No abstract

Human perinatal tissue is an abundant source of mesenchymal stromal cells(MSCs) and lacks the ethical concerns. Perinatal MSCs can be obtained from various tissues as like amnion, chorion, and umbilical cord. Still, little is known of the distinct nature of each MSC type. In this study, we successfully isolated and cultured MSCs from amnion(AMSCs), chorion(CMSCs), and umbilical cord(UC-MSCs). Proliferation potential was different among them, that AMSCs revealed the lowest proliferation rate due to increased Annexin V and senescence-associated β-galactosidase positive cells. We demonstrated distinct characteristic gene expression according to the source of the original tissue using microarray. In particular, genes associated with apoptosis and senescence including CDKN2A were up-regulated in AMSCs. In CMSCs, genes associated with heart morphogenesis and blood circulation including HTR2B were up-regulated. Genes associated with neurological system processes including NPY were up-regulated in UC-MSCs. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the gene expression data. And in vitro differentiation of MSCs demonstrated that CMSCs and UC-MSCs had a more pronounced ability to differentiate into cardiomyocyte and neural cells, respectively. This study firstly demonstrated the innate tissue-specific differentiation potency of perinatal MSCs which can be helpful in choosing more adequate cell sources for better outcome in a specific disease.

Combined determination of AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II could improve the diagnostic value for HCC detection in patients with or without increased AFP levels.

Therapeutic Level I.

No abstract

Small heat shock proteins are involved in stress tolerance. We previously isolated and characterized a rice cDNA clone, Oshsp26, encoding a chloroplast-localized small heat shock protein that is expressed following oxidative or heat stress. In this study, we transferred this gene to tall fescue plants by an Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system. The integration and expression of the transgene was confirmed by PCR, Southern, northern, and immunoblot analyzes. Compared to the control plants, the transgenic plants had significantly lower electrolyte leakage and accumulation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances when exposed to heat or methyl viologen. The photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) (Fv/Fm) in the transgenic tall fescue plants was higher than that in the control plants during heat stress (42°C). These results suggest that the OsHSP26 protein plays an important role in the protection of PSII during heat and oxidative stress in vivo.

PCT, IL6, and CRP values could assist diagnosis, and PCT, IL6, and IL5 had discriminative properties for determination of severity of sepsis. IFNγ revealed a distinct inverse relationship with severity of sepsis. As there was no relationship between cytokine profiles and sepsis, further studies are required to develop clinical applications.

Excessive systemic inflammation following sepsis, trauma or burn could lead to multi-organ damage and death. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), commonly referred to as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), has been studied in several immune-associated diseases in human and animal by modulating the inflammatory response. Adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (ATSCs), which can be obtained more easily, compared with BMSCs, has emerged as an attractive alternative MSCs source for cell therapy. We investigated the therapeutic effects of human ATSCs (hATSCs) in endotoxemic rat model and their capacity to modulate the inflammatory response. Endotoxemia was induced with Lipopolysaccaride intravenously injection (LPS, 10mg/kg). Animals were divided into the following three groups: (1) saline + saline (n=5), (2) LPS + saline (n=5) and (3) LPS + hATSCs (2x106) (n=5). The administration of LPS caused a consistent systemic inflammatory responses, increased concentrations of the pro-inflammatory cytokines that have an important role in sepsis. Treatment of endotoxemia with hATSCs decreased the level of inflammatory cytokines both in serum and in the lung, reduced inflammatory changes in the lung, prevented apoptosis in the kidney and improved multi-organ injury. In conclusion, our data demonstrates that hATSCs regulate the immue/inflammatory responses and improve multi-organ injury and they could be attractive candidates for cell therapy to treat endotoxemia.