Willin, an upstream component of the hippo signaling pathway, orchestrates mammalian peripheral nerve fibroblasts.

Willin/FRMD6 was first identified in the rat sciatic nerve, which is composed of neurons, Schwann cells, and fibroblasts. Willin is an upstream component of the Hippo signaling pathway, which results in the inactivation of the transcriptional co-activator YAP through Ser127 phosphorylation. This in turn suppresses the expression of genes involved in cell growth, proliferation and cancer development ensuring the control of organ size, cell contact inhibition and apoptosis.

Differential sulfation remodelling of heparan sulfate by extracellular 6-O-sulfatases regulates fibroblast growth factor-induced boundary formation by glial cells: implications for glial cell transplantation.

Previously, it has been shown that rat Schwann cells (SCs), but not olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), form a boundary with astrocytes, due to a SC-specific secreted factor. Here, we identify highly sulfated heparan sulfates (HSs) and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) 1 and 9 as possible determinants of boundary formation induced by rat SCs. Disaccharide analysis of HS in SC-conditioned and rat OEC-conditioned media showed that SCs secrete more highly sulfated HS than OECs.

The interactions of astrocytes and fibroblasts with defined pore structures in static and perfusion cultures.

Open pores to maintain nutrient diffusion and waste removal after cell colonization are crucial for the successful application of constructs based on assembled membranes, in our case tubular scaffolds made of ɛ-polycaprolactone (PCL), for use in tissue engineering. Due to the complex three-dimensional structure and large size of such scaffolds needed for transplantable tissues, it is difficult to investigate the cell-pore interactions in situ. Therefore miniaturized bioreactors inside Petri dishes (30 mm in diameter), containing porous PCL or poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes, were developed to allow the interactions of different cells with defined pores to be investigated in situ during both static and perfusion cultures.

The culture of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs)--a distinct glial cell type.

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) have become a popular candidate for the transplant-mediated repair of the damaged CNS. In this review a description is made of the origins of these cells and a historical development of their purification and maintenance in culture. In addition, we illustrate the cellular and molecular characteristics of OECs and emphasise that although they share many properties with Schwann cells, they possess several inherent differences which may allow them to be more beneficial for CNS repair.