The extracellular matrix is produced by the resident cells in tissues and organs, and secreted into the surrounding medium to provide biophysical and biochemical support to the surrounding cells due to its content of diverse bioactive molecules. Recently, the extracellular matrix has been used as a promising approach for tissue engineering. Emerging studies demonstrate that extracellular matrix scaffolds are able to create a favorable regenerative microenvironment, promote tissue-specific remodeling, and act as an inductive template for the repair and functional reconstruction of skin, bone, nerve, heart, lung, liver, kidney, small intestine, and other organs. In the current review, we will provide a critical overview of the structure and function of various types of extracellular matrix, the construction of three-dimensional extracellular matrix scaffolds, and their tissue engineering applications, with a focus on translation of these novel tissue engineered products to the clinic. We will also present an outlook on future perspectives of the extracellular matrix in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Adult neurogenesis in rodents has been extensively studied. Here, we briefly summarize the studies of adult neurogenesis based on non-human primate brains and human postmortem brain samples in recent decades. The differences between rodent, primate and human neurogenesis are discussed. We conclude that these differences may contribute to distinct physiological roles and the self-repair mechanisms in the brain across species.
The Olfactory system serves more than just sensory function. The detection of chemosensory cues in the environment can trigger different emotional and social responses. A recent study described a juvenile mice pheromone that suppresses sexual behavior from other adult mice, through the activation of the vomeronasal-accessory olfactory system and the medial amygdala neural pathways.Keywords Olfactory . Pheromone . Mice . Vomeronasal organ . Sexual behavior Children cry for pain, fear, hunger, or when aggressed. The crying sound and facial expression are important approaches in social communication for help or self-expression. In addition, the emotional tears from women contain chemosignals that suppress the sexual arousal of men and decrease the testosterone levels (Gelstein et al. 2011;Oh et al. 2012), suggesting the role of tears in chemical communication. In one recent study, Ferrero et al. for the first time described a pheromone molecule that might be responsible for similar action in juvenile mice tears, which suppresses the sexual behavior from other adult mice through the activation of their vomeronasal system (Ferrero et al. 2013). The mammalian olfactory system mainly contains the main olfactory system and the accessory olfactory system (Loseva et al. 2009). The main olfactory system perceives volatile olfactory stimuli, while the accessory olfactory system detects fluid-phase stimuli, including pheromones through the vomeronasal organ (VO) in rodents. The central part of the accessory olfactory system is the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), which projects to the amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), controlling aggression and mating behaviors (Shipley and Ennis 1996). Olfactory system serves more than sensory function; it participates into many aspects of brain functions such as emotion regulation and social behaviors (Yuan and Slotnick 2014).In the present study, Ferrero et al. screened potential mouse pheromones and identified exocrine gland-secreting peptide 22 (ESP22) expression restricted to the juvenile period (2-4 weeks old) and high in lacrimal glands. The authors found that the ESP22 is secreted by acinar cells into tears and evoked electrophysiological responses in both field/ grouped and single-unit recordings from vomeronasal sensory neurons but not the main olfactory epithelium, through the activation of the transient receptor potential C2 (TRPC2) channel. This further led to the expression of immediate early genes (cFos) in medial amygdala (MeA), which then projects to the hypothalamus that controls mating behaviors. However, the "fear" pathway here is different to those activated by predator odors, such as TMT. Interestingly, the juvenile mice naturally lacking EPS22 production suffered from "pedophile" attack of the adult mice, which did not occur to the wild-type animals; further, the TRPC2 knockout (KO) adult mice demonstrated "pedophile" behaviors-exhibiting increased sexual behaviors towards juveniles. Interestingly, a tiny amount of ESP22 painted onto the ESP22 KO ...
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