Facile fabrication of bioactive ultra-small protein-hydroxyapatite nanoconjugates via liquid-phase laser ablation and their enhanced osteogenic differentiation activity.

Hydroxyapatite bioactive complexes are being increasingly recognized as effective available means in regenerative medicine. Conventional technologies for their synthesis have drawbacks from a synthetic standpoint, mainly requiring high temperatures and multi-step processes. Here, we show that ultra-small hydroxyapatite conjugated-nanoparticles (Ha-CNPs) can be obtained at room temperature by Pulsed Laser Ablation (PLA) directly in protein solution using picosecond pulses at near infrared wavelengths. The results showed that the nanoparticle size was driven by the concentration of the protein. Using this approach, we obtained aqueous soluble and ultra-small crystalline nanoparticles of 483 nm diameter coated with protein molecules (surface coverage 48 5.5 pmol cm 122; zeta potential 48 1233.5 mV). These nanoparticles showed low cytotoxicity in vitro compared to chemically synthesized nanoparticles, and revealed proliferative and osteoinductive effects on human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The resulting enhanced cell osteogenic differentiation suggested that our PLA-based synthetic approach might be exploited in novel applications of regenerative medicine

Peritoneal leiomyoid mesothelioma mimiking a metastasis of papillary carcinoma

The authors describe a rare case of peritoneal mesothelioma. Cytological, histological and immunohistochemical characterization of the tumor allowed the differential diagnosis from papillary carcinoma and suggested the diagnosis of leiomyoid mesothelioma