Therapeutic potential of urine-derived stem cells in renal regeneration following acute kidney injury: A comparative analysis with mesenchymal stem cells.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical syndrome with high morbidity and mortality rates. The use of pluripotent stem cells holds great promise for the treatment of AKI. Urine-derived stem cells (USCs) are a novel and versatile cell source in cell-based therapy and regenerative medicine that provide advantages of a noninvasive, simple, and low-cost approach and are induced with high multidifferentiation potential.

Erratum: [Corrigendum] Hepa1‑6‑FLuc cell line with the stable expression of firefly luciferase retains its primary properties with promising bioluminescence imaging ability.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3892/ol.2018.

Identification and biological characteristics of clear cell renal cell carcinoma associated urine-derived stem cells.

Urine-derived stem cells (USC) are isolated from voided urine and have demonstrated potential for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a common urological malignancy that originates in the kidney. Since USC also originate in the kidney, the objective of this study was to investigate any biological differences between USC isolated from healthy patients and those isolated from ccRCC patients (rc-USC).

Erratum: Urine-derived stem cells accelerate the recovery of injured mouse hepatic tissue.

[This corrects the article on p. 5131 in vol. 12, PMID: 33042410.

All-trans-retinoic acid inhibits the malignant behaviors of hepatocarcinoma cells by regulating autophagy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths due to its high rate of recurrence and metastasis. All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) can inhibit the malignant behaviors of hepatocarcinoma cells. Autophagy is reportedly involved in the migration and metastasis of various cancer cells.

[Establishment of quality control model for high performance liquid chromatography fingerprint based on ultraviolet full-wavelength scanning spectrum: case study on different grades of Scrophulariae Radix].

High performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet(HPLC-UV) fingerprint is one of the most important methods for the quality control of Chinese medicines in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. However, certain subjectivity is present in selection of specific band of UV, and the inherent quality differences of Chinese medicine can't be well characterized by this method. Therefore, with different grades of Scrophulariae Radix were taken as the research object in this study, a new quality control model of HPLC-UV was established in this study based on the ultraviolet full-wavelength scanning spectrum.

Urine-derived stem cells accelerate the recovery of injured mouse hepatic tissue.

Urine-derived stem cells (USCs) are autologous stem cells that exhibit self-renewal ability and multi-lineage differentiation potential. These characteristics make USCs an ideal cell source for hepatocellular transplantation. Here, we investigated the biological characteristics of USCs and their potential use for the treatment of chronic liver injury.

Isolation and Characterization of Human Synovial Fluid-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells from Popliteal Cyst.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells in adult tissues. The aim of this study is to isolate and identify synovial fluid-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (SF-MSCs) from the popliteal cyst fluid of pediatric patients. SF-MSCs were collected from the popliteal cyst fluid of pediatric patients during cystectomy surgery.

All-trans retinoic acid reverses malignant biological behavior of hepatocarcinoma cells by regulating miR-200 family members.

As a potential chemo-therapeutic agent, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can significantly reverse epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of hepal-6 hepatocarcinoma cell line , but the mechanism is unclear. The expression profile of microRNA-200 (miR-200) families is different in hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we found that ATRA treatment could up-regulate the expression of miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p, and 141-3p, which were involved in ATRA regulated proliferation and apoptosis of hepal-6 cell, but not colony formation.

ATRA induces the differentiation of hepatic progenitor cells by upregulating microRNA-200a.

Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) are potential seed cells for hepatocyte transplantation treatment of liver diseases. ATRA can induce the differentiation and mature function of hepatic progenitor cells, but the mechanism is still poorly understood. Here, by using microRNA array to analyze the expression profiles of microRNA (miR), we found that miR-200 family molecules in HPCs were upregulated after ATRA treatment, especially miR-200a-3p, 200c-3p, and 141-3p.

Reversibly immortalized human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) are responsive to BMP9-induced osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation.

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a heterogeneous subset of nonhematopoietic multipotent stromal stem cells and can differentiate into mesodermal lineage, such as adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes, as well as ectodermal and endodermal lineages. Human umbilical cord (UC) is one of the most promising sources of MSCs. However, the molecular and cellular characteristics of UC-derived MSCs (UC-MSCs) require extensive investigations, which are hampered by the limited lifespan and the diminished potency over passages.

