Peripheral Nerve Decellularization for Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel Use: A Comparative Study.

The rise of tissue-engineered biomaterials has introduced more clinically translatable models of disease, including three-dimensional (3D) decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) hydrogels. Specifically, decellularized nerve hydrogels have been utilized to model peripheral nerve injuries and disorders ; however, there lacks standardization in decellularization methods. Here, rat sciatic nerves of varying preparations were decellularized using previously established methods: sodium deoxycholate (SD)-based, 3-((3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio)-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS)-based, and apoptosis-mediated.

The biology and engineered modeling strategies of cancer-nerve crosstalk.

A recent finding critical to cancer aggravation is the interaction between cancer cells and nerves. There exist two main modes of cancer-nerve interaction: perineural invasion (PNI) and tumor innervation. PNI occurs when cancer cells infiltrate the adjacent nerves, and its relative opposite, tumor innervation, occurs when axons extend into tumor bodies.

Community shelter use in response to two benthic decapod predators in the Long Island Sound.

To investigate community shelter effects of two invasive decapod species, Hemigrapsus sanguineus and Carcinus maenas, in the Long Island Sound (LIS), we deployed artificial shelters in the intertidal and immediate subtidal zones. These consisted of five groups during the summer: a control, a resident H. sanguineus male or female group, and a resident C.

In vitro phenotypic characterization of hepatitis C virus NS3 protease variants observed in clinical studies of telaprevir.

Telaprevir is a linear, peptidomimetic small molecule that inhibits hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication by specifically inhibiting the NS3·4A protease. In phase 3 clinical studies, telaprevir in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin (PR) significantly improved sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in genotype 1 chronic HCV-infected patients compared with PR alone. In patients who do not achieve SVR after treatment with telaprevir-based regimens, variants with mutations in the NS3·4A protease region have been observed.