Hepatocyte Growth Factor Delivery to Injured Cervical Spinal Cord Using an Engineered Biomaterial Protects Respiratory Neural Circuitry and Preserves Functional Diaphragm Innervation.

A major portion of spinal cord injury (SCI) cases occur in the cervical region, where essential components of the respiratory neural circuitry are located. Phrenic motor neurons (PhMNs) housed at cervical spinal cord level C3-C5 directly innervate the diaphragm, and SCI-induced damage to these cells severely impairs respiratory function. In this study, we tested a biomaterial-based approach aimed at preserving this critical phrenic motor circuitry after cervical SCI by locally delivering hepatocyte growth factor (HGF).

Plasma growth factors maintain constitutive translation in platelets to regulate reactivity and thrombotic potential.

Mechanisms of proteostasis in anucleate circulating platelets are unknown and may regulate platelet function. We investigated the hypothesis that plasma-borne growth factors/hormones (GFHs) maintain constitutive translation in circulating platelets to facilitate reactivity. Bio-orthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis revealed constitutive translation of a broad-spectrum translatome in human platelets dependent upon plasma or GFH exposure, and in murine circulation.

Dual antithrombotic therapy dose-dependently alters hemostatic plug structure and function.

Background: Antithrombotic medications carry an inherent risk of bleeding, which may be exacerbated when anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapeutics are combined. Prior studies have shown different effects of antiplatelet vs anticoagulant drugs on the structure and function of hemostatic plugs in vivo.

Objectives: We examined whether dual antithrombotic treatment consisting of combined antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapeutics alters hemostatic plug structure and function differently from treatment with either therapeutic alone.

Proteomics-Based Approach for Detailing the Allergenic Profile of Cannabis Chemotypes.

Allergic sensitization to cannabis is an emerging public health concern and is difficult to clinically establish owing to lack of standardized diagnostic approaches. Attempts to develop diagnostic tools were largely hampered by the Schedule I restrictions on cannabis, which limited accessibility for research. Recently, however, hemp was removed from the classified list, and increased accessibility to hemp allows for the evaluation of its practical clinical value for allergy diagnosis.

Moderate prenatal alcohol exposure increases total length of L1-expressing axons in E15.5 mice.

Public health campaigns broadcast the link between heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy and physical, cognitive, and behavioral birth defects; however, they appear less effective in deterring moderate consumption prevalent in women who are pregnant or of childbearing age. The incidence of mild Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is likely underestimated because the affected individuals lack physical signs such as retarded growth and facial dysmorphology and cognitive/behavioral deficits are not commonly detected until late childhood. Sensory information processing is distorted in FASD, but alcohol's effects on the development of axons that mediate these functions are not widely investigated.