Long-term Results With CorMatrix Extracellular Matrix Patches After Carotid Endarterectomy.

Background: Previous reports of extracellular matrix (ECM) patch use after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) have noted an approximately 10% rate of pseudoaneurysm (PSA) formation. PSA-related rupture of ECM patches has also been described after femoral artery repair. In these studies, different thicknesses (4-ply versus 6-ply) and no standard length of soaking the patch in saline before implantation were used.

Adult venous endothelium is a niche for highly proliferative and vasculogenic endothelial colony-forming cells.

Objective: Postnatal resident endothelium of blood vessels has been proposed to represent terminally differentiated tissue that does not replicate. We previously isolated endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) from human umbilical cord blood (CB) and term placenta by using colony-forming assays and immunocytochemistry. We showed that ECFCs are highly proliferative and form functioning vessels in vivo, the defining characteristics of a true endothelial progenitor cell.

Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to cells similar to cord-blood endothelial colony-forming cells.

The ability to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into endothelial cells with properties of cord-blood endothelial colony-forming cells (CB-ECFCs) may enable the derivation of clinically relevant numbers of highly proliferative blood vessel-forming cells to restore endothelial function in patients with vascular disease. We describe a protocol to convert human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) or embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into cells similar to CB-ECFCs at an efficiency of >10(8) ECFCs produced from each starting pluripotent stem cell. The CB-ECFC-like cells display a stable endothelial phenotype with high clonal proliferative potential and the capacity to form human vessels in mice and to repair the ischemic mouse retina and limb, and they lack teratoma formation potential.

Management of vascular trauma from dog bites.

Background: Vascular trauma from large-dog bites present with a combination of crush and lacerating injuries to the vessel, as well as significant adjacent soft tissue injury and a high potential for wound complications. This retrospective case series evaluates our 15 years of experience in managing this uncommonly seen injury into suggested treatment recommendations.

Methods: From our database, 371 adult patients presented with dog bites between July 1997 and June 2012.

Single-port laparoscopic right hemicolectomy: the first 100 resections.

Background: Single-port laparoscopy remains a novel technique in the field of colorectal surgery. Several small series have examined its safety for colon resection.

Objective: Our aim was to analyze our entire experience and short-term outcomes with single-port laparoscopic right hemicolectomy since its introduction at our institution.

Resident Endothelial Progenitor Cells From Human Placenta Have Greater Vasculogenic Potential Than Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells From Umbilical Cord Blood.

Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) isolated from umbilical cord blood (CBECFCs) are highly proliferative and form blood vessels in vivo. The purpose of this investigation was to isolate and characterize a population of resident ECFCs from the chorionic villi of term human placenta and provide a comparative analysis of their proliferative and vasculogenic potential with CBECFCs. ECFCs were isolated from umbilical cord blood and chorionic villi from placentas obtained by caesarean deliveries.

Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell therapy is safe and promotes amputation-free survival in patients with critical limb ischemia.

Objective: The purpose of this Phase I open label nonrandomized trial was to assess the safety and efficacy of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell (ABMNC) therapy in promoting amputation-free survival (AFS) in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI).

Methods: Between September 2005 and March 2009, 29 patients (30 limbs), with a median age of 66 years (range, 23-84 years; 14 male, 15 female) with CLI were enrolled. Twenty-one limbs presented with rest pain (RP), six with RP and ulceration, and three with ulcer only.

Material characterization of porcine lenticular soluble proteins.

The soluble proteins present in the ocular lens impart important optical and dynamic mechanical properties on the lens. The short-range order of crystallin proteins grants transparency to a very concentrated protein solution. This unique protein system directly enables proper visual function of the eye.

Tropomodulin binds two tropomyosins: a novel model for actin filament capping.

Tropomodulin, a tropomyosin-binding protein, caps the slow-growing (pointed) end of the actin filament regulating its dynamics. Tropomodulin, therefore, is important for determining cell morphology, cell movement, and muscle contraction. For the first time we show that one tropomodulin molecule simultaneously binds two tropomyosin molecules in a cooperative manner.

Solution NMR structure of the junction between tropomyosin molecules: implications for actin binding and regulation.

Tropomyosin is a coiled-coil protein that binds head-to-tail along the length of actin filaments in eukaryotic cells, stabilizing them and providing protection from severing proteins. Tropomyosin cooperatively regulates actin's interaction with myosin and mediates the Ca2+ -dependent regulation of contraction by troponin in striated muscles. The N-terminal and C-terminal ends are critical functional determinants that form an "overlap complex".

Structural requirements of tropomodulin for tropomyosin binding and actin filament capping.

Regulation of actin filament dynamics underlies many cellular functions. Tropomodulin together with tropomyosin can cap the pointed, slowly polymerizing, filament end, inhibiting addition or loss of actin monomers. Tropomodulin has an unstructured N-terminal region that binds tropomyosin and a folded C-terminal domain with six leucine-rich repeats.