Adipose derived stem cells (ADSC) are good candidates for the replacement of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells due to their abundance, multipotency property, and easier accessibility. In order to explore the behavior of these cells in response to mechanical stimulation, in this study we have investigated the effects of uniaxial dynamic mechanical loading on ADSC's morphology. Stem cells derived from the fat tissue of human and after an overnight culture were seeded on a silicone rubber strips. Afterwards, cells were subjected to a uniaxial dynamic loading in three different groups. Cell images were evaluated considering different morphological parameters. Fractal dimension decreased significantly after loading while in control groups there were a significant increase (p<0.05), approving that cyclic strain would lead to more aligned and organized cells. Cell orientation also increased significantly (p<0.05). Moreover cells' orientation angle, 24 hour after loading does not change compared to the observations immediately after loading, which attests to the practicality of the cyclic strain in functional tissue engineering. Cell width decreased and cell length increased which led to a significant increase in cell shape index (p<0.05). Results confirmed that uniaxial dynamic loading affects cell morphological parameters comparing their values before and after loading. In addition, the number of cycles are also an important factor since different number of cycles lead to different amounts of certain morphological parameters. Conclusively, cyclic strain can be a practical method in the field of functional tissue engineering.
Bone Marrow ; Cell Shape ; Fractals ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; Methods ; Silicone Elastomers ; Stem Cells* ; Tissue Engineering

Recent investigations consider adipose-derived stemcells (ASCs) as a promising source of stemcells for clinical therapies. To obtain functional cells with enhanced cytoskeleton and aligned structure, mechanical stimuli are utilized during differentiation of stem cells to the target cells. Since function of muscle cells is associated with cytoskeleton, enhanced structure is especially essential for these cells when employed in tissue engineering. In this study by utilizing a custom-made device, effects of uniaxial tension (1Hz, 10% stretch) on cytoskeleton, cell alignment, cell elastic properties, and expression of smooth muscle cell (SMC) genes in ASCs are investigated.Due to proper availability ofASCs, results can be employed in cardiovascular engineeringwhen production of functional SMCs in arterial reconstruction is required. Results demonstrated that cells were oriented after 24 hours of cyclic stretch with aligned pseudo-podia. Staining of actin filaments confirmed enhanced polymerization and alignment of stress fibers. Such phenomenon resulted in stiffening of cell body which was quantified by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Expression of SM α-actin and SM22 α-actin as SMC associated genes were increased after cyclic stretch while GAPDH was considered as internal control gene. Finally, it was concluded that application of cyclic stretch on ASCs assists differentiation to SMC and enhances functionality of cells.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Cell Body ; Cytoskeleton ; Microscopy, Atomic Force ; Muscle Cells ; Muscle, Smooth* ; Myocytes, Smooth Muscle* ; Polymerization ; Polymers ; Stem Cells* ; Stress Fibers ; Tissue Engineering

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is associated with cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown that citicoline and benfotiamine can improve memory and learning through different mechanism of actions. The aim of this study was to compare the individual effects of benfotiamine (100, 200, 300 mg/kg) and citicoline (50, 100, 250, 500 mg/kg, gavage) and their co-administration on memory impairments in diabetic mice. Methods: Diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ, 140 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) and benfotiamine and/or citicoline were administered for three weeks. Memory was evaluated using the object recognition task (ORT) and passive avoidance test (PAT). Results: Results from ORT shows that citicoline at 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg and benfotiamine at 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg and their combination (benfotiamine at 100 mg/kg added to citicoline at 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg) are equally effective in reversing the memory loss induced by STZ (p ＜ 0.001). PAT results demonstrate that citicoline at 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg and benfotiamine at above doses did not improve the latency time when administered separately, but benfotiamine at a fixed dose of 100 mg/kg in the presence of citicoline at 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg increased the latency time and improved memory significantly. Conclusion In conclusion, in PAT, co-administration of benfotiamine and citicoline was more effective than either alone in improving memory. Regarding ORT, although benfotiamine added to citicoline improved memory notably, the difference between combination therapy and single-drug therapy was not considerable.

Objective: Alzheimer’s disease is a popular neurodegenerative disorder which is growing in the elderly people. Exposure to environmental pollutant like aluminum could trigger or accelerate its involved mechanisms like tau phosphorylation. The current study will evaluate the effect of alone or co-administration of Citicoline or/and magnesium on the aluminum chloride induced memory impairment. Methods: Male albino mice were randomly divided into different groups (n = 7). Memory impairment was induced via orally administration of 300 mg/kg Aluminum Chloride for 28 days. Based on respective group, animals received 100, 250, 500 mg/kg of Citicoline or 50, 100, 150 mg/kg of Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), intraperitoneally. In co-administration, 50 mg/kg of MgSO4 injected concomitantly with 100, 250, or 500 mg/kg of Citicoline. Rivastigmine (2 mg/kg intraperitoneally) was used as a positive control. Memory was evaluated using the Object Recognition Task (ORT) and Passive Avoidance Test (PAT). Results: The studied doses of Citicoline or MgSO4 when administered individually showed significant increase in the discrimination index in ORT and latency time in the PAT compared to the Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) treated group. Concomitant injection of 50 mg/kg MgSO4 with the different doses of Citicoline strongly increased the above indices values in comparison to each alone. Conclusion The findings show, individual administration of Citicoline or MgSO4 inverted the AlCl3-induced memory impairment in a dose independent manner. The addition of MgSO4 to the Citicoline showed a synergistic effect in the PAT and likely additive effect in the ORT.