Extracellular Matrix News Volume 2.16 | Apr 28 2011

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    Extracellular Matrix Cell News 2.16, April 28, 2011
         In this issue: Science News | Current Publications | Industry News | Policy News | Events
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    TOP STORY
    ECM Components Guide IL-10 Producing Regulatory T-Cell (TR1) Induction from Effector Memory T-Cell Precursors
    Researchers describe a role for extracellular matrix (ECM) as a biosensor for inflammatory microenvironments that plays a critical role in peripheral immune tolerance. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

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    SCIENCE NEWS

    TB Discovery Paves the Way for Drugs That Prevent Lung Destruction
    New research shows that in patients with TB, there is an increase in levels of an enzyme called MMP-1 in their lungs. [Press release from Imperial College London discussing online prepublication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation]

    Findings Contribute to Understanding of Diabetic Kidney Disease
    By knocking down or reducing the expression of the PVT1 gene, researchers lowered the amount of proteins associated with the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix in glomeruli. [Press release from the Translational Genomics Research Institute discussing online prepublication in PLoS ONE]

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    CURRENT PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)

    MMP-1 Drives Immunopathology in Human Tuberculosis and Transgenic Mice
    MMP-1 may drive tissue destruction in tuberculosis (TB) and represents a therapeutic target to limit immunopathology. [J Clin Invest]

    Extracellular Matrix Proteases Contribute to Progression of Pelvic Organ Prolapse in Mice and Humans
    Results suggest that pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is an acquired disorder of extracellular matrix and that therapies targeting matrix proteases may be successful for preventing or ameliorating POP in women. [J Clin Invest]

    Activation of CXCR2 by Extracellular Matrix Degradation Product Acetylated-Pro-Gly-Pro Has Therapeutic Effects Against Sepsis
    CXCR2 and Acetylated-Pro-Gly-Pro are thus a novel target and starting molecule, respectively, for the development of therapeutic agents against sepsis. [Am J Respir Crit Care Med]

    Real Time Responses of Fibroblasts to Plastically Compressed Fibrillar Collagen Hydrogels
    PC generates a dense fibrillar collagen gel scaffold without detrimental effects towards seeded cells, surpassing highly hydrated collagen gels as a 3D scaffold for tissue engineering. [Biomaterials]

    Chitosan Scaffolds Containing Hyaluronic Acid for Cartilage Tissue Engineering
    Results showed that chitosan/hyaluronic acid composite scaffolds are noncytotoxic and promote cell adhesion. Extracellular matrix formation was further evaluated with safranin-O and alcian blue staining methods, and glycosaminoglycan and DNA quantifications were performed. [Tissue Eng Part C Methods]

    Roles of miR-29a in the Antifibrotic Effect of FXR in Hepatic Stellate Cells
    The study uncovers a new mechanism by which farnesoid X receptor (FXR) negatively regulates the expression of extracellular matrix in hepatic stellate cells. [Mol Pharmacol]

    The Mechanism of Lens Placode Formation: A Case of Matrix-Mediated Morphogenesis
    Researchers showed that the failure of lens placode formation when the transcription factor, Pax6 was conditionally deleted in the surface ectoderm was associated with greatly diminished accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) between the optic vesicle and ectoderm and reduced levels of transcripts encoding components of the ECM. [Dev Biol]

    Functional Characterization of the Plasmacytoma Variant Translocation 1 Gene (PVT1) in Diabetic Nephropathy
    Researchers knocked-down PVT1 expression in mesangial cells using RNA interference, and analyzed RNA and protein levels of fibronectin 1 (FN1), collagen, type IV, alpha 1 (COL4A1), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (SERPINE1 or PAI-1) by qPCR and ELISA, respectively. [PLoS ONE]

    Heparin-Decorated, Hyaluronic Acid-Based Hydrogel Particles for the Controlled Release of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2
    Heparin-decorated, hyaluronic acid-based, hydrogel particles were synthesized using an inverse emulsion polymerization technique employing divinyl sulfone as the crosslinker. [Acta Biomater]

    Stem Cell Differentiation to Epidermal Lineages on Electrospun Nanofibrous Substrates for Skin Tissue Engineering
    The interaction of mesenchymal stem cells and nanofibers was studied and researchers concluded that the electrospun Collagen/poly (L-lactic acid)-co-poly-(3-caprolactone) nanofibers could mimic the native skin extracellular matrix environment and are promising substrates for advanced skin tissue engineering. [Acta Biomater]

    Matrilin-4 Is Processed by ADAMTS-5 in Late Golgi Vesicles Present in Growth Plate Chondrocytes of Defined Differentiation State
    Researchers propose that in the growth plate ADAMTS-5, and not ADAMTS-4, has a physiological function in the intracellular processing of matrilins and potentially of other extracellular matrix proteins. [Matrix Biol]

    Divergent Upstream Osteogenic Events Contribute to the Differential Modulation of MG63 Cell Osteoblast Differentiation by MMP-1 (Collagenase-1) and MMP-13 (Collagenase-3)
    Data show that MMP-1’s and -13’s differential regulation of osteoblastic markers in MG63 cells likely results from their modulation of divergent signaling pathways involved in osteoblastic differentiation. [Matrix Biol]

    Scarless Skin Wound Healing in FOXN1 Deficient (Nude) Mice Is Associated with Distinctive Matrix Metalloproteinase Expression
    Finding suggest that the bimodal pattern of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and MMP-13 expression during skin repair process in nude mice could be a major component of their ability for scarless healing. [Matrix Biol]

    INDUSTRY NEWS

    Massachusetts, South Korea Heat Up Ties in Life Sciences
    Government and economic development representatives from Massachusetts and South Korea met this week seeking to deepen collaborations in life sciences, high tech and other areas, including signing a three-year memorandum of understanding. [Mass High Tech]

    $20 Million Endowment for Biomedical Engineering Research
    A $20 million endowment to foster research collaboration between bioengineers and clinicians, with the ultimate goal to develop new technologies to improve patient care, has been created by Duke University and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. [Duke University Press Release]

    Rice Wins $1.2 Million for Heart-Valve Tissue Research
    A team of bioengineers from Rice University is bringing a promising new strategy for growing replacement heart valves closer to reality, thanks to a four-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. [Rice University Press Release]

    POLICY NEWS

    National Institutes of Health (United States)

    Food and Drug Administration (United States)

    Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)
     
    European Medicines Agency (European Union)

    Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

    Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

    EVENTS

    NEW Keystone Symposia: Changing Landscape of the Cancer Genome
    June 20-25, 2011
    Boston, United States

    NEW Stem Cells USA & Regenerative Medicine Congress
    September 12-15, 2011
    Boston, United States

    NEW 2011 World Stem Cell Summit
    October 3-5, 2011
    Pasadena, United States

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

    JOB OPPORTUNITIES

    Lab Technologist – Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (STEMCELL Technologies)

    Quality Assurance Manager – Program in Children’s Regenerative Medicine (The University of Texas Medical School at Houston)

    Postdoctoral Position – Vascular Smooth Muscle Biology (Boston University Medical School)

    Assistant Professor (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering)

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