Chronic wounds do not progress through the wound healing process in a timely manner and are considered a burden for healthcare system; they are also the most common reason for decrease in patient quality of life. Traditional wound dressings e.g., bandages and gauzes, although highly absorbent and effective for dry to mild, exudating wounds, require regular application, which therefore can cause pain upon dressing change. In addition, they have poor adhesional properties and cannot provide enough drainage for the wound. In this regard, the normalization of the healing process in chronic wounds is an extremely urgent task of public health and requires the creation and implementation of affordable dressings for patients with chronic wounds. Modern wound dressings (WDs) are aimed to solve these issues. At the same time, hydrogels, unlike other types of modern WDs (foam, films, hydrocolloids), have positive degradation properties that makes them the perfect choice in applications where a targeted delivery of bioactive substances to the wound is required. This mini review is focused on different types of traditional and modern WDs with an emphasis on hydrogels. Advantages and disadvantages of traditional and modern WDs as well as their applicability to different chronic wounds are elucidated. Furthermore, an effectiveness comparison between hydrogel WDs and the some of the frequently used biotechnologies in the field of regenerative medicine (adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs), mesenchymal stem cells, conditioned media, platelet-rich plasma (PRP)) is provided.

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It is shown that polypeptides which are immunologically related to gp52 mammary tumor virus are found in T and B peripheral blood lymphocytes in all breast cancer patients, in children with B-cell lymphosarcomas, and in B lymphocytes of some healthy donors. These proteins are not found in patients with tumors of other sites. Key Words: mouse mammary tumor virus; human endogenous retrovirus; lymphocytesDuring the 1970s it was discovered that the successful transport of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), which is transmitted with the milk from the digestive tract to the mammary gland, depends on the functional integrity of the immune system: thymectomy in young mice of a highly carcinogenic strain resulted in a sharp decrease of breast cancer incidence [2]. The reason recently became clear after study of the MMTV superantigens, factors that are encoded on the open reading frame of the 3' long terminal repeat of the provirus sequence [5]. Being bound with CD4 § lymphocytes which bear receptors with a specific V-B-chain, superantigens stimulate them to proliferate and initiate cell death in the same lymphocyte subpopulation during its maturation in the thymus in mice carrying only endogenous MMTV.During the study of MMTV superantigens, the use of different mouse models established that the B lymphocyte is the primary target cell for this retrovirus gene product, gp52, plays a significant role in effective superantigen presentation. In this manner, MMTV was found not only to determine the functional integrity of the immune system, but also to use the lymphocyte pathway of circulation in the mouse organism.Human endogenous retrovirus, which has been studied in detail, is akin to MMTV according to a whole complex of morphological features, antigens to structural proteins, and homology of the nucleotide sequences [3]. Expression of a protein which is an immunological analog of gp52 correlates specifically with the presence of breast cancer in human beings.However, neither the role which the endogenous MMTV-related human retrovirus plays in ~u-mor incidence nor its other biological functions have been elucidated. The pathways of its circulation in the human organism are not yet clear. We speculated that the processes in man must be similar to the lymphocytic pathway of MMTV circulation in mice, and thus sought the presence of an antigen, which would be an immunological analog of the gp52 of MMTV in lysates of peripheral blood lymphocytes in patients with tumors of different location and in healthy donors.

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Purpose: To study the effect of radiation sterilization at an ultra-high dose of 30 kGy on the cytocompatibility of decellularized vascular scaffolds repopulated with placenta MSCs. Materials and methods: The material of the study were aortas of laboratory animals (rabbits and rats, three vessels for each animal species), which were subjected to detergent - enzymatic perfusion decellularization by two protocols differing in reagents composition. Then the scaffold decellularized by the most efficient protocol was irradiated at a dose of 30 kGy and repopulated with placenta MSCs. As a control, the unirradiated matrix was seeded with cells of the same type. Histological staining of hematoxilin – eosin, IHC for type I collagen and Ki67, DAPI staining and quantitative assessment of genomic DNA were used to evaluate the effectiveness of decellularization and seeding. Scaffolds seeding was assessed by analyzing serial sections taken on day 1st, 3rd, and 4th of culture. Results: The scaffolds obtained in accordance with Protocol 1 were characterized by the absence of detectable cell nuclei, while the DNA content in them was significantly lower compared to Protocol 2. On the digitized images of sections of the unirradiated matrix, the cell nuclei were determined for routine H&E and DAPI staining while for the irradiated scaffold the cell nuclei were visualized on the border between the scaffold and fibrin gel only on DAPI stained section at 1st day of culture. The frequency of occurrence of Ki67+ nuclei on the 4th day of culture was significantly lower for the irradiated scaffold in comparison with the non-irradiated scaffold (7.5% and 29.8%, respectively, p=0.0054). Conclusion: Scaffold irradiation leads to loss of cytocompatibility of tissue-engineering constructs.

Introduction. Urethral stricture is a complex and urgent problem in operative urology. The main problem in the treatment of extended structures of the posterior urethra is the inability to form an adequate urethral site for augmentation urethroplasty with the common buccal graft, which has a priority in the treatment of penile strictures. The use of tissue acellular matrices may be promising in the development of reconstructive urology, which in the future will solve a number of problems associated with augmentation urethroplasty. The purpose of this article is to study the possibility of using a cell-free matrix of a donor artery as a free flat flap for stricture replacement urethroplasty on a model of laboratory animals (rabbits). Materials and methods. Donor blood vessels were Used, which were subjected to detergent-enzymatic perfusion decellularization. To assess the quality of the cell-free matrix, a histological study and an immunohistochemical study were performed. The cell-free flap of the donor artery was fixed to the protein envelope from the side of the simulated defect and posterior on-lay urethroplasty was performed.Results and discussion. The resulting matrix was characterized by the absence of detectable cell nuclei, preserved type I collagen, and a DNA content of no more than 50 ng / mg of tissue. In the postoperative period, normal motor activity of animals, normal urination, weight loss was not observed. The levels of C- reactive protein, creatinine, and urea in peripheral blood 5 months after surgery were within the normal range: 0.285±0.04839 mg / l, 93.5±8.057 mm / l, and 8.35±1.355 mm/l, respectively. If cystourethrography with the help of computer tomography data for stricture of the urethra is not revealed. During magnetic resonance imaging in the axial and sagittal projections, the patency of the urethra was indirectly confirmed. Conclusion. In a laboratory animal model, it was shown that the resulting cell-free flap has in vivo biocompatibility and can be used for replacement urethroplasty of posterior urethral strictures.

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The VHL gene alterations are the early and characteristic feature of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). We have examined VHL mutations in sporadic 98 ccRCC cases to evaluate their localization in relation to functionally important motifs of the VHL protein. The DNA samples were obtained from snap-frozen carcinoma biopsies and used for Sanger sequencing, while 62 ccRCC DNA cases were studied by next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis in parallel. In 73 (74.4 %) оf 98 ccRCC cases the somatic non-silent VHL mutations were identified. Loss of function VHL mutations (nonsilent, frameshifts or in splicing sites) were detected in 40 (40.8 %) ccRCC, while missense mutations – in 35 (35.7 %) ccRCC. In total 76 mutations important for VHL functioning were detected in 72 (73 %) ccRCC samples, of them 15 mutations (deletion / insertion in-frame or frameshifts) were identified for the first time. Four ccRCC cases contained two mutations each. Most of missense mutations disturb the sites of VHL interactions with HIF, РКС or kinesin. The pathogenicity of p.P154P silent mutation and intronic mutations near mRNA VHL splicing sites was discussed. The obtained results are important for understanding the role of VHL mutations in ccRCC progression and prognosis.