Development of a Prognostic Model to Identify the Suitable Definitive Radiation Therapy Candidates in de Novo Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Real-World Study.

Purpose: We aimed to develop an accurate prognostic model to identify suitable candidates for definitive radiation therapy (DRT) in addition to palliative chemotherapy (PCT) among patients with de novo metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (mNPC).

Methods And Materials: Patients with de novo mNPC who received first-line PCT with or without DRT were included. Overall survival for patients who received PCT alone versus PCT plus DRT was estimated using inverse probability of treatment weighting-adjusted survival analyses.

Proposed a self-absorption internal standard model to detect element concentrations of complex constituent material with a single emission line of element in laser plasmas.

Laser induced plasmas (LIPs) method is a highly regarded approach to evaluate the chemical composition of materials. But the strong self-absorption of the radiation seriously affects its accuracy. Meanwhile, the model based on self-absorption phenomenon makes its application very difficult.

Electrical and thermal properties of silver nanowire fabricated on a flexible substrate by two-beam laser direct writing for designing a thermometer.

Accurate knowledge of electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity temperature dependence plays a crucial role in the design of a thermometer. Here, by using a two-beam laser direct writing system, an individual silver nanowire (AgNW) with well-defined dimensions is fabricated on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The temperature dependence of the resistivity of the fabricated AgNW is measured ranging from 10 to 300 K, and fitted with the Bloch-Grüneisen formula.

Survival impact of waiting time for radical radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A large institution-based cohort study from an endemic area.

Background: Whether the waiting time for radical radiotherapy (WRT) detrimentally impacts nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) prognosis is unclear. We estimated the influence of WRT on overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) of NPC.

Patients And Methods: Patients were identified from prospectively maintained database.

Establishment and maintenance of three Chinese human embryonic stem cell lines.

To establish a potential resource for cell therapy and a developmental model for human diseases, we had isolated three Chinese human embryonic stem cell lines from the inner cell mass of human blastocysts in 2002. All the three cell lines were grown on mouse embryonic fibroblasts as feeder cells; one of these cell lines, chHES-3, has maintained its normal karyotype even after being cultured in vitro for more than 100 passages, after the standardization of mouse feeder preparation. Each hES cell line has been completely characterized.

Expression profiling of nuclear receptors in human and mouse embryonic stem cells.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) regulate gene expression in essential biological processes including differentiation and development. Here we report the systematic profiling of NRs in human and mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines and during their early differentiation into embryoid bodies. Expression of the 48 human and mouse NRs was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR.

A comparison of murine smooth muscle cells generated from embryonic versus induced pluripotent stem cells.

Smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation and dedifferentiation play a critical role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. The lack of a good and simple in vitro SMC differentiation system has hampered the progress of SMC field for years. The generation of such an in vitro system would be invaluable for exploring molecular mechanisms of SMC differentiation and dedifferentiation.

Rad GTPase deficiency leads to cardiac hypertrophy.

Background: Rad (Ras associated with diabetes) GTPase is the prototypic member of a subfamily of Ras-related small G proteins. The aim of the present study was to define whether Rad plays an important role in mediating cardiac hypertrophy.

Methods And Results: We document for the first time that levels of Rad mRNA and protein were decreased significantly in human failing hearts (n=10) compared with normal hearts (n=3; P<0.

Transplantation of human undifferentiated embryonic stem cells into a myocardial infarction rat model.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells hold great therapeutic potential for cell transplantation. To date, it remains uncertain whether undifferentiated hES cells can differentiate into cardiac lineage in vivo during myocardial infarction. Here we provide the first report that undifferentiated hES cells can survive in rat hearts during myocardial infarction without the formation of teratoma using undifferentiated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transgenic hES cells.

Derivation of adipocytes from human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells are undifferentiated and pluripotent cells that hold great therapeutic potential, but are hampered by our limited knowledge to promote specific cell differentiation. Here we provide the first report of the directed differentiation of hES cells into adipocytes. Embryoid bodies (EBs) derived from hES cells are shown to respond to factors that promote adipogenesis.

[Isolation culture and identification of human neural stem cells from human embryos].

Objective: To obtain and culture the human neural stem cells from the aborted human embryos.

Methods: The neural stem cells were isolated and purified by the specific proliferous culture system of neural stem cells, and the molecular maker and multi-potency of the obtained neural stem cells were identified.

Results: Human neural stem cells, which were isolated from 8 - 10 month old aborted human embryos, could express nestin ( a kind of specified antigen of the neural stem cell), and it could be differentiate into neurons and glials.

Genetic engineering of human embryonic stem cells with lentiviral vectors.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells present a valuable source of cells with a vast therapeutic potential. However, the low efficiency of directed differentiation of hES cells remains a major obstacle in their uses for regenerative medicine. While differentiation may be controlled by the genetic manipulation, effective and efficient gene transfer into hES cells has been an elusive goal.

Proliferative feeder cells support prolonged expansion of human embryonic stem cells.

Long-term proliferation of human embryonic stem (hES) cells is currently achieved by co-culturing with mitotically inactive primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (mEFs), which serve as feeder cells. This study explores the possibility that proliferative mEFs can be used as feeder cells to maintain the prolonged expansion of hES cells. All undifferentiated hES cell clumps were re-plated on six different densities of proliferative mEFs.

In vitro hematopoietic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells induced by co-culture with human bone marrow stromal cells and low dose cytokines.

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells randomly differentiate into multiple cell types during embryoid body (EB) development and limited studies have focused on directed hematopoietic differentiation. Here, we report that the treatment of hES cells during EBs development with a combination of low dose hematopoietic cytokines, including stem cell factor (SCF), Flt-3 ligand, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs), generated cell clusters that contained 8.81% KDR-positive hemangioblasts, 9.

[Preliminary proteome analysis of mouse embryonic fibroblast conditioned medium].

Objective: To perform the proteome analysis of conditioned medium prepared from mouse embryonic fibroblast feeder layers by 2-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis and mass spectrometry and to find out the possible differentiation-inhibitory factor in conditioned medium.

Methods: Feeder layers were prepared by 60Co gamma-irradiation on mouse embryonic fibroblast. Insulin-transferrin-sodium selenite supplemented medium was used to culture the feeder layers for 24 hours.

[Differentiation from human embryonic stem cells to hematopoietic cells and endothelial cells].

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent and their differentiation in vitro can serve as an experimental model to explore the molecular mechanisms of early embryonic development. To investigate the effect of stromal cell conditioned medium combined with cytokines (sccm + cys) on the differentiation from human embryonic stem cells to hematopoietic cells and endothelial cells, the mouse fibroblast feeder cells to make human embryonic stem cells grown into embryonic bodies (EBs) were initially deleted. After culture for 3 days, EB cells were trypsinized into single cells and induced for 8 days by sccm + cys.

Newly expressed proteins of mouse embryonic fibroblasts irradiated to be inactive.

It has been found that post-radiation mouse embryonic fibroblasts can well maintain the pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, the new protein expression profile of post-radiation mouse embryonic fibroblasts was analyzed by immobilized pH gradient 2-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.