The Promoting Equity in Stem Cell Genomics Survey.

This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitudes toward induced pluripotent stem cell technology and biobanking. A survey instrument was developed to determine individuals' knowledge of and attitudes toward these technologies. Results from 276 ethnically diverse participants who took the online survey demonstrated significant associations (p ≤ 0.

Opioid prescribing trends in postpartum women: a multicenter study.

Background: The postpartum period can be a particularly vulnerable time for exposure to opioid medications, and there are currently no consensus guidelines for physicians to follow regarding opioid prescribing during this period.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate inter- and intrahospital variability in opioid prescribing patterns in postpartum women and better understand the role of clinical variables in prescribing.

Study Design: Data were extracted from electronic medical records on 4248 patients who delivered at 6 hospitals across the United States from January 2016 through March 2016.

Development of a prenatal clinical care pathway for uncomplicated gastroschisis and literature review.

Background: Gastroschisis is an abdominal wall defect wherein the bowel is herniated into the amniotic fluid. Controversy exists regarding optimal prenatal surveillance strategies that predict fetal well-being and help guide timing of delivery. Our objective was to develop a clinical care pathway for prenatal management of uncomplicated gastroschisis at our institution.

Author Correction: Role of astroglia in Down's syndrome revealed by patient-derived human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The tumorigenic potential of pluripotent stem cells: What can we do to minimize it?

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have the potential to fundamentally change the way that we go about treating and understanding human disease. Despite this extraordinary potential, these cells also have an innate capability to form tumors in immunocompromised individuals when they are introduced in their pluripotent state. Although current therapeutic strategies involve transplantation of only differentiated hPSC derivatives, there is still a concern that transplanted cell populations could contain a small percentage of cells that are not fully differentiated.

Glycosyltransferase ST6GAL1 contributes to the regulation of pluripotency in human pluripotent stem cells.

Many studies have suggested the significance of glycosyltransferase-mediated macromolecule glycosylation in the regulation of pluripotent states in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Here, we observed that the sialyltransferase ST6GAL1 was preferentially expressed in undifferentiated hPSCs compared to non-pluripotent cells. A lectin which preferentially recognizes α-2,6 sialylated galactosides showed strong binding reactivity with undifferentiated hPSCs and their glycoproteins, and did so to a much lesser extent with differentiated cells.

30 mL Single- versus 80 mL double-balloon catheter for pre-induction cervical ripening: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of an 80 mL double-balloon catheter versus a 30 mL single-balloon catheter for pre-induction cervical ripening.

Methods: We performed a randomized controlled trial of women ≥18 years with a singleton, vertex pregnancy, a reactive non-stress test, and a Bishop score ≤5 comparing an 80 mL double- versus a 30 mL single-balloon catheters for cervical ripening. Women were randomly assigned to the two catheter types, stratified 1:1 by nulliparity or multiparity.

The 'sweet' spot of cellular pluripotency: protein glycosylation in human pluripotent stem cells and its applications in regenerative medicine.

Introduction: Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) promise for the future of regenerative medicine. The structural and biochemical diversity associated with glycans makes them a unique type of macromolecule modification that is involved in the regulation of a vast array of biochemical events and cellular activities including pluripotency in hPSCs. The primary focus of this review article is to highlight recent advances in stem cell research from a glycobiological perspective.

Application of a low cost array-based technique - TAB-Array - for quantifying and mapping both 5mC and 5hmC at single base resolution in human pluripotent stem cells.

5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), an oxidized derivative of 5-methylcytosine (5mC), has been implicated as an important epigenetic regulator of mammalian development. Current procedures use DNA sequencing methods to discriminate 5hmC from 5mC, limiting their accessibility to the scientific community. Here we report a method that combines TET-assisted bisulfite conversion with Illumina 450K DNA methylation arrays for a low-cost high-throughput approach that distinguishes 5hmC and 5mC signals at base resolution.

Role of astroglia in Down's syndrome revealed by patient-derived human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Down's syndrome (DS), caused by trisomy of human chromosome 21, is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. Here we use induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from DS patients to identify a role for astrocytes in DS pathogenesis. DS astroglia exhibit higher levels of reactive oxygen species and lower levels of synaptogenic molecules.

Genomic instability in pluripotent stem cells: implications for clinical applications.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are known to acquire genomic changes as they proliferate and differentiate. Despite concerns that these changes will compromise the safety of hPSC-derived cell therapy, there is currently scant evidence linking the known hPSC genomic abnormalities with malignancy. For the successful use of hPSCs for clinical applications, we will need to learn to distinguish between innocuous genomic aberrations and those that may cause tumors.

Protein post-translational modifications and regulation of pluripotency in human stem cells.

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are known to be essential mechanisms used by eukaryotic cells to diversify their protein functions and dynamically coordinate their signaling networks. Defects in PTMs have been linked to numerous developmental disorders and human diseases, highlighting the importance of PTMs in maintaining normal cellular states. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into a variety of functional somatic cells; these cells hold a great promise for the advancement of biomedical research and clinical therapy.

