Ccl2(-/-) mice and wild-type

(WT) C57BL6J mice were investigated for changes in the retinal fundus and histology as a function of age. The function of the rod and cone pathways, and the rate of dark adaptation, was assessed using the electroretinogram (ERG) up to 15 months of age. RESULTS. Fifteen-month-old Ccl2(-/-) mice had fundus lesions, more subretinal microglia/ macrophages, and an increase in RPE cell size, indicative of RPE cell loss, when compared with WT mice. Within the retina, gross morphology was normal but there was an increase in Muller cell gliosis and microglial activation. These morphological changes in the Ccl2(-/-) RPE/ Barasertib nmr retina did not correlate with a change in either rod or cone ERG pathway function, or with the rate of dark adaptation. CONCLUSIONS. These data show that Ccl2 is important for preserving RPE and glial morphology with age, yet retinal function and gross morphology are maintained. Altered signaling in this chemokine buy ABT-263 pathway may, however, increase RPE and retinal vulnerability to disease.”
“Percutaneous

coronary intervention (PCI), especially coronary stent implantation, has been shown to be an effective treatment for coronary artery disease. However, in-stent restenosis is one of the longstanding unsolvable problems following PCI. Although stents implanted inside narrowed vessels recover normal flux find more of blood flows, they instantaneously change the wall shear stress (WSS) distribution on the vessel surface. Improper stent implantation positions bring high possibilities of restenosis as it

enlarges the low WSS regions and subsequently stimulates more epithelial cell outgrowth on vessel walls. To optimize the stent position for lowering the risk of restenosis, we successfully established a digital three-dimensional (3-D) model based on a real clinical coronary artery and analysed the optimal stenting strategies by computational simulation. Via microfabrication and 3-D printing technology, the digital model was also converted into in vitro microfluidic models with 3-D micro channels. Simultaneously, physicians placed real stents inside them; i.e., they performed “virtual surgeries”. The hydrodynamic experimental results showed that the microfluidic models highly inosculated the simulations. Therefore, our study not only demonstrated that the half-cross stenting strategy could maximally reduce restenosis risks but also indicated that 3-D printing combined with clinical image reconstruction is a promising method for future angiocardiopathy research.”
“Site-specific cross-linking techniques between proteins and additional functional groups have become increasingly important for expanding the utility of proteins in biochemistry and biotechnology.