LASU: An efficient and stable phthalocyanine dye with tolerable safety profile for self-disinfecting anti-COVID textiles activated by ambient light.

Background: Recent COVID crisis has demonstrated that modern society urgently needs an accessible protection against mass infections, especially viruses, as the new strains are appearing at an ever-increasing pace and cause severe harm to the population and the world economy.

Methods: We have developed an efficient phthalocyanine photosensitizer LASU, that is suitable for dyeing textiles and allows to prepare reusable self-disinfecting fabrics with strong antiviral properties. The safety profile of LASU was evaluated in accredited laboratories by several in vitro assays according to the OECD-guidelines.

The in vitro immunomodulatory effect of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by multilayer analysis.

The study of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) induced immunotoxicity is crucial for determining hazards posed to human health. MWCNT exposure most commonly occurs via the airways, where macrophages are first line responders. Here we exploit an in vitro assay, measuring dose-dependent secretion of a wide panel of cytokines, as a measure of immunotoxicity following the non-lethal, multi-dose exposure (IC5, IC10 and IC20) to 7 MWCNTs with different intrinsic properties.

A Human Cell-based Assay to Assess the Induction of Vasculature Formation for Non-genotoxic Carcinogenicity Testing Purposes: A Pilot Study.

The induction of vasculature formation is proposed to be a significant mechanism behind the non-genotoxic carcinogenicity of a chemical. The vasculature formation model used in this study is based on the coculture of human primary HUVECs and hASCs. This model was used to develop an assay to assess the induction of vasculature formation.

Functional human cell-based vascularised cardiac tissue model for biomedical research and testing.

Cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) are widely used in in vitro biomedical research and testing. However, fully matured, adult cardiomyocyte characteristics have not been achieved. To improve the maturity and physiological relevance of hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, we co-cultured them with preconstructed vascular-like networks to form a functional, human cell-based cardiac tissue model.

Direct Contraction Force Measurements of Engineered Cardiac Tissue Constructs With Inotropic Drug Exposure.

Contractility is one of the most crucial functions of the heart because it is directly related to the maintenance of blood perfusion throughout the body. Both increase and decrease in contractility may cause fatal consequences. Therefore, drug discovery would benefit greatly from reliable testing of candidate molecule effects on contractility capacity.