Advanced tissue-engineered pulsatile conduit using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Single ventricle congenital heart defects (SVCHDs) are life-threatening defects that can lead to severe circulation issues and increased stress on the heart. Without prompt treatment, these defects can prove fatal in infancy. Fontan surgery is a conventional treatment for SVCHDs, which reroutes oxygen-poor blood directly to the lungs, bypassing the non-functioning ventricle.

Comparative efficacy of neurofeedback, tDCS, and TMS: The future of therapy for adults with ADHD. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: ADHD is a prevalent neurodevelopmental condition worldwide. While therapeutic approaches continue to evolve, clinical considerations for adult patients remain underexplored. Recent approaches such as neurofeedback, tDCS, or rTMS, have emerged, requiring clarification of therapeutic protocols need to assess their relevance and efficacy.

Vascular endothelial cells derived from transgene-free pig induced pluripotent stem cells for vascular tissue engineering.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases through cell-based therapies, but these therapies require extensive preclinical testing that is best done in species-in-species experiments. Pigs are a good large animal model for these tests due to the similarity of their cardiovascular system to humans. However, a lack of adequate pig iPSCs (piPSCs) that are analogous to human iPSCs has greatly limited the potential usefulness of this model system.

De Novo Elastin Assembly Alleviates Development of Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis-Brief Report.

Background: A series of incurable cardiovascular disorders arise due to improper formation of elastin during development. Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS), resulting from a haploinsufficiency of , is caused by improper stress sensing by medial vascular smooth muscle cells, leading to progressive luminal occlusion and heart failure. SVAS remains incurable, as current therapies do not address the root issue of defective elastin.

Characterization of the Zebrafish () Mutant: A New Model of Elastinopathy Leading to Heart Valve Defects.

Elastic fibers are extracellular macromolecules that provide resilience and elastic recoil to elastic tissues and organs in vertebrates. They are composed of an elastin core surrounded by a mantle of fibrillin-rich microfibrils and are essentially produced during a relatively short period around birth in mammals. Thus, elastic fibers have to resist many physical, chemical, and enzymatic constraints occurring throughout their lives, and their high stability can be attributed to the elastin protein.

Zebrafish as a Model to Study Vascular Elastic Fibers and Associated Pathologies.

Many extensible tissues such as skin, lungs, and blood vessels require elasticity to function properly. The recoil of elastic energy stored during a stretching phase is provided by elastic fibers, which are mostly composed of elastin and fibrillin-rich microfibrils. In arteries, the lack of elastic fibers leads to a weakening of the vessel wall with an increased risk to develop cardiovascular defects such as stenosis, aneurysms, and dissections.