[Changes in autophagy during maturation and differentiation of Hepa1-6 cells induced by all-trans retinoic acid].

Objective: To investigate the effects of different concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on the maturation, differentiation and autophagy of Hepa1-6 cells.

Monthod: Hepa1-6 cells were treated with 0.1, 1, and 10 µmol/L ATRA, and the changes in the expressions of hepatic specific markers were detected using real-time PCR and Western blotting.

[Tumor necrosis factor-α and transforming growth factor-β balance liver stem cell differentiation in cholestatic cirrhosis].

Objective: To investigate the changes of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in mice with cholestatic cirrhosis and their role in regulating the balance of liver stem cell differentiation.

Methods: Balb/c mice were subjected to bile duct ligation (BDL), and serum biochemical parameters were measured and hepatic histopathology was observed using HE staining to evaluate the modeling of cholestatic cirrhosis. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to detect the changes of TNF-α and TGF-β in the mice after modeling.

Hepa1-6-FLuc cell line with the stable expression of firefly luciferase retains its primary properties with promising bioluminescence imaging ability.

Reliable animal models are required for the study of the molecular mechanisms and effects of chemotherapeutic drugs in hepatocarcinoma. tracing techniques based on firefly luciferase (FLuc) may optimize the non-invasive monitoring of experimental animals. The present study established a murine Hepa1-6-FLuc cell line that stably expressed a retrovirus-delivered FLuc protein gene.

3D computed tomography angiography as a novel post-processing approach in diagnosis of pediatric malignant bone tumors.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the application of 3D computed tomography (CT) angiography with a novel post-processing technique in diagnosis of malignant bone tumors in children.

Methods: Twenty-seven pediatric patients (15 males and 12 females; average age: 10±3.4 years old, with a range from 2 months to 14 years old) with suspected bone tumors were evaluated histopathologically using 3D CT angiography and a multislice scanner.

Periodic acid‑Schiff staining method for function detection of liver cells is affected by 2% horse serum in induction medium.

Developing a thorough understanding of experimental methods of hepatic differentiation in hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) should expand the knowledge of hepatocyte induction in vitro and may help to develop cell transplantation therapies for the clinical usage of HPCs in liver diseases. A previous induction method effectively induced differentiation and metabolic abilities in HPCs. Periodic acid‑Schiff (PAS) staining is used to identify glycogen synthesis and hepatocyte function; however, this method failed to detect induced hepatocytes.

All-trans retinoic acid inhibits proliferation, migration, invasion and induces differentiation of hepa1-6 cells through reversing EMT in vitro.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has the characristics of tumor invasiveness, frequent intrahepatic spread and extra hepatic metastases, which affects the therapy efficiency and prognosis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is now recognized as a key process in tumor invasion, metastasis and the generation of cancer initiating cells. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is currently used as a potential chemo-therapeutic or chemo-preventive agent because of its anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and antioxidant properties.

[Construction of a luciferase reporter vector containing response element of activator protein 2α and its application in study of osteogenetic differentiation].

Objective: To construct a luciferase reporter vector containing the response element of transcription protein AP2α for screening the effect of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) on the transcriptional activity of AP2α.

Methods: Four tandem-linked response elements of AP2α were cloned to the pBGLuc luciferase reporter gene plasmid, which was digested with Bam HI and Mlu I to construct pBGLuc-AP2α-RE vector. The recombinant adenovirus Ad-AP2α and its dominant negative mutant Ad-dnAP2α were used to infect mouse mesenchymal stem cells C3H10; the changes in cellular AP2α mRNA and protein expressions were detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was carried out to assess the DNA-binding ability of AP2α.

Comparison of proliferation and differentiation potential between mouse primary hepatocytes and embryonic hepatic progenitor cells in vitro.

Cell therapy may be a novel and effective treatment strategy for liver diseases, replacing liver transplantation. The potential of two alternative cell types (hepatic progenitor/stem cells and mature hepatocytes) has not yet been fully assessed; the issues of low amplification efficiency and recovery function remain to be resolved. In this study, we investigated the proliferation, differentiation and function of primary mouse mature hepatocytes and embryonic hepatic progenitor cells.