Current Drug Targets - Current Issue

Digital twin technology has emerged as a breakthrough development in healthcare, providing personalised transdermal drug delivery systems for chronic pain treatment. Digital twins provide accurate, customised therapy to enhance therapeutic outcomes and reduce risks by combining patient-specific computational models. This article aims to explore the applicability of digital twin technology in improving the transdermal delivery of drugs for successful chronic pain management. It is enabling personalised treatment through patient-specific simulations. By integrating physiological data with computational models, digital twins optimise drug absorption, patch application, and dosage adjustments in real-time, enhancing therapeutic outcomes while minimising side effects. Recent advancements highlight improvements in fentanyl patch optimisation, site-specific drug delivery, and thermally controlled systems. However, challenges such as ethical concerns, data security, and standardisation need to be addressed. Future research should focus on integrating AI and IoT to refine digital twin applications in precision medicine. It can be concluded from the findings of various studies that digital twin technology offers a promising future for precise and individualised transdermal drug delivery in chronic pain, paving the way for safer and more effective therapeutic interventions.

Double homeobox A pseudogene 9 (DUXAP9), also known as long intergenic non-coding RNA 1296 (LINC01296) and lymph node metastasis-associated transcript 1 (LNMAT1), is an emerging lncRNA encoded by a pseudogene. It has been reported to be upregulated in various tumor types and functions as an oncogenic factor. The high expression of DUXAP9 is closely related to clinical pathological features and poor prognosis in 16 types of malignant tumors. DUXAP9 is transcriptionally activated by YY-1 and Twist1 and functions as a guide or scaffold for biomolecular complexes and chromatin modifiers, or as a "decoy" for miRNAs, mRNAs, and proteins, thereby regulating gene expression. Moreover, the PI3K/AKT, NF-κB, MAPK/ERK, and Wnt/β- catenin signaling pathways are variously activated or inhibited by DUXAP9, subsequently influencing the biological behaviors of tumor cells, including proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and drug resistance. This review summarizes recent research on DUXAP9 in oncology, offering insights into its expression characteristics, biological functions, molecular mechanisms, and clinical significance for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.

Lung cancer, particularly non-small cell lung cancer, is a leading cause of global mortality, with many cases diagnosed at advanced stages. The Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in linking inflammation to lung cancer progression, with both pro-tumor and anti-tumor effects. This perspective delves into the complex functions of TLR proteins in lung cancers, elucidating their involvement in tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. In addition, we highlight the therapeutic potentials of TLR agonists and antagonists, emphasizing their interplay with immune checkpoint inhibitors like PD-1/PD-L1 blockers to overcome immunosuppressive barriers. Nevertheless, the paradoxical effects of TLR activation, balancing immune stimulation and suppression, demand precise targeting strategies. Collectively, our study synthesizes the current understanding of TLR signaling pathways in lung cancers, offering insights into their potential for advancing lung cancer therapies.