ISCT MSC committee statement on the US FDA approval of allogenic bone-marrow mesenchymal stromal cells.

The December 2024 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Mesoblast's Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd)-allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC(M)) therapy-in pediatric acute steroid-refractory graft-versus-host-disease finally ended a long-lasting drought on approved MSC clinical products in the United States. While other jurisdictions-including Europe, Japan, India, and South Korea-have marketed autologous or allogeneic MSC products, the United States has lagged in its approval. The sponsor's significant efforts and investments, working closely with the FDA addressing concerns regarding clinical efficacy and consistent MSC potency through an iterative process that spanned several years, was rewarded with this landmark approval.

Single-cell multiomics to advance cell therapy.

Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq) was first introduced in 2009 and has evolved with many technological advancements over the last decade. Not only are there several scRNAseq platforms differing in many aspects, but there are also a large number of computational pipelines available for downstream analyses which are being developed at an exponential rate. Such computational data appear in many scientific publications in virtually every field of study; thus, investigators should be able to understand and interpret data in this rapidly evolving field.

Integrative Approaches for Cancer Pain Management.

Purpose Of Review: The goal of this review is to summarize updates to the broad array of complementary therapies available for cancer pain. This paper will serve as a reference for clinicians managing pain in cancer patients.

Recent Findings: Patients are embracing integrative therapies in growing numbers; clinicians must be prepared to incorporate these therapies into patients' existing treatment regimens.

Moral injury appraisals and dissociation: Associations in a sample of trauma-exposed community members.

Appraisal of trauma is a critical factor in the development of impairing post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as dissociation. Individuals may appraise trauma as morally injurious (i.e.

Dissemination of Tn-Related Integrative and Conjugative Elements in Streptococcus pneumoniae Occurs by Transformation and Homologous Recombination in Nasopharyngeal Biofilms.

Multidrug resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae (or pneumococcus) continues to be a global challenge. An important class of antibiotic resistance determinants disseminating in are >20-kb Tn-related integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs), such as Tn, Tn, and Tn. Although conjugation has been implicated as the transfer mechanism for ICEs in several bacteria, including , the molecular basis for widespread dissemination of pneumococcal Tn-related ICEs remains to be fully elucidated.

Cytokine and metabolic regulation of adipose tissue Tregs.

Since their discovery over a decade ago, much has been learned regarding the importance and function of visceral adipose tissue (VAT)-resident regulatory T cells (Tregs). VAT Tregs play a critical role in controlling VAT inflammation and alleviating metabolic disease. However, this population is disrupted in obesity which exacerbates VAT inflammation and metabolic abnormalities.

Inappropriate cathepsin K secretion promotes its enzymatic activation driving heart and valve malformation.

Although congenital heart defects (CHDs) represent the most common birth defect, a comprehensive understanding of disease etiology remains unknown. This is further complicated since CHDs can occur in isolation or as a feature of another disorder. Analyzing disorders with associated CHDs provides a powerful platform to identify primary pathogenic mechanisms driving disease.

Hepatic fat is a stronger correlate of key clinical and molecular abnormalities than visceral and abdominal subcutaneous fat in youth.

Introduction: Body fat distribution is strongly associated with cardiometabolic disease (CMD), but the relative importance of hepatic fat as an underlying driver remains unclear. Here, we applied a systems biology approach to compare the clinical and molecular subnetworks that correlate with hepatic fat, visceral fat, and abdominal subcutaneous fat distribution.

Research Design And Methods: This was a cross-sectional sub-study of 283 children/adolescents (7-19 years) from the Yale Pediatric NAFLD Cohort.

Platelet α-granules contribute to organ-specific pathologies in a mouse model of severe malaria.

Nbeal2 deficiency leads to significantly reduced lung and brain pathology and enhanced survival in a mouse model of malaria. Both antibody-dependent and antibody-independent platelet depletion in mice recapitulate the findings observed in mice.

Emerging Roles for Eph Receptors and Ephrin Ligands in Immunity.

Eph receptors are the largest family of receptor tyrosine kinases and mediate a myriad of essential processes in humans from embryonic development to adult tissue homeostasis through interactions with membrane-bound ephrin ligands. The ubiquitous expression of Eph receptors and ephrin ligands among the cellular players of the immune system underscores the importance of these molecules in orchestrating an optimal immune response. This review provides an overview of the various roles of Eph receptors and ephrin ligands in immune cell development, activation, and migration.

TTK promotes mesenchymal signaling via multiple mechanisms in triple negative breast cancer.

Abnormal expression of TTK kinase has been associated with the initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance of breast and other cancers, but its roles remain to be clarified. In this study, we examined the role of TTK in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and found that higher TTK expression correlated with mesenchymal and proliferative phenotypes in TNBC cells. Pharmacologic inhibition and genomic silencing of TTK not only reversed the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in TNBC cells, but also increased the expression of KLF5, an effector of TGF-β signaling and inhibitor of EMT.

Understanding Aspects of Aluminum Exposure in Alzheimer's Disease Development.

Aluminum is a ubiquitously abundant nonessential element. Aluminum has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and dialysis encephalopathy. Many continue to regard aluminum as controversial although increasing evidence supports the implications of aluminum in the pathogenesis of AD.

Evaluating interventions to promote routine preventive screenings: a comparison of analytical outcomes.

Background: Often in public health, we are interested in promoting routine preventive screenings (e.g., blood glucose monitoring, hypertension screening, or mammography).

Acceptability and intended usage preferences for six HIV testing options among internet-using men who have sex with men.

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately impacted by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) epidemic in the United States (US). Testing for HIV is the cornerstone of comprehensive prevention efforts and the gateway to early engagement of infected individuals in medical care. We sought to determine attitudes towards six different HIV testing modalities presented collectively to internet-using MSM and identify which options rank higher than others in terms of intended usage preference.

Duration of colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an acute care facility: a study to assess epidemiologic features.

Background: Patients with a history of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization or infection are often presumed to remain colonized when they are readmitted to the hospital. This assumption underlies the hospital practice that flags MRSA-positive patients so that these patients can be placed in contact isolation at hospital admission and, when necessary, be given the appropriate empirical therapy and/or antibiotic prophylaxis.

Methods: To determine the duration of and factors associated with MRSA colonization among patients following discharge, we designed a cohort study of patients hospitalized between October 1, 2007, and July 31, 2009, at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center, a 128-bed acute care facility.

Cluster A Personality Disorders: Schizotypal, Schizoid and Paranoid Personality Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence.

Cluster A personality disorders (PD), including schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), paranoid personality disorder (PPD), and schizoid PD, are marked by odd and eccentric behaviors, and are grouped together because of common patterns in symptomatology as well as shared genetic and environmental risk factors. The DSM-IV-TR describes personality disorders as representing stable and enduring patterns of maladaptive traits, and much of what is understood about Cluster A personality disorders in particular stems from research with adult populations. Less in known about these disorders in children and adolescents, and controversy remains regarding diagnosis of personality disorders in general in youth.