Human Adipose-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Attenuate Early Stage of Bleomycin Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis: Comparison with Pirfenidone.

Background And Objectives: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, irreversible, invariably fatal fibrotic lung disease with no lasting option for therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be a promising modality for the treatment of IPF. Aim of the study was to investigate improvement in survivability and anti-fibrotic efficacy of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) in comparison with pirfenidone in the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model.

Safety and Efficacy of Growth Factor Concentrate in the Treatment of Nasolabial Fold Correction: Split Face Pilot Study.

Background: Growth factors have long been known as an effective treatment for facial wrinkles. We developed growth factor concentrate (GFC) from the platelets and evaluated their clinical outcome in nasolabial folds.

Aims And Objectives: We evaluated safety and efficacy of autologous GFC on patients with nasolabial folds.

Novel biomimetic tripolymer scaffolds consisting of chitosan, collagen type 1, and hyaluronic acid for bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stem cells-based bone tissue engineering.

Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are an ideal osteogenic cell source for bone tissue engineering (BTE). A scaffold, in the context of BTE, is the extracellular matrix (ECM) that provides the unique microenvironment and play significant role in regulating cell behavior, differentiation, and development in an in vitro culture system. In this study, we have developed novel biomimetic tripolymer scaffolds for BTE using an ECM protein, collagen type 1; an ECM glycosaminoglycan, hyaluronic acid; and a natural osteoconductive polymer, chitosan.

Extracellular matrix protein mediated regulation of the osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stem cells.

The biomimetic approach of tissue engineering exploits the favorable properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), to achieve better scaffold performance and tissue regeneration. ECM proteins regulate cell adhesion and differentiation through integrin mediated signal transduction. In the present study, we have examined the role of ECM proteins such as collagen type I, fibronectin, laminin and vitronectin in regulating the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs).

Glycosaminoglycans enhance osteoblast differentiation of bone marrow derived human mesenchymal stem cells.

Extracellular matrix plays an important role in regulating cell growth and differentiation. The biomimetic approach of cell-based tissue engineering is based on mirroring this in vivo micro environment for developing a functional tissue engineered construct. In this study, we treated normal tissue culture plates with selected extracellular matrix components consisting of glycosaminoglycans such as chondroitin-4-sulphate, dermatan sulphate, chondroitin-6-sulphate, heparin and hyaluronic acid.

A novel tripolymer coating demonstrating the synergistic effect of chitosan, collagen type 1 and hyaluronic acid on osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells.

The biomimetic approach mimicking in vivo micro environment is the key for developing functional tissue engineered constructs. In this study, we used a tripolymer combination consisting of a natural polymer, chitosan and two extracellular matrix components; collagen type 1 and hyaluronic acid to coat tissue culture plate to evaluate their effect on osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The polymers were blended at different mixing ratios and the tissue culture plates were coated either by polyblend method or by surface modification method.

Optimization and scale-up of Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells for clinical applications.

MSCs are promising candidates for stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine. Umbilical cord is the easiest obtainable biological source of MSCs and the Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord is a rich source of fetus-derived stem cells. However, the use of MSCs for therapeutic application is based on their subsequent large-scale in vitro expansion.

Increased proliferation and analysis of differential gene expression in human Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stromal cells under hypoxia.

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) from Wharton's jelly (WJ) of umbilical cord bear higher proliferation rate and self-renewal capacity than adult tissue-derived MSCs and are a primitive stromal cell population. Stem cell niche or physiological microenvironment plays a crucial role in maintenance of stem cell properties and oxygen concentration is an important component of the stem cell niche. Low oxygen tension or hypoxia is prevalent in the microenvironment of embryonic stem cells and many adult stem cells at early stages of development.

Inherent differential propensity of dental pulp stem cells derived from human deciduous and permanent teeth.

Introduction: Lately, several new stem cell sources and their effective isolation have been reported that claim to have potential for therapeutic applications. However, it is not yet clear which type of stem cell sources are most potent and best for targeted therapy. Lack of understanding of nature of these cells and their lineage-specific propensity might hinder their full potential.

Micromanipulation of culture niche permits long-term expansion of dental pulp stem cells--an economic and commercial angle.

Stem cells isolated from dental pulp possess the capacity for self-renewal and the potential for multi-lineage differentiation. However, dental pulp stem cells have different characteristics in terms of their culture conditions. The success of stem cells culture is governed by its micro-environmental niche.

Application of multiplex PCR for characterization of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and its differentiated progenies.

Techniques to evaluate gene expression profiling, including real-time quantitative PCR, TaqMan low-density arrays, and sufficiently sensitive cDNA microarrays, are efficient methods for monitoring human embryonic stem cell (hESC) cultures. However, most of these high-throughput tests have a limited use due to high cost, extended turnaround time, and the involvement of highly specialized technical expertise. Hence, there is a paucity of rapid, cost-effective, robust, yet sensitive methods for routine screening of hESCs.

Functional recovery after transplantation of bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal stromal cells in a rat model of spinal cord injury.

Background Aims: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a medically untreatable condition for which stem cells have created hope. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have established that these cells are safe for transplantation. The dose dependency, survivability, route of administration, cell migration to injury site and effect on sensory and motor behavior in an SCI-induced paraplegic model were studied.

