How to Process Sputum Samples and Extract Bacterial DNA for Microbiota Analysis

Different steps and conditions for DNA extraction for microbiota analysis in sputum have been reported in the literature. We aimed at testing both dithiothreitol (DTT) and enzymatic treatments of sputum samples and identifying the most suitable DNA extraction technique for the microbiota analysis of sputum. Sputum treatments with and without DTT were compared in terms of their median levels and the coefficient of variation between replicates of both DNA extraction yield and real-time PCR for the 16S rRNA gene. Treatments with and without lysozyme and lysostaphin were compared in terms of their median levels of real-time PCR for S. aureus. Two enzyme-based and three beads-based techniques for DNA extraction were compared in terms of their DNA extraction yield, real-time PCR for the 16S rRNA gene and microbiota analysis. DTT treatment decreased the coefficient of variation between replicates of both DNA extraction yield and real-time PCR. Lysostaphin (either 0.18 or 0.36 mg/mL) and lysozyme treatments increased S. aureus detection. One enzyme-based kit offered the highest DNA yield and 16S rRNA gene real-time PCR with no significant differences in terms of alpha-diversity indexes. A condition using both DTT and lysostaphin/lysozyme treatments along with an enzymatic kit seems to be preferred for the microbiota analysis of sputum samples

Asenapine effects in animal models of psychosis and cognitive function

Asenapine, a novel psychopharmacologic agent in the development for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, has high affinity for serotonergic, α-adrenergic, and dopaminergic receptors, suggesting potential for antipsychotic and cognitive-enhancing properties. The effects of asenapine in rat models of antipsychotic efficacy and cognition were examined and compared with those of olanzapine and risperidone. Amphetamine-stimulated locomotor activity (Amp-LMA; 1.0 or 3.0 mg/kg s.c.) and apomorphine-disrupted prepulse inhibition (Apo-PPI; 0.5 mg/kg s.c.) were used as tests for antipsychotic activity. Delayed non-match to place (DNMTP) and five-choice serial reaction (5-CSR) tasks were used to assess short-term spatial memory and attention, respectively. Asenapine doses varied across tasks: Amp-LMA (0.01–0.3 mg/kg s.c.), Apo-PPI (0.001–0.3 mg/kg s.c.), DNMTP (0.01–0.1 mg/kg s.c.), and 5-CSR (0.003–0.3 mg/kg s.c.). Asenapine was highly potent (active at 0.03 mg/kg) in the Amp-LMA and Apo-PPI assays. DNMTP or 5-CSR performance was not improved by asenapine, olanzapine, or risperidone. All agents (P < 0.01) reduced DNMTP accuracy at short delays; post hoc analyses revealed that only 0.1 mg/kg asenapine and 0.3 mg/kg risperidone differed from vehicle. All active agents (asenapine, 0.3 mg/kg; olanzapine, 0.03–0.3 mg/kg; and risperidone, 0.01–0.1 mg/kg) significantly impaired 5-CSR accuracy (P < 0.05). Asenapine has potent antidopaminergic properties that are predictive of antipsychotic efficacy. Asenapine, like risperidone and olanzapine, did not improve cognition in normal rats. Rather, at doses greater than those required for antipsychotic activity, asenapine impaired cognitive performance due to disturbance of motor function, an effect also observed with olanzapine and risperidone

