Legal aspects of genetic testing in the evaluation of ventricular tachycardias.

There is increasing knowledge of the genetic basis of distinct cardiac pathologies that are related to ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VT) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). The identification of genes responsible for inherited cardiac diseases has led to the organization of cardiogenetic consultations in many countries worldwide. The 2022 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of SCD and the international 2022 Expert Consensus Statement on the state of genetic testing for cardiac diseases emphasize the importance of genetic testing in cardiology practice along with appropriate information provision to affected individuals and their relatives.

Breast carcinoma cells modulate the chemoattractive activity of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells by interfering with CXCL12.

We investigated whether breast tumor cells can modulate the function of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with a special emphasis on their chemoattractive activity towards hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Primary MSCs as well as a MSC line (SCP-1) were cocultured with primary breast cancer cells, MCF-7, MDA-MB231 breast carcinoma or MCF-10A non-malignant breast epithelial cells or their conditioned medium. In addition, the frequency of circulating clonogenic hematopoietic progenitors was determined in 78 patients with breast cancer and compared with healthy controls.

Cellular reporter systems for high-throughput screening of interactions between bioactive matrices and human mesenchymal stromal cells.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and factors secreted by them are essential components of the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche within the bone marrow microenvironment. It has been shown that the extracellular matrix (ECM) can influence HSC-supportive potential of MSC and is a prerequisite for the proper signaling of morphogens. Therefore, we aimed at the identification of ECM components and candidate morphogens capable of enhancing the expression of HSC-supportive proteins in human MSC, namely, angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1).

Overexpression of Jagged-1 and its intracellular domain in human mesenchymal stromal cells differentially affect the interaction with hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are an important component of the bone marrow microenvironment. Notch ligands expressed by MSC are known to play a regulatory role for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) and in support of bone marrow homeostasis. While the role of Notch signaling in HSPC, their progeny, and MSC has been relatively well studied, little is known about the Notch-independent regulatory impact of Notch ligands on MSC themselves.

Differential effects of mixed lymphocyte reaction supernatant on human mesenchymal stromal cells.

The concept that mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), a component of the hematopoietic microenvironment, can be a target for alloreactive effector cells in the context of graft-vs-host disease has not been investigated in detail. Mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) supernatant was used to mimic the inflammatory milieu induced by an allogeneic immune response in vitro. In addition to phenotype and proliferation, we monitored MSC differentiation, gene expression, and support of CD34(+) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells after priming with MLR supernatant.