220 results about "Cytoskeleton" patented technology

The invention provides a method for effecting the trans-differentiation of a somatic cell, i.e., the conversion of a somatic cell of one cell type into a somatic cell of a different cell type. The method is practiced by culturing a somatic cell in the presence of at least one agent selected from the group consisting of (a) cytoskeletal inhibitors and (b) inhibitors of acetylation, and (c) inhibitors of methylation, and also culturing the cell in the presence of agents or conditions that induce differentiation to a different cell type. The method is useful for producing histocompatible cells for cell therapy.

A red blood cell storage composition includes a composition of red blood cells and biochemistry altering reagents, the biochemistry altering reagents being present at a concentration so as to reduce the percent hemolysis of the red blood cells during the freeze-thaw cycle below that of the percent hemolysis of the red blood cells in the absence the biochemistry altering reagents. The red blood cell storage composition preferably includes reagents selected from: modifiers of glycolytic / metabolic components, modifiers of antioxidant potential, effectors of intracellular ionic distribution, modifiers of membrane fluidity, modifiers of cytoskeletal structure, effectors of the cyclooxygenase second messenger pathway, effectors of the lipoxygenase second messenger pathway, effectors of the hexose monophosphate second messenger pathway, effectors of the phosphorylation second messenger pathway, modifiers of specific messenger molecules, and combinations thereof.

The invention provides a method for effecting the trans-differentiation of a somatic cell, i.e., the conversion of a somatic cell of one cell type into a somatic cell of a different cell type. The method is practiced by culturing a somatic cell in the presence of at least one agent selected from the group consisting of (a) cytoskeletal inhibitors and (b) inhibitors of acetylation, and (c) inhibitors of methylation, and also culturing the cell in the presence of agents or conditions that induce differentiation to a different cell type. The method is useful for producing histocompatible cells for cell therapy.

The present invention relates to composite structural members comprising polymers, natural and synthetic fibers, and nano-scale platelets arranged in two- or three-dimensional cellular skeletal structure; more particularly referring to a low-cost natural-fiber based structural member with material hybridization and material layout for improved behavior that leads to efficient structural beam and plate / panel components that can be used in a plurality of modular structures, resulting in lower cost and reduced environmental impact.

The invention provides an artificial dura mater with bioactivity, which is formed from a nano-bionic scaffold and hydrosol attached on the nano-bionic scaffold, wherein cell factors and / or a medicament are / is coated in the hydrosol; the nano-bionic scaffold at least contains two layers of connected structures, wherein the structure layer facing to the brain is a hydrophobic anti-adhesive electrospinning layer, and the structure layer opposite to the brain is a hydrophilic nano-cytoskeleton layer. The invention also provides a preparation method of the artificial dura mater, which comprises the following steps: preparing an electrospinning solution, a hydrosol solution containing the cell factors and / or the medicament and a cross linker solution; preparing the artificial dura mater through electrostatic spinning and biological printing. By simultaneously utilizing a biological printing technology and an electrostatic spinning technology for preparing the artificial dura mater, the cell factors can be effectively distributed according to the requirements of concentration and positions, a brain membranization process is the fastest and optimal, and meanwhile, the following adverse reaction of the medicament is reduced because the artificial dura mater can be accurately positioned and quantified by using the biological printing technology.

The invention provides a method of inhibiting vascular hyperpermeability in an animal in need thereof. The method comprises administering an effective amount of a diketopiperazine, a prodrug of a diketopiperazine or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt of either of them to the animal, wherein the diketopiperazine has the formula set forth in the specification.The invention also provides a method of modulating the cytoskeleton of an endothelial cell in an animal. The method comprises administering an effective amount of a diketopiperazine, a prodrug of a diketopiperazine or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt of either of them to the animal, wherein the diketopiperazine has the formula set forth in the specification.The invention further provides a kit. The kit comprises a diketopiperazine, a prodrug of a diketopiperazine or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt of either of them to the animal, wherein the diketopiperazine has the formula set forth in the specification.

