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Aims. Mast cells (MC) and dendritic cells (DC) have immune modulatory function and can influence T-cell activity. Both cell types have been found in atherosclerotic plaques and are thought to play an important role for plaque stability. Compared to matched segments of the non-renal population, patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) show a more pronounced and more aggressive course of atherosclerosis with higher plaque calcification and significantly higher complication rates. It was the aim of this study to analyze the number and localization of MCs and DCs, macrophages, T- and B-cells as well as the expression of markers of inflammation such as CRP and NFκΒ in calcified and non-calcified atherosclerotic plaques of patients with CKD and control patients. Methods. Fifty coronary atherosclerotic plaques from patients with endstage CKD (CKD, n=25) and control (n=25) patients were categorized according to the Stary classification and investigated using immunohistochemistry (markers for MC, DC, T, B, macrophage and NFκΒ). Expression was analyzed separately for the complete plaque area as well as for the different plaque subregions and correlations were analyzed. Results. We found only very few DCs and MCs per lesion area with slightly increased numbers in calcified plaques. MCs per plaque area were significantly more frequent in CKD than in control patients and this was independent of plaque calcification. MCs were most frequently found in the shoulder and basis of the plaque. DCs per plaque area were significantly less in calcified plaques of CKD compared to control patients. In control, but not in CKD patients, DCs were significantly more frequent in calcified than in non-calcified plaques. Within the plaques, DCs were similarly distributed between all 4 subregions. Conclusions. Coronary atherosclerotic plaques of CKD patients showed a significantly higher number of MCs whereas DCs were less frequent compared to control patients particularly if plaques were calcified. These findings might indicate a potential proinflammatory role of MCs, but not of DCs in atherosclerotic lesions of CKD patients, adding another characteristic of advanced atherosclerosis in these patients.

Fragestellung: Die Bandscheibendegeneration ist häufig mit Entzündungsbedingungen verbunden, die den Matrixabbau fördern und einem Matrixaufbau entgegenwirken. In einem pro-inflammatorischen Bandscheiben-Organkulturmodell haben wir zwei verschiedene Therapie-Ansätze bezüglich[zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL], Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2015)

Fragestellung: Intervertebral disc prolapse or degenerative disc disease are not curable, as of yet. The experiment has been designed to test the doability of cell-based regenerative disc repair in a sheep model. In particular, feasability of the method, untoward side effects in the test animals, and[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2014)

Fragestellung: Biological regeneration of damaged intervertebral discs is an experimental focus of regenerative medicine. Recent publications on animal models, including sheep, gave conflicting results with respect to the regenerative potential after disc damage, ranging from reports of induction of[for full text, please go to the a.m. URL], Deutscher Kongress für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie (DKOU 2014)

A setup for in situ observation was developed which makes possible the optical visualization of a solid-liquid interface during solution growth of semiconductors in an external magnetic field. This setup consisted of an optimized monoellipsoidal mirror furnace, a near-infrared optical system, and static or rotating electromagnetic facility. The target crystals were GaP, GaAs and CdTe.

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The structure of the off-stoichiometric In-rich ternary phase CuIn5Se8 was studied by means of electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. The compound shows a layered structure with a 7-layer stacking sequence of closed-packed planes, which contains both cubic and hexagonal stacking of Se atoms. The studied CuIn5Se8 bulk crystal is known as the b-phase of this compound.

Tunneling ionization of DX- centers in AlxGa1-xSb has been observed in terahertz radiation fields. Tunneling times have been measured for autolocalized and on-site deep impurities. It is shown that in one case the tunneling time is smaller and in the other larger than the reciprocal temperature multiplied by a universal constant due to the different tunneling trajectories. This allows one to distinguish in a direct way between the two types of configuration potentials of impurities.

Monitoring of the corneal electrolyte content is important for the study of chemical eye burns. This paper describes quantitative measurements on gelatin standards, corneas and a cornea homogenate with an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX) in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Ten micrometers thick cryosections were freeze-dried and mounted on solid carbon supports. The applied quantification procedure was a local peak background analysis with a specifically designed computer program. Similar chemical and physical properties of gelatin, cornea homogenate, and cornea were proven by EDX-analysis and wet chemical analysis. Gelatin standards with known concentrations of different added salts showed linear correlations with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.95 for all considered elements. The local background generation on carbon supports was the same for gelatin standards and corneal tissue. The results demonstrate that quantitative EDX analysis of semi-thin samples, mounted on neutral carbon supports, can be reliably used for the assessment of the corneal mineral composition.

During intervertebral disc (IVD) maturation, notochordal cells (NCs) are replaced by chondrocyte-like cells (CLCs) in the nucleus pulposus, suggesting that NCs play a role in maintaining tissue health. Affirmatively, NC-conditioned medium (NCCM) exerts regenerative effects on CLC proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) production. The aim of this study was to identify NC-secreted substances that stimulate IVD regeneration. By mass spectrometry of porcine, canine and human NCCM, 149, 170 and 217 proteins were identified, respectively, with 66 proteins in common. Mainly ECM-related proteins were identified, but also organelle-derived and membrane-bound vesicle proteins. To determine whether the effect of NCCM was mediated by soluble and/or pelletable factors, porcine and canine NCCM were separated into a soluble (NCCM-S; peptides and proteins) and pelletable (NCCM-P; protein aggregates and extracellular vesicles) fraction by ultracentrifugation, and tested on bovine and canine CLCs in vitro, respectively. In each model, NCCM-S exerted a more pronounced anabolic effect than NCCM-P. However, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) uptake from the medium into the carrier gel prevented more definite conclusions. While the effect of porcine NCCM-P on bovine CLCs was negligible, canine NCCM-P appeared to enhance GAG and collagen type II deposition by canine CLCs. In conclusion, porcine and canine NCCM exerted their anabolic effects mainly through soluble factors, but also the pelletable NCCM factors showed moderate regenerative potential. Although the regenerative potential of NCCM-P should not be overlooked, future studies should focus on unraveling the protein-based regenerative mechanism from NCCM produced from isolated NCs, e.g. by NCCM fractionation and pathway blocking studies.