The application of pancreatic cancer organoids for novel drug discovery.

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma presents with a dismal prognosis. Personalized therapy is urgently warranted to overcome the treatment limitations of the 'one-size-fits-all' scheme. Organoids have emerged as fundamental novel tools to study tumor biology and heterogeneity, hence overcoming limitations of other model systems by better-reflecting tissue heterogeneity and recapitulating in-vivo processes.

A Three-Dimensional Engineered Cardiac In Vitro Model: Controlled Alignment of Cardiomyocytes in 3D Microphysiological Systems.

Cardiomyocyte alignment in myocardium tissue plays a significant role in the physiological, electrical, and mechanical functions of the myocardium. It remains, however, difficult to align cardiac cells in a 3D in vitro heart model. This paper proposes a simple method to align cells using microfabricated Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) grooves with large dimensions (of up to 350 µm in width), similar to the dimensions of trabeculae carneae, the smallest functional unit of the myocardium.

Toward a Physiologically Relevant 3D Helicoidal-Oriented Cardiac Model: Simultaneous Application of Mechanical Stimulation and Surface Topography.

Myocardium consists of cardiac cells that interact with their environment through physical, biochemical, and electrical stimulations. The physiology, function, and metabolism of cardiac tissue are affected by this dynamic structure. Within the myocardium, cardiomyocytes' orientations are parallel, creating a dominant orientation.

Highly Efficient Cardiac Differentiation and Maintenance by Thrombin-Coagulated Fibrin Hydrogels Enriched with Decellularized Porcine Heart Extracellular Matrix.

Biochemical and biophysical properties instruct cardiac tissue morphogenesis. Here, we are reporting on a blend of cardiac decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) from porcine ventricular tissue and fibrinogen that is suitable for investigations employing an in vitro 3D cardiac cell culture model. Rapid and specific coagulation with thrombin facilitates the gentle inclusion of cells while avoiding sedimentation during formation of the dECM-fibrin composite.

Coplanar embedding of multiple 3D cell models in hydrogel towards high-throughput micro-histology.

Standardised and high-throughput methods have been developed for the production and experimental handling of some 3D in vitro models. However, adapted analytical tools are still missing for scientists and researchers to fully exploit the potential of complex cellular models in pre-clinical drug testing and precision medicine. Histology is the established, cost-effective and gold standard method for structural and functional tissue analysis.

Oxygen-rich Environment Ameliorates Cell Therapy Outcomes of Cardiac Progenitor Cells for Myocardial Infarction.

To some extent, cell therapy for myocardial infarction (MI) has supported the idea of cardiac repair; however, further optimizations are inevitable. Combined approaches that comprise suitable cell sources and supporting molecules considerably improved its effect. Here, we devised a strategy of simultaneous transplantation of human cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) and an optimized oxygen generating microparticles (MPs) embedded in fibrin hydrogel, which was injected into a left anterior descending artery (LAD) ligating-based rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Effects of chronic hypoxia on the expression of seladin-1/Tuj1 and the number of dark neurons of hippocampus.

Background: There are evidences showing the relation between chronic hypoxia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) as a metabolic neurodegenerative disease. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of chronic hypoxia on factors which characterized in AD to introduce a new model of AD-dementia.

Methods And Materials: Twenty-four male rats were randomly divided in three groups: Control group (Co), Sham group (Sh), Hypoxia induction group (Hx, exposed to hypoxic chamber [oxygen 8% and nitrogen 92%] for 30 days, 4 h/day).

Fabrication and characterization of ovalbumin films for wound dressing applications.

A great number of people suffer from burning injuries all around the world each year. Applying an appropriate wound dressing can promote new tissue formation, prevent losing water and inhibit invasion of infectious organisms. In this study, egg white with a long standing history, as a homemade remedy, was fabricated as a wound dressing for burn injuries.