Studies of neonatal neural pathologies and development of appropriate therapeutics are hampered by a lack of relevant in vitro models of neonatal blood-brain barrier (BBB). To establish such a model, we have developed a novel blood-brain barrier on a chip (B3C) that comprises a tissue compartment and vascular channels placed side-by-side mimicking the three-dimensional morphology, size and flow characteristics of microvessels in vivo. Rat brain endothelial cells (RBEC) isolated from neonatal rats were seeded in the vascular channels of B3C and maintained under shear flow conditions, while neonatal rat astrocytes were cultured under static conditions in the tissue compartment of the B3C. RBEC formed continuous endothelial lining with a central lumen along the length of the vascular channels of B3C and exhibited tight junction formation, as measured by the expression of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1). ZO-1 expression significantly increased with shear flow in the vascular channels and with the presence of astrocyte conditioned medium (ACM) or astrocytes cultured in the tissue compartment. Consistent with in vivo BBB, B3C allowed endfeet-like astrocyte-endothelial cell interactions through a porous interface that separates the tissue compartment containing cultured astrocytes from the cultured RBEC in the vascular channels. The permeability of fluorescent 40 kDa dextran from vascular channel to the tissue compartment significantly decreased when RBEC were cultured in the presence of astrocytes or ACM (from 41.0±0.9 x 10−6 cm/s to 2.9±1.0 x 10−6 cm/s or 1.1±0.4 x 10−6 cm/s, respectively). Measurement of electrical resistance in B3C further supports that the addition of ACM significantly improves the barrier function in neonatal RBEC. Moreover, B3C exhibits significantly improved barrier characteristics compared to the transwell model and B3C permeability was not significantly different from the in vivo BBB permeability in neonatal rats. In summary, we developed a first dynamic in vitro neonatal BBB on a chip (B3C) that closely mimics the in vivo microenvironment, offers the flexibility of real time analysis, and is suitable for studies of BBB function as well as screening of novel therapeutics.

A key step in neutrophil-mediated tissue damage is the migration of activated neutrophils across the vascular endothelium. Previously, we identified protein kinase C δ as a critical regulator of neutrophil migration in sepsis but did not identify specific steps in migration. In this study, we used our novel biomimetic microfluidic assay to delineate systematically the mechanism by which protein kinase C δ regulates individual steps in human neutrophil-endothelial interaction during inflammation. The biomimetic microfluidic assay includes a network of vascular channels, produced from in vivo images connected to a tissue compartment through a porous barrier. HUVECs cultured in vascular channels formed a complete lumen under physiologic shear flow. HUVECs were pretreated with TNF-α ± a protein kinase C δ inhibitor, and the tissue compartment was filled with a chemoattractant (fMLP or IL-8). Under physiologic shear flow, the role of protein kinase C δ on spatial and temporal neutrophil adherence/migration was quantified. Protein kinase C δ inhibition significantly reduced neutrophil adhesion in response to fMLP and IL-8 only under low shear rate and near bifurcations. Protein kinase C δ inhibition also decreased adherence to nonactivated HUVECs in response to fMLP or IL-8. Protein kinase C δ inhibition reduced neutrophil migration into the tissue compartment in response to fMLP and to a lesser degree, to IL-8. Antibody-coated microparticles demonstrated that protein kinase C δ inhibition down-regulated E-selectin and ICAM-1 but not VCAM-1 expression. With the use of a physiologically relevant in vitro model system, we demonstrate that protein kinase C δ plays an important role in the regulation of neutrophil adherence/migration during inflammation and identifies key steps regulated by protein kinase C δ in neutrophil-endothelial interactions.

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a multitasking protein kinase that regulates numerous critical cellular functions. Not surprisingly, elevated GSK-3 activity has been implicated in a host of diseases including pathological inflammation, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, asthma, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s. Therefore, reagents that inhibit GSK-3 activity provide a means to investigate the role of GSK-3 in cellular physiology and pathophysiology and could become valuable therapeutics. Finding a potent inhibitor of GSK-3 that can selectively target this kinase, among over 500 protein kinases in the human genome, is a significant challenge. Thus there remains a critical need for the identification of selective inhibitors of GSK-3. In this work, we introduce a novel small organic compound, namely COB-187, which exhibits potent and highly selective inhibition of GSK-3. Specifically, this study 1) utilized a molecular screen of 414 kinase assays, representing 404 unique kinases, to reveal that COB-187 is a highly potent and selective inhibitor of GSK-3; 2) utilized a cellular assay to reveal that COB-187 decreases the phosphorylation of canonical GSK-3 substrates indicating that COB-187 inhibits cellular GSK-3 activity; and 3) reveals that a close isomer of COB-187 is also a selective and potent inhibitor of GSK-3. Taken together, these results demonstrate that we have discovered a region of chemical design space that contains novel GSK-3 inhibitors. These inhibitors will help to elucidate the intricate function of GSK-3 and can serve as a starting point for the development of potential therapeutics for diseases that involve aberrant GSK-3 activity.

