Adipose tissue-derived stem cells and their application in bone and cartilage tissue engineering

The adipose tissue was considered a reserve of energy until the ’80s, when it was found that this tissue was involved in the metabolism of sex steroids such as estrogens. From then on, the importance attributed to this tissue radically changed as it was then considered an active organ, involved in important functions of the human body. In 2001, for the first time, the existence of stem cells within this tissue was reported, and since then, this tissue has been gaining an increased importance as a stem cell source for a wide range of potential applications in cell therapies and=or tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies, mainly due to its wide availability and easy access. This manuscript provides an overview on adipose stem cells (i.e., adipose tissue–derived stem cells, ASCs) considering the tissue of origin, the niche of the ASCs, and their phenotype in all aspects. In this paper it is also discussed the markers that have been used for the characterization of these cells, their differentiation properties, and their immunological reactivity, reporting studies from 2001 until this date. The ASCs are also compared with bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), until now considered as the gold standard source of stem cells, underlining the common characteristics and the differences between the stem cells obtained from these two sources, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of their potential use in different applications. Finally, this review will also focus on the potential application of ASCs in tissue engineering applications, particularly in the regeneration of bone and cartilage, commenting on the progress of this approach and future trends of the field.T. Rada thanks the European Marie Curie EST Project (Alea Jacta Est) for the Ph. D. fellowship. The authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the partial financial support through funds from POCTI and/or FEDER programs and to the European Union funded STREP Project HIPPOCRATES (NMP3-CT-2003-505758) and the European NoE EXPER-TISSUES (NMP3-CT-2004-500283)

Isolation of adipose stem cells (ASCs) subpopulations with distinct differentiation potential

[Excerpt] ASCs are becoming the elected cells for TE applications because ASCs have been easily isolated and have shown good differentiation potential. The aim of this work was to isolate the ASCs using immunomagnetic beads coated with different antibodies (Ab) markers and to test the differentiation potential of the different subpopulations isolated. [...]Marie Curie Actions Alea Jacta Est, Project HIPPOCRATES, NoE EXPERTISSUESinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

RELAÇÕES COMPRIMENTO-COMPRIMENTO E COMPRIMENTO-PESO PARA A ICTIOFAUNA DAS CABECEIRAS DA SERRA ONÇA PUMA, REGIÃO AMAZÔNICA, BRASIL

Length–length (LLR) and length–weight (LWR) relationships are presented for 19 fish species collected between 2009 and2011 insmall tributaries and headwaters areas of the Tocantins-Araguaia basin, Itacaiúnas drainage, Southwestern Pará, Amazonian, Brazil. This study describes the first reference of LLR for 13 species and LWR for 16 fish species.Keywords: Allometry, Itacaiúnas, ichthyofauna.Relações Comprimento-Comprimento (RCC) e Comprimento-Peso (RCP) são apresentadas para 19 espécies de peixes coletadas entre 2009 e 2011 em pequenos tributários de cabeceira da bacia do Toncantins-Araguaia, drenagens do Itacaiúnas, Sudoeste do Estado do Pará, Região Amazônica, Brasil. Este estudo relata a primeira referência de RCC para 13 espécies e de RCP para 16 espécies de peixes.Palavras-chave: Alometria, Itacaiúnas, ictiofauna

High performance size-exclusion chromatography analysis of polar compounds applied to refined, mild deodorized, extra virgin olive oils and their blends: An approach to their differentiation

An investigation was carried out to evaluate the use of High Performance Size-Exclusion Chromatography (HPSEC) of polar compounds of refined, mild deodorized, extra virgin olive oils as well as of their blends, in attempting to reveal significant differences in the amounts of the substance classes constituting polar compounds among these oils. Two sets of blends were prepared by mixing an extra virgin olive oil with both refined and mild deodorized olive oils in increasing amounts. The obtained data highlighted that the triacylglycerol oligopolymers were absent or present in traces in the extra virgin olive oil, while their mean amount was equal to 0.04. g/100. g and 0.72. g/100. g in mild deodorized and refined olive oils, respectively. Oxidized triacylglycerols and diacylglycerols were more abundant in mild deodorized oil and refined oil than in extra virgin olive oil. The Factorial Discriminant Analysis of the data showed that the HPSEC analysis could reveal the presence of refined/mild deodorized oils in extra virgin olive oils. In particular, the classification functions obtained allowed designation of mixtures containing at least 30. g/100. g of mild deodorized oil and all those containing refined olive oil as deodorized oil, therefore as oils subjected to at least a mild refining treatment. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Human dermal fibroblasts, keratinocytes and adipose stem cells behaviour on patterned electrospun nanofiber meshes

Natural extracellular Matrix (ECM) creates a unique cellular microenvironment. It acts as a support to organize cells in tissues, maintains their structure and works also as a reservoir for cytokines, thus controlling cell growth and differentiation. A well-defined biomaterial surface topography is believed to be adequate to mimic native ECM for guiding cell growth or tissue regeneration. This structure can be achieved by using an electrospinning technique, which allows producing a non-woven nanofibrous structure with topographic features mimicking the natural ECM. [...]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Expression, purification and bioactivity of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-4,-9,-10,-11 and-14 produced in Escherichia coli for tissue engineering applications

