Berkeley Scientific Journal

A new approach to whole-scale organ engineering is the seeding of stem cells upon a decellularized scaffold of a desired organ. Current efforts seek to use this method for whole-scale organ engineering. Here, we report a novel decellularizationrecellularization approach to engineering a human colonic graft with human enterocytes and xenogeneic scaffold. Porcine colon tissue was decellularized with protein-solubilizing agents and recellularized by incubation with Caco-2. Immunohistochemistry, DNA staining, and SEM were used to study the effects upon the scaffold. Exposure to 2%SDS-0.5%Triton solution for four hours resulted in the best decellularization and preservation of microstructure, while tissues treated with 2%SDS-0.5%Triton and 0.05%Trypsin/EDTA supported the best recellularization. Our method provides a potential strategy for streamlined regeneration of a viable colonic lumen from xenogeneic and allogeneic sources while maintaining colon microstructure and potential for recellularization.

Current climate conditions and anthropogenic activities have resulted in coral cover homogenization, reef structural complexity simplifications, prey item decline. Recognizing changes in shape, especially in a visually-dominant organism, can assist in dealing with these reef structure changes and prey availability loss. I examined the ability of two stomatopod species: Haptosquilla trispinosa and Pseudosquilla ciliata to learn to distinguish between a circle and a square, using simple food conditioning techniques for 30 days and 15 days, respectively, including a priming period of 10 days per group. Both H. trispinosa and P. ciliata groups were conditioned to the circle. Each group had four individuals. H. trispinosa’s total number of responses decreased over time, with an increase in correct responses and decrease in incorrect responses. This trend indicates the presence of shape discrimination learning as well as test learning. P. ciliata had a higher percentage of correct responses across all time blocks in comparison to H. trispinosa due to their differing predator tactics. P. ciliata are spearers, ambush predators that rely on quick information intake to surprise prey, while H. trispinosa are smashers, foraging predators that depend on repetitive impacting motions to stun/ kill prey. More behavioral studies need to be conducted to assess the stomatopod’s ability to cope with current environmental conditions, but there is clear visual discriminatory learning capability in this organism that can assist in flexible adaptations.