Generation and transplantation of hepatocytes-like cells using human origin hepatogenic serum for acute liver injury treatment.

Liver failure is a critical disease for which regenerative therapies are still being explored. The major limitation in the use of a clinical grade, viable cell-based therapy approach is the scarce availability of sufficient number of in-vitro differentiated hepatocyte-like cells (HLC) that can induce regeneration and ameliorate liver injury. Here, we report for the first time an approach to engineer HLCs using sera of hyperbilirubin patients that act as a reservoir of differentiation factor.

A critical appraisal of humanized alternatives to fetal bovine serum for clinical applications of umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stromal cells.

Objective: The study is aimed to verify the possibility of using humanized alternatives to fetal bovine serum (FBS) such as umbilical cord blood plasma (CBP) and AB plasma to support the long-term growth of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from the umbilical cord. We hypothesized that umbilical CBP would be a potential substitute to FBS, especially for small scale autologous clinical transplantations.

Methods: The MSCs were cultured for six consecutive passages to evaluate xeno-free media's ability to support long-term growth.

Recent trends in biodegradable polyester nanomaterials for cancer therapy.

Biodegradable polyester nanomaterials-based drug delivery vehicles (DDVs) have been largely used in most of the cancer treatments due to its high biological performance and wider applications. In several previous studies, various biodegradable and biocompatible polyester backbones were used which are poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF), poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS). These polyesters were fabricated into therapeutic nanoparticles that carry drug molecules to the target site during the cancer disease treatment.

Eumelanin Nanoparticle-Incorporated Polyvinyl Alcohol Nanofibrous Composite as an Electroconductive Scaffold for Skeletal Muscle Tissue Engineering.

Eumelanins are melanocyte-derived natural pigments with inherent electrical cues and outstanding physicochemical properties, which enhance the electroconductivity of the synthetic polymeric scaffold, upon incorporation as nanoparticles. Electrospun nanofibrous meshes generated from such composite polymers are of great interest for muscle tissue engineering applications. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of fabricating nanofibrous scaffolds of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) incorporated with eumelanin nanoparticles (EUNp) by electrospinning and further assessed their impact on myogenic differentiation of skeletal myoblasts.

Generation of clinical-grade red blood cells from human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells.

A xeno-free method for ex vivo generation of red blood cells (RBCs) is attempted in order to replicate for large-scale production and clinical applications. An efficient milieu was formulated using injectable drugs substituting the animal-derived components in the culture medium. Unfractionated mononuclear cells isolated from human umbilical cord blood were used hypothesizing that the heterogeneous cell population could effectively contribute to erythroid cell generation.

A Patient-Inspired Ex Vivo Liver Tissue Engineering Approach with Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Hepatogenic Serum.

Design and development of ex vivo bioengineered liver tissue substitutes intended for subsequent in vivo implantation has been considered therapeutically relevant to treat many liver diseases that require whole-organ replacement on a long-term basis. The present study focus on patient-inspired ex vivo liver tissue engineering strategy to generate hepatocyte-scaffold composite by combining bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) derived from cardiac failure patients with secondary hyperbilirubinemia as primers of hepatic differentiation and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-enriched sera from same individuals as hepatic inducer. A biodegradable and implantable electrospun fibrous mesh of poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) and gelatin is used as supporting matrix (average fiber diameter = 285 ± 64 nm, porosity = 81 ± 4%, and average pore size = 1.

Low frequency magnetic force augments hepatic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on a biomagnetic nanofibrous scaffold.

Liver tissue engineering using polymeric nanofibrous scaffold and stem cells holds great promises for treating end-stage liver failures. The aim of this study was to evaluate hepatic trans-differentiation potential of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on a biomagnetic electrospun nanofibrous scaffold fabricated from a blend of poly-L-lactide (PLLA), collagen and fibrin-rich blood clot, under the influence of a low frequency magnetic field. The scaffold was characterized for surface properties, biochemical and biomechanical parameters and bio-magnetic behaviour.

Nanofibers coated on acellular tissue-engineered bovine pericardium supports differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into endothelial cells for tissue engineering.

