Abstract: This invention relates to biomineral-based cements incorporating biopolymer carriers for the site specific introduction of natural or synthetic compounds that influence bone repair and/or patient recovery. The invention further relates to methods for producing such biphasic calcium phosphate cements for drug delivery.

Abstract: The present invention provides compositions comprising isolated elastin and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier wherein the human elastin is substantially insoluble in water with a molecular weight greater than 100 kDa. The present invention further provides methods and kits for soft tissue augmentation.

Abstract: This invention is drawn to methods of using peptide-based antagonists of TGF-beta to facilitate the healing of cutaneous wounds that includes burns, lacerations and scrapes. The administration of peptide TGF-beta antagonists to wounds results in reduced scarring, wound contraction and deposition of extracellular matrix components, and increased rates of reepithelialization during wound healing.

Abstract: Synthetic oxysterols can be made and can be used for the treatment of bone disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disorders, and neurological disorders.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods for treating disorders arising from hypogonadism, rheumatoid cachexia, cachexia due to burns, cachexia due to administration of chemical agents, cachexia due to diabetes, diabetic nephropathy, Prader Willi syndrome, excessive TNF-?, and other muscle-related, metabolic and inflammatory disorders by administering myostatin antagonists to subjects suffering from such disorders.

Abstract: The invention relates to a material for wound healing and skin reconstruction containing a peptide, wherein the peptide is a self-assembling peptide which is an amphiphilic peptide having 8 to 200 amino acid residues with periodic repeats of alternating hydrophilic amino acids and hydrophobic amino acids, and forms a stable ?-sheet structure in an aqueous solution in the presence of a monovalent ion. The material for wound healing and skin reconstruction of the present invention is capable of healing a wound area of mammals quicker than spontaneous recovery without leaving any scars, wherein the material has no potential risk of infectious disease such as virus transmission.

Abstract: The methods and compositions of this invention provide a means of regenerating injured musculoskeletal tissue by inhibition of myostatin function. The invention provides methods of treating a nonunion fracture in an individual comprising delivering to the fracture via a delivery system comprising biodegradable hydrogel, a pharmacological amount of myostatin propeptide effective to inhibit myostatin function. The invention also teaches compositions useful for the treatment of non-union fracture in an individual, said compositions comprising a pharmacological amount of myostatin propeptide effective to inhibit myostatin function; and a delivery system for delivering said myostatin propeptide to said fracture, wherein the delivery system comprises a biodegradable hydrogel or biodegradable nanobeads.

Abstract: The present invention provides for a composition, for augmentation and regeneration of living tissue in a subject, comprising a population of porous microparticles of a biodegradable polymer, one or more mammalian cell populations, and optionally, a biocompatible adhesive.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for prophylaxis and therapy of infectious diseases caused by microorganisms present in biofilms adherent to cell surfaces comprising the step of administering to an individual in need thereof a composition comprising a combination of at least one compound chosen from the group of peroxidase, lactoferrin, lactoferrin peptides, lysozyme and immunoglobulins and at least one growth factor.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for preparing poloxamer-protein particles. It also relates to poloxamer-protein particles obtainable by this method, dispersion thereof, and their use in methods of encapsulation, in particular of microencapsulation.

Abstract: In certain aspects, the present invention provides compositions and methods for increasing thermogenic adipocytes (e.g., brown adipocytes or other UCP-1 expressing adipocytes) by administering an antagonist of an ActRIIB signaling pathway. Examples of such antagonists include ActRIIB polypeptides, anti-ActRIIB antibodies, anti-myostatin antibodies, anti-GDF3 antibodies, anti-Nodal, anti-activin, and anti-GDF11 antibodies. A variety of metabolic and other disorders may be treated by causing an increase in thermogenic adipocytes.

Abstract: Fibrosis arises as part of a wound healing response that maintains organ integrity following catastrophic tissue damage, but can also contribute to a variety of human pathologies, including liver cirrhosis. The invention demonstrates that cellular senescence acts to limit the fibrogenic response to tissue damage, thereby establishing a role for the senescence program in pathophysiological settings beyond cancer. Accordingly, the methods of the invention relate to modulating cellular senescence in disease tissue that have elevated numbers of senescent cells, such as in fibrotic tissues.

Abstract: Described, in certain aspects of the invention, are multilaminate medical graft products, as well as methods for preparing and using the same. An illustrative multilaminate medical graft product of the invention comprises a first layer of remodelable extracellular matrix (ECM) material bonded to a second layer of remodelable ECM material, wherein the first material layer is enriched with a growth factor relative to the second material layer. Such a remodelable ECM material may be comprised of submucosa from a warm-blooded vertebrate, for example, porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS).

Abstract: The present disclosure relates, according to some embodiments, to the ability of SAP to suppress the differentiation of monocytes into fibrocytes. It also relates to the ability of IL-4 and IL-3 to enhance the differentiation of monocytes into fibrocytes. Methods and compositions for binding SAP, decreasing SAP levels and suppressing SAP activity are provided. Methods of using, inter alia, CPHPC, the 4,6-pyruvate acetyl of beta-D-galactopyranose, ethanolamines, high EEO agarose, IL-4, and IL-13, and anti-SAP antibodies and fragments thereof to increase monocyte differentiation into fibrocytes are provided. These methods are useful in a variety of applications, including wound healing. Wound dressings are also provided. Finally, the disclosure may include assays for detecting the ability of various agents to modulate monocyte differentiation into fibrocytes and to detect monocyte defects.

