A single layer of epicardial cells lines the heart, providing paracrine factors that stimulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and directly contributing cardiovascular progenitors during development and disease. While a number of factors have been implicated in epicardium-derived cell (EPDC) mobilization, the mechanisms governing their subsequent migration and differentiation are poorly understood. Here, we present in vitro and ex vivo strategies to study EPDC motility and differentiation. First, we describe a method of obtaining primary epicardial cells by outgrowth culture from the embryonic mouse heart. We also introduce a detailed protocol to assess three-dimensional migration of labeled EPDC in an organ culture system. We provide evidence using these techniques that genetic deletion of myocardin-related transcription factors in the epicardium attenuates EPDC migration. This approach serves as a platform to evaluate candidate modifiers of EPDC biology and could be used to develop genetic or chemical screens to identify novel regulators of EPDC mobilization that might be useful for cardiac repair.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/53750 | DOI Listing |
Adv Exp Med Biol
January 2025
Laboratory of Tumor Heterogeneity, Metastasis and Resistance, Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Breast cancer remission after treatment is sometimes long-lasting, but in about 30% of cases, there is a relapse after a so-called dormant state. Cellular cancer dormancy, the propensity of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) to remain in a nonproliferative state for an extended period, presents an opportunity for therapeutic intervention that may prevent reawakening and the lethal consequences of metastatic outgrowth. Therefore, identification of dormant DTCs and detailed characterization of cancer cell-intrinsic and niche-specific [i.
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January 2025
Centro de Investigación en Medicina Traslacional "Severo R. Amuchástegui" (CIMETSA), Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Biomédicas de Córdoba (IUCBC), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Naciones Unidas 420, Barrio Parque Vélez Sarsfield, X5016KEJ, Córdoba, Argentina.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role in the development of neural cells in the central nervous system (CNS). Human neural rosettes (hNRs) are radial cell structures that assemble from induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and recapitulate some stages of neural tube morphogenesis. Here we show that hiPSCs and hNRs secrete EVs (hiPSC-EVs and hNR-EVs) with distinctive protein cargoes.
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December 2024
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung City 824, Taiwan.
Olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation demonstrates promising therapeutic results in neurological disorders, such as spinal cord injury. The emerging cell-free secretome therapy compensates for the limitations of cell transplantation, such as low cell survival rates. However, the therapeutic benefits of the human OEC secretome remain unclear.
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December 2024
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Neuroimmunomodulation for Neurological Diseases, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons (iNs) have been widely used as models of neurodevelopment and neurodegenerative diseases. Coating cell culture vessels with extracellular matrixes (ECMs) gives structural support and facilitates cell communication and differentiation, ultimately enhances neuronal functions. However, the relevance of different ECMs to the natural environment and their impact on neuronal differentiation have not been fully characterized.
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January 2025
Department of Biochemistry, Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1, Canada.
In neurons, the acquisition of a polarized morphology is achieved upon the outgrowth of a single axon from one of several neurites. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), such as exosomes, from diverse sources are known to promote neurite outgrowth and thus may have therapeutic potential. However, the effect of fibroblast-derived exosomes on axon elongation in neurons of the central nervous system under growth-permissive conditions remains unclear.
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