1,720,996 research outputs found
WIDESPREAD PRESENCE IN MAMMALS AND HIGH BINDING SPECIFICITY OF A NUCLEAR PROTEIN THAT RECOGNIZES THE SINGLE STRANDED (CCCTAA)N TELOMERIC MOTIF
No full textEvidence for a HeLa nuclear protein that binds specfically the single stranded d(CCCTAA)n telomeric motif
No full textStrain Hardening in Highly Acetylated Chitosan Gels
Full text linkStrain hardening has recently emerged as a near-universal response of biological tissues to mechanical stimulation as well as a powerful regulator of cell fate. Understanding the mechanistic basis for this nonlinear elasticity is crucial for developing bioinspired materials that mimic extracellular matrix mechanics. Here, we show that covalent networks built from highly acetylated chitosans exhibit strain hardening at physiological pH and osmolarity. While varying the chitosan physical-chemical composition and network connectivity, we provide evidence that temporary nodes arising from the entangling of chains between stable cross-links are at the root of nonlinear elasticity. The contour length (Lc) of the said chains revealed that the larger the chain length between the cross-links, the greater is the entanglement over disentanglement upon network stretching. To this end, we calculated that the minimum number of Khun's segments in Lc that contributes to the onset of strain hardening is 15. Furthermore, we identified a relationship between critical strain marking nonlinear elasticity and the network connectivity, being similar to that found for the cytoskeletal collagen matrix, indicating the potential use of semiflexible (neutral pH-soluble) chitosans in assembling extracellular matrix mimics
A hydrogel system based on a lactose-modified chitosan for viscosupplementation in osteoarthritis
Full text linkOsteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic disease affecting joint functionality and often managed with hyaluronic acid
(HA) administration. In this study, a hydrogel based on a lactose-modified chitosan (CTL) reticulated with boric
acid has been developed as a viscosupplement for OA treatment. The rheological characterization allowed to
identify a composition whose properties were in line with those of commercial products (in the order of tens of
Pascal). The selected CTL-hydrogel showed biocompatibility and antioxidant activity in vitro, and it did not
influence cytokines release by macrophages. Degradation studies carried out over 24 h pointed out its higher
resistance to chemical degradation with respect to HA samples.
Overall, this study underlines the advantages of the CTL-hydrogel to address the treatment of OA and shed
light on an innovative application of CTL polymer, which is one of the main component of the proposed hydrogel
system and not used in mixture with other molecules
Hyaluronic acid/lactose-modified chitosan electrospun wound dressings – Crosslinking and stability criticalities
Full text linkPolysaccharide electrospun wound dressings should be an effective strategy in the field of wound care, as they combine an extracellular matrix-like structure with excellent biomimicry. However, their high hydrophilicity and large surface area cause a rapid dissolution in aqueous environments, compromising their clinical employment. In the present paper, electrospun membranes prepared using hyaluronic acid, a bioactive lactose-modified chitosan (CTL), and polyethylene oxide have been crosslinked using glutaraldehyde, genipin, EDC/NHS or thermal treatments, obtaining very poor results in terms of membrane stability. Therefore, carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) and methacrylic anhydride were investigated in an innovative way, where CDI proved to be the best compromise between nanofiber water resistance, architecture maintenance and degradability. Indeed, the swelling and degradation behavior as well as the water vapor permeability of these matrices were tested, revealing the effectiveness of the electrospun products in absorbing large amount of liquid while maintaining the balance between water retention and gas permeability
A chicken hnRNP of the A/B family recognizes the single-stranded d(CCCTAA)(n) telomeric repeated motif
No full textDevelopment of biodegradable membranes for the delivery of a bioactive chitosan-derivative on cartilage defects: A preliminary investigation
No full textBiodegradable membranes for cartilage applications were manufactured starting from polymeric networks of a lactose-modified chitosan (CTL), previously proposed for chondrocytes stimulation. This implantable biomaterial was conceived as a reservoir of a bioactive polymer that could promote the activity of chondrocytes and the healing of cartilage defects. Freeze-drying of reticulated hydrogels enabled to obtain pliable membranes with a homogeneous polymeric texture, as pointed out by scanning electron microscopy analyses. Swelling tests and dimensional evaluations showed that the material is able to absorb physiological fluids and expand gradually upon rehydration. This feature was evaluated on a simulated cartilage defect on pig's humerus (ex vivo), which revealed the capability of the membranes to progressively fit the tissue voids on the damaged cartilage. The rheological properties of the rehydrated membranes pointed out their peculiar strain-stiffening behavior, which represents a promising feature for the regeneration of tissues subjected to variable mechanical loads and deformations. Biological in vitro studies demonstrated the biocompatibility of the membranes in contact with primary chondrocytes and osteoblasts. Taken together, these results represent a starting point for the development of a novel generation of implantable biomaterials for cartilage treatment based on CTL
Substrate Dissipation Energy Regulates Cell Adhesion and Spreading
Full text linkRecent evidence has led to the hypothesis that dissipation of energy through the viscoelastic extracellular matrix (ECM) can play a cardinal role in directing cell-fate decisions, but whether and how it correlates with specific cell response is at present unclear. Here, viscoelastic and plastic 2D chitosan-based substrates endowed with different dissipative energies are developed and cell behavior studied in terms of adhesion and spreading. While keeping constant stress relaxation and systematically decoupling overall stiffness from linear elongation, an energy dissipation term (J mol−1) is introduced, that is the molar energy required to deviate from linear stress–strain regime and enter into plastic region. Strikingly, an inverse relationship is unveiled between substrate dissipation energy and cell response, with high adhesion/high spreading and low adhesion/no spreading detected for substrates at low and high dissipation energy, respectively. It is concluded that cells decide how to react depending on the effective energy they can earmark for their functions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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