Frontiers of stem cell engineering for nanotechnology-mediated drug delivery systems.

Background And Purpose: Cell biology approaches have gained a successful integration, development and application of nanotechnology with stem cell engineering and have led to the emergence of a new interdisciplinary field known as stem cell nanotechnology (SCN). Recent studies showed the potential and the advancement of developments for SCN applications in drug delivery systems. Cancer, neurodegenerative, muscle and blood diseases, cell and gene therapies, and tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications are the important targets of SCN.

Characterization of gelatin-based wound dressing biomaterials containing increasing coconut oil concentrations.

This study determined the influence and ideal ratios of various coconut oil (CO) amounts in gelatin (G) based-films as wound dressings since there are limited comparative studies to evaluate the sole effect of increasing CO on protein-based biomaterials. Homogenous films at G:CO ratio of 4:0,4:2,4:3,4:4 (w:w) corresponding to CO-0, CO-2, CO-3, CO-4, respectively, were obtained using solution casting. SEM showed CO caused rougher surfaces decreasing mechanical strength.

Optimization of a rapid and sensitive nucleic acid lateral flow biosensor for hepatitis B virus detection.

Background And Objective: The utilization of direct amplification of nucleic acid from lysate has attracted interest in the advancement of straightforward and economical point-of-care assays. Consequently, this study primarily focuses on the development of a rapid, precise, and cost-effective lateral flow biosensor for the convenient detection of HBV nucleic acid at the point-of-care. Furthermore, the study evaluates the effectiveness of the direct amplification method in comparison to purified nucleic acid samples within the context of LAMP-LF biosensing approaches.

Synthesis characterisation and neuroprotectivity of extract loaded chitosan nanoparticles.

Aim: extract (SME) possesses neuroprotective potency through its high antioxidant content. We attempted to increase the effectiveness of SME by encapsulating them in chitosan. Neuroprotective potency of SME and SME-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (SME-CNPs) were shown in SH-SY5Y cell line against HO-induced oxidative stress.

Production and characterization of a coconut oil incorporated gelatin-based film and its potential biomedical application.

The influence of coconut oil (CO) on a gelatin-based film was investigated when used as a potential wound dressing material. There is limited study on CO in protein-based wound dressing materials. Therefore, in this study a self-supporting, continuous and homogenous CO incorporated gelatin-based film was formulated and obtained by solution casting method.

A new approach for development of vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis: Lipophosphoglycan and polyacrylic acid conjugates.

Objective: To determine the antileishmanial vaccine effectiveness of lipophosphoglycan (LPG) and polyacrylic acids (PAA) conjugates on in vivo mice models.

Methods: LPG molecule was isolated and purified from large-scale Leishmania donovani parasite culture. Protection efficacies of LPG alone, in combination with Freund's adjuvant, in a physical mixture and in conjugate (consisting of various LPG concentrations) with PAA, were comparatively determined by various techniques, such as cultivation with the micro-culture method, assessment of in vitro infection rates of peritoneal macrophages, determination of parasite load in liver with Leishman-Donovan Units, and detection of cytokine responses.

Human olfactory stem cells for injured facial nerve reconstruction in a rat model.

Background: The purpose of this study was to show the efficacy of olfactory stem cells for injured facial nerve reconstruction in a rat model.

Methods: Olfactory stem cells were isolated from the olfactory mucosa of human participants. A 2-mm excision was performed on the right facial nerve of all rats.

Investigation of antileishmanial activities of Tio2@Ag nanoparticles on biological properties of L. tropica and L. infantum parasites, in vitro.

Leishmaniasis is a public health problem which is caused by protozoon parasites belonging to Leishmania species. The disease threatens approximately 350 million people in 98 countries all over the world. Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) and Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) are the mostly commonly seen forms of the disease.

Conjugation, characterization and toxicity of lipophosphoglycan-polyacrylic acid conjugate for vaccination against leishmaniasis.

Research on the conjugates of synthetic polyelectrolytes with antigenic molecules, such as proteins, peptides, or carbohydrates, is an attractive area due to their highly immunogenic character in comparison to classical adjuvants. For example, polyacrylic acid (PAA) is a weak polyelectrolyte and has been used in several biomedical applications such as immunological studies, drug delivery, and enzyme immobilization. However, to our knowledge, there are no studies that document immune-stimulant properties of PAA in Leishmania infection.

Microcapillary culture method: a novel tool for in vitro expansion of stem cells from scarce sources.

Background And Aims: Although increasing numbers of studies report the derivation of stem cells from a variety of different tissues, derivation efficiencies greatly vary among different studies even for the same tissue source. Hence, a consistent and efficient isolation protocol has not yet been established to date. Several factors have so far been documented that influence and limit mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) isolation and cultivation, including the age and gender of the tissue donor, origin of the tissue, amount of sampled tissue material and cell culture characteristics including the choice of basal media, serum, gas composition, etc.

Utility of the microculture method in non-invasive samples obtained from an experimental murine model with asymptomatic leishmaniasis.

The sensitivity of diagnostic methods for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) decreases because of the low number of parasites and antibody amounts in asymptomatic healthy donors who are not suitable for invasive sample acquisition procedures. Therefore, new studies are urgently needed to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic approaches in non-invasive samples. In this study, the sensitivity of the microculture method (MCM) was compared with polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) methods in an experimental murine model with asymptomatic leishmaniasis.

Detection of antileishmanial antibodies in blood sampled from blood bank donors in Istanbul.

Aims: According to the WHO, only 5-20% of the total cases of leishmaniasis are symptomatic leishmaniasis; the other cases are identified as asymptomatic leishmaniasis. In recent studies, it has been demonstrated that donor blood plays an important role in the epidemiology of asymptomatic leishmaniasis. However, the number of the studies on this subject is still insufficient.

Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells as a new host cell in latent leishmaniasis.

Some protozoan infections such as Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, and Plasmodium can be transmitted through stem cell transplantations. To our knowledge, so far, there is no study about transmission of Leishmania parasites in stem cell transplantation and interactions between parasites and stem cells in vitro. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between different species of Leishmania parasites and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs).