•Fucoidan-conjugated doxorubicin nanoparticles were developed to target P-selectin.•Nanoparticles showed uniform sizes, stability, and pH responsiveness.•DSPE-PEG helped control and stabilize the ...size and stability of nanoparticles.•NPs showed enhanced cellular uptake in cell line with high P-selectin expression.•NPs showed enhanced cytotoxicity against cell line with high P-selectin expression.
Fucoidan, a type of sulfated polysaccharide known for its anticoagulant, anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects, has been reported to have strong affinity towards P-selectin. P-selectin, which plays an important role in metastasis by enhancing the adhesion of cancer cells to endothelium and activated platelets in distant organs, is overexpressed on many cancer types. This study demonstrates the synthesis of a fucoidan-based drug delivery system for minimizing the side effects of doxorubicin (Dox) with the help of active targeting toward P-selectin. Fucoidan-doxorubicin nanoparticles (FU-Dox NPs), developed by direct conjugation of Dox to the fucoidan backbone, showed a well-controlled size distribution and sustained release. The active targeting capability of FU-Dox NPs toward P-selectin resulted in enhanced cellular uptake and cytotoxicity against the MDA-MB-231 cell line with high P-selectin expression compared to the MDA-MB-468 cell line with low P-selectin expression.
Schwann cells (SCs) are a highly plastic cell type capable of undergoing phenotypic changes following injury or disease. SCs are able to upregulate genes associated with nerve regeneration and ...ultimately achieve functional recovery. During the regeneration process, the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell morphology play a cooperative, critical role in regulating SCs, and therefore highly impact nerve regeneration outcomes. However, the roles of the ECM and mechanotransduction relating to SC phenotype are largely unknown. Here, we describe the role that matrix stiffness and cell morphology play in SC phenotype specification via known mechanotransducers YAP/TAZ and RhoA. Using engineered microenvironments to precisely control ECM stiffness, cell shape, and cell spreading, we show that ECM stiffness and SC spreading downregulated SC regenerative associated proteins by the activation of RhoA and YAP/TAZ. Additionally, cell elongation promoted a distinct SC regenerative capacity by the upregulation of Rac1/MKK7/JNK, both necessary for the ECM and morphology changes found during nerve regeneration. These results confirm the role of ECM signaling in peripheral nerve regeneration as well as provide insight to the design of future biomaterials and cellular therapies for peripheral nerve regeneration.
The ability to create cell-derived decellularized matrices in a dish gives researchers the opportunity to possess a bioactive, biocompatible material made up of fibrillar proteins and other factors ...that recapitulates key features of the native structure and composition of in vivo microenvironments. By using cells in a culture system to provide a natural ECM, decellularization allows for a high degree of customization through the introduction of selected proteins and soluble factors. The culture system, culture medium, cell types, and physical environments can be varied to provide specialized ECMs for wide-ranging applications to study cell-ECM signaling, cell migration, cell differentiation, and tissue engineering purposes. This chapter describes a procedure for performing a detergent and high pH-based extraction that leaves the native, cell-assembled ECM intact while removing cellular materials. We address common evaluation methods for assessing the ECM and its composition as well as potential uses for a decellularized ECM.
Peripheral nerve injuries require a complex set of signals from cells, macrophages, and the extracellular matrix (ECM) to induce regeneration across injury sites and achieve functional recovery. ...Schwann cells (SCs), the major glial cell in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), are critical to nerve regeneration due to their inherent capacity for altering phenotype postinjury to facilitate wound healing. The ECM plays a vital role in wound healing as well as regulating cell phenotype during tissue repair. To examine the underlying mechanisms between the ECM and SCs, this work sought to determine how specific ECM cues regulate the phenotype of SCs. To address this, SCs were cultured on polydimethylsiloxane substrates of a variable Young's modulus coated with ECM proteins. Cells were analyzed for spreading area, proliferation, cell and nuclear shape, and c‐Jun expression. It was found that substrates with a stiffness of 8.67 kPa coated with laminin promoted the highest expression of c‐Jun, a marker signifying a “regenerative” SC. Microcontact printed, cell adhesive areas were then utilized to precisely control the geometry and spreading of SCs and by controlling spreading area and cellular elongation; expression of c‐Jun was either promoted or downregulated. These results begin to address the significant interplay between ECM cues and phenotype of SCs, while offering a potential means to enhance PNS regeneration through cellular therapies.
