Cardiac stem cell research: an elephant in the room?

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the industrialized world, and stem cell therapy seems to be a promising treatment for injured cardiac tissue. To reach this goal, the scientific community needs to find a good source of stem cells that can be used to obtain new myocardium in a very period range of time. Since there are many ethical and technical problems with using embryonic stem cells as a source of cells with cardiogenic potential, many laboratories have attempted to isolate potential cardiac stem cells from several tissues.

The synovial joints of the human foot.

The human foot is considered an organ with an assortment of tissues with different morphological characteristics and well defined limits, but effectively has a simple functionality when static that becomes extremely complex when in movement. Its complex structure, comprised of an elastic and resistant skin covering a bone framework, joints, muscles, tendons, veins and nerves, can be compared to an efficient mechanical assembly. After a long and extraordinary evolutive journey, the human foot has undergone numerous changes to perfect its function; it has lost most of its grabbing function whilst gaining new characteristics that have ultimately allowed the modern man to stand upright.

HSP90 and eNOS partially co-localize and change cellular localization in relation to different ECM components in 2D and 3D cultures of adult rat cardiomyocytes.

Background Information: Cultivation techniques promoting three-dimensional organization of mammalian cells are of increasing interest, since they confer key functionalities of the native ECM (extracellular matrix) with a power for regenerative medicine applications. Since ECM compliance influences a number of cell functions, Matrigel-based gels have become attractive tools, because of the ease with which their mechanical properties can be controlled. In the present study, we took advantage of the chemical and mechanical tunability of commonly used cell culture substrates, and co-cultures to evaluate, on both two- and three-dimensional cultivated adult rat cardiomyocytes, the impact of ECM chemistry and mechanics on the cellular localization of two interacting signalling proteins: HSP90 (heat-shock protein of 90 kDa) and eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase).

Human recombinant vasostatin-1 may interfere with cell-extracellular matrix interactions.

Vasostatin-1 (VS-1), the N-terminal fragment derived from the cleavage of chromogranin A (CgA), has been shown to exert several biological activities on several tissues and organs. Recently, it has been reported that human recombinant VS-1 (STA-CGA1-78) may alter myocardial contractility in eel, frog, and rat hearts. In this article we have explored if STA-CGA1-78 can induce intracellular cascades interacting both with adhesion molecules and/or extracellular matrix (ECM), components, that is, involvement of the heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) and the endothelial NOS (eNOS), known to be implicated in signal transduction mechanisms affecting myocardial contractility.

Effects of conjugated linoleic acid and endurance training on peripheral blood and bone marrow of trained mice.

Fat supplements, especially conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), are increasingly popular ergogenic aids among endurance athletes. To evaluate the importance of fat supplementation in the practice of endurance sports, we investigated the effects of CLA supplementation on body weight, muscle hypertrophy, peripheral blood composition, and bone marrow composition in healthy, young, endurance-trained mice. Young, healthy mice were subdivided into control, trained, and treated groups, according to their running attitudes.