Biomedicines | Selected Editor’s Choice Articles Published in 2025 (XII)

Editor’s Choice Articles are selected based on suggestions from the Academic Editors of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). The Editors select a small number of published articles that they consider to be particularly interesting to our readers or important in their respective fields of research. As such, you are invited to read our Editor’s Choice Articles, a curated list of high-quality articles published in Biomedicines in 2025. The full list of Editor’s Choice Articles can be viewed via the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomedicines/editors_choice.

1. “Intraepithelial Lymphocytes and LAIR1 Expression in Celiac Disease”
by Joaquim Carreras, Giovanna Roncador, Rifat Hamoudi, Jose Antoni Bombi and Yohei Masugi
Biomedicines 2025, 13(10), 2526; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13102526
Editor’s highlight: “This is an extensive study on determining the phenotype of intraepithelial lymphocytes in celiac disease. Excellent (immuno)histological data are shown, but data quantification is weak. Writing quality is poor, making it difficult to read.”

2. “Sputum Exosomal microRNAs as Non-Invasive Biomarkers in COPD: A Cross-Sectional Study”
by Ourania S. Kotsiou, Irene Tsilioni, Aikaterini Tsingene, Aikaterini Katsanaki, Nikolaos A. A. Balatsos, Erasmia Rouka, Zoe Daniil and Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis
Biomedicines 2025, 13(12), 3027; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13123027
Editor’s highlight: “There are only three articles on COPD biomarkers in PubMed. A non-invasive marker for COPD is valuable. The use of sputum microRNA is a step in the right direction.”

3. “MIBG Scintigraphy and Arrhythmic Risk in Myocarditis”
by Maria Lo Monaco, Margherita Licastro, Matteo Nardin, Rocco Mollace, Flavia Nicoli, Alessandro Nudi, Giuseppe Medolago and Erika Bertella
Biomedicines 2025, 13(8), 1981; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13081981
Editor’s highlight: “In 50 patients, MIBG (metaiodobenzylguanidine) scintigraphy was found to be a useful tool in assessing arrhythmic risk in asymptomatic patients with previous myocarditis. MIBG evaluates the sympathetic innervation of the myocardium. There are only two articles on arrhythmia and myocarditis and MIBG Scintigraphy, 16 articles on myocarditis and MIBG Scintigraphy, but 270 articles on arrhythmia and MIBG Scintigraphy in PubMed. Thus, this article shows the importance of MIBG in assessing arrhythmic risk in asymptomatic patients with previous myocarditis, which may be related to sympathetic activity.”

4. “Chemerin and the Gut: From Inflammation to Cancer”
by Elvedin Pljakic, Emin Delic, Irfan Corovic, Mladen Maksic, Dusan Radojevic, Isidora Stanisavljevic, Violeta Mladenovic, Tomislav Nikolic, Lejla Suljic, Emina Corovic Licina et al.
Biomedicines 2025, 13(11), 2618; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13112618
Editor’s highlight: “There are 16 articles on chemerin, gut, and inflammation, 26 articles on chemerin and gut, but 948 articles on chemerin and inflammation in Web of Science Core Collection. There are only four articles on chemerin, gut, and cancer, but 275 articles on chemerin and cancer. This review shows that chemerin is a versatile regulator bridging metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, and gastrointestinal malignancy, and is a potential candidate for biomarker development and therapeutic intervention.”

5. “Establishing Human and Canine Xenograft Murine Osteosarcoma Models for Application of Focused Ultrasound Ablation”
by Alayna N. Hay, Alex Simon, Lauren N. Ruger, Jessica Gannon, Sheryl Coutermarsh-Ott, Elliana R. Vickers, William Eward, Nathan J. Neufeld, Eli Vlaisavljevich and Joanne Tuohy
Biomedicines 2025, 13(9), 2122; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13092122
Editor’s highlight: “As the authors attest, their study represents the first published investigation of the use of an orthotopic xenograft murine model for the development of histotripsy ablation for osteosarcoma (OS). Throughout their article, they walk the reader through a captivating methodological story that sets the new stage open for the applied use of both human and canine xenograft OS tumor models, with the prospect of histotripsy as the technique of choice in eradicating these cancers.”

6. “The Role of the ALDH Family in Predicting Prognosis and Therapy Response in Pancreatic Cancer”
by Xing Wu, Bolin Zhang, Yijun Chen, Bogusz Trojanowicz, Yoshiaki Sunami and Jörg Kleeff
Biomedicines 2025, 13(8), 2018; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13082018
Editor’s highlight: “A neat collaborative study investigating the prognostic and therapeutic value of the human aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) family in pancreatic cancer using predominantly computational approaches. The study delves into a great depth of experimental scrutiny to demonstrate that four out of the nineteen studied ALDH genes were significantly associated with pancreatic cancer as promising biomarkers.”

