Regulation of cancer angiogenesis could be a useful strategy in cancer therapy. Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and can induce cancer cell proliferation, while lncRNAs, generally are able to act as microRNA (miRNA) sponges. The latter is a type of competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) that regulates expression of the targeting miRN...

Lipoxin A4 (LXA4), but not lipoxin B4, induced in vitro a dose-dependent, slowly emerging hyperadhesiveness in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), leading to a 1.9-fold increase in the binding of neutrophils (polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocytes [PMN]). The maximal response to LXA4 occurred at 1 nmol/L and after 30 minutes of treatment of HUVEC. These response kinetics were int...

In the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, there is a demand for construction of three-dimensional (3D) organs such as liver, pancreas, and kidney. Although recent advances in tissue engineering allowed us to construct two-dimensional tissues such as skin and cornea, it is still challenging to construct 3D organs. Since these vital organs are complex in structure and contain ...

The multistep model of leukocyte adhesion reveals that selectins mediate rolling interactions and that integrins mediate firm adhesion processes. In this study, the interaction between eosinophils and TNF-alpha-activated HUVEC (second or third passage) was studied under flow conditions (0.8 and 3.2 dynes/cm2). Especially the role of alpha 4 integrins on eosinophils and E-selectin on HUVEC was s...

Malignant gliomas are one of the most devastating and incurable tumors. Sustained excessive angiogenesis by glioma cells is the major reason for their uncontrolled growth and resistance toward conventional therapies resulting in high mortality. Therefore, targeting angiogenesis should be a logical strategy to prevent or control glioma cell growth. Earlier studies have shown that Asiatic Acid (A...

The directed migration of endothelial cells is an early and critical step in angiogenesis, or new blood vessel formation. In this study, the polarization and chemotaxis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in response to quantified gradients of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were examined. To accomplish this, a microfluidic device was designed and fabricated to generate ...

BACKGROUND The emergence of skin substitutes provides a new approach for the treatment of wound repair and healing. The consistent and steady release of angiogenic factors is an important factor in the promotion of angiogenesis in skin substitutes, which usually lack, yet need, a vascular network. METHODS In this study, ginsenoside Rg1, a natural compound isolated from Panax notoginseng (PNS)...

OBJECTIVE Stretch-activated cation channels (SAC) have been suggested to act as endothelial mechanosensors for hemodynamic forces. Ca(2+) influx through SAC could induce an intracellular Ca(2+) signal stimulating Ca(2+)-dependent synthesis of vasodilators like NO, prostacyclin, or EDHF. In the present study we tested whether laminar shear stress (LSS) regulates SAC function. METHODS Electroph...

Endothelial cell dysfunction (ECD) is emerging as a common denominator for diverse cardiovascular abnormalities associated with inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS). Elevated levels of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a potent eNOS inhibitor, are common in renal failure and may contribute to ECD. Through DNA microarray screening of genes modulated in human umbilical ve...

BACKGROUND Widely accessible small animal models suitable for the study of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in vivo are lacking, primarily because rodent hepatocytes cannot be productively infected and because human hepatocytes are not easily engrafted in immunodeficient mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We report here on a novel approach for human hepatocyte engraftment that involves subcutaneous ...