A high-content, in vitro cardiac fibrosis assay for high-throughput, phenotypic identification of compounds with anti-fibrotic activity.

A key feature in the pathogenesis of heart failure is cardiac fibrosis, but effective treatments that specifically target cardiac fibrosis are currently not available. A major impediment to progress has been the lack of reliable in vitro models with sufficient throughput to screen for activity against cardiac fibrosis. Here, we established cell culture conditions in micro-well format that support extracellular deposition of mature collagen from primary human cardiac fibroblasts - a hallmark of cardiac fibrosis. Based on robust biochemical characterization we developed a high-content phenotypic screening platform, that allows for high-throughput identification of compounds with activity against cardiac fibrosis. Our platform correctly identifies compounds acting on known cardiac fibrosis pathways. Moreover, it can detect anti-fibrotic activity for compounds acting on targets that have not previously been reported in in vitro cardiac fibrosis assays. Taken together, our experimental approach provides a powerful platform for high-throughput screening of anti-fibrotic compounds as well as discovery of novel targets to develop new therapeutic strategies for heart failure.

Regenerative medicine for the treatment of heart disease.

Heart failure is a major cause of mortality worldwide with a steady increase in prevalence. There is currently no available cure beyond orthotopic heart transplantation, which for a number of reasons is an option only for a small fraction of all patients. Considerable hope has therefore been placed on the possibility of treating a failing heart by replacing lost cardiomyocytes, either through transplantation of various types of stem cells or by boosting endogenous regenerative mechanisms in the heart. Here, we review the current status of stem and progenitor cell-based therapies for heart disease. We discuss the pros and cons of different stem and progenitor cell types that can be considered for transplantation and describe recent advances in the understanding of how cardiomyocytes normally differentiate and how these cells can be generated from more immature cells ex vivo. Finally, we consider the possibility of activation of endogenous stem and progenitor cells to treat heart failure.

Deglycosylation by gaseous hydrogen fluoride of mucus glycoproteins immobilized on nylon membranes and in microtiter wells.

Strongly reacting antibodies specific for defined mucin gene products are often directed against the mucin protein backbone of the heavily glycosylated serine/threonine rich regions. A prerequisite for the use of such antibodies is often the complete removal of the oligosaccharides from the protein. This paper describes an efficient one-step deglycosylation method using gaseous hydrogen fluoride on nylon blotting membranes and microtiter wells.