Trachea

Summary

The trachea (: tracheae or tracheas), also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all animals with lungs. The trachea extends from the larynx and branches into the two primary bronchi. At the top of the trachea the cricoid cartilage attaches it to the larynx. The trachea is formed by a number of horseshoe-shaped rings, joined together vertically by overlying ligaments, and by the trachealis muscle at their ends. The epiglottis closes the opening to the larynx during swallowing. The trachea begins to form in the second month of embryo development, becoming longer and more fixed in its position over time. It is epithelium lined with column-shaped cells that have hair-like extensions called cilia, with scattered goblet cells that produce protective mucins. The trachea can be affected by inflammation or infection, usually as a result of a viral illness affecting other pa

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachea

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Influence of TECK on chondrocyte differentiation

Benjamin David

Nowadays, cartilage repair is a worldwide centre of interest due to the low potential of cartilage to heal spontaneously and the increasing number of patients around the world. One of the techniques to treat cartilage defect is to use autologous human serum in cell-free implants to recruit chondrocytes. However, the serum is variable in its quality and therefore the chemokine TECK might be used as a reliable bioactive pharmaceutical component to recruit chondrocytes in cartilage regeneration techniques. In this study, the influence of the chemokine TECK on chondrocytes re-differentiation was studied during early chondrogenesis. So, high-density pellets were formed from three donors and cultivated for two and four days in three different concentrations of TECK, 0 [nM], 10 [nM] and 1000 [nM]. The high-density pellets were compared and analyzed at the protein and mRNA levels. Indeed, proteoglycans and type II collagen were stained to reveal the production of these two essential markers of chondrogenesis and RT-PCR was performed to evaluate the mRNA expression levels of various genes, type II collagen, type IX collagen, aggrecan, Sox 9, COMP, MMP 13 and Timp 1-2. It resulted that chondrocytes of two out of three donors showed a potential to re-differentatiate. In fact, these two donors increased their productions of proteolycans and type II collagen between day two and day four, a lapse of time considered as early chondrogenesis. These results were confirmed by the mRNA expression levels, which indicated increases of the expression levels in type II collagen, type IX collagen, aggrecan and Sox 9. Thus, the chemokine TECK showed no evidence that it modified the behaviours of chondrocytes in high-density pellets during the first four days. So, TECK might be a reliable bioactive pharmaceutical component to recruit chondrocytes in order to regenerate cartilage in the future

2010

Adult Drosophila Lack Hematopoiesis but Rely on a Blood Cell Reservoir at the Respiratory Epithelia to Relay Infection Signals to Surrounding Tissues

Bruno Lemaitre, Elodie Julie Virginie Ramond

The use of adult Drosophila melanogaster as a model for hematopoiesis or organismal immunity has been debated. Addressing this question, we identify an extensive reservoir of blood cells (hemocytes) at the respiratory epithelia (tracheal air sacs) of the thorax and head. Lineage tracing and functional analyses demonstrate that the majority of adult hemocytes are phagocytic macrophages (plasmatocytes) from the embryonic lineage that parallels vertebrate tissue macrophages. Surprisingly, we find no sign of adult hemocyte expansion. Instead, hemocytes play a role in relaying an innate immune response to the blood cell reservoir: through Mid signaling and the Jak/Stat pathway ligand Upd3, hemocytes act as sentinels of bacterial infection, inducing expression of the antimicrobial peptide Drosocin in respiratory epithelia and colocalizing fat body domains. Drosocin expression in turn promotes animal survival after infection. Our work identifies a multisignal relay of organismal humoral immunity, establishing adult Drosophila as model for inter-organ immunity.

CELL PRESS2019