(Press-News.org) In the central nervous system, nerve cells adhere to the extracellular matrix. Type I collagen is the major class of insoluble fibrous proteins in the extracellular matrix. A previous study has shown that neural stem and progenitor cells, cultured on collagen matrices, are able to expand actively and generate neurons. Collagens can be classified into hydrolyzed and non-hydrolyzed collagens, or two-dimensional and three-dimensional collagens. Which form of collagen is suitable for nerve cell culture? Dr. Mohsen Fathi Najafi and colleagues from Mashhad University of Medical Science, Iran, investigated the effects of hydrolyzed and non-hydrolyzed collagen and two-dimensional and three-dimensional collagen matrices on cell survival, attachment and neurite outgrowth of primary cultured nerve cells using 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide co-lorimetric assay and inverted microscopy. Hydrolyzed collagen facilitated nerve cell survival and neurite outgrowth, but it had no obvious influences on cell attachment. In contrast, non-hydrolyzed two-dimensional collagen matrix had no obvious effects on neurite outgrowth. These findings, published the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 23, 2013), suggest that hydrolyzed collagen is an ideal nerve cell culture media.
INFORMATION:
Article: " Which form of collagen is suitable for nerve cell culture?," by Mohsen Fathi Najafi1, Saber Zahri2, Fatemeh Vahedi1, Leila Esmaililian Toosi3, Nazila Ariaee2, 3 (1 Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Mashhad, Iran; 2 Departamnt of Biology, University of Mohaghegh Ardebili, Ardebil, Iran; 3 Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad, Iran)
Najafi MF, Zahri S, Vahedi F, Toosi LE, Ariaee N. Which form of collagen is suitable for nerve cell culture? Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(23):2165-2170.
Contact: Meng Zhao
eic@nrren.org
86-138-049-98773
Neural Regeneration Research
http://www.nrronline.org/
Full text: http://www.sjzsyj.org/CN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=688
Hydrolyzed or non-hydrolyzed collagen: which one is suitable for nerve cell culture?
2013-09-06
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Basic fibroblast growth factor protects injured spinal cord motor endplates
2013-09-06
In current studies, the degeneration and protection measures in the distal end of the injured spinal cord and target organ muscle effector have scarcely been investigated. The distal end of the spinal cord and neuromuscular junction may develop secondary degenera-tion and damage following spinal cord injury because of the loss of neural connections. The effect of basic fibroblast growth factor on motor neurons in the anterior horn of the injured spinal cord, and on the number of neuromuscular junctions in target organs, remains elusive. Jianlong Wang and team from Third ...
Shining a little light changes metal into semiconductor
2013-09-06
By blending their expertise, two materials science engineers at Washington University in St. Louis changed the electronic properties of new class of materials — just by exposing it to light.
With funding from the Washington University International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES), Parag Banerjee, PhD, and Srikanth Singamaneni, PhD, and both assistant professors of materials science, brought together their respective areas of research.
Singamaneni's area of expertise is in making tiny, pebble-like nanoparticles, particularly gold nanorods. ...
Pornography reinforces sexist attitudes among a subgroup of heterosexuals
2013-09-06
Washington, DC (September 3, 2013) – Pornography has long held a controversial place in society, and its relationship with a number of behaviors and attitudes has been highly debated. But the concern remains: How does viewing pornography affect our attitudes towards women? A recent paper published in the Journal of Communication found that exposure to pornography was related to and increased sexist attitudes, but only among a subgroup of users.
Gert Martin Hald, Theis Lange, University of Copenhagen, and Neil Malamuth, University of California, Los Angeles, asked 200 ...
Using digital SLRs to measure the height of Northern Lights
2013-09-06
Scientific research doesn't often start from outreach projects. Yet, Ryuho Kataoka from the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo, Japan, came up with an idea for a new method to measure the height of aurora borealis after working on a 3D movie for a planetarium. Kataoka and collaborators used two digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras set 8 km apart to capture 3D images of Northern Lights and determine the altitude where electrons in the atmosphere emit the light that produces aurora. The results are published today in Annales Geophysicae, a journal of the European ...
Bone growth factor may increase benign tumors but not malignant cancer
2013-09-06
Philadelphia, Pa. (September 6, 2013) – Patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery with bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) appear to be at increased risk of benign tumors—but not cancers, reports a study in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Other papers in the September Neurosurgery report on a stent-assisted approach for difficult-to-treat brain aneurysms and a new software program to help in identifying and protecting ...
New connection between stacked solar cells can handle energy of 70,000 suns
2013-09-06
North Carolina State University researchers have come up with a new technique for improving the connections between stacked solar cells, which should improve the overall efficiency of solar energy devices and reduce the cost of solar energy production. The new connections can allow these cells to operate at solar concentrations of 70,000 suns worth of energy without losing much voltage as "wasted energy" or heat.
Stacked solar cells consist of several solar cells that are stacked on top of one another. Stacked cells are currently the most efficient cells on the market, ...
Static killers?
2013-09-06
Since its discovery in the early 1990s, the protein STAT1 (Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1) has been found to be central in passing signals across immune cells, ensuring that our bodies react quickly and appropriately to threats from viruses or other pathogens. Animals without STAT1 are also prone to develop cancer, suggesting that STAT1 is somehow involved in protection against malignant cells. The STAT1 protein is known to be phosphorylated on at least two positions: phosphorylation of a particular tyrosine (tyr-701) is required for the protein to enter ...
Education protects women from the obesity associated with urban living
2013-09-06
Research into the rise in obesity associated with the burgeoning industrial and service sectors in low- and middle-income countries found that education is a key factor in reducing the negative impact on women's health.
The study, conducted by researchers at UCL and published in the journal BMC Public Health, found that women with no formal education who were working in sedentary occupations were twice as likely to be 'centrally obese' – defined by measuring waist circumference – compared to women with no education working in agriculture.
However, for women with at ...
Research yields first detailed view of morphing Parkinson's protein
2013-09-06
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have taken detailed images and measurements of the morphing structure of a brain protein thought to play a role in Parkinson's disease, information that could aid the development of medications to treat the condition.
The protein, called alpha synuclein (pronounced sine-yoo-cline), ordinarily exists in a globular shape. However, the protein morphs into harmful structures known as amyloid fibrils, which are linked to protein molecules that form in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
"The abnormal protein formation ...
Study suggests debris flows on arctic sand dunes are similar to dark dune spot-seepage flows on Mars
2013-09-06
A team of scientists from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has demonstrated that frozen water in the form of snow or frost can melt to form debris flows on sunward-facing slopes of sand dunes in the Alaskan arctic at air temperatures significantly below the melting point of water. The debris flows consist of sand mixed with liquid water that cascade down steep slopes.
SwRI scientists made their observations at the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, in Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska. This site serves as an Earth-based cold-climate "analog" to dunes on Mars. Debris flows formed ...