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Extracellular purine nucleotides and nucleosides released from activated or injured cells influence multiple aspects of cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. Ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (ENTPD1; CD39) hydrolyzes released nucleotides and thereby regulates the magnitude and duration of purinergic signaling. However, the impact of CD39 activity on post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodeling is incompletely understood. We measured the levels and activity of ectonucleotidases in human left ventricular samples from control and ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) hearts and examined the impact of ablation of Cd39 expression on post-myocardial infarction remodeling in mice. We found that human CD39 levels and activity are significantly decreased in ICM hearts (n = 5) compared with control hearts (n = 5). In mice null for Cd39, cardiac function and remodeling are significantly compromised in Cd39−/−mice following myocardial infarction. Fibrotic markers including plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) expression, fibrin deposition, α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), and collagen expression are increased in Cd39−/−hearts. Importantly, we found that transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) stimulates ATP release and induces Cd39 expression and activity on cardiac fibroblasts, constituting an autocrine regulatory pathway not previously appreciated. Absence of CD39 activity on cardiac fibroblasts exacerbates TGF-β1 profibrotic responses. Treatment with exogenous ectonucleotidase rescues this profibrotic response in Cd39−/− fibroblasts. Together, these data demonstrate that CD39 has important interactions with TGF-β1-stimulated autocrine purinergic signaling in cardiac fibroblasts and dictates outcomes of cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction. Our results reveal that ENTPD1 (CD39) regulates TGF-β1-mediated fibroblast activation and limits adverse cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that CD39 is a critical modulator of TGF-β1-mediated fibroblast activation and cardiac remodeling following myocardial infarction via modulation of nucleotide signaling. TGF-β1-induced CD39 expression generates a negative feedback loop that attenuates cardiac fibroblast activation. In the absence of CD39 activity, collagen deposition is increased, elastin expression is decreased, and diastolic dysfunction is worsened. Treatment with ecto-apyrase attenuates the TGF-β1-induced profibrotic cardiac fibroblast phenotype, revealing a novel approach to combat post-myocardial infarction cardiac fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrospinning has become a popular technique ,for fabricating nanofibers from a variety of materials and has been tailored for a multitude of applications. These nanofibers may be used as devices (e.g., biosensors, field effect transistors (FETs), and resonators) or may be used in fabricate nanoscale features in other materials. Several methods for controlling the orientation of deposited fibers have been demonstrated, including linear and rotary mechanical motion, using prepatterned electrodes on a substrate to attract the fibers, and using electric fields to alter the path of the electrospinning jet in-flight. Electrospinning systems employing more complex tip geometries have been investigated. Several techniques have been developed to overcome the problem of low mass throughput, including using large arrays of electrospinning tips fed by the same solution and various tipless electrospinning techniques. The electrospinning tip has also been modified to produce either side-by-side or coaxial multicomponent fibers and tubes. The mechanism by which the fluid jet solidifies into fibers has also been varied, and though most electrospinning experiments still rely upon in-flight solvent evaporation for solidification, melt electrospinning and in-flight polymerization have also been investigated. This article will review recent developments in electrospinning techniques and applications. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3123342]

California researchers used human subjects to visually test the presence of black carbon soot deposition on specially prepared samples. The experiment was conducted to find a solution as to how to address the problem of the darkening of valuable art pieces in museums and galleries.

Purpose: Current PET radiotracer production models result in facility and operational costs that scale prohibitively with the number of tracers synthesized, particularly those made as a single dose-on-demand. Short of a paradigm shift in the technology and economics of radiotracer production, the impact of PET on precision medicine will be limited. Inexpensive, microfluidic radiochemistry platforms have the potential to significantly reduce costs associated with dose-on-demand production and expand the breadth of PET tracers accessible for molecular imaging. Procedures: To produce a miniaturized dose-on-demand device for [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 production, a microfluidic chip was assembled in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), combining all components of tracer production in an integrated, compact, and easily utilized platform. On-chip radionuclide concentration, as well as radionuclide and precursor starting material mixing and reaction were incorporated. The radionuclide was sourced from a standard, commercially available 68Ge/68Ga generator. Optimal reaction conditions were determined, which included precursor concentration (5 μg/mL), temperature (95 °C), and reaction time (1 min). Results: The total trapping efficiency of combined on-chip SCX and SAX columns was greater than 70 % and could be accomplished in ~ 12 min. Under optimized conditions, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 could be reliably synthesized starting from a complete generator elution (1100 MBq [29.7 mCi]) in ~ 12 min, with an average radiochemical yield of 70 %, radiochemical purity > 99 %, and specific activity > 740 MBq/μg (20 mCi/μg). Quality control testing demonstrated that tracer produced using this platform met or exceeded all typical FDA requirements for human use. Conclusions: A simple, low-cost, dose-on-demand radiosynthesis strategy, such as the chip presented here, represents an opportunity to reduce the financial barriers associated with PET imaging. While this study focused on a device for [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11, the technology is also applicable to a wide range of other tracers where low-cost, automated, dose-on-demand production is highly desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By observing the movement of small fluorescent particles in an electrospinning jet, we have directly measured the fluid velocity along the jet axis. The correlation between these direct velocity measurements and the velocity calculated from the jet radius using volume conservation indicates when evaporation is a significant factor. Measurements of the fluid properties of the solution used in the experiment allow us to construct a plot of Deborah number as a function of position along the jet. Our data also indicate transverse movement at the beginning of the fluid jet, potentially indicating the precursor to the macroscopic bending instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality factors as high as 207 000 are demonstrated at room temperature for radio-frequency silicon nitride string resonators with cross sectional dimensions on the scale of 100 nm, made with a nonlithographic technique. A product of quality factor and surface to volume ratio greater than 6000 nm-1 is presented, the highest yet reported. Doubly clamped nanostring resonators are fabricated in high tensile-stress silicon nitride using a nonlithographic electrospinning process. We fabricate devices with an electron beam process, and demonstrate frequency and quality factor results identical to those obtained with the nonlithographic technique. We also compare high tensile-stress doubly clamped beams with doubly clamped and cantilever resonators made of a lower stress material, as well as cantilever beams made of the high stress material. In all cases, the doubly clamped high stress beams have the highest quality factors. We therefore attribute the high quality factors to high tensile stress. Potential dominant loss mechanisms are discussed, including surface and clamping losses, and thermoelastic dissipation. Some practical advantages offered by these nanostrings for mass sensing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]