This review provides a detailed survey of the latest knowledge on the use, effectiveness and limitations of various tissue engineering techniques for reconstruction of the urethra, urinary bladder, ureters and kidneys. Given the number of urinary tract diseases, which require repair or replacement of the tissue or organ, the techniques of tissue engineering are also gaining importance in regenerative medicine of the urinary tract. A number of animal studies and several clinical studies have shown that it is possible to reconstruct urinary tract tissues and organs using tissue engineering.
D.10 Educational activities
COBISS.SI-ID: 30240217Presented book is the first textbook in the field of cell biology in Slovenian language. The main topic of the book describes the cell structure, the processes that take place in a cell and the principles of genetics. Besides describing the basic mechanisms of cell functioning examples of illnesses are included where these mechanisms are ill functioned. The textbook was written on the basis of many decades of research work and teaching experiences of authors in the field of cell biology.
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COBISS.SI-ID: 262994688Cell junctions are a distinct kind of plasma membrane domains specialized in cellular connections to their environment and in intercellular communication. Their transmembrane proteins associate with cytosolic proteins and the cyto- skeleton, forming a complex multiprotein structure which is considered to be mechanically stable. The lipid component of cell junctions has long been neglected but was recently discovered to often express a typical membrane raft structure. The main characteristic of membrane domains determined as membrane rafts is to contain enriched proportion of cholesterol and sphingo- lipids and have capacity to dynamically organize specific membrane proteins. The general property of membrane rafts is to concentrate molecules which enable these domains to perform versatile functions as facilitating signal trans- duction, pathogen entry into the cell, protein trafficking, and lately discovered cell adhesion. In this chapter, we emphasize the role of membrane rafts for the structure and function of cell junctions.
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COBISS.SI-ID: 29897433In the study material, the content of the course Cell cultures in research and regenerative medicine is presented in writing and lectures. The material is equipped with images; the recommended literature is also added. The course offers a detailed insight into the latest standards and guidelines in the field of cell and tissue cultures and regenerative medicine. Students acquire the experimental approaches used to prepare different types of cell cultures, to use appropriate biomaterials, culture media. They learn the cell-biological approaches to study the cells and the methods of preparing high-quality, safe and effective cell products for use in regenerative medicine.
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COBISS.SI-ID: 3559444Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide mainly used as an absorption enhancer for various pharmaceutics. The high density of positive charge on a chitosan molecule enables it to attach to the plasma membrane of most epithelial cells.Intravesical application of chitosan to urinary bladder recently revealed a destructive effect of this polysaccharide on superficial terminallydifferentiated epithelial cells, possibly due to the very specific structure of the apical membrane in these cells. This discovery broadens the application of chitosan to studies of urinary bladder regeneration mechanisms and indicates new possibilities for treating chronic bacterial cystitis and the removal of superficial urothelial tumors. Due to the chemical similarity of chitosan to aminoglycan molecules of proteoglycans in extracellular matrix,this molecule is widely used as a scaffolding material in tissue engineering for the needs of reconstructive medicine. No toxic effects were found after the application of chitosan in tissue engineering indicating for different effects on cell membranes after apical and basolateral application. This chapter presents current understanding of the effects of chitosan on plasma membrane in the most common described applications of this biopolymer.
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COBISS.SI-ID: 30073305