Animal Models for Adipose Tissue Engineering

There is a critical need for adequate reconstruction of soft tissue defects resulting from tumor resection, trauma, and congenital abnormalities. To be sure, adipose tissue engineering strategies offer promising solutions. However, before clinical translation can occur, efficacy must be proven in animal studies. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of animal models currently employed for adipose tissue engineering

New approach for assessing human perfluoroalkyl exposure via hair

Abstract: In the recent years hair has been increasingly used as alternative matrix in human biomonitoring (HBM) of environmental pollutants. Sampling advantages and time integration of exposure assessment seems the most attractive features of hair matrix. In the current study, a novel miniaturized method was developed and validated for measuring 15 perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluoro n-butanoic acid (PFBA), perfluoro n-pentanoic acid (PFPeA), perfluoro n-hexanoic acid (PFHxA), perfluoro n-heptanoic acid (PFHpA), perfluor n-octanoic acid (PFOA), perfluoro n-nonanoic acid (PFNA), perfluoro tetradecanoic acid (PFreDA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluoro pentane sulfonic acid (PFPeS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononane sulfonic acid (PFNS), perfluorodecane sulfonic acid (PFDS) and perfluorododecane sulfonic acid (PFDoS) in human hair by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). After extraction using ethyl acetate, dispersive ENVI-Carb was used for clean-up. Good intra- and inter-day precision for low (LQ 5 ng/g hair) and high spike (HQ 15 ng/g) levels were achieved (in general RSD < 10%). The accuracy was assessed using recoveries (%), which ranged between 68-118% (LQ) and 70-121% (HQ). The instrumental limit of detection (LODi) and limit of quantification (LOQ(i)) were between 1-4 pg/g hair and 3-13 pg/g hair, respectively. The method limit of quantification (LOQ(m)) ranged between 6 and 301 pg/g hair. The PFAS levels were measured in 30 human hair samples indicating that the levels are low (14-1534 pg/g hair). Some PFAS were not present in any hair sample (e.g. PFHpA, PFTeDA, PFNA, PFPeS, PFHpS, PFOS and PFNS), while other PFAS were frequently detected (PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFOA, PFBS, PFHxS, PFOS, PFDS and PFDoS) in human hair. Although levels in general were low, there is evidence of higher human exposure to some analytes, such as PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFOA, PFBS, PFHxS, and PFDoS. The current study shows that hair is a suitable alternative non-invasive matrix for exposure assessment of PFAS. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Hypoxia-mediated regulation of gene expression in mammalian cells

The molecular mechanism underlying oxygen sensing in mammalian cells has been extensively investigated in the areas of glucose transport, glycolysis, erythropoiesis, angiogenesis and catecholamine metabolism. Expression of functionally operative representative proteins in these specific areas, such as the glucose transporter 1, glycolytic enzymes, erythropoietin, vascular endothelial growth factor and tyrosine hydroxylase are all induced by hypoxia. Recent studies demonstrated that both transcriptional activation and post-transcriptional mechanisms are important to the hypoxia-mediated regulation of gene expression. In this article, the cis-acting elements and trans-acting factors involved in the transcriptional activation of gene expression will be reviewed. In addition, the mechanisms of post-transcriptional mRNA stabilization will also be addressed. We will discuss whether these two processes of regulation of hypoxia-responsive genes are mechanistically linked and co-operative in nature

Pharmacological reactivity of neoplastic and non-neoplastic associated neovasculature to vasoconstrictors

Angiogenesis and the pharmacological responses of the tumour and non-tumour associated neovasculature have been investigated. Cannulated sponge discs in mice were used to host the angiogenic stimulators, while 133Xe washout was employed to assess local blood flow. Enhancement of blood flow was detected in implants bearing B16 cells, 3T3 cells and angiotensin II (AII)-treated at day 7. The responses of non-neoplastic associated neovasculature at day 14 post sponge implantation to the vasoconstrictors used endothelin-1 (Et-1), AII, platelet activating factor (PAF) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were dose-dependent. By contrast, the newly formed blood vessels induced by tumour cells were markedly insensitive to the vasoconstrictors agonists Et-1 and AII, while fully responsive to PAF and 5-HT. The vessels resulting from neoplastic stimulus exhibited altered pharmacological reactivity, suggesting that the characteristics of the neovasculature are dependent on the nature of the angiogenic stimuli