ABSTRACT
Extracellular collagen remodeling is one of the central mechanisms responsible for the structural and compositional coherence of myocardium in patients undergoing myocardial infarction (MI). Activated primary cardiac fibroblasts following myocardial infarction are extensively investigated to establish anti-fibrotic therapies to improve left ventricular remodeling. To systematically assess vitamin C functions as a potential modulator involved in collagen fibrillogenesis in an in vitro model mimicking heart tissue healing after MI. Mouse primary cardiac fibroblasts were isolated from wild-type C57BL/6 mice and cultured under normal and profibrotic (hypoxic + transforming growth factor beta 1) conditions on freshly prepared coatings mimicking extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling during healing after an MI. At 10 µg/mL, vitamin C reprogramed the respiratory mitochondrial metabolism, which is effectively associated with a more increased accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (iROS) than the number of those generated by mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mROS). The mRNA/protein expression of subtypes I, III collagen, and fibroblasts differentiations markers were upregulated over time, particularly in the presence of vitamin C. The collagen substrate potentiated the modulator role of vitamin C in reinforcing the structure of types I and III collagen synthesis by reducing collagen V expression in a timely manner, which is important in the initiation of fibrillogenesis. Altogether, our study evidenced the synergistic function of vitamin C at an optimum dose on maintaining the equilibrium functionality of radical scavenger and gene transcription, which are important in the initial phases after healing after an MI, while modulating the synthesis of de novo collagen fibrils, which is important in the final stage of tissue healing.
Subject(s)
Ascorbic Acid , Myocardial Infarction , Mice , Animals , Ascorbic Acid/pharmacology , Ascorbic Acid/metabolism , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Myocardial Infarction/metabolism , Myocardium/metabolism , Collagen/metabolism , Fibroblasts/metabolism , Vitamins/metabolism , Ventricular Remodeling/physiologyABSTRACT
The current paper aimed to comparatively scrutinize some key dimensions apposite for the dynamics of traditional versus virtual teams in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emphasis was laid on the positive leadership perception, communication effectiveness among team members, objectives achievement, diversity approach, and the perception of team culture strength. Invitations to fill in an online questionnaire consisting of paired items were sent in January 2022 via email to over 200 potential respondents working in both traditional and virtual teams, using a snowball sampling technique;137 subjects completed the entire questionnaire, hence allowing a reasonable research sample for conducting relevant statistical analyses (i.e., paired t-test given that the aim was to investigate the difference between paired sets of variables for the same issues). The empirical exploration brought to the fore significant differences among the considered dimensions, thus underscoring the benefits and drawbacks of working in traditional versus virtual teams in the context of the new normal. Evidence was brought forward that teamwork in traditional teams (i.e., based on face-to-face interaction) is preferable to that in virtual teams (i.e., based on online interaction). Meaningful differences were observed regarding the perception of team culture strength, communication effectiveness, positive leadership perception, and diversity approach in favor of traditional teams, the questioned respondents opting for the offline coordination and collaboration processes.