Search results for "Flow"
showing 10 items of 5185 documents
The genetic prehistory of the Baltic Sea region
2018
Correction: Nature communications 9 (2018), art. no. 1494 doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03872-y While the series of events that shaped the transition between foraging societies and food producers are well described for Central and Southern Europe, genetic evidence from Northern Europe surrounding the Baltic Sea is still sparse. Here, we report genome-wide DNA data from 38 ancient North Europeans ranging from similar to 9500 to 2200 years before present. Our analysis provides genetic evidence that hunter-gatherers settled Scandinavia via two routes. We reveal that the first Scandinavian farmers derive their ancestry from Anatolia 1000 years earlier than previously demonstrated. The range of Mesolit…
Targeting distinct myeloid cell populations in vivo using polymers, liposomes and microbubbles
2016
Identifying intended or accidental cellular targets for drug delivery systems is highly relevant for evaluating therapeutic and toxic effects. However, limited knowledge exists on the distribution of nano- and micrometer-sized carrier systems at the cellular level in different organs. We hypothesized that clinically relevant carrier materials, differing in composition and size, are able to target distinct myeloid cell subsets that control inflammatory processes, such as macrophages, neutrophils, monocytes and dendritic cells. Therefore, we analyzed the biodistribution and in vivo cellular uptake of intravenously injected poly(N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide) polymers, PEGylated liposomes…
A versatile bioreactor for dynamic suspension cell culture. Application to the culture of cancer cell spheroids.
2016
A versatile bioreactor suitable for dynamic suspension cell culture under tunable shear stress conditions has been developed and preliminarily tested culturing cancer cell spheroids. By adopting simple technological solutions and avoiding rotating components, the bioreactor exploits the laminar hydrodynamics establishing within the culture chamber enabling dynamic cell suspension in an environment favourable to mass transport, under a wide range of tunable shear stress conditions. The design phase of the device has been supported by multiphysics modelling and has provided a comprehensive analysis of the operating principles of the bioreactor. Moreover, an explanatory example is herein prese…
Role of pulmonary surfactant protein Sp-C dimerization on membrane fragmentation: An emergent mechanism involved in lung defense and homeostasis.
2020
Surfactant protein C (SP-C) is a protein present in the pulmonary surfactant system that is involved in the biophysical properties of this lipoprotein complex, but it also has a role in lung defense and homeostasis. In this article, we propose that the link between both functions could rely on the ability of SP-C to induce fragmentation of phospholipid membranes and generate small vesicles that serve as support to present different ligands to cells in the lungs. Our results using bimolecular fluorescence complementation and tunable resistive pulse sensing setups suggest that SP-C oligomerization could be the triggering event that causes membrane budding and nanovesiculation. As shown by flu…
Skin-derived mesenchymal stem cells as quantum dot vehicles to tumors
2017
Dominyka Dapkute,1,2 Simona Steponkiene,1 Danute Bulotiene,1 Liga Saulite,3 Una Riekstina,3 Ricardas Rotomskis1,4 1Biomedical Physics Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Vilnius, Lithuania; 2Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania; 3Faculty of Medicine, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia; 4Biophotonics Group of Laser Research Center, Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania Purpose: Cell-mediated delivery of nanoparticles is emerging as a new method of cancer diagnostics and treatment. Due to their inherent regenerative properties, adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are naturally attracted to wounds and sites of inflammation, as well as tumors.…
Mast cells contribute to autoimmune diabetes by releasing interleukin-6 and failing to acquire a tolerogenic IL-10+ phenotype
2017
Mast cells (MCs) are innate immune cells that exert positive and negative immune modulatory functions capable to enhance or limit the intensity and/or duration of adaptive immune responses. Although MCs are crucial to regulate T cell immunity, their action in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases is still debated. Here we demonstrate that MCs play a crucial role in T1D pathogenesis so that their selective depletion in conditional MC knockout NOD mice protects them from the disease. MCs of diabetic NOD mice are overly inflammatory and secrete large amounts of IL-6 that favors differentiation of IL-17-secreting T cells at the site of autoimmunity. Moreover, while MCs of control mice acquire…
Circulating exosomes deliver free fatty acids from the bloodstream to cardiac cells: Possible role of CD36
2019
Regulation of circulating free fatty acid (FFA) levels and delivery is crucial to maintain tissue homeostasis. Exosomes are nanomembranous vesicles that are released from diverse cell types and mediate intercellular communication by delivering bioactive molecules. Here, we sought to investigate the uptake of FFAs by circulating exosomes, the delivery of FFA-loaded exosomes to cardiac cells and the possible role of the FFA transporter CD36 in these processes. Circulating exosomes were purified from the serum of healthy donors after an overnight fast (F) or 20 minutes after a high caloric breakfast (postprandial, PP). Western blotting, Immunogold Electron Microscopy and FACS analysis of circu…
Prediabetes is associated with the modulation of antigen-specific Th1/Tc1 and Th17/Tc17 responses in latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
2017
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with the down modulation of Th1, Th2 and Th17 responses in latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection but the role of prediabetes (PDM) in this setting is not well understood. To examine the role of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell cytokines in latent tuberculosis (LTB) with coincident PDM, we studied the baseline, mycobacterial, control antigen and mitogen-stimulated T cell cytokine responses in LTB individuals with (LTB-PDM; n = 20) or without (LTB-NDM; n = 20) concomitant prediabetes. LTB-PDM is characterized by diminished frequencies of mono-and dual-functional CD4+ Th1 and Th17 cells and mono-functional Th2 cells at baseline and/or following mycobacteri…
Flow cytometric analysis of T cell/monocyte ratio in clinically isolated syndrome identifies patients at risk of rapid disease progression.
2015
Background: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory central nervous system disease diagnosed by clinical presentation and characteristic magnetic resonance imaging findings. The role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis has been emphasized in particular in the context of differential diagnosis in patients with a first episode suggestive of multiple sclerosis. Objective: We investigated here the potential additional value of analysis of CSF cellularity by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) in the setting of a routine diagnostic work-up in our inpatient clinic. Methods: CSF cells from back-up samples from patients with suspected chronic inflammatory central nervous system disord…
Increased expression of interleukin-22 in patients with giant cell arteritis
2017
Objectives GCA is characterized by arterial remodelling driven by inflammation. IL-22 is an attractive cytokine which acts at the crosstalk between immune and stromal cells. We hypothesized that IL-22 might be induced in GCA and might be involved in disease pathogenesis. Methods Patients subjected to temporal artery biopsies (TABs) naive from therapy were enrolled: 27 biopsy-proven GCA, 8 biopsy-negative GCA, 21 biopsy-negative non-GCA patients. Expression of IL-22 was determined in TABs by immunohystochemistry, in plasma by ELISA, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells by real-time PCR and flow cytometry. Effects of IL-22 on viability and gene expression of primary cultures obtained from TA…