Ultrasound contrast-enhanced imaging can convey essential quantitative information regarding tissue vascularity and perfusion and, in targeted applications, facilitate the detection and measure of vascular biomarkers at the molecular level. Within the …

PURPOSE: Decreased expression of elastin results in smaller, less compliant arteries and high blood pressure. In mice, these differences become more significant with postnatal development. It is known that arterial size and compliance directly affect …

Murine models have been utilized with increasing frequency mainly due to availability of genetically engineered models. With advancement in high spatial and temporal resolution, echocardiography is used extensively for the evaluation of cardiovascular …

The primary graft-related complication during the first clinical trial evaluating the use of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) was stenosis. We investigated the role of macrophages in the formation of TEVG stenosis in a murine model. We analyzed …

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common form of muscular dystrophy. DMD pa- tients lack dystrophin protein and develop skeletal muscle pathology and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Approximately 20% succumb to cardiac involvement.Wehypothesized …

Neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) give rise to the neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). NCSC-like cells can be isolated from multiple peripheral organs and maintained in neurosphere culture. Combining in vitro culture and …

Somatic stem cells are reservoirs to replace lost cells or damaged tissue. Cells with neural stem cell (NSC) characteristics can be isolated from the postnatal mammalian brain into adulthood and expanded as neurospheres. We addressed the ability of these …

Open-chest cardiac injection is the preferred delivery method for cardiac gene and stem cell therapy in small animals, but it is invasive and the operator is unable to see the actual delivery site. High-resolution ultrasound has recently been developed …

The mouse is an important model for the development of therapeutic stem cell/bone marrow cell implantation to treat ischemic myocardium. However, its small heart size hampers accurate implantation into the left ventricular (LV) wall. Precise injections …

We compared therapeutic benefits of intramyocardial injection of unfractionated bone marrow cells (BMCs) versus BMC extract as treatments for myocardial infarction (MI), using closed-chest ultrasound-guided injection at a clinically relevant time post-MI. …