A cost-effective tool to standardize the scratch assay for cell migration.

Background: The scratch assay is commonly used in cell biology to evaluate cell migration; however, it is not a standardized method; it produces highly variable gap dimensions. We design a printable device, comprising a single wounding tool and a guide, and compared the gap produced by our device and the traditional method. The deviceis printable in a standard 3D printer.

Biological properties of stem cells from the apical papilla exposed to lipopolysaccharides: An in vitro study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on the biological properties of stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAPs), such as viability, adhesion to dentin, odontoblast-like differentiation, mineralization, and release of immunomodulatory cytokines.

Design: SCAPs were isolated from immature teeth of three donors (10 to 15 years old) and cultured in mineralizing media with or without 1 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cells were seeded and cultured under standardized conditions; viability was assessed by MTT assay on days 1, 3, 5, and 7; adhesion to dentin was analyzed using an environmental scanning electron microscope after 2 days; the expression of odontogenic and mineralization genes (DSPP, DMP-1, OCN, Col1A1) was evaluated through qPCR after 14 days, mineralization was evaluated with alizarin red staining after 21 days; and the release of immunomodulatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-10) was measured by ELISA after 1 and 7 days.

Biological Properties of Dental Pulp Stem Cells Isolated from Inflamed and Healthy Pulp and Cultured in an Inflammatory Microenvironment.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess whether the biological characteristics of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), such as viability, adhesion to dentin, mineralization, and release of immunomodulatory cytokines, are affected by the inflammatory status of the donor tissue and/or the sustained inflammatory environment.

Methods: DPSCs were isolated from pulps from 3 caries-free teeth (healthy or hDPSCs), and from 3 teeth with irreversible pulpitis or deep caries (unhealthy DPSCs or uDPSCs). The cells were cultured in odontogenic and osteogenic media with or without lipopolysaccharides.

Digital Reconstructions Using Linear Regression: How Well Can It Estimate Missing Shape Data from Small Damaged Areas?

Skeletal remains analyzed by anthropologists, paleontologists and forensic scientists are usually found fragmented or incomplete. Accurate estimations of the original morphologies are a challenge for which several digital reconstruction methods have been proposed. In this study, the accuracy of reconstructing bones based on multiple linear regression (RM) was tested.

Modularity of the wrist in extant hominines.

Wrist shape varies greatly across primates and previous studies indicate that the numerous morphological differences among them are related to a complex mixture of phylogeny and function. However, little is known about whether the variation in these various anatomical differences is linked and to what extent the wrist bones vary independently. Here, we used 3D geometric morphometrics on a sample of extant hominines (, and ), to find the model that best describes the covariation patterns among four of the eight carpals (i.

A geometric morphometric approach to the study of sexual dimorphism in the modern human frontal bone.

Objectives: We analyzed the main anatomical traits found in the human frontal bone by using a geometric morphometric approach. The objectives of this study are to explore how the frontal bone morphology varies between the sexes and to detect which part of the frontal bone are sexually dimorphic.

Materials And Methods: The sample is composed of 161 skulls of European and North American individuals of known sex.

Relation between muscle architecture and first metacarpal morphology, and its implications for human hand evolution.

Previous studies have proposed that our ability to produce and use stone tools was the primary selective pressure explaining the evolution of the human hand. Derived traits in humans include a robust first metacarpal and longer thumbs relative to the other fingers. Along with other anatomical peculiarities, humans can exert forceful precision and have powerful grips, and can resist loads during tool production and use.