Safety of autologous bone marrow aspiration concentrate transplantation: initial experiences in 101 patients

The clinical application of cellular based therapies with ex vivo cultivation for the treatment of diseases of the musculoskeletal system has until now been limited. In particular, the advanced laboratory and technical effort necessary, regulatory issues as well as high costs are major obstacles. On the other hand, newly developed cell therapy systems permit intra-operative enrichment and application of mesenchymal and progenitor stem cells from bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) in one single operative session. The objective of the present clinical surveillance study was to evaluate new bone formation after the application of BMAC as well as to record any possible therapy-specific complication

Differential expression of CCN-family members in primary human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells during osteogenic, chondrogenic and adipogenic differentiation

BACKGROUND: The human cysteine rich protein 61 (CYR61, CCN1) as well as the other members of the CCN family of genes play important roles in cellular processes such as proliferation, adhesion, migration and survival. These cellular events are of special importance within the complex cellular interactions ongoing in bone remodeling. Previously, we analyzed the role of CYR61/CCN1 as an extracellular signaling molecule in human osteoblasts. Since mesenchymal stem cells of bone marrow are important progenitors for various differentiation pathways in bone and possess increasing potential for regenerative medicine, here we aimed to analyze the expression of CCN family members in bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells and along the osteogenic, the adipogenic and the chondrogenic differentiation. RESULTS: Primary cultures of human mesenchymal stem cells were obtained from the femoral head of patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Differentiation into adipocytes and osteoblasts was done in monolayer culture, differentiation into chondrocytes was induced in high density cell pellet cultures. For either pathway, established differentiation markers and CCN-members were analyzed at the mRNA level by RT-PCR and the CYR61/CCN1 protein was analyzed by immunocytochemistry. RT-PCR and histochemical analysis revealed the appropriate phenotype of differentiated cells (Alizarin-red S, Oil Red O, Alcian blue, alkaline phosphatase; osteocalcin, collagen types I, II, IX, X, cbfa1, PPARγ, aggrecan). Mesenchymal stem cells expressed CYR61/CCN1, CTGF/CCN2, CTGF-L/WISP2/CCN5 and WISP3/CCN6. The CYR61/CCN1 expression decreased markedly during osteogenic differentiation, adipogenic differentiation and chondrogenic differentiation. These results were confirmed by immuncytochemical analyses. WISP2/CCN5 RNA expression declined during adipogenic differentiation and WISP3/CCN6 RNA expression was markedly reduced in chondrogenic differentiation. CONCLUSION: The decrease in CYR61/CCN1 expression during the differentiation pathways of mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts, adipocytes and chondrocytes suggests a specific role of CYR61/CCN1 for maintenance of the stem cell phenotype. The differential expression of CTGF/CCN2, WISP2/CCN5, WISP3/CCN6 and mainly CYR61/CCN1 indicates, that these members of the CCN-family might be important regulators for bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the regulation of proliferation and initiation of specific differentiation pathways

Test Facility for Research on Advanced Green Propellants under High-Altitude Conditions

A test facility for research on green advanced propellants under subatmospheric conditions has been designed and built at test complex M11. The facility is capable of testing various green advanced propellants for satellite and orbital propulsion applications with focus on research requirements. High flexibility in using different propellants and propellant combinations, in control and measurement equipment and in test conduction are key aspects for operation of the test facility. An overview of the test facility itself and the conducted tests are given

FRET-enhanced photostability allows improved single-molecule tracking of proteins and protein complexes in live mammalian cells.

A major challenge in single-molecule imaging is tracking the dynamics of proteins or complexes for long periods of time in the dense environments found in living cells. Here, we introduce the concept of using FRET to enhance the photophysical properties of photo-modulatable (PM) fluorophores commonly used in such studies. By developing novel single-molecule FRET pairs, consisting of a PM donor fluorophore (either mEos3.2 or PA-JF549) next to a photostable acceptor dye JF646, we demonstrate that FRET competes with normal photobleaching kinetic pathways to increase the photostability of both donor fluorophores. This effect was further enhanced using a triplet-state quencher. Our approach allows us to significantly improve single-molecule tracking of chromatin-binding proteins in live mammalian cells. In addition, it provides a novel way to track the localization and dynamics of protein complexes by labeling one protein with the PM donor and its interaction partner with the acceptor dye

Flashing Behavior of Ionic Liquid Propellants under Vacuum Conditions

Newly developed ionic liquid propellant blends are currently considered as alternative for hydrazine replacement in orbital thrusters. The behavior of these multi component blends during the injection process is not sufficiently investigated yet. Especially the behavior under vacuum conditions in regards to spray formation and possible decomposition effects is unknown. For this very reason experiments with saline solutions under near vacuum conditions were conducted at DLR – Institute of Space Propulsion in Lampoldshausen to help to understand the process. Different injector configurations were used as well to identify and describe possible parameters of influence