Polymer‐based Scaffold Designs For In Situ Vascular Tissue Engineering: Controlling Recruitment and Differentiation Behavior of Endothelial Colony Forming Cells

In situ vascular tissue engineering has been proposed as a promising approach to fulfill the need for small‐diameter blood vessel substitutes. The approach comprises the use of a cell‐free instructive scaffold to guide and control cell recruitment, differentiation, and tissue formation at the locus of implantation. Here we review the design parameters for such scaffolds, with special emphasis on differentiation of recruited ECFCs into the different lineages that constitute the vessel wall. Next to defining the target properties of the vessel, we concentrate on the target cell source, the ECFCs, and on the environmental control of the fate of these cells within the scaffold. The prospects of the approach are discussed in the light of current technical and biological hurdles.

     

Photochemically generated elemental selenium forms conjugates with serum proteins that are preferentially cytotoxic to leukemia and selected solid tumor cells

The objective of this study was to determine if and how photoproducts contribute to the antitumor effect of merocyanine-mediated PDT. A panel of barbituric, thiobarbituric and selenobarbituric acid analogues of Merocyanine 540 was photobleached, and the resulting photoproducts were characterized by absorption, fluorescence emission, mass, energy dispersive X-ray, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and tested for cytotoxic activity against tumor cell lines and freshly explanted bone marrow cells. While all dyes were readily photobleached, only photoproducts of selone dyes showed cytotoxic activity. One-hour incubations with micromolar concentrations of selone-derived photoproducts were sufficient to reduce leukemia/lymphoma cells ≥10 000 fold, whereas preserving virtually all normal CD34-positive bone marrow cells. Of six multidrug-resistant tumor cell lines tested, five were as sensitive or more sensitive to photoproducts than the corresponding wild-type lines. Physicochemical characterizations of the cytotoxic activity indicated that it consisted of conjugates of subnano particles of elemental selenium and (lipo)proteins. The discovery of cytotoxic Se-protein conjugates provides a rare example of photoproducts contributing substantially to the antitumor effect of PDT and challenges the long-held view that Se in oxidation state zero is biologically inert. Agents modeled after our Se-protein conjugates may prove useful for the treatment of leukemia.     

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry, an attractive tool for drug bioanalysis and biomarker discovery

The coupling of CE with MS detection, a relatively recent hyphenated technique, has gained increasing respect in the field of bioanalytical applications over the past few years. The first part of this review presents CE-MS applications dealing with drug bioanalysis, including forensic analysis and metabolism studies. Practical considerations to achieve a robust and sensitive CE-MS coupling are also presented. It is indeed essential to strictly control some critical electrospray parameters, such as the sheath liquid composition and flow rate, the nebulizing gas pressure as well as the capillary outlet position. The second part of the review critically describes the applications of CE coupled on-line to MS for the identification of biomarkers in body fluids for diagnostic purposes. Since the sample preparation procedures strongly differ according to the intended use (drug bioanalysis or biomarker discovery), they are discussed separately, taking into account the particular properties of plasma and urine matrices.     

Uptake of phenol on aerosol particles

We present a study of the interaction between a phenol molecule and an aerosol particle. The aerosol particle is represented by a cluster of 128 water molecules. Using a classical approach, we present interaction energy surfaces for different relative distances and for three orientations of phenol relative to the particle. From the energy surfaces we find the reaction pathways with the largest interaction between the molecule and the particle. We use a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method to calculate a potential energy curve for each reaction path. Coupled cluster methods are used for the part of the system described by quantum mechanics, while the part described by molecular mechanics is represented by a polarizable force field. We compare results obtained from the classical approach with the QM/MM results. Furthermore, we use the QM/MM results to calculate mass accommodation coefficients using a quantum-statistical (QM-ST) model and show how the mass accommodation coefficient depends on the relative orientation of phenol with respect to the aerosol particle.     

Cu(HF2)(pyz)2]BF4 (pyz = pyrazine): long-range magnetic ordering in a pseudo-cubic coordination polymer comprised of bridging HF2- and pyrazine ligands

[Cu(HF2)(pyz)2]BF4 consists of rare mu(1,3) bridging HF2- anions and micro-pyrazine ligands leading to a 3D pseudo-cubic framework that antiferromagnetically orders below 1.54(1) K.     

Room‐Temperature C?H Bond Activation of Methane by Bare [P4O10].+

No need for a metal : A combination of mass spectrometry and computational studies (density functional theory and coupled‐cluster methods) shows that [P₄O₁₀]^.+ is the first polynuclear nonmetal oxide cation that is capable of activating the C? H bond of methane at room temperature (see picture). This process represents a further example in the reactivity of oxygen‐centered radicals.

     

Synthesis of Fine-grained NaA-type Zeolites from Superalkaline Solutions

The synthesis of NaA-type zeolite from superalkaline reaction mixtures by influence on the formation- and transformation rate of the polymorphous phases according to the Ostwald step rule is discussed. The appearence time of NaA as a single crystallization product is described in dependence on the reaction conditions. The kinetics of the zeolite crystallization and the property alterations of the reaction products in dependence on the time are investigated in the pilot scale.     

Physical Models from Physical Templates Using Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Elastomers as Morphologically Programmable Inks For 3D Printing

Advanced manufacturing has received considerable attention as a tool for the fabrication of cell scaffolds however, finding ideal biocompatible and biodegradable materials that fit the correct parameters for 3D printing and guide cells to align remain a challenge. Herein, a photocrosslinkable smectic-A (Sm-A) liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) designed for 3D printing is presented, that promotes cell proliferation but most importantly induces cell anisotropy. The LCE-based bio-ink allows the 3D duplication of a highly complex brain structure generated from an animal model. Vascular tissue models are generated from fluorescently stained mouse tissue spatially imaged using confocal microscopy and subsequently processed to create a digital 3D model suitable for printing. The 3D structure is reproduced using a Digital Light Processing (DLP) stereolithography (SLA) desktop 3D printer. Synchrotron Small-Angle X-ray Diffraction (SAXD) data reveal a strong alignment of the LCE layering within the struts of the printed 3D scaffold. The resultant anisotropy of the LCE struts is then shown to direct cell growth. This study offers a simple approach to produce model tissues built within hours that promote cellular alignment.