Human and mouse embryonic stem cells (HESCs and MESCs, respectively) self-renew indefinitely while maintaining the ability to generate all three germ-layer derivatives. Despite the importance of ESCs in developmental biology and their potential impact on tissue replacement therapy, the molecular mechanism underlying ESC self-renewal is poorly understood. Here we show that activation of the canonical Wnt pathway is sufficient to maintain self-renewal of both HESCs and MESCs. Although Stat-3 signaling is involved in MESC self-renewal, stimulation of this pathway does not support self-renewal of HESCs. Instead we find that Wnt pathway activation by 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO), a specific pharmacological inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), maintains the undifferentiated phenotype in both types of ESCs and sustains expression of the pluripotent state-specific transcription factors Oct-3/4, Rex-1 and Nanog. Wnt signaling is endogenously activated in undifferentiated MESCs and is downregulated upon differentiation. In addition, BIO-mediated Wnt activation is functionally reversible, as withdrawal of the compound leads to normal multidifferentiation programs in both HESCs and MESCs. These results suggest that the use of GSK-3-specific inhibitors such as BIO may have practical applications in regenerative medicine.

Epidemiological studies suggest that the incidence of CVD and postmenopausal osteoporosis is low in the Mediterranean area, where herbs and nuts, among others, play an important role in nutrition. In the present study, we sought a role of walnuts (Juglans regia L.) in endothelial and bonecell function. As the endothelial cell expression of adhesion molecules has been recognised as an early step in inflammation and atherogenesis, we examined the effect of walnut methanolic extract and ellagic acid, one of its major polyphenolic components (as shown by HPLC analysis), on the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 and intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 in human aortic endothelial cells. After incubating the cells with TNF-a (1 ng/ml) in the absence and in the presence of walnut extract (10-200 mg/ml) or ellagic acid (10 27 -10 25 M), the VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression was quantified by cell-ELISA. We further evaluated the effect of walnut extract (10 -50 mg/ml), in comparison with ellagic acid (10 29 -10 26 M), on nodule formation in the osteoblastic cell line KS483.Walnut extract and ellagic acid decreased significantly the TNF-a-induced endothelial expression of both VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 (P, 0·01; P,0·001). Both walnut extract (at 10-25 mg/ml) and ellagic acid (at 10 29 -10 28 M) induced nodule formation in KS483 osteoblasts. The present results suggest that the walnut extract has a high anti-atherogenic potential and a remarkable osteoblastic activity, an effect mediated, at least in part, by its major component ellagic acid. Such findings implicate the beneficial effect of a walnut-enriched diet on cardioprotection and bone loss.

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Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is persistently activated and contributes to malignant progression in various cancers. Janus kinases (JAKs) phosphorylate STAT3 in response to stimulation with cytokines or growth factors. The STAT3 signaling pathway has been validated as a promising target for development of anti-cancer therapeutics. Small-molecule inhibitors of JAK/STAT3 signaling represent potential molecular-targeted cancer therapeutic agents. In this study, we investigated the role of JAK/STAT3 signaling in 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (6BIO) mediated growth inhibition of human melanoma cells and assessed 6BIO as an anticancer drug candidate. We found that 6BIO is a pan-JAK inhibitor that induced apoptosis of human melanoma cells. 6BIO directly inhibited JAK family kinase activity both in vitro and in cancer cells. Apoptosis of human melanoma cells induced by 6BIO was associated with reduced phosphorylation of JAKs and STAT3 in both a dose- and time-dependent manners. Consistent with inhibition of STAT3 signaling, the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 was down-regulated. In contrast to the decreased levels of phosphorylation of JAKs and STAT3, phosphorylation levels of the AKT and MAPK signaling proteins were not inhibited in cells treated with 6BIO. Importantly, 6BIO suppressed tumor growth in vivo with low toxicity in a mouse xenograft model of melanoma. Taken together, these results demonstrate that 6BIO is a novel pan-JAK inhibitor that can selectively inhibit STAT3 signaling and induced tumor cell apoptosis. Our findings support further development of 6BIO as a potential anti-cancer therapeutic agent that targets JAK/STAT3 signaling in tumor cells.