Bone is a metabolically active and highly organized tissue consisting of a mineral phase of hydroxyapatite (HA) and amorphous calcium phosphate (CaP) crystals deposited in an organic matrix. One ...objective of bone tissue engineering is to mimic the chemical and structural properties of this complex tissue. CaP ceramics, such as sintered HA and beta-tricalcium phosphate, are widely used as bone substitutes or prosthesis coatings because of their osteoconductive properties. These ceramic interactions with tissues induce a cell response that can be different according to the composition of the material. In this review, we discuss inflammatory cell responses to CaP materials to provide a comprehensive overview of mechanisms governing the integration or loosening of implants, which remains a major concern in tissue engineering. A focus on the effects of the functionalization of CaP biomaterials highlights potential ways to increase tissue integration and limit rejection processes.
Abstract
Because of their long lifespan, matrix proteins of the vascular wall, such as elastin, are subjected to molecular aging characterized by non-enzymatic post-translational modifications, like ...carbamylation which results from the binding of cyanate (mainly derived from the dissociation of urea) to protein amino groups. While several studies have demonstrated a relationship between increased plasma concentrations of carbamylated proteins and the development of cardiovascular diseases, molecular mechanisms explaining the involvement of protein carbamylation in these pathological contexts remain to be fully elucidated. The aim of this work was to determine whether vascular elastic fibers could be carbamylated, and if so, what impact this phenomenon would have on the mechanical properties of the vascular wall. Our experiments showed that vascular elastin was carbamylated in vivo. Fiber morphology was unchanged after in vitro carbamylation, as well as its sensitivity to elastase degradation. In mice fed with cyanate-supplemented water in order to increase protein carbamylation within the aortic wall, an increased stiffness in elastic fibers was evidenced by atomic force microscopy, whereas no fragmentation of elastic fiber was observed. In addition, this increased stiffness was also associated with an increase in aortic pulse wave velocity in ApoE
−/−
mice. These results provide evidence for the carbamylation of elastic fibers which results in an increase in their stiffness at the molecular level. These alterations of vessel wall mechanical properties may contribute to aortic stiffness, suggesting a new role for carbamylation in cardiovascular diseases.
is a cosmopolitan protozoan parasite which affects approximately 30% of the population worldwide. The drugs currently used against toxoplasmosis are few in number and show several limitations, such ...as drug intolerance, poor bioavailability, or drug resistance mechanism developed by the parasite. Thus, it is important to find new compounds able to inhibit parasite invasion or proliferation. In this study, the 400 compounds of the open-access Pathogen Box, provided by the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) foundation, were screened for their anti-
activity. A preliminary
screening performed over 72 h by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed 15 interesting compounds that were effective against
at 1 μM. Their cytotoxicity was estimated on Vero cells, and their 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC
) were further calculated. As a result, eight anti-
compounds with an IC
of less than 2 μM and a selectivity index (SI) value of greater than 4 were identified. The most active was MMV675968, showing an IC
of 0.02 μM and a selectivity index value equal to 275. Two other compounds, MMV689480 and MMV687807, also showed a good activity against
, with IC
s of 0.10 μM (SI of 86.6) and 0.15 μM (SI of 11.3), respectively. Structure-activity relationships for the eight selected compounds also were discussed on the basis of fingerprinting similarity measurements using the Tanimoto method. The anti-
compounds highlighted here represent potential candidates for the development of new drugs that could be used against toxoplasmosis.
Bone cells, namely osteoblasts and osteoclasts work in concert and are responsible for bone extracellular matrix formation and resorption. This homeostasis is, in part, altered during infections by ...Staphylococcus aureus through the induction of various responses from the osteoblasts. This includes the over-production of chemokines, cytokines and growth factors, thus suggesting a role for these cells in both innate and adaptive immunity. S. aureus decreases the activity and viability of osteoblasts, by induction of apoptosis-dependent and independent mechanisms. The tight relationship between osteoclasts and osteoblasts is also modulated by S. aureus infection. The present review provides a survey of the relevant literature discussing the important aspects of S. aureus and osteoblast interaction as well as the ability for antimicrobial peptides to kill intra-osteoblastic S. aureus, hence emphasizing the necessity for new anti-infectious therapeutics.
