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.

Experimental Guillain-Barre syndrome induced by immunization with gangliosides: Keyhole limpet hemocyanin is required for disease triggering.

An experimental model of Guillain-Barré Syndrome has been established in recent years. Rabbits develop disease upon immunization with a single dose of an emulsion containing bovine brain gangliosides, KLH and complete Freund's adjuvant. Within a period of four to ten weeks after immunization, they began to produce anti-ganglioside IgG-antibodies first, and to show clinical signs of neuropathy afterwards.

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.

Novel antibodies reacting with two neighboring gangliosides are induced in rabbits immunized with bovine brain gangliosides.

Immunization of rabbits with bovine brain gangliosides induced an experimental neuropathy, with clinical signs resembling Guillain-Barré syndrome. All the immunized animals developed immunoglobulin G immunoreactivity to GM1 ganglioside. In a few (4 of 27) animals, an additional anti-ganglioside antibody population showing an unusual binding behavior was detected.

Differential endocytic trafficking of neuropathy-associated antibodies to GM1 ganglioside and cholera toxin in epithelial and neural cells.

Gangliosides are glycolipids mainly present at the plasma membrane (PM). Antibodies to gangliosides have been associated with a wide range of neuropathy syndromes. Particularly, antibodies to GM1 ganglioside are present in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

Anti-GM1 antibodies as a model of the immune response to self-glycans.

Glycans are a class of molecules with high structural variability, frequently found in the plasma membrane facing the extracellular space. Because of these characteristics, glycans are often considered as recognition molecules involved in cell social functions, and as targets of pathogenic factors. Induction of anti-glycan antibodies is one of the early events in immunological defense against bacteria that colonize the body.

High affinity of anti-GM1 antibodies is associated with disease onset in experimental neuropathy.

High antibody affinity has been proposed as a disease determinant factor in neuropathies associated with anti-GM1 antibodies. An experimental model of Guillain-Barré syndrome, induced by immunization of rabbits with bovine brain gangliosides or GM1, was described recently (Yuki et al. [2001] Ann.

A new type of anti-ganglioside antibodies present in neurological patients.

High titers of anti-GA1 antibodies have been associated with neurological syndromes. In most cases, these antibodies cross-react with the structurally related glycolipids GM1 and GD1b, although specific anti-GA1 antibodies have also been reported. The role of specific anti-GA1 antibodies is uncertain since the presence of GA1 in the human nervous system has not been clarified.