Myofibroblasts are reparative connective tissue cells that contribute to the reconstruction of injured tissue by secreting new extracellular matrix and by exerting high contractile force. Deregulation of these activities results in tissue contracture and d ...
Stem cell use in bladder tissue engineering is a recently addressed area of investigation that has generated excitement as a novel way to restore and regenerate lost or damaged urinary bladder tissue. The remodelling of smooth muscle plays a significant ro ...
We have previously shown that the switch from N-cadherin to OB-cadherin expression increases intercellular adhesion between fibroblasts during their transition from a migratory to a fibrogenic phenotype. Using atomic force microscopy we here show that part ...
Currently microsystems consist of more and more functionalities in even smaller volumes. Components size has then to be reduced as well, coming through micro- and then nanoscale. The industrial equipments dedicated to their fabrication and assembly have co ...
Bio-inspired climbing robots relying on adhesion systems are believed to become essential tools for several industrial applications in the near future. In recent years, research has mainly focused on modeling micro-scale adhesion phenomena; a macro-scale a ...
This report demonstrates the feasibility of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization to prepare thin polymer layers ("brushes") that can be functionalized with short peptide ligands and which may be of use as coatings to promote endothelializ ...