Abstract: A device and technique for the performance of distraction osteogenesis of bone with controlled drug delivery using a bead chain consisting of two bands and a series of drug delivery capsules placed in a precise manner such that the relative motion of the bone segments brings the wires, pins, or screws into contact with the capsules and divides them. This action sequentially delivers the drug to the distraction zone throughout the distraction osteogenesis process.

Abstract: Bioactive molecules are entrapped within a matrix for the controlled delivery of these compounds for therapeutic healing applications. The matrix may be formed of natural or synthetic compounds. The primary method of entrapment of the bioactive molecule is through precipitation of the bioactive molecule during gelation of the matrix, either in vitro or in vivo. The bioactive molecule may be modified to reduce its effective solubility in the matrix to retain it more effectively within the matrix, such as through the deglycosylation of members within the cystine knot growth factor superfamily and particularly within the TGF? superfamily. The matrix may be modified to include sites with binding affinity for different bioactive molecules, for example, for heparin binding.

Abstract: The present application relates to methods for the treatment of eczema and uses of a dairy-derived composition. The treatment involves oral administration of 800 mg/day of a composition comprising TGF-?1, TGF-?2, IGF-1 and 60% (w/w) beta-lactoglobulin derived from whey.

Abstract: Mixtures, such as gels or pastes, comprising freeze-milled cartilage particles and exogenous growth factors are used for repairing chondral defects. Such mixtures may be applied to constructs comprising cancellous bone for implantation at the defect site. Suitable growth factors include variants of FGF-2, particularly variants that include a sole amino acid substitution for asparagine at amino acid 111 of the ?8-?9 loop of the FGF-2 peptide. Such FGF-2 variants are released slowly and continuously at a constant rate from cartilage pastes. In other embodiments, the amino acid substituted for asparigine is glycine. Other variants that may be used include FGF-9 variants having truncated chains and a sole amino acid substitution in the ?8-?9 loop of the FGF-9 peptide either for tryptophan at amino acid 144 or for asparagine at amino acid 143.

Abstract: The invention provides compositions comprising one or more isolated factors from a microenvironment of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), including, but not limited to, Lefty and inhibitors of Nodal. The invention also provides methods of utilizing factors derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and their microenvironment to treat and prevent tumor formation and progression and to inhibit tumor cell aggressiveness. The invention further provides methods of inhibiting tumor cell growth and/or treating aggressive tumors in a mammal comprising administering to the mammal, having at least one tumor cell present in its body, an effective amount of an inhibitor of Nodal activity.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are novel peptide amphiphile molecules and compositions composed of a peptide sequence that non-covalently binds the growth factor TGF-?1. Also disclosed are methods of using these peptide amphiphiles to create a gel scaffold in situ that enhances articular cartilage regeneration when used in combination with microfracture. Significant improvement in tissue quality and overall O'Driscoll histological scores were observed in rabbits with full thickness articular cartilage defects treated with the TGF-binding peptide amphiphile. The gel can further serve as a delivery vehicle for recombinant TGF-?1 protein growth factor. Scaffolds that localize and retain chondrogenic growth factors may synergistically enhance cartilage repair when combined with microfracture, by inducing bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells into chondrogenic differentiation. This invention represents a promising new biomimetic approach to enhance current techniques of articular cartilage regeneration in the clinical setting.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for producing a non human animal model for aortic aneurysm which could provide insight into the diagnosis and treatment of said disease. Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods and compositions for the treatment or the prevention of aneurysm in a subject in need thereof.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are aptamers that comprise a nucleic acid sequence that has a specific affinity for a target. These aptamers can be used as delivery vehicles to deliver specific agents to particular sites. Alternatively, targeted aptamers can also be used with detection techniques to determine the presence of absence of specific targets in heterogeneous backgrounds.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and compositions for modulating skin pigmentation.

Abstract: The invention relates to the use of cyclic Prolyl Glycine (“cyclic PG” or “cPG”) and analogs and mimetic s thereof, as neuroprotective agents for the treatment and or prevention of neurological disorders including but not limited to cerebral ischemia or cerebral infarction resulting from a range of phenomena, such as thromboembolic or hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral basospasms, hypoglycemia, cardiac arrest, status epilepticus, perinatal asphyxia, anoxia such as from drowning, pulmonary surgery, and cerebral trauma, as well as to the treatment and prevention of chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease, and as anticonvulsants.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an immunoregulating agent comprising a peptide, a pharmaceutical composition and a method of preventing or treating immune-related disorder such as sever sepsis or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and the use of peptide for anti-inflammatory agent, an antibacterial agent, or an inhibiting agent of an immune cell apoptosis.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for sustained release of a pharmaceutically active compound, the composition comprising a vesicular phospholipid gel. More particularly, the invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one proteinaceous substance as the pharmaceutically active compound in encapsulated form, the at least one proteinaceous substance being a biologically active protein, peptide or polypeptide. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for the production of said pharmaceutical composition comprising dual asymmetric centrifugation and to the use of said pharmaceutical composition for immunotherapy and/or for stimulating selective tissue regeneration in the treatment of surgical defects in the course of surgical interventions.