Piperlongumine mediates amelioration of osteoarthritis via inhibition of chondrocyte senescence and inflammation in a goat ex vivo model.

In osteoarthritis (OA), chondrocytes manifest senescence, which results in a vicious signaling loop that aids the progression of the disease. More specifically, inflammation-associated senescence is one of the major regulators of the initiation and progression of OA. Therefore, we targeted senescence through inflammation with a pharmacological approach for OA amelioration.

Targeting multiple disease hallmarks using a synergistic disease-modifying drug combination ameliorates osteoarthritis via inhibition of senescence and inflammation.

Aims: Osteoarthritis (OA), is a debilitating disease characterized by progressive cartilage degradation, synovial inflammation, and chondrocyte senescence. Various treatment agents independently targeting these hallmarks have been investigated. However, due to the complex multifaceted nature of OA, no disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs are clinically available.

Sulfated carboxymethylcellulose mediated enhancement of Timp3 efficacy synergistically attenuates osteoarthritis through inhibition of NFκB and JNK.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent degenerative joint condition with no effective disease modifying treatments. In this study, we aimed to address multiple OA hallmarks using a combination of pro-chondrogenic sulfated carboxymethylcellulose (sCMC) and anti-catabolic tissue inhibitor of metalloproteases 3 (Timp3) in relevant disease systems. Firstly, we chemically sulfated carboxymethylcellulose to impart a negative charge and improve the stability of cationic Timp3.

Sulfated carboxymethylcellulose-based scaffold mediated delivery of Timp3 alleviates osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating progressive joint disease with high incidence and socioeconomic burden. However, no disease-modifying treatment is currently available for OA. Here, we report a sulfated carboxymethylcellulose-based scaffold mediated delivery of tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease 3 (Timp3) as a disease-modifying therapeutic strategy for OA.

A human osteoarthritis mimicking goat cartilage explant-based disease model for drug screening.

Although osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent human joint disease with a large socioeconomic burden, it remains a neglected disease with no clinically approved disease modifying therapies. One of the key reasons for this is that the available disease models poorly recapitulate human OA-like traits, possibly because of the challenge of mimicking the disease in an ECM-rich cartilage tissue. In this study, we report the establishment and validation of a clinically relevant ex vivo OA model using IL1β-treated goat articular cartilage explants.

Pore Alignment in Gelatin Scaffolds Enhances Chondrogenic Differentiation of Infrapatellar Fat Pad Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

One of the major strategies in tissue engineering is the biomimetic scaffold-based approach that aims at providing a near-native-like environment for cells to facilitate the regeneration of damaged/lost tissue. The extracellular matrix in native articular cartilage contains aligned collagen fibrils in the superficial (parallel to the articular surface) and deep zones (perpendicular to articular surface) of the tissue. Therefore, we hypothesized that scaffolds with aligned pore architecture may offer aligned collagen deposition upon cell seeding, and as a result, may enable enhanced chondrogenesis.

Sulfated polysaccharide mediated TGF-β1 presentation in pre-formed injectable scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering.

In this work, a plant-derived polysaccharide carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was chemically modified to incorporate sulfate groups to facilitate binding of cationic growth factors. The sulfated CMC (heparin mimic) was then used with CMC (glycosaminoglycan mimic) and gelatin (collagen mimic) to fabricate injectable pre-formed, macroporous scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering. These scaffolds demonstrated high resilience and shape memory, thereby making them injectable through a 14G needle for up to 4-6 aspiration and injection cycles.

Alcohols as molecular probes in ionic liquids: evidence for nanostructuration.

A comprehensive study of the solution and solvation of linear alcohols (propan-1-ol, butan-1-ol and pentan-1-ol) in ionic liquids (ILs) is presented. The effect of the alkyl chain size of both alcohols and ILs (1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [CnC1im][NTf2], ionic liquid series) on the thermodynamic properties of solution and solvation was used to obtain insight into the interactions between alcohols and ILs. Alcohols were used as molecular probes to ascertain whether their solvation in ILs would reflect IL nanostructuration.

Fabrication and characterization of Pluronic modified poly(hydroxybutyrate) fibers for potential wound dressing applications.

Electrospun poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) fiber meshes have shown some success in wound dressing applications, however, their use is limited by their high hydrophobicity and brittle nature. In this study we investigated the effect of hydrophilization of electrospun PHB fibers by blending with Pluronic F-108 (PF) for use as a wound dressing material. Blending of PHB with different concentrations of PF (0.

Thermophysical properties of phosphonium-based ionic liquids.

Experimental data for density, viscosity, refractive index and surface tension of four phosphonium-based ionic liquids were measured in the temperature range between (288.15 and 353.15) K and at atmospheric pressure.

Thermophysical properties of two ammonium-based protic ionic liquids.

Experimental data for density, viscosity, refractive index and surface tension are reported, for the first time, in the temperature range between 288.15 K and 353.15 K and at atmospheric pressure for two protic ionic liquids, namely 2-(dimethylamino)-N,N-dimethylethan-1-ammonium acetate, [N][CHCO], and N-ethyl-N,N-dimethylammonium phenylacetate, [N][CHCO].

Thermophysical properties of sulfonium- and ammonium-based ionic liquids.

Experimental data for the density, viscosity, refractive index and surface tension of four sulfonium- and ammonium-based Ionic Liquids (ILs) with the common bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion were measured in the temperature range between 288.15 and 353.15 K and at atmospheric pressure.

Ion association and solvation behavior of tetraalkylammonium iodides in binary mixtures of dichloromethane + N,N-dimethylformamide probed by a conductometric study.

Precise measurements on electrical conductances of tetraalkylammonium iodides, R(4)NI (R = n-butyl to n-heptyl), in different mass% (0-100) of dichloromethane (DCM) + N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 298.15 K have been performed. Limiting molar conductances (Λ(0)), association constants (K(A)) and co-sphere diameter (R) for ion-pair formation in the mixed solvent mixtures have been evaluated using the Fuoss conductance-concentration equation.