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended genome-wide association meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3255 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12 488 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a ~0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism that creates two highly differentiated haplotypes and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative including non-Caucasian individuals, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.S.E.H. and C.A.S. partially supported genotyping through a philanthropic donation. A.F. and D.E. were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and COVID-19 grant Research (BMBF; ID:01KI20197); A.F., D.E. and F.D. were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). D.E. was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). D.E., K.B. and S.B. acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). T.L.L., A.T. and O.Ö. were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. M.W. and H.E. are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, ‘Genes, Environment and Inflammation’. L.V. received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute (RF-2016-02364358), Italian Ministry of Health ‘CV PREVITAL’—strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ‘REVEAL’; Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘Ricerca corrente’, Fondazione Sviluppo Ca’ Granda ‘Liver-BIBLE’ (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘5permille’ ‘COVID-19 Biobank’ (RC100017A). A.B. was supported by a grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: ‘Bio-banking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by an MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program ‘Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022’. This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP (The Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol) IGTP is part of the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIII-MINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). M.M. received research funding from grant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)-Una manera de hacer Europa’). B.C. is supported by national grants PI18/01512. X.F. is supported by the VEIS project (001-P-001647) (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ‘A way to build Europe’). Additional data included in this study were obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. A.J. and S.M. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). A.J. was also supported by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The Basque Biobank, a hospital-related platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government’s Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. M.C. received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). M.R.G., J.A.H., R.G.D. and D.M.M. are supported by the ‘Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100) and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón’s team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’. J.C.H. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. E.S. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no. 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). P.K. Bergisch Gladbach, Germany and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). O.A.C. is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy—CECAD, EXC 2030–390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. K.U.L. is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. F.H. was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to A.R. from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme—Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to A.R. P.R. is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). F.T. is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). C.L. and J.H. are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). T.B., M.M.B., O.W. und A.H. are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. M.A.-H. was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. E.C.S. is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).Peer reviewe

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended GWAS meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3,260 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12,483 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a highly pleiotropic ∼0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.Andre Franke and David Ellinghaus were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01KI20197), Andre Franke, David Ellinghaus and Frauke Degenhardt were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). David Ellinghaus was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). David Ellinghaus, Karina Banasik and Søren Brunak acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). Tobias L. Lenz, Ana Teles and Onur Özer were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. Mareike Wendorff and Hesham ElAbd are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, "Genes, Environment and Inflammation". This project was supported by a Covid-19 grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; ID: 01KI20197). Luca Valenti received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute RF2016-02364358, Italian Ministry of Health ""CV PREVITAL – strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ""REVEAL""; Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""Ricerca corrente"", Fondazione Sviluppo Ca' Granda ""Liver-BIBLE"" (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""5permille"" ""COVID-19 Biobank"" (RC100017A). Andrea Biondi was supported by the grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: "Biobanking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by a MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program "Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022". This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP. IGTP is part of the CERCA Program / Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIIIMINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). Marta Marquié received research funding from ant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIIISubdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER-Una manera de hacer Europa").Beatriz Cortes is supported by national grants PI18/01512. Xavier Farre is supported by VEIS project (001-P-001647) (cofunded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way to build Europe”). Additional data included in this study was obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, EIT COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. Antonio Julià and Sara Marsal were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). Antonio Julià was also supported the by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the FEDER. The Basque Biobank is a hospitalrelated platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government's Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. Mario Cáceres received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). Manuel Romero Gómez, Javier Ampuero Herrojo, Rocío Gallego Durán and Douglas Maya Miles are supported by the “Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100), and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón's team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), "Instituto de Salud Carlos III". Jan Cato Holter reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. Dr. Solligård: reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). Philipp Koehler has received non-financial scientific grants from Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).Oliver A. Cornely is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – CECAD, EXC 2030 – 390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Genotyping was performed by the Genotyping laboratory of Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM Technology Centre, University of Helsinki. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. Kerstin U. Ludwig is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. Frank Hanses was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to Alfredo Ramirez from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to Alfredo Ramirez. Philip Rosenstiel is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). Florian Tran is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). Christoph Lange and Jan Heyckendorf are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). Thorsen Brenner, Marc M Berger, Oliver Witzke und Anke Hinney are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. Marialbert Acosta-Herrera was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Eva C Schulte is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).N

