Publications by authors named "Youngsook Son"

Background: Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a condition characterized by insufficient blood flow to the lower limbs, resulting in severe ischemia and potentially leading to amputation. This study aims to identify novel vasculogenic precursor cells (VPCs) in human bone marrow and evaluate their efficacy in combination with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) for the treatment of CLI.

Methods: Ex vivo cultured VPCs and BM-MSCs from bone marrow were characterized and their effects on neovascularization and long-term tissue regeneration were tested in a mouse CLI model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Human endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were first identified in the peripheral blood and later in the cord blood and bone marrow (BM) with different vascularization capacity and different surface marker profiles. However, their identity and functional roles in neovascularization have not been clearly demonstrated in vivo and in vitro.

Methods: Characterization of BM-EPC like cells were performed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, immunofluorescence staining, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Matrigel tube formation assay, and western blot analysis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Vasculogenic properties of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been reported, but it is still unclear whether the vasculogenic properties are restricted to some populations of MSCs or whether the entire population of MSCs has these properties. We cultured two different populations of MSCs in different culture media and their vasculogenic properties were evaluated using In vitro spheroid sprouting assay. Neither population of MSCs expressed markers of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), but they were different in the profiling of angiogenic factor expression as well as vasculogenic properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Substance-P (SP) is an 11 amino acid neuropeptide that is known to stimulate the peripheral mobilization of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and M2 polarization in monocytes/macrophages in a variety of acute and chronic tissue injuries. To examine the role of SP in protection and recovery from acute ischemic brain injury, experimental ischemic stroke was induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo) in rats for 1 h with subsequent reperfusion. Two injections of SP, immediately and one day post-tMCAo, resulted in approximately threefold lower mortality and 40% less infarct volume than those of saline-treated rats at seven days post-tMCAo.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A blood-brain barrier (BBB) on a chip similar to the in vivo BBB is important for evaluating the efficacy of reparative cell therapeutics for ischemic stroke in vitro. In this study, we established human BBB-like microvasculature on an angiogenesis microfluidic chip and analyzed the role of human pericytes (hPCs) and human astrocytes (hACs) on the architecture of human brain microvascular endothelial cells (hBMEC)-derived microvasculature on a chip. We found that human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) play a role as perivascular pericytes in tight BBB reformation with a better vessel-constrictive capacity than that of hPCs, providing evidence of reparative stem cells on BBB repair rather than a paracrine effect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microglia are resident immune cells of the central nervous system that act as brain-specific macrophages and are also known to regulate the innate immune functions of astrocytes through secretory molecules. This communication plays an important role in brain functions and homeostasis as well as in neuropathologic disease. In this study, we aimed to elucidate whether astrocytes and microglia could crosstalk to induce microglial polarization and proliferation, which can be further regulated under a microenvironment mimicking that of brain stroke.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, the stem cell-derived secretome, which is the set of proteins expressed by stem cells and secreted into the extracellular space, has been demonstrated as a critical contributor for tissue repair. In this study, we have produced two sets of high concentration secretomes from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) that contain bovine serum or free of exogenous molecules. Through proteomic analysis, we elucidated that proteins related to extracellular matrix organization and growth factor-related proteins are highly secreted by ADSCs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Near the bone remodeling compartments (BRC), extracellular calcium concentration (Ca) is locally elevated and bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) close to the BRC can be exposed to high calcium concentration. The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is known to play a key role in maintaining extracellular calcium homeostasis by sensing fluctuations in the levels of extracellular calcium (Ca). When human BMSCs (hBMSCs) were exposed to various calcium concentrations (1.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Endogenous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells are mobilized to peripheral blood and injured tissues in response to changes in the expression of various growth factors and cytokines in the injured tissues, including substance P (SP), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1). SP, TGF-β, and SDF-1 are all known to induce the migration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). However, it is not yet clear how these stimuli influence or interact with each other during BM-MSC mobilization.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Osteoporosis is an age-related disease caused by imbalanced bone remodeling resulting from excessive bone resorption. Osteoporosis is tightly linked with induction of chronic inflammation, which activates osteoclasts and impairs osteoprogenitor in bone marrow. T helper 17 (Th17) cells have been recently recognized as one of major inducers in the pathophysiology of bone loss by secreting IL-17.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by systemic inflammation and insulin resistance due to obesity, and this leads to critical complications, including retinopathy and nephropathy. This study explored the therapeutic effect of substance-p (SP), a neuropeptide, on T2DM progression and its complications. To examine whether SP affects glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism, systemic inflammation, and retinopathy, Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats (OLETF, 27 weeks old) with chronic inflammation, obesity, and impaired bone marrow stem cell pool was selected.