Scaffolded spheroids as building blocks for bottom-up cartilage tissue engineering show enhanced bioassembly dynamics.

Due to the capability of cell spheroids (SPH) to assemble into large high cell density constructs, their use as building blocks attracted a lot of attention in the field of biofabrication. Nevertheless, upon maturation, the composition along with the size of such building blocks change, affecting their fusiogenic ability to form a cohesive tissue construct of controllable size. This natural phenomenon remains a limitation for the standardization of spheroid-based therapies in the clinical setting.

Embryonic and juvenile snakes (Natrix maura, Linnaeus 1758) compensate for high elevation hypoxia via shifts in cardiovascular physiology and metabolism.

The colonization of novel environments requires a favorable response to conditions never, or rarely, encountered in recent evolutionary history. For example, populations colonizing upslope habitats must cope with lower atmospheric pressure at elevation, and thus reduced oxygen availability. The embryo stage in oviparous organisms is particularly susceptible, given its lack of mobility and limited gas exchange via diffusion through the eggshell and membranes.

Temperature-independent telomere lengthening with age in the long-lived human fish ().

Despite a number of studies showing a negative relationship between age and telomere length, the universality of this pattern has been recently challenged, mainly in ectothermic animals exhibiting diverse effects of age on telomere shortening. However, data on ectotherms may be strongly affected by the thermal history of the individuals. We thus investigated the age-related changes in relative telomere length in the skin of a small but long-lived amphibian living naturally in a stable thermal environment over its entire life, allowing comparison with other homeothermic animals like birds and mammals.

Plastic responses to warmer climates: a semi-natural experiment on lizard populations.

Facing warming environments, species can exhibit plastic or microevolutionary changes in their thermal physiology to adapt to novel climates. Here, using semi-natural mesocosms, we experimentally investigated over two successive years whether a 2°C-warmer climate produces selective and inter- and intragenerational plastic changes in the thermal traits (preferred temperature and dorsal coloration) of the lizard Zootoca vivipara. In a warmer climate, the dorsal darkness, dorsal contrast, and preferred temperature of adults plastically decreased and covariances between these traits were disrupted.

Adaptive Maternal Effects Shape Offspring Phenotype and Survival in Natal Environments.

AbstractMaternal effects can give newborns a head start in life by adjusting natal phenotypes to natal environments, yet their strength and adaptiveness are often difficult to investigate in natural populations. Here, we studied anticipatory maternal effects and their adaptiveness in common lizards in a seminatural experimental system. Specifically, we investigated how maternal environments (i.

Interplay between biofilm microenvironment and pathogenicity of in cystic fibrosis lung chronic infection.

(PA) is a highly, if not the most, versatile microorganism capable of colonizing diverse environments. One of the niches in which PA is able to thrive is the lung of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Due to a genetic aberration, the lungs of CF-affected patients exhibit impaired functions, rendering them highly susceptible to bacterial colonization.

Polyoxazoline hydrogels fabricated by stereolithography.

The development of hydrogel materials in additive manufacturing displaying stiff and strong mechanical properties while maintaining high water uptake remains a great challenge. Taking advantage of the versatility of poly(oxazoline) (POx) chemistry and properties, we investigated in this article a new generation of POx hydrogels fabricated by stereolithography (SLA). A large range of photosensitive poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) resins were synthesized as hydrogel precursors for SLA photofabrication.

Hybrid spheroid microscaffolds as modular tissue units to build macro-tissue assemblies for tissue engineering.

Since its inception, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has been relying on either scaffold-based or scaffold-free strategies. Recent reports outlined the possibility of a synergistic, convergence approach, referred to as the third TERM strategy, which could alleviate bottlenecks of the two previous options. This strategy requires the fabrication of highly porous microscaffolds, allowing to create single spheroids within each of them.

Impacts of temperature on O consumption of the Pyrenean brook newt (Calotriton asper) from populations along an elevational gradient.

Global warming impacts biodiversity worldwide, leading to species' adaptation, migration, or extinction. The population's persistence depends on the maintenance of essential activities, which is notably driven by phenotypic adaptation to local environments. Metabolic rate - that increases with temperature in ectotherms - is a key physiological proxy for the energy available to fuel individuals' activities.

Photoprintable Gelatin--Poly(trimethylene carbonate) by Stereolithography for Tissue Engineering Applications.

The stereolithography process is a powerful additive manufacturing technology to fabricate scaffolds for regenerative medicine. Nevertheless, the quest for versatile inks allowing one to produce scaffolds with controlled properties is still unsatisfied. In this original article, we tackle this bottleneck by synthesizing a panel of photoprocessable hybrid copolymers composed of gelatin--poly(trimethylene carbonate)s (Gel--PTMC).

A Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Loaded with Gentamicin and Vancomycin Successfully Eradicates Chronic Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Orthopedic Infection in a Sheep Model.

