Bioinspired Preservation of Natural Killer Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy.

The ability to cryopreserve natural killer (NK) cells has a significant potential in modern cancer immunotherapy. Current cryopreservation protocols cause deterioration in NK cell viability and functionality. This work reports the preservation of human cytokine-activated NK cell viability and function following cryopreservation using a cocktail of biocompatible bioinspired cryoprotectants (i.

Chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy manufacturing: modelling the effect of offshore production on aggregate cost of goods.

Cell and gene therapies have demonstrated excellent clinical results across a range of indications with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies among the first to reach market. Although these therapies are currently manufactured using patient-derived cells, therapies using healthy donor cells are in development, potentially offering avenues toward process improvement and patient access. An allogeneic model could significantly reduce aggregate cost of goods (COGs), potentially improving market penetration of these life-saving treatments.

Promoting hepatogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells using a novel laminin-containing gelatin cryogel scaffold.

Liver transplantation is the only definitive treatment currently available for acute and chronic liver failure. However, this approach has been restricted by complications including rejection and infection. Tissue engineering approaches using stem cell-derived functional hepatic cells offer a potential alternative.

Application of Design Aspects in Uniaxial Loading Machine Development.

In terms of accurate and precise mechanical testing, machines run the continuum. Whereas commercial platforms offer excellent accuracy, they can be cost-prohibitive, often priced in the $100,000 - $200,000 price range. At the other extreme are stand-alone manual devices that often lack repeatability and accuracy (e.

Dynamic analysis of self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) filtration in submerged anaerobic bioreactor: Performance, characteristic, and mechanism.

This study attempts to provide an improved fundamental understanding of the self-forming dynamic membrane (SFDM) filtration process in submerged anaerobic bioreactors. Excellent system performances were achieved in terms of high COD removal efficiency (∼ 90%), fast formation/reformation of SFDM (<1 h), and sustainable low-resistance (3.92 × 10 m) high-flux (10-30 L/m·h) filtration.

Vertical Assembly of Giant Double- and Triple-Decker Spoked Wheel Supramolecular Structures.

The double- or triple-decker 3D metallo-hexagons were obtained by self-assembly of multitopic tris-terpyridines with Cd ions in near-quantitative yield. Comprising up to 72 ionic pairs, the multiple spoked wheels display characteristic reversible gelation properties under thermodynamic conditions. The supramolecular metallo-nanoarchitectures were characterized by H NMR, 2D NMR (COSY and NOESY), and diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY) and HR-ESI-MS, traveling-wave ion mobility mass spectrometry (TWIM-MS), TEM, and AFM.

Sympathetic neurotransmission in spleens from aging Brown-Norway rats subjected to reduced sympathetic tone.

Senescence of innate and adaptive responses and low-grade inflammation (inflammaging) hallmarks normal aging, which increases vulnerability to infectious diseases, autoimmunity and cancer. In normal aging, sympathetic dysregulation contributes to the dysregulation of innate and adaptive immunity and inflammaging. Sympathetic innervation of immune cells in secondary immune organs regulates immune responses.

On-chip analysis of carbon dots effect on yeast replicative lifespan.

Carbon dots (CDs) are promising nanomaterials for biosensing, bioimaging, and drug delivery due to their large surface area, excellent optical properties, and thermal and chemical stability. However, biosafety of CDs is still understudied, and there is not a generally accepted standard to evaluate the toxicity of CDs. We present a gradient network generator microfluidic device for dose-dependent testing of toxicity of CDs to a unicellular eukaryotic model organism, yeast Pichia pastoris.

Phagotrophic microalgae production from waste activated sludge under non-sterile conditions.

In this study waste activated sludge (WAS) was sonicated to release bacteria-sized volatile solids (VS) from flocs, after initial pH adjustment to 10 for higher energy efficiency. The released VS supported growth of phagotrophic alga Ochromonas danica. Initial-rate growth experiments confirmed the Monod-type kinetics but the specific cell growth rate, μ, correlated with the prey-to-predator ratio, i.

Sulfated zwitterionic poly(sulfobetaine methacrylate) hydrogels promote complete skin regeneration.

Unlabelled: Skin wound healing is a still long-history challenging problem and impeded by the foreign-body reaction including severe inflammation response, poor neovascularization, incomplete re-epithelialization and defective ECM remodeling. Development of biocompatible polymers, in combination with specific drugs or growth factors, has been considered as a promising strategy to treat skin wounds. Significant research efforts have been made to develop poly(ethylene glycol) PEG-based polymers for wound healing, however less efforts has been paid to zwitterionic materials, some of which have demonstrated their super low-fouling property in vitro and anti-inflammatory property in vivo.

Lab-on-a-chip platforms for quantification of multicellular interactions in bone remodeling.

Researchers have been using lab-on-a-chip systems to isolate factors for study, simulate laboratory analysis and model cellular, tissue and organ level processes. The technology is increasing rapidly, but the bone field has been slow to keep pace. Novel models are needed that have the power and flexibility to investigate the elegant and synchronous multicellular interactions that occur in normal bone turnover and in disease states in which remodeling is implicated.

Ac-LVFFARK-NH conjugation to β-cyclodextrin exhibits significantly enhanced performance on inhibiting amyloid β-protein fibrillogenesis and cytotoxicity.

Inhibition of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) aggregation is of significance for the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease. We have herein conjugated heptapeptide Ac-LVFFARK-NH (LK7) to β-cyclodextrin (βCyD) and studied the inhibitory effect of the LK7-βCyD conjugate on Aβ aggregation. The conjugation significantly improved the peptide solubility and suppressed the self-assembly propensity.

