Adipose stem cell-based regenerative medicine for reversal of diabetic hyperglycemia.

Diabetes mellitus (diabetes) is a devastating disease that affects millions of people globally and causes a myriad of complications that lead to both patient morbidity and mortality. Currently available therapies, including insulin injection and beta cell replacement through either pancreas or pancreatic islet transplantation, are limited by the availability of organs. Stem cells provide an alternative treatment option for beta cell replacement through selective differentiation of stem cells into cells that recognize glucose and produce and secrete insulin.

Functional evaluation of bioartificial liver using RT-PCR.

In order to evaluate functions of a bioartificial liver (BAL), containing porcine hepatocytes in a hollow fiber cartridge, some chemical loading tests have been employed. However the kinds of functions that can be evaluated by chemical loading tests are limited. We desire versatile methods to estimate various BAL functions.

Sequestration and synthesis: the source of insulin in cell clusters differentiated from murine embryonic stem cells.

The source of insulin released from insulin-releasing cell clusters (IRCCs) differentiated from embryonic stem cells remains unclear. Rajagopal et al. have suggested that IRCCs do not synthesize but secrete insulin that had been absorbed from media during the multistep protocol.

Bioartificial liver with whole blood perfusion.

In our series of studies, we have made an effort to develop a bioartificial liver (BAL) system through which whole blood can be perfused as in hemodialysis therapy. In this study, BAL cartridges containing porcine hepatocytes were prepared and perfused in an extracapillary space with human whole blood in vitro. Lidocaine loading tests were performed to evaluate the detoxification ability of the BAL.

Induction of tumor-specific protective immunity by in situ Langerhans cell vaccine.

Although anti-tumor immunity is inducible by dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines, time- and cost-consuming "customizing" processes required for ex vivo DC manipulation have hindered broader clinical applications of this concept. Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) migrate to draining lymph nodes and undergo maturational changes on exposure to reactive haptens. We entrapped these migratory LCs by subcutaneous implantation of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) polymer rods releasing macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-3beta (to create an artificial gradient of an LC-attracting chemokine) and topical application of hapten (to trigger LC emigration from epidermis).