Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Hua-Lin Wu
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Keynote: Diverse biological functions of thrombomodulin in cells and wound healing
Time : 09:00-09:30
Biography:
Hua-Lin Wu is a chair person and presently working as distinguished professor of department biochemistry and molecular biology in the college of medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. He has completed his PhD in Ohio State University. Then he started working as distinguished professor in National Cheng Kung University in 2002 to at present. He has awarded with 24th Wusanlien Award (2001) and also “The 16th National Chair Professorship Award” in 2013. His research interest includes Vascular biology, Haemostasis and fibrinolysis and Protein drug development.
Abstract:
Thrombomodulin (TM) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein that was formerly identified as an anticoagulant factor in endothelial cells (ECs) in 1982. It can form a complex with thrombin to facilitate the activation of protein C in the blood circulation. The activated protein C will catalyze the cleavage and inactivation of coagulation factors to constrain the blood coagulation cascade. However, TM was also identified in various cell types which do not have direct contact with blood circulation, indicating that TM may have distinct biological functions in different cell types and contexts. In our studies we demonstrated that TM was highly concentrated at the cell-cell contact region in ECs and keratinocytes, where it functions as an adhesion protein, in conjunction with cadherin/occludin, to stabilize cell-cell junctions. Moreover, we also demonstrated that lectin domain of TM is essential for cell-cell adhesion and LeY oligo-saccharide is the ligand of the lectin domain. The cytoplasmic domain of TM can be anchored to F-actin through actin linker protein ezrin. In addition, TM expression is involved in the epithelial/mesenchymal transition in cancer cells. On the other hands, we demonstrated that TM functions as a novel plasminogen (Plg) receptor in migrating cells. The dissociation constant of Plg and TM is about 10-7M as determined by Biacore plasma resonance system. TM, plg and urokinase Plg activator was colocalized at the leading edges in the migrating ECs. It is possible that TM expression can promote Plg activation to facilitate the pericellular proteilysis in front of migrating ECs to facilitate cell migration, invasion and angiogenesis.
Keynote Forum
Sarka Kubinova
Institute of Experimental Medicine CAS, Czech Republic
Keynote: Non-thermal air plasma in skin wound healing
Time : 09:30-10:00
Biography:
Sarka Kubinova has completed her graduation from Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Czech Republic. She has completed her post-graduation from 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, Czech Republic and started working at the Institute of Experimental Medicine (IEM) of the Czech Academy of Science where she has continued her research. Presently she is working at the IEM as the Head of the Department of Biomaterials and Biophysical Methods.
Abstract:
Non-thermal plasma (NTP) is a partially ionized gas generated from a flow of neutral gas in a locally high-strength electric field, while the gas remains at atmospheric pressure and near ambient temperature. Due to its non-specific antimicrobial properties, NTP represents an effective tool for skin disinfection and treatment of chronic wounds and other skin pathologies. Generally, the underlying biological effects of non-thermal plasma are caused by accumulation of ROS /RNS species and modulation of cellular processes related to redox signaling. We have previously demonstrated NTP system generating atmospheric pressure air plasma that shown antibacterial effects and improved the healing efficacy of acute skin wounds in rats and small animals. In addition, repeated application of NTP remarkably improved the healing of chronic wounds of various causalities in veterinary medicine in small animals and sport horses. In the recent study, we analyzed the effect of NTP on the healing of the full-thickness skin wound model in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The skin wounds were exposed to three daily plasma treatments for 1.5 minutes and were evaluated 3, 7 and 14 days after the wounding by histological and gene expression analysis. NTP treatment significantly enhanced wound contraction on day 7 when compared to the untreated diabetic wounds and control non-diabetic wounds. Gene expression analysis after 7 days revealed an increased expression of an inflammatory marker IL-1b, IL-6, iNos, COX-2 and CCL2 in diabetic wounds, which was significantly reduced after the NTP treatment. On the other hand, the number of CD68+ macrophages and the amount of collagen in the wound area did not differ after the NTP treatment. In summary, the NTP treatment improved the healing efficacy and reduced inflammatory reaction of acute skin wounds in the model of diabetic rats. The obtained results confirm the safety and suitability of NTP applications for the future therapy in patients.
Keynote Forum
Berillo Dmitriy
Aarhus University, Denmark
Keynote: Cryogel based on polyelectrolyte complex for growth factor delivery
Time : 10:00-10:30
Biography:
Berillo Dmitriy has completed his PhD in organic chemistry at KazNU al Farabi (Almaty, KZ) in 2010. He was a visiting PhD student and then postdoctoral researcher at the Biomaterials and Biosensors groups at Lund University (Sweden) in 2008-2009 and 2010-2014, respectively. He has worked as a Senior Researcher in the Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioinstruments at Nazarbayev University (KZ). He was awarded Marie Curie Research Individual Fellowship in 2016, and he had successfully accomplished the project at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Brighton (UK) from 2016 to 2018. Since 2018 he is a Senior Researcher in Sensor Group at Aarhus University (Denmark). His research interest in preparation of scaffolds for water purification from toxic pollutants and for regenerative medicine for example the study the differentiation of stem cells into osteoblasts within a novel biocompatible scaffold with immobilized growth factor. He designed cryogels preparation based on noncovalent interactions: Polyelectrolyte complexes; self-assembly of Fmoc-diphenylalanine under cryoconditions; scaffolds based on non-covalent interactions such as metal-polymer coordinated complexes etc.; enzymatically cross-linked proteins under cryoconditions, stimuli-responsive cryogels.
