In vitro angiogenic performance and in vivo brain targeting of magnetized endothelial progenitor cells for neurorepair therapies.

Unlabelled: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) represent a promising approach for cell-based therapies to induce tissue repair; however, their effective delivery into the brain has remained a challenge. We loaded EPCs with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs), assessed their angiogenic potential and evaluated their guidance to the brain using an external magnet. SPIONs were stored in the cytoplasm within endosomes/lysosomes as observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and could be visualized as hypointense signals by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2-weighted images.

alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP)-induced platelet shape change involves the Rho/Rho kinase signalling pathway.

alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP) is an acute-phase protein that contributes to inflammation processes. The role of AGP in platelet activation and thrombosis is, however, largely unknown. Therefore, we thoroughly investigated the effects of AGP on human platelets.

Effects of alpha1-acid glycoprotein fucosylation on its Ca2+ mobilizing capacity in neutrophils.

We recently showed that the acute-phase protein alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP) induces rises in cytosolic calcium concentration, [Ca(2+)](i,) in neutrophils through sialic acid dependent interactions with the neutrophil receptors siglec-5 and/or siglec-14. Whereas both siglec-5 and siglec-14 have a relatively broad specificity for sialylated oligosaccharide structures, including both structures with terminal alpha2-3 or alpha2-6 linked sialic acid, there is a markedly reduced affinity to the fucosylated epitope sialyl Lewis x (SLe(x)). Increased fucosylation, leading to increased expression of SLe(x) on AGP is commonly associated with inflammatory conditions.

The acute-phase protein alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) induces rises in cytosolic Ca2+ in neutrophil granulocytes via sialic acid binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (siglecs).

We studied whether the acute-phase protein alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) induces rises in [Ca2+]i in neutrophils and sought to identify the corresponding AGP receptor (or receptors). We found that AGP elicited a minimal rise in [Ca2+]i in Fura-2-loaded neutrophils, and this response was markedly enhanced by pretreatment with anti-L-selectin antibodies. (The EC50 value of the AGP-induced Ca2+ response was 9 microg/ml.