Influence of the oxygen microenvironment on the proangiogenic potential of human endothelial colony forming cells

Therapeutic angiogenesis is a promising strategy to promote the formation of new or collateral vessels for tissue regeneration and repair. Since changes in tissue oxygen concentrations are known to stimulate numerous cell functions, these studies have focused on the oxygen microenvironment and its role on the angiogenic potential of endothelial cells. We analyzed the proangiogenic potential of human endothelial colony-forming cells (hECFCs), a highly proliferative population of circulating endothelial progenitor cells, and compared outcomes to human dermal microvascular cells (HMVECs) under oxygen tensions ranging from 1% to 21% O2, representative of ischemic or healthy tissues and standard culture conditions. Compared to HMVECs, hECFCs (1) exhibited significantly greater proliferation in both ischemic conditions and ambient air; (2) demonstrated increased migration compared to HMVECs when exposed to chemotactic gradients in reduced oxygen; and (3) exhibited comparable or superior proangiogenic potential in reduced oxygen conditions when assessed using a vessel-forming assay. These data demonstrate that the angiogenic potential of both endothelial populations is influenced by the local oxygen microenvironment. However, hECFCs exhibit a robust angiogenic potential in oxygen conditions representative of physiologic, ischemic, or ambient air conditions, and these findings suggest that hECFCs may be a superior cell source for use in cell-based approaches for the neovascularization of ischemic or engineered tissues

Sustained Release of Multiple Growth Factors from Injectable Polymeric System as a Novel Therapeutic Approach Towards Angiogenesis

The aim was to investigate that a bio-degradable alginate and poly lactide-co-glycolide (PLG) system capable of delivering growth factors sequentially would be superior to single growth factor delivery in promoting neovascularization and improving perfusion

Cardiac lymphatics in health and disease

The lymphatic vasculature, which accompanies the blood vasculature in most organs, is indispensable in the maintenance of tissue fluid homeostasis, immune cell trafficking, and nutritional lipid uptake and transport, as well as in reverse cholesterol transport. In this Review, we discuss the physiological role of the lymphatic system in the heart in the maintenance of cardiac health and describe alterations in lymphatic structure and function that occur in cardiovascular pathology, including atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. We also briefly discuss the role that immune cells might have in the regulation of lymphatic growth (lymphangiogenesis) and function. Finally, we provide examples of how the cardiac lymphatics can be targeted therapeutically to restore lymphatic drainage in the heart to limit myocardial oedema and chronic inflammation.Peer reviewe

Demographic differences in self-report pubertal status among rural adolescents in the US

BACKGROUND: While sex and racial/ethnic differences in pubertal development have been noted, most of this research has been in urban areas. AIM: The purpose of this study is to examine demographic differences in pubertal status among a school-based sample of US rural adolescents aged 11 to 16.5 (N=6,425). METHODS: Pubertal status was measured using the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS), a self-report scale of secondary sexual characteristics. We compared pubertal status means by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: At all ages, females had a higher mean pubertal status than males. Most racial/ethnic differences were between White and Black youth. Between the ages of 11 and 13, Black youth reported more advanced development than White youth. But contrary to research with urban samples, this pattern of development reversed in later adolescence and the reversal was more prominent among males than females. Although there were no differences in pubertal status between White and Latino males, White females had higher mean levels of development than Latino females. CONCLUSION: Demographic patterns were both consistent with and different from previous research with urban adolescents, suggesting the need for comparison of demographic patterns of pubertal development in samples that include youth from urban and rural areas

Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) as a controlled release delivery device

10.1007/s10856-009-3727-zJournal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine2081669-167

The Theory of Planned Behaviour as a Frame for Job Crafting: Explaining and Enhancing Proactive Adjustment at Work

Rapid changes in the work environment require employees to proactivity shape their job characteristics to sustain motivation, energy, and performance. Traditionally, job redesign was mainly a top-down process, where the management of an organisation was in charge of defining the most appropriate job description of a mansion. Today, such an approach does not respond anymore to the challenges of the work environment, and awareness has developed among scholars and practitioners about the importance of empowering individuals to let them adjust their job characteristics to reach organisation goals, i.e. through job crafting interventions. In this theoretical contribution, we propose the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a framework to design positive psychology interventions aiming to enhance adaptive job crafting behaviours. We argue that the TPB provides a solid foundation to explicate the mechanisms by which job crafting positive interventions are expected to exert their effects on behaviour. Such an approach allows targeting the content and the tools of the interventions based on participants\u2019 needs, effectively addressing the causal determinants of behaviour and behaviour change in multicultural organisational contexts