Spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to persistent functional deficits due to loss of neurons and glia and to limited axonal regeneration after injury. Here we report that transplantation of human dental pulp stem cells into the completely transected adult rat spinal cord resulted in marked recovery of hind limb locomotor functions. Transplantation of human bone marrow stromal cells or skin-derived fibroblasts led to substantially less recovery of locomotor function. The human dental pulp stem cells exhibited three major neuroregenerative activities. First, they inhibited the SCI-induced apoptosis of neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, which improved the preservation of neuronal filaments and myelin sheaths. Second, they promoted the regeneration of transected axons by directly inhibiting multiple axon growth inhibitors, including chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan and myelin-associated glycoprotein, via paracrine mechanisms. Last, they replaced lost cells by differentiating into mature oligodendrocytes under the extreme conditions of SCI. Our data demonstrate that tooth-derived stem cells may provide therapeutic benefits for treating SCI through both cell-autonomous and paracrine neuroregenerative activities.

Tissue engineering has recently become available as a treatment procedure for bone augmentation. However, this procedure has several problems, such as high capital investment and expensive cell culture, complicated safety and quality management issues regarding cell handling, and patient problems with the invasive procedure of cell collection. Moreover, it was reported that stem cells secrete many growth factors and chemokines during their cultivation, which could affect cellular characteristics and behavior. This study investigated the effect of stem-cell-cultured conditioned media on bone regeneration. Cultured conditioned media from human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-CM) enhanced the migration, proliferation, and expression of osteogenic marker genes, such as osteocalcin and Runx2, of rat MSCs (rMSCs) in vitro. MSC-CM includes cytokines such as insulin-like growth factor-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor. In vivo, a prepared bone defect of a rat calvarial model was implanted in five different rat groups using one of the following graft materials: human MSCs/agarose (MSCs), MSC-CM/agarose (MSC-CM), Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium without serum [DMEM(-)]/agarose [DMEM(-)], PBS/agarose (PBS), and defect only (Defect). After 4 and 8 weeks, implant sections were evaluated using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) and histological analysis. Micro-CT analysis indicated that the MSC-CM group had a greater area of newly regenerated bone compared with the other groups (p<0.05) and histological analysis at 8 weeks indicated that the newly regenerated bone bridge almost covered the defect. Interestingly, the effects of MSC-CM were stronger than those of the MSC group. In vivo imaging and immunohistochemical staining of transgenic rats expressing green fluorescent protein also showed that migration of rMSCs to the bone defect in the MSC-CM group was greater than in the other groups. These results demonstrated that MSC-CM can regenerate bone through mobilization of endogenous stem cells. The use of stem-cell-cultured conditioned media for bone regeneration is a unique concept that utilizes paracrine factors of stem cells without cell transplantation.

We previously reported Agrobacterium-mediated transformation methods for the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha using the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene as a marker for selection with hygromycin. In this study, we developed three additional markers for M. polymorpha transformation: the gentamicin 3'-acetyltransferase gene for selection with gentamicin; a mutated acetolactate synthase gene for selection with chlorsulfuron; and the neomycin phosphotransferase II gene for selection with G418. Based on these four marker genes, we have constructed a series of Gateway binary vectors designed for transgenic experiments on M. polymorpha. The 35S promoter from cauliflower mosaic virus and endogenous promoters for constitutive and heat-inducible expression were used to create these vectors. The reporters and tags used were Citrine, 3×Citrine, Citrine-NLS, TagRFP, tdTomato, tdTomato-NLS, GR, SRDX, SRDX-GR, GUS, ELuc(PEST), and 3×FLAG. These vectors, designated as the pMpGWB series, will facilitate molecular genetic analyses of the emerging model plant M. polymorpha.

