Additive Manufacturing of Wood Composite Panels for Individual Layer Fabrication (ILF).

The renewable resource, wood, is becoming increasingly popular as a feedstock material for additive manufacturing (AM). It can help make those processes more affordable and reduce their environmental impact. Individual layer fabrication (ILF) is a novel AM process conceived for structural applications.

Expression of ECM proteins fibulin-1 and -2 in acute and chronic liver disease and in cultured rat liver cells.

Fibulin-2 has previously been considered as a marker to distinguish rat liver myofibroblasts from hepatic stellate cells. The function of other fibulins in acute or chronic liver damage has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study has been to evaluate the expression of fibulin-1 and -2 in models of rat liver injury and in human liver cirrhosis.

Effect of tumour necrosis factor-alpha and irradiation alone or in combination on the viability of hepatocellular and biliary adenocarcinoma cell lines in vitro.

Background: Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) may exhibit antitumoral activity and can influence the reaction of both tumour and normal tissue to radiation.

Aims: To test the effect of TNF-alpha and/or irradiation on hepatocellular (HepG2, Hep3B, Sk-Hep1, HuH7) and cholangiocellular (Sk-chA1, Mz-chA1) tumour cell lines.

Methods: Colony formation, apoptosis analysis and trypan blue exclusion were used to assess cell viability.

Irradiation leads to sensitization of hepatocytes to TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis by upregulation of IkappaB expression.

This study aimed to reveal the pathophysiological signalling responsible for radiation-induced sensitization of hepatocytes to TNF-alpha-mediated apoptosis. IkappaB was upregulated in irradiated hepatocytes. Administration of IkappaB antisense oligonucleotides prior to irradiation inhibited occurrence of apoptosis after TNF-alpha administration.

Irradiation leads to apoptosis of Kupffer cells by a Hsp27-dependant pathway followed by release of TNF-alpha.

In a previous publication, we were able to show that irradiation of Kupffer cells, the liver resident macrophages, leads to an increased TNF-alpha concentration in the culture medium. The pathomechanisms underlying this phenomenon, however, remained to be elucidated. Here, we show that following irradiation of Kupffer cells, the apoptosis rate increased drastically within 48 h.