Susanne Melzer

Inflammation in tissue engineering: The Janus between engraftment and rejection

Tissue engineering (TE) for tissue and organ regeneration or replacement is generally performed with scaffold implants, which provide structural and molecular support to in vitro seeded or in vivo recruited cells. TE implants elicit the host immune response, often resulting in engraftment impediment or rejection. Besides this negative effect, however, the immune system components also yield a positive influence on stem cell recruitment and differentiation, allowing tissue regeneration and healing. Thus, a balanced cooperation between proinflammatory and proresolution players of the immune response is an essential element of implant success. In this context, macrophage plasticity plays a fundamental role. Therefore modulating the immune response, instead of immune suppressing the host, might be the best way to successfully implant TE tissues or organs. In particular, it is becoming evident that the scaffold, immune, and stem cells are linked by a three‐way interaction, and many efforts are being made for scaffold‐appropriate design and functionalization in order to drive the inflammation process toward regeneration, vascularization, and implant success. This review discusses current and potential strategies for inflammation modulation to aid engraftment and regeneration, supporting the concept that quality, and not quantity, of inflammation might influence implant success.

OMIP-023: 10-Color, 13 antibody panel for in-depth phenotyping of human peripheral blood leukocytes

THIS panel was developed and optimized to determine the phenotype and activation of 15 different leukocyte subtypes in one run. Leukocytes are identified by expression of CD45 (leu-1) pan leukocyte antigen. Neutrophil (CD16), monocyte (CD14), T(CD3), B-lymphocyte (CD19), and NK-cell (CD16 and CD56) markers are employed. Special gating strategy is used for subtyping of granulocytes (e.g., eosinophils, neutrophils, basophils). For further T-cell phenotyping, CD4/CD8 markers are used for differentiation of four T-cell subtypes, CD25/CD127 for regulatory T cell identification and CD3/CD16/CD56 for NKT-cells, additionally. Special gating strategies have been developed for B-cell, NK-cell, and monocyte subtyping. For detection and analysis of activation also further activation markers (HLA-DR, CD38, CD25, CD127, and CD69) are analyzed. This panel has been established for analysis of human RBC-lysed EDTAtreated whole blood samples and for cord blood (Table 1). Since the starting material is fresh EDTA-treated blood, dead cells are probably not an issue. Thus to save one channel for specific staining the vitality staining was not used in the panel.

Reference intervals for leukocyte subsets in adults: Results from a population-based study using 10-color flow cytometry.

Reference intervals for leukocyte subsets from peripheral blood are helpful for the understanding of disease states and therapy effects.

Nanoparticle uptake by macrophages in vulnerable plaques for atherosclerosis diagnosis.

The composition of atherosclerotic (AS) plaques is crucial concerning rupture, thrombosis and clinical events. Two plaque types are distinguished: stable and vulnerable plaques. Vulnerable plaques are rich in inflammatory cells, mostly only M1 macrophages, and are highly susceptible to rupture. These plaques represent a high risk particularly with the standard invasive diagnosis by coronary angiography. So far there are no non-invasive low-risk clinical approaches available to detect and distinguish AS plaque types in vivo. The perspective review introduces a whole work-flow for a novel approach for non-invasive detection and classification of AS plaques using the diffusion reflection method with gold nanoparticle loaded macrophages in combination with flow and image cytometric analysis for quality assurance. Classical biophotonic methods for AS diagnosis are summarized. Phenotyping of monocytes and macrophages are discussed for specific subset labelling by nanomaterials, as well as existing studies and first experimental proofs of concept for the novel approach are shown. In vitro and in vivo detection of NP loaded macrophages (MΦ). Different ways of MΦ labelling include (1) in vitro labelling in suspension (whole blood or buffy coat) or (2) labelling of short-term MΦ cultures with re-injection of MΦ-NP into the animal to detect migration of the cells in the plaques and (3) in vivo injection of NP into the organism.

Detection of gold nanorods uptake by macrophages using scattering analyses combined with diffusion reflection measurements as a potential tool for in vivo atherosclerosis tracking.

In this study, we report a potential noninvasive technique for the detection of vulnerable plaques using scatter analyses with flow cytometry (FCM) method combined with the diffusion reflection (DR) method. The atherosclerotic plaques are commonly divided into two major categories: stable and vulnerable. The vulnerable plaques are rich with inflammatory cells, mostly macrophages (MΦ), which release enzymes that break down collagen in the cap. The detection method is based on uptake of gold nanorods (GNR) by MΦ. The GNR have unique optical properties that enable their detection using the FCM method, based on their scattering properties, and using the DR method, based on their unique absorption properties. This work demonstrates that after GNR labeling of MΦ, 1) the FCM scatter values increased up to 3.7-fold with arbitrary intensity values increasing from 1,110 to 4,100 and 2) the DR slope changed from an average slope of 0.196 (MΦ only) to an average slope of 0.827 (MΦ labeled with GNR) (P<0.001 for both cases). The combination of FCM and DR measurements provides a potential novel, highly sensitive, and noninvasive method for the identification of atherosclerotic vulnerable plaques, aimed to develop a potential tool for in vivo tracking.

