A facile method to fabricate versatile keratin cryogels for tissue engineering applications.

Human hair keratin (HHK) has been extensively explored as a biomaterial for soft tissue regeneration due to their excellent bioactivity and biocompatibility. The possibility to fabricate HHK into three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels with physical properties resembling soft tissues has been well demonstrated. However, conventional keratin hydrogels often exhibit a dense architecture that could hinder cell filtration.

Water-soluble extracellular vesicle probes based on conjugated oligoelectrolytes.

We developed a series of transmembrane conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs) with tunable optical emissions from the UV to the near IR to address the false-positive problem when detecting nanometer-sized extracellular vesicles (EVs) by flow cytometry. The amphiphilic molecular framework of COEs is defined by a linear conjugated structure and cationic charged groups at each terminal site. Consequently, COEs have excellent water solubility and the absence of nanoaggregates at concentrations up to 50 μM, and unbound COE dyes can be readily removed through ultrafiltration.

Human hair proteins as natural reactive oxygen species scavengers for in vitro applications.

Human hair proteins are recognized for their intrinsically high cysteine content. They can be solubilized while preserving their highly reductive thiol groups for free radical scavenging applications. The presence of aromatic and nucleophilic amino acids such as methionine, serine, phenylalanine, and threonine further contribute to the antioxidative potential of this material.

Phosphorylation of Cofilin-1 Enhances Paclitaxel Resistance of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cells by Inhibiting Apoptosis.

Objective: To investigate the molecular mechanism of high phosphorylation levels of cofilin-1 (p-CFL-1) associated with paclitaxel resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells.

Methods: Cells displaying varying levels of p-CFL-1 and CFL-1 were created by plasmid transfection and shRNA interference. Cell inhibition rate indicating paclitaxel efficacy was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay.

Anisotropic hair keratin-dopamine composite scaffolds exhibit strain-stiffening properties.

Human hair keratin (HHK) has been successfully explored as raw materials for three-dimensional scaffolds for soft tissue regeneration due to its excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity. However, none of the reported HHK based scaffolds is able to replicate the strain-stiffening capacity of living tissues when responding to large deformations. In the present study, strain-stiffening property was achieved in scaffolds fabricated from HHK via a synergistic effect of well-defined, aligned microstructure and chemical crosslinking.

Routine intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: application of the 2016 WSES guidelines for predicting choledocholithiasis.

Background: Routine use of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for detecting common bile duct stones remains controversial. The 2016 World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) guidelines on acute calculous cholecystitis proposed a risk stratification for choledocholithiasis. Our present study aimed to (1) examine the findings of common bile duct (CBD) stones in patients underwent LC with routine use of IOC, and (2) validate the 2016 WSES risk classes for predicting choledocholithiasis.

Self-Assembly of Solubilized Human Hair Keratins.

Human hair keratins have proven to be a viable biomaterial for diverse regenerative applications. However, the most significant characteristic of this material, the ability to self-assemble into nanoscale intermediate filaments, has not been exploited. Herein, we successfully demonstrated the induction of hair-extracted keratin self-assembly in vitro to form dense, homogeneous, and continuous nanofibrous networks.

Characterization of Anisotropic Human Hair Keratin Scaffolds Fabricated via Directed Ice Templating.

Human hair keratin (HHK) is successfully exploited as raw materials for 3D scaffolds for soft tissue regeneration owing to its excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity. However, most HHK scaffolds are not able to achieve the anisotropic mechanical properties of soft tissues such as tendons and ligaments due to lack of tunable, well-defined microstructures. In this study, directed ice templating method is used to fabricate anisotropic HHK scaffolds that are characterized by aligned pores (channels) in between keratin layers in the longitudinal plane.

Hydroxyapatite Particles Induced Modulation of Collagen Expression and Secretion in Primary Human Dermal Fibroblasts.

Background: Hydroxyapatite (HA) [Ca(PO4)(OH)] is a naturally occurring calcium phosphate which makes up 60-70% of the dry weight of human bones. Nano-scale HA particles are increasingly being used as carriers for controlled and targeted delivery of bioactive agents like drugs, proteins, and nucleic acids due to their high porosity, negative charge, and biodegradability.

Purpose: Although much effort has been devoted to understanding the delivery kinetics and effects of the payloads in such carriers, a thorough understanding of the influence of the carriers themselves is lacking.

A Self-Healing and Shape Memory Polymer that Functions at Body Temperature.

Dual-functional polymeric system combining shape memory with self-healing properties has attracted increasingly interests of researchers, as both of these properties are intelligent and promising characteristics. Moreover, shape memory polymer that functions at human body temperature (37 °C) are desirable because of their potential applications in biomedical field. Herein, we designed a polymer network with a permanent covalent crosslinking and abundant weak hydrogen bonds.

Bacteria Display Differential Growth and Adhesion Characteristics on Human Hair Shafts.

Apart from the skin surface, hair represents a significant tissue component with a capacity of bacterial interactions. New information can be obtained about hair function through the characterization of bacterial adherence, colonization, and responses to hair shafts In this proof-of-principle study, we examine the growth kinetics of Gram-positive and and Gram-negative and in the presence of human hair shafts. We explore the ability of these bacteria to adhere to and colonize hair shaft surfaces, as well as the resulting impact on the hair's surface morphology.

Distinct Mechanical and Self-Healing Properties in Two Polydimethylsiloxane Coordination Polymers with Fine-Tuned Bond Strength.

Coordination bonds are effective for constructing highly efficient self-healing materials as their strength is highly tunable. To design self-healing polymers with better performance, it is important to get a profound understanding of the structure-property relationships. However, this is challenging for self-healing polymers based on coordination bonds, because many parameters, such as bond energy, bond dynamics, and coordination number will have an essential effect on the mechanical and self-healing properties of the polymer.

Studies on the Proteome of Human Hair - Identification of Histones and Deamidated Keratins.

Human hair is laminar-fibrous tissue and an evolutionarily old keratinization product of follicle trichocytes. Studies on the hair proteome can give new insights into hair function and lead to the development of novel biomarkers for hair in health and disease. Human hair proteins were extracted by detergent and detergent-free techniques.

Evaluating the antioxidant effects of human hair protein extracts.

The intrinsically high cysteine content in human hair keratins and keratin associated proteins confer hair its outstanding mechanical strength through the formation of strong intermolecular disulfide bonds. In addition, these proteins offer the potential to be exploited as potent antioxidants. This report presents our findings on the antioxidant effects of human hair protein extracts and their consequent protective role against oxidative stress in human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cultures.

[Mechanism of hetero-erythromycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and a comparison of detection methods].

Objective: To explore the phenotypes and genotypes of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) hetero-resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin and compare their detection methods so as to report results accurately to guide clinical rational use of antibiotics.

Methods: D test was used to detect the phenotypes of S.

Clinical application of real time-polymerase chain reaction in determining cytomegalovirus viral DNA load in renal transplant recipients.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a significant clinical problem among immunosuppressed renal transplant patients. Quantitative PCR assays have become the most common methods in the determination of CMV infections in transplant patients. This study was to determine the relationship between CMV infection and the acute rejection of the transplanted kidney.