Biocompatible Zn-Phthalocyanine/Gelatin Nanofiber Membrane for Antibacterial Therapy.

In this study, the fabrication and characterization of Zn-phthalocyanine/gelatin nanofibrous membranes is reported using the electrospinning technique. The membranes exhibit a homogeneous distribution of Zn-phthalocyanine within the gelatin matrix, maintaining the structural integrity and photosensitizing properties of the phthalocyanine. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the electrospun fibers possess diameters ranging results as 100-300, 200-700, and 300-800 nm for Gel, ZnPc/Gel 1, and ZnPc/Gel 2, respectively.

Development of 3D printed fibrillar collagen scaffold for tissue engineering.

Collagen is widely used in tissue engineering because it can be extracted in large quantities, and has excellent biocompatibility, good biodegradability, and weak antigenicity. In the present study, we isolated printable collagen from bovine Achilles tendon and examined the purity of the isolated collagen using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The bands obtained corresponded to α, α and β chains with little contamination from other small proteins.

Titanium-hydroxyapatite composites sintered at low temperature for tissue engineering: in vitro cell support and biocompatibility.

Background: In clinical orthopedics, a critical problem is the bone tissue loss produced by a disease or injury. The use of composites from titanium and hydroxyapatite for biomedical applications has increased due to the resulting advantageous combination of hydroxyapatite bioactivity and favorable mechanical properties of titanium. Powder metallurgy is a simple and lower-cost method that uses powder from titanium and hydroxyapatite to obtain composites having hydroxyapatite phases in a metallic matrix.

Sedative effect of central administration of Coriandrum sativum essential oil and its major component linalool in neonatal chicks.

Context Coriandrum sativum L. (Apiaceae) (coriander) is an herb grown throughout the world as a culinary, medicinal or essential crop. In traditional medicine, it is used for the relief of anxiety and insomnia.

Preparation of a three-dimensional extracellular matrix by decellularization of rabbit livers.

Introduction: the availability of transplantable livers is not sufficient to fulfill the current demand for grafts, with the search for therapeutic alternatives having generated different lines of research, one of which is the use of decellularized three-dimensional biological matrices and subsequent cell seeding to obtain a functional organ.

Objective: to produce a decellularization protocol from rabbit liver to generate a three-dimensional matrix.

Methods: a combination of physical, chemical (Triton X-100 and SDS) and enzymatic agents to decellularize rabbit livers was used.

Recruitment of GABA(A) receptors and fearfulness in chicks: modulation by systemic insulin and/or epinephrine.

One-day-old chicks were individually assessed on their latency to peck pebbles, and categorized as low latency (LL) or high latency (HL) according to fear. Interactions between acute stress and systemic insulin and epinephrine on GABA(A) receptor density in the forebrain were studied. At 10 days of life, LL and HL chicks were intraperitoneally injected with insulin, epinephrine or saline, and immediately after stressed by partial water immersion for 15 min and killed by decapitation.

Neonatal acute stress by novelty in the absence of social isolation decreases fearfulness in young chicks.

Two hours after hatching (Day 0), groups of chicks from both sexes were housed either individually (IND) or socially in pairs (SOC) for 24 h. On Day 1, for each of the two conditions, half of the chicks were individually exposed to early novelty for 10 min, which comprised being placed in a novel-cage with small pebbles glued to the floor. The other half (controls) remained in the home-cage (IND-C and SOC-C).

Acute stress or systemic insulin injection increases flunitrazepam sensitive-GABAA receptor density in synaptosomes of chick forebrain: Modulation by systemic epinephrine.

Interactions between acute stress and systemic insulin and epinephrine on GABAA receptor density in the forebrain were studied. Here, 10 day-old chicks were intraperitoneally injected with insulin, epinephrine or vehicle and then immediately stressed by partial water immersion for 15 min and killed by decapitation. Non-stressed controls were similarly injected, then returned to their rearing boxes for 15 min and then killed.

Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate induced flunitrazepam sensitive-GABAA receptor increase in synaptosomes from chick forebrain.

The flunitrazepam sensitive-GABA(A) receptor density was increased by cytochalasins C and D at 37 degrees C suggesting that microfilament depolymerization induces exposure to the radioligand of a GABA(A) receptor in synaptosomes (Pharm Biochem Behav 72 (2002) 497). Similarly, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (1-5 microM), but not a mixture of phospholipids, induced an increase of GABA(A) receptors in synaptosomes. Furthermore, N-ethyl maleimide, an inactivator of the sensitive fusion protein, which interacts with GABA(A) receptor, abolished the receptor increase induced by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate.

Differential effects of cyclin-dependent kinase blockers upon cell death in the developing retina.

Pharmacological blockers of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) can inhibit cell cycle progression. Deferoxamine (DFO) and mimosine (MIMO) arrest cells reversibly at the G1/S transition and olomoucine (OLO) inhibits the cell cycle at both G1/S and G2/M. We investigated the effect of these drugs upon cell death in histotypical explants taken from the retina of neonatal rats.