Reconstructed human intestinal comet assay, a possible alternative in vitro model for genotoxicity assessment.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the compatibility of reconstructed 3D human small intestinal microtissues to perform the in vitro comet assay. The comet assay is a common follow-up genotoxicity test to confirm or supplement other genotoxicity data. Technically, it can be performed utilizing a range of in vitro and in vivo assay systems. Here, we have developed a new reconstructed human intestinal comet (RICom) assay protocol for the assessment of orally ingested materials. The human intestine is a major site of food digestion and adsorption, first-pass metabolism as well as an early site of toxicant first contact and thus is a key site for evaluation. Reconstructed intestinal tissues were dosed with eight test chemicals: ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), ethyl nitrosourea (ENU), phenformin hydrochloride (Phen HCl), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), 1,2-dimethylhydrazine hydrochloride (DMH), potassium bromate (KBr), glycidamide (GA), and etoposide (Etop) over a span of 48 h. The RICom assay correctly identified the genotoxicity of EMS, ENU, KBr, and GA. Phen HCl, a known non-genotoxin, did not induce DNA damage in the 3D reconstructed intestinal tissues whilst showing high cytotoxicity as assessed by the assay. The 3D reconstructed intestinal tissues possess sufficient metabolic competency for the successful detection of genotoxicity elicited by BaP, without the use of an exogenous metabolic system. In contrast, DMH, a chemical that requires liver metabolism to exert genotoxicity, did not induce detectable DNA damage in the 3D reconstructed intestinal tissue system. The genotoxicity of Etop, which is dependent on cellular proliferation, was also undetectable. These results suggest the RICom assay protocol is a promising tool for further investigation and safety assessment of novel ingested materials. We recommend that further work will broaden the scope of the 3D reconstructed intestinal tissue comet assay and facilitate broader analyses of genotoxic compounds having more varied modes of actions.

Development of reconstructed intestinal micronucleus cytome (RICyt) assay in 3D human gut model for genotoxicity assessment of orally ingested substances.

The micronucleus (MN) assay is widely used as part of a battery of tests applied to evaluate the genotoxic potential of chemicals, including new food additives and novel food ingredients. Micronucleus assays typically utilise homogenous in vitro cell lines which poorly recapitulate the physiology, biochemistry and genomic events in the gut, the site of first contact for ingested materials. Here we have adapted and validated the MN endpoint assay protocol for use with complex 3D reconstructed intestinal microtissues; we have named this new protocol the reconstructed intestine micronucleus cytome (RICyt) assay. Our data suggest the commercial 3D microtissues replicate the physiological, biochemical and genomic responses of native human small intestine to exogenous compounds. Tissues were shown to maintain log-phase proliferation throughout the period of exposure and expressed low background MN. Analysis using the RICyt assay protocol revealed the presence of diverse cell types and nuclear anomalies (cytome) in addition to MN, indicating evidence for comprehensive DNA damage and mode(s) of cell death reported by the assay. The assay correctly identified and discriminated direct-acting clastogen, aneugen and clastogen requiring exogenous metabolic activation, and a non-genotoxic chemical. We are confident that the genotoxic response in the 3D microtissues more closely resembles the native tissues due to the inherent tissue architecture, surface area, barrier effects and tissue matrix interactions. This proof-of-concept study highlights the RICyt MN cytome assay in 3D reconstructed intestinal microtissues is a promising tool for applications in predictive toxicology.

Hydrogel dressings with intrinsic antibiofilm and antioxidative dual functionalities accelerate infected diabetic wound healing.

Chronic wounds are often infected with biofilm bacteria and characterized by high oxidative stress. Current dressings that promote chronic wound healing either require additional processes such as photothermal irradiation or leave behind gross amounts of undesirable residues. We report a dual-functionality hydrogel dressing with intrinsic antibiofilm and antioxidative properties that are synergistic and low-leaching. The hydrogel is a crosslinked network with tethered antibacterial cationic polyimidazolium and antioxidative N-acetylcysteine. In a murine diabetic wound model, the hydrogel accelerates the closure of wounds infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm. Furthermore, a three-dimensional ex vivo human skin equivalent model shows that N-acetylcysteine promotes the keratinocyte differentiation and accelerates the re-epithelialization process. Our hydrogel dressing can be made into different formats for the healing of both flat and deep infected chronic wounds without contamination of the wound or needing other modalities such as photothermal irradiation.

Effects of oxygen and culture system on in vitro propagation and redifferentiation of osteoarthritic human articular chondrocytes.