Chromatin regulation is essential to regulate genes and genome activities. In plants, the alteration of histone modification and DNA methylation are coordinated with changes in the expression of stress-responsive genes to adapt to environmental changes. Several chromatin regulators have been shown to be involved in the regulation of stress-responsive gene networks under abiotic stress conditions. Specific histone modification sites and the histone modifiers that regulate key stress-responsive genes have been identified by genetic and biochemical approaches, revealing the importance of chromatin regulation in plant stress responses. Recent studies have also suggested that histone modification plays an important role in plant stress memory. In this review, we summarize recent progress on the regulation and alteration of histone modification (acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation, and SUMOylation) in response to the abiotic stresses, drought, high-salinity, heat, and cold in plants.

We have attempted to regenerate bone in a significant osseous defect with minimal invasiveness and good plasticity, and to provide a clinical alternative to autogenous bone grafts. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) may enhance the formation of new bone and is nontoxic, nonimmunoreactive, and accelerates existing wound-healing pathways. We have used a combination of PRP as an autologous scaffold with in vitro-expanded mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to increase osteogenesis, compared with using the scaffold alone or autogenous particulate cancellous bone and marrow (PCBM). The newly formed bones were evaluated by radiography, histology, and histomorphometric analysis in the defects at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. According to the histological observations, the dog MSCs (dMSCs)/PRP group had well-formed mature bone and neovascularization compared with the control (defect only), PRP, and PCBM groups at 2 and 4 weeks. Histometrically, at 8 weeks newly formed bone areas were 18.3 +/- 4.84% (control), 29.2 +/- 5.47% (PRP), 61.4 +/- 3.38% (PCBM), and 67.3 +/- 2.06% (dMSCs/PRP). There were significant differences between the PCBM, dMSCs/PRP, and control groups. These results demonstrate that the dMSCs/PRP mixture is useful as a osteogenic bone substitute.

Transmembrane transport of plant hormones is required for plant growth and development. Despite reports of a number of proteins that can transport the plant hormone gibberellin (GA), the mechanistic basis for GA transport and the identities of the transporters involved remain incomplete. Here, we provide evidence that Arabidopsis SWEET proteins, AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14, which are members of a family that had previously been linked to sugar transport, are able to mediate cellular GA uptake when expressed in yeast and oocytes. A double sweet13 sweet14 mutant has a defect in anther dehiscence and this phenotype can be reversed by exogenous GA treatment. In addition, sweet13 sweet14 exhibits altered long distant transport of exogenously applied GA and altered responses to GA during germination and seedling stages. These results suggest that AtSWEET13 and AtSWEET14 may be involved in modulating GA response in Arabidopsis.

Although ganglioside GD3 levels are highly elevated in malignant melanomas, the role of GD3 in melanomas' malignant properties has not been clearly shown. To investigate this problem, we genetically generated GD3-positive (GD3 ؉ ) transfectant cells from a GD3-negative (GD3 ؊ ) mutant line SK-MEL-28-N1 and analyzed the phenotypic changes in the transfected cells. GD3 ؉ cells showed markedly increased cell growth and invasive characteristics. Two bands that underwent stronger tyrosine phosphorylation in GD3 ؉ cell lines than in controls after treatment with FCS were found with molecular masses of 130 and 68 kDa. They were identified as p130Cas and paxillin by sequential immunoprecipitation. Their roles in cell growth and invasion were analyzed with a small interfering RNA (siRNA) approach. Cell growth, as analyzed by BrdUrd uptake, was strongly suppressed in GD3 ؉ cells to near the levels of GD3 ؊ cells when treated with siRNA for p130Cas but not when treated with siRNA for paxillin. However, treatment with siRNAs of either p130Cas or paxillin resulted in the marked suppression of the invasive activity of GD3 ؉ cells almost to the levels of control cells. These results suggested that these two molecules function as effectors of GD3-mediated signaling, leading to such malignant properties as rapid cell growth and invasion.small interfering RNA ͉ sialyltransferase ͉ phosphorylation

These results demonstrate the feasibility of creating a composite intervertebral disc with both anulusfibrosus and nucleus pulposus for clinical applications.