Extracellular Matrix News Volume 7.46 | Nov 24 2016

TOP STORY

Single-Nanotube Tracking Reveals the Nanoscale Organization of the Extracellular Space in the Live Brain

Researchers showed an approach to directly observe the local extracellular space (ECS) structures and rheology in brain tissue using super-resolution imaging. They injected single-walled carbon nanotubes into rat cerebroventricles and followed the near-infrared emission of individual nanotubes as they diffuse inside the ECS for tens of minutes in acute slices. [Nat Nanotechnol] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

PPFIA1 Drives Active α5β1 Integrin Recycling and Controls Fibronectin Fibrillogenesis and Vascular Morphogenesis

Scientists identified a pathway, comprising the regulators of post-Golgi carrier formation PI4KB and AP-1A, the small GTPase Rab11B, the surface tyrosine phosphatase receptor PTPRF and its adaptor PPFIA1, which they propose acts as a funnel combining cellular fibronectin (FN) secretion and recycling of active α5β1 integrin from the trans-Golgi network to the endothelial cell surface, thus allowing FN fibrillogenesis. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Fibrous Nonlinear Elasticity Enables Positive Mechanical Feedback between Cells and ECMs

Researchers present single-cell traction force measurements using breast tumor cells embedded within 3D collagen matrices. They recreate the breast tumor mechanical environment by controlling the microstructure and density of type I collagen matrices. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Press Release

Biomimetic Collagen/Elastin Meshes for Ventral Hernia Repair in a Rat Model

The authors formulated a type I collagen/elastin crosslinked blend (CollE) for the fabrication of biomimetic meshes for ventral hernia repair. To evaluate the effect of architecture on the performance of the implants, CollE was formulated both as flat sheets and porous scaffolds. The morphology, hydrophylicity and in vitro degradation were assessed by SEM, water contact angle and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. [Acta Biomater] Abstract

Anatomical Region-Dependent Enhancement of 3-Dimensional Chondrogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Soluble Meniscus Extracellular Matrix

Investigators explored the region-specific bioactivity of solubilized extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from the inner and outer meniscal regions as determined in 2-dimensional (D) and 3D cultures of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). When added as a medium supplement to 2D cultures of MSCs, urea-extracted fractions of the inner (imECM) and outer meniscal ECM enhanced cell proliferation while imECM most strongly upregulated fibrochondrogenic differentiation on the basis of gene expression profiles. [Acta Biomater] Abstract

Overexpression of SerpinE2/Protease Nexin-1 Contribute to Pathological Cardiac Fibrosis via Increasing Collagen Deposition

SerpinE2/protease nexin-1 was over-expressed in a cardiac fibrosis model induced by pressure-overloaded via transverse aortic constriction (TAC) in mouse. Knockdown of serpinE2 attenuated cardiac fibrosis in a mouse model of TAC. Results showed that serpinE2 was significantly increased with collagen accumulations induced by AngII or TGF-β stimulation in vitro. [Sci Rep] Full Article

TGF Beta Receptor II Interacting Protein-1, an Intracellular Protein Has an Extracellular Role as a Modulator of Matrix Mineralization

Scientists provide evidence that intracellular transforming growth factor beta receptor II interacting protein 1 (TRIP-1) can be packaged and exported to the ECM via exosomes. Overexpression of TRIP-1 in MC3T3-E1 cells resulted in increased matrix mineralization during differentiation and knockdown resulted in reduced effects. In vivo function of TRIP-1 was studied by an implantation assay performed using TRIP-1 overexpressing and knockdown cells cultured in a 3-dimensional scaffold. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Rheumatoid Synovial Fibroblasts Differentiate into Distinct Subsets in the Presence of Cytokines and Cartilage

The authors investigated two distinct synovial fibroblast populations that were located preferentially in the lining or sub-lining layers and defined by their expression of either podoplanin or CD248, and explored their ability to undergo self-assembly and transmigration in vivo. [Arthritis Res Ther] Full Article | Press Release

Decellularized Zebrafish Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Induces Mammalian Heart Regeneration

Using zebrafish and mice as representative species of lower vertebrates and mammals, investigators showed that a single administration of zebrafish cardiac extracellular matrix (zECM), particularly the healing variety, enables cardiac functional recovery and regeneration of adult mouse heart tissues after acute myocardial infarction. zECM-treated groups exhibit proliferation of the remaining cardiomyocytes and multiple cardiac precursor cell populations and reactivation of ErbB2 expression in cardiomyocytes. [Sci Adv] Abstract | Press Release

Real-Time Optotracing of Curli and Cellulose in Live Salmonella Biofilms Using Luminescent Oligothiophenes

