Texturized Vegetable Protein as a Source of Protein Fortification of Wheat Buns.

Increasing interest in plant-based proteins is particularly relevant in the food service sector. For specific groups, e.g., older adults, it may be challenging to ensure the consumption of protein of sufficient quality. One way of doing this could be through the fortification of a staple food such as bread. This study examined wheat buns, in which 0%, 20%, 35% and 50% of the flour was replaced with three different milled texturized vegetable proteins (TVP) of different plant protein combinations. Sensory and baking qualities were evaluated through sensory profiling and measurements of rising ability, baking loss, protein content and colour. An expert assessment and a robustness test were conducted to evaluate potential use in the food service sector. By substituting 35% of the wheat flour with milled TVP, it was possible to increase the protein content of the buns by 83% (up to 25% of DM) and still maintain an acceptable quality. The different TVPs showed that pea and faba bean or pea, faba bean and quinoa were more suitable in bread fortification than pea, faba bean and hemp. The study demonstrates the potential for producing quality bread for people who need a high protein intake in all their meals.

Identification of the chondrocyte lineage using microfibril-associated glycoprotein-2, a novel marker that distinguishes chondrocytes from synovial cells.

Methods for the lineage identification of cell or tissue-engineered therapeutics must provide a high degree of performance to confidently distinguish the intended cell type from other lineages that could be present in the finished product. For many applications, these methods also require rapid, high-throughput capability. In this work, methods for the identification of autologous cultured chondrocytes for implantation were investigated. A histological analysis confirmed that fibrous tissue occasionally present in biopsies procured for autologous chondrocyte implantation production comprised synovium. Chondrocyte and synovial cell cultures were then examined using a full transcriptome microarray analysis, which revealed cartilage link protein and microfibril-associated glycoprotein-2 (MAGP2) as the most differentially expressed transcripts between the culture types. Performance characteristics of gene expression assays formed by the analysis of cartilage link protein with normalization to either standard reference genes or to MAGP2 were evaluated. The results demonstrate that the MAGP2-based assay provided superior performance for the purpose of cell culture identification compared to assays using standard reference genes. The selectivity against synovial and heterogeneous samples provided by the novel assay suggests it as an appropriate lineage identification method for cell cultures derived from cartilage.

Synthesis and evaluation of hydrolyzable hyaluronan-tethered bupivacaine delivery systems.

Local anesthetics are useful for reducing acute pain, but their short duration precludes them from use in solely managing postoperative pain. To prolong the duration of local anesthesia, we conjugated bupivacaine to native hyaluronan (HA) and divinyl sulfone cross-linked Hylan A (Hylan B particles) using a hydrolyzable linker incorporating an imide. Bupivacaine was prepared for conjugation to HA by forming the acryl imide derivative. Separately, the carboxyl group of HA was reacted with nipsylethylamine (NEA) using carbodiimide-mediated coupling to provide HA-NEA that was subsequently reduced with tris(2-carboxyethylphosphine) hydrochloride to yield HA carrying a free sulfhydryl (HA-SH). The HA-bupivacaine conjugate was assembled by reacting HA-SH with acrylbupivacaine. Characterization of the conjugates showed 22% degree of modification by 1 mol of carboxyl. In vitro release studies comparing bupivacaine admixed in HA with bupivacaine conjugated to HA showed half-lives of 0.4 +/- 0.1 h, and 16.9 +/- 0.2 h, respectively, and the bupivacaine was released chemically unaltered as confirmed by LC-MS. In vivo studies to assess the duration of anesthetic activity were performed in a rat sciatic nerve blockade model. For these studies, bupivacaine was conjugated to Hylan B following a similar procedure, and the degree of modification obtained was 14%. Free bupivacaine (3 and 16 mg/kg) and free bupivacaine (3 mg/kg) admixed with Hylan B particles showed nerve block over 4, 9, and 6 h, respectively. Free bupivacaine (3 mg/kg) admixed with bupivacaine (13 mg/kg) conjugated to Hylan B particles showed a four to 5-fold longer impairment of motor function over the free bupivacaine formulations with a total block time of 19 h. Bupivacaine conjugated to Hylan B particles has the potential to prolong the duration of local anesthesia.