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Our aim was to obtain a viable and easily available dermal substitute (DS) for the definitive coverage of full-thickness burns. A DS composed of a collagen-glycosaminoglycan-chitosan dermal matrix (DM) colonized with foreskin fibroblasts (FF) is described. FF-colonized DS were compared to the DM seeded with adult dermal fibroblasts (DF). FF-colonized DS expressed more fibrillin and tropoelastin than that with DF. Reconstructed skin obtained with both FF- and DF-colonized DS similarly expressed laminin-5 and collagen VII at the dermal-epidermal junction. Both FF- and DF-colonized DS produced cutaneous wound healing mediators in a dose-dependent manner in the presence of platelet lysate. After freeze-thawing, the FF-colonized DS were recovered in culture and retained their ability to produce vascular endothelial growth factor. Grafting of DS into nude rats achieved a complete healing of a dermal-epidermal lesion with a good epidermalization.

Retroviral core proteins, Gag and envelope (Env) glycoproteins are expressed from distinct cellular areas and therefore need to encounter to assemble infectious particles. The intrinsic cell localisation properties of either viral component or their capacity to mutually interact determines the assembly of infectious particles. Here, we address how Env determinants and cellular sorting proteins allow the Env derived from gamma retroviruses, murine leukemia virus (MLV) and RD114, to travel to or from late endosomes (LE), which may represent the Env assembly site of retroviruses in some cells. The individual expression of MLV Env resulted in its accumulation in LE in contrast to RD114 Env that required the presence of gamma retroviral Gag proteins. To discriminate between intrinsic intracellular Env localisation and gamma retroviral Gag/Env interactions in influencing Env viral incorporation, we studied Env assembly on heterologous lentiviral particles on which they are passively recruited. We found that an acidic cluster present at the C-terminus of the RD114 Env cytoplasmic tail determines its sub-cellular localisation and retrograde transport. Mutation of this motif induced late endosomal concentration of the RD114 Env, correlating with increased viral incorporation and infectivity. Reciprocally, the reinforcement of a poorly functional acidic motif in the MLV Env resulted in a marked decrease of its late endosomal localisation, leading to weakly infectious lentiviral particles with low Env densities. Finally, through upregulation versus downregulation of its cellular expression, we show that phosphofurin acidic-cluster-sorting protein 1 (PACS-1) controls the function of the RD114 Env acidic cluster, assigning to this cellular effector a crucial role in modulation of Env assembly of some retroviruses.

The peroxin Pex23p of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica exhibits high sequence similarity to the hypothetical proteins Ylr324p, Ygr004p, and Ybr168p encoded by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. Ylr324p, Ygr004p, and Ybr168p are integral to the peroxisomal membrane and act to control peroxisome number and size. Synthesis of Ylr324p and Ybr168p, but not of Ygr004p, is induced during incubation of cells in oleic acid-containing medium, the metabolism of which requires intact peroxisomes. Cells deleted for YLR324w exhibit increased numbers of peroxisomes, whereas cells deleted for YGR004w or YBR168w exhibit enlarged peroxisomes. Ylr324p and Ybr168p cannot functionally substitute for one another or for Ygr004p, whereas Ygr004p shows partial functional redundancy with Ylr324p and Ybr168p. Ylr324p, Ygr004p, and Ybr168p interact within themselves and with Pex28p and Pex29p, which have been shown also to regulate peroxisome size and number. Systematic deletion of genes demonstrated that PEX28 and PEX29 function upstream of YLR324w, YGR004w, and YBR168w in the regulation of peroxisome proliferation. Our data suggest a role for Ylr324p, Ygr004p, and Ybr168p--now designated Pex30p, Pex31p, and Pex32p, respectively--together with Pex28p and Pex29p in controlling peroxisome size and proliferation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.