Nanotechnology has undoubtedly brought innovation to the biomedical field, which is apparent from the advances including those in drug delivery, treatment of pathologies, imaging of disease sites, etc. The rationale behind the use of nanoparticle-based products for biomedical applications is to benefit from their unique physicochemical characteristics, mainly, size, surface area and surface functionality, to address these particles and the encapsulated payload, if any, to the desired sites in the biological system. To design appropriate nanoparticle products for biomedical applications aimed for human and/or animal use, understanding of the interplay between the physicochemistry of nanoparticles and the biophysical properties is crucial because it is the interaction of the nanoparticles at the biological interface which regulates the nanoparticles pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and safety. Also, the assessment of the potential of nanoparticles to induce undesired effects at the systemic level, organ level, cellular and sub-cellular levels is crucial for anticipating the potential risks associated with the use of nanoparticles from a safety standpoint. This review is aimed at summarizing the nanoparticle candidates for biomedical applications, and reviewing, based on the relevant literature data, the inter-relationship between nanoparticles' physicochemistry and biophysical properties in conditioning the nano–bio interactions and inturn regulating the nanoparticles pharmacokinetics, biodistribution and toxicological properties. Besides, the importance of designing relevant physiologically-based modeling approaches for the simulation and prediction of the performance and safety of new nanomaterials based on their properties has been also discussed. An important portion of the review focusses also on the description of the methodologies for a detailed assessment of the toxicological properties of the nanoparticles.

Biophysical, biopharmaceutical and toxicological significance of biomedical nanoparticles

A comprehensive study of umbilical cord blood cell developmental changes and reference ranges by gestation, gender and mode of delivery

Cancer is one of the killer diseases in humans and needs alternate curative measures despite recent improvement in modern treatment modalities. Oncolytic virotherapy seems to be a promising nonconventional way to treat cancers. Newcastle disease virus (NDV), a poultry virus, is nonpathogenic to human and domestic animals and has a long history of being used in oncotherapy research in several preclinical studies. The ability of NDV to successfully infect and destroy cancer cells is dependent on the strain and the pathotype of the virus. Adaptation of viruses to heterologous hosts without losing its replicative and oncolytic potential is prerequisite for use as cancer virotherapeutics. In the present study, velogenic NDV was adapted for replication in HeLa cells, and its cytotoxic potential was evaluated by observing morphological, biochemical, and nuclear landmarks of apoptosis. Our results indicated that the NDV-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells was dependent on upregulation of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and caspases activation. Different determinants of apoptosis evaluated in the present study indicated that this strain could be a promising candidate for cancer therapy in future.

Velogenic Newcastle Disease Virus as an Oncolytic Virotherapeutics: In Vitro Characterization

The aim of this study was to produce sugarcane plantlets from cell suspension culture and study its genetic fidelity using molecular markers. The study was carried out using sugarcane varieties Co 86032 and Q117. Callus cultures of both the varieties were optimized using six different callus induction media. After screening the growth response of callus on six different callus induction media, it was observed that medium no. VI supplemented with 500 mg l−1 of each PVP, Casein hydrolysate and MES buffer showed high amounts of callus in Co 86032 (79.66 ± 0.44%) and Q117 (82.83 ± 1.69%). Addition of PEG 8000 at 2.5% to this medium had a profound impact on inducing somatic embryogenesis in Co 86032 (54.66 ± 1.76%) and Q117 (66.66 ± 2.60%) as compare to control (24.33 ± 1.76%) and (27.33 ± 2.73%), respectively. Cell suspension cultures were established by culturing embryogenic calli in liquid medium showed well established suspension cultures with fever cell aggregates. There was negligible cell division during initial 2 days of incubation and cell count increased rapidly between 2 and 8 days. Further incubation beyond 8 days resulted in a decrease in cell viability. Enhanced callus proliferation in Q117 while enhanced shoot regeneration in Co 86032 was observed from cell suspension culture. The clonal fidelity of in vitro regenerated plants was assessed by using RAPD and ISSR markers. Analysis of the ten RAPD markers indicated that 90.48 and 86.95% true-to-type regenerated plantlets in Co 86032 and Q117, respectively. However, in the ISSR markers, Co 86032 did not show any polymorphism and in the Q117, 92.18% true-to-type plantlets were found. These results confirmed that somaclonal variation occurs during the process of indirect organogenesis and RAPD and ISSR marker based molecular analysis is a suitable method for an early detection of variation in sugarcane.

