Dr. Yong-Su Jin and team used CHPs in their research to follow collagen synthesis and degradation through an IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) model using bleomycin and the resolution of fibrosis thereafter. Because biochemical assays (the golden standard) show consistently high levels of hydroxyproline content, it fails to detect that fibrosis can resolve itself. Jin et al. used CHPs and Sirius red in histopathology to observe that collagen l...
A great new paper from Dr. Yang Li's group published in ACS NAno utilized in vivo CHPs with a Cy5 fluorescent tag to evaluate collagen destruction in the spine. This in-depth work identified collagen damage in three different animal models, compared the in vivo CHP imaging to micro-CT, histopathology, and performed tissue clearing methods to image using light-sheet fluorescence microscopy to truly identify the anatomic localization of CHP binding in the ...
A great new paper from our founder's lab, Dr. Michael Yu at the University of Utah! They developed a dimerized version of the CHP that is linked on the C-terminus that allows for faster-refolding kinetics which can be useful for creating ELISA assays to detect low levels of damaged collagen in biological fluids. They show that it has the ability to capture fragments of collagen that would otherwise go unnoticed and were able to facilitate early peptido...
In this interesting article published in Bone, researchers from Penn State utilized CHPs to help monitor fracture healing in the diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. They applied numerous characterization techniques to probe the microstructure of collagen within a wound (fracture) healing environment. They evaluated collagen structure in a healthy (lean) mouse model and compared it with the DIO model using second harmonic generation (SHG), micro-CT, ...
It seems that CHPs are making an impact for researchers study intervertebral disc degeneration! Another interesting paper published in JCI Insight focused on intervertebral disc (and cartilage) degeneration. Researchers looked at the role of the actin-branching Arp2/3 complex has in maintaining the health of the IVD and cartilage through the regulation of cell-ECM interactions. In this study, they showed that the mutant mice (Arp2/3 deficient mice) had ...
A very interesting review article recently published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology explores how Raman Spectroscopy (RS) can be used to investigate the ECM. They showcase how RS can be helpful in probing the subtle structural changes in the ECM in cartilage, bone, cancer, and collagen assessment. They can distinguish between collagen and other ECM proteins due to the unique triple-helix and the amino acid composition. However, the dis...
Interesting new work published in The American Journal of Physiology- Cell Physiology evaluated the ability of muscle-derived pericyte to contribute to skeletal muscle remodeling in response to training. The researchers used electric stimulation to contract muscles and monitor the response of pericyte cells. They found that the CD146+ Lin- pericyte cells were the most sensitive to contraction and they contribute to upregulating ECM remodeling and angio...
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...
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...
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...
