Helminth egg derivatives as proregenerative immunotherapies.

The immune system is increasingly recognized as an important regulator of tissue repair. We developed a regenerative immunotherapy from the helminth soluble egg antigen (SEA) to stimulate production of interleukin (IL)-4 and other type 2-associated cytokines without negative infection-related sequelae. The regenerative SEA (rSEA) applied to a murine muscle injury induced accumulation of IL-4-expressing T helper cells, eosinophils, and regulatory T cells and decreased expression of IL-17A in gamma delta (γδ) T cells, resulting in improved repair and decreased fibrosis.

Synthetic hydrogels engineered to promote collecting lymphatic vessel sprouting.

The lymphatic vasculature is an essential component of the body's circulation providing a network of vessels to return fluid and proteins from the tissue space to the blood, to facilitate immune ce-ll and antigen transport to lymph nodes, and to take up dietary lipid from the intestine. The development of biomaterial-based strategies to facilitate the growth of lymphatics either for regenerative purposes or as model system to study lymphatic biology is still in its nascent stages. In particular, platforms that encourage the sprouting and formation of lymphatic networks from collecting vessels are particularly underdeveloped.

Lymphatic remodelling in response to lymphatic injury in the hind limbs of sheep.

Contractile activity in the lymphatic vasculature is essential for maintaining fluid balance within organs and tissues. However, the mechanisms by which collecting lymphatics adapt to changes in fluid load and how these adaptations influence lymphatic contractile activity are unknown. Here we report a model of lymphatic injury based on the ligation of one of two parallel lymphatic vessels in the hind limb of sheep and the evaluation of structural and functional changes in the intact, remodelling lymphatic vessel over a 42-day period.

In vitro model reveals a role for mechanical stretch in the remodeling response of lymphatic muscle cells.

Objective: Using primary LMCs in vitro, we sought to characterize the impact of LMC remodeling on their functional and molecular response to mechanical loading and culture conditions.

Methods: Primary "wounded leg" LMCs were derived from the hindlimb of three sheep who underwent lymphatic injury 6 weeks prior, while "control leg" LMCs were derived from the contralateral, unwounded, limb. Function of the LMCs was characterized in response to media of variable levels of serum (10% vs 0.