610 Medizin und Gesundheit
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To replace the Draize skin irritation assay (OECD guideline 404) several test methods based on reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) have been developed and were adopted in the OECD test guideline 439. However, all validated test methods in the guideline are linked to RHE provided by only three companies. Thus,the availability of these test models is dependent on the commercial interest of the producer. To overcome this limitation and thus to increase the accessibility of in vitro skin irritation testing, an open source reconstructed epidermis (OS-REp) was introduced. To demonstrate the capacity of the OS-REp in regulatory risk assessment, a catch-up-validation study was performed. The participating laboratories used in-house generated OS-REp to assess the set of 20 reference substances according to the performance standards amending the OECD test guideline 439. Testing was performed under blinded conditions. The within-laboratory reproducibility of 87% and the inter-laboratory reproducibility of 85% prove a high reliability of irritancy testing using the OS-REp protocol. In addition, the prediction capacity was with an accuracy of 80% comparable to previous published RHE based test protocols. Taken together the results indicate that the OS-REp test method can be used as a standalone alternative skin irritation test replacing the OECD test guideline 404.
Objective:
Traumatic brain injury is a major global public health problem for which specific therapeutic interventions are lacking. There is, therefore, a pressing need to identify innovative pathomechanism-based effective therapies for this condition. Thrombus formation in the cerebral microcirculation has been proposed to contribute to secondary brain damage by causing pericontusional ischemia, but previous studies have failed to harness this finding for therapeutic use. The aim of this study was to obtain preclinical evidence supporting the hypothesis that targeting factor XII prevents thrombus formation and has a beneficial effect on outcome after traumatic brain injury.
Methods:
We investigated the impact of genetic deficiency of factor XII and acute inhibition of activated factor XII with a single bolus injection of recombinant human albumin-fused infestin-4 (rHA-Infestin-4) on trauma-induced microvascular thrombus formation and the subsequent outcome in 2 mouse models of traumatic brain injury.
Results:
Our study showed that both genetic deficiency of factor XII and an inhibition of activated factor XII in mice minimize trauma-induced microvascular thrombus formation and improve outcome, as reflected by better motor function, reduced brain lesion volume, and diminished neurodegeneration. Administration of human factor XII in factor XII-deficient mice fully restored injury-induced microvascular thrombus formation and brain damage.
Interpretation:
The robust protective effect of rHA-Infestin-4 points to a novel treatment option that can decrease ischemic injury after traumatic brain injury without increasing bleeding tendencies.
Here we describe a novel conditional mouse lung tumor model for investigation of the pathogenesis of human lung cancer. On the basis of the frequent involvement of the Ras-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway in human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), we have explored the target cell availability, reversibility, and cell type specificity of transformation by oncogenic C-RAF. Targeting expression to alveolar type II cells or to Clara cells, the two likely precursors of human NSCLC, revealed differential tumorigenicity between these cells. Whereas expression of oncogenic C-RAF in alveolar type II cells readily induced multifocal macroscopic lung tumors independent of the developmental state, few tumors with type II pneumocytes features and incomplete penetrance were found when targeted to Clara cells. Induced tumors did not progress and were strictly dependent on the initiating oncogene. Deinduction of mice resulted in tumor regression due to autophagy rather than apoptosis. Induction of autophagic cell death in regressing lung tumors suggests the use of autophagy enhancers as a treatment choice for patients with NSCLC.
Background:
Competing risks methodology allows for an event-specific analysis of the single components of composite time-to-event endpoints. A key feature of competing risks is that there are as many hazards as there are competing risks. This is not always well accounted for in the applied literature.
Methods:
We advocate a simulation point of view for understanding competing risks. The hazards are envisaged as momentary event forces. They jointly determine the event time. Their relative magnitude determines the event type. 'Empirical simulations' using data from a recent study on cardiovascular events in diabetes patients illustrate subsequent interpretation. The method avoids concerns on identifiability and plausibility known from the latent failure time approach.
Results:
The 'empirical simulations' served as a proof of concept. Additionally manipulating baseline hazards and treatment effects illustrated both scenarios that require greater care for interpretation and how the simulation point of view aids the interpretation. The simulation algorithm applied to real data also provides for a general tool for study planning.
Conclusions:
There are as many hazards as there are competing risks. All of them should be analysed. This includes estimation of baseline hazards. Study planning must equally account for these aspects.
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an established optical neuroimaging method for measuring functional hemodynamic responses to infer neural activation. However, the impact of individual anatomy on the sensitivity of fNIRS measuring hemodynamics within cortical gray matter is still unknown. By means of Monte Carlo simulations and structural MRI of 23 healthy subjects (mean age: (25.0 +/- 2.8) years), we characterized the individual distribution of tissue-specific NIR-light absorption underneath 24 prefrontal fNIRS channels. We, thereby, investigated the impact of scalp-cortex distance (SCD), frontal sinus volume as well as sulcal morphology on gray matter volumes (V(gray)) traversed by NIR-light, i.e. anatomy-dependent fNIRS sensitivity. The NIR-light absorption between optodes was distributed describing a rotational ellipsoid with a mean penetration depth of (23.6 +/- 0.7) mm considering the deepest 5% of light. Of the detected photon packages scalp and bone absorbed (96.4 +/- 9: 7)% and V(gray) absorbed (3.1 +/- 1.8)% of the energy. The mean V(gray) volume (1.1 +/- 0.4)cm(3) was negatively correlated (r = - .76) with the SCD and frontal sinus volume (r = - .57) and was reduced by 41.5% in subjects with relatively large compared to small frontal sinus. Head circumference was significantly positively correlated with the mean SCD (r = .46) and the traversed frontal sinus volume (r = .43). Sulcal morphology had no significant impact on V(gray). Our findings suggest to consider individual SCD and frontal sinus volume as anatomical factors impacting fNIRS sensitivity. Head circumference may represent a practical measure to partly control for these sources of error variance.