Stepwise error‐prone PCR and DNA shuffling changed the pH activity range and product specificity of the cyclodextrin glucanotransferase from an alkaliphilicBacillus sp

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (EC 2.4.1.19) from the alkaliphilicBacillus sp. G‐825‐6 converts starch mainly to γ‐cyclodextrin (CD8). A combination of error‐prone PCR and DNA shuffling was used to obtain variants of this enzyme with higher product specificity for CD8 and a broad pH activity range. The variant S54 with seven amino acid substitutions showed a 1.2‐fold increase in CD8‐synthesizing activity and the product ratio of CD7:CD8 was shifted to 1:7 compared to 1:3 of the wild‐type enzyme. Nine amino acid substitutions of the cyclodextrin glucanotransferase were performed to generate the variant S35 active in a pH range 4.0–10.0. Compared to the wild‐type enzyme which is inactive below pH 6.0, S35 retained 70% of its CD8‐synthesizing activity at pH 4.0.

Three-dimensional imaging technologies: a priority for the advancement of tissue engineering and a challenge for the imaging community

Tissue engineering/regenerative medicine (TERM) is an interdisciplinary field that applies the principle of engineering and life sciences to restore/replace damaged tissues/organs with in vitro artificially-created ones. Research on TERM quickly moves forward. Today newest technologies and discoveries, such as 3D-/bio-printing, allow in vitro fabrication of ex-novo made tissues/organs, opening the door to wide and probably never-ending application possibilities, from organ transplant to drug discovery, high content screening and replacement of laboratory animals. Imaging techniques are fundamental tools for the characterization of tissue engineering (TE) products at any stage, from biomaterial/scaffold to construct/organ analysis. Indeed, tissue engineers need versatile imaging methods capable of monitoring not only morphological but also functional and molecular features, allowing three-dimensional (3D) and time-lapse in vivo analysis, in a non-destructive, quantitative, multidimensional analysis of TE constructs, to analyze their pre-implantation quality assessment and their fate after implantation. This review focuses on the newest developments in imaging technologies and applications in the context of requirements of the different steps of the TERM field, describing strengths and weaknesses of the current imaging approaches.

Cytometric patterns reveal growth states of Shewanella putrefaciens.

Bacterial growth is often difficult to estimate beyond classical cultivation approaches. Low cell numbers, particles or coloured and dense media may disturb reliable growth assessment. Further difficulties appear when cells are attached to surfaces and detachment is incomplete.

Trypan blue as an affordable marker for automated live-dead cell analysis in image cytometry.

The aim of the present study was to combine image cytometry and trypan blue (TB) exclusion staining for a reproducible high-throughput detection of dead cells, enabling TB as an inexpensive marker, to be affordable for many studies and creating the possibility to combine fluorochromes without or with less spectral overlap. Capillary blood was drawn from a healthy volunteer, red blood cells were lysed and leukocyte cell death was induced. Samples were stained with CD45-FITC, CD14-PE, TB and DAPI, and then analyzed using image cytometry (iCys). TB quenching control tests were performed using DAPI and CD45-FITC. Images were generated in .TIF and .JPEG format using iCys image cytometer. The images were analyzed using CellProfiler (CP) modules to optimize the analysis based on the aims of each phase of this study. CellProfiler Analyst (CPA) was used to classify cells throughout machine learning and to calculate sensibility of the classification. A sensitivity of 0.94 for dead cells and 0.99 for live cells was calculated using CPA. We did not see any quenching effects of the FITC staining. DAPI signal was reduced in the presence of TB. The results of the present study revealed that TB serves as a dead cell marker in an image cytometric analysis, being able to be combined with other fluorescence markers without loss of fluorescence intensity signal or overlapping emission spectrum. SCANNING 38:857-863, 2016.

Fast RBC loading by fluorescent antibodies and nuclei staining dye and their potential bioanalytical applications

Abstract This study was designed to load different antibodies (Abs) and a fluorescent dye onto the red blood cell (RBC) surface. We have used fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugate anti-human Ab, CD22-PE (B-cell marker-phycoerythrin Ab), and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) for insertion over the RBC surface. In a first step, conjugation experiments were performed: in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), RBCs were conserved and modified by succinic anhydride to create an additional -COOH group, and then activated with 3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide-N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC-NHS) in 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid hydrate buffer for insertion of labeled Abs or DAPI. In a second step, fluorescence signals were evaluated by microscopy and the mean fluorescence intensities of cell lysates were measured by spectrofluorometry. The results showed clear evidence for adsorption of FITC- and PE-labeled Abs to activated conserved RBCs. DAPI was adsorbed well also to DMSO-conserved RBCs without the need for an activation step. The DMSO conservation step was enough to create reactive RBCs for insertion of specific Abs and fluorescent dyes. The additional modification by succinic anhydride and activation with EDC-NHS resulted in two- to seven-fold increase in fluorescence signals, indicating a much higher RBC loading capacity. These Ab- and fluorescent dye-functionalized RBCs have potentially high application in developing new biomedical diagnostic and in vitro assay techniques.