Freezing Medium Containing 5% DMSO Enhances the Cell Viability and Recovery Rate After Cryopreservation of Regulatory T Cell Products ex vivo and in vivo

Cell therapies have significant therapeutic potential in diverse fields including regenerative medicine, transplantation tolerance, and autoimmunity. Within these fields, regulatory T cells (Treg) have been deployed to ameliorate aberrant immune responses with great success. However, translation of the cryopreservation strategies employed for other cell therapy products, such as effector T cell therapies, to Treg therapies has been challenging. The lack of an optimized cryopreservation strategy for Treg products presents a substantial obstacle to their broader application, particularly as administration of fresh cells limits the window available for sterility and functional assessment. In this study, we aimed to develop an optimized cryopreservation strategy for our CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Treg clinical product. We investigate the effect of synthetic or organic cryoprotectants including different concentrations of DMSO on Treg recovery, viability, phenotype, cytokine production, suppressive capacity, and in vivo survival following GMP-compliant manufacture. We additionally assess the effect of adding the extracellular cryoprotectant polyethylene glycol (PEG), or priming cellular expression of heat shock proteins as strategies to improve viability. We find that cryopreservation in serum-free freezing medium supplemented with 10% human serum albumin and 5% DMSO facilitates improved Treg recovery and functionality and supports a reduced DMSO concentration in Treg cryopreservation protocols. This strategy may be easily incorporated into clinical manufacture protocols for future studies

In Vitro and Sensory Evaluation of Capsaicin-Loaded Nanoformulations

Capsaicin has known health beneficial and therapeutic properties. It is also able to enhance the permeability of drugs across epithelial tissues. Unfortunately, due to its pungency the oral administration of capsaicin is limited. To this end, we assessed the effect of nanoencapsulation of capsaicin, under the hypothesis that this would reduce its pungency. Core-shell nanocapsules with an oily core and stabilized with phospholipids were used. This system was used with or without chitosan coating. In this work, we investigated the in vitro release behavior of capsaicin-loaded formulations in different physiological media (including simulated saliva fluid). We also evaluated the influence of encapsulation of capsaicin on the cell viability of buccal cells (TR146). To study the changes in pungency after encapsulation we carried out a sensory analysis with a trained panel of 24 students. The in vitro release study showed that the systems discharged capsaicin slowly in a monotonic manner and that the chitosan coating had an effect on the release profile. The cytotoxic response of TR146 cells to capsaicin at a concentration of 500 μM, which was evident for the free compound, was reduced following its encapsulation. The sensory study revealed that a chitosan coating results in a lower threshold of perception of the formulation. The nanoencapsulation of capsaicin resulted in attenuation of the sensation of pungency significantly. However, the presence of a chitosan shell around the nanoformulations did not mask the pungency, when compared with uncoated systems

Wissen kommt von Machen. Zukunftsgestaltung in wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung

Mit der Digitalisierung und der damit einhergehenden technologischen Revolution verschwinden die Grenzen der früher deutlich getrennten internen und externen Anteile der publizistischen Produktionskette. Außerdem befördert das Aufkommen von neuartigen und leicht zugänglichen Technologien wie 3D-Druck oder Lasercutting den Methodenwandel in der Wissenschaft und kommt interdisziplinären Ansätzen entgegen. Der Bedarf an Wissen zu diesen Technologien und dessen Vermittlung steigt aber zeitgleich mit. Die SLUB Dresden versucht, diesem Bedarf mit dem Angebot eines wissenschaftlichen Makerspace zu entsprechen. Erfolge dieses Konzeptes und Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung werden hier beschrieben.The technological revolution in the age of digitalization brings blurs the boundaries of the formerly distinct internal and external parts of the publishing production chain. In addition, the emergence of new and easily accessible technologies such as 3D printing or laser cutting is promoting a change in scientific methodology and is accommodating interdisciplinary approaches. However, the need for knowledge about these technologies and their transfer is increasing at the same time. The SLUB Dresden tries to meet this need by offering an academic makerspace. The successes of this concept and the challenges in its implementation are described here

Observation of the Solvent Shell Reorganization around Photoexcited Atomic Solutes by Picosecond X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

We report on the observation of the solvation shell rearrangement after abstraction of the electron from aq. I- in a laser pump/X-ray probe expt. by recording the X-ray absorption L1- and L3-edge spectra, 50 ps after laser excitation. The L1-edge spectra clearly identify the I0 neutral species after excitation and suggest a substantial amt. of back-transfer of charge from the solvent species. Both edge spectra point to a significant rearrangement of the solvation shell around I0. [on SciFinder (R)

Timing jitter studies of the SwissFEL Test Injector drive laser

To produce short X-ray pulses for SwissFEL(1), it is necessary to compress the electron bunches by a factor of 300, down to sub-fs for the attosecond operational modes. To achieve stable EEL output accurate timing of the initial electron injection at the main linear accelerator is necessary. Tolerance studies show, that to reach the final performance goals, less than 40 fs relative rms jitter is required from the electron gun, relative to the reference. Here we present independent residual RF phase noise measurements of the laser oscillators, showing an exceptional similar to 30 fs integrated rms jitter. Moreover timing studies at the SwissFEL Injector Test Facility, based on charge detection at the sharp rising edge of the Schottky-scan were performed allowing for systematic correlation studies and showing a residual jitter of similar to 150 fs at 10 Hz from the pulsed laser system and beam transport respect to the reference. For future development, available relative jitter measurement techniques for pulsed laser systems will be reviewed and their applicability for laser arrival time monitoring and feedback for EEL applications will be discussed. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V

A setup for ultrafast time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We present a setup which allows the measurement of time-resolved x-ray absorption spectra with picosecond temporal resoln. on liq. samples at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. The temporal resoln. is limited by the pulse width of the synchrotron source. We characterize the different sources of noise that limit the expt. and present a single-pulse detection scheme. [on SciFinder (R)

Structural Determination of a Short-Lived Excited Iron(II) Complex by Picosecond X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Structural changes of the Fe(II)-tris-bipyridine ([FeII(bpy)3]2+) complex induced by ultrashort pulse excitation and population of its short-lived (?0.6 ns) quintet high spin state were detected by picosecond x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The structural relaxation from the high spin to the low spin state was followed over the entire lifetime of the excited state. A combined anal. of the x-ray-absorption near-edge structure and extended x-ray-absorption fine structure spectroscopy features delivers an Fe-N bond elongation of 0.2 A in the quintet state compared to the singlet ground state. [on SciFinder (R)