Objectives: Increased rates of mental health disorders and substance use among youth and young adults have increased globally, furthering the strain on an already burdened mental health system. Digital solutions have been proposed as a potential option for the provision of timely mental health services for youth, with little research exploring mental health professional views about using such innovative tools. In Alberta, Canada, we are evaluating the implementation and integration of a digital mental health (dMH) platform into existing service pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Youth, aged 15 to 24 years, are more likely to experience mental health (MH) or substance use issues than other age groups. This is a critical period for intervention because MH disorders, if left unattended, may become chronic and serious and negatively affect many aspects of a young person's life. Even among those who are treated, poor outcomes will still occur for a percentage of youth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnder homeostatic conditions, dendritic cells (DCs) continuously patrol the intestinal lamina propria. Upon antigen encounter, DCs initiate C-C motif chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) expression and migrate into lymph nodes to direct T cell activation and differentiation. The mechanistic underpinnings of DC migration from the tissues to lymph nodes have been largely elucidated, contributing greatly to our understanding of DC functionality and intestinal immunity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThymus function requires extensive cross-talk between developing T-cells and the thymic epithelium, which consists of cortical and medullary TEC. The transcription factor FOXN1 is the master regulator of TEC differentiation and function, and declining Foxn1 expression with age results in stereotypical thymic involution. Understanding of the dynamics of Foxn1 expression is, however, limited by a lack of single cell resolution data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSelf-renewing stem cell populations are increasingly considered as resources for cell therapy and tools for drug discovery. Human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells in particular offer a virtually unlimited reservoir of homogeneous cells and can be differentiated toward diverse lineages. Many diseases show impairment in self-renewal or differentiation, abnormal lineage choice or other aberrant cell behavior in response to chemical or physical cues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe thymus is essential for a functional immune system, because the thymic stroma uniquely supports T lymphocyte development. We have previously identified the epithelial progenitor population from which the thymus arises and demonstrated its ability to generate an organized functional thymus upon transplantation. These thymic epithelial progenitor cells (TEPC) are defined by surface determinants recognized by the mAbs MTS20 and MTS24, which were also recently shown to identify keratinocyte progenitor cells in the skin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the human fetal testis, germ cells that have migrated to the genital ridges become enclosed within testicular cords by 8 wk of gestation. Most papers refer to all types of germ cells as being "gonocytes" or "prespermatogonia," giving the impression that they are identical. Detailed morphological studies, however, have suggested a heterogeneous population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTesticular cancer is more common in individuals with disorders of the male reproductive tract. It has been suggested that inappropriate exposure to estrogens during fetal life may have an impact on maturation of testicular germ cells that are the cells of origin of the majority of testis cancers. The aim of the present study was to establish whether human fetal germ cells (gonocytes) are a potential target of estrogen action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe proto-oncogene receptor, c-kit, and its ligand have been demonstrated to be essential to the processes of germ cell migration, proliferation and survival in the rodent. The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression of c-kit mRNA and protein in human fetal ovary and testis across the gestational period 13-21 weeks. In the ovary, this crucial period of development spans the transition from oogonial replication by mitosis to primordial follicle formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel Drosophila melanogaster protein, termed inhibitor-t, that bears 41% sequence similarity to human protein phosphatase inhibitor-2 has been identified using human protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) in the yeast two hybrid system. Inhibitor-t mRNA is detected in adult males, larvae and pupae and the 184 amino acid thermostable protein located only in testis. The gene for inhibitor-t maps to cytological location 86F1 on the third chromosome.
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