Summary Human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) show considerable promise for regenerating injured hearts, and we therefore tested their capacity to stably engraft in a translationally relevant preclinical model, the infarcted pig heart. Transplantation of immature hESC-CMs resulted in substantial myocardial implants within the infarct scar that matured over time, formed vascular networks with the host, and evoked minimal cellular rejection. While arrhythmias were rare in infarcted pigs receiving vehicle alone, hESC-CM recipients experienced frequent monomorphic ventricular tachycardia before reverting back to normal sinus rhythm by 4 weeks post transplantation. Electroanatomical mapping and pacing studies implicated focal mechanisms, rather than macro-reentry, for these graft-related tachyarrhythmias as evidenced by an abnormal centrifugal pattern with earliest electrical activation in histologically confirmed graft tissue. These findings demonstrate the suitability of the pig model for the preclinical development of a hESC-based cardiac therapy and provide new insights into the mechanistic basis of electrical instability following hESC-CM transplantation.

Quantitative analysis of &-(y-glutamyl)lysine crosslink in 127 foods was achieved with a, preliminary separation by reverse phase-HPLC before o-phthalaldehyde derivatization to remove interfering peaks. E-(y-Glutamyl)lysine was detected in 96 foods and its contents ranged from 0.2 to 135 pmol/lOOg protein. High levels were found in fish paste products, processed fish, shellfish, meats and soybeans, and raw poultry organs. For fish and meats, the level of &-(y-glutamyl)lysine in processed foods and fish paste was relatively higher than that in raw materials. The improved procedure could be applied for screening materials with transglutaminase activities.

Our data indicate that daily physical activity evaluated by step counts may be useful for forecasting the prognosis in patients with mild ischemic stroke. Daily step counts of approximately 6000 steps per day may be an initial target level for reducing new vascular events.

Several suspensions and emulsions containing commercial sodium caseinate or skim milk were gelatinized by Ca*+-independent microbial transglutaminase treatment. The characteristics of the gels were largely affected by the enzyme concentrations employed. For caseinate gels generally the higher enzyme concentration gave steep decreases in breaking strength, strain and cohesiveness of the gels. The creep tests on emulsified gels prepared to two different enzyme concentrations showed that the gel made with a higher enzyme concentration was the more viscoelastic. For skim milk gels, the enzyme treatment in higher concentration caused substantial increase of the breaking and hardness while the strain and cohesiveness had little or no changes.

Determination of some sulfur-containing components and free amino acids in various strains of garlic (13 purchased and 11 cultured specimens) was carried out by various HPLC analyses. Alliin was the most abundant sulfur compound and was followed by cycloalliin, whose content was comparable to that of S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide. Among free amino acids Arg is the most abundant and its content was comparable to that of alliin. The distribution of cycloalliin in the leaf and the bulb with growth of garlic were different from that of alliin.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract