Cell encapsulation unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated unit). It is derived from the N-deacetylation of chitin and has been used for several applications such as drug delivery, space-filling implants and in wound dressings. However, one drawback of this polymer is its weak mechanical properties and is thus often combined with other polymers such collagen to form a polymer with stronger mechanical properties for cell encapsulation applications. Agarose is a polysaccharide derived from seaweed used for nanoencapsulation of cells and the cell/agarose suspension can be modified to form microbeads by reducing the temperature during preparation. However, one drawback with the microbeads so obtained is
Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor Vitamin D potently induces GDNF expression. Exposure of dopaminergic-like cell line to Ibogaine HCl results in an increase in GDNF mRNA, leading to protein expression and to the corresponding activation of the GDNF signaling pathway. This, in turn, leads to a further increase in the mRNA level of the growth factor through a feed-back loop. It was also found that ibogaine metabolite, noribogaine, also possess the ability to increase GDNF levels. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor Glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the "GDNF" gene. GDNF is a small protein that potently