Extracellular Matrix News Volume 9.33 | Aug 23 2018

TOP STORY

RAP2 Mediates Mechanoresponses of the Hippo Pathway

Matrix stiffness acted through phospholipase Cγ1 to influence levels of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and phosphatidic acid, which activated RAP2 through PDZGEF1 and PDZGEF2. At low stiffness, active RAP2 bound to and stimulated MAP4K4, MAP4K6, MAP4K7 and ARHGAP29, resulting in activation of LATS1 and LATS2 and inhibition of YAP and TAZ. [Nature] Abstract

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An Extracellular Matrix Fragment Drives Epithelial Remodeling and Airway Hyperresponsiveness

Researchers demonstrated a disconnect between airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness and the ability of a bioactive fragment of the extracellular matrix to promote an epithelial remodeling phenotype that negatively affected lung function. [Sci Transl Med] Full Article | Press Release

Reversal of Pancreatic Desmoplasia by Re-Educating Stellate Cells with a Tumor Microenvironment-Activated Nanosystem

The nanosystem simultaneously induced pancreatic stellate cell quiescence and inhibited ECM hyperplasia, thereby promoting drug delivery to pancreatic tumors and significantly enhancing the anti-tumor efficacy of chemotherapeutics. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Tumor Cell Invasiveness and Response to Chemotherapeutics in Adipocyte Invested 3D Engineered Anisotropic Collagen Scaffolds

Investigators developed a 3D culture model that recapitulated the stromal environment of breast cancers by generating anisotropic collagen scaffolds seeded with adipocytes and culturing tumor fragments therein. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Image-Assisted Microvessel-on-a-Chip Platform for Studying Cancer Cell Transendothelial Migration Dynamics

Scientists presented an extracellular matrix-integrated microfluidic chip with a rounded microvessel of ~100 µm in diameter. Using this platform, the dynamic process of single breast cancer cells exiting the vessel lumen into the surrounding extracellular matrix was tracked. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Mechanical and Pharmacological Regulation of Glioblastoma Cell Migration in 3D Matrices

Crosslinking of collagen with 8S-StarPEG increased hydrogel viscosity and reduced tumor cell migration speed in the hydrogels. Higher migration speed corresponded to the increased gene expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, urokinase plasminogen activator, and tissue plasminogen activator in glioma cells grown in non-crosslinked collagen hydrogels. [J Cell Physiol] Abstract

Increased Differentiation and Production of Extracellular Matrix Components of Primary Human Osteoblasts after Cocultivation with Endothelial Cells: A Quantitative Proteomics Approach

To investigate the proteome of human osteoblasts after cocultivation with human umbilical vein endothelial cells, the authors used stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture, revealing 49 significantly upregulated, and 54 significantly downregulated proteins. They found the proteins important for osteoblast differentiation, cellular adhesion, and extracellular matrix function, notably: connective tissue growth factor, desmoplakin, galectin-3, and cyclin-dependent kinase 6. [J Cell Biochem] Abstract

Biomineralization Improves Mechanical and Osteogenic Properties of Multilayer-Modified PLGA Porous Scaffolds

Oxidized chondroitin sulfate and type I collagen were assembled onto poly-(lactide-co-glycolide acid) (PLGA) surface via layer by layer technique as an adhesive coating for the attachment of inorganic minerals. In vitro biocompatibility of the PLGA scaffold, in terms of bone mesenchymal stem cells attachment, spreading and proliferation was greatly enhanced by nanohydroxyapatite coating and multilayer deposition. [J Biomed Mater Res A] Abstract

Chondrogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Silk Fibroin:Chitosan-Glucosamine Scaffold in Dynamic Culture

Human mesenchymal stem cells-seeded scaffold in dynamic culture exhibited homogenous cell distribution, proliferation and higher cell density at the core than static culture. Glucosamine in scaffold promoted proteoglycan and collagenous matrix synthesis as revealed by histological and immunofluorescence studies. [Regen Med] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

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The Collagen Suprafamily: From Biosynthesis to Advanced Biomaterial Development

An overview of the family of collagens and their respective structures, conformation, and biosynthesis is provided. The advances and shortfalls of various collagen preparations and cross-linking technologies are then critically discussed. [Adv Mater] Abstract

Matrix Modeling and Remodeling: A Biological Interplay Regulating Tissue Homeostasis and Diseases

Modeling and remodeling of the matrix is driven by the local cellular milieu and secreted and cell-associated components in a framework of dynamic reciprocity. The authors relay state-of-the-art information concerning the mechanisms of matrix modeling and remodeling in physiological development and disease. [Matrix Biol] Abstract

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the extracellular matrix research field.

PolyU Develops Novel Self-Fitting Scaffold for Bone Regeneration

Researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have designed and fabricated a high performing self-fitting bone scaffold by combining a shape memory foam and hydroxyapatite. It can be safely and conveniently implanted into bone defects and induce bone regeneration, thus enhancing the recovery of bone injuries and fractures. [The Hong Kong Polytechnic University] Press Release

Swedish Government and GE Healthcare Open an Innovation Center for Life Sciences

The Swedish government and GE Healthcare are opening Testa Center – an innovation center in Uppsala, Sweden, to boost the commercialization of new technologies and support manufacturing capabilities in the life sciences sector. [General Electric] Press Release

IU School of Medicine Launches Regenerative Medicine Center

Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine is investing more than $20 million over the next five years to establish a new center focused on regenerative medicine, a rapidly developing field aimed at repairing and replacing tissue and organs damaged by age, disease or trauma. [Indiana University School of Medicine] Press Release

NIH Is Investigating Researchers Who Might Have Failed to Disclose Contributions from Foreign Governments

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is investigating roughly a half-dozen research institutions based on suspicions that researchers with federal grants failed to disclose significant financial contributions from foreign governments. [STAT News] Editorial

Trump Science-Adviser Pick Faces US Senate Committee

Meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier is in the hot seat, speaking before a US Senate committee during a hearing on his nomination to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. [Nature News] Editorial

Japanese Authorities Recommend Not Regulating Gene Editing

A Japanese government panel announced that it recommends regulating only genetically modified organisms that have had foreign genes permanently introduced into their genomes and not those whose endogenous genes have been edited. This means that developers will not have to get approval from the government to produce gene-edited organisms. [The Scientist] Editorial

NEW 11^th World Biomaterials Congress
May 19-24, 2020
Glasgow, Scotland

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Vascular Cell Signaling & Extracellular Matrix Deposition (LSU Health Science Center)

Faculty Positions – Biomedical Research (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Assistant Professorship – Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (Keck School of Medicine of USC)

Tenure Track Fellowships – Aging and Chronic Disease (University of Liverpool)

Assistant or Associate Professor – Heart Failure and Regenerative Medicine (University of Louisville)

Postdoctoral Position – ECM and Cardiovascular Development and Congenital Heart Disease (Thomas Jefferson University)

Postdoctoral Associate – Matrix Biology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Cellular Mechanobiology (Washington University in St. Louis)

Postdoctoral Position – ECM and Cancer (The University of Illinois at Chicago)

Translational GlycOmics Program – Career Development in Glycoscience (BloodCenter of Wisconsin)

Assistant, Associate or Full Professor – Regenerative Medicine (University of San Diego)

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