Journal: Lab on a Chip

Article Title: Label-free assessment of a microfluidic vessel-on-chip model with visible-light optical tomography reveals structural changes in vascular networks

doi: 10.1039/d5lc00927h

Figure Lengend Snippet: Time-resolved imaging of vascular network development in vessel-on-chip by optical coherence tomography. A) Timeline of disease modeling. Vessel-on-chips were loaded and vessels were allowed to grow for 2 days. Thereafter, the vascular network was subjected to control medium, medium with high glucose and added TNF-α and IL-6, and VEGF medium for 3 more days. Vessel-on-chips were measured every day after day 2. B) Minimum intensity projections, showing the change in the vascular network in the control condition over the course of 5 days. C) Minimum intensity projections, displaying changes in vascular network for the high glucose condition on day 4 and 5. D) Minimum intensity projections, exhibiting changes in the vascular network for the VEGF condition on day 4 and 5. For a full overview of the process, see Fig. S2 in SI. Representative images shown, scale bar = 500 μm.

Article Snippet: On day 3, vascular specification was induced by adding 50 ng ml −1 vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Miltenyi Biotec, Germany) and 10 μM SB431542 (Tocris Bioscience, UK) in BPEL medium to the cells.

Techniques: Imaging, Tomography, Control

Journal: Lab on a Chip

Article Title: Label-free assessment of a microfluidic vessel-on-chip model with visible-light optical tomography reveals structural changes in vascular networks

doi: 10.1039/d5lc00927h

Figure Lengend Snippet: Change in vessel thickness in the vessel-on-chip over the treatment period, for the different treatments. A) Control condition on day 2 to 5, B) high glucose with added TNF-α and IL-6 condition on day 4 to 5, and C) VEGF treatment on day 4 to 5. For a full overview of the process, see Fig. S3 in SI. Representative images shown, scale bar = 500 μm.

Article Snippet: On day 3, vascular specification was induced by adding 50 ng ml −1 vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Miltenyi Biotec, Germany) and 10 μM SB431542 (Tocris Bioscience, UK) in BPEL medium to the cells.

Techniques: Control

Journal: Lab on a Chip

Article Title: Label-free assessment of a microfluidic vessel-on-chip model with visible-light optical tomography reveals structural changes in vascular networks

doi: 10.1039/d5lc00927h

Figure Lengend Snippet: Overlay of the variation in the number of branches and vessel length under the different conditions during treatment of the vessel-on-chip for A) the control condition on day 2 to 5, B) the high glucose with added TNF-α and IL-6 condition on day 4 and 5, and C) the VEGF condition on day 4 to 5. For a full overview of the process, see Fig. S4 in SI. Representative images shown, scale bar = 500 μm.

Article Snippet: On day 3, vascular specification was induced by adding 50 ng ml −1 vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Miltenyi Biotec, Germany) and 10 μM SB431542 (Tocris Bioscience, UK) in BPEL medium to the cells.

Techniques: Control

Journal: Lab on a Chip

Article Title: Label-free assessment of a microfluidic vessel-on-chip model with visible-light optical tomography reveals structural changes in vascular networks

doi: 10.1039/d5lc00927h

Figure Lengend Snippet: Quantitative properties of the vascular network during treatment for all conditions. A) Vascularity index (VI), B) mean thickness, C) total vessel length, and D) number of branching points. Data are presented in boxplots from four individual microfluidic chips ( n = 4). Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA followed by a Student's t -test. * indicates p < 0.05. E) Minimum intensity projections from Fig. S2 showing the change in the vascular network in the control, high glucose with added TNF-α and IL-6, and VEGF condition over the course of 5 days. Representative images shown, scale bar = 500 μm.

Article Snippet: On day 3, vascular specification was induced by adding 50 ng ml −1 vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Miltenyi Biotec, Germany) and 10 μM SB431542 (Tocris Bioscience, UK) in BPEL medium to the cells.

Techniques: Control

Journal: iScience

Article Title: 3D-printed scaffold loaded with baicalin exosomes promotes bone defect repair via mediating PRRX2 to alleviate inflammation

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113565

Figure Lengend Snippet: Identification and angiogenesis of exos from BA-pretreated BMSCs (A) The morphology of BMSC-exos and BA-BMSC-exos under transmission electron microscopy. (B) Nanoparticle tracking analysis showing the size distribution of BMSC-exos and BA-BMSC-exos. (C) The expression levels of the exosome markers CD9, TSG101, and CD81 were measured by western blot. (D) The uptake of BA-BMSC-exos by HUVECs was detected by immunofluorescence staining (scale bar: 100 μm). (E) CCK8 determined the viability of HUVECs after treatment with exos. (F) Cell migration of HUVECs determined by Transwell assay (scale bar: 100 μm). (G) Tube formation of HUVECs following treatment with exos (scale bar: 100 μm). The expression of VEGF and CD31 in HUVECs was determined by (H) Western blot and (I) qPCR. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD), n = 3, p -values are calculated using one-way or two-way ANOVA, ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

Article Snippet: After washing three times, the membranes were stained with primary antibodies against CD9, TSG101, CD31, p -AKT, AKT, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, Nrf2, and HO-1 (all from Abcam, UK), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (from Proteintech, USA) overnight at 4 °C.

