Non-integrating episomal plasmid-based reprogramming of human amniotic fluid stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells in chemically defined conditions.

Amniotic fluid stem cells (AFSC) represent an attractive potential cell source for fetal and pediatric cell-based therapies. However, upgrading them to pluripotency confers refractoriness toward senescence, higher proliferation rate and unlimited differentiation potential. AFSC were observed to rapidly and efficiently reacquire pluripotency which together with their easy recovery makes them an attractive cell source for reprogramming.

[Diagnosis and course of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (clinico-pathologoanatomic parallels].

Long-term observations of five patients aged 40 to 70 years made it possible to diagnose Creutzfeld-Jacob's disease (CJD) in their life time. In three cases, the diagnosis of CJD was confirmed at autopsy; one patient died at home. The works of I.