Methylation markers of malignant potential in meningiomas.

Object: Although most meningiomas are benign, about 20% are atypical (Grade II or III) and have increased mortality and morbidity. Identifying tumors with greater malignant potential can have significant clinical value. This validated genome-wide methylation study comparing Grade I with Grade II and III meningiomas aims to discover genes that are aberrantly methylated in atypical meningiomas.

Myelin repair and functional recovery mediated by neural cell transplantation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

Cellular therapies are becoming a major focus for the treatment of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS), therefore it is important to identify the most effective cell types that promote myelin repair. Several components contribute to the relative benefits of specific cell types including the overall efficacy of the cell therapy, the reproducibility of treatment, the mechanisms of action of distinct cell types and the ease of isolation and generation of therapeutic populations. A range of distinct cell populations promote functional recovery in animal models of MS including neural stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells derived from different tissues.

Isolation and culture of spinal cord astrocytes.

Astrocytes are possibly the most numerous cells of the vertebrate central nervous system, yet a detailed characterization of their functions is still missing. One potential reason for the obscurity of astrocytic function is that they represent a diverse population of cells that all share some critical characteristics. In the CNS, astrocytes have been proposed to perform many functions.

Differential expression of cadherins in the developing and adult zebrafish olfactory system.

Cadherins are cell adhesion molecules that play important roles in development of a variety of tissues and maintenance of adult structures. Although cadherin expression has been studied in detail in the central nervous system of several vertebrate species, little is known of their distribution in the developing and adult olfactory structures, and there is no published report, to our knowledge, of cadherin expression in fish olfactory system. In this study, we examined expression patterns of three cadherins, cadherin-1 (E-cadherin), cadherin-2 (N-cadherin), and cadherin-4 (R-cadherin), in the olfactory system of developing and adult zebrafish by using both in situ hybridization and immunocytochemical methods.