Publications by authors named "Peter Merrifield"

Gap junctions consist of clusters of intercellular channels composed of connexins that connect adjacent cells and allow the exchange of small molecules. While the 21 member multi-gene family of connexins are ubiquitously found in humans, only Cx39, Cx40, Cx43 and Cx45 have been documented in developing myoblasts and injured adult skeletal muscle while healthy adult skeletal muscle is devoid of connexins. The use of gap junctional blockers and cultured myoblast cell lines have suggested that these connexins play a critical role in myotube formation and muscle regeneration.

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The greater palatine nerve and the greater palatine canal are common sites for maxillary anesthesia during dental and maxillo-facial procedures. The greater palatine nerve is thought to course as a single trunk through the greater palatine canal, branching after its exit from the greater palatine foramen. We describe intra-canalicular branching variations of the greater palatine nerve found in 8 of 20 embalmed dissection specimens.

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Background: Greater palatine nerve (GPN) block is commonly performed for maxillary and palatal anesthesia by using bony landmarks. Ultrasound (US) can be used to consistently identify greater palatine foramen (GPF) as a defect in the bony palate enabling US-guided injections near the foramen.

Methods: We scanned and injected 16 undissected well-embalmed hemisectioned cadaveric heads after excluding major anatomical malformations.

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Numerous reports have documented the beneficial effects of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on beta-amyloid production and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, none of these studies have examined and compared DHA, in combination with other dietary nutrients, for its effects on plaque pathogenesis. Potential interactions of DHA with other dietary nutrients and fatty acids are conventionally ignored.

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Background: The clinical application of stem cell therapy for myocardial infarction will require the development of methods to monitor treatment and pre-clinical assessment in a large animal model, to determine its effectiveness and the optimum cell population, route of delivery, timing, and flow milieu.

Objectives: To establish a model for a) in vivo tracking to monitor cell engraftment after autologous transplantation and b) concurrent measurement of infarct evolution and remodeling.

Methods: We evaluated 22 dogs (8 sham controls, 7 treated with autologous bone marrow monocytes, and 7 with stromal cells) using both imaging of 111Indium-tropolone labeled cells and late gadolinium enhancement CMR for up to12 weeks after a 3 hour coronary occlusion.

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In this work, we determined the minimum number of detectable 111In-tropolone-labelled bone-marrow-derived stem cells from the maximum activity per cell which did not affect viability, proliferation and differentiation, and the minimum detectable activity (MDA) of 111In by SPECT. Canine bone marrow mesenchymal cells were isolated, cultured and expanded. A number of samples, each containing 5x10(6) cells, were labelled with 111In-tropolone from 0.

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Myogenesis is regulated by the MyoD class of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs). These basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors dimerize with E proteins to bind conserved E-box sequences in the promoter regions of muscle-specific genes. Perhaps due to their expression in a wide array of tissues, the specific interactions of E proteins with different MRFs have been largely ignored.

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Limb muscle development is characterized by the migration of muscle precursor cells from the somite followed by myoblast differentiation and the maturation of myotubes into distinct muscle fiber types. Previous in vitro experiments have suggested that rat limb myoblasts are composed of at least two distinct myoblast subpopulations that appear in the developing hindlimb at different developmental stages. These embryonic and fetal myoblast subpopulations are believed to generate primary and secondary myotubes, respectively.

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