Medical implantable devices for the controlled release of anti-TGF-beta1 in the repair of peripheral nerve injuries

The development of novel bioartificial nerve grafts which release soluble therapeutic agents, shows great promises guiding the extension of the injured axons and optimizing and improving the degree and specificity of neural outgrowth. The TGF-â family cytokines are polypeptides involved in pathogenesis of neuropathies during nerve lesion. In particular, studies carried out on TGF-â1 have demonstrated its key-role as a humoral stimulus in scar formation. The use of neutralising antibodies to this pro-fibrotic factor, incorporated and released by medical devices, could be potentially useful to get improved results in nerve repair. The aim of this study was to characterise the uptake and release of antibodies, structurally no different from the anti-TGFâ1 specific ones, by innovative constructs based on the use of biodegradable and biocompatible compounds with which to support and improve peripheral nerve repair

A database for the analysis of hla single nucleotide polymorphisms based on dna microarray technology

A data base is being set up aimed to collect information about HLA profiles obtained from specific microarrays. Both image analysis techniques to identifye the spots and the data structure of the database is presented. The system is in a preliminary phase, however significant results have been obtained, mainly as relates to finding spots, distinguishing spots from errors and of speedy image processing. For transplant patient testing as relates organ compatibility, the HLA profile information is crucial. Moreover the time in which the referral reaches the decision making point is extreamly important. For this reason, the possible implementation of an HL7 interface that will alllowing sharing they information by a web-service is considered

Development of a piezoelectric immunosensor for Paclitaxel measurement

This paper describes the development of a piezoelectric immunosensor for the measurement of paclitaxel (taxol), a natural anti-cancer agent. An antibody specific for taxanes was immobilized onto the surface of quartz crystals by means of the layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. The immobilization was achieved using electrostatic interactions between a precursor layer and the antibody molecules. The assembly process was monitored by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and the topography of the modified quartz crystals was investigated by means of atomic force microscopy. The specific interaction of the immobilized antibody with paclitaxel in solution at different concentrations was monitored as a change in resonant frequency of the modified crystal. Moreover, the influence of non-specific adsorption was also characterized. The results show that the proposed immunosensor offers a promising alternative to classical analytical methods for a fast and easy determination of paclitaxel