Macromol. Mater. Eng. 3/2018

Bacterial cellulose blended polymeric fibrous bandages made in a novel way, from a solution subjected to gyration under pressure to directly weave the bandages. The products show cellular attraction, mechanical and swelling properties in preliminary tests and heralds a very promising new route for the manufacture of wound care bandages. This is reported by Esra Altun, Mehmet Onur Aydogdu, Fatma Koc, Maryam Crabbe‐Mann, Francis Brako, Rupy Kaur‐Matharu, Gunes Ozen, Serap Erdem Kuruca, Ursula Edirisinghe, Oguzhan Gunduz, and Mohan Edirisinghein

Novel Making of Bacterial Cellulose Blended Polymeric Fiber Bandages

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a very promising biological material. However, at present its utilization is limited by difficulties in shape forming it. In this Communication, it is shown how this can be overcome by blending it with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) polymer. BC:PMMA fibers are produced by pressurized gyration of blended BC:PMMA solutions. Subsequently, BC:PMMA bandage‐like scaffolds are generated with different blends. The products are investigated to determine their morphological and chemical features. Cell culture and proliferation tests are performed to obtain information on biocompatibility of the scaffolds

Cytotoxic activities of new iron(III) and nickel(II) chelates of some S-methyl-thiosemicarbazones on K562 and ECV304 cells

The S-methyl-thiosemicarbazones of the 2- hydroxy-R-benzaldehyde (R= H, 3-OH 3-OCH3 or 4-OCH3) reacted with the corresponding aldehydes in the presence of FeCl3 and NiCl2. New ONNO chelates of iron(III) and nickel (II) with hydroxy- or methoxy-substitued N1,N4-diarylidene-Smethyl- thiosemicarbazones were characterized by means of elemental analysis, conductivity and magnetic measurements, UV-Vis, IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopies. Cytotoxic activities of the compounds were determined using K562 chronic myeloid leukemia and ECV304 human endothelial cell lines by MTT assay. It was determined that monochloro N1-4- methoxysalicylidene-N4-4-methoxysalicylidene-S-methylthiosemicarbazidato- iron(III) complex showed selective anti-leukemic effects in K562 cells while has no effect in ECV304 cells in the 0.53 μg/ml (IC50) concentrations. Also, some methoxy-substitued nickel(II) chelates exhibit high cytotoxic activitiy against both of these cell lines in low concentrations. Cytotoxicity data were evaluated depending on cell lines origin and position of the substituents on aromatic rings

Combination of Early and Late Growth Factors to Enrich Transplantable Cord Blood CD34+Cells in Short Term Cultures

Objective: Although umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a useful source of stem and progenitor cells for bone marrow transplantation, it is not possible to obtain sufficient number of transplantable cells from a single human umbilical cord for transplantation in adult patients. In this study, we combined early and late growth factors in short term cultures to enrich cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cell count for adult patients. Material and Methods: Cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) harvested from 15 healthy volunteers, delivering in term, incubated in culture medium supplemented with interleukin-3 (IL-3), IL-6, IL-11, stem cell factor, flt3/flk2 ligand and thrombopoietin for 14 days. Starting cells and cultured cells (day 7 and 14 cells) were evaluated for; CD4, CD8, CD33, CD34, CD38 and HLA-DR by flow cytometry and seeded in semisolid methylcellulose culture for determining BFU-E, CFU-GM and CFU-GEMM colony forming abilities. Results: In the short-term cultures, total CBMC count significantly increased (p= 0.0001). Compared to starting cells, the expressions of CD34 (p= 0.002), CD33 (p= 0.0001), HLA-DR (p= 0.0001) and CD8 (p= 0.002) increased, but those of CD38 (p= 0.057) and CD4 (p= 0.0001) were suppressed on day 14 of cultures. There were an increase in generation of CFU-GM (p= 0.131) and CFU-GEMM (p= 0.134) colonies and a significant decrease in generation of BFU-E colonies (p= 0.0001). Conclusion: Ex vivo expansion of CBMC, under combination of the growth factors, contribute to CD34+ progenitor cell count and may help to reach sufficient amount of transplantable cells for adult patients. Suspension cultures may lead to elimination of graft-versus-host disease risk and protection of graft-versus-leukemia effect, through the decrease of CD4+ T cells and maintenance of CD8+ T lymphocytes, respectively

In vitro effects of growth factors and interferon-alpha on busulfan cytotoxicity

An experimental approach to increasing the effectiveness of leukemia treatment with S-phase-specific cytotoxics is to increase the cycling of leukemia cells with growth factors. However, growth factors may have a different relationship with non-cell-cycle-specific agents. The authors examined the effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interferon-alpha (INF-alpha) on the cytotoxic effects of the alkylating agent busulfan on the erythro-myeloid cell line K562. G-CSF and GM-CSF increased the proliferation and colony-forming ability of K562 cells and protected the cells from busulfan effects. INF-alpha decreased the colony-forming ability and proliferation of the K562 cells and demonstrated a possibly additive effect with busulfan. In the cell line K562, the growth factors G-CSF and GM-CSF protected the cells from the non-cell-cycle-specific alkylating agent busulfan, whereas IFN-alpha demonstrated an additive cytotoxic effect

Evaluation of the anticancer effects of Aloe vera and aloe emodin on B16F10 murine melanoma and NIH3T3 mouse embryogenic fibroblast cells

Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. is well known for its beneficial effects on the skin. Moreover, the antioxidant, immunostimulant, and anticancer effects of the plant leaf extracts have been reported in scientific research. This study was conducted to demonstrate the cytotoxic effects of several leaf extracts and aloe emodin (AE) on a type of skin cancer. A. vera aqueous and methanolic extracts of fresh leaves, methanolic extract of dried leaves, and leaf gel extract (AVG) were prepared separately. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the MTT test. Apoptosis and necrosis were detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V/PI. All the extracts exhibited a selective cytotoxic effect on the cells. The mechanism of AVG cytotoxicity on B16F10 murine melanoma cells was found to be apoptosis, whereas that of AE was necrosis. The observation that treatment with AVG delayed the apoptosis in NIH3T3 cells, while it exerted an apoptotic activity on B16F10 cells, provides some scientific evidence for the folkloric and alternative uses of A. vera gel as a protective and skin healer. Therefore, A. vera gel and aloe emodin can be used as potential targets for anticancer drug research

Investigation of aloe-emodin and Aloe vera gel extract on apoptosis dependent pathways in leukemia and lymphoma cell lines

Background and Aims: The present study was designed to evaluate the mechanism of cytotoxic effects of aloe-emodin relative to Aloe vera gel extract (AVG) on chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 and Burkitt's lymphoma P3HR-1 cell lines