Implantable orthopedic devices have had an enormously positive impact on human health; however, despite best practice, patients are prone to developing orthopedic device-related infections (ODRI) that have high treatment failure rates. One barrier to the development of improved treatment options is the lack of an animal model that may serve as a robust preclinical assessment of efficacy. We present a clinically relevant large animal model of chronic methicillin-resistant (MRSA) ODRI that persists despite current clinical practice in medical and surgical treatment at rates equivalent to clinical observations.

Reduction in the metabolic levels due to phenotypic plasticity in the Pyrenean newt, , during cave colonization.

According to theories on cave adaptation, cave organisms are expected to develop a lower metabolic rate compared to surface organisms as an adaptation to food scarcity in the subterranean environments. To test this hypothesis, we compared the oxygen consumption rates of the surface and subterranean populations of a surface-dwelling species, the newt occasionally found in caves. In this study, we designed a new experimental setup in which animals with free movement were monitored for several days in a respirometer.

3D Printing of large-scale and highly porous biodegradable tissue engineering scaffolds from poly(trimethylene-carbonate) using two-photon-polymerization.

The introduction of two-photon polymerization (2PP) to the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has led to great expectations for the production of scaffolds with an unprecedented degree of complexity and tailorable architecture. Unfortunately, resolution and size are usually mutually exclusive when using 2PP, resulting in a lack of highly-detailed scaffolds with a relevant size for clinical application. Through the combination of using a highly reactive photopolymer and optimizing key printing parameters, we propose for the first time a biodegradable and biocompatible poly(trimethylene-carbonate) (PTMC)-based scaffold of large size (18 × 18 × 0.

Poly(Aspartic Acid) Functionalized Poly(ϵ-Caprolactone) Microspheres with Enhanced Hydroxyapatite Affinity as Bone Targeting Antibiotic Carriers.

Bone infection is a feared complication for patients with surgically fixed bone fractures and local antibiotic delivery is important in prophylaxis and treatment of these infections. Recent studies indicated that can penetrate bone tissue through micron-sized canaliculi and evade systemic and currently available local antibiotic treatments. Targeting bacteria within the bone requires highly efficient delivery of antimicrobials to the infected bone tissue.

Thermo-Responsive Antimicrobial Hydrogel for the In-Situ Coating of Mesh Materials for Hernia Repair.

The prophylactic coating of prosthetic mesh materials for hernia repair with antimicrobial compounds is commonly performed before implantation of the mesh in the abdominal wall. We propose a novel alternative, which is a rifampicin-loaded thermo-responsive hydrogel formulation, to be applied on the mesh after its implantation. This formulation becomes a gel in-situ once reached body temperature, allowing an optimal coating of the mesh along with the surrounding tissues.

Development of bone seeker-functionalised microspheres as a targeted local antibiotic delivery system for bone infections.

Objective: Bone infections are challenging to treat because of limited capability of systemic antibiotics to accumulate at the bone site. To enhance therapeutic action, systemic treatments are commonly combined with local antibiotic-loaded materials. Nevertheless, available drug carriers have undesirable properties, including inappropriate antibiotic release profiles and nonbiodegradability.

Synergistic anti-fouling and bactericidal poly(ether ether ketone) surfaces via a one-step photomodification.

Implants of poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) are gaining importance in surgical bone reconstruction of the skull. As with any implant material, PEEK is susceptible to bacterial contamination and occasionally PEEK implants were removed from patients because of infection. To address this problem, a combination of anti-fouling and bactericidal polymers is grafted onto PEEK.

Stromal vascular fraction cells as biologic coating of mesh for hernia repair.

Background: The interest in non-manipulated cells originating from adipose tissue has raised tremendously in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The resulting stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells have been successfully used in numerous clinical applications. The aim of this experimental work is, first to combine a macroporous synthetic mesh with SVF isolated using a mechanical disruption process, and to assess the effect of those cells on the early healing phase of hernia.

Orbital floor repair using patient specific osteoinductive implant made by stereolithography.

The orbital floor (OF) is an anatomical location in the craniomaxillofacial (CMF) region known to be highly variable in shape and size. When fractured, implants commonly consisting of titanium meshes are customized by plying and crude hand-shaping. Nevertheless, more precise customized synthetic grafts are needed to meticulously reconstruct the patients' OF anatomy with better fidelity.

Efficacy of antimicrobial agents delivered to hernia meshes using an adaptable thermo-responsive hyaluronic acid-based coating.

Purpose: Mesh-related infection is a critical outcome for patients with hernia defect stabilized with synthetic or biological meshes. Even though bioactive meshes loaded with antibiotics or antiseptics are slowly emerging in the market, the available solutions still lack versatility. Here, we proposed a polymer solution, i.

Isolation and characterization of fourteen polymorphic microsatellite markers in the viperine snake .

Nineteen polymorphic microsatellite loci were identified and developed for . Polymorphism was assessed for 120 individuals sampled across four sampling sites from the French Pyrenees Mountains. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 15, and expected heterozygosity per locus ranged from 0.