All hands on deck during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining face-to-face medical education and clinical placements.

Medical students must have robust educational experiences, graduate and commence timely employment. Here, we describe how the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) delivered clinical placements in medical programmes over the first three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, including a student-centred, holistic approach to students' educational, social and health needs with strong student involvement, re-organising the university's primary care team, developing COVID-19 PCR testing on site and re-focusing communications and student services. This resulted in re-arranging the students into learning communities, and students and staff electronically recorded their COVID-19 symptom status daily.

Molecular Cross-Talk between Integrins and Cadherins Leads to a Loss of Vascular Barrier Integrity during SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

The vascular barrier is heavily injured following SARS-CoV-2 infection and contributes enormously to life-threatening complications in COVID-19. This endothelial dysfunction is associated with the phlogistic phenomenon of cytokine storms, thrombotic complications, abnormal coagulation, hypoxemia, and multiple organ failure. The mechanisms surrounding COVID-19 associated endotheliitis have been widely attributed to ACE2-mediated pathways.

Concordance between PCR-based extraction-free saliva and nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 testing.

: Saliva represents a less invasive alternative to nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection. SalivaDirect is a nucleic acid extraction-free method for detecting SARS-CoV2 in saliva specimens. Studies evaluating the concordance of gold standard NPS and newly developed SalivaDirect protocols are limited.

Staphylococcus aureus protein A causes osteoblasts to hyper-mineralise in a 3D extra-cellular matrix environment.

Osteomyelitis is an inflammatory bone infection that is caused most commonly by the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Research into staphylococcal induced bone infection is typically conducted using traditional 2D in vitro culture settings, which is not fully representative of the dynamic in vivo environment. In this study we utilised a collagen glycosaminoglycan scaffold, previously developed for bone tissue engineering, as a representative 3D model of infection.

Inhibition of Vascular Endothelial Cell Leak Following Escherichia coli Attachment in an Experimental Model of Sepsis.

Objectives: The vascular endothelium is a major target of sepsis-induced events, and endothelial activation accounts for much of the pathology of sepsis. Urinary tract infections and pneumonia caused by Escherichia coli are among of the most common infections causing sepsis in both community and hospital settings. Currently, there are no approved drugs on the market to treat the underlying pathophysiology of sepsis.

Electroconductive Biohybrid Collagen/Pristine Graphene Composite Biomaterials with Enhanced Biological Activity.

Electroconductive substrates are emerging as promising functional materials for biomedical applications. Here, the development of biohybrids of collagen and pristine graphene that effectively harness both the biofunctionality of the protein component and the increased stiffness and enhanced electrical conductivity (matching native cardiac tissue) obtainable with pristine graphene is reported. As well as improving substrate physical properties, the addition of pristine graphene also enhances human cardiac fibroblast growth while simultaneously inhibiting bacterial attachment (Staphylococcus aureus).

The Evolving Role of MicroRNAs in Endothelial Cell Dysfunction in Response to Infection.

The microRNAs are short noncoding RNA molecules responsible for translational repression and silencing of target genes via binding to the mRNA. They are found in all eukaryotic cells and play a critical role in virtually all physiological processes, including within the cardiovascular system where they influence cellular development, differentiation, cardiovascular function, hemostasis, and programmed cell death. Dysregulated microRNA expression is associated with several conditions ranging from cancer and autoimmune disease to infection.

Concerted functions of Streptococcus gordonii surface proteins PadA and Hsa mediate activation of human platelets and interactions with extracellular matrix.

A range of Streptococcus bacteria are able to interact with blood platelets to form a thrombus (clot). Streptococcus gordonii is ubiquitous within the human oral cavity and amongst the common pathogens isolated from subjects with infective endocarditis. Two cell surface proteins, Hsa and Platelet adherence protein A (PadA), in S.

Multiple sites on Streptococcus gordonii surface protein PadA bind to platelet GPIIbIIIa.

Infective endocarditis is a life threatening disease caused by a bacterial infection of the endocardial surfaces of the heart. The oral pathogen, Streptococcus gordonii is amongst the most common pathogens isolated from infective endocarditis patients. Previously we identified a novel cell wall protein expressed on S.

Investigation of the interaction of biodegradable micro- and nanoparticulate drug delivery systems with platelets.

Objectives: Biodegradable micro- and nanoparticles are being increasingly investigated for drug delivery and targeting of therapeutics. The size and surface properties of these particles are important factors influencing their interaction and uptake by various cells, tissues and organs. Optimising these properties, to enhance cellular uptake, may increase their potential for interaction with other physiological components such as platelets resulting in platelet activation and inappropriate thrombus formation.

The effect of different strains of Helicobacter pylori on platelet aggregation.

Background And Aims: Helicobacter pylori is the major causative agent in peptic ulcer disease and is strongly implicated in the development of gastric cancer. It has also been linked, less strongly, to cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms by which certain strains of H pylori induce platelet aggregation through interactions with platelet glycoprotein Ib have been previously described.

Megakaryocytes derived from embryonic stem cells implicate CalDAG-GEFI in integrin signaling.

Fibrinogen binding to integrin alphaIIbbeta3 mediates platelet aggregation and requires agonist-induced "inside-out" signals that increase alphaIIbbeta3 affinity. Agonist regulation of alphaIIbbeta3 also takes place in megakaryocytes, the bone marrow cells from which platelets are derived. To facilitate mechanistic studies of inside-out signaling, we describe here the generation of megakaryocytes in quantity from murine embryonic stem (ES) cells.