Preventing demyelination and promoting remyelination of denuded axons are promising therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI). Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition was reported to benefit the neural functional recovery and the axon regeneration after SCI. However, its role in de- and remyelination of axons in injured spinal cord is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelanoma is the most dangerous skin cancer due to its highly metastatic potential and resistance to chemotherapy. Currently, there is no effective treatment for melanoma once it is progressed to metastatic stage. Therefore, further study to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the metastasis of melanoma cells is urgently required for the improvement of melanoma treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe adult glial progenitor cells were recently shown to be able to produce neurons in central nervous system (CNS) and to become multipotent in vitro. Although the fate decision of glial progenitors was studied extensively, the signals and factors which regulate the timing of neuronal differentiation still remain unknown. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the neuronal differentiation from glial progenitors, we modified the gene expression profile in NG2(+) glial progenitor cells using enhanced retroviral mutagen (ERM) technique followed by phenotype screening to identify possible gene(s) responsible for glial-neuronal cell fate determination.
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