Generation of chimeric piglets by injection of embryonic germ cells from inbred Wuzhishan miniature pigs into blastocysts.

Background: Human embryonic stem/germ (ES/EG) cell research poses ethical dilemma, it is therefore critical to establish alternative sources of cells for relevant studies. Considering the similarities between the inbred miniature Wuzhishan pigs (WZSP) and humans, ES/EG from these pigs can serve as potential substitutes in human research. In this study, we reported our results that successfully established stable EG cell lines from the WZSP.

Hyperpolarisation-activated cyclic nucleotide channel 4 (HCN4) involvement in Tourette's syndrome autoimmunity.

Objectives: We previously found that antibodies in Tourette's syndrome (TS) patients' sera reacted with a 120 kDa protein from rat brain tissue. Here, we sought to identify this protein and determine if it was involved in TS pathogenesis.

Methods: The 120 kDa protein was identified using immunoprecipitation, Western blotting, and mass spectrometry.

Calcitonin induces podosome disassembly and detachment of osteoclasts by modulating Pyk2 and Src activities.

Osteoclasts (OCs) attach to the extracellular matrix via specialized attachment structures called podosomes, which form a prominent F-actin-rich ring that is thought to correspond to the sealing zone of resorbing OCs. Calcitonin (CT), a 32-amino acid polypeptide, inhibits bone resorption by decreasing motility, inducing retraction, disassembling podosome, and disrupting the actin-ring structure of OCs. However, the detailed mechanisms of how CT induces the disassembly of podosome and disruption of the adhesive structures in OCs are not well characterized.

Effective cryopreservation of human embryonic stem cells by programmed freezing.

Cryopreservation of human embryonic stem cells is an important and unsolved problem. A computer-controlled programmable cooler is used in the preservation of ES cells. Several effects have been experimentally studied, which include the cooling rate, the seeding temperature, the terminative temperature before the sample is plunged into liquid nitrogen.

Cryopreservation of human embryonic stem cells: a protocol by programmed cooling.

Human embryonic stem (ES) cells have far-reaching applications in the areas of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, pharmacology and basic scientific research. Although the culture conditions can maintain the human ES cells in an undifferentiated state for a transient period, spontaneous differentiation has also been observed during the routine culturing of ES cells. However, the maintenance of ES cells in the undifferentiated, pluripotent state for extended periods of time will be required in many areas of scientific research.