Whether CD44 is an applicable marker for glioma stem cells.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most malignant and aggressive brain tumors with great amount of hyaluronan (HA) secretion and CD44 overexpression (HA receptor). CD44 has been suggested as a cancer stem cells (CSCs) marker. However, several clinical studies have indicated that CD44 glioma cell exhibit CSCs traits.

Toward reliable retrieval of functional information of papillary dermis using spatially resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.

Spatially resolved diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (SRDRS) has been employed to quantify tissue optical properties and its interrogation volume is majorly controlled by the source-to-detector separations (SDSs). To noninvasively quantify properties of dermis, a SRDRS setup that includes SDS shorter than 1 mm is required. It will be demonstrated in this study that Monte Carlo simulations employing the Henyey-Greenstein phase function cannot always precisely predict experimentally measured diffuse reflectance at such short SDSs, and we speculated this could be caused by the non-negligible backward light scattering at short SDSs that cannot be properly modeled by the Henyey-Greenstein phase function.

Molecular mechanism of extrinsic factors affecting anti-aging of stem cells.

Scientific evidence suggests that stem cells possess the anti-aging ability to self-renew and maintain differentiation potentials, and quiescent state. The objective of this review is to discuss the micro-environment where stem cells reside in vivo, the secreted factors to which stem cells are exposed, the hypoxic environment, and intracellular factors including genome stability, mitochondria integrity, epigenetic regulators, calorie restrictions, nutrients, and vitamin D. Secreted tumor growth factor-β and fibroblast growth factor-2 are reported to play a role in stem cell quiescence.

Non-invasive evaluation of therapeutic response in keloid scar using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.

The pathogenesis and ideal treatment of keloid are still largely unknown, and it is essential to develop an objective assessment of keloid severity to evaluate the therapeutic response. We previously reported that our diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) system could assist clinicians in understanding the functional and structural condition of keloid scars. The purpose of this study was to understand clinical applicability of our DRS system on evaluating the scar severity and therapeutic response of keloid.

Transplantation of porcine embryonic stem cells and their derived neuronal progenitors in a spinal cord injury rat model.

Background Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate therapeutic potential of green fluorescent protein expressing porcine embryonic stem (pES/GFP(+)) cells in A rat model of spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Undifferentiated pES/GFP(+) cells and their neuronal differentiation derivatives were transplanted into the contused spinal cord of the Long Evans rat, and in situ development of the cells was determined by using a live animal fluorescence optical imaging system every 15 days. After pES/GFP(+) cell transplantation, the behavior functional recovery of the SCI rats was assessed with the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan Locomotor Rating Scale (BBB scale), and the growth and differentiation of the grafted pES/GFP(+) cells in the SCI rats were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining.

Directed differentiation into neural lineages and therapeutic potential of porcine embryonic stem cells in rat Parkinson's disease model.

This study was conducted to direct porcine embryonic stem (pES) cells differentiating into neural lineages and to investigate therapeutic potential of GFP-expressing pES (pES/GFP(+)) in the rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Directed differentiation of pES into neural lineages was induced by suspension culture in medium containing RA, SHH, and FGF combinations without going through embryoid body formation. A high yield of nestin-expressing neural precursors was found in all treatments on day 2 after the 12-day induction.