The present invention relates to composite structural members comprising polymers, natural and synthetic fibers, and nano-scale platelets arranged in two- or three-dimensional cellular skeletal structure; more particularly referring to a low-cost natural-fiber based structural member with material hybridization and material layout for improved behavior that leads to efficient structural beam and plate / panel components that can be used in a plurality of modular structures, resulting in lower cost and reduced environmental impact.

The present invention relates to a cytoskeletal system composed of purified components which allow for the identification of key proteins involved in mechanotransduction. The system comprises a cytoskeleton network deficient in force-dependent proteins, exogenous proteins in contact with the cytoskeleton network, a means for applying a force to the cytoskeleton network, and a means for identifying any of the exogenous proteins that bind to the cytoskeleton network when a force is applied to the cytoskeleton network, wherein proteins identified are involved in mechnotransduction. The invention further relates to a method for identifying proteins involved in mechanotransduction using the cytoskeletal system of the present invention. The identification of key players involved in mechanotransduction allows for the identification of agents capable of inhibiting or enhancing mechanotransduction.

The invention discloses a three-dimensional large-aperture nanoscale fibrous scaffold and a method for preparing the same. The average diameter of fibers in the scaffold is about 1 nanometer to 900 nanometers, the voidage is about 50%-98%, the scaffold is of a three-dimensional structure, and the thickness of the scaffold is 0.01 micrometer to 10 centimeters. The method includes the following steps of dissolving biodegradable polyester and additives into organic solvent to prepare spinning solution. An electrostatic spinning process is used for spinning the spinning solution to obtain nanoscale / submicron-order fibrofelt. The fibrofelt is soaked in solvent within 48 hours after being spun, is pre-frozen at first, and then is frozen and dried, so that the three-dimensional fibrous scaffold with mutually communicated large holes is obtained. The three-dimensional tissue engineering scaffold material with the communicated large holes is prepared, the structures of the internal holes are uniform, and the three-dimensional large-aperture nanscale fibrous scaffold can be used as a tissue engineering cytoskeleton for bones, cartilages, blood vessels, hearts, nerves and the like, and is suitable for growth of various cells.

Compositions and methods for inducing cell membrane wounding, cell permeabilization and cell killing are provided. The composition comprises a polyvalent agent that binds to a highly expressed cell surface antigen present on the surface of a cell. Preferably, the cell surface antigen is associated with the cytoskeleton of the cell. A preferred polyvalent agent is an IgM, and enhanced cell wounding and killing can be provided by the addition of a crosslinking agent. At sublethal concentrations in vivo, the cell wounding antibodies permeabilize cells and dramatically enhance response to chemotherapeutic agents, even in patients refractory to the chemotherapeutic agents.

The invention relates to a cell culture device capable of generating multiple magnetic fields. Through three groups of orthogonal Helmholtz coils and different excitation modes thereof, a single axial steady magnetic field, a single axial alternating magnetic field, a planar rotating magnetic field and a spatial rotating magnetic field can be generated. Meanwhile, through the means of digital control and the like, control on the magnetic induction density, magnetic field frequency, temperature and CO2 concentration in the device can be realized to satisfy the conditions for the cell growth and survival. The steady, alternating, planer and spatial rotating magnetic fields can be generated, and the adjustment of the field intensity, magnetic field frequency and action time is realized through computer control; the limit that the traditional device can generate a single magnetic field is compensated; and reliable equipment and method are provided for exploring the influence and response change of different magnetic fields on the survival of the tumor cell cultured in vitro, the molecule function, the intracellular signal transduction network and cytoskeleton reconstruction and for clarifying the action mechanism of each magnetic field.

The invention discloses an aggregated white blood cell segmentation counting system. The system comprises an image acquisition module for dyeing white blood cells in a blood sample, dissolving red blood cells in the blood sample by using red blood cell lysate and acquiring a white blood cell image, an image preprocessing module used for performing image background removal on the white blood cellimage and obtaining an optimal segmentation threshold by using a maximum inter-class variance method and roughly segmenting a white blood cell region, an aggregated cell determination module used forobtaining a coarse segmentation image according to the rough segmentation of the white blood cell region, setting a discriminant function of a cell area and obtaining a multi-cell aggregation region,and an aggregated cell segmentation counting module used for extracting a cytoskeleton in each aggregation region and a gray curve at the cytoskeleton by using a morphological refinement method. According to the invention, by analyzing the gray scale characteristics of various white blood cell areas under a low power microscope, an adaptive threshold function is constructed, while a white blood cell count is obtained, the number of oxyphil cells is obtained, the cells in the aggregation region are quickly and accurately divided and counted, the method is quick and simple and is easy to implement.

