Identification of miRNAs from stem cell derived microparticles in umbilical cord blood.

Umbilical cord blood CD34+ (UCB-CD34+) stem cells are clinically used in hematopoietic cell transplantation. However, there are limitations in the use of umbilical cord blood transplants because of the small number of cells and delayed engraftment. To gain a better understanding of functional components of UCB, we have detected and characterized CD34+ microparticles (CD34+MPs) from cord blood units.

In vitro and in vivo study on the effect of antifungal agents on hematopoietic cells in mice.

Liposomal amphotericin B, voriconazole, and caspofungin are currently used for systemic and severe fungal infections. Patients with malignant diseases are treated with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) for the recovery of granulocytes after chemotherapy or hematopoietic cell (HC) transplantation. Since they have a high incidence of fungal infections, they inevitably receive antifungal drugs for treatment and prophylaxis.

Potential prognostic value of intracellular cytokine detection by flow cytometry in pulmonary sarcoidosis.

In pulmonary sarcoidosis, differential cytokine production in the lungs could be related to variable prognosis of patients at different stages of disease. Twenty patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (10 at radiographic stage I and 10 at stages II-IV), as well as 10 age-matched healthy volunteers participated in the study. A 4-colour flow cytometric technique was used to measure interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-2, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-4, and IL-13 production in phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)/ionomycin-stimulated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and peripheral blood (PB) of patients, and PB of control subjects.

Protective effect of mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium on hepatic cell apoptosis after acute liver injury.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) conditioned medium (CM(MSC)) on apoptosis of cultured mouse primary hepatocytes after in vivo carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury. The acute liver injury was induced by injecting CCl4 intraperitoneally in C57/BL6 mice. Hepatocytes were isolated by liver perfusion, cultured in a defined medium to maintain their differentiation and characterized by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the hepatic cell specific genes albumin, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4) and cytokeratin 18 (CK18).

The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib drastically affects inflammation and bone disease in adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.

Objective: To explore the effect of bortezomib in splenocytes and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and its in vivo potency in a rat model of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA), which resembles human rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: AIA was induced with Freund's complete adjuvant. Splenocyte and FLS proliferation and apoptosis were measured by radioactivity incorporation and flow cytometry, respectively.