We produced large full-thickness articular cartilage defects in 33 rabbits in order to evaluate the effect of joint distraction and autologous culture-expanded bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal cell transplantation (ACBMT) at 12 weeks. After fixing the knee on a hinged external fixator, we resected the entire surface of the tibial plateau. We studied three groups: 1) with and without joint distra...

The design of exudate-managing wound dressings is an established route to accelerated healing, although such design remains a challenge from material and manufacturing standpoints. Aiming towards the clinical translation of knowledge gained in vitro with highly-swollen rat tail collagen hydrogels, this study investigated the healing capability in a diabetic mouse wound model of telopeptide-free...

This paper describes a noninvasive method for evaluating regional elasticity of atheroma by measuring the minute change in thickness of the arterial wall during one heartbeat. By comparing the pathological findings with the elasticity images, elasticity distributions for lipid and fibrous tissue (mixture of smooth muscle and collagen fiber) were determined in vitro. Furthermore, to characterize...

Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals, also making it the most important component of the body structurally and functionally. Collagen provides cell occlusiveness, biocompatibility, and resorbability. It is chemotactic for regenerative cells and may enhance the migration and attachment of fibroblasts through its space-making ability. Collagen also has the advantage of being a hemosta...

Extrahepatic bile duct defects and their complications are benign lesions but with malignant outcomes. Extrahepatic bile duct regeneration at the injury site could be important for the repair. In our previous work, a human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) fused with a collagen-binding domain (CBD) was produced to activate the collagen membrane to obtain targeted tissue regeneration. This c...

The notochord and notochordal sheath of 10 adult amphioxus were investigated ultrastructurally and histochemically. The notochord in amphioxus consists of parallel notochordal cells (plates) and each plate consists of parallel thicker and thinner fibrils and numerous profiles of smooth endoplasmic reticulum situated just beneath the cell membrane. Histochemical staining shows that the notochord...

Collagen-based implants have been described as vehicles for transplantation of cultured skin cells for treatment of burn wounds. To optimize vascularization and repair of connective tissue, collagen solubility and glutaraldehyde crosslinking were evaluated. Cultured skin substitutes consisted of human keratinocytes and fibroblasts attached to collagen-glycosaminoglycan substrates that were prep...

Fibroblasts were cultured on top of or at the bottom of hydrated collagen lattices. Shortly after initially interacting with the collagen lattices, fibroblasts appeared to attach to individual collagen fibrils and in many cases cell processes were found wrapped around clusters of collagen fibrils. Tension generated by cells during spreading resulted in proximal collagen fibrils becoming aligned...

Directing appropriate extracellular matrix remodeling is a key aim of regenerative medicine strategies. Thus, antifibrotic interfering RNA (RNAi) therapy with exogenous microRNA (miR)-29B was proposed as a method to modulate extracellular matrix remodeling following cutaneous injury. It was hypothesized that delivery of miR-29B from a collagen scaffold will efficiently modulate the extracellula...