Aim: This study aimed to develop biodegradable, polymer-based nanofibers coated on acellular tissue-engineered bovine pericardium (ATEBP) for cell interfaces, enabling more exquisite functionality, such as mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) adhesion, proliferation and differentiation into endothelial cells for tissue engineering.

Materials & Methods: ATEBP coated with nanofibers of poly(L-lactic acid)-co-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PLACL) and a blend of PLACL and gelatin were analyzed for human bone marrow-derived MSC adhesion, proliferation and differentiation into endothelial cells.

Results: The cell culture-based approach showed an increase in human bone marrow-derived MSC adhesion, proliferation and differentiation into endothelial cells on ATEBP coated with PLACL/gelatin nanofibers compared with ATEBP and PLACL nanofibers coated on ATEBP.

In vitro hepatic trans-differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells using sera from congestive/ischemic liver during cardiac failure.

Cellular therapy for end-stage liver failures using human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs)-derived hepatocytes is a potential alternative to liver transplantation. Hepatic trans-differentiation of hMSCs is routinely accomplished by induction with commercially available recombinant growth factors, which is of limited clinical applications. In the present study, we have evaluated the potential of sera from cardiac-failure-associated congestive/ischemic liver patients for hepatic trans-differentiation of hMSCs.

Nanofiber-reinforced myocardial tissue-construct as ventricular assist device.

Objectives: This study aimed to create a myocardial tissue construct by tissue engineering to repair, replace, and regenerate damaged cardiac tissue.

Methods And Results: Human cardiac muscles harvested from a homograft heart retrieval system were decellularized followed by coating with electrospun nanofibers to make them amenable to scaffolding. These processed cardiac tissues were nourished in modified media having ischemic cardiac tissue conditioned media in 6 separate experimental variants, and cord blood mononuclear cells were injected into 4 of them.

Trans-differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells generates functional hepatospheres on poly(l-lactic acid)-co-poly(ε-caprolactone)/collagen nanofibrous scaffolds.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based liver tissue engineering on nanofibrous scaffold holds great promise for cell-based therapy in liver injuries and end-stage liver failure treatments. We investigated the hepatic trans-differentiation potential of human MSCs on a biocomposite poly(l-lactic acid)-co-poly (ε-caprolactone)/collagen (PLACL/collagen) nanofibrous scaffold. The nanofibrous scaffolds comprised of PLACL, collagen and a PLACL/collagen blend (2 : 1) were fabricated by electrospinning and also evaluated for fiber morphology, surface wettability, functional groups, porosity and tensile properties.

Biomimetic acellular detoxified glutaraldehyde cross-linked bovine pericardium for tissue engineering.

Glutaraldehyde (GLUT) processing, cellular antigens, calcium ions in circulation, and phospholipids present in the native tissue are predominantly responsible for calcification, degeneration, and lack of natural microenvironment for host progenitor cell migration in tissue implants. The study presents an improved methodology for adhesion and proliferation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) without significant changes in biomechanical and biodegradation properties of the processed acellular bovine pericardium. The anti-calcification potential of the processed tissue was enhanced by detoxification of GLUT-cross-linked bovine pericardium by decellularization, pretreating it with ethanol or removing the free aldehydes by citric acid treatment and lyophilization.

Ischemic cardiac tissue conditioned media induced differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells into early stage cardiomyocytes.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent, can be easily expanded in culture and hence are an attractive therapeutic tool for cardiac repair. MSCs have tremendous potential to transdifferentiate to cardiac lineage both in vitro and in vivo. The present study examined the differentiation capacity of conditioned media derived from ischemic cardiac tissue on human MSCs.

A multiplex PCR technique to characterize human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with capacity to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes, offer potential for the development of novel treatments. A critical question in MSCs biology is whether this cell population possesses a relatively uniform differentiation capability or is comprised of distinct subsets of progenitors committed to differentiate in particular pathways. To quantify the changes during growth of MSCs, we analyzed the mesenchymal phenotype and differentiation ability using a multi-marker PCR with six primer sets specific for CD73, CD90, CD105, CD166, CD45 and beta-actin allowing a gel-based differential detection of the PCR products.