Lipotoxic cardiomyopathy (LCM) is characterized by abnormal myocardial accumulation of lipids, including ceramide; however, the contribution of ceramide to the etiology of LCM is unclear. Here, we ...investigated the association of ceramide metabolism and ceramide-interacting proteins (CIPs) in LCM in the Drosophila heart model. We find that ceramide feeding or ceramide-elevating genetic manipulations are strongly associated with cardiac dilation and defects in contractility. High ceramide-associated LCM is prevented by inhibiting ceramide synthesis, establishing a robust model of direct ceramide-associated LCM, corroborating previous indirect evidence in mammals. We identified several CIPs from mouse heart and Drosophila extracts, including caspase activator Annexin-X, myosin chaperone Unc-45, and lipogenic enzyme FASN1, and remarkably, their cardiac-specific manipulation can prevent LCM. Collectively, these data suggest that high ceramide-associated lipotoxicity is mediated, in part, through altering caspase activation, sarcomeric maintenance, and lipogenesis, thus providing evidence for conserved mechanisms in LCM pathogenesis in mammals.
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•Dietary ceramide is associated with lipotoxicity in the Drosophila heart model•Genetic modulation of cardiac ceramide metabolism induces or prevents lipotoxicity•Ceramide interacts with conserved proteins (CIPs) in mouse hearts and Drosophila•Modulating the CIPs, Unc-45, Annexin10, and FASN prevents lipotoxic heart disease
Lipotoxic cardiomyopathy (LCM) is characterized by abnormal myocardial accumulation of lipids, including ceramide. Here, Walls et al. find that ceramide feeding or ceramide-elevating genetic manipulations induce LCM. They identified several ceramide-interacting proteins, whose subsequent cardiac-specific manipulation can prevent LCM by altering caspase activation, sarcomeric maintenance, and lipogenesis.
Peripheral nervous system (PNS) injuries are an ongoing health care concern. While autografts and allografts are regarded as the current clinical standard for traumatic injury, there are inherent ...limitations that suggest alternative remedies should be considered for therapeutic purposes. In recent years, nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) have become increasingly popular as surgical repair devices, with a multitude of various natural and synthetic biomaterials offering potential to enhance the design of conduits or supplant existing technologies entirely. From a cellular perspective, it has become increasingly evident that Schwann cells (SCs), the primary glia of the PNS, are a predominant factor mediating nerve regeneration. Thus, the development of severe nerve trauma therapies requires a deep understanding of how SCs interact with their environment, and how SC microenvironmental cues may be engineered to enhance regeneration. Here we review the most recent advancements in biomaterials development and cell stimulation strategies, with a specific focus on how the microenvironment influences the behavior of SCs and can potentially lead to functional repair. We focus on microenvironmental cues that modulate SC morphology, proliferation, migration, and differentiation to alternative phenotypes. Promotion of regenerative phenotypic responses in SCs and other non-neuronal cells that can augment the regenerative capacity of multiple biomaterials is considered along with innovations and technologies for traumatic injury.
•Schwann cell plasticity is influenced by physical, biochemical, and electrical microenvironmental factors.•The impact of microenvironmental factors as it relates to PNS regeneration and future therapeutics.•Strategies for incorporation of microenvironmental factors to direct plasticity and regenerative potential of Schwann cells.
Severe peripheral nervous system injuries currently hold limited therapeutic solutions. Existing clinical techniques such as autografts, allografts, and newer nerve guidance conduits have shown ...variable outcomes in functional recovery, adverse immune responses, and in some cases low or minimal availability. This can be attributed in part to the lack of chemical, physical, and electrical cues directing both nerve guidance and regeneration. To address this pressing clinical issue, electrospun nanofibers and microfibers composed of piezoelectric polyvinylidene flouride‐triflouroethylene (PVDF‐TrFE) have been introduced as an alternative template for tissue engineered biomaterials, specifically as it pertains to their relevance in soft tissue and nerve repair. Here, biocompatible scaffolds of PVDF‐TrFE are fabricated and their ability to generate an electrical response to mechanical deformations and produce a suitable regenerative microenvironment is examined. It is determined that 20% (w/v) PVDF‐TrFE in (6:4) dimethyl formamide (DMF):acetone solvent maintains a desirable piezoelectric coefficient and the proper physical and electrical characteristics for tissue regeneration. Further, it is concluded that scaffolds of varying thickness promoted the adhesion and alignment of Schwann cells and fibroblasts. This work offers a prelude to further advancements in nanofibrous technology and a promising outlook for alternative, autologous remedies to peripheral nerve damage.
