We detected a specific hiPSCs microRNAs signature during differentiation into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated that differentially expressed microRNAs target several genes involved in pancreas organogenesis.
The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliant procedure for the preparation of bone marrow (BM) derived CD133+ cells for cardiovascular repair. Starting from available laboratory protocols to purify CD133+ cells from human cord blood, we implemented these procedures in a GMP facility and applied quality control conditions defining purity, microbiological safety and vitality of CD133+ cells. Validation of CD133+ cells isolation and release process were performed according to a two-step experimental program comprising release quality checking (step 1) as well as ‘proofs of principle’ of their phenotypic integrity and biological function (step 2). This testing program was accomplished using in vitro culture assays and in vivo testing in an immunosuppressed mouse model of hindlimb ischemia. These criteria and procedures were successfully applied to GMP production of CD133+ cells from the BM for an ongoing clinical trial of autologous stem cells administration into patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Our results show that GMP implementation of currently available protocols for CD133+ cells selection is feasible and reproducible, and enables the production of cells having a full biological potential according to the most recent quality requirements by European Regulatory Agencies.
In this paper, we study the asymptotic behaviors of threshold models used to describe the formation of collective actions in social networks. At each time instant, each agent of the network makes a choice between two possible actions. The decision is made on the basis of the actions chosen by its neighbors and the value of a dynamically updated threshold. The main novelty of the proposed model is the introduction of a parameter accounting for the level of self-confidence of the agents, which affects the dynamic evolution of the threshold and in turn the way the agents make their decision. The objective is to identify which are the possible limiting behaviors of the network and under which conditions each of them occurs. Three different network topologies are considered. In the case of complete graph, the asymptotic behaviors are analytically characterized, whereas for star and ring graphs an extensive numerical analysis is presented
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