The purpose of this systematic review was to establish if patients suffering from periodontal diseases present differences in the expression or production of cationic antimicrobial peptides in ...saliva, gingival fluid, and periodontal tissues. Periodontal diseases are among the most common chronic diseases worldwide and share similar etiological or risk factors (genetic and/or environmental) with other systemic disorders. Over the last decade, an increasing number of publications have suggested the implication of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in periodontal and oral tissues conditions. Literature searches were conducted through MEDLINE‐PubMed and EMBASE databases which identified 1267 publications. Only clinical studies that focused on assays of the expression and/or production of AMPs in human adult oral fluids (gingival crevicular fluid or saliva) or in oral tissues were retained and finally seventy‐four publications meeting inclusion criteria were included. Cathelicidin, α‐ and β‐defensins 1‐3 are the most documented AMPs regarding periodontal status. Significant correlations between clinical periodontal indexes (PD, CAL) and/or bacteriological index and LL37 level were retrieved. Data remain inconsistent between the studies for hBDs mainly due to heterogeneity of the results, periodontal disease diagnostic criteria and assaying technique employed. Given their role in innate immunity and their antimicrobial functions, LL‐37 and α‐defensins may be eligible as periodontal clinical biomarkers and could be an interesting way for therapeutic development.
The bacterial persistence, responsible for therapeutic failures, can arise from the biofilm formation, which possesses a high tolerance to antibiotics. This threat often occurs when a bone and joint ...infection is diagnosed after a prosthesis implantation. Understanding the biofilm mechanism is pivotal to enhance prosthesis joint infection (PJI) treatment and prevention. However, little is known on the characteristics of Cutibacterium acnes biofilm formation, whereas this species is frequently involved in prosthesis infections. In this study, we compared the biofilm formation of C. acnes PJI-related strains and non-PJI-related strains on plastic support and textured titanium alloy by (i) counting adherent and viable bacteria, (ii) confocal scanning electronic microscopy observations after biofilm matrix labeling and (iii) RT-qPCR experiments. We highlighted material- and strain-dependent modifications of C. acnes biofilm. Non-PJI-related strains formed aggregates on both types of support but with different matrix compositions. While the proportion of polysaccharides signal was higher on plastic, the proportions of polysaccharides and proteins signals were more similar on titanium. The changes in biofilm composition for PJI-related strains was less noticeable. For all tested strains, biofilm formation-related genes were more expressed in biofilm formed on plastic that one formed on titanium. Moreover, the impact of C. acnes internalization in osteoblasts prior to biofilm development was also investigated. After internalization, one of the non-PJI-related strains biofilm characteristics were affected: (i) a lower quantity of adhered bacteria (80.3-fold decrease), (ii) an increase of polysaccharides signal in biofilm and (iii) an activation of biofilm gene expressions on textured titanium disk. Taken together, these results evidenced the versatility of C. acnes biofilm, depending on the support used, the bone environment and the strain.
Staphylococcus aureus
species is an important threat for hospital healthcare because of frequent colonization of indwelling medical devices such as bone and joint prostheses through biofilm ...formations, leading to therapeutic failure. Furthermore, bacteria within biofilm are less sensitive to the host immune system responses and to potential antibiotic treatments. We suggested that the periprosthetic bone environment is stressful for bacteria, influencing biofilm development. To provide insights into
S. aureus
biofilm properties of three strains including one methicillin-resistant
S. aureus
(MRSA) under this specific environment, we assessed several parameters related to bone conditions and expected to affect biofilm characteristics. We reported that the three strains harbored different behaviors in response to the lack of oxygen, casamino acids and glucose starvation, and high concentration of magnesium. Each strain presented different biofilm biomass and live adherent cells proportion, or matrix production and composition. However, the three strains shared common responses in a bone-like environment: a similar production of extracellular DNA and engagement of the SOS response. This study is a step toward a better understanding of periprosthetic joint infections and highlights targets, which could be common among
S. aureus
strains and for future antibiofilm strategies.
