Growth and endothelial differentiation of adipose stem cells on polycaprolactone.

Adipose tissue is a readily available source of multipotent adult stem cells for use in tissue engineering/regenerative medicine. Various growth factors have been used to stimulate acquisition of endothelial characteristics by adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC). Herein, we study the growth and endothelial differentiation potential of ADSC seeded onto a porous polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold.

Beta-tricalcium phosphate 3D scaffold promote alone osteogenic differentiation of human adipose stem cells: in vitro study.

Human adipose tissues surgically resected from the subcutaneous abdominal region were enzymatically processed to obtain Human Adipose Stem cells (fibroblast-like adipose tissue-derived stromal cells-ADSC-FL) that were immunophenotypically characterized using a panel of mesenchymal markers by flow cytometry. The formation of new hydroxyapatite crystals in culture dishes, by differentiating cells, further demonstrate the osteogenic potential of purified cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the osteogenic differentiation potential of ADSC-FL seeded onto a porous beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) matrix.

Cell surface protein detection with immunogold labelling in ESEM: optimisation of the method and semi-quantitative analysis.

In this work we used a combination of immunogold labelling (IGL) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) to detect the presence of a protein on the cell surface. To achieve this purpose we chose as experimental system 3T3 Swiss Albino Mouse Fibroblasts and galectin-3. This protein, whose sub-cellular distribution is still under discussion, is involved in a large number of cell physiological and pathological processes.

Adhesion and proliferation of fibroblasts on RF plasma-deposited nanostructured fluorocarbon coatings: evidence of FAK activation.

We used combined plasma-deposition process to deposit smooth and nanostructured fluorocarbon coatings on polyethylenethereftalate (PET) substrates, to obtain surfaces with identical chemical composition and different roughness, and investigate the effect of surface nanostructures on adhesion and proliferation of 3T3 Swiss Albino Mouse fibroblasts. Untreated PET and polystyrene (PS) were used as controls for cell culture. We have found that the statistically significant increase of cell proliferation rate and FAK (a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase) activation detected on ROUGH fluorocarbon surfaces is due to the presence of nanostructures.

A critical overview of ESEM applications in the biological field.

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is a powerful research tool, but since it requires high vacuum conditions, the wet materials and biological samples must undergo a complex preparation that limits the application of SEM on this kind of specimen and often causes the introduction of artifacts. The introduction of Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), working in gaseous atmosphere, represented a new perspective in biological research. Despite the fact that many biological applications have demonstrated the convenience of ESEM, the full potentialities of this technology are still under investigation.

Plasma Membrane Domains and the Site of Sperm Entrance in Discoglossus pictus (Anura) Eggs: (amphibians/egg/plasma membrane/freeze-fracture).

Freeze-fracture quantitative analysis reveals three different plasma membrane (PM) domains in the unfertilized egg of the anuran Discoglossus pictus. One of these is specific to the sperm entrance site (D1). where the plasma membrane shows a larger number of intramembranous particles (IMP) than the rest of the egg surface.