Restoring vasculogenic potential of endothelial cells from diabetic patients through spheroid formation.

Introduction: Diabetes is an emerging epidemic in the developing world and represents a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Among other issues, patients with diabetes suffer from diminished endothelial cell (EC) function, which contributes to impaired vasculogenesis and recovery from ischemic insult. The formation of cells into three-dimensional spheroids promotes cell survival and activates key signaling pathways through the upregulation of cell-cell contacts, providing an opportunity to overcome shortcomings associated with individual autologous cells.

Systematic Review of the Association Between Physical Fitness and Musculoskeletal Injury Risk: Part 3-Flexibility, Power, Speed, Balance, and Agility.

de la Motte, SJ, Lisman, P, Gribbin, TC, Murphy, K, and Deuster, PA. Systematic review of the association between physical fitness and musculoskeletal injury risk: part 3-flexibility, power, speed, balance, and agility. J Strength Cond Res 33(6): 1723-1735, 2019-We performed a systematic review and evaluation of the existing scientific literature on the association between flexibility, power, speed, balance, and agility, and musculoskeletal injury (MSK-I) risk in military and civilian populations.

Engineering fibrin hydrogels to promote the wound healing potential of mesenchymal stem cell spheroids.

Unlabelled: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete endogenous factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE) that promote angiogenesis, modulate the inflammatory microenvironment, and stimulate wound repair, and MSC spheroids secrete more trophic factors than dissociated, individual MSCs. Compared to injection of cells alone, transplantation of MSCs in a biomaterial can enhance their wound healing potential by localizing cells at the defect site and upregulating trophic factor secretion. To capitalize on the therapeutic potential of spheroids, we engineered a fibrin gel delivery vehicle to simultaneously enhance the proangiogenic and anti-inflammatory potential of entrapped human MSC spheroids.

Systematic Review of the Association Between Physical Fitness and Musculoskeletal Injury Risk: Part 2-Muscular Endurance and Muscular Strength.

de la Motte, SJ, Gribbin, TC, Lisman, P, Murphy, K, and Deuster, PA. A systematic review of the association between physical fitness and musculoskeletal injury risk: part 2-muscular endurance and muscular strength. J Strength Cond Res 31(11): 3218-3234, 2017-This is a systematic review and evaluation of the current evidence on the association between both muscular endurance (ME) and muscular strength (MS) and musculoskeletal injury (MSK-I) risk in military and civilian populations.

A Systematic Review of the Association Between Physical Fitness and Musculoskeletal Injury Risk: Part 1-Cardiorespiratory Endurance.

Musculoskeletal injuries (MSK-Is) are a significant health problem for both military and athletic populations. Research indicates that MSK-I is associated with physical fitness; however, the association between specific components of physical fitness and MSK-I in military and athletic populations has not been systematically examined. Our goal was to systematically review the literature to provide a best evidence synthesis on the relationship between components of physical fitness and MSK-I risk in military and civilian athletic populations.

Multifactorial Experimental Design to Optimize the Anti-Inflammatory and Proangiogenic Potential of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Spheroids.

Mesenchymal stem cell therapies promote wound healing by manipulating the local environment to enhance the function of host cells. Aggregation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into three-dimensional spheroids increases cell survival and augments their anti-inflammatory and proangiogenic potential, yet there is no consensus on the preferred conditions for maximizing spheroid function in this application. The objective of this study was to optimize conditions for forming MSC spheroids that simultaneously enhance their anti-inflammatory and proangiogenic nature.

Measurement of oxygen tension within mesenchymal stem cell spheroids.

Spheroids formed of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibit increased cell survival and trophic factor secretion compared with dissociated MSCs, making them therapeutically advantageous for cell therapy. Presently, there is no consensus for the mechanism of action. Many hypothesize that spheroid formation potentiates cell function by generating a hypoxic core within spheroids of sufficiently large diameters.

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Spheroids Retain Osteogenic Phenotype Through α2β1 Signaling.

Unlabelled: : The induction of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) toward the osteoblastic lineage using osteogenic supplements prior to implantation is one approach under examination to enhance their bone-forming potential. MSCs rapidly lose their induced phenotype upon removal of the soluble stimuli; however, their bone-forming potential can be sustained when provided with continued instruction via extracellular matrix (ECM) cues. In comparison with dissociated cells, MSC spheroids exhibit improved survival and secretion of trophic factors while maintaining their osteogenic potential.

Fabrication of petal-shaped masks for suppression of the on-axis Poisson spot in telescope systems.

The presence of a bright (Poisson) spot in the geometrical shadow of circular/spherical shapes has been known for the past two centuries. A broad class of telescopes that involve simultaneous transmit and receive require suppression of the reflected light from the secondary mirror on the detector. For instance, the on-axis design of optical telescope for the evolved Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (eLISA), a re-scoped version of the baseline LISA mission concept, requires suppression of reflected laser light from the secondary mirror on the detector.