Kritische Knochendefekte stellen heutzutage ein ungelöstes Problem in der klinischen Praxis dar, da die verfügbaren prothetischen Optionen oft die mechanische Anpassung an das Gewebe nicht gewährleisten oder zu wichtigen immunologischen und Implantat-bedingten Komplikationen führen.
In diesem Kontext ermöglichen Tissue Engineering-Ansätze neue Strategien, um in vitro Zell-Material Interaktionen zu untersuchen und so die Implantatmaterialien zu optimieren.
In dieser Arbeit habe ich Zell-Material Interaktionen eines neuen Kollagen-basierten Scaffolds untersucht, das langfristig als Trägerstruktur für eine zellbasierte Therapie für kritische Knochendefekte entwickelt werden soll. Im Rahmen der Dissertation konnte ich belegen, dass die Kollagen-basierten makroporöse Mikrocarrier für die Zellvermehrung humaner mesenchymaler Stammzellen (MSC) und deren osteogene Differenzierung unter GMP Bedingungen verwendet werden können. Außerdem habe ich die die Kokultur von hämatopoietischen Stammzellen des Knochenmarks und multiplen Myelomzellen funktionell charakterisiert. Ich konnte erstmals Kulturbedingungen etablieren, die die Langzeitkultur ohne die Verwendung von Zytokinen ermöglicht. Mittels dieser Kokultur konnte ich ein Knochenmarknischen-Modell etablieren und die Untersuchung der Expression von zentralen Signalkaskaden der Homöostase dieser Nische untersuchen. Ich konnte die Expression von zwei verschiedenen Isoformen von Osteopontin nachweisen, die in Tiermodellen nicht gefunden werden. Diese Isoformen des Osteopontins habe ich kloniert und die rekombinanten Isoformen exprimiert und ihre Rollen in der Homöostase der Knochenmarknische untersucht.
Critical size bone defects represent nowadays an unresolved problem in the clinical practice, where the available prosthetic options often lack adequate mechanical matching to the host tissue or lead to important immunological and implant-related complications.
In this context, Tissue Engineering approaches promise more effective strategies to study cell-material interactions in vitro and consequently optimize implant materials.
In this work, I investigated the cell-scaffold interactions of a new collagen-based scaffold for a putative cell-based therapy for critical size defects to be developed. In the context of this thesis, I could demonstrate that the collagen-based macroporous microcarriers could be employed for the expansion and osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) under GMP-compliant conditions. Moreover, I functionally characterized the co-culture of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells and multiple myeloma cells. I was for the first time able to establish culture conditions allowing their long-term culture in absence of externally supplemented cytokines. Using this co-culture, I was able to establish a bone marrow niche model to investigate the expression of key signaling pathways involved in the niche´s homeostasis. I was able to demonstrate the expression of two different isoforms of Osteopontin, that could not previously be detected in animal models. Finally, I cloned these Osteopontin isoforms, expressed recombinant versions of the isoforms, and investigated their roles in the homeostasis of the bone marrow niche.
Die Rolle des rechten Ventrikels in der Entwicklung der Herzinsuffizienz ist bis heute umstritten. Vor dem Hintergrund neuer transgener Mausmodelle war es Ziel dieser Studie, die MR-basierte Volumenquantifizierung für den rechten Ventrikel der Maus zu validieren und auf zwei Mausmodell mit Rechtsherzinsuffizienz anzuwenden. Gesunde Mäuse unterschiedlichen Alters wurden mittels MR-Bildgebung bei 7T untersucht. Zur Generierung der Herzinsuffizienz wurde eine Infarzierung durch Banding der LAD, zur Erzeugung einer isolierten Rechtsherzinsuffizienz eine Pulmonalarterienstenose operativ induziert. Die Schnittführung der MR-Aufnahmen lag orthogonal zum Ventrikelseptum, um Partialvolumen-Fehler zu minimieren. Die MR-Daten wurden von 2 unabhängigen Auswertern zur Bestimmung der Reproduzierbarkeit analysiert. Der Vergleich linksventrikulärer (LV) und rechtsventrikulärer (RV) Volumina zeigte eine enge Korrelation für die Schlagvolumina (SV) (r=0.97, p<0.0001). Die Bland-Altman-Analyse bestätigte diese enge Übereinstimmung (mittlere Differenz 0.4µl). Wiederholte Messung der RV Parameter zeigte ein hohes Maß an Reproduzierbarkeit (intraobserver- und interobserver-Variabilität jeweils <7%). Die MR-Messung 4 Wochen nach Pulmonalbanding ergab einen signifikanten Anstieg des RV enddiastolischen Volumens (+44%, p<0.005) und vor allem RV endsystolischen Volumens (+133%, p<0.0001). Die RV Ejektionsfraktion war signifikant reduziert (31.2±6.2 % vs. 57.0±2.3 %, p<0.001). Die LV Volumina sowie EF waren unverändert zum Normalkollektiv und bestätigten den Befund der isolierten Rechtsherzinsuffizienz. Neben LV Volumina erlaubt die 3D MR-Datenakquisition auch eine reproduzierbare Analyse des deutlich komplexeren rechten Ventrikels der Maus. Die Studie belegt eindrucksvoll des Potential von hochauflösender MR-Bildgebung zur Aufklärung von Pathomechanismen rechtsventrikulärer Erkrankungen.