[en] Haemostatic devices can be categorised according to their mechanism of action into three main types; namely pressure devices, topical haemostatic pads and vascular closure devices (VCD). Of these three categories, it is the development of VCDs that revolutionised management of endovascular procedures. Currently available VCDs fall into three major classes, those that use a collagen plug, those that use clips and those that perform suture closure at the arteriotomy site. This article provides a comprehensive review of the all three classes with examples of commercially available devices.

[en] Postoperative peritoneal adhesions, fibrous bands formed in the peritoneal cavity following surgery, represent a common, challenging and costly problem faced by surgeons and patients, for which effective therapeutic options are lacking. Since aberrant inflammation is one of the key mechanisms underlying peritoneal adhesion formation, here we set out to study the role of developmental endothelial locus-1 (Del-1), which has been recently identified as an endogenous inhibitor of inflammation, in the formation of postoperative peritoneal adhesions using a mouse model of peritoneal adhesions induced by ischemic buttons. Del-1-deficient mice had a higher incidence of adhesions, and their adhesions had higher quality and tenacity scores. Del-1 deficiency also led to enhanced inflammation mediators and collagen production. Finally, Del-1 supplementation decreased the incidence and severity of postoperative peritoneal adhesions. Taken together, these results indicate a protective role for Del-1 in postoperative peritoneal adhesion formation.

[en] This study was intended to investigate the effect of valproate (VPA) and oxcarbazepine (OXC) on embryo implantation in terms of extracellular matrix protein distribution. Thirty female rats (Wistar albino) were assigned to three groups of 10 animals each. Group 1 was administered two doses of saline solution, group 2, two doses of VPA at 300 mg/kg/day and group 3, two doses of OXC at 100 mg/kg/day, for a period of 3 months. Female rats with vaginal plugs mated with males for one night were placed into separate cages. Day of mating was taken as day 0, and implantation areas were obtained with rats being sacrificed on the morning of day 7. Immunohistochemical staining and electron microscopic protocols were then applied. At electron microscopic evaluation, extraembryonic endoderm and ectoderm layers could not be distinguished in semi-thin sections in the VPA group, while they were partially differentiated in the OXC group. At immunohistochemical staining, laminin was observed in the primary embryonic endoderm cell visceral and parietal layers, the uterine luminal epithelial cells and the secondary decidual zone in the control group. In the VPA group, it was weakly expressed in some embryo trophoectoderm cells and uterine luminal epithelial cells and moderately in some decidual cells. In the OXC group, it was moderately expressed in some trophoectoderm and decidual cells. Collagen IV was localized in the ectoplacental cone cells and secondary decidual zone and weak in the luminal epithelial cells in the control group. In the VPA and OXC groups, collagen IV was negative in all embryonic and maternal structures in the VPA and OXC groups. Vimentin was moderately expressed in the luminal epithelium and strongly expressed in the primary decidual zone and ectoplacental cone cells in the control group. In the VPA group, it was negative in the embryo trophoectoderm, decidual and uterine luminal epithelial cells, while in the OXC group it was moderately localized in the ectoplacental cone cells. The use of VPA and OXC has a negative effect on the expression of extracellular matrix proteins that play a key role in embryo implantation in young rats. This may lead to pregnancies ending in failure.

[en] Discoidin Domain Receptor 2 (DDR2) is a collagen-binding receptor tyrosine kinase that initiates delayed and sustained tyrosine phosphorylation signalling. To understand the molecular basis of this unique phosphorylation profile, here we utilise fluorescence microscopy to map the spatiotemporal localisation of DDR2 and tyrosine phosphorylated proteins upon stimulation with collagen. We show that cellular phosphorylated proteins are localised to the interface where DDR2 is in contact with collagen and not in the early endosomes or lysosomes. We find that DDR2 localisation is independent of integrin activation and the key DDR2 signalling effector SHC1. Structure-function analysis reveals that DDR2 mutants defective for collagen binding or kinase activity are unable to localise to the cell surface, demonstrating for the first time that both collagen binding and kinase functions are required for spatial localisation of DDR2. This study provides new insights into the underlying structural features that control DDR2 activation in space and time.