The present invention utilizes spatially modulated optical force microscopy (SMOFM) with single beam optical force probing capability or with a holographic optical trapping system capable of multi-beam optical force probing coupled to a microscope objective, to generate a probe beam(s) as a force probe to perturb the object that is adhered or resting on a surface, so that deformations of the object may subsequently be quantified. This quantification is performed by imaging a sequence of four phase shifted replicas of the image using a computer-controlled spatial light modulator, and calculating the pixel by pixel optical path-length using existing algorithms. The change in optical path lengths, and consequently the viscoelastic or elastic response elicited, is an indication of damage or disease when the objects are cells. In another embodiment, the optical deformability of the cells may be measured and correlated with measurements of cytoskeletal / structural protein expression.

The invention belongs to the field of biomedicine and particularly discloses the application of gold nanocluster in preparation of a drug for treating tumors. Experimental study discovers that the gold nanocluster can enter cells by virtue of receptor-mediated endocytosis, form endosome and fuse with lysosome so as to deposit in the lysosome. Under light conditions, a photo chemical reaction is carried out on the surface of the gold nanocluster, production of reactive oxide species (ROS) is triggered, apoptosis is initiated, and the ROS can further attack cytoskeleton to cause cytoskeleton fracture and functional damage. The invention firstly proposes that the gold nanocluster can serve as a novel nano-drug to be used for treatment of tumors. As the nano-drug, the gold nanocluster is excellent in biocompatibility and high in safety. As an inert metal, the gold has excellent biocompatibility, and small interference on normal physiological activities of organisms / cells and low toxicity;the gold nanocluster has an effect of killing the tumors under specified conditions only, and is high in using safety.

The invention relates to a composite biomaterial containing cross-linked hyaluronic acid derivative and hydroxylapatite and a preparation method thereof. The composite biomaterial is characterized by containing the cross-linked hyaluronic acid derivative and the hydroxylapatite. The composite biomaterial can be obtained by uniformly mixing hyaluronic acid or soluble salt of the hyaluronic acid with the hydroxylapatite and then carrying out the cross-linked reaction, or can be obtained by firstly preparing the cross-linked hyaluronic acid derivative and then uniformly mixing the cross-linked hyaluronic acid derivative with the hydroxylapatite. The composite biomaterial has good biological compatibility, has suitable rate of biodegradation, mechanical property, pore diameter and porosity, and can be used as the cytoskeleton to be applied to bone or cartilage tissue engineering.

The invention provides a nerve conduit. The nerve conduit is characterized by comprising an inner layer, an outer layer and a cavity; the outer surface of the inner layer is wrapped with the outer layer; the cavity is formed between the inner layer and the outer layer; the inner layer is a hydrophilic cytoskeleton layer manufactured by the electrostatic spinning method; the outer layer is a hydrophobic nerve conduit skeleton layer by the electrostatic spinning method; the cavity is used for storing a bioactive factor solution. The nerve conduit has the characteristics of being proper in strength and hardness, degradable, capable of providing proper neurotrophic active substances, ideal in double-layer or multi-layer structure, semi-permeable, low in cost, short in production cycle, easy to be stored and transported, free of viruses, free of immunological rejection or extremely small in immunological rejection, and wide in applicable scope; the requirement on nerve regeneration process can be met well.

Novel devices and methods are provided, which include electroporative flow cytometry, where electroporation is combined with flow cytometry. The devices and methods can be used for the detection a variety of cellular features, including protein translocation, and for monitoring biomechanics at single cell level. Using the novel devices methods it is possible to observe the release of proteins such as intracellular kinases out of the cells during electroporation. Using the novel devices methods it is possible to study cytoskeleton dynamics and deformability at a single cell level, and to correlate these to diseases such as cancers.

