Publications by authors named "Wilhelm K Aicher"

Introduction: Bladder cancer (BC) is a prevalent malignancy with high recurrence rates. Patient-derived bladder cancer organoids (BCO) pose as a promising approach in both, disease modeling and individualized treatment screening. The aim of this study was to investigate the transcriptomic plasticity in BCOs as a function of cultivation times to define ideal time periods for the applications envisioned.

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Muscular insufficiency is observed in many conditions after injury, chronic inflammation, and especially in elderly populations. Causative cell therapies for muscle deficiencies are not state of the art. Animal models to study the therapy efficacy are, therefore, needed.

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In animal models, cell therapies for different diseases or injuries have been very successful. Preclinical studies with cells aiming at a stroke, heart attack, and other emergency situations were promising but sometimes failed translation in clinical situations. We, therefore, investigated if human placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal cells can be injected in pigs without provoking rejection to serve as a xenogenic transplantation model to bridge preclinical animal studies to more promising future preclinical studies.

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Therapies utilizing autologous mesenchymal cell delivery are being investigated as anti-inflammatory and regenerative treatments for a broad spectrum of age-related diseases, as well as various chronic and acute pathological conditions. Easily available allogeneic full-term human placenta mesenchymal stromal cells (pMSCs) were used as a potential pro-regenerative, cell-based therapy in degenerative diseases, which could be applied also to elderly individuals. To explore the potential of allogeneic pMSCs transplantation for pro-regenerative applications, such cells were isolated from five different term-placentas, obtained from the dissected maternal, endometrial (mpMSCs), and fetal chorion tissues (fpMSCs), respectively.

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The leading cause of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women is the urethral sphincter muscle deficiency caused by mechanical stress during pregnancy and vaginal delivery. In men, prostate cancer surgery and injury of local nerves and muscles are associated with incontinence. Current treatment often fails to satisfy the patient's needs.

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Stress urinary incontinence is still a frequent problem for women and men, which leads to pronounced impairment of the quality of life and withdrawal from the social environment. Modern diagnostics and therapy improved the situation for individuals affected. But there are still limits, including the correct diagnosis of incontinence and its pathophysiology, as well as the therapeutic algorithms.

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This study investigates the feasibility of establishing urine-derived tumor organoids from bladder cancer (BC) patients as an alternative to tissue-derived organoids. BC is one of the most common cancers worldwide and current diagnostic methods involve invasive procedures. Here, we investigated the potential of using urine samples, which contain exfoliated tumor cells, to generate urine-derived BC organoids (uBCOs).

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Organoids are three-dimensional constructs generated by placing cells in scaffolds to facilitate the growth of cultures with cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions close to the in vivo situation. Organoids may contain different types of cells, including cancer cells, progenitor cells, or differentiated cells. As distinct culture conditions have significant effects on cell metabolism, we explored the expansion of cells and expression of marker genes in bladder cancer cells expanded in two different common scaffolds.

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A solvent casting technique was used for the preparation of biomimetic nanocomposites scaffolds at three various concentrations of Curcumin loaded gold nanoparticles (Cur-AuNPs-1, 1.5, and 2 ml) as filler materials with chitosan-sodium alginate composite. The physico-chemical properties of prepared Cu-Au NPs and biomimetic nanocomposites were analyzed using various characterization techniques.

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Three-dimensional (3D) organoid culture recapitulating patient-specific histopathological and molecular diversity offers great promise for precision medicine in cancer. In this study, we established label-free imaging procedures, including Raman microspectroscopy (RMS) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), for in situ cellular analysis and metabolic monitoring of drug treatment efficacy. Primary tumor and urine specimens were utilized to generate bladder cancer organoids, which were further treated with various concentrations of pharmaceutical agents relevant for the treatment of bladder cancer (i.

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Generation of organoids from urinary tract tumor samples was pioneered a few years ago. We generated organoids from two upper tract urothelial carcinomas and from one bladder cancer sample, and confirmed the expression of cytokeratins as urothelial antigens, vimentin as a mesenchymal marker, and fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 by immunohistochemistry. We investigated the dose response curves of two novel components, venetoclax versus S63845, in comparison to the clinical standard cisplatin in organoids in comparison to the corresponding two-dimensional cultures.

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Background: Bladder cancer is the most cost-intensive cancer due to high recurrence rates and long follow-up times. Bladder cancer organoids were considered interesting tools for investigating better methods for the detection and treatment of this cancer.

Methods: Organoids were generated from urothelial carcinoma tissue samples, then expanded and characterized; the expression of immune modulatory antigens and tumor stem cells markers CD24 and CD44 was explored in early (P ≤ 3) and later (P ≥ 5) passages (P) by immunofluorescence and by quantitative PCR of cDNA.