In inflammatory diseases, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) are known to produce elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteases. To limit ensuing exacerbated cell responses and tissue ...damage, novel therapeutic agents are sought. 4aa and 4ba, two pyridazinone-scaffold-based phosphodiesterase-IV inhibitors are compared in vitro to zardaverine for their ability to: (1) modulate production of pro-inflammatory mediators, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and phagocytosis; (2) modulate degranulation by PMNs after transepithelial lung migration. Compound 4ba and zardaverine were tested in vivo for their ability to limit tissue recruitment of PMNs in a murine air pouch model. In vitro treatment of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated PMNs with compounds 4aa and 4ba inhibited the release of interleukin-8, tumor necrosis factor-α, and matrix metalloproteinase-9. PMNs phagocytic ability, but not ROS production, was reduced following treatment. Using a lung inflammation model, we proved that PMNs transmigration led to reduced expression of the CD16 phagocytic receptor, which was significantly blunted after treatment with compound 4ba or zardaverine. Using the murine air pouch model, LPS-induced PMNs recruitment was significantly decreased upon addition of compound 4ba or zardaverine. Our data suggest that new pyridazinone derivatives have therapeutic potential in inflammatory diseases by limiting tissue recruitment and activation of PMNs.
Osteoblasts are bone-forming and highly active cells participating in bone homeostasis. In the case of osteomyelitis and more specifically prosthetic joint infections (PJI) for which
(
) is mainly ...involved, the interaction between osteoblasts and
results in impaired bone homeostasis. If, so far, most of the studies of osteoblasts and
interactions were focused on osteoblast response following direct interactions with co-culture and/or internalization models, less is known about the effect of osteoblast factors on
biofilm formation. In the present study, we investigated the effect of human osteoblast culture supernatant on methicillin sensitive
(MSSA) SH1000 and methicillin resistant
(MRSA) USA300. Firstly, Saos-2 cell line was incubated with either medium containing TNF-α to mimic the inflammatory periprosthetic environment or with regular medium. Biofilm biomass was slightly increased for both strains in the presence of culture supernatant collected from Saos-2 cells, stimulated or not with TNF-α. In such conditions, SH1000 was able to develop microcolonies, suggesting a rearrangement in biofilm organization. However, the biofilm matrix and regulation of genes dedicated to biofilm formation were not substantially changed. Secondly, culture supernatant obtained from primary osteoblast culture induced varied response from SH1000 strain depending on the different donors tested, whereas USA300 was only slightly affected. This suggested that the sensitivity to bone cell secretions is strain dependent. Our results have shown the impact of osteoblast secretions on bacteria and further identification of involved factors will help to manage PJI.
Osteoclasts (OCs), the bone-resorbing cells, play a key role in skeletal development and adult bone remodeling. They also participate in the pathogenesis of various bone disorders. One of the major ...technical difficulties in the generation of OCs, when working on human material, is the ability to achieve large differentiation of mature OCs from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Access to a standardized source of active OCs is needed to better analyze the roles of human OCs. The aim of this study was to develop a procedure yielding active and mature OCs from fresh human PBMCs. We therefore examined the differentiation of PBMCs to OCs in different cell culture media, using non-stripped and charcoal-stripped sera in the presence of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand (RANKL). We also studied the effects of vitamin D3 in the differentiation level of PBMCs to OCs. Phalloidin-AlexaFluor
488/DAPI fluorescent stainings and dentin resorption analyses by scanning electron microscopy were used to identify the number and size of differentiated OCs, number of nuclei per cell and resorption activities of OCs for a 7-14-21-day culture period. This study reports an optimized method for an efficient production of human active OCs from a low seeding density of PBMCs, after a 14-day culture period by using a medium containing fetal bovine charcoal-stripped serum in the presence of M-CSF and RANKL, and in the absence of vitamin D3.