The present disclosure relates, in part, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising one or more polynucleotides suitable for enhancing, increasing, augmenting, and / or supplementing the levels of Collagen alpha-1 (VII) chain polypeptide and / or Lysyl hydroxylase 3 polypeptide and / or Keratin type I cytoskeletal 17 polypeptide in a subject. The present disclosure also relates, in part, to pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use for providing prophylactic, palliative, or therapeutic relief of a wound, disorder, or disease of the skin in a subject, including a subject having, or at risk of developing, one or more symptoms of epidermolysis bullosa.

Focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a kidney disorder of unknown etiology and up to 20% of patients on dialysis have this diagnosis. A large family with hereditary FSGS carries a missense mutation in the TRPC6 gene on chromosome 11q, encoding the ion channel protein Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel 6. The missense mutation is a P112Q substitution, which occurs in a highly conserved region of the protein, enhances TRPC6-mediated calcium signals in response to agonists such as angiotensin II, and alters the intracellular distribution of TRPC6 protein. Previous work has emphasized the importance of cytoskeletal and structural proteins in proteinuric kidney diseases. Our findings suggest a novel mechanism for glomerular disease pathogenesis.

The invention belongs to the field of antibody drug, and discloses a full human-derived anti-human VEGFR2 monoclonal antibody screened by a phage antibody base technology and prepared by a gene engineering method, and further discloses a carrier including polynucleotide for encoding the monoclonal antibody, a host cell and an application. Through combining with VEGFR2, the monoclonal antibody stops the combination of VEGF with VEGR2, and does not induce receptor dimerization, cause the following tyrosine residue phosphorylation in intracellular tyrosine kinase structure and activate downstream signal access including activation of phospholipase C and increase of calcium ion concentration in the cell and others; the antibody drug triggers endothelial proliferation, survival, cytoskeleton rearrangement, cell migration, gene expression and others, and finally stops the vascular proliferation caused by combination of VEGF and VEGFR2 and induction of dimerization. The monoclonal antibody can be used for treating diseases caused by tumor angiogenesis.

The invention provides an in-vitro brain-like tissue and an establishment method thereof, and solves the problem of a source of an in-vitro pathological and pharmacological human brain model. According to the establishment method, printing of various nerve cells and cytoskeletons is achieved in a 3D printing way, and single-layer or multi-layer brain-like tissue structures consisting of single cells or multi-cells of human brain cortex tissues, nucleus tissues and cortex and white matter tissues are established; by virtue of own advantages of 3D printing, precise control of the type, the density, the relative position and the like of printed cells can be achieved; through mutual matching of different printing heads, printing of functional nucleus brain-like tissues, cortical stratified brain-like tissues, cortex and white matter brain-like tissues and other multi-layer and multi-gradient structural tissues of various single cells can be achieved; the establishment method is easy to operate and high in efficiency, and is applicable to batch and personalized production; an established brain-like tissue model is closer to a natural brain tissue and provides a basic model for pathological and pharmacological experiments.

A preparation method of nanometer multiphase calcium phosphate / fibroin protein composite bracket relates to a preparation method of tissue engineering cytoskeleton. The existing preparation technology has the defects that organic solvent goes against the introduction of active material, sealed stomata goes against the growth of osseous tissue, low mechanical strength is unsuitable for bearing bone reparative regeneration and tissue distribution is uneven. The method provided by the present invention includes: a. calcium-deficient nanometer hydroxyapatite powder is synthesized by the effect offibroin organic template; b. pore-foaming agent sintering technique is adopted to crack the calcium-deficient nanometer hydroxyapatite powder after press molding for further preparation of nano-porous multiphase calcium phosphate ceramic matrix, the sintering temperature is 900 to 1,100 DEG C, the time is 2 to 3 hours and the pore-foaming agent is fibroin powder with the gain diameter of 90 to 300Mum; c. the matrix is dipped in 1 to 5 percent fibroin solution, frozen and dried to obtain the nanometer multiphase calcium phosphate / fibroin protein composite bracket material. The low-temperature sintering of the method provided by the present invention maintains the biological activity of the ceramics and overcomes the defects of the existing technology.