PVDF‐TrFE piezoelectric fibrous scaffolds are electrospun with tunable physical, chemical, and electrical properties and demonstrated as a biomaterial for tissue engineering. The physical, piezoelectric, and cell‐ECM characteristics of PVDF‐TrFE are determined for different electrospinning parameters. Moving forward, this biomaterial has potential to lead to novel therapies utilizing the material's intrinsic piezoelectricity as a source for electrode‐free stimulation in regenerative medicine.
is an important nosocomial pathogen. Mechanisms that allow
to cause human infection are still poorly understood. Iron is an essential nutrient for bacterial growth
, and the multiplicity of iron ...uptake systems in
suggests that iron acquisition contributes to the ability of
to cause infection. In Gram-negative bacteria, active transport of ferrisiderophores and heme relies on the conserved TonB-ExbB-ExbD energy-transducing complex, while active uptake of ferrous iron is mediated by the Feo system. The
genome invariably contains three
genes (
,
, and
), whose role in iron uptake is poorly understood. Here, we generated
mutants with knockout mutations in the
and/or
gene. We report that
is essential for
growth under iron-limiting conditions, whereas
,
, and
appear to be dispensable for ferric iron uptake.
deletion resulted in reduced intracellular iron content despite siderophore overproduction, supporting a key role of TonB3 in iron uptake. In contrast to the case for
and
, the promoters of
and
contain functional Fur boxes and are upregulated in iron-poor media. Both TonB3 and Feo systems are required for growth in complement-free human serum and contribute to resistance to the bactericidal activity of normal human serum, but only TonB3 appears to be essential for virulence in insect and mouse models of infection. Our findings highlight a central role of the TonB3 system for
pathogenicity. Hence, TonB3 represents a promising target for novel antibacterial therapies and for the generation of attenuated vaccine strains.
A wide variety of environmental factors including physical and biochemical signals are responsible for stem cell behavior and function. In particular, matrix elasticity and cell shape have been shown ...to determine stem cell function, yet little is known about the interplay between how these physical cues control cell differentiation. For the first time, by using ultraviolet (UV) lithography to pattern poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) hydrogels, it is possible to manufacture microenvironments capable of parsing the effects of matrix elasticity, cell shape, and cell size in order to explore the relationship between matrix elasticity and cell shape in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) lineage commitment. These data show that cells cultured on 1000 μm2 circles, squares, and rectangles are primarily adipogenic lineage regardless of matrix elasticity, while cells cultured on 2500 and 5000 μm2 shapes more heavily depend on shape and elasticity for lineage specification. It is further characterized how modifying the cell cytoskeleton through pharmacological inhibitors can modify cell behavior. By showing MSC lineage commitment relationships due to physical signals, this study highlights the importance of cell shape and matrix elasticity in further understanding stem cell behavior for future tissue engineering strategies.
Micropatterned hydrogels capable of parsing the effects of matrix elasticity, cell shape, and cell size are used to explore the relationship between physical factors in mesenchymal stem cell lineage commitment. Cells on 1000 μm2 circles, squares, and rectangles are primarily adipogenic lineage while cells cultured on 2500 and 5000 μm2 shapes heavily depended on shape and elasticity for lineage specification.
Significant effort has gone towards parsing out the effects of surrounding microenvironment on macroscopic behavior of stem cells. Many of the microenvironmental cues, however, are intertwined, and ...thus, further studies are warranted to identify the intricate interplay among the conflicting downstream signaling pathways that ultimately guide a cell response. In this contribution, by patterning adhesive PEG (polyethylene glycol) hydrogels using Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN), we demonstrate that substrate elasticity, subcellular elasticity, ligand density, and topography ultimately define mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) spreading and shape. Physical characteristics are parsed individually with 7 kilopascal (kPa) hydrogel islands leading to smaller, spindle shaped cells and 105 kPa hydrogel islands leading to larger, polygonal cell shapes. In a parallel effort, a finite element model was constructed to characterize and confirm experimental findings and aid as a predictive tool in modeling cell microenvironments. Signaling pathway inhibition studies suggested that RhoA is a key regulator of cell response to the cooperative effect of the tunable substrate variables. These results are significant for the engineering of cell-extra cellular matrix interfaces and ultimately decoupling matrix bound cues presented to cells in a tissue microenvironment for regenerative medicine.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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