Postcard: Till Swedish American Insurance Co. of Kansas, medlemmar!

This black and white printed postcard depicts a bill from an insurance company. Printed text is on the front of the card with handwriting included to fill out the information. Handwriting is on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/1724/thumbnail.jp

Postcard: Swedish-American Insurance, Lindsborg, Kansas

This black and white printed postcard depicts a bill from an insurance company. Printed text is on the front of the card with handwriting included to fill out the information. Handwriting is on the back of the card.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/tj_postcards/1722/thumbnail.jp

The skeletal phenotype of chondroadherin deficient mice

Chondroadherin, a leucine rich repeat extracellular matrix protein with functions in cell to matrix interactions, binds cells via their a2b1 integrin as well as via cell surface proteoglycans, providing for different sets of signals to the cell. Additionally, the protein acts as an anchor to the matrix by binding tightly to collagens type I and II as well as type VI. We generated mice with inactivated chondroadherin gene to provide integrated studies of the role of the protein. The null mice presented distinct phenotypes with affected cartilage as well as bone. At 3–6 weeks of age the epiphyseal growth plate was widened most pronounced in the proliferative zone. The proteome of the femoral head articular cartilage at 4 months of age showed some distinct differences, with increased deposition of cartilage intermediate layer protein 1 and fibronectin in the chondroadherin deficient mice, more pronounced in the female. Other proteins show decreased levels in the deficient mice, particularly pronounced for matrilin-1, thrombospondin-1 and notably the members of the a1-antitrypsin family of proteinase inhibitors as well as for a member of the bone morphogenetic protein growth factor family. Thus, cartilage homeostasis is distinctly altered. The bone phenotype was expressed in several ways. The number of bone sialoprotein mRNA expressing cells in the proximal tibial metaphysic was decreased and the osteoid surface was increased possibly indicating a change in mineral metabolism. Micro-CT revealed lower cortical thickness and increased structure model index, i.e. the amount of plates and rods composing the bone trabeculas. The structural changes were paralleled by loss of function, where the null mice showed lower femoral neck failure load and tibial strength during mechanical testing at 4 months of age. The skeletal phenotype points at a role for chondroadherin in both bone and cartilage homeostasis, however, without leading to altered longitudinal growth

Effects of Payena dasyphylla (Miq.) on hyaluronidase enzyme activity and metalloproteinases protein expressions in interleukin-1beta stimulated human chondrocytes cells

Background: Hyaluronidases have been found as the target enzymes in the development of osteoarthritis (OA) disease. While there is still no curative treatment for this disease, recent studies on the treatment of OA were focused on the effectiveness of natural products which are expected to improve the symptoms with minimal side effects. The aim of this study was to screen selected Malaysian plants on their anti-hyaluronidase activity as well as to evaluate the active plant and its derived fractions on its potential anti-arthritic and antioxidant activities.Methods: A total of 20 methanolic crude extracts (bark and leaf) from ten different plants were screened using a colorimetric hyaluronidase enzymatic assay. The active plant extract (Payena dasyphylla) was then studied for its hyaluronidase inhibitory activity in the interleukin-1β (IL-1β) stimulated human chondrocytes cell line (NHAC-kn) using zymography method. The Payena dasyphylla methanolic bark extract was then fractionated into several fractions in where the ethyl acetate (EA) fraction was evaluated for its inhibitory effects on the HYAL1 and HYAL2 gene expressions using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. While the MMP-3 and MMP-13 protein expressions were evaluated using western blot method. The phenolic and flavonoid contents of the three fractions as well as the antioxidant property of the EA fraction were also evaluated.Results: Bark extract of Payena dasyphylla (100 μg/ml) showed the highest inhibitory activity against bovine testicular hyaluronidase with 91.63%. The plant extract also inhibited hyaluronidase expression in the cultured human chondrocyte cells in response to IL-1β (100 ng/ml). Similarly, treatment with Payena dasyphylla ethyl acetate (EA) fraction (100 μg/ml) inhibited the HYAL1 and HYAL2 mRNA gene expressions as well as MMP-3 and MMP-13 protein expression in a dose dependent manner. Payena dasyphylla EA fraction has demonstrated the highest amount of phenolic and flavonoid content with 168.62 ± 10.93 mg GAE/g and 95.96 ± 2.96 mg RE/g respectively as compared to water and hexane fractions. In addition, the Payena dasyphylla EA fraction showed strong antioxidant activity with IC50 value of 11.64 ± 1.69 μg/mL.Conclusion: These findings have shown that Payena dasyphylla might contained potential phenolic compounds that inhibiting the key enzyme in osteoarthritis development, which is the hyaluronidase enzyme through interruption of HYAL1 and HYAL1 gene expressions. The degradation of cartilage could also be inhibited by the plant through suppression of MMP-3 and MMP-13 protein expressions. We also reported that the inhibitory effect of Payena dasyphylla on hyaluronidase activity and expression might be due to its anti-oxidant property

