the iris sphincter to a miotic drug. Different lipid solubilities and degradation of the drug by the cholinesterases present in the iris are but two examples. It was possible by the method described to evaluate the overall miotic activities of series of ACh agonists and cholinesterase inhibitors in the mouse eye. By comparing the dose-response dependence of non-ester acetylcholine-agonists (e.g...

Long-term viability of thick three-dimensional engineered tissue constructs is a major challenge. Addressing it requires development of vessel-like network that will allow the survival of the construct in vitro and its integration in vivo owing to improved vascularization after implantation. Resulting from work of various research groups, several approaches were developed aiming engineered tiss...

In vitro pre-vascularization is one of the main vascularization strategies in the tissue engineering field. Culturing cells within a tissue-engineered construct (TEC) prior to implantation provides researchers with a greater degree of control over the fate of the cells. However, balancing the diverse range of different cell culture parameters in vitro is seldom easy and in most cases, especiall...

Notwithstanding remarkable progress in vascular network engineering, implanted bioengineered microvessels largely fail to form anastomoses with the host vasculature. Here, we demonstrate that implants containing assembled human vascular networks (A-Grafts) fail to engraft due to their inability to engage non-inflammatory host neutrophils upon implantation into mice. In contrast, unassembled vas...

PURPOSE To characterize the topography of and the cellular processes that underlie vascularization of the human retina. METHODS The vasculature of human eyes obtained from fetuses ranging in age from 14 to 38 weeks of gestation (WG) was examined in Nissl-stained, whole-mount preparations and by anti-CD34 immunohistochemistry. RESULTS The first event in retinal vascularization, apparent befo...

OBJECTIVE Our overall aims were to elucidate the temporal and spatial sequence of coronary vascularization during development in the rat, and to determine whether basic fibroblast growth factor expression corresponds to any phase of the vascularization process. METHODS Immunohistochemical, histochemical, morphometric and in situ hybridization analyses were performed on prenatal and postnatal ...

The present study focused on the early events of vascularization of intraocular cerebral transplants. Telencephalic pieces of rat embryos (E15) were transplanted into the anterior eye chamber of adult rats in deep ketamine-xylazine narcosis. At 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, or 7-day postoperative survival periods, the rats were perfused and the transplants, with their iridic beds, were processed into serial,...

PURPOSE To evaluate the corneal vascularization (CV) and the clinical aspects induced by interlamellar graft with native (NCM) and anionic (ACM) collagen membranes in rabbits corneas. METHODS An interlamellar graft with a 0.25 x 0.25 cm NCM (group 1) or ACM (group 2) fragment was performed in the right eye (treated eye). In the left eye, an estromal tunnel was done (control eye). Sixteen rabb...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the differences in placental perfusion in pregnancies following oocyte donation compared to spontaneous pregnancies. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS A total of 33 patients who became pregnant after oocyte donation are studied and compared to 42 spontaneously pregnant participants. A 3-dimensional Power Doppler is used to obtain 3 placental volumes. Of each volume, 3 portions are...

Indian hedgehog (Ihh) controls multiple aspects of endochondral skeletal development, including proliferation and maturation of chondrocytes, osteoblast development and cartilage vascularization. Although it is known that Gli transcription factors are key effectors of hedgehog signaling, it has not been established which Gli protein mediates Ihh activity in skeletal development. Here, we show t...