The development of a new blood substitute

Trattasi di un sommario pubblicato online nel sito dell'Agenzia di divulgazione scientifica Atlas of Science, AoS Nordic AB, Moscow, Russia, riguardante l'impiego di nuovi sostituti del sangu

Hygroscopic behavior of lyophilized bovine pericardium

Hygroscopic behavior of lyophilized products can be visualized starting from the construction of Moisture Sorption Isotherms (MSI). Such curves show the relationship between the maximum amount of absorbed water for a substance, with the equilibrium vapor pressure or water activity, at a given constant temperature. Aimed to study later the reconstitution and use of biological materials of lyophilized bovine pericardium, it was plot adsorption and desorption curves, at temperatures of 15, 25 and 35°C, on HydrosorbTM 1000 - water vapor sorption analyzer. The results showed MSI type II, according BET classification, typical reaction of hydrophilic surfaces with monolayer and multilayer formation. Histerese phenomenon was observed during the whole MSI interval. The mathematical models of BET and GAB fitted well the experimental data and allowed the water monolayer calculation, estimate the critical level of residual moisture that assures more stability to the product.O comportamento higroscópico de produtos desidratados pode ser visualizado a partir da construção de curvas denominadas Isotermas de Sorção de Umidade (ISU). Esse tipo de curva relaciona a quantidade máxima de água absorvida por uma substância, com a pressão de vapor de equilíbrio ou a atividade de água, numa dada temperatura mantida constante. Com o objetivo de estudar posteriormente a reconstituição, material de embalagem e utilização de implantes feitos a partir de pericárdio bovino liofilizado, foram traçadas curvas de adsorção e dessorção de umidade em um analisador de sorção de vapor de água, HydrosorbTM 1000, nas temperaturas de 15, 25 e 35°C. Os resultados obtidos mostraram ISU tendendo ao tipo II, segundo a classificação de BET, reação típica de superfícies hidrofílicas com formação de monocamada e multicamadas. O fenômeno da histerese foi observado durante todo o intervalo da ISU. Os modelos matemáticos de Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) e Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) ajustaram bem os dados experimentais permitindo o cálculo do valor monomolecular, importante para a estimativa do nível crítico de umidade residual que confere maior estabilidade de armazenamento ao produto.31332

Short Duration Repetitive Transcranial Electrical Stimulation During Sleep Enhances Declarative Memory of Facts

Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) during sleep has been shown to successfully modulate memory consolidation. Here, we tested the effect of short duration repetitive tES (SDR-tES) during a daytime nap on the consolidation of declarative memory of facts in healthy individuals. We use a previously described approach to deliver the stimulation at regular intervals during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, specifically stage NREM2 and NREM3. Similar to previous studies using tES, we find enhanced memory performance compared to sham both after sleep and 48 h later. We also observed an increase in the proportion of time spent in NREM3 sleep and SDR-tES boosted the overall rate of slow oscillations (SOs) during NREM2/NREM3 sleep. Retrospective investigation of brain activity immediately preceding stimulation suggests that increases in the SO rate are more likely when stimulation is delivered during quiescent and asynchronous periods of activity in contrast to other closed-loop approaches which target phasic stimulation during ongoing SOs

Survey of Activated FLT3 Signaling in Leukemia

Activating mutations of FMS-like tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) are found in approximately 30% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). FLT3 is therefore an attractive drug target. However, the molecular mechanisms by which FLT3 mutations lead to cell transformation in AML remain unclear. To develop a better understanding of FLT3 signaling as well as its downstream effectors, we performed detailed phosphoproteomic analysis of FLT3 signaling in human leukemia cells. We identified over 1000 tyrosine phosphorylation sites from about 750 proteins in both AML (wild type and mutant FLT3) and B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (normal and amplification of FLT3) cell lines. Furthermore, using stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), we were able to quantified over 400 phosphorylation sites (pTyr, pSer, and pThr) that were responsive to FLT3 inhibition in FLT3 driven human leukemia cell lines. We also extended this phosphoproteomic analysis on bone marrow from primary AML patient samples, and identify over 200 tyrosine and 800 serine/threonine phosphorylation sites in vivo. This study showed that oncogenic FLT3 regulates proteins involving diverse cellular processes and affects multiple signaling pathways in human leukemia that we previously appreciated, such as Fc epsilon RI-mediated signaling, BCR, and CD40 signaling pathways. It provides a valuable resource for investigation of oncogenic FLT3 signaling in human leukemia