Investigators report a method for simultaneous, real-time, in situ detection and differentiation of the Salmonella extracellular matrix components curli and cellulose, using non-toxic, luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes. These flexible conjugated polymers emitted a conformation-dependent fluorescence spectrum, which they used to kinetically define extracellular appearance of curli fibres and cellulose polysaccharides during bacterial growth. [NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes] Full Article

The Emerging Role of ECM Crosslinking in T Cell Mobility as a Hallmark of Immunosenescence in Humans

The authors propose an update of the theoretical framework of immunosenescence, based on a novel hypothesis: the increasing stiffness and cross-linking of the senescent extracellular matrix (ECM) lead to a progressive immunodeficiency due to an age-related decrease in T cell mobility and eventually the death of these cells. A key element of this mechanism is the mechanical stress to which the cell cytoplasm and nucleus are subjected during passage through the ECM. [Ageing Res Rev] Full Article

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

Positive Early Data from BioTime’s Renevia Pivotal Trial Presented

BioTime, Inc. announced details of positive data from its Renevia^® pivotal trial, reported via a presentation. The presentation was based on data from the “run-in,” testing sample subjects to the European pivotal trial. [Press release from BioTime, Inc. discussing research presented at the 14^th Annual International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science Meeting (IFATS), San Diego] Press Release

The Eye Has It: Vitreous Gel Could Hold Clues to Visual Impairment

Research is underway at Rochester Institute of Technology that will give scientists a better understanding of the vitreous humor, or gel, that fills the eye and could lead to advances in the treatment of vision disorders, drug delivery and eye surgery. Rochester Institute of Technology biophysicist Moumita Das is leading a National Science Foundation-funded study to explore properties critical to the function of the vitreous and the eye. [Rochester Institute of Technology] Press Release

Corneal Cross-Linking Helps Maintain Sight

The University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center is one of first eye centers in the nation to offer a breakthrough outpatient procedure to stop progressive vision loss in young adults. Corneal cross-linking strengthens the cornea if it’s been weakened by keratoconus, other corneal disease or, rarely, as a complication of LASIK surgery. [University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center] Press Release

TELA Bio Announces Settlement of Litigation with LifeCell

TELA Bio, Inc. announced that it has settled all litigations and disputes between TELA Bio and LifeCell, and that all pending state and federal court actions between the two companies have been dismissed. Terms of the agreement are confidential. The settlement will allow TELA Bio to continue to manufacture and sell its OviTex^™ portfolio of products for use in ventral hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction, including a hydrated version of OviTex. [TELA Bio, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

NgAgo Gene-Editing Controversy Escalates in Peer-Reviewed Papers

A heated dispute over gene-editing that began online is now playing out in the scientific literature. Six months ago, Chinese researchers reported that an enzyme called NgAgo could be used to edit mammalian genes – and that it might be more accurate and more versatile than the popular CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique. [Nature News] Editorial

Canadian Researcher in Legal Battle to Keep Her Interviews Confidential

When Canadian graduate student Marie-Ève ​​Maillé held interviews with 93 people in 2010 about a massive wind farm being built in the Arthabaska region of Quebec, she made a promise that social scientists routinely make: that her respondents would remain anonymous, and that nobody would be able to trace quotes in her thesis back to them. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Cautious Welcome for UK’s Vague £2 Billion Research Pledge

UK scientists have welcomed a surprise government promise to invest an extra £2 billion (US$2.5 billion) per year into research and development by 2020 – although details of the pledge will not be made clear for at least another two days. [Nature News] Editorial

Conservatives, Liberals Team Up against Animal Research

“Painful, bizarre, and wasteful experiments.” Buying dogs “just to cut them apart … and kill them.” These statements might sound like the rhetoric used by extreme animal rights groups, but they come from White Coat Waste—a new, unlikely coalition of fiscal conservatives and liberal activists that aims to end federal funding for research involving dogs and other animals by targeting people’s pocketbooks in addition to their heartstrings. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Regenerative Medicine Workshop at Hilton Head
March 1-4, 2017
Atlanta, United States

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

NEW Clinical Trials Fellow – Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Connective Tissue Disorders (Harvard Medical School)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Focal Adhesions Proteins in Hypertrophy/Hyperplasia and Reorganization of the Extracellular Matrix (Medical Faculty Heidelberg)

Research Fellow – Role of miRNA Secreted in Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived Extracellular Vesicles (Queen’s University Belfast)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Biomechanical Properties of the Cartilage Extracellular Matrix (University of Liverpool)

PhD Fellowship – Controlling Cartilage to Bone Transitions (IRCCS Ospedale San Martino)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cancer Research (Luxembourg Institute of Health)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Scaffold Design & Drug/Gene Delivery (Nanyang Technological University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Non-Viral Gene Delivery for Neural Tissue Engineering Research (Nanyang Technological University)

Postdoctoral Positions – Cellular Information Processing (University of Chicago)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Enamel Proteins and Biomineralization (University of California, San Francisco)

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