Techniques: Transmission Assay, Electron Microscopy, Expressing, Western Blot, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Migration, Transwell Assay, Standard Deviation

Journal: iScience

Article Title: 3D-printed scaffold loaded with baicalin exosomes promotes bone defect repair via mediating PRRX2 to alleviate inflammation

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113565

Figure Lengend Snippet: Effects of 3D-β-TCP scaffolds loaded with exos on angiogenesis and osteogenesis in vivo (A–C) HE staining and Masson staining analysis of the formation of new bone after implantation with a scaffold for 8 weeks (B and C) The expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α, VEGF, and CD31 were determined by immunohistochemistry staining and qPCR. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD), n = 3, p -values are calculated using one-way ANOVA, ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

Article Snippet: After washing three times, the membranes were stained with primary antibodies against CD9, TSG101, CD31, p -AKT, AKT, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, Nrf2, and HO-1 (all from Abcam, UK), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (from Proteintech, USA) overnight at 4 °C.

Techniques: In Vivo, Staining, Expressing, Immunohistochemistry, Standard Deviation

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Chemical reprogramming of fibroblasts into retinal pigment epithelium cells for vision restoration

doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67104-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Representative immunostaining showing that MEF-derived ciRPE cells express ZO-1, Pax6, Rpe65, Mitf, Best1 and Cralbp. Scale bars, 50 μm. b Representative Z-stack confocal micrographs showing ciRPE cells with typical polarized expression of RPE markers. ZO-1 (green) demonstrates apical localization (top), while Best1 (red) shows basolateral localization (bottom). Scale bars, 10 μm. c Representative transmission electron microscopy image of ciRPE cells showing apical microvilli (yellow arrows), melanin granules (red arrows) and tight junctions (black arrows). Scale bars, 1 μm. d Representative confocal micrograph showing phagocytosis of POSs (green) by ciRPEs. The apical sides of ciRPE cells are stained with ZO-1(violet), whereas nuclei are counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars, 50 μm. e Apical and basal secretion of PEDF and VEGF by MEFs, ciRPE, and pRPE cells cultured on Transwells. Each group was compared to the ciRPE group within apical and basal compartments ( n = 6 independent biological samples per group). f Representative morphological images showing dome structures formed by ciRPE cells during in vitro culture. The red arrows indicate the dome morphology observed under different phase-contrast microscopy conditions. Scale bars, 50 μm. g TEER measurements of MEFs, ciRPE, and pRPE cells over time in culture ( n = 6 independent biological samples per group). Data are mean ± SD. One-way ANOVA was used to assess statistical significance. Three independent experiments were performed with similar results and representative results are shown. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

Article Snippet: Detailed procedures were followed according to the instructions of the PEDF ELISA kit (CUSABIO, CSB-E08820m and CSB-E08818h) and the VEGF ELISA kit (CUSABIO, CSB-E04756m and CSB-E11718h).

Techniques: Immunostaining, Derivative Assay, Expressing, Transmission Assay, Electron Microscopy, Staining, Cell Culture, In Vitro, Microscopy

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: Chemical reprogramming of fibroblasts into retinal pigment epithelium cells for vision restoration

doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67104-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Candidate small molecules identified by preliminary screening with scRCF for reprogramming HEFs into OV. b Schematic diagram of the protocol for the reprogramming of HEFs into hciRPE cells, along with representative morphological changes at indicated time points. HM represents the HEF medium, while RM represents the reprogramming medium and DM refers to the differentiation/maturation medium. Scale bar, 300 μm. c FACS purification of reprogrammed BEST1-EGFP + hciRPE cells. d Representative optical microscopy and TEM images of hciRPE cells showing melanin granules (red arrows). Scale bars, 1 μm. e qRT-PCR analysis showing the expression of RPE-associated genes at the indicated time points during reprogramming ( n = 3 independent biological samples per group). f Representative immunostaining analysis showing positive expression of ZO-1, RPE65, MITF and BEST1 in the BEST1-EGFP - HEFs-derived hciRPE cells. Scale bar, 20 μm. g PCA of samples from day 0, day 12, day 24 and day 38 (hciRPE) of celluar reprogramming, and the control primary hRPE cells. h Heatmap showing differentially expressed genes in HEF to hciRPE cell reprogramming samples at indicated time points. The number above heatmap indicates independent biological replicates. Representative genes (left side of the heatmap) and associated GO (right side of the heatmap) for each block are shown. Red and blue indicate upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively. Differential expression was analyzed using the R package limma (v3.58.1) following normalization with edgeR (v4.0.16). Significantly changed genes were defined by |log₂ fold change| > 1.5 and adjusted p < 0.01 (Benjamini-Hochberg correction). i Polarized secretion of VEGF and PEDF from the apical and basal sides of hciRPE cells grown on Transwells ( n = 6 independent biological samples per group). j TEER in hciRPE cells for 30 days. p values indicate comparisons between adjacent time points ( n = 5 independent biological samples per group). Data are mean ± SD. Statistical analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA ( e ) and unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t- test ( i , j ). Three independent experiments were performed with similar results and representative results are shown. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

Article Snippet: Detailed procedures were followed according to the instructions of the PEDF ELISA kit (CUSABIO, CSB-E08820m and CSB-E08818h) and the VEGF ELISA kit (CUSABIO, CSB-E04756m and CSB-E11718h).

Techniques: Purification, Microscopy, Quantitative RT-PCR, Expressing, Immunostaining, Derivative Assay, Control, Blocking Assay, Quantitative Proteomics, Two Tailed Test