Title: Design and analysis of tissue engineering scaffolds that mimic soft tissue mechanical anisotropy
Publication of the Month
a) Inserm U506, Hopital Paul Brousse, Villejuif, France
b) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, USA
1) Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2) Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
3) Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
4) Neurology Clinical Trials Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital East, Charlestown, MA, USA
5) Day Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital East, Charlestown, MA, USA
Title: Differential Myocardial Infarct Repair with Muscle Stem Cells Compared to Myoblasts
Summary: Myoblast transplantation for cardiac repair has generated beneficial results in both animals and humans; however, poor viability and poor engraftment of myoblasts after implantation in vivo limit their regeneration capacity. We and others have identified and isolated a subpopulation of skeletal muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) that regenerate skeletal muscle more effectively than myoblasts.
Title: Surgical treatment for congestive heart failure with autologous adult stem cell transplantation: A prospective randomized study.
Title: Migfilin and its binding partners: from cell biology to human diseases
Summary: Links between the plasma membrane and the actin cytoskeleton are essential for maintaining tissue integrity and for controlling cell morphology and behavior. Studies over the past several decades have identified dozens of components of such junctions. One of the most recently identified is migfilin, a widely expressed protein consisting of an N-terminal filamin-binding domain, a central proline-rich domain and three C-terminal LIM domains. Migfilin is recruited to cell-matrix contacts in response to adhesion and colocalizes with beta-catenin at cell-cell junctions in epithelial and endothelial cells. Migfilin also travels from the cytoplasm into the nucleus, a process that is regulated by RNA splicing and calcium signaling. Through interactions with multiple binding partners, including Mig-2, filamin and VASP, migfilin links the cell adhesion structures to the actin cytoskeleton. It regulates actin remodeling, cell morphology and motility. In nuclei, migfilin interacts with the cardiac transcriptional factor CSX/NKX2-5 and promotes cardiomyocyte differentiation. It probably functions as a key regulator both at cell adhesion sites and nuclei, coordinating multiple cellular processes, and is implicated in the pathogenesis of several human diseases.
