Cardiac tissue engineering for myocardial infarction treatment

Myocardial infarction is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current treatments can relieve the symptoms of myocardial ischemia but cannot repair the necrotic myocardial tissue. Novel therapeutic strategies based on cellular therapy, extracellular vesicles, non-coding RNAs and growth factors have been designed to restore cardiac function while inducing cardiomyocyte cycle re-entry, ensuring angiogenesis and cardioprotection, and preventing ventricular remodeling. However, they face low stability, cell engraftment issues or enzymatic degradation in vivo, and it is thus essential to combine them with biomaterial-based delivery systems. Microcarriers, nanocarriers, cardiac patches and injectable hydrogels have yielded promising results in preclinical studies, some of which are currently being tested in clinical trials. In this review, we cover the recent advances made in cellular and acellular therapies used for cardiac repair after MI. We present current trends in cardiac tissue engineering related to the use of microcarriers, nanocarriers, cardiac patches and injectable hydrogels as biomaterial-based delivery systems for biologics. Finally, we discuss some of the most crucial aspects that should be addressed in order to advance towards the clinical translation of cardiac tissue engineering approaches

Sinus pilonidal interdigital: una rara enfermedad profesional

Se presenta un caso de sinus pilonidal interdigital de mano de un paciente varón de 27 años de edad y de profesión peluquero, que consultó por presentar secreción y exposición de pelos por orificio fistuloso en segundo espacio interdigital. El tratamiento consistió en la exéresis en cuña de la lesión y cierre directo de la herida quirúrgica. No hubo alteraciones en el periodo postoperatorio. Actualmente, tras 10 años de evolución, el paciente sigue desarrollando su profesión sin haber presentado ninguna recidiva de la lesión y realiza una vida personal sin problemas.We report a case of interdigital pilonidal sinus of the hand of a male patient of 27 years-old and a professional hairdresser, who consulted for a discharge and exposure of hairs fistula second web space of hand. Treatment consisted of wedge excision of the lesion and direct closure of the surgical wound. There were no changes in the postoperative period. Today, after 10 years of evolution, the patient continues to develop their profession without having presented any recurrence of the injury and makes a personal life without problems

Monolithic All-Solid-State High-Voltage Li-Metal Thin-Film Rechargeable Battery

The substitution of an organic liquid electrolyte with lithium-conducting solid materials is a promising approach to overcome the limitations associated with conventional lithium-ion batteries. These constraints include a reduced electrochemical stability window, high toxicity, flammability, and the formation of lithium dendrites. In this way, all-solid-state batteries present themselves as ideal candidates for improving energy density, environmental friendliness, and safety. In particular, all-solid-state configurations allow the introduction of compact, lightweight, high-energy-density batteries, suitable for low-power applications, known as thin-film batteries. Moreover, solid electrolytes typically offer wide electrochemical stability windows, enabling the integration of high-voltage cathodes and permitting the fabrication of higher-energy-density batteries. A high-voltage, all-solid-state lithium-ion thin-film battery composed of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode, a LiPON solid electrolyte, and a lithium metal anode has been deposited layer by layer on low-cost stainless-steel current collector substrates. The structural and electrochemical properties of each electroactive component of the battery had been analyzed separately prior to the full cell implementation. In addition to a study of the internal solid–solid interface, comparing them was done with two similar cells assembled using conventional lithium foil, one with thin-film solid electrolyte and another one with thin-film solid electrolyte plus a droplet of LP30 liquid electrolyte. The thin-film all-solid state cell developed in this work delivered 80.5 mAh g–1 in the first cycle at C/20 and after a C-rate test of 25 cycles at C/10, C/5, C/2, and 1C and stabilized its capacity at around 70 mAh g–1 for another 12 cycles prior to the start of its degradation. This cell reached gravimetric and volumetric energy densities of 333 Wh kg–1 and 1,212 Wh l–1, respectively. Overall, this cell showed a better performance than its counterparts assembled with Li foil, highlighting the importance of the battery interface control

Metodología de investigación de Rocas Ornamentales: Granitos.

