HDL/apolipoprotein A-I binds to macrophage-derived progranulin and suppresses its conversion into proinflammatory granulins.

Aim: HDL has anti-inflammatory effects on macrophages, although the mechanism of action remains unclear. We hypothesized that HDL suppresses the conversion of macrophage-secreted factors into proinflammatory factors via binding, and tried to identify the factor that could form a complex with HDL and/or apolipoprotein (apo) A-I.

Methods And Results: In conditioned media obtained from human monocyte-derived macrophages, we found an apo A-I binding protein and identified the protein as progranulin/proepithelin/acrogranin/PCDGF.

Reduction of N-glycolylneuraminic acid xenoantigen on human adipose tissue-derived stromal cells/mesenchymal stem cells leads to safer and more useful cell sources for various stem cell therapies.

Adipose tissue is an attractive source for somatic stem cell therapy. Currently, human adipose tissue-derived stromal cells/mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs/MSCs) are cultured with fetal bovine serum (FBS). Recently, however, not only human embryonic stem cell lines cultured on mouse feeder cells but also bone marrow-derived human MSCs cultured with FBS were reported to express N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) xenoantigen.