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Plant regeneration from cell suspension culture in Saccharum officinarum L. and ascertaining of genetic fidelity through RAPD and ISSR markers

The role of the crosslinking agents was studied for a series of agarose–carbomer-based hydrogels, specifically developed for tissue engineering applications, and was quantified using the most typical polycondensation parameter; the ratio between the reacting moieties, i.e., hydroxyl (A) and carboxyl (B) groups. Because of the bonds among hydrophilic groups, as A/B ratio was increased, the gel network showed higher compactness and less ability to swell. The role of crosslinkers was also further analyzed using environmental scanning electron microscopy (E/SEM) and rheological measurements. SEM analysis underlined the presence of different structures as well as the erosion due to the presence of cosolvents in hydrogel synthesis. Rheological measurements showed the dependence of crossover strain value and yield stress upon the ratio of hydroxyl/carboxyl groups and, generally, a clear pseudoplastic behavior. Such detailed characterizations were essential to investigate the design of an optimized formulation capable of being a proper hosting environment for glial cells, which were here used as they are a promising cell type in several central nervous system repair strategies. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 123:2211–2221, 2012

A Library of Tunable Agarose Carbomer-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications: The Role of Cross-Linkers

The umbilical cord blood (UCB) is a major source of hematopoietic progenitor cells. These cells can be cryopreserved for possible future use. In order to evaluate the viability of cryopreserved progenitor cells, a small amount of cells is thawed and subjected to the trypan blue exclusion test in order to count the dead (blue) cells and the live (white) cells. We used the Promega Glo-Max luminometer along with the CytoTox-Glo Cytotoxicity kit and the manufacturer’s protocol as an alternative and rapid assay compared to the traditional trypan blue exclusion test. The calculated viability percentages were similar between the 2 assays, but the counting time for a whole 96-well plate is only 30 min. The CytoTox-Glo kit is a time-saving assay for the accurate evaluation of progenitor cell viability following cryopreservation and thawing.

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A Rapid and Accurate Method for the Stem Cell Viability Evaluation: The Case of the Thawed Umbilical Cord Blood

Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) is a major source of hematopoietic stem cells. Although there are numerous publications dealing with its efficacy for hematopoietic transplantations, very little is known concerning reference ranges for its hematological values. We herein propose reference ranges for UCB hematological values, using a very large sample of UCB units from all over Greece. These values could be used as norms for UCB hematological analyses, since no such values are available so far.

Reference Ranges for Umbilical Cord Blood Hematological Values

The peripheral blood is a major source of hematopoietic stem cells. Almost for two decades the peripheral blood has been mobilized, in order to enhance the CD34+ concentration. The isolated stem cells from the mobilized peripheral blood are used as an alternative, or in addition to bone marrow derived stem cells. In this paper, a new perspective is being discussed; the use of non-mobilized peripheral blood as an alternative source for hematopoietic progenitor cells. The number of isolated hematopoietic stem cells is evaluated using flow cytometry. The viability can be evaluated using the trypan blue exclusion test, the flow cytometry or automated assays. The isolated hematopoietic stem cells could be used for ex vivo expansion either in static systems or in proper bioreactor systems, prior to cryopreservation and/or transplantation.

https://file.scirp.org/pdf/Health20100600001_75330063.pdf

Eleni Nikolaidou

Papers

A Rapid and Accurate Method for the Stem Cell Viability Evaluation: The Case of the Thawed Umbilical Cord Blood

Reference Ranges for Umbilical Cord Blood Hematological Values

Hematopoietic stem cells from peripheral blood the perspective of non-mobilized peripheral blood