7. “Deciphering Medulloblastoma: Epigenetic and Metabolic Changes Driving Tumorigenesis and Treatment Outcomes”
by Jenny Bonifacio-Mundaca, Sandro Casavilca-Zambrano, Christophe Desterke, Íñigo Casafont and Jorge Mata-Garrido
Biomedicines 2025, 13(8), 1898; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13081898
Editor’s highlight: “Fascinating review on the epigenetic and metabolic landscape responsible for the aggressiveness of medulloblastoma tumors. These authors achieved a mastery in presenting detailed but at the same time highly visually appealing illustrative figures.”

8. “Propofol-Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction Is Independent of Mitochondrial Permeability Transition”
by Aya Kawachi, Shoichiro Shibata, Eskil Elmér and Hiroyuki Uchino
Biomedicines 2025, 13(12), 3125; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13123125
Editor’s highlight: “This article is selected as an Editorial Choice for providing important mechanistic insight into propofol-induced mitochondrial toxicity. Using high-resolution respirometry, mitochondrial swelling assays, KO mouse brain mitochondria, and cytochrome c analysis, the authors demonstrate that high concentrations of propofol produce a dose-dependent impairment of oxidative phosphorylation and ETC capacity. Importantly, these effects persist in CypD-KO mitochondria, indicating that CypD-dependent mPTP opening is not required for the observed respiratory dysfunction. Propofol also induces dose-dependent mitochondrial swelling that remains essentially unchanged in CypD-KO mitochondria, further distinguishing this response from classical CypD-dependent permeability transition. Furthermore, propofol does not induce detectable cytochrome c release into the cytosol, whereas calcium-induced mPTP opening produces robust cytochrome c redistribution as a positive control. Together, these findings refine the mechanistic understanding of propofol-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and identify a CypD-independent pathway of mitochondrial injury, with potential relevance to the mitochondrial pathophysiology associated with propofol infusion syndrome (PRIS) and to future studies aimed at defining alternative mechanisms of propofol toxicity.”

9. “Immunohistochemical Demonstration of Tuft Cells in Human Acinar-to-Ductal Metaplasia and Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia”
by Kensuke Nakanishi, Mitsuaki Ishida, Kohei Taniguchi, Kenta Hosomi, Jun Arima, Atsushi Tomioka, Mitsuhiro Asakuma, Yoshiharu Miyamoto, Ko Fujimori, Yoshinobu Hirose et al.
Biomedicines 2025, 13(8), 1944; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13081944
Editor’s highlight: “This manuscript by Nakanishi et al. merits selection as an Editorial Choice article because it provides the first detailed histopathological demonstration of POU2F3-positive tuft cells in human acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM) and pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), extending observations previously established largely in experimental models to human pancreatic disease. The authors demonstrate that POU2F3-positive tuft cells are absent from normal pancreatic acini but are present in 46.4% (327/705) of human ADM lesions, supporting the concept that tuft-cell emergence accompanies acinar epithelial plasticity and the tissue response to pancreatic injury. Importantly, tuft-cell abundance declines significantly with PanIN progression: POU2F3-positive cells comprise a median 1.1% of cells in low-grade PanIN versus 0% in high-grade PanIN (p = 0.0044), with a corresponding decrease in absolute tuft-cell number (2 versus 0 cells per lesion; p = 0.0050). This pattern parallels experimental evidence suggesting that tuft cells may participate in tissue repair and restrain early pancreatic tumorigenesis, while appropriately leaving their functional role in human disease to be established. By linking mechanistic observations from experimental models with human pancreatic pathology, the study provides important translational evidence and a foundation for investigating tuft-cell lineage dynamics and function during the progression from pancreatic injury through PanIN toward pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.”

10. “Pyroptosis in Alopecia Areata: Synthesizing Emerging Hypotheses and Charting a Path to New Therapies”
by Mateusz Łysek, Justyna Putek, Beata Jastrząb-Miśkiewicz, Jacek C. Szepietowski and Piotr K. Krajewski
Biomedicines 2025, 13(12), 2940; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13122940
Editor’s highlight: “This review is selected as an Editorial Choice for its innovative synthesis of emerging evidence linking innate immune signaling and inflammasome-driven pyroptosis to the pathogenesis of alopecia areata. The authors highlight outer root sheath keratinocytes as active immunocompetent participants, integrating evidence that these cells express functional NLRP3 inflammasome components and can generate caspase-1-dependent interleukin-1β release and pyroptotic signaling. This framework is further strengthened by evidence connecting mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired PINK1/PTEN-regulated mitophagy with NLRP3 activation, thereby linking cellular stress, innate immunity, and follicular injury. A particular strength is the introduction of a structured levels-of-evidence framework and standardized experimental model nomenclature, which enables transparent distinction among human clinical, observational, animal, ex vivo, and cellular evidence. The review also provides a forward-looking assessment of therapeutic potential. By integrating molecular mechanisms, experimental models, and therapeutic evidence within a unified framework, this review provides a timely conceptual roadmap for investigating pyroptosis as a potential therapeutic axis in AA while clearly identifying the substantial translational gaps that remain.”