Solar photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) for the degradation of liquid and gaseous pollutants is receiving increasing attention. In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel slurry photoreactor for the mineralization of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) by using a semiconductor photocatalyst (TiO2), air, and concentrated solar radiation. The photocatalytic degradation (PCD) of 2,4-D using concentrated solar radiation in both batch and continuous bubble column reactors has been studied. The photocatalytic reaction takes place on the surface of the catalyst material. Therefore, the adsorption behavior of 2,4-D on the catalyst has also been investigated. The effects of the presence of anions and the pH of the wastewaters are reported. The photocatalytic degradation studies of 2,4-D in the novel slurry bubble column indicate that this type of reactor can be used commercially for the treatment of wastewater from a plant manufacturing 2,4-D.

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The increased expression of VCAM-1 on endothelial segments within plaque regions could be used as a target to deliver polymeric drug carriers selectively to sites of atherosclerosis. We probed the hypothesis that polymeric particles conjugated with a ligand for VCAM-1 exhibit selective and avid adhesion to sites of atherosclerosis. Particles made from polystyrene or the biodegradable polymer poly(sebacic acid)-block-polyethylene glycol (PSA-PEG) were conjugated with an antibody to VCAM-1 (alpha-VCAM-1) or IgG (negative control). The particles were injected into the jugular vein of ApoE(-/-) (a murine model of atherosclerosis) or wild type mice and their adhesion to the aorta determined. alpha-VCAM-1 particles exhibited significantly greater adhesion to ApoE(-/-) mouse aorta [32 +/- 5 (mean +/- SEM) particles/mm(2) for polystyrene particles and 31 +/- 7 particles/mm(2) for PSA-PEG particles] compared to the level of adhesion to wild type mouse aorta (18 +/- 1 particles/mm(2) for polystyrene particles and 6 +/- 1 particles/mm(2) for PSA-PEG particles). Within ApoE(-/-) mice, the alpha-VCAM-1 particles exhibited significantly greater adhesion to the aorta (32 +/- 5 particles/mm(2) for polystyrene particles and 31 +/- 7 particles/mm(2) for PSA-PEG particles) compared to the adhesion of IgG particles (1 +/- 1 particles/mm(2) for polystyrene particles and 2 +/- 1 particles/mm(2) for PSA-PEG particles). Detailed analysis of the adhesion revealed that alpha-VCAM-1 particles exhibited focal adhesion to plaque regions, in particular the periphery of the plaques, within the ApoE(-/-) mouse aorta. Combined the data demonstrate that polymeric particles conjugated with a ligand to VCAM-1 exhibit selective, avid and focal adhesion to sites of atherosclerosis providing strong evidence that VCAM-1 ligand bearing polymeric particles could be used for targeting drugs selectively to atherosclerotic tissue.

Sialyl Lewis x (sLex) and its related glycans are found on the surface of leukocytes and are known to be ligands for endothelial expressed E‐selectin. HECA‐452 is a rat IgM mAb which recognizes sLex and its related glycans. It has been shown that pre‐treatment of HECA‐452 positive T‐lymphoblasts with HECA‐452 does not inhibit adhesion to E‐selectin under flow conditions. This lack of inhibition could be due to (a) HECA‐452 not binding to the exact set of glycoproteins/glycolipids that bind to E‐selectin (b) HECA‐452 binding to the exact set of glycoproteins/glycolipids that bind to E‐selectin but not at the glycans that binds to E‐selectin or (c) HECA‐452 binding to the involved glycans but not at the same epitope as E‐selectin. It is difficult to discern amongst the various scenarios with whole cells. However, if one has a particle that only has sLex, one can investigate scenario (c). Therefore we sought to determine if HECA‐452 is a blocking mAb for sLex adhesion to E‐selectin. We conjugated leukocyte‐sized microspheres with sLex. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that HECA‐452 recognized and bound avidly to the sLex microspheres. We next tested the adhesion of the sLex microspheres to 4 hr. interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β‐ an inducer of E‐selectin expression) activated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). sLex microspheres exhibited significant adhesion to IL‐1β activated HUVEC but did not bind to unactivated HUVEC. Pre‐treatment of activated HUVEC with anti‐E‐selectin mAb inhibited the adhesion of sLex microspheres. Pre‐treatment of the sLex microspheres with HECA‐452 had no effect on sLex microsphere adhesion to IL‐1β activated HUVEC. Combined, these results suggest that HECA‐452 is a non‐blocking mAb for sLex mediated adhesion to endothelial expressed E‐selectin.

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