Three-dimensional matrices for bone regeneration

L’architecture des biomatériaux de comblement osseux à un réel impact sur l’activité cellulaire, la vascularisation et la diffusion de facteurs de croissance. Dans un premier temps, différentes membranes de polystyrène (PS) composées de fibres alignées ou aléatoires ont été étudiées. Elles sont non biodégradables et pourraient servir de supports pour la régénération de larges défauts osseux. Nous avons montré la cytocompatibilité in vitro des membranes en analysant l’adhésion, la prolifération et la différenciation cellulaire. Ensuite, des membranes de PS ont été enrichies de grains de β-TCP ou de nanoparticules d’or. Nous les avons implantées dans un modèle de défaut crânien de taille critique chez la souris. L’addition de β-TCP a stimulé la repousse osseuse grâce à la grande bioactivité des céramiques. Les membranes ont été biotolérées, les fibres ont été encapsulées dans l’os néoformé mais également dans un tissu conjonctif dense. Les nanoparticules d’or immobilisées sur des fibres ont migré dans l’os ou ont été phagocytées. Dans un second temps, différentes formulations de granules poreux de β-TCP ont été analysées par nanotomographie aux rayons X. L’architecture macroporeuse des granules varie inversement avec la concentration en β-TCP. Les faces internes montrent une grande hétérogénéité de minéralisation. Pour mimer les conditions d’utilisation en chirurgie maxillo-faciale, les granules ont été empilés dans des tubes. Nous avons montré que l’architecture des empilements de granules dépendait de leur forme. L’empilement de granules commerciaux (contenant12,5g de β-TCP) mime l’architecture naturelle et les propriétés physiques de l’os.The architecture of bone filling biomaterials has a real impact on cellular activity, vascularization and diffusion of growth factors. As a first step, different polystyrene (PS) scaffolds composed of aligned or random fibers were studied. They were non-biodegradable and could be used as supports for regeneration of large bone defects. We showed the in vitro cytocompatibility of the scaffolds by analyzing cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Then, polystyrene scaffolds were enriched with β-TCP grains or gold nanoparticles. We implanted them in a model of critical size defect in mouse calvaria. Addition of β-TCP stimulated bone regrowth due to the high bioactivity of the ceramics. Scaffolds were biotolerated, fibers were encapsulated in the newly formed bone and also in a dense connective tissue. The gold nanoparticles immobilized on fibers migrated into the bone or were phagocytized. As a second step, different formulations of porous granules of β-TCP were analyzed by X-ray nanotomography. The macroporous architecture of granules varies inversely with the concentration of β-TCP. The internal faces howed a great heterogeneity of mineralization. Tomimic the conditions in maxillofacial surgery, granules were stacked in tubes. We have shown that the architecture of the granules depends on their shape.The stacks of commercial granules (containing 12.5 g ofβ-TCP) mimicked the natural architecture and physical properties of bone

Matrices tridimensionnelles pour la régénération osseuse

The architecture of bone filling biomaterials has a real impact on cellular activity, vascularization and diffusion of growth factors. As a first step, different polystyrene (PS) scaffolds composed of aligned or random fibers were studied. They were non-biodegradable and could be used as supports for regeneration of large bone defects. We showed the in vitro cytocompatibility of the scaffolds by analyzing cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Then, polystyrene scaffolds were enriched with β-TCP grains or gold nanoparticles. We implanted them in a model of critical size defect in mouse calvaria. Addition of β-TCP stimulated bone regrowth due to the high bioactivity of the ceramics. Scaffolds were biotolerated, fibers were encapsulated in the newly formed bone and also in a dense connective tissue. The gold nanoparticles immobilized on fibers migrated into the bone or were phagocytized. As a second step, different formulations of porous granules of β-TCP were analyzed by X-ray nanotomography. The macroporous architecture of granules varies inversely with the concentration of β-TCP. The internal face showed a great heterogeneity of mineralization. To mimic the conditions in maxillofacial surgery, granules were stacked in tubes. We have shown that the architecture of the granules depends on their shape. The stacks of commercial granules (containing 12.5 g of β-TCP) mimicked the natural architecture and physical properties of bone.L’architecture des biomatériaux de comblement osseux à un réel impact sur l’activité cellulaire, la vascularisation et la diffusion de facteurs de croissance. Dans un premier temps, différentes membranes de polystyrène (PS) composées de fibres alignées ou aléatoires ont été étudiées. Elles sont non-biodégradables et pourraient servir de supports pour la régénération de larges défauts osseux. Nous avons montré la cytocompatibilité in vitro des membranes en analysant l’adhésion, la prolifération et la différenciation cellulaire. Ensuite, des membranes de PS ont été enrichies de grains de β-TCP ou de nanoparticules d’or. Nous les avons implantées dans un modèle de défaut crânien de taille critique chez la souris. L’addition de β-TCP a stimulé la repousse osseuse grâce à la grande bioactivité des céramiques. Les membranes ont été biotolérées, les fibres ont été encapsulées dans l’os néoformé mais également dans un tissu conjonctif dense. Les nanoparticules d’or immobilisées sur des fibres ont migré dans l’os ou ont été phagocytées. Dans un second temps, différentes formulations de granules poreux de β-TCP ont été analysées par nanotomographie aux rayons X. L’architecture macroporeuse des granules varie inversement avec la concentration en β-TCP. Les faces internes montrent une grande hétérogénéité de minéralisation. Pour mimer les conditions d’utilisation en chirurgie maxillo-faciale, les granules ont été empilés dans des tubes. Nous avons montré que l’architecture des empilements de granules dépendait de leur forme. L’empilement de granules commerciaux (contenant 12,5g de β-TCP) mime l’architecture naturelle et les propriétés physiques de l’os.(BIFA - Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques) -- UCL, 201

