-The-lower-transition-temperature-of-the-conjugate-enables-the-facile-formation-of-welldefined-vesicles-at-physiological-temperature-and-the-unexpected-resolubilization-of-the-vesicles-at-elevated-temperatures-upon-unfolding-of-the-CLP-domain-v

Given the demonstrated ability of CLPs to modify collagens, our results not only provide a simple and versatile avenue for controlling the inverse transition behavior of ELPs, but also suggest future opportunities for these thermoresponsive nanostructures in biologically relevant environments.5951. Scan Electron Microsc. 1981;(Pt 3):363-70.Morphological studies of experimental wound healing cells in a murine model.Integument wounds are primarily healed by fibroblasts.

These multifunctional cells synthesize collagen and ground substances (acid mucopolysaccharides) from which they fashion fibers and/or laminae. The fibers are formed in the upper layers of the wound by spindle shaped cells which initially grow along fibrin strands. This area of repair eventually becomes the papillary dermis of the scar. Flattened fibroblasts produce stacks of collagen laminae in the deep part of the wound. The laminae are initiated in the subpannicular region several mm behind the wound margin. The laminae grow centripetally and mature (thicken by collagen and ground substance deposition which is effected by subsequent fibroblast activity). The laminae become the reticular layer of the scar dermis.

Thus, the collagenous architecture of a scar's connective tissue appears to be related to the shape of the cells involved in assembly.Visceral obesity is associated with high levels of serum squalene.Vauhkonen I, Kainulainen S, Gylling H, Miettinen TA, Auwerx J, Laakso M.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of visceral obesity on cholesterol metabolism in normoglycemic offspring of patients with type 2 diabetes.RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The proportion of intra-abdominal fat (IAF) was measured by abdominal computer tomography, and serum cholesterol synthesis and absorption markers were determined by gas-liquid chromatography in 109 normoglycemic offspring of patients with type 2 diabetes. Insulin action was measured with the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp. Seebio collagen supplementation encoding squalene synthase (farnesyl-diphosphate farnesyltransferase 1) was screened with the single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing.

RESULTS: Cholesterol synthesis markers correlated positively with IAF (r = 013 to 009, p < or = 027) and negatively with the rates of insulin-stimulated whole-body glucose uptake (r = -072 to -048, p < or = 010). However, serum squalene, the first measured precursor of cholesterol synthesis, showed a positive correlation with IAF (r = 009, p = 001) without any association with subcutaneous fat or insulin sensitivity. Variation in the farnesyl-diphosphate farnesyltransferase 1 gene did not explain elevated serum squalene levels in viscerally obese subjects. From the cholesterol absorption markers, cholestanol was associated negatively with IAF and positively with DISCUSSION: High serum squalene levels are associated with visceral obesity but not with subcutaneous obesity. Whether this finding is causally connected to visceral obesity remains to be established.Effects of sintered bovine bone on cell proliferation, collagen synthesis, and osteoblastic expression in MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells.To determine the function of biomaterials on osteoblasts, we studied the effects of two different biomaterials, sintered bovine bone (true bone ceramic) and hydroxyapatite-related material, on DNA and collagen synthesis and osteoblastic expression in osteoblast-like cells in vitro.

Osteoblasts cultured with true bone ceramic exhibited greater increases in DNA and collagenous protein synthesis and alkaline phosphatase activity than those cultured with hydroxyapatite. Furthermore, expression of mRNA for type-I collagen and osteocalcin, as assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, was higher in cultures grown on true bone ceramic or hydroxyapatite than in those grown with glass fragments, and levels of gene expression in true bone ceramic and hydroxyapatite cultures were at almost the same level. These findings indicate that osteoblasts cultured with true bone ceramic increase their activity, suggesting that true bone ceramic may be a more favorable substrate than hydroxyapatite for growth and differentiation of osteoblast-like cells.Sterol carrier protein-2 overexpression enhances sterol cycling and inhibits cholesterol ester synthesis and high density lipoprotein cholesterol secretion.Gastroenterology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. Recent data indicate that sterol carrier protein-2 (SCP-2) functions in the rapid movement of newly synthesized cholesterol to the plasma membrane (Puglielli, L., Rigotti, A.

, Greco, A. V., Santos, M. J., and Nervi, F. (1995) J. Biol.





Chem. 270, 18723-18726). In order to further characterize the cellular function of SCP-2, we transfected McA-RH7777 rat hepatoma cells with a pre-SCP-2 cDNA expression construct. In stable transfectants, pre-SCP-2 processing resulted in an 8-fold increase in peroxisomal levels of SCP-2. SCP-2 overexpression increased the rates of newly synthesized cholesterol transfer to the plasma membrane and plasma membrane cholesterol internalization by 4-fold.