Dimensional Change Assessment Of Lyophilized Bovine Pericardium

[No abstract available]21141Maizato, M.J.S., Higa, O.Z., Mathor, M.B., Camillo, M.A.P., Spencer, P.J., Pitombo, R.N., Zavaglia, C.A.C., Leirner, A.A., Glutaraldehyde-treated bovine pericardium: Effects of lyophilization on citotoxicity and residual aldehydes (2003) Artificial Organs, 27, p. 69

Lysophosphatidic acid-regulated mitogenic ERK signaling in androgen-insensitive prostate cancer PC-3 cells

Advanced and recurrent prostate tumors contain elevated levels of activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases I and 2 (ERK) in comparison to early-stage or benign specimens, and inhibition of ERK activation attenuates growth factor-dependent proliferation of prostate cells, suggesting a potential regulatory role for ERK in prostate tumorigenesis. Factors responsible for ERK activation in prostate cells are not well defined. Here, we show positive cooperative interaction between the G protein-coupled lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and tyrosine kinase epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors in androgen- insensitive prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Pre-treatment of the PC-3 cells with LPA decreases the dose of EGF required to elicit maximal activation of EGFR. Furthermore, treatment with LPA alone induces the rapid (maximal signal within 2 min) tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR, and subsequent (maximal signal after 5 min) activation of ERK, suggesting that EGFR activation precedes ERK phosphorylation and may constitute a required component for signal relay from the LPA receptor to ERK. Accordingly, we show that inhibition of EGFR kinase activity attenuates the LPA-regulated ERK activation. In addition, we find that the LPA-regulated tyrosine phosphorylation of EGFR and activation of ERK are attenuated by batimastat, a generic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). However, unlike the situation in fibroblasts, we find that the LPA-induced transactivation of EGFR in PC-3 cells is not mediated by shedding of heparin-binding EGF. Together, our data show that LPA and EGF cooperate to induce mitogenic signaling in prostate cancer cells in an MMP-regulated activation of the ERK pathway. (C) 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc

Lyophilized bovine pericardium treated with a phenethylamine-diepoxide as an alternative to preventing calcification of cardiovascular bioprosthesis: Preliminary calcification results

This study investigated the calcification process that occurred on chemically treated bovine pericardium substrata through tests with simulated body fluid solutions. The use of bovine pericardium bioprosthetic valves in heart valve surgery has a significant drawback due to the calcification processes. Thus, many routes such as chemical treatments in the substratum or the adoption of systemic therapies are considered in the literature with the intention to inhibit or to decelerate this process. The presented treatment using the two different phenetylamine-diepoxide solutions showed no effects on calcification experiments as showed by the tests. However, the lyophilized bovine pericardium samples, treated with both solutions, did not show any detectable phosphate deposits. The lyophilization of bovine pericardium before chemical treatments with cross-link agents as epoxy compounds may be an alternative to the conventional calcification prevention methods, but further investigations are recommended to check if the same behavior is found in all lyophilized systems.31427828

A new kinetic and thermodynamic approach to phenol biosorption by chitosan and keratin

Chitosan and keratin were tested as low cost biosorbents to remove phenol from water solutions at variable temperature (20-50\ub0C), initial phenol concentration (10-90 mg L-1) and pH (5.0-10.0), and fixed biosorbent dosage (10 g L-1). The pseudo-second order kinetic model exhibited the best fit to the experimental data and allowed estimating theoretical values of sorption capacity of 4.51 mg g-1 with keratin and 2.87 mg g-1 with chitosan. Equilibrium isotherms, described at best by the Freundlich model, pointed out that keratin (KF = 1.34 mg1-1/n L1/n g-1) was more effective than chitosan (KF = 0.19 mg1-1/n L1/n g-1) in phenol removal, although the sorption intensity was almost coincident (n = 1.18-1.19). The results of tests performed at different temperatures suggested a novel thermodynamic approach based on the occurrence of a sorbent inactivation equilibrium, whose changes of enthalpy and entropy were estimated to be 35.7 kJ mol-1 and 118 J mol-1 K-1 with chitosan, and 256 kJ mol-1 and 845 J mol-1 K-1 with keratin. The main functional groups involved in phenol sorption by both raw and phenol-bound materials were identified by FT-IR spectroscop