1,720,986 research outputs found
Biomechanical behaviour of native and sutured bronchi. An in-vitro study
No full textBACKGROUND: Biomechanical behaviour evaluation of a suture is an important information for the surgeon to choose the best technique to perform. OBJECTIVE: To assess the biomechanical behavior of the native and mechanically sutured bronchi. METHODS: Ten bronchi were harvested from slaughtered pigs and then randomly separated in two groups, a control intact group and a sutured group where specimens were cut in half and sutured, to evaluate mechanical properties during a tensile test using a loading frame machine. In addition optoelectric motion tracking system was used to evaluate suture profile motion during the test. RESULTS: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found between the two groups for the parameters investigated. The control group showed a higher maximal stress resistance and stiffness than the suture group, while elongation at rupture was increased in the sutured group. All the sutures broke in symmetric manner, as the mean of the side difference of the sutured specimens was 0.93 ± 0.80 mm at rupture. CONCLUSIONS: Biomechanical behaviour of native and sutured bronchi was evaluated, giving highly reproducible parameters regarding mechanical properties that may help clinicians and bioengineers to rationalize the choice for a particular suture material or suture technique, increasing surgical outcomes
Advanced Tools of Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases
No full textThe goal of regenerative medicine for neurodegenerative diseases is the design of a patient-specific therapeutic approach. A plethora of patents promoting innovative therapeutic tools will contribute to this ambitious purpose. Pioneering technologies such as gene transfer, stem cells and biomaterials, regulatory molecules such as microRNAs or chaperone proteins and innovative clinical practices, represent the most important therapeutic instruments for generating more effective clinical trials for patients suffering from these disorders.
In this review, we report a landscape of the most recent patents related to the development of new tools for regenerative medicine for neurodegenerative diseases
B-hexosaminidase isoenzymes and antigen presenting cell function: implication for neurodegenerative process in GM2-gangliosidosis
No full textMechanotransduction: Tuning Stem Cells Fate
No full textIt is a general concern that the success of regenerative medicine-based applications is based on the ability to recapitulate the molecular events that allow stem cells to repair the damaged tissue/organ. To this end biomaterials are designed to display properties that, in a precise and physiological-like fashion, could drive stem cell fate both in vitro and in vivo. The rationale is that stem cells are highly sensitive to forces and that they may convert mechanical stimuli into a chemical response. In this review, we describe novelties on stem cells and biomaterials interactions with more focus on the implication of the mechanical stimulation named mechanotransduction
Nitric Oxide Depletion Alter Hematopoietic Stem Cell Commitment Toward Immunogenic Dendritic Cell
No full textKnock-down of HEXA and HEXB genes correlate with the absence of the immunostimulatory function of HSC-derived dendritic cells
No full textIn an attempt to investigate whether the genetic defect in the HEXA and HEXB genes (which causes the absence of the lysosomal b-N-acetylhexosaminidase),
are related to the wide inflammation in GM2 gangliosidoses (Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease), we have chosen the
dendritic cells (DCs) as a study model. Using the RNA interference approach, we generated an in vitro model of HEXs knock-down immunogenic DCs (i-DCs) from CD34+-haemopoietic stem cells (CD34+-HSCs), thus mimicking the Tay-Sachs (HEXA/) and Sandhoff
(HEXB/) cells.
We showed that the absence of b-N-acetyl-hexosaminidase activity does not alter the differentiation of i-DCs from HSCs, but it is critical for the activation of CD4+T cells because knock-down of HEXA or HEXB gene causes a loss of function of i-DCs. Notably, the silencing of the HEXA gene had a stronger immune inhibitory effect, thereby indicating a major involvement of b-N-acetyl-hexosaminidase A isoenzyme within this mechanism
A role for NGF and its receptors TrKA and p75NTR in the progression of COPD
No full textNerve growth factor and its receptors, TrkA and p75NTR, are involved in inflammation and airways diseases, but their role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is still unclear and not well investigated. our data indicate the stage dependent variation of nerve growth factor and its receptors in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease progression. In fact, for the first time, this study evaluates the presence of nerve growth factor and its receptors in serum and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with different stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared to healthy subjects, non-smoker and current smoker. Serum monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-10 and forced expiratory volume in 1 s were also analyzed. Compared to healthy subjects, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients presented a staging-dependent increase in serum nerve growth factor, negatively correlated to forced expiratory volume in 1 s and positively to monocyte chemoattractant Protein-1. The percentage of p75NTR+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells increased in early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (I-II), while TrKA+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells increased in late stages (III-IV). Our data demonstrate the involvement and modulation of nerve growth factor and its receptors in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and in its staging
MicroRNA mediated lysosomal enzymes down-regulation in cell of peripheral system from aAlzheimer's disease patients
No full textAlzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia in the elderly, is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles, extracellular amyloid plaques and neuroinflammation. New evidences have shown that the lysosomal system might be a crossroad in which etiological factors in AD pathogenesis converge.
This study shows that several lysosomal enzymes, including Cathepsin B, D, S, -Gal, -Man and -Hex, were less expressed in monocytes and lymphocytes from patients with a clinical diagnosis of AD dementia compared to cells from healthy controls.
In vitro experiments of gain and loss of function suggest that down-regulation is a direct consequence of miR-128 up-regulation found in AD related cells. The present study also demonstrates that miR-128 inhibition in monocytes from AD patients improves amyloid β-peptide (Aβ42) degradation.
These results could contribute to clarify the molecular mechanisms which affect the imbalanced amyloid production/clearance involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease
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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