Chondrogenic differentiation within magnetic-responsive multilayered liquified capsules containing collagen II/TFG-β3 coated microparticles

The use of stem cells is a promising therapeutic approach for the substantial challenge to regenerate cartilage. Considering the two prerequisites, namely the use of a 3D system to enable the chondrogenic differentiation and growth factors to avoid dedifferentiation, the diffusion efficiency of essential biomolecules is an intrinsic issue. We already proposed a liquified bioencapsulation system containing solid microparticles as cell adhesion sites1. Here, we intend to use the optimized system towards chondrogenic differentiation by encapsulating stem cells and collagenII-TGF-β3 PLLA microparticles. As a proof-of-concept, magnetite-nanoparticles were incorporated into the multilayered membrane. This can be a great advantage after implantation procedures to fixate the capsules in situ with the held of an external magnetic patch and for the follow-up through imaging. Results showed that the production of glycosaminoglycans and the expression of cartilage-relevant markers (collagen II, Sox9, aggrecan, and COMP) increased up to 28 days, while hypertrophic (collagen X) and fibrotic (collagen I) markers were downregulated. The presence of nanofibers in the newly deposited ECM was visualized by SEM, which resembles the collagen fibrils of native cartilage. The presence of the major constituent of cartilage, collagen II, was detected by immunocytochemistry and afranin-O and alcian blue stainings revealed a basophilic ECM deposition, which is characteristic of neocartilage. These findings suggest that the proposed system may provide a suitable environment for chondrogenic differentiation.

Transnational identities in the fiction of Monica Ali: In the Kitchen and Alentejo Blue

Monica Ali’s In the Kitchen shows London as a cosmopolitan and postmodern city, a locus of transnational identities. Although this is not a new theme in contemporary English writing, in this novel the topic of migration is detached from the usual postcolonial loci that feature in “immigrant” or “diasporic” literature. In the novel Alentejo Blue, set in the South of Portugal, Monica Ali had already approached the question of migration from the point of view of the exiled citizen, whose situation is part of globalization processes outside of the normal push/pull (centre/periphery, east/west, north/south) conceptions of migration. The focus in the article is, thus, on the ways the new world order of economic globalization relates to the processes of immigration and the dispersal of a stable sense of individual and national identity.