last few decades, great advancements have been achieved in the field of bone tissue engineering (BTE). Containing a great number of growth factors needed in the process of osteogenesis, platelet rich plasma (PRP) has gained a great deal of attention. However, due to the contradictory results achieved in different studies, its effectiveness remains a mystery. Therefore, in this study, we investigated in vitro performance of co-electrospun PRP/poly ether sulfone/poly(vinyl) alcohol (PRP/PES/PVA) composite scaffolds for the osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The activated PRP was mixed with PVA solution to be used alongside PES solution for the electrospinning process. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and tensile tests were performed to evaluate the scaffolds. After confirmation of sustained release of protein, osteogenic potential of the co-electrospun PRP/polymer scaffolds was evaluated by measuring relative gene expression, calcium content, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Alizarin red and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining were performed as well. The results of ALP activity and calcium content demonstrated the effectiveness of PRP when combined with PRP-incorporated scaffold in comparison with the other tested groups. In addition, the results of tensile mechanical testing indicated that addition of PRP improves the mechanical properties. Taking these results into account, it appears PES/PVA/PRP scaffold treated with PRP 5% enhances osteogenic differentiation most. In conclusion, incorporation of PRP into electrospun PES/PVA scaffold in this study had a positive influence on osteogenic differentiation of AdMSCs, and thus it may have great potential for BTE applications.

Among the studied lignans, matairesinol showed the least binding energy as well as the most similar hydrophobic interactions to tamoxifen suggesting that matairesinol can display more efficacious biological activity to inhibit ER in comparison with pinoresinol, lariciresinol and secoisolariciresinol. Thus, our results introduce matairesinol as a potentially effective anti-ER drug.

Background: In the last decades, growing evidence demonstrates interest in phytoestrogen intake to modulate targets in different types of cancer. Plant lignans have proven efficacious in blocking estrogen receptors of breast cancer cells. Among them, four phytoestrogen lignans: pinoresinol, matairesinol, lariciresinol, and secoisolariciresinol have been most studied. However, available studies have mostly dealt with anti-cancer effects of groups of lignans in certain foods or plants and the effects of specific lignans, especially from a molecular interaction viewpoint, have been rarely addressed in the literature. Objective: We aimed to in silico predict pharmacological properties, binding ability and binding strength of pinoresinol, matairesinol, lariciresinol and secoisolariciresinol as possible inhibitors of estrogen receptor alpha which is the most important biomarker in breast cancer. Methods: Firstly, we evaluated the pharmacological properties of four lignans using SwissADME. Then we investigated the ligand-receptor interactions of these molecules as positively appraised ligands for ER-positive breast cancer targeted therapy using docking method. We finally compared the inhibitory effect possibility of the lignans against endoxifen which is the active metabolite of tamoxifen. Results: The best binding affinity of endoxifen, matairesinol, pinoresinol, lariciresinol and secoisolariciresinol were respectively -9.2, -7.5, -6.7, -6.7, -5.8 kcal/mol. In the meantime, matairesinol showed the minimum binding energy than other studied lignans in addition to the most similar interactions to endoxifen with conserved domain residues of the active site pocket in Leu:391, Ala:350, Met:421, and Phe:404. Conclusion: Among the studied lignans, matairesinol showed the favorable pharmacokinetics and drug-likeliness properties, the least binding energy as well as the most common interactions in conserved residues of the active site pocket with estrogens. This makes it a molecule with low number of nonspecific interactions, better target selectivity, and hence fewer side effects. Thus, our results introduce matairesinol as a possibly effective anti-estrogen receptor inhibitor candidate.