Reverse-engineered models reveal differential membrane properties of autonomic and cutaneous unmyelinated fibers.

Unmyelinated C-fibers constitute the vast majority of axons in peripheral nerves and play key roles in homeostasis and signaling pain. However, little is known about their ion channel expression, which controls their firing properties. Also, because of their small diameters (~ 1 μm), it has not been possible to characterize their membrane properties using voltage clamp.

Branched poly-l-lysine for cartilage penetrating carriers.

Joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis, often require delivery of drugs to chondrocytes residing within the cartilage. However, intra-articular delivery of drugs to cartilage remains a challenge due to their rapid clearance within the joint. This problem is further exacerbated by the dense and negatively charged cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM).

Blood Pressure Variability in Clinical Practice: Past, Present and the Future.

Recent advances in wearable technology through convenient and cuffless systems will enable continuous, noninvasive monitoring of blood pressure (BP), heart rate, and heart rhythm on both longitudinal 24-hour measurement scales and high-frequency beat-to-beat BP variability and synchronous heart rate variability and changes in underlying heart rhythm. Clinically, BP variability is classified into 4 main types on the basis of the duration of monitoring time: very-short-term (beat to beat), short-term (within 24 hours), medium-term (within days), and long-term (over months and years). BP variability is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, cognitive decline, and mental illness.

Vascular stiffening in aging females with a hypertension-induced HIF2A gain-of-function mutation.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is more prevalent in females than males; the causes of this sex difference have not been adequately explored. Gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2A) lead to PAH and thrombotic consequences in patients and mice. Additionally, multiple emerging studies suggest that elevated systemic arterial stiffening (SAS) occurs in PAH; this could have critical prognostic value.

In vivo fluid transport in human intervertebral discs varies by spinal level and disc region.

Background: The lumbar discs are large, dense tissues that are primarily avascular, and cells residing in the central region of the disc are up to 6-8 mm from the nearest blood vessel in adults. To maintain homeostasis, disc cells rely on nutrient transport between the discs and adjacent vertebrae. Thus, diminished transport has been proposed as a factor in age-related disc degeneration.

Molecularly Tailored Interface for Long-Term Xenogeneic Cell Transplantation.

Encapsulation of therapeutic cells in a semipermeable device can mitigate the need for systemic immune suppression following cell transplantation by providing local immunoprotection while being permeable to nutrients, oxygen, and different cell-secreted biomolecules. However, fibrotic tissue deposition around the device has been shown to compromise the long-term function of the transplanted cells. Herein, a macroencapsulation device design that improves long-term survival and function of the transplanted cells is reported.

A Droplet Microfluidic System to Fabricate Hybrid Capsules Enabling Stem Cell Organoid Engineering.

Organoids derived from self-organizing stem cells represent a major technological breakthrough with the potential to revolutionize biomedical research. However, building high-fidelity organoids in a reproducible and high-throughput manner remains challenging. Here, a droplet microfluidic system is developed for controllable fabrication of hybrid hydrogel capsules, which allows for massive 3D culture and formation of functional and uniform islet organoids derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).

Textile band electrodes as an alternative to spot Ag/AgCl electrodes for calf bioimpedance measurements.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of five different types of textiles as band electrodes for calf bioimpedance measurements in comparison with conventional spot Ag/AgCl electrodes.

Approach: Calf bioimpedance measurements were performed in 10 healthy volunteers with five different textile materials cut into bands and Ag/AgCl spot electrodes as a baseline. Collected bioimpedance data were analyzed in terms of precision, fit error and presence of measurement artifacts.

Rat intersubjective decisions are encoded by frequency-specific oscillatory contexts.

Introduction: It is unknown how the brain coordinates decisions to withstand personal costs in order to prevent other individuals' distress. Here we test whether local field potential (LFP) oscillations between brain regions create "neural contexts" that select specific brain functions and encode the outcomes of these types of intersubjective decisions.

Methods: Rats participated in an "Intersubjective Avoidance Test" (IAT) that tested rats' willingness to enter an innately aversive chamber to prevent another rat from getting shocked.

Endothelial Cell Senescence Increases Traction Forces due to Age-Associated Changes in the Glycocalyx and SIRT1.

Endothelial cell (EC) aging and senescence are key events in atherogenesis and cardiovascular disease development. Age-associated changes in the local mechanical environment of blood vessels have also been linked to atherosclerosis. However, the extent to which cell senescence affects mechanical forces generated by the cell is unclear.

The Effect of Stress-Induced Senescence on Aging Human Cord Blood-Derived Endothelial Cells.

Purpose: We sought to determine the effect of stress-induced senescence on the permeability to albumin of aging endothelial progenitor cells.

Methods: Human umbilical cord blood derived endothelial cells (hCB-ECs) and human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) were treated with 200 μM HO and permeability to FITC-bovine serum albumin was measured. Some samples were subsequently treated with 100μM 8-pCPT-2'-O-Me-cAMP, a cAMP analog that activates the Epac1-Rap1 pathway.

Silica-dispersed glucose oxidase for glucose sensing: in vitro testing in serum and blood and the effect of condensation pH.

The objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility of using glucose oxidase (GOx) dispersed in a silica matrix for glucose monitoring in whole blood, and then to assess whether the flexibility of silica sol-gel chemistry could be exploited to enhance glucose sensor performance and stability. Silica-dispersed GOx was deployed on platinized platinum (Pt) wire to form a Clark-type amperometric glucose sensor. Sensors were calibrated using buffered glucose standard solutions, and then tested against glucose spiked human serum and whole blood.

Progress in ring array transducers for real-time 3D ultrasound guidance of cardiac interventional devices.

As a treatment for aortic stenosis, several companies have recently introduced prosthetic heart valves designed to be deployed through a catheter using an intravenous or transapical approach. This procedure can either take the place of open heart surgery with some ofthe devices or delay it with others. Real-time 3D ultrasound could enable continuous monitoring of these structures before, during and after deployment.

Endothelial Cell Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Co-Culture Assay For High Throughput Screening Assays For Discovery of Anti-Angiogenesis Agents and Other Therapeutic Molecules.

Drug development for many diseases would be aided greatly by accurate in vitro model systems that replicate key elements of in vivo physiology. The recent development of co-culture systems of endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells can be extended to high throughput systems for the identification of compounds for angiogenesis, vascular repair and hypertension. In this review, the various co-culture systems are reviewed and biological interactions between endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells are discussed.