Open-labeled study of unilateral autologous bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which stem cell research has created hope in the last few years. Seven PD patients aged 22 to 62 years with a mean duration of disease 14.7+/-7.

Establishment of a brain tumor tissue repository in India: maintaining quality standards.

Tumor tissue repositories (TTRs) play a pivotal role in both basic and translational research by acting as a conduit to facilitate innovative research, thereby providing solutions to treat the incurable disease--'Cancer'. One of the fundamental requirements to achieve this goal would be the acquisition of high quality tumor tissue specimens that are stored in such a manner that its integrity is preserved. Further, a quality system should be in place that assures the compliance of procedures that are the key to a smooth functioning of all the inter-related departments that play a key role in the entire operations.

Rho kinase inhibitor y27632 alters the balance between pluripotency and early differentiation events in human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) differentiate spontaneously in culture and develop a complex microenvironment comprising of autologously derived niche that in turn supports their pluripotency. The basic hypothesis that we deal with is that hESCs undergoing differentiation, sequentially generate trophectoderm and endoderm lineages and thereafter influence further events through the production of growth factors. These factors control the fate of hESCs either by promoting or retarding the recruitment of new cells in the differentiation program.

Y-27632 enhances differentiation of blastocyst like cystic human embryoid bodies to endocrinologically active trophoblast cells on a biomimetic platform.

Trophoblast differentiation and formation of the placenta are important events linked to post-implantation embryonic development. Models mimicking the biology of trophoblast differentiation in a post-implantation maternal microenvironment are needed for understanding disorders like placental-ischemia or for applications in drug-screening, and would help in overcoming the ethical impasse on using human embryos for such research. Here we attempt to create such a model by using embryoid bodies (EBs) and a biomimetic platform composed of a bilayer of fibronectin and gelatin on top of low-melting agarose.

Long-term expansion and pluripotent marker array analysis of Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with their multilineage developmental plasticity comprise a promising tool for regenerative cell-based therapy. Despite important biological properties, which the MSCs from different sources share, the differences between them are poorly understood. Hence, it is required to assign a molecular signature to each of these MSC populations, based on stem cell related genes and early lineage or developmental markers.

Propensity of human embryonic stem cell lines during early stage of lineage specification controls their terminal differentiation into mature cell types.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are able to stably maintain their characteristics for an unlimited period; nevertheless, substantial differences among cell lines in gene and protein expression not manifested during the undifferentiated state may appear when cells differentiate. It is widely accepted that developing an efficient protocol to control the differentiation of hESCs will enable us to produce adequate numbers of desired cell types with relative ease for diverse applications ranging from basic research to cell therapy and drug screening. Hence of late, there has been considerable interest in understanding whether and how hESC lines are equivalent or different to each other in their in vitro developmental tendencies.

Phenotypic and functional comparison of optimum culture conditions for upscaling of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Human adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a promising tool in the newly emerging avenue of regenerative medicine. MSCs have already been translated from basic research to clinical transplantation research. However, there is still a lack of consensus on the ideal method of culturing MSCs.

Adult stem cells: a clinical update.

There has been unprecedented interest in stem cell research mainly because of their true potential and hope that they offer to the patients as a cell therapy with the prospect to treat hitherto incurable diseases. Despite the worldwide interest and efforts that have been put in this research, major fundamental issues are still unresolved. Adult stem cells such as hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are already under clinical applications and there are several examples of plasticity and self-renewal where adult stem cells or their precursor cells can be re-programmed by extra cellular cues or internal cues to alter their character in a way that could have important application for cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Effect of holding time, temperature and different parenteral solutions on viability and functionality of adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells before transplantation.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to proliferate and differentiate into various lineages, given the appropriate microenvironment, thus making MSCs promising candidates for cell transplantation. For clinical applications, MSCs need to be stored in optimal conditions so that they may be transported and made available as an off-the-shelf product for companies to market. Freshly harvested and cultured or frozen-thawed bone marrow-derived MSCs were prepared for cell transplantation.

FGF2 secreting human fibroblast feeder cells: a novel culture system for human embryonic stem cells.

Human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines are traditionally derived and maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) which are xenogeneic and enter senescence rapidly. In view of the clinical implications of hESCs, the use of human fibroblast as feeders has been suggested as a plausible alternative. However, use of fibroblast cells from varying sources leads to culture variations along with the need to add FGF2 in cultures to sustain ES cell pluripotency.

Embryonic stem cells: from markers to market.

ABSTRACT Embryonic stem cells are considered the mother of all kinds of tissues and cells and it is envisioned as the holy grail of regenerative medicine. However, their use in cell replacement therapies (CRT) has so far been limited and their potentials are yet to be fully realized. The use of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) involves many safety issues pertaining to culture conditions and epigenetic changes.

Genetically altered mouse models: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Targeted gene disruption in mice is a powerful tool for generating murine models for human development and disease. While the human genome program has helped to generate numerous candidate genes, few genes have been characterized for their precise in vivo functions. Gene targeting has had an enormous impact on our ability to delineate the functional roles of these genes.