Tracking of human cells in mice.

Tracking and tracing of transplanted cells in mice is required in many fields of research. Examples are transplantation of stem cells into organs of mice to study their differentiation capacity and injection of tumor cells to examine metastatic behavior. In the present study we tested the lipid dye CM-DiI and red fluorescent nanoparticles Qdot655 for their applicability in tagging and tracing of human cells in mice.

Morphological and functional analysis of rat hepatocyte spheroids generated on poly(L-lactic acid) polymer in a pulsatile flow bioreactor.

Liver neo-tissue suitable for transplantation has not been established. Primary rat hepatocytes were cultured on three-dimensional biodegradable polymer matrices in a pulsatile flow bioreactor with the intention of inducing tissue formation and improving cell survival. Functional and structural analysis of the hepatocytes forming liver neo-tissue was performed.

Quantitative gene expression analysis reveals transition of fetal liver progenitor cells to mature hepatocytes after transplantation in uPA/RAG-2 mice.

Therapies for liver diseases with stem and progenitor cells will require a detailed knowledge of the molecular mechanisms driving the in vivo differentiation process toward adult hepatic tissue. We applied quantitative gene expression methods to analyze the differentiation process of fetal liver progenitor cells after transplantation into an animal model of liver regeneration. Enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-transgenic liver progenitor cells were isolated from fetal mouse liver at stage embryonic day 13.

Increase in de novo HBV DNA integrations in response to oxidative DNA damage or inhibition of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation.

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with an increased risk for the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although clonal HBV DNA integrations are detected in nearly all HCCs the role of these integrations in hepatocarcinogenesis is poorly understood. We have used a cloning protocol that allows studying the frequency and the natural history of HBV DNA integrations in cell culture.