Differential Expression of Lumican and Fibromodulin Regulate Collagen Fibrillogenesis in Developing Mouse Tendons

Collagen fibrillogenesis is finely regulated during development of tissue-specific extracellular matrices. The role(s) of a leucine-rich repeat protein subfamily in the regulation of fibrillogenesis during tendon development were defined. Lumican-, fibromodulin-, and double-deficient mice demonstrated disruptions in fibrillogenesis. With development, the amount of lumican decreases to barely detectable levels while fibromodulin increases significantly, and these changing patterns may regulate this process. Electron microscopic analysis demonstrated structural abnormalities in the fibrils and alterations in the progression through different assembly steps. In lumican-deficient tendons, alterations were observed early and the mature tendon was nearly normal. Fibromodulin-deficient tendons were comparable with the lumican-null in early developmental periods and acquired a severe phenotype by maturation. The double-deficient mice had a phenotype that was additive early and comparable with the fibromodulin-deficient mice at maturation. Therefore, lumican and fibromodulin both influence initial assembly of intermediates and the entry into fibril growth, while fibromodulin facilitates the progression through growth steps leading to mature fibrils. The observed increased ratio of fibromodulin to lumican and a competition for the same binding site could mediate these transitions. These studies indicate that lumican and fibromodulin have different developmental stage and leucine-rich repeat protein specific functions in the regulation of fibrillogenesis

Mathematical modelling of cytokines, MMPs and fibronectin fragments in osteoarthritic cartilage

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease which causes pain and stiffness in joints. OA progresses through excessive degradation of joint cartilage, eventually leading to significant joint degeneration and loss of function. Cytokines, a group of cell signalling proteins, present in raised concentrations in OA joints, can be classified into pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory groups. They mediate cartilage degradation through several mechanisms, primarily the up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a group of collagen-degrading enzymes. In this paper we show that the interactions of cytokines within cartilage have a crucial role to play in OA progression and treatment. We develop a four-variable ordinary differential equation model for the interactions between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, MMPs and fibronectin fragments (Fn-fs), a by-product of cartilage degradation and upregulator of cytokines. We show that the model has four classes of dynamic behaviour: homoeostasis, bistable inflammation, tristable inflammation and persistent inflammation. We show that positive and negative feedbacks controlling cytokine production rates can determine either a pre-disposition to OA or initiation of OA. Further, we show that manipulation of cytokine, MMP and Fn-fs levels can be used to treat OA, but we suggest that multiple treatment targets may be essential to halt or slow disease progression

Ekostäders roll i hållbar stadsutveckling

Hur städer planeras och byggs har stor påverkan på miljön och klimatet. Stadsutveckling är därmed ett bidragande verktyg till att uppnå de globala målen och Parisavtalet. Ekostäder har förespråkats vara ett mer hållbart alternativ till traditionell stadsplanering. Målet i ekostäder är att skapa kretslopp av material och energi samt ha en genomtänkt markanvändning där ekologi och tillgänglighet prioriteras. I studien undersöks infrastrukturlösningar i Masdar City och Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. Fokus låg på infrastrukturlösningar inom energi, vatten och avlopp, mobilitet och avfall. För att få ett svenskt perspektiv och kunna genomföra en jämförelse med en svensk motsvarighet granskades Hammarby Sjöstad. Därefter undersöktes möjlig tekniköverföring till svenska städer. Jämförelsen baserades på framtagna nyckelindikatorer som togs fram genom att granska och sammanställa fyra ramverk för hållbar stadsutveckling. Detta gjordes eftersom det finns ett gap mellan globalt och lokalt utformade mål och indikatorer i ramverken. Utvärderingen av städerna baserades på resultat från litteratur. Det framtagna ramverket användes för analys av berörda ekoområden. Syftet var att undersöka om ett sammanställt ramverk kunde användas för att fylla de luckor som finns i de etablerade ramverken. Från analysen av ekostäderna framkom att Masdar City hade flest positiva trender utifrån de framtagna indikatorerna, därefter Hammarby Sjöstad och sist Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. För att bredda perspektivet intervjuades insatta informanter. Deras kompetens inom stadsutveckling, infrastrukturlösningar och kännedom om ekoområden var till stor hjälp och gav värdefulla insikter för det fortsatta arbetet. Dessutom diskuterades hur styrning och beslutsfattande påverkar hållbarhetsarbetet i en stad. Slutsatser som drogs efter studien var att Hammarby Sjöstad överlag var mer ekologiskt hållbar än Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City. Masdar City hade flest positiva trender enligt hållbarhetsutvärderingen men Hammarby Sjöstad använder mer naturliga element i sin stadsutveckling. Dessutom är demokrati och deltagarbaserat beslutsfattande avgörande för långsiktigt hållbara städer. Holism är av högsta prioritet och fokus bör inte enbart riktas mot teknik