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy acts through multiple differentiations in damaged tissue or via secretion of paracrine factors, as demonstrated in various inflammatory and ischaemic diseases. However, long-term ex vivo culture to obtain a sufficient number of cells in MSC transplantation leads to cellular senescence, deficiency of the paracrine potential, and loss of survival rate post-transplantation. In this study, we evaluated whether supplementation of MSCs with substance P (SP) can improve their therapeutic potential.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aortic injuries, including aortic aneurysms and dissections, are fatal vascular diseases with distinct histopathological features in the aortic tissue such as inflammation-induced endothelial dysfunction, infiltration of immune cells, and breakdown of the extracellular matrix. Few treatments are available for treating aortic aneurysms and dissections; thus, basic and clinical studies worldwide have been attempted to inhibit disease progression. Substance P (SP) exerts anti-inflammatory effects and promotes restoration of the damaged endothelium, leading to vasculature protection and facilitation of tissue repair.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Substance P (SP), an injury-inducible messenger that mobilizes bone marrow stem cells and modulates the immune response, has been suggested as a novel target for therapeutic agents. We evaluated the role of SP as an immune cell modulator during the progression of renal ischemic/reperfusion injury (IRI). Unilateral IRI induced the transient expression of endogenous SP and the infiltration of CCR7 M1 macrophages in injured kidneys.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Use of bone marrow aspirate (BMA) is a clinically advantageous cell therapeutic that bypasses the need for elaborate ex vivo cell culturing. However, a low level of bone marrow‑mesenchymal stem cells (BM‑MSCs) in the BMA and weak survival rate of these cells post‑transplantation entails an insufficient efficacy in vivo. Moreover, stem cell activity in BMA is impaired by age or background diseases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is a cell-secreted amine oxidase that crosslinks collagen and elastin in extracellular microenvironment. LOX-traceable nanoparticles (LOX-NPs) consisting of LOX antibodies (LOX) and paclitaxel, can accumulate at high concentrations at radiation-treated target sites, as a tumor-targeting drug carrier for chemotherapy. Tumor-targeting and anticancer effects of PLGA based LOX-NPs in vitro and in vivo were evaluated at radiation-targeted site.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: Arterial insufficiency ulcers are frequent complications of peripheral artery disease and infection or long-term neglect of the ulcer can eventually lead to amputation of the affected body part. An ischemic environment, caused by interrupted blood flow, affects the supply of nutrients and elongates the inflammation period, inducing tissue degeneration. Thus, the modulation of neovascularization and inflammation could be an ideal therapeutic strategy for ischemic wound healing.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biological aging (BA) is a tool for comprehensive assessment of individual health status. A rat model was developed for measuring BA by intravenously administering adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) into rats and evaluating several biochemical parameters. In addition, the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the differentiation potential of ADSCs was analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/aims: Therapies using stem/progenitor cells have been experimentally and clinically investigated to regenerate damaged hearts. Substance-P (SP) induces bone marrow (BM) stem cell mobilization and suppresses inflammation in ischemic injuries. This study investigated the role of SP in BM stem cell mobilization and immune responses for tissue repair after ischemic-reperfusion injury (IRI), in comparison with that of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is an unmet need in novel therapeutics for atopic dermatitis (AD). We examined the effects of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on AD-like skin lesions induced by the application of 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) in NC/Nga mice. Autologous ADSCs and ADSC-conditioned medium (ADSC-CM) were injected intralesionally three times.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s13770-017-0097-3.].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Current dilemma working with surgically-induced OA (osteoarthritis) model include inconsistent pathological state due to various influence from surrounding tissues. On the contrary, biochemical induction of OA using collagenase II has several advantageous points in a sense that it does not involve surgery to induce model and the extent of induced cartilage degeneration is almost uniform. However, concerns still exists because biochemical OA model induce abrupt destruction of cartilage tissues through enzymatic digestion in a short period of time, and this might accompany systemic inflammatory response, which is rather a trait of RA (rheumatoid arthritis) than being a trait of OA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Endogenous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are mobilized into peripheral blood and injured tissues by various growth factors and cytokines that are expressed in the injured tissues, such as substance P (SP), stromal cell derived factor-1 (SDF-1), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β). Extracellular bioactive lipid metabolites such as ceramide-1-phosphate and sphingosine-1-phosphate also modulate BM-MSC migration as SP, SDF-1, and TGF-β. However, the roles of intrinsic lipid kinases of BM-MSCs in the stem cell migration are unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biological aging (BA) is a comprehensive assessment tool for elderly persons. The authors aimed to develop a rat model that can be used to assess BA by evaluating various blood, biochemical, and hormonal parameters and demonstrate that the intravenous administration of autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) improves BA. Twelve elderly (aged 20 months) male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study and divided into 2 groups: autologous ADSC administration (n = 6) and saline administration (n = 6).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chemical agents that can potentially cause skin irritation are typically tested in animal models or in vitro assays of cell viability or cytokine expression. However, these methods do not always provide translatable results and are not sufficiently sensitive for subtoxicity detection. Here, we introduce the mechanical properties of keratinocytes as novel endpoints for the safety assessment of chemical agents at the subtoxicity level.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF