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] |