384 results about "Cell function" patented technology

File system cells are linked together to form a meta file system that appears to a user or application program to be a single file system. Each file system cell may have a conventional file system format, and can be indistinguishable from a conventional file system except for information, such as directory entry attributes, indicating one or more links to other file system cells. These external links may include direct links that are hidden from the user or application program and define a hierarchy of the meta file system cells, and indirect links that appear in the user-visible file system. The meta file system substantially reduces crash recovery time because each file system cell functions as a consistency unit that can be repaired only if needed. The meta file system also permits the file system cells to be accessed concurrently by multiple processors in a file server.

Medical devices with polymer coatings designed to control the release of angiotensin-(1-7) receptor agonists from medical devices are disclosed. The present application also discloses providing vascular stents with angiotensin-(1-7) receptor agonist-containing controlled-release coatings. Methods for treating or inhibiting post-stent implantation restenosis as well as improving vascular endothelial function in patients are also provided.

The invention features modular chambers for culturing cells in which the volume of a chamber can be adjusted without compromising the seal or sterility of the chamber. The invention is based on the principle that the volume of a chamber formed between two plates sandwiching a compressible gasket and a substantially incompressible stop can be adjusted using a gasket that forms a fluid-tight seal between the plates at a plurality of levels of compression. The invention enables the culture of cells between substantially parallel and rigid plates in which a relatively large volume can be used to seed the cells and the holdup volume reduced for perfusion without opening or otherwise disassembling the system to compromise its liquidtightness and sterility. The new closed, modular and scalable cell-culturing chamber can be thus perfused and used to culture cells (e.g., hepatocytes) with high levels of cell function in organ (e.g., liver) assist systems, for production of cells, for production of cell-derived products, such as proteins or viruses, or for systems to treat biological liquids to remove toxins, such as ammonia, add cell-synthesized products, or both.

Methods for inducing calcium mobilization in cells through the application of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (“nsPEFs”) are provided. The invention also provides a method of increasing intracellular calcium in cells through the application of nsPEFs. In one embodiment of the invention, the cells are human platelets, whereby activation and aggregation of the platelets is induced. Methods for treating an injury, trauma, or loss of blood in a subject, through the application of nsPEFs are also provided.

The invention discloses a hematopoietic stem cell culture medium and its application and a stem cell cultivation method based on the hematopoietic stem cell culture medium. The hematopoietic stem cell culture medium is made from amino acids, vitamins, salts, fats, phaseolin polypeptide and cytokines, with one or any of trace elements, organic small molecules, hematopoietic stem cell proliferator, plant extract and animal extract; the hematopoietic stem cell culture medium can quickly proliferate CD34+ cells different in species, and proliferating speed and telomere length of the CD34+ cells is evidently increased; hematopoietic stem cells cultivated via the hematopoietic stem cell culture medium have constant good cell functions, the hematopoietic stem cell culture medium has the functions, including, but not limited to, anticancer action, anti-ageing action and life prolonging, and has promising application prospect.

This invention focuses on the marriage of solid-state electronics and neuronal function to create a new high-throughput electrophysiological assay to determine a compound's acute and chronic effect on cellular function. Electronics, surface chemistry, biotechnology, and fundamental neuroscience are integrated to provide an assay where the reporter element is an array of electrically active cells. This innovative technology can be applied to neurotoxicity, and to screening compounds from combinatorial chemistry, gene function analysis, and basic neuroscience applications. The system of the invention analyzes how the action potential is interrupted by drugs or toxins. Differences in the action potentials are due to individual toxins acting on different biochemical pathways, which in turn affects different ion channels, thereby changing the peak shape of the action potential differently for each toxin. Algorithms to analyze the action potential peak shape differences are used to indicate the pathway(s) affected by the presence of a new drug or compound; from that, aspects of its function in that cell are deduced. This observation can be exploited to determine the functional category of biochemical action of an unknown compound. An important aspect of the invention is surface chemistry that permits establishment of a high impedance seal between cell and a metal microelectrode. This seal recreates the interface that enables functional patch-clamp electrophysiology with glass micropipettes, and allows extracellular electrophysiology on a microelectrode array. Thus, the invention teaches the feasibility of using living cells as diagnostics for high throughput real-time assays of cell function.