Protocol to isolate and analyze mouse bone marrow derived dendritic cells (BMDC).

Different types of immune cells are involved in atherogenesis and may act atheroprotective or atheroprogressive. Here, we describe an in vitro approach to analyze CD11c cells and CD11c-derived ApoE in atherosclerosis. The major steps include harvesting mouse bone marrow, plating cells in culture dishes, treating them with differentiation factors, and collecting cells after removal of undesirable populations.

Protocol to visualize CD11c cells in atherosclerosis using LacZ reporter mice.

Here, we describe an approach to visualize CD11c cells in atherosclerosis. In particular, we use a protocol for X-Gal staining of immune cells within atherosclerotic plaques, which can be used as an alternative to analyze plaque composition and cell-specific molecules in atherogenesis. LacZ knockin mice have to be bred to mice carrying the CD11c recombinase-both brought onto an ApoE background-to be able to visualize this cell type of interest in the plaques by X-Gal staining.

Apolipoprotein E derived from CD11c cells ameliorates atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is studied in models with dysfunctional lipid homeostasis-predominantly the ApoE mouse. The role of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) for lipid homeostasis is not clear. Using a LacZ reporter mouse, we showed that CD11c cells were enriched in aortae of ApoE mice.

Publisher Correction: A shear-dependent NO-cGMP-cGKI cascade in platelets acts as an auto-regulatory brake of thrombosis.

The original version of this Article contained an error in the description of Supplementary Movie 4, in which the final sentence was inadvertently truncated. The HTML has been updated to include a corrected version of the 'Description of Additional Supplementary Files' file.

A shear-dependent NO-cGMP-cGKI cascade in platelets acts as an auto-regulatory brake of thrombosis.

Mechanisms that limit thrombosis are poorly defined. One of the few known endogenous platelet inhibitors is nitric oxide (NO). NO activates NO sensitive guanylyl cyclase (NO-GC) in platelets, resulting in an increase of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP).

Cre/lox-assisted non-invasive in vivo tracking of specific cell populations by positron emission tomography.

Many pathophysiological processes are associated with proliferation, migration or death of distinct cell populations. Monitoring specific cell types and their progeny in a non-invasive, longitudinal and quantitative manner is still challenging. Here we show a novel cell-tracking system that combines Cre/lox-assisted cell fate mapping with a thymidine kinase (sr39tk) reporter gene for cell detection by positron emission tomography (PET).

Platelets induce apoptosis via membrane-bound FasL.

After tissue injury, both wound sealing and apoptosis contribute to restoration of tissue integrity and functionality. Although the role of platelets (PLTs) for wound closure and induction of regenerative processes is well established, the knowledge about their contribution to apoptosis is incomplete. Here, we show that PLTs present the death receptor Fas ligand (FasL) on their surface after activation.

Gremlin-1 is an inhibitor of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and attenuates atherosclerotic plaque growth in ApoE-/- Mice.

Monocyte infiltration and macrophage formation are pivotal steps in atherosclerosis and plaque vulnerability. Gremlin-1/Drm is crucial in embryo-/organogenesis and has been shown to be expressed in the adult organism at sites of arterial injury and to inhibit monocyte migration. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and characterize the role of Gremlin-1 in atherosclerosis.

Isolation of osteoprogenitors from human jaw periosteal cells: a comparison of two magnetic separation methods.

Human jaw periosteum tissue contains osteoprogenitors that have potential for tissue engineering applications in oral and maxillofacial surgeries. To isolate osteoprogenitor cells from heterogeneous cell populations, we used the specific mesenchymal stem cell antigen-1 (MSCA-1) antibody and compared two magnetic separation methods. We analyzed the obtained MSCA-1(+) and MSCA-1(-) fractions in terms of purity, yield of positive/negative cells and proliferative and mineralization potentials.

MSCA-1/TNAP selection of human jaw periosteal cells improves their mineralization capacity.

Human jaw periosteum-derived cells (JPCs) represent an alternative cell source to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for tissue engineering applications in the oral and maxillofacial surgery. In this study we investigated how far the presence or expression of human mesenchymal stem cell antigen-1/tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase (MSCA-1/TNAP) and LNGFR (CD271) can be utilized to select and enrich the osteogenic progenitor cell fraction from the entire JPC population. Depending on their mineralization capacity, we classified the human isolated JPCs into mineralizing (mJPCs) and non-mineralizing JPCs (nmJPCs).