Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

Crowdsourcing hypothesis tests: Making transparent how design choices shape research results

To what extent are research results influenced by subjective decisions that scientists make as they design studies? Fifteen research teams independently designed studies to answer fiveoriginal research questions related to moral judgments, negotiations, and implicit cognition. Participants from two separate large samples (total N > 15,000) were then randomly assigned to complete one version of each study. Effect sizes varied dramatically across different sets of materials designed to test the same hypothesis: materials from different teams renderedstatistically significant effects in opposite directions for four out of five hypotheses, with the narrowest range in estimates being d = -0.37 to +0.26. Meta-analysis and a Bayesian perspective on the results revealed overall support for two hypotheses, and a lack of support for three hypotheses. Overall, practically none of the variability in effect sizes was attributable to the skill of the research team in designing materials, while considerable variability was attributable to the hypothesis being tested. In a forecasting survey, predictions of other scientists were significantly correlated with study results, both across and within hypotheses. Crowdsourced testing of research hypotheses helps reveal the true consistency of empirical support for a scientific claim.</div

Protein Adsorption Hysteresis and Transient States of Fibrinogen and BMP-2 as Model Mechanisms for Proteome-Binding to Implants

Protein adsorption studies returned to the focus of medical therapeutics, when it was found that up to 2500 non-plasma proteins adsorbed to hip implants during arthroplastic surgery, challenging peri-implant healing models. Questions have re-emerged as to the implications of uncontrolled protein unfolding after adsorption. In past studies on the cooperativity of protein binding we discovered protein adsorption hysteresis, a thermodynamically irreversible process. The present precursory study comprises real-time kinetic (TIRF-Rheometry) and equilibrium (125I-tracer ) studies on the hysteretic binding of fibrinogen and rhBMP-2 to titanium and glass surfaces via transient states. Thermodynamic constants (GOn), as well as kinetically derived (K'A ) and hysteresis derived (K'HA ) association constants in the range of 106 to 1012 M-1lead to a consistent picture