Human trophectoderm cells are not yet committed.

Study Question: Are human trophectoderm (TE) cells committed or still able to develop into inner cell mass (ICM) cells?

Summary Answer: Human full blastocyst TE cells still have the capacity to develop into ICM cells expressing the pluripotency marker NANOG, thus they are not yet committed.

What Is Known Already: Human Day 5 full blastocyst TE cells express the pluripotency markers POU5F1, SOX2 and SALL4 as well as the TE markers HLA-G and KRT18 but not yet CDX2, therefore their developmental direction may not yet be definite.

Study Design, Size, Duration: The potency of human blastocyst TE cells was investigated by determining their in vitro capacity to develop into a blastocyst with ICM cells expressing NANOG; TE cells were isolated either by aspiration under visual control or after labeling with fluorescent 594-wheat germ agglutinin.

HLA-G expression in human embryonic stem cells and preimplantation embryos.

Human leukocyte Ag-G, a tolerogenic molecule that acts on cells of both innate and adaptive immunity, plays an important role in tumor progression, transplantation, placentation, as well as the protection of the allogeneic fetus from the maternal immune system. We investigated HLA-G mRNA and protein expression in human embryonic stem cells (hESC) derived from the inner cell mass (ICM) of blastocysts. hESC self-renew indefinitely in culture while maintaining pluripotency, providing an unlimited source of cells for therapy.

Can soluble human leucocyte antigen-G predict successful pregnancy in assisted reproductive technology?

Purpose Of Review: To review the predictive value of soluble human leucocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) in embryo culture fluid for implantation, considering origin, structure, function and detection method of soluble HLA-G.

Recent Findings: Soluble HLA-G in embryo culture supernatant has been proposed as a noninvasive marker for the selection of embryos with implantation potential. Controversially, some centres detect soluble HLA-G in none of the culture supernatants of embryos that evolve towards pregnancy, whereas others report it to be mandatory.

Critical role of N-cadherin in myofibroblast invasion and migration in vitro stimulated by colon-cancer-cell-derived TGF-beta or wounding.

Invasion of stromal host cells, such as myofibroblasts, into the epithelial cancer compartment may precede epithelial cancer invasion into the stroma. We investigated how colon cancer-derived myofibroblasts invade extracellular matrices in vitro in the presence of colon cancer cells. Myofibroblast spheroids invade collagen type I in a stellate pattern to form a dendritic network of extensions upon co-culture with HCT-8/E11 colon cancer cells.