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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) plays a critical role in treating cancer patients. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the main component of CAM. TCM, especially Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM), has been increasingly used in China, some other Asian countries and European countries. It has been proven to enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted-therapy, and immunotherapy. It lessens the damage caused by these therapies. CHM functions on cancer by inhibiting tumor progression and improving an organism’s immune system. Increasing evidence has shown that many CHM exert favorable effects on the immune regulation. We will summarize the role of CHM on patient’s immune system when treating cancer patients. Our evidence reveals that single herbs, including their extracts, compound formulations, and preparations, will provide current advances on CHM study, especially from the perspective of immune regulation and novel insights for CHM application in clinic. The main herbs used to treat cancer patients are health-strengthening (Fu-Zheng) herbs and pathogen eliminating (Qu-Xie) herbs. The key mechanism is regulating the immune system of cancer patients. Firstly, health-strengthening herbs are mainly functioned as immune regulatory effectors on cancer. Secondly, some of the compound formulations mainly strengthen the health of patients by regulating the immune system of cancer patients. Lastly, some Chinese medicine preparations are widely used to treat cancer for their properties of spiriting vital energy and anti-cancer effects, mainly by improving immunity. CHM plays a positive role in regulating patients’ immune system, which helps cancer patients to fight against cancer itself and finally improves patients’ life quality.

Apoptosis is very important for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and is closely related to the occurrence and treatment of many diseases. Mitochondria in cells play a crucial role in programmed cell death and redox processes. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(P)H) is the primary producer of energy in mitochondria, changing NAD(P)H can directly reflect the physiological state of mitochondria. Therefore, NAD(P)H can be used to evaluate metabolic response. In this paper, we propose a noninvasive detection method that uses two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (TP-FLIM) to characterize apoptosis by observing the binding kinetics of cellular endogenous NAD(P)H. The result shows that the average fluorescence lifetime of NAD(P)H and the fluorescence lifetime of protein-bound NAD(P)H will be affected by the changing pH, serum content, and oxygen concentration in the cell culture environment, and by the treatment with reagents such as H₂O₂ and paclitaxel. Taxol (PTX). This noninvasive detection method realized the dynamic detection of cellular endogenous substances and the assessment of apoptosis.

Understanding cell–extracellular matrix interactions is crucial to the repair or replacement of cells, tissues and organs. The fate of cells can be dictated by the in vivo cellular microenvironment, which provides biophysical (topography), biomechanical (substrate elasticity and flow-induced forces) and biochemical (cytokines and growth factors) cues to regulate the phenotype and function of cells. For example, basement membranes manifest a complex three-dimensional (3D) texture with sizes in the nanometer range. In addition to inducing pronounced changes to cell morphology and, consequently, gene and protein expression, nanotopographical cues could potentially help induce the differentiation of stem cells into certain lineages. This review covers the commonly used techniques of engineering nanotopography, surveys cellular responses to nanotopography with the focus on the effects of dimensions, shape and order of nanotopographical cues relative to cell dimensions, and discusses possible mechanism by which cells sense nanotopography and the challenges in translating the mechanistic understanding of nanoscale modulation of cell behavior to regenerative medicine. Delineation of cell–matrix interactions in the physiological, 3D environment will help advance the field of regenerative medicine.

Apoptosis is very important for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and is closely related to the occurrence and treatment of many diseases. Mitochondria in cells play a crucial role in programmed cell death and redox processes. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(P)H) is the primary producer of energy in mitochondria, changing NAD(P)H can directly reflect the physiological state of mitochondria. Therefore, NAD(P)H can be used to evaluate metabolic response. In this paper, we propose a noninvasive detection method that uses two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (TP-FLIM) to characterize apoptosis by observing the binding kinetics of cellular endogenous NAD(P)H. The result shows that the average fluorescence lifetime of NAD(P)H and the fluorescence lifetime of protein-bound NAD(P)H will be affected by the changing pH, serum content, and oxygen concentration in the cell culture environment, and by the treatment with reagents such as H₂O₂ and paclitaxel. Taxol (PTX). This noninvasive detection method realized the dynamic detection of cellular endogenous substances and the assessment of apoptosis.