ABSTRACT
We report the use of self-assembled peptide (F2/S) hydrogels and cellular metabolomics to identify a number of innate molecules that are integral to the metabolic processes which drive cellular differentiation of multipotent pericyte stem cells. The culture system relies solely on substrate mechanics to induce differentiation in the absence of traditional differentiation media and therefore is a non-invasive approach to assessing cellular behavior at the molecular level and identifying key metabolites in this process. This novel approach demonstrates that simple metabolites can provide an alternative means to direct stem cell differentiation and that biomaterials can be used to identify them simply and quickly.
Subject(s)
Metabolomics/methods , Pericytes/cytology , Pericytes/transplantation , Animals , Biocompatible Materials/metabolism , Capillaries/cytology , Cell Differentiation/drug effects , Cell Differentiation/physiology , Cells, Cultured , Endothelial Cells/cytology , Humans , Hydrogels/chemistry , Microvessels/cytology , Multipotent Stem Cells/drug effects , Peptides/chemistry , Pericytes/metabolism , PhenotypeABSTRACT
Aromatic peptide amphiphiles can form self-supporting nanostructured hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties and chemical compositions. These hydrogels are increasingly applied in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, where there is a rapidly growing need to store, grow, proliferate, and manipulate naturally derived cells within a hydrated, 3D matrix. Biogelx Limited is a biomaterials company, created to commercialize these bio-inspired hydrogels to cell biologists for a range of cell culture applications. This chapter describes methods of various characterization and cell culture techniques specifically optimized for compatibility with Biogelx products.
Subject(s)
Hydrogels/chemistry , Peptides/chemistry , Protein Multimerization , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , Cell Culture Techniques , Hydrogels/isolation & purification , Microscopy , Peptides/isolation & purification , Spheroids, CellularABSTRACT
A shortcut review was carried out to see if acupuncture is an effective pain treatment in fibromyalgia. One Cochrane review and five subsequent papers and conference abstracts were identified. There are no large studies addressing this question and acupuncture has been compared with many different treatment modalities. Acupuncture may be a valid treatment for pain in fibromyalgia, but more research is required to validate this.
Subject(s)
Acupuncture Therapy , Fibromyalgia/therapy , Adult , Humans , Pain ManagementABSTRACT
A range of chiral, optically-enriched bicyclic oxabispidines were prepared from (S)-(-)-2,3-epoxypropylphthalimide using an efficient sequence featuring a stereocontrolled intramolecular Mannich reaction as the key transformation.
