Repeated human cranial bone-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation improved electrophysiological recovery in a spinal cord injury rat model.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy has been applied in several clinical trials of spinal cord injury (SCI). We have successfully established MSCs from human cranial bone and developed a longitudinal neuromonitoring technique for rodents. In addition to single transplantation, the potential of multiple transplantations has been suggested as a new therapeutic strategy.

Characterization of self-incompatible Brassica napus lines lacking SP11 expression.

Recognition of self-incompatibility (SI) is regulated by the SRK and SP11 genes in Brassicaceae. Brassica rapa and B. oleracea are self-incompatible, while most cultivated species of B.

Development of a novel Trueperella pyogenes-specific PCR assay.

Trueperella pyogenes is an opportunistic pathogen that causes a wide variety of purulent infections. We recently isolated a T. pyogenes strain unable to be identified by the previously reported T.

Amino acids inhibit kynurenic acid formation via suppression of kynurenine uptake or kynurenic acid synthesis in rat brain in vitro.

The tryptophan metabolite, kynurenic acid (KYNA), is a preferential antagonist of the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor at endogenous brain concentrations. Recent studies have suggested that increase of brain KYNA levels is involved in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. KYNA-producing enzymes have broad substrate specificity for amino acids, and brain uptake of kynurenine (KYN), the immediate precursor of KYNA, is via large neutral amino acid transporters (LAT).