Bacterial chatter in chronic wound infections.

One of the hallmark characteristics of chronic diabetic wounds is the presence of biofilm-forming bacteria. Bacteria encapsulated in a biofilm may coexist as a polymicrobial community and communicate with each other through a phenomenon termed quorum sensing (QS). Here, we describe the QS circuits of bacterial species commonly found in chronic diabetic wounds.

Treating Polymicrobial Infections in Chronic Diabetic Wounds.

This review provides a comprehensive summary of issues associated with treating polyclonal bacterial biofilms in chronic diabetic wounds. We use this as a foundation and discuss the alternatives to conventional antibiotics and the emerging need for suitable drug delivery systems. In recent years, extraordinary advances have been made in the field of nanoparticle synthesis and packaging.

Real-Time Monitoring of Urinary Encrustation Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance.

Encrustation on the surface of urological devices such as ureteral stents leads to their blockage. However, limited tools are available for fast and real-time monitoring and modeling of the encrustation process. In this work, we have developed a model for in vitro study of encrustation and coupled it to an online monitoring QCM technique.

Actin cytoskeleton rest stops regulate anterograde traffic of connexin 43 vesicles to the plasma membrane.

Rationale: The intracellular trafficking of connexin 43 (Cx43) hemichannels presents opportunities to regulate cardiomyocyte gap junction coupling. Although it is known that Cx43 hemichannels are transported along microtubules to the plasma membrane, the role of actin in Cx43 forward trafficking is unknown.

Objective: We explored whether the actin cytoskeleton is involved in Cx43 forward trafficking.