Matched miRNA and mRNA signatures from an hESC-based in vitro model of pancreatic differentiation reveal novel regulatory interactions.

The differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to insulin-expressing beta islet-like cells is a promising in vitro model system for studying the molecular signaling pathways underlying beta cell differentiation, as well as a potential source of cells for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate many biological processes, including cellular differentiation. We studied the miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of hPSCs at five stages of in vitro differentiation along the pancreatic beta cell lineage (definitive endoderm, primitive gut tube, posterior foregut, pancreatic progenitor and hormone-expressing endocrine cells) in the context of samples of primary human fetal pancreas and purified adult islet cells using microarray analysis.

Fetal cellular microchimerism in miscarriage and pregnancy termination.

Fetal cells transfer to the mother during pregnancy and can persist long-term as microchimerism. Acquisition of microchimerism may also occur during pregnancy loss, either miscarriage or pregnancy termination. Because nearly half of all pregnancies end in loss, we recently investigated the magnitude of fetal cell transfer during pregnancy loss and whether obstetric clinical factors impacted cell transfer.

Aneuploid cells are differentially susceptible to caspase-mediated death during embryonic cerebral cortical development.

Neural progenitor cells, neurons, and glia of the normal vertebrate brain are diversely aneuploid, forming mosaics of intermixed aneuploid and euploid cells. The functional significance of neural mosaic aneuploidy is not known; however, the generation of aneuploidy during embryonic neurogenesis, coincident with caspase-dependent programmed cell death (PCD), suggests that a cell's karyotype could influence its survival within the CNS. To address this hypothesis, PCD in the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex was attenuated by global pharmacological inhibition of caspases or genetic removal of caspase-3 or caspase-9.

Teratoma generation in the testis capsule.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have the unique characteristic that they can differentiate into cells from all three germ layers. This makes them a potentially valuable tool for the treatment of many different diseases. With the advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and continuing research with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) there is a need for assays that can demonstrate that a particular cell line is pluripotent.

Specific lectin biomarkers for isolation of human pluripotent stem cells identified through array-based glycomic analysis.

Rapid and dependable methods for isolating human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) populations are urgently needed for quality control in basic research and in cell-based therapy applications. Using lectin arrays, we analyzed glycoproteins extracted from 26 hPSC samples and 22 differentiated cell samples, and identified a small group of lectins with distinctive binding signatures that were sufficient to distinguish hPSCs from a variety of non-pluripotent cell types. These specific biomarkers were shared by all the 12 human embryonic stem cell and the 14 human induced pluripotent stem cell samples examined, regardless of the laboratory of origin, the culture conditions, the somatic cell type reprogrammed, or the reprogramming method used.

Normal human pluripotent stem cell lines exhibit pervasive mosaic aneuploidy.

Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) lines have been considered to be homogeneously euploid. Here we report that normal hPSC--including induced pluripotent--lines are karyotypic mosaics of euploid cells intermixed with many cells showing non-clonal aneuploidies as identified by chromosome counting, spectral karyotyping (SKY) and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of interphase/non-mitotic cells. This mosaic aneuploidy resembles that observed in progenitor cells of the developing brain and preimplantation embryos, suggesting that it is a normal, rather than pathological, feature of stem cell lines.

FISH analysis of human pluripotent stem cells.

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) hold promise for treating a multitude of diseases. These fascinating cells are unique in their ability to both self-renew and differentiate into cells from all three germ layers. However, PSCs, as well as other cultured cells, are prone to genetic instability.

EXIT procedure: technique and indications with prenatal imaging parameters for assessment of airway patency.

Successful management of fetal conditions in which airway obstruction is anticipated is now possible because of advances in prenatal imaging and the development of innovative techniques to secure the fetal airway before complete separation of the fetus from the maternal circulation. Fetal ultrasonography and fetal magnetic resonance imaging are complementary imaging modalities in the assessment of fetuses with potential airway obstruction. The ex utero intrapartum therapy (EXIT) procedure is used to secure the fetal airway before complete delivery of the fetus.

Neuronal DNA content variation (DCV) with regional and individual differences in the human brain.

It is widely assumed that the human brain contains genetically identical cells through which postgenomic mechanisms contribute to its enormous diversity and complexity. The relatively recent identification of neural cells throughout the neuraxis showing somatically generated mosaic aneuploidy indicates that the vertebrate brain can be genomically heterogeneous (Rehen et al. [2001] Proc.

Delayed interval delivery in the setting of placental abruption: a case report.

Background: Attempts at delayed interval deliveries in multifetal gestations have become more common. However, selection criteria are imperative to success, and placental abruption is generally considered a contraindication.

Case: A woman with a diamniotic-dichorionic twin gestation at 23 weeks presented after a motor vehicle accident with placental abruption, hypofibrinogenemia an intrauterine fetal demise of twin A.