Neurotrophic Factors in the Treatment of Acute Brain Hypoxia Secondary to Cardiac Arrest: a Case Report.

Finding neuroprotective agents to counteract the deleterious effects of hypoxia on neuronal cells successfully is one of the most critical targets of clinical research since preclinical studies have identified potential neuroprotective strategies. In clinical practice, amantadine and piracetam are used with reasonable success. We present the cases of three patients with acute brain hypoxia secondary to cardiac arrest, to whom Cerebrolysin was added to the standard neuroprotective treatment regimen, leading to a notable improvement in functional outcome.

Enzyme Pretreatment plus Locally Delivered HB-IGF-1 Stimulate Integrative Cartilage Repair .

A critical attribute for the long-term success of cartilage defect repair is the strong integration between the repair tissue and the surrounding native tissue. Current approaches utilized by physicians fail to achieve this attribute, leading to eventual relapse of the defect. This article demonstrates the concept of a simple, clinically viable approach for enhancing tissue integration via the combination of a safe, transient enzymatic treatment with a locally delivered, retained growth factor through an hydrogel/cartilage explant model.

PERSIA for Direct Fluorescence Measurements of Transcription, Translation, and Enzyme Activity in Cell-Free Systems.

Quantification of biology's central dogma (transcription and translation) is pursued by a variety of methods. Direct, immediate, and ongoing quantification of these events is difficult to achieve. Common practice is to use fluorescent or luminescent proteins to report indirectly on prior cellular events, such as turning on a gene in a genetic circuit.

Growth Factor-Mediated Migration of Bone Marrow Progenitor Cells for Accelerated Scaffold Recruitment.

Tissue engineering approaches using growth factor-functionalized acellular scaffolds to support and guide repair driven by endogenous cells are thought to require a careful balance between cell recruitment and growth factor release kinetics. The objective of this study was to identify a growth factor combination that accelerates progenitor cell migration into self-assembling peptide hydrogels in the context of cartilage defect repair. A novel 3D gel-to-gel migration assay enabled quantification of the chemotactic impact of platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), heparin-binding insulin-like growth factor-1 (HB-IGF-1), and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) on progenitor cells derived from subchondral bovine trabecular bone (bone-marrow progenitor cells, BM-PCs) encapsulated in the peptide hydrogel [KLDL]3.