Topologically Directed Assemblies of Semiconducting Sphere-Rod Conjugates.

Spontaneous organizations of designed elements with explicit shape and symmetry are essential for developing useful structures and materials. We report the topologically directed assemblies of four categories (a total of 24) of sphere-rod conjugates, composed of a sphere-like fullerene (C) derivative and a rod-like oligofluorene(s) (OF), both of which are promising organic semiconductor materials. Although the packing of either spheres or rods has been well-studied, conjugates having both shapes substantially enrich resultant assembled structures.

Production of arabitol from enzymatic hydrolysate of soybean flour by Debaryomyces hansenii fermentation.

Arabitol is a low-calorie sugar alcohol with anti-cariogenic properties. Enzymatic hydrolysate of soybean flour is a new renewable biorefinery feedstock containing hexose, pentose, and organic nitrogen sources. Arabitol production by Debaryomyces hansenii using soybean flour hydrolysate was investigated.

Mimicking biological stress-strain behaviour with synthetic elastomers.

Despite the versatility of synthetic chemistry, certain combinations of mechanical softness, strength, and toughness can be difficult to achieve in a single material. These combinations are, however, commonplace in biological tissues, and are therefore needed for applications such as medical implants, tissue engineering, soft robotics, and wearable electronics. Present materials synthesis strategies are predominantly Edisonian, involving the empirical mixing of assorted monomers, crosslinking schemes, and occluded swelling agents, but this approach yields limited property control.

Sustained immune tolerance induction in enzyme replacement therapy-treated CRIM-negative patients with infantile Pompe disease.

Background: Cross-reactive immunological material-negative (CRIM-negative) infantile Pompe disease (IPD) patients develop an immune response against enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with alglucosidase alfa that nullifies ERT efficacy. Prophylactic immune tolerance induction (ITI) with rituximab, methotrexate, and IVIG successfully prevents development of deleterious rhGAA IgG antibodies; however, safety, likelihood of success, and long-term efficacy of ITI in a larger cohort remain unknown.

Methods: Clinical data were analyzed for 19 CRIM-negative IPD patients who received ITI with rituximab, methotrexate, and IVIG in the ERT-naive setting (ERT+ITI) and compared to a historical cohort of 10 CRIM-negative IPD patients on ERT monotherapy.

The U.S. Culture Collection Network Responding to the Requirements of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing.

The U.S. Culture Collection Network held a meeting to share information about how culture collections are responding to the requirements of the recently enacted Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Bioengineered liposome-scaffold composites as therapeutic delivery systems.

The therapeutic potential of liposomes can be amplified when combined with biomaterial scaffolds. Such configurations overcome the convergent demands of therapies by enabling enhanced delivery, environmental responsiveness and potency. Liposomes benefit from the increased physical and mechanical strength, favorable rheological properties and natural environment conducive to improved tissue formation that scaffolds provide, while enabling biocompatible delivery of hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds that can be further functionalized to achieve targeted delivery.

Engineering Hydrogen Bonding Interaction and Charge Separation in Bio-Polymers for Green Lubrication.

Synthetic additives are widely used in lubricants nowadays to upgrade lubrication properties. The potential of integrating sustainable components in modern lubricants has rarely been studied yet. In this work, two sustainable resources lignin and gelatin have been synergistically incorporated into ethylene glycol (EG), and their tribological properties were systematically investigated.

On the Molecular Evolution of Leptin, Leptin Receptor, and Endospanin.

Over a decade passed between Friedman's discovery of the mammalian leptin gene (1) and its cloning in fish (2) and amphibians (3). Since 2005, the concept of gene synteny conservation (vs. gene sequence homology) was instrumental in identifying leptin genes in dozens of species, and we now have leptin genes from all major classes of vertebrates.

Self-regulatory factors of embryonic stem cells in co-culture with stromal cells enhance neural differentiation.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs), due to their intrinsic capability to generate somatic cells of all three germ layers, are potential sources of neural cells for cell replacement therapies. However, the empirical differentiation protocols and the lack of mechanistic understanding of the neural differentiation of ESCs have limited the utility of ESCs as a developmental model or as a cell source for neural cell populations for replacement therapies. Co-culturing ESCs with stromal cells is one of the extensively used methods to induce neural differentiation.

A Noncrystallization Approach toward Uniform Thylakoids-like 2D "Nano-coins" and Their Grana-like 3D Suprastructures.

Two-dimensional (2D) circular shape nanostructures (e.g., "nano-coins") are ubiquitously present in thylakoids and grana within chloroplasts of plant cells in nature.

Grafting heteroelement-rich groups on graphene oxide: Tuning polarity and molecular interaction with bio-ionic liquid for enhanced lubrication.

Two different heteroelement-rich molecules have been successfully grafted on graphene oxide (GO) sheets which were then used as lubricant additives in bio-ionic liquid. The grafting was processed with reactions between GO sheets and synthesized heteroelement-rich molecules (Imidazol-1-yl phosphonic dichloride and 1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl phosphonic dichloride, respectively). The modified GO (m-GO) was added into [Choline][Proline] ([CH][P]) bio-ionic liquid, and has been demonstrated effective additive in promoting lubrication.

Identification of a New Function of Cardiovascular Disease Drug 3-Morpholinosydnonimine Hydrochloride as an Amyloid-β Aggregation Inhibitor.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) have a mutual cause-and-effect relationship, and they share some common risk factors. Although numerous Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs have been developed for CVD treatment, no drugs are clinically available for AD treatment. Given the common disease-causing factors and links between the two diseases and the well-demonstrated drugs for CVD, we propose to re-examine the new potential of the existing CVD drugs as amyloid-β (Aβ) inhibitors.