[Excerpt] Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are cytokines from the TGFb superfamily, with important roles during embryonic development and in inducing bone and cartilage in the adult body. In this contribution, we report the expression of recombinant human BMP-4, BMP-9, BMP-10, BMP-11 (or growth differentiation factor-11, GDF-11) and BMP-14 (GDF-5), using Escherichia coli pET-25b expression system. The BMPs were purified by affinity chromatography and its bioactivity accessed in C2C12 cell line, by screening the expression of osteogenic markers with RT-PCR. [...]Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia for PhD grant SFRH/BD/17049/2004 and project ElastM POCI/CTM/ 57177/2004 supported by FEDER and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; European STREP Project HIPPOCRATES (NMP3-CT-2003-505758). The work was carried out under the scope of the European NoE EXPERTISSUES (NMP3-CT-2004-500283).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Expression, purification and osteogenic bioactivity of recombinant human BMP-4, -9, -10, -11 and -14

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are cytokines from the TGF-b superfamily, with important roles during embryonic development and in the induction of bone and cartilage tissue differentiation in the adult body. In this contribution, we report the expression of recombinant human BMP-4, BMP-9, BMP-10, BMP-11 (or growth differentiation factor- 11, GDF-11) and BMP-14 (GDF-5), using Escherichia coli pET-25b vector. BMPs were overexpressed, purified by affinity his-tag chromatography and shown to induce the expression of early markers of bone differentiation (e.g. smad-1, smad-5, runx2/cbfa1, dlx5, osterix, osteopontin, bone sialoprotein and alkaline phosphatase) in C2C12 cells and in human adipose stem cells. The described approach is a promising method for producing large amounts of different recombinant BMPs that show potential for novel biomedical applications.The author wishes to acknowledge the Sanger Institute for kindly offering the bacterial clones for cloning of human BMP-9 to -14. This work was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (PhD grant SFRH/BD/17049/2004, project ElastM POCI/CTM/57177/2004 funded by FEDER and the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia; and European STREP Project HIPPOCRATES (NMP3-CT-2003-505758). This work was carried out under the scope of the European NoE EXPERTISSUES (NMP3-CT-2004-500283)

Sviluppo di composti di ossidazione in olio extra vergine di oliva durante la frittura: influenza della cultivar e del processo di estrazione

An experimental investigation was carried out in order to assess the influence of the cultivar and of the oil extraction process on the evolution of the oxidation compounds in extra virgin olive oil during frying. In order to do this oils from two Sardinian cultivars, obtained by two different oil extraction processes have been used to fry potato chips. The oils extracted from the potato chips were analyzed to evaluate the oxidative degradation and the antioxidant capacity. The results obtained showed that the differences observed for the oxidation triacylglycerol and polar compounds content in the extracted oils reflect the differences observed in the starting oils, while, as regards the triacylglycerol oligopolymers, the oils showed a different behavior during frying, indicating a slower polymerization rate in the oils characterized by a better quality. Un’indagine sperimentale è stata condotta allo scopo di valutare l’influenza della cultivar e del processo di estrazione dell’olio sullo sviluppo di composti di ossidazione in olio extra vergine di oliva sottoposto a frittura. Allo scopo oli monovarietali, provenienti da due cultivar sarde, ottenuti applicando due differenti tecnologie di estrazione sono stati impiegati per la frittura di patatine. L’olio estratto da queste è stato sottoposto ad indagini analitiche utili per la valutazione dei fenomeni di ossidazione e della capacità antiossidante. I risultati ottenuti hanno evidenziato che le differenze riscontrate per il contenuto in triacilgliceroli ossidati e in composti polari negli oli estratti dalle patate rispecchiavano quelle degli oli di partenza, mentre per il contenuto in oligopolimeri dei triacilgliceroli è stato evidenziato un comportamento differente degli oli nel corso della frittura, ad indicazione di una minore polimerizzazione negli oli caratterizzati da migliore qualità iniziale

Water reuse: dairy effluent treated by a hybrid anaerobic biofilm baffled reactor and its application in lettuce irrigation

There is a synergy between the large quantities of organics-rich effluents generated by the dairy industry and the continually increasing water needs for crop irrigation. In this sense, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of decreasing the hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the stability and efficiency of a hybrid anaerobic biofilm baffled reactor (HABBR) treating simulated fat- and salt-rich dairy wastewater, followed by its agricultural reuse. The reactor was monitored over 328 days, during which 72, 24, and 12 hours were the hydraulic detention times. After achieving steady-state, the reactor presented organic matter removal above 90% and produced biogas with 41 ± 23%, 53 ± 3%, and 64 ± 12% of methane for HRTs of 72, 24, and 12 hours, respectively. The best process performance was observed for an HRT of 24 h, and thus, a lettuce culture was irrigated with the treated effluent. The irrigation was performed in five different treatments, for which the amount of treated effluent added to tap water varied from 0 to 100%. Both the effluent and the harvested vegetables were evaluated for microbial contamination. Apart from the 75% effluent supply condition, there were no losses in leaf mass or area observed, and instead, there was an increase of these parameters for the 25 and 50% effluent supply treatment. The use of dairy effluent treated by the HABBR allowed for microbiologically safe food production. Therefore, the process offered both potential cost reduction for fertilizers, preservation of water resources, and a renewable energy source.The authors are grateful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – CAPES for the grants to L. K. A. Santos (Finace Code 001) and to M. M. S. Alves (PVE 123/2012, process no. 23038.009805/2012-39), as well for the financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio