Critical adhesion areas of cells on micro-nanopatterns.

Unlabelled: Cell adhesion to extracellular matrices (ECM) is critical to physiological and pathological processes as well as biomedical and biotechnological applications. It has been known that a cell can adhere on an adhesive microisland only over a critical size. But no publication has concerned critical adhesion areas of cells on microislands with nanoarray decoration.

H Static Output Feedback for Low-Frequency Networked Control Systems With a Decentralized Event-Triggered Scheme.

This paper investigates an H static output feedback for a low-frequency (LF) networked control system (NCS). A decentralized event-triggered scheme (DETS) is proposed to reduce the network communication loads. The LF NCS with the DETS is modeled as a time-delay system with an LF constraint.

Double-Loop Stability for High Frequency Networked Control Systems Subject to Actuator Saturation.

This paper generalizes stability for a high frequency networked control system (NCS) subject to actuator saturation via integral quadratic constraints. A delta operator system with a high frequency constraint is used to model the high frequency NCS. Double-loop stability is treated via outer-loop and interloop feedback configurations for the high frequency NCS.

Episomal lentiviral vectors confer erythropoietin expression in dividing cells.

Lentiviral vectors are now widely considered as one of the most common gene delivery tools for dividing and non-dividing cells. However, insertional mutagenesis has been found in clinical trials with retroviral vectors, which poses a safety risk. The use of non-integrating lentiviral (NIL) vectors, which avoid integration, eliminates the insertional mutagenesis problem.

Diagnostic value of CYFRA 21-1 and CEA for predicting lymph node metastasis in operable lung cancer.

Tumour markers are used extensively for the management of lung cancer, including diagnosis, evaluating effectiveness of treatments, monitoring recurrence after therapy and for predicting prognosis. However, there exists a knowledge gap regarding potential quantitative correlations between tumour marker levels and the extents of lymph node involvement in primary lung cancer. The current study is comprised of 139 lung cancer patients scheduled to undergo surgical operation.

Plasma D-dimer value as a predictor of malignant lymph node involvement in operable non-small cell lung cancer.

Fibrin deposition and remodelling of the extracellular matrix are important early steps in tumour metastasis. The D-dimer value is an indicator of intravascular fibrin formation and degradation. Thus, the D-dimer value may be a predictor of the malignant involvement of lymph nodes in operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Fabrication of RGD micro/nanopattern and corresponding study of stem cell differentiation.

Micropatterns of gold (Au) nanoarrays on inorganic and polymeric substrates were fabricated by combining block copolymer micelle nanolithography to obtain gold nanoarrays on glass, photolithography plus hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching to generate microislands, and transfer lithography to shift the gold micro/nanopatterns from glass to a bioinert poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel surface. Further the modification of the gold nanodots via cell-adhesive arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) ligands was carried out to achieve peptide micro/nanopatterns. Whereas the micro/nanopatterns of noble metals could be useful in various applications, the peptide micro/nanopatterns especially enable persistent cell localization on adhesive micropatterns of RGD nanoarrays on the background of potently nonfouling PEG hydrogels, and thus offer a powerful tool to investigate cell-material interactions on both molecular and cellular levels.

Adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on RGD nanopatterns of varied nanospacings.

The present report is an extension of our preceding publication in Biomaterials (2013) entitled "Effect of RGD nanospacing on differentiation of stem cells." Cell-adhesive peptide arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) was nanopatterned on a non-fouling poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from rat bone marrow were cultured on the patterned surfaces at nanospacings from 37 to 124 nm. Cell adhesion parameters such as spreading areas varied with RGD nanospacings significantly.

Effect of RGD nanospacing on differentiation of stem cells.

Nanopatterns of a cell-adhesive peptide arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) on a persistently non-fouling poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel were prepared, and behaviours of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on patterns of five RGD nanospacings from 37 to 124 nm were examined under a full level of serum for eight days. Besides cell adhesion, osteogenic and adipogenic inductions of MSCs from rat bone marrow were observed in corresponding media. We not only confirmed the nanospacing dependence of cell spreading previously reported in other cell types (non-stem cells) such as less spreading in the case of nanospacings larger than the critical 70 nm, but also found the effect of RGD nanospacing on lineage commitments of stem cells.

Control of cell nucleus shapes via micropillar patterns.

We herein report a material technique to control the shapes of cell nuclei by the design of the microtopography of substrates to which the cells adhere. Poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) micropillars or micropits of a series of height or depth were fabricated, and some surprising self deformation of the nuclei of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) was found in the case of micropillars with a sufficient height. Despite severe nucleus deformation, BMSCs kept the ability of proliferation and differentiation.

Critical areas of cell adhesion on micropatterned surfaces.

The adhesive area is important to modulate cell behaviors on a substrate. This paper aims to semi-quantitatively examine the existence of the characteristic areas of cell adhesion on the level of individual cells. We prepared a series of micropatterned surfaces with adhesive microislands of various sizes on an adhesion-resistant background, and cultured cells of MC3T3-E1 (osteoblast), BMSC (bone mesenchymal stem cell) or NIH3T3 (fibroblast) on those modeled surfaces.