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Unlabelled: The cell surface molecule CD276 (B7-H3) is an immune checkpoint antigen. The elevated expression of CD276 on tumors contributes to the suppression of anti-tumor T-cell responses and correlates with poor prognosis.

Methods: The expression of CD276 was explored in vitro on eight urothelial carcinoma cell lines (UM-UC) in comparison to eight normal urothelial cells (NUCs) by RT-qPCR, Western blotting, and flow cytometry.

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Current regimen to treat patients suffering from stress urinary incontinence often seems not to yield satisfactory improvement or may come with severe side effects. To overcome these hurdles, preclinical studies and clinical feasibility studies explored the potential of cell therapies successfully and raised high hopes for better outcome. However, other studies were rather disappointing.

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Nanostructured materials possess unique structural and functional properties that play a crucial position in tissue engineering applications. Present investigation is aimed to synthesize chitosan-sodium alginate (CS) nanocomposite using hydrothermally prepared zirconia nanoparticles. In this, three different weight percentages of (0.

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Urinary incontinence (UI) is a highly prevalent condition characterized by the deficiency of the urethral sphincter muscle. Regenerative medicine branches, particularly cell therapy, are novel approaches to improve and restore the urethral sphincter function. Even though injection of active functional cells is routinely performed in clinical settings by needle and syringe, these approaches have significant disadvantages and limitations.

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Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a significant health concern for patients affected, impacting their quality of life severely. To investigate mechanisms contributing to SUI different animal models were developed. Incontinence was induced under defined conditions to explore the pathomechanisms involved, spontaneous recovery, or efficacy of therapies over time.

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We noted recently that the injection of cells with a needle through a cystoscope in the urethral sphincter muscle of pigs failed to deposit them nearby or at the intended target position in about 50% of all animals investigated ( > 100). Increasing the chance for precise cell injection by shotgun approaches employing several circumferential injections into the sphincter muscle bears the risk of tissue injury. In this study, we developed and tested a novel needle-free technique to precisely inject cells in the urethral sphincter tissue, or other tissues, using a water-jet system.

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The application of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from different sources, including bone marrow (BM, bmMSCs), adipose tissue (atMSCs), and human term placenta (hPSCs) has been proposed for various clinical purposes. Accumulated evidence suggests that the activity of the different MSCs is indirect and associated with paracrine release of pro-regenerative and anti-inflammatory factors. A major limitation of bmMSCs-based treatment for autologous application is the limited yield of cells harvested from BM and the invasiveness of the procedure.

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Urinary incontinence (UI) is a major problem in health care and more than 400 million people worldwide suffer from involuntary loss of urine. With an increase in the aging population, UI is likely to become even more prominent over the next decades and the economic burden is substantial. Among the different subtypes of UI, stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is the most prevalent and focus of this review.

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Previously, we developed a novel, needle-free waterjet (WJ) technology capable of injecting viable cells by visual guided cystoscopy in the urethral sphincter. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of WJ technology on cell viability, surface markers, differentiation and attachment capabilities, and biomechanical features. Porcine adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (pADSCs) were isolated, expanded, and injected by WJ technology.

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Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been successfully employed in clinical applications. In most studies, autologous MSCs from the bone marrow (bmMSCs) were used, and others employed autologous adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ADSCs). Recently, clinical feasibility studies provided evidence that MSCs from human term placenta (pMSCs) can be used for homologous therapy facilitating access to regenerative cells in emergency situations, when autologous cells are not available or not suitable.

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Background: CD276 is an immune checkpoint molecule. Elevated CD276 expression by urothelial carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis, but little is known about its expression across different tumor stages. We therefore investigated CD276 expression in bladder cancer (BC) cells and in tissue samples of BC stages from pT2 to pT4.

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The reprogramming of patient´s somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and the consecutive differentiation into cardiomyocytes enables new options for the treatment of infarcted myocardium. In this study, the applicability of a hydrojet-based method to deliver footprint-free iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes into the myocardium was analyzed. A new hydrojet system enabling a rapid and accurate change between high tissue penetration pressures and low cell injection pressures was developed.

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Objectives: To investigate the therapy of stress urinary incontinence in a preclinical setting cells were injected into the urethrae of minipigs; however, cells injected by William's needle were frequently misplaced or lost; thus, we investigated if needle-free cell injections using a novel waterjet technology facilitates precise injections in the urethral sphincter complex.

Materials And Methods: Porcine adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (pADSCs) were isolated from boars, expanded, labelled, and injected in the sphincter of female pigs by waterjet employing two different protocols. After incubation for 15 min or 3 days, the urethrae of the pigs were examined.

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