Abstract:
Bone regeneration is one of the most actively researched fields of regenerative medicine and bone fractures are the most common injuries of all large organs, especially in the aging population. Critical size defects require large-scale surgical interventions and auto-grafting is accepted as the gold standard treatment due to its osteogenic, osteoconductive and osteoinductive potentials. Issues such as a shortage of allografts, rejection issues and associated pain and morbidity from autografts require the development of alternative tissue engineering approaches that combine the principles of engineering and biology to create biomaterials, which are able to mimic or regenerate functionally active tissues. In this study a variety of natural polymer-based macroporous materials (biomaterials) were developed. Cryogels composed of chitosan (CHI), hydroxyapatite (HA), heparin (Hep) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were prepared cross-linked by glutaraldehyde (GA) and treated with glycine. Addition of PVA into the reaction mixture slowed down the formation of a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) between chitosan and heparin, allowing proper mixing, and producing to homogeneous preparation. Freezing of the CHI-HA-GA and PVA-Hep-GA mixture led to the formation of a non-stoichiometric PEC between opposite charged groups of CHI and Hep, which makes further efficient immobilization of bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP-2) possible, due to electrostatic interactions. It was shown that the obtained cryogel matrix, loaded with BMP-2, stimulates the differentiation of rat BMSCs into the osteogenic lineage. Rat BMSCs attach to cryogel loaded with BMP-2 and express osteocalcin in vitro. Obtained composite cryogel with PEC may have a high potential for bone regeneration applications. In our future work, we plan to demonstrate the clinical efficacy of prepared cryogel for bone regeneration in an animal model. The following work is devoted to exploration of similar PEC and other biocompatible scaffolds for efficient attachment, migration and differentiation of BMSCs into chondrocytes for efficient regeneration of intervertebral disc.
Keynote Forum
Ray M Merrill
Brigham Young University, USA
Keynote: Ecological evidence for lower risk of lymphoma with greater exposure to sunlight and higher altitude
Time : 10:45-11:15
Biography:
Ray M Merrill received his academic training in statistics and public health. He is a former Cancer Prevention Fellow at the National Cancer Institute, USA, and current fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and the American Academy of Helath Behavior. He is now a professor in the Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University. He has won various awards for his research. He is the author of more than 280 peer-reviewed publications, including text books titled Environmental Epidemiology, Reproductive Epidemiology, Principles of Epidemiology Workbook, Fundamentals of Epidemiology and Biostatics, Behavioral Epidemiology, Statistical Methods in Epidemiologic Research, Introduction to Epidemiology, and Fundamental Mathematics for Epidemiology Study.
Abstract:
Introduction: Sunlight exposure may influence vitamin D-related immune modulation and motility of T lymphocytes, thereby impacting Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Altitude may also be associated with these cancers through an oxygen-related mechanism or radiation hormesis.
Methods: An ecological study design was used, with county-level lymphoma, sunlight, altitude, urban residency, poverty, smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity data for 16 cancer registries (607 counties) in the contiguous United States, 2012-2016.
Results: Higher rates of Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL are associated with being male, older and white or black for NHL. Tobacco smoking, urban residency, obesity, and physical inactivity are not associated with these cancers. Both increased sunlight exposure and higher altitude are independently associated with lower rates of Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL, after adjusting for age, sex, and race. The inverse association between sunlight and Hodgkin lymphoma is only in the lower altitudes. The inverse association between sunlight and NHL is more pronounced with higher altitude.
Conclusion: Greater sunlight exposure and higher altitude are independently associated with lower rates of Hodgkin lymphoma and NHL. The inverse associations are dependent on altitude, with the relationship only in lower altitudes for Hodgkin lymphoma and more pronounced in higher altitude for NHL.
Keynote Forum
Valdis Folkmanis
University of Latvia, Latvia
Keynote: Psychomotor function of children with autistic spectrum disorder – is a progress possible in six months period?
Biography:
Valdis Folkmanis holds a position of professor a dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Latvia. His scientific work is related to Montessori therapeutic methods with specific interests on the effect of different methods of therapy on improvement of life skills of children with Autism spectrum disorders. He is a founder of the Centre of Social Pediatrics in Riga, Latvia, and serves a director of this center for more than fifteen years. He is an author of multiple publications in scientific journals and participated with presentations at different international medical conferences and congresses.
Abstract:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis that describes a social communication deficits and repetitive sensorymotor behaviours. The effect of different kinds of therapies in the case of ASD is proposed but not fully proven, and scientific evidence is controversial. In this study we aimed to investigate progress in psychomotor function of children with ASD that participated in different kinds of therapies. The study sample consisted of 100 children 2-5 years old that attended the Children Clinical University Hospital and the Social Paediatrics Centre of the University of Latvia at 2013-2015. After initial assessment of psychomotor function by child’s physician, children participated in different kinds of therapies or did not participate in any therapy, according to decision of their parents. The second assessment was performed 6-8 months after the baseline examination. Multiple logistic regression models adjusted for age, compliance of development to age norms, and initial diagnosis of a child were built for the association between attendance of therapies and improvement of psychomotor functions. In fully adjusted multiple logistic regression models, participation in any kind of the therapy was significantly associated with improvement of some or all psychomotor functions. For example, Montessori therapy was especially effective for improvement of hearing and fine motor skills (odds ratio, OR=19.3 [95% confidence interval, CI 1,7; 221.1], and OR=3.8 [2.81; 757.0], respectively). To conclude: Attending a therapy is essential for children with ASD, but specific type of a therapy should be matched to the needs of each child individually