The biological characteristics of different generation mesenchymal stem cells cultured in vitro and cocultured with vascular scaffold

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were used widely as seed cells in tissue engineering blood vessel construction. However, the biological characteristics difference of different generation MSCs in vitro culture is unknown, which laid a foundation for appropriate generation seeded cells selection for tissue engineering blood vessel construction. In this report, MSCs were isolated from SD rat bone marrow and identified by flow cytometry; cell growth curve test, cell surface antigen expression rate detection, cryopreservation resuscitation rate test, CD31 expression rate test, cell cycle analysis, and adhesion difference on vascular scaffold test were performed. The research results indicated that the MSCs shape was spindle and uniform with vigorous growth. CD105 and CD90 factor expression rate reached 82.5 and 84.9%, respectively, and the expression rate of CD45 was only 7.3%. The proliferation capacity of the fourth generation MSCs were more exuberant, with proliferation index as 20.3%; the cell proliferation index of the eighth generation decreased to only 9.1%. The cryopreservation resuscitation rate of the second generation and fourth generation MSCs were both higher than 80%, and the cryopreservation resuscitation rate of the eighth generation MSCs was only about 60%. After the induction for 5 days, MSCs had weak CD31 expression, and with the prolonged induction time, expression increased. All generation MSCs expressed CD31 after being induced for 10 days; however, the CD31 positive expression rate of the second generation, fourth generation, and sixth generation MSCs had significant difference with the eighth generation MSCs. Adhesion rate of MSCs before sixth generation was around 40%, but the adhesion rate of eighth generation MSCs was only about 27%. In all, biological characteristics of different generation MSCs existed certain differences, and especially the eighth generation MSCs aged seriously, whose cell activity decreased significantly. The researchers believed that the MSCs before the sixth generation can maintain excellent properties of MSCs, and can be used as seed cells for vascular tissue engineering.     

Crosstalk between Depression and Breast Cancer via Hepatic Epoxide Metabolism: A Central Comorbidity Mechanism

Breast cancer (BC) is a serious global challenge, and depression is one of the risk factors and comorbidities of BC. Recently, the research on the comorbidity of BC and depression has focused on the dysfunction of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and the persistent stimulation of the inflammatory response. However, the further mechanisms for comorbidity remain unclear. Epoxide metabolism has been shown to have a regulatory function in the comorbid mechanism with scattered reports. Hence, this article reviews the role of epoxide metabolism in depression and BC. The comprehensive review discloses the imbalance in epoxide metabolism and its downstream effect shared by BC and depression, including overexpression of inflammation, upregulation of toxic diols, and disturbed lipid metabolism. These downstream effects are mainly involved in the construction of the breast malignancy microenvironment through liver regulation. This finding provides new clues on the mechanism of BC and depression comorbidity, suggesting in particular a potential relationship between the liver and BC, and provides potential evidence of comorbidity for subsequent studies on the pathological mechanism.     

基于改进功率谱熵的抑郁症脑电信号活跃性研究

采用非线性动力学方法研究脑精神疾病是近年来国内外学者研究的热点和趋势.针对脑精神疾病的研究和诊断中缺少客观有效的量化参数和量化指标的状况,提出了一种根据对时间序列功率谱划分而定义的谱熵,然后用其计算和分析脑电信号谱熵的方法.通过数据仿真试验证明该谱熵和信号活跃性之间存在正相关关系.基于这种相关性,应用该方法对抑郁症患者和正常对照组的脑电信号功率谱熵进行了数值计算,然后进行了分析对比和统计检验.实验结果表明:抑郁症患者脑电信号的功率谱熵在部分脑区显著弱于正常健康人.证明该谱熵能够表征大脑电生理活动状况,提供反映其活动性强弱的信息,可以作为度量大脑电生理活动性的一个参数.这对于能否将该功率谱熵作为诊断脑精神疾病的物理参数具有积极意义.     

Melting behavior of poly(ether ether ketone) in its blends with poly(ether imide)

We detail the melting behavior of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) and investigate its melting behavior in miscible blends with poly(ether imide) (PEI). The determination of the equilibrium melting point (T_m⁰) of PEEK is discussed by considering its inhomogeneous morphology. T_m⁰ is obtained by a long extrapolation of a Hoffman–Weeks plot to 384°C. Hindrance of PEEK crystal reorganization induced by PEI during heating is observed over the blend composition investigated (20–75 wt % PEEK). This behavior is correlated with the incorporation of PEI in the interlamellar zones of PEEK crystals. The interaction parameter χ of PEEK/PEI blends is estimated by the equilibrium melting point depression. This gives the interaction density B = ?1.2 cal/cm³, and x = ?0.40 at 400°C. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A segmentation procedure of the pervious area of the aorta artery from CT images without contrast medium

In this paper, we develop an algorithm for the segmentation of the pervious lumen of the aorta artery in computed tomography (CT) images without contrast medium, a challenging task due to the closeness gray levels of the different zones to segment. The novel approach of the proposed procedure mainly resides in enhancing the resolution of the image by the application of the algorithm deduced from the mathematical theory of sampling Kantorovich operators. After the application of suitable digital image processing techniques, the pervious zone of the artery can be distinguished from the occluded one. Numerical tests have been performed using 233 CT images, and suitable numerical errors have been computed and introduced ex novo to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The above procedure is completely automatic in all its parts after the initial region of interest (ROI) selection. The main advantages of this approach relies in the potential possibility of performing diagnosis concerning vascular pathologies even for patients with severe kidney diseases or allergic problems, for which CT images with contrast medium cannot be achieved.     

