Sympathetic neurons can modify the intrinsic structural and functional properties of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

The sympathetic nervous system densely innervates all cardiac chambers and is a key player in cardiac control, yet this relationship has scarcely been investigated using a stem cell-based model. This study investigates the effects that sympathetic neurons (SNs) have on human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC-CMs) in vitro, and whether they induce any degree of functional or structural maturity in these conventionally immature cells. SNs were isolated from neonatal rat pups, and cocultured with hPSC-CMs for up to 15 days.

The Carbon Isotope Composition of Epiphytes Depends Not Only on Their Layers, Life Forms, and Taxonomical Groups but Also on the Carbon and Nitrogen Indicators of Host Trees.

The carbon isotopic composition of plant tissues is a diagnostic feature of a number of physiological and ecological processes. The most important of which is the type of photosynthesis. In epiphytes, two peaks of δC values are known to correspond to C3 and CAM photosynthesis and some variants of transitional forms between them.