Durante la realización del proyecto del IGME ·Potencial Básico de Granitos y Neises Ornamentales en Castilla y León se desarrolló una metodología sistemática de investigación de granitos para uso ornamental que, por su versatilidad, puede hacerse extensible, en sus aspectos más generales, a otros tipos de rocas ornamentales e, incluso, rocas industriales en general. Para ello, se desarrollan una serle de fases de trabajo que comprenden: recogida de información, exploración de campo a escalas 1 :50.000, 1 :25.000 y 1: 10.000, valoración de áreas y elección de puntos canterables, todo ello mediante la cuantificación de todos los parámetros y valores que han de tenerse en cuenta en la investigación de rocas ornamentales, que nos permiten dar un tratamiento objetivo a todas las áreas estudiadas

Controlled delivery of fibroblast growth factor-1 and neuregulin-1 from biodegradable microparticles promotes cardiac repair in a rat myocardial infarction model through activation of endogenous regeneration

Acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF1) and neuregulin-1 (NRG1) are growth factors involved in cardiac development and regeneration. Microparticles (MPs) mediate cytokine sustained release, and can be utilized to overcome issues related to the limited therapeutic protein stability during systemic administration. We sought to examine whether the administration of microparticles (MPs) containing FGF1 and NRG1 could promote cardiac regeneration in a myocardial infarction (MI) rat model. We investigated the possible underlying mechanisms contributing to the beneficial effects of this therapy, especially those linked to endogenous regeneration. FGF1- and NRG1-loaded MPs were prepared using a multiple emulsion solvent evaporation technique. Seventy-three female Sprague-Dawley rats underwent permanent left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion, and MPs were intramyocardially injected in the peri-infarcted zone four days later. Cardiac function, heart tissue remodeling, revascularization, apoptosis, cardiomyocyte proliferation, and stem cell homing were evaluated one week and three months after treatment. MPs were shown to efficiently encapsulate FGF1 and NRG1, releasing the bioactive proteins in a sustained manner. Three months after treatment, a statistically significant improvement in cardiac function was detected in rats treated with growth factor-loaded MPs (FGF1, NRG1, or FGF1/NRG1). The therapy led to inhibition of cardiac remodeling with smaller infarct size, a lower fibrosis degree and induction of tissue revascularization. Cardiomyocyte proliferation and progenitor cell recruitment was detected. Our data support the therapeutic benefit of NRG1 and FGF1 when combined with protein delivery systems for cardiac regeneration. This approach could be scaled up for use in pre-clinical and clinical studies

Platelet-Rich Plasma Promotes the Proliferation of Human Muscle Derived Progenitor Cells and Maintains Their Stemness

Human muscle-derived progenitor cells (hMDPCs) offer great promise for muscle cell-based regenerative medicine; however, prolonged ex-vivo expansion using animal sera is necessary to acquire sufficient cells for transplantation. Due to the risks associated with the use of animal sera, the development of a strategy for the ex vivo expansion of hMDPCs is required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for the ex-vivo expansion of hMDPCs. Pre-plated MDPCs, myoendothelial cells, and pericytes are three populations of hMDPCs that we isolated by the modified pre-plate technique and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), respectively. Pooled allogeneic human PRP was obtained from a local blood bank, and the effect that thrombin-activated PRP-releasate supplemented media had on the ex-vivo expansion of the hMDPCs was tested against FBS supplemented media, both in vitro and in vivo. PRP significantly enhanced short and long-term cell proliferation, with or without FBS supplementation. Antibody-neutralization of PDGF significantly blocked the mitogenic/proliferative effects that PRP had on the hMDPCs. A more stable and sustained expression of markers associated with stemness, and a decreased expression of lineage specific markers was observed in the PRP-expanded cells when compared with the FBS-expanded cells. The in vitro osteogenic, chondrogenic, and myogenic differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs were not altered when expanded in media supplemented with PRP. All populations of hMDPCs that were expanded in PRP supplemented media retained their ability to regenerate myofibers in vivo. Our data demonstrated that PRP promoted the proliferation and maintained the multi-differentiation capacities of the hMDPCs during ex-vivo expansion by maintaining the cells in an undifferentiated state. Moreover, PDGF appears to be a key contributing factor to the beneficial effect that PRP has on the proliferation of hMDPCs. © 2013 Li et al

Light regulation of metabolic pathways in fungi

Light represents a major carrier of information in nature. The molecular machineries translating its electromagnetic energy (photons) into the chemical language of cells transmit vital signals for adjustment of virtually every living organism to its habitat. Fungi react to illumination in various ways, and we found that they initiate considerable adaptations in their metabolic pathways upon growth in light or after perception of a light pulse. Alterations in response to light have predominantly been observed in carotenoid metabolism, polysaccharide and carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, nucleotide and nucleoside metabolism, and in regulation of production of secondary metabolites. Transcription of genes is initiated within minutes, abundance and activity of metabolic enzymes are adjusted, and subsequently, levels of metabolites are altered to cope with the harmful effects of light or to prepare for reproduction, which is dependent on light in many cases. This review aims to give an overview on metabolic pathways impacted by light and to illustrate the physiological significance of light for fungi. We provide a basis for assessment whether a given metabolic pathway might be subject to regulation by light and how these properties can be exploited for improvement of biotechnological processes

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