Immunological activity difference between native calreticulin monomers and oligomers.

We have recently demonstrated that the greatly increased immunological activities of recombinant murine calreticulin (rCRT) are largely attributed to its self-oligomerization. Although native CRT (nCRT) can also oligomerize under stress conditions in vitro, whether this phenomenon could occur inside cells and the immunological activity difference between nCRT monomers and oligomers remained unclear. In this study, we illustrated the formation of CRT oligomers in tranfectant cells under "heat & low pH" (42°C/pH 6.

[Effect of hypoxia on mesenchymal stem cells - review].

Oxygen is essential for life, but cultivation of cells is usually performed under 20% O(2), that do not replicate normal physiological hypoxia or pathological hypoxia conditions in the body. Recently, the effect of hypoxia on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been studied, under physiological hypoxia, MSCs thrive well, and the ability differentiating to osteoblast, chondrocyte and adipocyte as well as the ability of migration are changed. Hypoxia changes the physiological characteristics of embryonic stem cell, hematopoietic stem cell and neuron stem cell as well.