Increased Survival and Function of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Spheroids Entrapped in Instructive Alginate Hydrogels.

Unlabelled: Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies are under broad investigation for applications in tissue repair but suffer from poor cell persistence and engraftment upon transplantation. MSC spheroids exhibit improved survival, anti-inflammatory, and angiogenic potential in vitro, while also promoting vascularization when implanted in vivo. However, these benefits are lost once cells engage the tissue extracellular matrix and migrate from the aggregate.

Hydrogel biophysical properties instruct coculture-mediated osteogenic potential.

Cell-based approaches for bone formation require instructional cues from the surrounding environment. As an alternative to pharmacological strategies or transplanting single cell populations, one approach is to coimplant populations that can establish a new vasculature and differentiate to bone-forming osteoblasts. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) possess osteogenic potential and produce numerous angiogenic growth factors.

Engineered Fibrin Gels for Parallel Stimulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proangiogenic and Osteogenic Potential.

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are under examination for use in cell therapies to repair bone defects resulting from trauma or disease. MSCs secrete proangiogenic cues and can be induced to differentiate into bone-forming osteoblasts, yet there is limited evidence that these events can be achieved in parallel. Manipulation of the cell delivery vehicle properties represents a candidate approach for directing MSC function in bone healing.

The formation of cortical actin arrays in human trabecular meshwork cells in response to cytoskeletal disruption.

The cytoskeleton of human trabecular meshwork (HTM) cells is known to be altered in glaucoma and has been hypothesized to reduce outflow facility through contracting the HTM tissue. Latrunculin B (Lat-B) and Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitors disrupt the actin cytoskeleton and are in clinical trials as glaucoma therapeutics. We have previously reported a transient increase in HTM cell stiffness peaking at 90 min after Lat-B treatment with a return to pretreatment values after 270 min.

Human mesenchymal stem cell spheroids in fibrin hydrogels exhibit improved cell survival and potential for bone healing.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have great therapeutic potential for the repair of nonhealing bone defects, because of their proliferative capacity, multilineage potential, trophic factor secretion and lack of immunogenicity. However, a major challenge to the translation of cell-based therapies into clinical practice is ensuring their survival and function upon implantation into the defect site. We hypothesize that forming MSCs into more physiologic three-dimensional spheroids, rather than employing dissociated cells from two-dimensional monolayer culture, will enhance their survival when exposed to a harsh microenvironment but maintain their osteogenic potential.

Ultrastructure and growth factor content of equine platelet-rich fibrin gels.

Objective: To compare fiber diameter, pore area, compressive stiffness, gelation properties, and selected growth factor content of platelet-rich fibrin gels (PRFGs) and conventional fibrin gels (FGs).

Sample: PRFGs and conventional FGs prepared from the blood of 10 healthy horses.

Procedures: Autologous fibrinogen was used to form conventional FGs.

Sleep as a component of the performance triad: the importance of sleep in a military population.

Objective: Sleep habits among military populations are problematic. Poor sleep hygiene occurs in parallel with the global increase in obesity and metabolic syndrome and contributes to a decrease in performance. The extent of sleep issues needs to be quantified to provide feedback for optimizing warfighter performance and readiness.

Nutrition as a component of the performance triad: how healthy eating behaviors contribute to soldier performance and military readiness.

Objective: Nutrition is a critical element of Soldier health and performance. Food choices, meal timing, and dietary intake behaviors contribute to nutritional fitness. The objectives of this study were to describe Soldier dietary behaviors and quantify the association between healthy eating behaviors and demographic, lifestyle, and psychosocial factors.

A reproducible, high throughput method for fabricating fibrin gels.

Background: Fibrin gels are a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering. However, current fabrication methods are time intensive with inherent variation. There is a pressing need to develop new and consistent approaches for producing fibrin-based hydrogels for examination.

Ceramic identity contributes to mechanical properties and osteoblast behavior on macroporous composite scaffolds.

Implants formed of metals, bioceramics, or polymers may provide an alternative to autografts for treating large bone defects. However, limitations to each material motivate the examination of composites to capitalize on the beneficial aspects of individual components and to address the need for conferring bioactive behavior to the polymer matrix. We hypothesized that the inclusion of different bioceramics in a ceramic-polymer composite would alter the physical properties of the implant and the cellular osteogenic response.

Functionalization of reactive polymer multilayers with RGD and an antifouling motif: RGD density provides control over human corneal epithelial cell-substrate interactions.

Our study demonstrates that substrates fabricated using a "reactive" layer-by-layer approach promote well-defined cell-substrate interactions of human corneal epithelial cells. Specifically, crosslinked and amine-reactive polymer multilayers were produced by alternating "reactive" deposition of an azlactone-functionalized polymer [poly(2-vinyl-4,4-dimethylazlactone)] (PVDMA) and a primary amine-containing polymer [branched poly(ethylene imine)] (PEI). Advantages of our system include a 5- to 30-fold decrease in deposition time compared to traditional polyelectrolyte films and direct modification of the films with peptides.