Construction and characterization of the ex-situ modified macroporous bacterial cellulose scaffold as a potential epidermal graft

Background: Skin is a 3-dimensional (3-D) tissue that mainly consists 2 layers, comprising the epidermis and dermis. Skin tissue engineering scaffolds are used commonly as 3-D analogs of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin. Bacterial cellulose (BC) has great importance in skin tissue engineering because of its resemblance to ECM and its biocompatibility. The lack of 3-D microporosity and limited biodegradation capacity has restricted its application as a scaffold for skin tissue engineering. Controlled 3-D microporosity of BC via surface modification techniques are required for potential tissue engineering applications.Methods: Freeze-drying is an ex-situ surface modification technique for making macroporous BC scaffolds (MBCSs). This study proposed a new approach to the freeze-drying method for the arrangement of the pore size of MBCSs specifically for the human keratinocyte cell line (KER-CT). Different concentrations of MBCS (0.25%, 0.50%, and 0.75%) were prepared and the KER-CT cell viability was detected via 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (MTS) assay.Result: The results of this study indicated that the KER-CT cells were able to proliferate all of the concentrations of MBCS, and the best cell viability value was observed with 0.75% MBCS. The results were supported by FESEM and light microscopic observations.Conclusion: These findings suggested that 0.75% MBCS might be of use in epidermal tissue engineering applications

The Investigation of the Effects of Tamoxifen and Vitamin D Combination on the Expression of P53, Bcl-2 and Bax and Cell Cycle in Mcf-7 Cell Line

Breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in women. The majority of cells in the diagnosis of breast cancer are estrogen receptor alpha (ER α) positive and the growth of these tumors is due to estrogen. Tamoxifen is used as a supportive treatment method in breast cancer patients. Vitamin D is a group of sterols with hormone-like functions. Vitamin D is known to have anti-proliferative effect and is known to induce cell arrest and apoptosis in the G0/G1 phase in the cell cycle. This study aims to investigate the potential anti-carcinogenic effect of different concentrations of Tamoxifen and vitamin D, which are thought to have anti-proliferative effect on breast cancer cell line. In our study, combination of different concentrations of Tamoxifen and vitamin D was evaluated. As a result of the data obtained, cell cycle was studied in FACS ARIA III device. In addition, the expression of p53, BcL-2 and Bax proteins was examined in qRT PCR. In our study, low concentrations of Tamoxifen and vitamin D increased proliferation in cancer cells. An effective concentration was found for Tamoxifen. Vitamin D alone did not reduce cell proliferation but decreased cell proliferation with combination. As a result, it was found that therapies using these two agents separately decreased the proliferation of cancer cells and induced cell arrest in the G0/G1 phase in the cell cycle and changed the expressions of p53, BcL-2 and Bax proteins

P53, Bcl2 and Bax Expression and Apoptosis in Perifosine and Vitamin D-Treated Endometrial Cancer Cell Line (HEC1A)

Endometrial cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system. Perifosine has shown anti-tumor activity in a variety of cancers by inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. The active metabolite of vitamin D (1,25(OH)2D3) has anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties and is recognized as an agent with the great potential for cancer intervention. Combination treatment with specific agents has been widely used as targeted therapy for cancer. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-apoptotic effect of varying concentrations of perifosine and vitamin D on endometrial cancer cell line (HEC1A). The expression levels of P53, BCL2 and BAX were assessed in cultured HEC1A cells at 10 and 30 μM concentrations of perifosine, 50 and 200 nM of vitamin D and combination groups using qRT PCR. Apoptosis evaluation in HEC-1A cells was performed using flow cytometry after 48 and 72 h of treatment with perifosine, vitamin D and combinations of both. According to the obtained data, treatment with different doses of perifosine and vitamin D significantly induced apoptosis in a time and dose-dependent manner in HEC-1A cells. The mRNA expression levels of P53, BAX, BCL2 in HEC-1A cells were found to be significant in the experimental groups as compared with the control. Perifosine displayed substantial anti-tumor activity in HEC-1A. These effects were increased with vitamin D. Therefore, perifosine and vitamin D combinations should be further evaluated in clinical studies in endometrial cancer

Seminal sıvının fertilizasyondaki rolü

Geçmiş yıllarda erkek infertilitesi araştırmaları sperm odaklıyken, günümüzde seminal sıvının öneminin anlaşılmasıyla birlikte bu konu hakkındaki çalışmalar hız kazanmıştır. Seminal sıvının %90’ı prostat ve seminal veziküllerden, az miktarı da bulbouretral bezler (Cowper) ve epididimlerden salınan salgılardan oluşur. Seminal sıvının birçok fonksiyonu vardır. İçerdiği fruktoz ile spermatozoonları besler, antioksidan sistemleriyle oksidatif stres sonucu oluşan reaktif oksijen türlerine (ROS) karşı spermatozoayı korur. Ejekülasyondan sonraki aşamada ise vajinanın antibakteriyel asidik ortamına karşı (pH 4–4,5) bir izolasyon oluşturur, immün reaksiyonu engeller ve spermatozoonları servikse kadar taşır. Spermatozoanın kapasitasyonunu engelleyen faktörler içererek erken aktivasyonunu önler ve içerdiği progesteron ile fertilize ovumun implantasyonunda rol oynar. Ayrıca seminal sıvı spermatozoanın moleküler yapısını koruyarak sperm oosit etkileşiminde rol oynar. Post-testiküler matürasyon sürecinde kapasitasyon ve akrozom reaksiyonunu tamamlayan spermatozoa dölleme yeteneği kazanır. Oosit ve etrafındaki foliküler hücrelerden salınan kimyasal faktörler, kapasite spermi oosite çeker. Fertilizasyon karmaşık moleküler olaylardan oluşur ve sperm ile oositin birbirleriyle temas etmesiyle başlar, maternal ve paternal kromozomların birleşmesiyle sona erer. Spermatozoa ve oosit kadar seminal plazmanın da iyi kalitede olması, spontan gebelikleri ve intrauterin inseminasyondaki (IUI) başarıyı arttırabilir. Bu derlemede, semen viskozitesinin ve biyokimyasal içeriğindeki farklılıkların, fertilizasyon ve IUI işlemindeki başarıyı nasıl etkilediği tartışılıp cevaplar aranacaktır