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In this study, porous sodium hyaluronic acid/sodium alginate (HA/SA) scaffold based on interpenetrating polymeric network (IPN) technique has been fabricated, where HA and SA were cross-linked with poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDG) and calcium chloride, respectively. The mean pore size and the swelling ratio of fabricated scaffolds decreased, and the compressive strength increased as the content of SA increased in HA/SA IPN scaffold. Rabbit chondrocytes were seeded within the HA/SA IPN scaffolds, and then their proliferation as well as chondrogenic differentiation was examined. DNA contents observed from the chondrocytes cultured in the IPN scaffolds increased with time over 21 days, which demonstrated that the rabbit chondrocytes continued to proliferate in HA/SA scaffolds. Results of the 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) and p-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DMBA) assays showed that glycosaminoglycan (s-GAG) and collagen contents increased over culture period, indicating the chondrogenic differentiation in the scaffold. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results showed the expression of type II collagen, the main chondrogenic differentiation marker. The bands indicating mRNA expression of type II collagen increased with the culture period. These results demonstrated that the porous HA/SA IPN scaffolds were successfully prepared and could serve as an effective delivery system of the three-dimensional culture of chondrocytes., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Anthracyclines are potent anticancer agents, but cardiotoxicity mediated by free radical generation limits their clinical use. This study evaluated the anticancer activity of phenyl-2-aminoethyl selenide (PAESe) and its potential to reduce doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cardiotoxicity. Growth inhibitory effects of PAESe with DOX, and vincristine, clinically used anticancer agents, and tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP), a known oxidant, on the growth of human prostate carcinoma (PC-3) cells was determined. PAESe (≤1μm) did not alter the growth of PC-3 cells, however, concomitant use of PAESe decreased the oxidative-mediated cytotoxicity of TBHP, but had limited effect on vincristine or DOX activity. Further, PAESe decreased the formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species from TBHP and DOX. The effect of PAESe on the activity of DOX was determined using a tumor (PC-3) xenograft model in mice. PAESe did not alter DOX antitumor activity and showed evidence of direct antitumor activity relative to controls. DOX treatment decreased mice body weight significantly, whereas concomitant administration of PAESe and DOX was similar to controls. Most importantly, PAESe decreased DOX-mediated infiltration of neutrophil and macrophages into the myocardium. These data suggest PAESe had in vivo antitumor activity and in combination with DOX decreased early signs of cardiotoxicity while preserving its antitumor activity., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)