Intervention by picroside II on FFAs induced lipid accumulation and lipotoxicity in HepG2 cells.

Background: Accumulation of free fatty acids (FFAs) in hepatocytes is a hallmark of liver dysfunction and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Excessive deposition of FFAs alters lipid metabolism pathways increasing the oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Attenuating hepatic lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, and improving mitochondrial function could provide potential targets in preventing progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Anabolic SIRT4 Exerts Retrograde Control over TORC1 Signaling by Glutamine Sparing in the Mitochondria.

Anabolic and catabolic signaling mediated via mTOR and AMPK (AMP-activated kinase) have to be intrinsically coupled to mitochondrial functions for maintaining homeostasis and mitigate cellular/organismal stress. Although glutamine is known to activate mTOR, whether and how differential mitochondrial utilization of glutamine impinges on mTOR signaling has been less explored. Mitochondrial SIRT4, which unlike other sirtuins is induced in a fed state, is known to inhibit catabolic signaling/pathways through the AMPK-PGC1α/SIRT1-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) axis and negatively regulate glutamine metabolism via the tricarboxylic acid cycle.

Generation and characterization of human iPSC line from CD34 cells isolated from umbilical cord blood belonging to Indian origin.

We describe here the reprogramming of CD34 cells isolated from umbilical cord blood obtained after full term delivery of a healthy female child of Indian origin. The cells were nucleofected by episomal vectors expressing Oct4, Sox2, L-Myc, Klf4, Lin28 and p53DD (negative mutation in p53). Colonies were identified by alkaline phosphatase staining and characterized for expression of pluripotency markers at protein level by immunofluorescence, flow cytometry and at transcript level by PCR.

Valproic acid enhances the neural differentiation of human placenta derived-mesenchymal stem cells in vitro.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to express a wide range of markers belonging to all the three lineages: mesodermal, ectodermal and endodermal. Therefore, the possibility of their transdifferentiation towards a neural lineage has been an aspect of active research. In the present study, MSCs were isolated from human placental tissue (P-MSC) and subjected them to neural differentiation.

Placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells possess better immunoregulatory properties compared to their cord-derived counterparts-a paired sample study.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show immunoregulatory properties. Here, we compared MSCs obtained from placenta (P-MSCs) and umbilical cord (C-MSCs) from the same donor, for their immunomodulatory efficacy. P-MSCs and C-MSCs showed similar morphology and phenotypic profile, but different clonogenic ability.