Isolation, Expansion, and Endoscopic Delivery of Autologous Enteric Neuronal Stem Cells in Swine.

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is an extensive network of neurons and glia within the wall of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that regulates many essential GI functions. Consequently, disorders of the ENS due to developmental defects, inflammation, infection, or age-associated neurodegeneration lead to serious neurointestinal diseases. Despite the prevalence and severity of these diseases, effective treatments are lacking as they fail to directly address the underlying pathology.

Transplanted ENSCs form functional connections with intestinal smooth muscle and restore colonic motility in nNOS-deficient mice.

Background: Enteric neuropathies, which result from abnormalities of the enteric nervous system, are associated with significant morbidity and high health-care costs, but current treatments are unsatisfactory. Cell-based therapy offers an innovative approach to replace the absent or abnormal enteric neurons and thereby restore gut function.

Methods: Enteric neuronal stem cells (ENSCs) were isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of Wnt1-Cre;R26tdTomato mice and generated neurospheres (NS).

Corrigendum to "Plasmatic Membrane Expression of Adhesion Molecules in Human Cardiac Progenitor/Stem Cells Might Explain Their Superior Cell Engraftment after Cell Transplantation".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2020/8872009.].

Plasmatic Membrane Expression of Adhesion Molecules in Human Cardiac Progenitor/Stem Cells Might Explain Their Superior Cell Engraftment after Cell Transplantation.

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and cardiac progenitor/stem cells (CPCs) have been extensively studied as a potential therapeutic treatment for myocardial infarction (MI). Previous reports suggest that lower doses of CPCs are needed to improve cardiac function relative to their bone marrow counterparts. Here, we confirmed this observations and investigated the surface protein expression profile that might explain this effect.

Exosomes isolated from human cardiosphere-derived cells attenuate pressure overload-induced right ventricular dysfunction.

Objectives: Cardiosphere-derived cell (CDC) transplantation has been shown to attenuate right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. However, live cell transplantation requires complex handling protocols that may limit its use. Exosomes are protein and nucleic acid-containing nanovesicles secreted by many cell types, including stem cells, which have been shown to exert a cardioprotective effect comparable with whole cells following myocardial injury.

Augmenting canonical Wnt signalling in therapeutically inert cells converts them into therapeutically potent exosome factories.

Cardiosphere-derived cells are therapeutic candidates with disease-modifying bioactivity, but their variable potency has complicated their clinical translation. Transcriptomic analyses of cardiosphere-derived cells from human donors have revealed that their therapeutic potency correlates with Wnt/β-catenin signalling and with β-catenin protein levels. Here, we show that skin fibroblasts engineered to overexpress β-catenin and the transcription factor Gata4 become immortal and therapeutically potent.

Dose-dependent improvement of cardiac function in a swine model of acute myocardial infarction after intracoronary administration of allogeneic heart-derived cells.

Background: Allogeneic cardiac-derived progenitor cells (CPC) without immunosuppression could provide an effective ancillary therapy to improve cardiac function in reperfused myocardial infarction. We set out to perform a comprehensive preclinical feasibility and safety evaluation of porcine CPC (pCPC) in the infarcted porcine model, analyzing biodistribution and mid-term efficacy, as well as safety in healthy non-infarcted swine.

Methods: The expression profile of several pCPC isolates was compared with humans using both FACS and RT-qPCR.

A comprehensive method for identification of suitable reference genes in extracellular vesicles.

Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is one of the most sensitive, economical and widely used methods for evaluating gene expression. However, the utility of this method continues to be undermined by a number of challenges including normalization using appropriate reference genes. The need to develop tailored and effective strategies is further underscored by the burgeoning field of extracellular vesicle (EV) biology.

Non-invasive in vivo imaging of cardiac stem/progenitor cell biodistribution and retention after intracoronary and intramyocardial delivery in a swine model of chronic ischemia reperfusion injury.

Background: The safety and efficacy of cardiac stem/progenitor cells (CSC) have been demonstrated in previous preclinical and clinical assays for heart failure. However, their optimal delivery route to the ischemic heart has not yet been assessed. This study was designed to determine by a non-invasive imaging technique (PET/CT) the biodistribution and acute retention of allogeneic pig CSC implanted by two different delivery routes, intracoronary (IC) and intramyocardial (IM), in a swine preclinical model of chronic ischemia-reperfusion.

Delayed administration of allogeneic cardiac stem cell therapy for acute myocardial infarction could ameliorate adverse remodeling: experimental study in swine.

Background: The optimal timing of cardiac stem cells administration is still unclear. We assessed the safety of same-day and delayed (one week) delivery and the possible influence of the timing on the therapeutic outcomes of allogeneic porcine cardiac stem cells administration after acute myocardial infarction in a closed-chest ischemia-reperfusion model.

Methods: Female swine surviving 90 min occlusion of the mid left anterior descending coronary artery received an intracoronary injection of 25x10(6) porcine cardiac stem cells either two hours (n = 5, D0) or 7 days (n = 6, D7) after reperfusion.

Class IB-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) deficiency ameliorates IA-PI3K-induced systemic lupus but not T cell invasion.

Class I PI3K catalyzes formation of 3-poly-phosphoinositides. The family is divided into IA isoforms, activated by Tyr kinases and the IB isoform (PI3Kgamma), activated by G protein-coupled receptors. Mutations that affect PI3K are implicated in chronic inflammation, although the differential contribution of each isoform to pathology has not been elucidated.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulates the CD4/CD8 T cell differentiation ratio.

The signaling pathways that control T cell differentiation have only begun to be elucidated. Using T cell lines, it has been shown that class IA phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), a heterodimer composed of a p85 regulatory and a p110 catalytic subunit, is activated after TCR stimulation. Nonetheless, the contribution of p85/p110 PI3K isoforms in T cell development has not been described.

A Role for phosphoinositide 3-kinase in the control of cell division and survival during retinal development.

Neurogenesis in the retina requires the concerted action of three different cellular processes: proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) is a heterodimer composed of a p85 regulatory and a p110 catalytic subunit. p110alpha has been shown to regulate cell division and survival.