Extracellular Matrix News Volume 2.33 | Aug 25 2011

Strategies for Enhancing the Accumulation and Retention of Extracellular Matrix in Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Cultured in Bioreactors
This work was aimed at developing strategies for improving extracellular matrix retention in cartilage constructs and thus the quality of engineered tissues produced in bioreactors. [PLoS ONE]

Cortactin Controls Cell Motility and Lamellipodial Dynamics by Regulating ECM Secretion
Efficient cell motility, promoted by cortactin regulation of branched actin networks, involves processing and resecretion of internalized extracellular matrix (ECM) from a late endosomal/lysosomal compartment. [Curr Biol]

Heparin Mimetic Peptide Nanofibers Promote Angiogenesis
Here, researchers report for the first time, induction of angiogenesis by a synthetic nanofibrous peptide scaffold without addition of any exogenous growth factors or heparin. [Biomacromolecules]

Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 and -9 Secreted by Leukemic Cells Increase the Permeability of Blood-Brain Barrier by Disrupting Tight Junction Proteins
Except the well known role of degrading extracellular matrix in metastasis of cancer cells, here researchers show matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9, secreted by leukemic cells, mediate the blood-brain barrier opening by disrupting tight junction proteins in the central nervous system leukemia. [PLoS ONE]

Combining Dynamic Stretch and Tunable Stiffness to Probe Cell Mechanobiology In Vitro
Preliminary data demonstrates that inhibition of spreading due to a lack of matrix stiffness surrounding a cell may be overcome by externally applied stretch suggesting similar mechanotransduction mechanisms for sensing stiffness and stretch. [PLoS ONE]

Rapid Probing of Biological Surfaces with a Sparse-Matrix Peptide Library
Researchers reasoned that because biological surfaces, such as cell surfaces, mineralized tissues, and various extracellular matrices have unique molecular compositions, they present unique physicochemical signatures to the surrounding medium which could be probed by peptides with appropriately corresponding physicochemical properties. To test this hypothesis, a naïve pilot library of 36 peptides, varying in their hydrophobicity and charge, was arranged in a two-dimensional matrix and screened against various biological surfaces. [PLoS ONE]

A Close Relationship Between Type 1 Diabetes and Vitamin A-Deficiency and Matrix Metalloproteinase and Hyaluronidase Activities in Skin Tissues
This study is the first comparison of matrix metalloproteinase and hyaluronidase activities in skin tissues of type 1 diabetic, vitamin A-deficient and retinoic acid-treated animal models. [Exp Dermatol]

Maternal Hypoxia Alters Matrix Metalloproteinase Expression Patterns and Causes Cardiac Remodeling in Fetal and Neonatal Rats
The present study tested the hypothesis that maternal hypoxia results in reprogramming of matrix metalloproteinase expression patterns and fibrillar collagen matrix in the developing heart. [Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol]

Insights into Interstitial Flow, Shear Stress, and Mass Transport Effects on ECM Heterogeneity in Bioreactor-Cultivated Engineered Cartilage Hydrogels
In this study, researchers investigated the effects of introducing gradients of interstitial flow on the evolution of compositional heterogeneity in engineered cartilage. [Biomech Model Mechanobiol]

Optimized Conditions for Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Differentiate into Osteoblasts on a Collagen/Hydroxyapatite Matrix
The study confirmed that a higher collagen content increased scaffold stiffness but that a greater stiffness was not sufficient for bone tissue formation, a complex process evidently also dependent on scaffold porosity. [J Biomed Mater Res A]

Chondrogenic Differentiation of Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Embryonic Cells in Collagen Scaffolds
Researchers compared the potential of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and P19 embryonic carcinoma cells, a pluripotent derivative of embryonic stem cells, for cartilage histogenesis in porous collagen scaffolds in vitro. [J Biomed Mater Res A]

Rao Named First Director of New Center for Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Mahendra S. Rao was recently appointed director of the new National Institutes of Health Intramural Center for Regenerative Medicine. [National Institutes of Health Press Release]

Departing Director Reflects on NCRR Breakup
Barbara Alving, who heads the doomed National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), announced that she’s resigning at the end of September. [ScienceInsider]

Internationally Recognized Scientist Returns to Anika Therapeutics, Inc.
Anika Therapeutics, Inc. announced the appointment of Jing-wen Kuo, Ph.D. as chief scientific officer. For the last nine years, Dr. Kuo has served in a variety of consulting capacities to many US and international clients specializing in hyaluronic acid based medical products. [Anika Therapeutics, Inc. Press Release]

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