Although in vitro culture of human embryos is a crucial step in assisted reproduction, the lack of focused research hampers worldwide standardisation and consistent outcomes. Only 1.2% of research papers published in five leading journals in human reproduction in 2019 focused on in vitro culture conditions, creating the impression that the optimisation process has approached its limits. On the other hand, in vitro culture of mammalian embryos is based on old principles, while there is no consensus on basic issues as density, time, medium change, gas atmosphere and small technical details including the way of drop preparation. This opinion paper aims to highlight and analyse the slow advancement in this field and stimulate research for simple and affordable solutions to meet the current requirements. A possible way for advancement is discussed in detail. Selection of embryos with the highest developmental competence requires individual culture and modification of the widely used "drop under oil" approach. Current use of three-dimensional surfaces instead of large flat bottoms is restricted to time-lapse systems, but these wells are designed for optical clarity, not for the needs of embryos. The size and shape of the original microwells (Well of the Well; WOW) offer a practical and straightforward solution to combine the benefits of communal and individual incubation and improve the overall quality of cultured embryos.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10815-021-02167-4 | DOI Listing |
Cytotherapy
November 2024
Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. Electronic address:
Background Aims: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have gained traction as potential cell-free therapeutic candidates. Development of purification methods that are scalable and robust is a major focus of EV research. Yet there is still little in the literature that evaluates purification methods against potency of the EV product.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
Tissue Engineering and Organ Manufacturing (TEOM) Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wuhan University TaiKang Medical School (School of Basic Medical Sciences), Wuhan, 430071, China.
Liver organoids have been increasingly adopted as a critical in vitro model to study liver development and diseases. However, the pre-vascularization of liver organoids without affecting liver parenchymal specification remains a long-lasting challenge, which is essential for their application in regenerative medicine. Here, the large-scale formation of pre-vascularized human hepatobiliary organoids (vhHBOs) is presented without affecting liver epithelial specification via a novel strategy, namely nonparenchymal cell grafting (NCG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurochem
January 2025
FMUC-Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
Astrocytes participate in brain clearance of extracellular proteins and metabolites, through the activity of the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which can be deregulated in stress-related disorders, impairing brain waste clearance. The present study investigates the impact of dexamethasone (Dexa), a synthetic glucocorticoid used as a simplified in vitro stress model, on astrocytic AQP4 and its modulation by adenosine A receptors (AR), which blockade reverses conditions related with maladaptive stress, such as anxiety and depression. The clearance of proteins in primary astrocytic cultures, assessed using 5 kDa FITC-dextran and 45 kDa TRITC-dextran uptake, was decreased by a 24 h exposure to 100 nM Dexa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBreast Cancer Res
January 2025
Division of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA.
Background: Epidemiological studies associate an increase in breast cancer risk, particularly triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), with lack of breastfeeding. This is more prevalent in African American women, with significantly lower rate of breastfeeding compared to Caucasian women. Prolonged breastfeeding leads to gradual involution (GI), whereas short-term or lack of breastfeeding leads to abrupt involution (AI) of the breast.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Neurosci
January 2025
Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Republic of Korea.
Microglia/macrophages participate in the development of and recovery from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and the macrophage M1 (pro-inflammatory)/M2 (anti-inflammatory) phase transition is involved in EAE disease progression. We evaluated the efficacy of crisdesalazine (a novel microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 inhibitor) in an EAE model, including its immune-regulating potency in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages, and its neuroprotective effects in a macrophage-neuronal co-culture system. Crisdesalazine significantly alleviated clinical symptoms, inhibited inflammatory cell infiltration and demyelination in the spinal cord, and altered the phase of microglial/macrophage and regulatory T cells.
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