Search Results
Podosome-Driven Defect Development in Lamellar Bone under the Conditions of Senile Osteoporosis Observed at the Nanometer Scale
2021, Simon, Paul, Pompe, Wolfgang, Bobeth, Manfred, Worch, Hartmut, Kniep, Rüdiger, Formanek, Petr, Hild, Anne, Wenisch, Sabine, Sturm, Elena
The degradation mechanism of human trabecular bone harvested from the central part of the femoral head of a patient with a fragility fracture of the femoral neck under conditions of senile osteoporosis was investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy. As evidenced by light microscopy, there is a disturbance of bone metabolism leading to severe and irreparable damages to the bone structure. These defects are evoked by osteoclasts and thus podosome activity. Podosomes create typical pit marks and holes of about 300-400 nm in diameter on the bone surface. Detailed analysis of the stress field caused by the podosomes in the extracellular bone matrix was performed. The calculations yielded maximum stress in the range of few megapascals resulting in formation of microcracks around the podosomes. Disintegration of hydroxyapatite and free lying collagen fibrils were observed at the edges of the plywood structure of the bone lamella. At the ultimate state, the disintegration of the mineralized collagen fibrils to a gelatinous matrix comes along with a delamination of the apatite nanoplatelets resulting in a brittle, porous bone structure. The nanoplatelets aggregate to big hydroxyapatite plates with a size of up to 10 x 20 μm2. The enhanced plate growth can be explained by the interaction of two mechanisms in the ruffled border zone: the accumulation of delaminated hydroxyapatite nanoplatelets near clusters of podosomes and the accelerated nucleation and random growth of HAP nanoplatelets due to a nonsufficient concentration of process-directing carboxylated osteocalcin cOC. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.
Application of new lysine-based peptide dendrimers D3K2 and D3G2 for gene delivery: Specific cytotoxicity to cancer cells and transfection in vitro
2020, Gorzkiewicz, Michal, Konopka, Malgorzata, Janaszewska, Anna, Tarasenko, Irina I., Sheveleva, Nadezhda N., Gajek, Arkadiusz, Neelov, Igor M., Klajnert-Maculewicz, Barbara
In order to enhance intracellular uptake and accumulation of therapeutic nucleic acids for improved gene therapy methods, numerous delivery vectors have been elaborated. Based on their origin, gene carriers are generally classified as viral or non-viral vectors. Due to their significantly reduced immunogenicity and highly optimized methods of synthesis, nanoparticles (especially those imitating natural biomolecules) constitute a promising alternative for virus-based delivery devices. Thus, we set out to develop innovative peptide dendrimers for clinical application as transfection agents and gene carriers. In the present work we describe the synthesis of two novel lysine-based dendritic macromolecules (D3K2 and D3G2) and their initial characterization for cytotoxicity/genotoxicity and transfection potential in two human cell line models: cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and microvascular endothelial (HMEC-1). This approach allowed us to identify more cationic D3K2 as potent delivery agent, being able to increase intracellular accumulation of large nucleic acid molecules such as plasmids. Moreover, the dendrimers exhibited specific cytotoxicity towards cancer cell line without showing significant toxic effects on normal cells. These observations are promising prognosis for future clinical application of this type of nanoparticles. © 2019 The Authors
Special issue on “Ultrasound-assisted engineering of materials for biomedical uses”
2022, Besford, Quinn A., Cavalieri, Francesca
[no abstract available]