A Beretz — Page 4 | Search PubMed

PubMedDate not supplied

Culture of vascular cells in tridimensional (3-D) collagen: a methodological review.

Experimental models based on the culture of cells within tridimensional (3-D) gels add a 3-D organization to the classical 2-D culture of vascular cells. They allow the study of cell structure in an environment which is more representative of the in vivo situation and the investigation of cellular functions which cannot be studied using the basic 2-D models. This review shows examples of the use of cultures of vascular cells (endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells as well as fibroblasts) in 3-D collagen matrices for the study of cellular functions as diverse as angiogenesis, extracellular matrix reorganization, migration through 3-D collagen gels or phenotype modulation. It also describes recent advances in the in vitro reconstruction of biological blood vessels by bioengineering. A method for the preparation of 3-D collagen gels is described.

Cells, Cultured↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Flavonoids: antithrombotic agents or nutrients?].

Flavonoids are a vast group of natural substances, but their pharmacological properties have not all been explored. The term flavonoid is used at large to designate a series of more than 4,000 molecules, which in fact can have very heterogenous molecular structures. We have shown that some flavonoids are good inhibitors of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE). The most active PDE inhibitors among the flavonoids were also good inhibitors of the aggregation of human platelets in vitro. This suggests that flavonoids could serve as a template for the development of new anti-platelet drugs. However, a direct extrapolation of our experimental results to possible therapeutical use of flavonoid-containing medicinal plant extracts is not possible. The metabolic fate of these plant flavonoids is poorly understood, and their absence of toxicity has not always been clearly demonstrated. Flavonoids are also present in a regular diet in significant amounts. The role of these dietary flavonoids in the prevention of thrombotic diseases or atherosclerosis should also be investigated.

Fibrinolytic Agents↗