The recent advances in scaffolds for integrated periodontal regeneration.

The periodontium is an integrated, functional unit of multiple tissues surrounding and supporting the tooth, including but not limited to cementum (CM), periodontal ligament (PDL) and alveolar bone (AB). Periodontal tissues can be destructed by chronic periodontal disease, which can lead to tooth loss. In support of the treatment for periodontally diseased tooth, various biomaterials have been applied starting as a contact inhibition membrane in the guided tissue regeneration (GTR) that is the current gold standard in dental clinic.

A UDP-X diphosphatase from Streptococcus pneumoniae hydrolyzes precursors of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

The gene for a Nudix enzyme (SP_1669) was found to code for a UDP-X diphosphatase. The SP_1669 gene is localized among genes encoding proteins that participate in cell division in Streptococcus pneumoniae. One of these genes, MurF, encodes an enzyme that catalyzes the last step of the Mur pathway of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

A highly annotated whole-genome sequence of a Korean individual.

Recent advances in sequencing technologies have initiated an era of personal genome sequences. To date, human genome sequences have been reported for individuals with ancestry in three distinct geographical regions: a Yoruba African, two individuals of northwest European origin, and a person from China. Here we provide a highly annotated, whole-genome sequence for a Korean individual, known as AK1.

Runx1 modulates developmental, but not injury-driven, hair follicle stem cell activation.

Aml1/Runx1 controls developmental aspects of several tissues, is a master regulator of blood stem cells, and plays a role in leukemia. However, it is unclear whether it functions in tissue stem cells other than blood. Here, we have investigated the role of Runx1 in mouse hair follicle stem cells by conditional ablation in epithelial cells.