[en] Production of type I collagen declines is a main characteristic during photoaging, but the mechanism is still not fully understood. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of newly identified non-coding RNAs with regulatory potency by sequestering miRNAs like a sponge. It's more stable than linear RNAs, and would be a useful tool for regulation of gene expression. However, the role of circRNAs in collagen expression during photoaging is still unclear. Here we performed deep sequencing of RNA generated from UVA irradiated and no irradiated human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and identified 29 significantly differentially expressed circRNAs (fold change ≥ 1.5, P < 0.05), 12 circRNAs were up-regulated and 17 circRNAs were down-regulated.3 most differentially expressed circRNAs were verified by qRT-PCR and the down-regulated circCOL3A1-859267 exhibited the most significantly altered in photoaged HDFs. Overexpression of circCOL3A1-859267 inhibited UVA-induced decrease of type I collagen expression and silencing of it reduced type I collagen intensity. Via a bioinformatic method, 44 miRNAs were predicted to binding with circCOL3A1-859267, 5 of them have been confirmed or predicted to interact with type I collagen. This study show that circCOL3A1-859267 regulate type I collagen expression in photoaged HDFs, suggesting it may be a novel target for interfering photoaging.

[en] The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The country was incorrect in the authors affiliations. It should read as “ROC”. The corrected affiliations are given below.

[en] Functional biopolymer scaffolds are in high demand for tissue regeneration. In this study, we incorporated functionalized CNT in collagen or silk protein solution to generate biocomposite fibers by electrospinning. The addition of CNT reinforced the strength of the scaffolds and rendered the fibers electrical conductivity to not only facilitate the E-spun fiber formation but also grant the fibers an additional functionality that can be utilized for cell stimulation. Considering fiber dimension, alignment, mechanical strength, electrical conductivity and biocompatibility, silk-CNT fibers containing a minute amount of CNT (0.05%) outperformed other fiber types. The modulation effect of these fibers was examined by their application in inducing polarization and activation of fibroblasts with cellular deficit. While the fibroblasts on both collagen-CNT and silk-CNT fibers synthesized a substantially higher level of collagen type III (COLIII) than cells on pure protein fibers to reduce the abnormally high COLI/COLIII ratio, electrical stimulation boosted the collagen productivity by 20 folds in cells on silk-CNT than on collagen-CNT due to silk-CNT's high electrical conductivity. The developed approach can be potentially utilized to remedy the dysfunctional fibroblasts for therapeutic treatment of diseases and health conditions associated with collagen disorder.

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No abstract available

[en] Hydrolyzed collagen (HC) is a fine powder applied in the pharmaceutical and food industries which has shown good results in the treatment of diseases related to bones, skin and joints. In this study, HC particles were agglomerated in order to increase particle size, optimizing its use as a food ingredient, its handling and its storage. Agglomeration is a process that not only enlarge the size of fine particles, but also improves its properties, such as instantanization time and flowability. The aim of this work was the agglomeration of HC in a fluidized bed having blackberry pulp as a liquid binder. A full factorial design 22 was used to study the effect of the temperature of the fluidizing air (60, 70, 80oC) and the flow rate of the liquid binder (0.8, 1.2, 1.6 mL/min) on the process yield, mean particle size, water activity and total anthocyanins content. It was observed that anthocyanins content from the blackberry pulp had higher values with lower temperatures. Water activity had lower values with higher temperatures, but in all conditions, it was lower than 0.6. The enlargement of the granules was observed in all conditions studied, increasing up to 275%. Process yield varied from 67,9 to 80,0%. In all conditions, the instantanization time and flowability improved compared to hydrolyzed collagen before agglomeration. (Author)