Ectopic Bone Formation by Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Human Term Placenta and the Decidua.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are one of the most attractive cell types for cell-based bone tissue repair applications. Fetal-derived MSCs and maternal-derived MSCs have been isolated from chorionic villi of human term placenta and the decidua basalis attached to the placenta following delivery, respectively. Chorionic-derived MSCs (CMSCs) and decidua-derived MSCs (DMSCs) generated in this study met the MSCs criteria set by International Society of Cellular Therapy.

Food for thought: progress in understanding the causes and mechanisms of food allergy.

Purpose Of Review: The community burden of food allergy appears to be rising, yet the causes and mechanisms are not completely understood. The purpose of this review is to provide a snapshot of the state of play of IgE food allergies, with a focus on recent advances.

Recent Findings: There are still wide discrepancies regarding measures and definitions of food allergy.

Expression of steroid receptor coactivators in cultured cells from paired myometrial and fibroid tissues.

Objectives: Fibroid tumor growth in the myometrium appears to be regulated by estrogens but the role of estrogen receptor (ER) coregulators, such as the steroid receptor coactivator (SRC) family members, in fibroid growth is currently unknown. The aims of this study were to compare the expression of the SRC-1, SRC-2, and SRC-3 coactivators between fibroids and normal myometrium in pure populations of cultured smooth muscle cells (SMC) and microvascular endothelial cells (MEC), and also between both cell types, and to identify any relationship between the SRC expression profiles and the known ER status of the SMC and MEC samples examined in this study.

Methods: Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) coupled with Southern blot analysis was used to derive a semiquantitative estimate of the relative levels of SRC-1, SRC-2, and SRC-3 expression in pure populations of SMC (>98% alpha-smooth muscle actin [SMA](+)) and MEC (>99% CD31(+)) isolated and cultured from eight samples of paired human myometrial and fibroid tissue.

Inhibin-activin receptor subunit gene expression in ovarian tumors.

Granulosa cell tumors of the ovary (GCT) express the inhibin subunit genes and secrete dimeric inhibin. Transgenic mice null for the alpha-inhibin gene develop GCT. It has been suggested that this apparent contradiction may be reconciled if the human GCT are resistant to the tumor-suppressive effects of inhibin.

Humoral factors in intestinal adaptation.

The small bowel has a remarkable ability to adapt after injury, inflammation or resection. It has long been suggested that humoral factors, particularly enteroglucagon, epidermal growth factor, neurotensin and growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I, might stimulate bowel growth. Of particular interest is the recent finding that glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2), a product of the gene encoding proglucagon, exerts a trophic effect on the intestinal epithelium via a specific G-protein-coupled receptor.

Tissue distribution of rat glucagon receptor and GLP-1 receptor gene expression.

The regulation of glucose metabolism by glucagon and GLP-1 is well established, but novel functions for these and other proglucagon-derived peptides are less well defined. This paper highlights the diversity of both GLP-1 and glucagon activity by studying the tissue distribution of glucagon and GLP-1 receptor gene expression by both Southern blot analysis of RT-PCR products and nuclease protection assays. By Southern blot analysis of RT-PCR products, GLP-1 receptor mRNA was detected in lung, hypothalamus, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, kidney, pancreas, and throughout the gastrointestinal tract.

Determinants of specificity of transactivation by the mineralocorticoid or glucocorticoid receptor.

Glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids have distinct in vivo roles despite close structural homology and similarities in vitro. Known mechanisms of specificity focus on factors extrinsic to the receptor; interactions that directly regulate the receptor to confer specificity are less well understood, particularly for the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). To examine relative MR vs.