Molecular and functional diversity of vascular endothelial growth factors

Summary Members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family are crucial regulators of neovascularization and are classified as cystine knot growth factors that specifically bind cellular receptor tyrosine kinases VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3 with high but variable affinity and selectivity. The VEGF family has recently been expanded and currently comprises seven members: VEGF-A, VEGF-B, placenta growth factor (PlGF), VEGF-C, VEGF-D, viral VEGF (also known as VEGF-E), and snake venom VEGF (also known as VEGF-F). Although all members are structurally homologous, there is molecular diversity among the subtypes, and several isoforms, such as VEGF-A, VEGF-B, and PlGF, are generated by alternative exon splicing. These splicing isoforms exhibit differing properties, particularly in binding to co-receptor neuropilins and heparin. VEGF family proteins play multiple physiological roles, such as angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, while exogenous members (viral and snake venom VEGFs) display activities that are unique in physiology and function. This review will highlight the molecular and functional diversity of VEGF family proteins.     

Long-term depression and other synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum

Cerebellar long-term depression (LTD) is a type of synaptic plasticity and has been considered as a critical cellular mechanism for motor learning. LTD occurs at excitatory synapses between parallel fibers and a Purkinje cell in the cerebellar cortex, and is expressed as reduced responsiveness to transmitter glutamate. Molecular induction mechanism of LTD has been intensively studied using culture and slice preparations, which has revealed critical roles of Ca²⁺, protein kinase C and endocytosis of AMPA-type glutamate receptors. Involvement of a large number of additional molecules has also been demonstrated, and their interactions relevant to LTD mechanisms have been studied. In vivo experiments including those on mutant mice, have reported good correlation of LTD and motor learning. However, motor learning could occur with impaired LTD. A possibility that cerebellar synaptic plasticity other than LTD compensates for the defective LTD has been proposed.     

Vascular permeability in cancer and infection as related to macromolecular drug delivery, with emphasis on the EPR effect for tumor-selective drug targeting

Tumor and inflammation have many common features. One hallmark of both is enhanced vascular permeability, which is mediated by various factors including bradykinin, nitric oxide (NO), peroxynitrite, prostaglandins etc. A unique characteristic of tumors, however, is defective vascular anatomy. The enhanced vascular permeability in tumors is also distinctive in that extravasated macromolecules are not readily cleared. We utilized the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect of tumors for tumor selective delivery of macromolecular drugs. Consequently, such drugs, nanoparticles or lipid particles, when injected intravenously, selectively accumulate in tumor tissues and remain there for long periods. The EPR effect of tumor tissue is frequently inhomogeneous and the heterogeneity of the EPR effect may reduce the tumor delivery of macromolecular drugs. Therefore, we developed methods to augment the EPR effect without inducing adverse effects for instance raising the systemic blood pressure by infusing angiotensin II during arterial injection of SMANCS/Lipiodol. This method was validated in clinical setting. Further, benefits of utilization of NO-releasing agent such as nitroglycerin or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were demonstrated. The EPR effect is thus now widely accepted as the most basic mechanism for tumor-selective targeting of macromolecular drugs, or so-called nanomedicine.     

Determination of arterial wall shear stress

The arteries can remodel their structure and function to adapt themselves to the mechanical environment. In various factors that lead to vascular remodeling, the shear stress on the arterial wall induced by the blood flow is of great importance. However, there are many technique difficulties in measuring the wall shear stress directly at present. In this paper, through analyzing the pulsatile blood flow in arteries, a method has been proposed that can determine the wall shear stress quantitatively by measuring the velocity on the arterial axis, and that provides a necessary means to discuss the influence of arterial wall shear stress on vascular remodeling.     

A boundary condition for arbitrary shaped inlets in lattice–Boltzmann simulations

We introduce a mass‐flux‐based inlet boundary condition for the lattice‐Boltzmann method. The proposed boundary condition requires minimal amount of boundary data, it produces a steady‐state velocity field which is accurate close to the inlet even for arbitrary inlet geometries, and yet it is simple to implement. We demonstrate its capability for both simple and complex inlet geometries by numerical experiments. For simple inlet geometries, we show that the boundary condition provides very accurate inlet velocities when Re?1. Even with moderate Reynolds number, the inlet velocities are accurate for practical purposes. Furthermore, the potential of our boundary condition to produce inlet velocities which convincingly adapt to complex inlet geometries is highlighted with two specific examples. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.