Human placental stem cell-based therapies for prevention of abdominal adhesions: A prospective randomized preclinical trial.

Background: Abdominal adhesions are networks of fibrotic tissues that form between organs postoperatively. Current prophylactic strategies do not reproducibly prevent adhesive small bowel obstruction across the entire abdomen. Human placental-derived stem cells produce an anti-inflammatory secretome that has been applied to multiple fibrosing diseases.

A Scoping Review of Animal Models for Development of Abdominal Adhesion Prevention Strategies.

Introduction: Abdominal adhesions represent a chronic postsurgical disease without reliable prophylaxis. Animal modeling has been a cornerstone of novel therapeutic development but has not produced reliable clinical therapies for prevention of adhesive small bowel obstruction. The purpose of this scoping review is to analyze animal models for abdominal adhesion generation by key considerations of external validity (i.

Regenerative Medicine Therapies for Prevention of Abdominal Adhesions: A Scoping Review.

Introduction: Globally, abdominal adhesions constitute a significant burden of morbidity and mortality. They represent the commonest complication of abdominal operations with a lifelong risk of multiple pathologies, including adhesive small bowel obstruction, female infertility, and chronic pain. Adhesions represent a problem of the entire abdomen, forming at the time of injury and progressing through multiple complex pathways.

Engineering blood vessels and vascularized tissues: technology trends and potential clinical applications.

Vascular tissue engineering has the potential to make a significant impact on the treatment of a wide variety of medical conditions, including providing generated vascularized tissue and organ constructs for transplantation. Since the first report on the construction of a biological blood vessel, significant research and technological advances have led to the generation of clinically relevant large and small diameter tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs). However, developing a biocompatible blood-contacting surface is still a major challenge.

3D bioprinting of urethra with PCL/PLCL blend and dual autologous cells in fibrin hydrogel: An in vitro evaluation of biomimetic mechanical property and cell growth environment.

Objective: Urethral stricture is a common condition seen after urethral injury. The currently available treatments are inadequate and there is a scarcity of substitute materials used for treatment of urethral stricture. The traditional tissue engineering of urethra involves scaffold design, fabrication and processing of multiple cell types.

Synthetic Extracellular Microenvironment for Modulating Stem Cell Behaviors.

The innate ability of stem cells to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell types makes them a promising source for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Their capacity for self-renewal and differentiation is largely influenced by the combination of physical, chemical, and biological signals found in the stem cell niche, both temporally and spatially. Embryonic and adult stem cells are potentially useful for cell-based approaches; however, regulating stem cell behavior remains a major challenge in their clinical use.

Peroxide-based oxygen generating topical wound dressing for enhancing healing of dermal wounds.

Oxygen generating biomaterials represent a new trend in regenerative medicine that aims to generate and supply oxygen at the site of requirement, to support tissue healing and regeneration. To enhance the healing of dermal wounds, we have developed a highly portable, in situ oxygen generating wound dressings that uses sodium percarbonate (SPO) and calcium peroxide (CPO) as chemical oxygen sources. The dressing continuously generated oxygen for more than 3 days, after which it was replaced.

UV laser-ablated surface textures as potential regulator of cellular response.

Textured surfaces obtained by UV laser ablation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) films were used to study the effect of shape and spacing of surface features on cellular response. Two distinct patterns, cones and ripples with spacing from 2 to 25 μm, were produced. Surface features with different shapes and spacings were produced by varying pulse repetition rate, laser fluence, and exposure time.

Synthetic polymeric substrates as potent pro-oxidant versus anti-oxidant regulators of cytoskeletal remodeling and cell apoptosis.

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated cell signal transduction pathways emanating from engineered cell substrates remains unclear. To elucidate the role, polymers derived from the amino acid L-tyrosine were used as synthetic matrix substrates. Variations in their chemical properties were created by co-polymerizing hydrophobic L-tyrosine derivatives with uncharged hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, Mw = 1,000 Da), and negatively charged desaminotyrosyl-tyrosine (DT).

An annotated catalogue of salivary gland transcripts in the adult female mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

Background: Saliva of blood-sucking arthropods contains a cocktail of antihemostatic agents and immunomodulators that help blood feeding. Mosquitoes additionally feed on sugar meals and have specialized regions of their glands containing glycosidases and antimicrobials that might help control bacterial growth in the ingested meals. To expand our knowledge on the salivary cocktail of AEdes aegypti, a vector of dengue and yellow fevers, we analyzed a set of 4,232 expressed sequence tags from cDNA libraries of adult female mosquitoes.

Analyzing ligation mixtures using a PCR based method.

We have developed a simple and effective method (Lig-PCR) for monitoring ligation reactions using PCR and primers that are common to many cloning vectors. Ligation mixtures can directly be used as templates and the results can be analyzed by conventional gel electrophoresis. The PCR products are representative of the recombinant molecules created during ligation and the corresponding transformants.