Regenerative medicine-based approaches for the repair of damaged cartilage rely on the ability to propagate cells while promoting their chondrogenic potential. Thus, conditions for cell expansion should be optimized through careful environmental control. Appropriate oxygen tension and cell expansion substrates and controllable bioreactor systems are probably critical for expansion and subsequent tissue formation during chondrogenic differentiation. We therefore evaluated the effects of oxygen and microcarrier culture on the expansion and subsequent differentiation of human osteoarthritic chondrocytes. Freshly isolated chondrocytes were expanded on tissue culture plastic or CultiSpher-G microcarriers under hypoxic or normoxic conditions (5% or 20% oxygen partial pressure, respectively) followed by cell phenotype analysis with flow cytometry. Cells were redifferentiated in micromass pellet cultures over 4 weeks, under either hypoxia or normoxia. Chondrocytes cultured on tissue culture plastic proliferated faster, expressed higher levels of cell surface markers CD44 and CD105 and demonstrated stronger staining for proteoglycans and collagen type II in pellet cultures compared with microcarrier-cultivated cells. Pellet wet weight, glycosaminoglycan content and expression of chondrogenic genes were significantly increased in cells differentiated under hypoxia. Hypoxia-inducible factor-3α mRNA was up-regulated in these cultures in response to low oxygen tension. These data confirm the beneficial influence of reduced oxygen on ex vivo chondrogenesis. However, hypoxia during cell expansion and microcarrier bioreactor culture does not enhance intrinsic chondrogenic potential. Further improvements in cell culture conditions are therefore required before chondrocytes from osteoarthritic and aged patients can become a useful cell source for cartilage regeneration.

Novel Cellulose Fibre-Based Flexible Plasmonic Membrane for Point-of-Care SERS Biomarker Detection in Chronic Wound Healing.

BACKGROUND: Wound management is stretching the limits of health systems globally, challenging clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of their treatments and deliver appropriate care to their patients. Visual inspection and manual measurement of wound size are subjective, often inaccurate and inconsistent. Growth factors, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteases, play important roles in cutaneous wound healing. However, little is known about the point-of-care monitoring of the changes in such markers during the healing process. Here, we explore the capability of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a viable point-of-care platform to monitor the changes of these surrogate indicators of healing status in chronic wounds. METHODS: We developed a biofunctionalized flexible, cost-effective, scalable and easy-to-fabricate plasmonic SERS substrate using cellulose fibre (CF), which is used for sensing of wound markers based on a modified immunoassay method. RESULTS: We evaluated and selected the reliable silver nano-island thickness that will be sputtered onto the CF-based substrate for the highest SERS enhancement. Using this biofunctionalized SERS substrate, we detected varying concentrations of MMP-9 (10-5000 ng/mL) and TNF-α (5-100 ng/mL) proteins to model the wound exudates. This SERS detection method demonstrates a linear response within biologically relevant concentrations, ranging from 10 to 500 ng/mL for MMP-9 and 5 to 25 ng/mL for TNF-α for these surrogate indicators. CONCLUSION: Our SERS sensing platform achieved detection limits in the µM to sub-nM range and displayed high sensitivity and selectivity. This could result in a cheap, point-of-care device that provides a non-invasive measure of cutaneous wound healing in real time. We envision that these flexible substrates after activation may be incorporated into wound dressings in future for routine monitoring of wound healing status.

Effects of oxygen on zonal marker expression in human articular chondrocytes.

Articular cartilage is organized in depth zones with phenotypically distinct subpopulations of chondrocytes that are exposed to different oxygen tensions. Despite growing evidence of the critical role for oxygen in chondrogenesis, little is known about its effect on chondrocytes from different zones. This study evaluates zonal marker expression of human articular chondrocytes from different zones under various oxygen tensions. Chondrocytes isolated from full-thickness, superficial, and middle/deep cartilage from knee replacement surgeries were expanded and redifferentiated under hypoxic (5% O(2)) or normoxic (20% O(2)) conditions. Differentiation under hypoxia increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factors 1alpha and 2alpha and accumulation of extracellular matrix, particularly in middle/deep chondrocytes, and favored re-expression of proteoglycan 4 by superficial chondrocytes compared with middle/deep cells. Zone-dependent expression of clusterin varied with culture duration. These results demonstrate that zonal chondrocytes retain important phenotypic differences during in vitro cultivation, and that these characteristics can be improved by altering the oxygen environment. However, transcript levels for pleiotrophin, cartilage intermediate layer protein, and collagen type X were similar between zones, challenging their reliability as zonal markers for tissue-engineered cartilage from osteoarthritis patients. Key factors including oxygen tension and cell source should be considered to prescribe zone-specific properties to tissue-engineered cartilage.

Adult human articular chondrocytes in a microcarrier-based culture system: expansion and redifferentiation.

Expanding human chondrocytes in vitro while maintaining their ability to form cartilage remains a key challenge in cartilage tissue engineering. One promising approach to address this is to use microcarriers as substrates for chondrocyte expansion. While microcarriers have shown beneficial effects for expansion of animal and ectopic human chondrocytes, their utility has not been determined for freshly isolated adult human articular chondrocytes. Thus, we investigated the proliferation and subsequent chondrogenic differentiation of these clinically relevant cells on porous gelatin microcarriers and compared them to those expanded using traditional monolayers. Chondrocytes attached to microcarriers within 2 days and remained viable over 4 weeks of culture in spinner flasks. Cells on microcarriers exhibited a spread morphology and initially proliferated faster than cells in monolayer culture, however, with prolonged expansion they were less proliferative. Cells expanded for 1 month and enzymatically released from microcarriers formed cartilaginous tissue in micromass pellet cultures, which was similar to tissue formed by monolayer-expanded cells. Cells left attached to microcarriers did not exhibit chondrogenic capacity. Culture conditions, such as microcarrier material, oxygen tension, and mechanical stimulation require further investigation to facilitate the efficient expansion of clinically relevant human articular chondrocytes that maintain chondrogenic potential for cartilage regeneration applications. © 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 29:539-546, 2011.