Off-the-Shelf Implant to Bridge a Urethral Defect: Multicenter 8-Year Journey From Bench to Bed.

Objective: To engineer an acellular mesh to reconstruct the urethra to replace the current surgical practice of using autologous tissue grafts. Cell based approaches have shown progress. However, these have been associated with high costs and logistical challenges.

Delivery of butyrate to the lower gut by polymeric micelles prolongs survival of distal skin allografts.

The microbiota composition is known to influence the kinetics of graft rejection, but many questions remain as to whether/how microbiota-derived metabolites affect graft outcome. We investigated the effects of the short-chain fatty acid butyrate, a product of dietary fiber fermentation. Sustained intragastric administration of a micelle-based formulation of butyrate (butyrate micelle [ButM]) that releases its cargo in the lower gastrointestinal tract elevated cecal butyrate content and significantly prolonged minor-mismatched and major-mismatched skin allograft survival in mice.

Blocking antibodies against integrin-α3, -αM, and -αMβ2 de-differentiate myofibroblasts, and improve lung fibrosis and kidney fibrosis.

Fibrosis is involved in 45% of deaths in the United States, and no treatment exists to reverse the progression of lung or kidney fibrosis. Myofibroblasts are key to the progression and maintenance of fibrosis. We investigated features of cell adhesion necessary for monocytes to differentiate into myofibroblasts, seeking to identify pathways key to myofibroblast differentiation.

Semaphorin 3A promotes the long-term persistence of human SVF-derived microvascular networks in engineered grafts.

Introduction: The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of human adipose tissue is an attractive cell source for engineering grafts with intrinsic vascularization potential, as it is rich in vasculogenic progenitors. However, in order to maintain their functional perfusion it is important to promote the stabilization of newly assembled microvascular networks. We previously found that Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) promotes the rapid stabilization of new blood vessels induced by VEGF overexpression in skeletal muscle.

From hit to vial: Precision discovery and development of an imidazopyrimidine TLR7/8 agonist adjuvant formulation.

Vaccination can help prevent infection and can also be used to treat cancer, allergy, and potentially even drug overdose. Adjuvants enhance vaccine responses, but currently, the path to their advancement and development is incremental. We used a phenotypic small-molecule screen using THP-1 cells to identify nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-activating molecules followed by counterscreening lead target libraries with a quantitative tumor necrosis factor immunoassay using primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.