Analysis of β-tricalcium phosphate granules prepared with different formulations by nano-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy

International audienceAmong biomaterials used for filling bone defects, beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is suitable in non-bearing bones, particularly in dental implantology, oral and maxillofacial surgery. When β-TCP granules are placed in a bone defect, they occupy the void 3D volume. Little is known about the 3D arrangement of the granules, which depends on the nature and size of the granules. The aim of this study was to examine the 3D architecture of porous β-TCP granules. Granules were prepared with different concentrations of β-TCP powder in slurry (10, 11, 15, 18, 21, and 25&nbsp;g of β-TCP powder in distilled water). Granules were prepared by the polyurethane foam method. They were analyzed by nano-computed tomography (nanoCT) and compared with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Commercial granules of hydroxyapatite-β-TCP prepared by the same methodology were also used. The outer and inner architectures of the granules were shown by nanoCT which evidenced macroporosity, internal porosity and microporosity between the sintered grains. Macroporosity was reduced at high concentration and conversely, numerous concave surfaces were observed. Internal porosity, related to the sublimation of the polyurethane foam, was present in all the granules. Microporosity at the grain joints was evidenced by SEM and on 2D nanoCT sections. Granules presented a heterogeneous aspect due to the different mineralization degree of the sintered powder grains in the β-TCP granules; the difference between hydroxyapatite and β-TCP was also evidenced. NanoCT is an interesting method to analyze the fine morphology of biomaterials with a resolution close to synchrotron and better than microcomputed tomography.</p

Two new highly polymorphic markers in the 3\u2019UTR region of the PLA2G7 gene

We described two new highly polymorphic markers located 31 bp downstream of the last nucleotide of exon 12 in the 3' UTR region of the gene PLA2G7: 1344 +31TG(n) AG(m). Eight and 14 alleles were observed for the AG and TG repeats, respectively. These two markers have the highest heterozygosity until now reported for PLA2G7 gene

Highly Structured 3D Electrospun Conical Scaffold: A Tool for Dental Pulp Regeneration

New procedures envisioned for dental pulp regeneration after pulpectomy include cell homing strategy. It involves host endogenous stem cell recruitment and activation. To meet this cell-free approach, we need to design a relevant scaffold to support cell migration from tissues surrounding the dental root canal. A composite membrane made of electrospun poly(lactic acid) nanofibers and electrosprayed polycaprolactone with tannic acid (TA) microparticles which mimics the architecture of the extracellular matrix was first fabricated. After rolling the membrane in the form of a 3D conical scaffold and subsequently coating it with gelatin, it can be directly inserted into the root canal. The porous morphology of the construct was characterized by SEM at different length scales. It was shown that TA was released from the 3D conical scaffold after 2 days in PBS at 37 °C. Biocompatibility studies were first assessed by seeding human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) on planar membranes coated or not coated with gelatin to compare the surfaces. After 24 h, the results highlighted that the gelatin-coating increased the membrane biocompatibility and cell viability. Similar DPSC morphology and proliferation on both membrane surfaces were observed. The culture of DPSCs on conical scaffolds showed cell colonization in the whole cone volume, proving that the architecture of the conical scaffold was suitable for cell migration