The hair follicle (HF) is a highly conserved sensory organ associated with the immune response against pathogens, thermoregulation, sebum production, angiogenesis, neurogenesis and wound healing. Although recent advances in lineage-tracing techniques and the ability to profile gene expression in small populations of cells have increased the understanding of how stem cells operate during hair growth and regeneration, the construction of functional follicles with cycling activity is still a great challenge for the hair research field and for translational and clinical applications. Given that hair formation and cycling rely on tightly coordinated epithelial–mesenchymal interactions, we thus review potential cell sources with HF-inducive capacities and summarize current bioengineering strategies for HF regeneration with functional restoration.

No abstract

Traditionally, substrates for production of viral poultry vaccines have been embryonated eggs or adherent primary cell cultures. The difficulties and cost involved in scaling up these substrates in cases of increased demand have been a limitation for vaccine production. Here, we assess the ability of a newly developed chicken-induced pluripotent cell line, BA3, to support replication and growth of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) LaSota vaccine strain. The characteristics and growth profile of the cells were also investigated. BA3 cells could grow in suspension in different media to a high density of up to 7.0 × 10(6) cells/mL and showed rapid proliferation with doubling time of 21 h. Upon infection, a high virus titer of 1.02 × 10(8) EID50/mL was obtained at 24 h post infection using a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 5. In addition, the cell line was shown to be free of endogenous and exogenous Avian Leukosis viruses, Reticuloendotheliosis virus, Fowl Adenovirus, Marek's disease virus, and several Mycoplasma species. In conclusion, BA3 cell line is potentially an excellent candidate for vaccine production due to its highly desirable industrially friendly characteristics of growing to high cell density and capability of growth in serum free medium.

Germ cells (GCs) are critically important as the vehicle that passes genetic information from one generation to the next. Correct development of these cells is essential and perturbation in their development often leads to reproductive failure and disease. Despite the importance of GCs, little is known about the mechanisms underlying the acquisition and maintenance of the GC character. Using a reprogramming strategy, we demonstrate that overexpression of ectopic transcription factors in embryonic fibroblasts can lead to the generation of chicken induced primordial germ cells (ciPGCs). These ciPGCs express pluripotent markers POU5F1, SSEA1, and the GC defining proteins, CVH and DAZL, closely resembling in vivo sourced PGCs instead of embryonic stem cells. Moreover, CXCR4 expressing ciPGCs were capable of migrating to the embryonic gonad after injection into the vasculature of stage 15 embryos, indicating the acquisition of a GC fate in these cells. Direct availability of ciPGCs in vitro would facilitate the study of GC development as well as provide a potential strategy for the conservation of important genetics of agricultural and endangered birds using somatic cells.

No abstract

Hypertrophic scars (HTS) commonly occurred after burn and trauma. It was characterized by the excessive deposition of extracellular matrix with the inadequate remodeling, which could result in severe physiological and psychological problems.However, the effective available prevention and treatment measures were still limited. The main pathological feature of HTS was the excessive formation of myofibroblasts, and they persist in the repaired tissue. To better understand the mechanics of this process, this review focused on the characteristics and formation of myofibroblasts, the main effector cells in HTS. We summarized the present theories and opinions on myofibroblasts formation from the perspective of related signaling pathways and epigenetic regulation, such as DNA methylation, miRNA/lncRNA/ ceRNA action, histone modification, and so forth for a better understanding on the development of HTS. This information might assist in developing effective experimental and clinical treatment strategies. Additionally, we also summarized currently known clinical strategies for HTS treatment, including traditional drugs, molecular medicine, stem cells, and exosomes. K E Y W O R D S epigenetic mechanism, extracellular matrix, hypertrophic scars, myofibroblast, stem cells

Wound repair is a key step in the treatment of skin injury caused by burn, surgery, and trauma. Various stem cells have been proven to promote wound healing and skin regeneration as candidate seed cells. Therefore, exosomes derived from stem cells are emerging as a promising method for wound repair. However, the mechanism by which exosomes promote wound repair is still unclear. In this study, we reported that exosomes derived from umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) promote wound healing and skin regeneration by treating cutaneous nerve damage. The results revealed that UC-MSCs exosomes (UC-MSC-Exo) promote the growth and migration of dermal fibroblast cells. In in vitro culture, dermal fibroblasts could promote to nerve cells and secrete nerve growth factors when stimulated by exosomes. During the repair process UC-MSC-Exo accelerated the recruitment of fibroblasts at the site of trauma and significantly enhanced cutaneous nerve regeneration in vivo. Interestingly, it was found that UC-MSC-Exo could promote wound healing and skin regeneration by recruiting fibroblasts, stimulating them to secrete nerve growth factors (NGFs) and promoting skin nerve regeneration. Therefore, we concluded that UC-MSC-Exo promote cutaneous nerve repair, which may play an important role in wound repair and skin regeneration.

Traditional Chinese medicine has great potential to improve wound healing. ANBP, the mixture of 4 Chinese herbs- Agrimoniapilosa, Nelumbonucifera, Boswelliacarteri, and Pollen typhae-is effective in trauma treatment while its mechanism is still elusive. In this study, quantitative proteomics and bioinformatics analyses were performed to decipher the possible roles of ANBP in accelerated wound healing of mouse skin. Among all 3171 identified proteins, 90, 71, 80, and 140 proteins were found to be differently expressed in 6 hours, 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days ANBP-treated tissues compared with corresponding control tissues, respectively. The result showed that different biological processes and pathways were activated at different healing stages. At the early healing stage, ANBP treatment mainly affected several biological processes, including immune and defense response, vascular system restoration, hemostasis and coagulation regulation, lipid metabolism and signal transduction, while muscle tissue, hair, epidermis, extracellular matrix and tissue remodeling related activities were the major events in ANBP promoted later wound healing. This is the first quantitative proteome study of ANBP-treated wound tissues, which provide a new perspective for the mechanism of ANBP accelerated wound healing and is of guiding significance for clinical application of ANBP in trauma disorders cure.