The invention provides a method of treating a disease or condition mediated by vascular hyperpermeability in an animal. The method comprises administering an amount of a danazol compound effective to inhibit vascular hyperpermeability and an amount of a second drug effective to treat the disease or condition. The invention further provides a method of inhibiting vascular hyperpermeability when it is a side effect caused by administration of a drug to, or another treatment of, an animal. The method comprises administration of an amount of a danazol compound effective to inhibit the vascular hyperpermeability. The invention also provides a method of modulating the cytoskeleton of endothelial cells in an animal comprising administering an amount of a danazol compound and an amount of a second drug effective to modulate the cytoskeleton. The present invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions and kits comprising a danazol compound and a second drug.

The present invention elates to the applications of neuregulin in the preparation of drugs for preventing, treating or delaying the ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in mammals, particularly in humans. In particular, the present invention provides the neuregulin based compositions and methods for preventing, treating or delaying the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Specifically, although it has been shown in cytological experiments, animal studies and clinical trials that neuregulin can improve the cytoskeleton structure of myocytes and cardiac function, it is still unknown whether neuregulin has effects on the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. The present invention proves that neuregulin reduces the infarction size in the rat IRI model, which indicates that neuregulin can be used for preventing, treating or delaying the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury

The invention discloses nearly 474 novel phosphorylation sites identified in signal transduction proteins and pathways underlying human carcinoma, and provides phosphorylation-site specific antibodies and heavy-isotope labeled peptides (AQUA peptides) for the selective detection and quantification of these phosphorylated sites / proteins, as well as methods of using the reagents for such purpose. Among the phosphorylation sites identified are sites occurring in the following protein types: Kinase, Adaptor / Scaffold proteins, Phosphatase, G protein Regulator / Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / GTPase Activating Proteins, Cytoskeleton Proteins, DNA Binding Proteins, Phospholipase, Receptor Proteins, Enzymes, DNA Repair / Replication Proteins, Adhesion Proteins, and Proteases, as well as other protein types.

The invention provides a method of inhibiting vascular hyperpermeability in an animal in need thereof. The method comprises administering a vascular-hyperpermeability-inhibiting amount of a danazol compound to the animal. The invention also provides a method of modulating the cytoskeleton of an endothelial cell in an animal. The method comprises administering an effective amount of a danazol compound to the animal.

Methods for inhibiting cancer, scar formation, disrupting the cellular cytoskeleton, and conferring resistance from infection are disclosed. Such methods comprise the administration of oleuropein and / or the products of its hydrolysis in therapeutically effective amounts. To that end, a variety of pharmaceutical formulations and routes or administration are disclosed and may be utilized to treat a wide variety of diseases.

The invention provides a purpose for preparing supplementary reproduction medicine from the following raw material medicine in percentage by weight: 18 to 30 parts of radix rehmanniae preparata, 9 to 12 parts of dogwood, 8 to 16 parts of Chinese yam, 9 to 12 parts of fructus lycii, 8 to 16 parts of semen cuscutae and 8 to 16 parts of antler gum. The invention also provides a method for promoting ovarian ovum in vitro maturation. The method comprises the following steps that a, an immature ovarian ovum is taken; and b, the immature ovarian ovum is placed in M199 culture liquid, a microdrop method is adopted for culture for 24 hours, and a mature ovarian ovum is obtained, wherein 2 percent of medicine is contained in the culture liquid. The medicine can promote the growth and development of the immature ovarian ovum in vitro and mainly promotes the ovarian ovum core maturation, and in addition, the cytoskeleton abnormality probability of the mature ovarian ovum is not increased. The medicine can also generate the influence on the ovum passing capability of sperms, and the reliable basis is provided for clinically preventing and treating the male sperm dysfunction, improving the IVF (in vitro fertilization) success ratio and reducing the use rate of ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection).

The invention provides a method of inhibiting vascular hyperpermeability in an animal in need thereof. The method comprises administering a vascular-hyperpermeability-inhibiting amount of a danazol compound to the animal. The invention also provides a method of modulating the cytoskeleton of an endothelial cell in an animal. The method comprises administering an effective amount of a danazol compound to the animal.