Comparison of Decellularization Protocols to Generate Peripheral Nerve Grafts: A Study on Rat Sciatic Nerves

In critical nerve gap repair, decellularized nerve allografts are considered a promising tissue engineering strategy that can provide superior regeneration results compared to nerve conduits. Decellularized nerves offer a well-conserved extracellular matrix component that has proven to play an important role in supporting axonal guiding and peripheral nerve regeneration. Up to now, the known decellularized techniques are time and effort consuming. The present study, performed on rat sciatic nerves, aims at investigating a novel nerve decellularization protocol able to combine an effective decellularization in short time with a good preservation of the extracellular matrix component. To do this, a decellularization protocol proven to be efficient for tendons (DN-P1) was compared with a decellularization protocol specifically developed for nerves (DN-P2). The outcomes of both the decellularization protocols were assessed by a series of in vitro evaluations, including qualitative and quantitative histological and immunohistochemical analyses, DNA quantification, SEM and TEM ultrastructural analyses, mechanical testing, and viability assay. The overall results showed that DN-P1 could provide promising results if tested in vivo, as the in vitro characterization demonstrated that DN-P1 conserved a better ultrastructure and ECM components compared to DN-P2. Most importantly, DN-P1 was shown to be highly biocompatible, supporting a greater number of viable metabolically active cells.Ministry of Health, ItalyFondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino (Turin, Italy) 2017.AI190.U219 RF: 2016.2388Spanish "Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) FIS PI17-0393 FIS PI20-0318Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional ERDF-FEDER European UnionPlan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (PAIDI 2020), Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucía, España P18-RT-5059Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014-2020, Universidad de Granada, Junta de Andalucía, España A-CTS-498-UGR18ERDF-FEDER, the European Unio

Needle-trap device packed with the MIL-100(Fe) metal-organic framework for the extraction of the airborne organochlorine pesticides

This study was presented the development of the needle trap device (NTD) packed with the MIL-100(Fe) metal-organic framework (MOF) for extraction of organochlorine pesticides (Hexachlorobenzene, Aldrin, AlphaChlordane, Dildrin and DDT isomers) from the air environment for the first time. Specifications of synthesized MIL-100(Fe) were identified by Fourier-transfer infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and elemental mapping techniques. The optimization of sampling and desorption parameters such as humidity, time, and temperature were performed by response surface methodology (RSM). Sampling and analysis of organochlorine pesticides were accomplished under different conditions in the laboratory scale and then was employed in the field study for the real air samples. The highest response was obtained at desorption temperature of 280 degrees C and desorption time of 5 min. The temperature and humidity of the sampling site were set to 30 degrees C and 25. Furthermore, the Limit of Detection (LOD) and Limit of Quantification (LOQ) for the targeted analytes were determined in the range of 0.04-0.41 mu g/m(3) and 0.21-1.82 mu g/m(3), respectively. Moreover, from the recovery standpoint, any significant change was not detected on the analytes after 6 days of storage at 4 degrees C. Also, the results of this study showed a high correlation (R-2 = 0.9882) between the results of the proposed method with the standard NIOSH method. This study exhibited that the proposed MIL-100(Fe)@NTD method can be employed as an eco-friendly, reliable, sensitive, and efficient procedure for sampling and determination of the organochlorine pesticides compared to the standard NIOSH method

DEVELOPMENT OF A NEEDLE TRAP DEVICE PACKED WITH HKUST-1 SORBENT FOR SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS OF BTEX IN AIR

In this study, we developed a needle trap device packed with HKUST-1 (Cu-based metal-organic framework) for the sampling and analysis of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) in ambient air for the first time. The HKUST-1 was synthesized via the electrochemical process. Afterwards, the adsorbent was packed into 22 gauge needles. To provide the different concentrations of BTEX, the syringe pump was connected to the glass chamber to inject a specific rate of the BTEX compounds. Design-expert software (version 7) was used to optimize the analytical parameters including breakthrough volume, desorption conditions and sampling conditions. The best desorption conditions were achieved at 548 K for 6 min, and the best sampling conditions were determined at 309 K of sampling temperature and 20 of relative humidity. According to the results, the limit of quantification (LOQ) and limit of detection (LOD) of the developed needle trap device (NTD) were in the range of 0.52-1.41 and 0.16-0.5 mg/m(3), respectively. In addition, the repeatability and reproducibility of the method were calculated to be in the range of 5.5-13.2 and 5.3-12.3 , respectively. The analysis of needles stored in the refrigerator (>277 K) and room temperature (298 K) showed that the NTD can store the BTEX analytes for at least 10 and 6 days, respectively. Our findings indicated that the NTD packed with HKUST-1 sorbent can be used as a trustworthy and useful technique for the determination of BTEX in air

Nano-hydroxyapatite/polyaniline composite as an efficient sorbent for sensitive determination of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air by a needle trap device

Hydroxyapatite is a readily available, inexpensive, environmentally friendly adsorbent with high adsorption capacity. In this study, a polyaniline-doped nano-hydroxyapatite (PANI@HA) adsorbent was synthesized and employed in a needle trap device for the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene, fluoranthene, benzoaanthracene, phenanthrene, and benzoapyrene for the first time. The synthesized adsorbent was characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Initially, effective variables such as the carryover effect, storage time, accuracy, and precision of the method were examined in the laboratory. The desorption conditions were optimized using the response surface methodology and central composite design methods. From the standpoint of quantitative parameters, the limit of detection and limit of quantitation were determined to be between 0.001 and 0.003 and 0.021 and 0.051 ng mL(-1), respectively, which indicates the high sensitivity of the proposed method. Additionally, no significant changes were detected after storage of analytes inside the needle at 4 degrees C after 60 days. The results of this study also provide a high correlation between the results of sampling with needles containing PANI@HA and with XAD-2 adsorbent tubes (standard NIOSH 5115 method) (R-2 = 0.98). Finally, the proposed method was successfully employed in the extraction and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in field (real) samples. In general, it can be concluded that a needle packed with PANI@HA is a reliable and high-performance method for sampling polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons compared to the NIOSH method

Fetuin-B, a second member of the fetuin family in mammals.

A set of orthologous plasma proteins found in human, sheep, pig, cow and rodents, now collectively designated fetuin-A, constitutes the fetuin family. Fetuin-A has been identified as a major protein during fetal life and is also involved in important functions such as inhibition of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity, protease inhibitory activities and development-associated regulation of calcium metabolism and osteogenesis. Furthermore, fetuin-A is a key partner in the recovery phase of an acute inflammatory response. We now describe a second protein of the fetuin family, called fetuin-B, which is found at least in human and rodents. On grounds of domain homology, overall conservation of cysteine residues and chromosomal assignments of the corresponding genes in these species, fetuin-B is unambiguously a paralogue of fetuin-A. Yet, fetuin-A and fetuin-B exhibit significant differences at the amino acid sequence level, notably including variations with respect to the archetypal fetuin-specific signature. Differences and similarities in terms of gene regulation were also observed. Indeed, studies performed during development in rat and mouse showed for the first time high expression of a member of the fetuin family in adulthood, as shown with the fetuin-B mRNA in rat. However, like its fetuin-A counterpart, the fetuin-B mRNA level is down-regulated during the acute phase of experimentally induced inflammation in rat