Great week of science at the Keystone Symposia - Fibrosis and Tissue repair meeting! Happy to represent 3Helix and share our research on Collagen Hybridizing Peptides with many fantastic scientists.
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Clumps of Mesenchymal Stem Cell/Extracellular Matrix Complexes Generated with Xeno-Free Conditions Facilitate Bone Regeneration via Direct and Indirect Osteogenesis
A recent article published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences utilized CHPs to verify the health of collagen in their MSC-ECM complexes. The authors developed a clumped-MSC/ECM (C-MSC) complex under serum-free conditions that allows bone regeneration upon implantation without the use of an artificial scaffold. They grew the C-MSC and compared a cellularized vs decellularized C-MSCs for their ability to promote osteogenesis after implanta...
Mechanics and structural stability of the collagen triple helix
A great review article, written by our own Dr. Mike Kirkness, discussing the structural stability of the collagen triple helix was just published in Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. This article discusses the challenges associated with probing and understanding the mechanical properties of the collagen triple helix by modeling it as a semiflexible rod. He explains the shortcomings of current techniques and gives insight into new theories about what...
Quantitative Liver Fibrosis Using Collagen Hybridizing Peptide to Predict Native Liver Survival in Biliary Atresia: A Pilot Study
Great article showcasing work our CEO and Founder, Dr. Yang Li, performed as a pilot study using human Liver tissues with biliary atresia (BA). The article describes how CHPs can be used as a novel measurement of tissue fibrosis associated with BA severity, and that CHP signal intensity can be leveraged as an early predictor to identify infants with BA with the greatest likelihood or requiring a liver transplant. The image below shows how CHP signal ca...
Thank You For Stopping by at NSH 2019!
A BIG thank you to everyone who stopped by to chat with us at the National Society for Histotechnology 2019 conference in NOLA! Our 3Helix team had a great time meeting you and hope you liked learning about our CHPs!
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Acoustic modification of collagen hydrogels facilitates cellular remodeling
A newly published article from Dr. Hocking's Lab used F-CHPs to image collagen remodeling due to acoustic disturbance. They found that exposing the collagen hydrogels to ultrasound waves revealed areas of cell-mediated collagen fiber remodeling. These areas of collagen remodeling were corroborated with SHG imaging. These results indicate that ultrasound exposure does not directly alter triple-helical conformation of collagen, but sensitizes t...
Zika Virus Infection Induces Acute Kidney Injury Through Activating NLRP3 Inflammasome Via Suppressing Bcl-2
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! A new article published in Frontiers in Immunology (impact factor: 4.72) utilized B-CHP to evaluate how the Zika virus influences renal function. The authors monitored fibrosis changes and collagen deposition in healthy and Zika infected mouse kidneys. The authors clearly link the Zika virus infection to kidney injury and elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms for the first time. B-CHP enabled them to image the amount of da...
Developing Regenerative Treatments for Developmental Defects, Injuries, and Diseases Using Extracellular Matrix Collagen-Targeting Peptides
A great review article was recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences that discusses how currently available collagen targeting methods are used for regenerative therapeutics. This article also compares the benefits and drawbacks of several collagen targeting strategies. (Spoiler: They highlight several key advantages CHPs have over other collagen-binding peptides). Very informative article and useful to those who are looking...
CHP’s For Prostate Cancer Research
For those who are interested in knowing what the future of CHP research holds, take a look at this short research highlight from the Department of Defense- Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. It showcases our Co-Founder Dr. Michael Yu (University of Utah) and his collaborator Dr. Martin Pomper's (John's Hopkins University) research to explore how CHPs can be used to target prostate cancer! This is just one application of CHPs that is be...
Assessing collagen fibrils molecular damage after a single stretch–release cycle
Exciting work published in Soft Matter utilized F-CHPs to analyze molecular damage to collagen fibrils after a single asymmetrical stretch-release experiment. Researchers saw that the supramolecular fibril structure was unaffected by these experiments and that a fibril rupture is not a pre-requisite for molecular denaturation of the collagen fibril. The figure below shows how the asymmetrical stretch-release experiment was performed. The dotted line re...