Unraveling the Mechanisms of Hypertrophy-Induced Matrix Mineralization and Modifications in Articular Chondrocytes.

Chondrocyte hypertrophic differentiation is a main event leading to articular cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis. It is associated with matrix remodeling and mineralization, the dynamics of which is not well characterized during chondrocyte hypertrophic differentiation in articular cartilage. Based on an in vitro model of progressive differentiation of immature murine articular chondrocytes (iMACs) into prehypertrophic (Prehyp) and hypertrophic (Hyp) chondrocytes, we performed kinetics of chondrocyte differentiation from Prehyp to Hyp to follow matrix mineralization and remodeling by immunofluorescence, biochemical, molecular, and physicochemical approaches, including atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy associated with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), attenuated total reflection infrared analyses, and X-ray diffraction.

Ion intercalation dynamics of electrosynthesized mesoporous WO3 thin films studied by multi-scale coupled electrogravimetric methods.

Mesoporous WO3 thin films were prepared electrochemically by using an ionic surfactant during the synthesis, and the electrochemical properties are investigated in comparison with their dense analogues. This report specifically highlights the suitability of a time resolved coupled electrogravimetric method to follow meticulously the ion intercalation/extraction phenomena which revealed the enhanced ion intercalation/extraction behavior of electrodeposited mesoporous WO3 thin films for diverse applications in energy storage and electrochromism. This methodology (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and its coupling with a fast quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)) has the ability to detect the contribution of the charged or uncharged species during the electrochemical processes, and to deconvolute the global EQCM responses into the anionic, cationic, and the free solvent contributions.

Characterization of counterion and surface influence on micelle formation using tapping mode atomic force microscopy in air.

Cylindrical micelles prepared in aqueous solutions from cationic surfactants octadecyl trimethylammonium (OTA+) or cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA+) and parachlorobenzoate (PCB) counterion were successfully imaged after evaporation of water using tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) onto very smooth gold and glass substrates. With the help of the obtained topography AFM images, it was shown that the micellar structures are preserved on gold substrates after evaporation of the solvent despite the new set of stresses due mainly to capillary forces and dehydration. The influence of the substrate on the resulting micellar morphology observed in air was investigated for these two materials: cylindrical micelles were evidenced as loosely adherent on gold surface in the presence of parachlorobenzoate (PCB) and identical, geometrically speaking, to those known to exist in aqueous solutions.