Future application of hair follicle stem cells: capable in differentiation into sweat gland cells.

Background: Sweat glands (SGs) can not regenerate after complete destruction in the severe skin injury, so it is important to find a ideal stem cell source in order to regenerate functional SGs. Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) possess the obvious properties of the adult stem cells, which are multipotent and easily accessible. In this research, we attempted to direct the HFSCs suffered from the sweat gland cells (SGCs) special differentiation by a co-operative coculture system in vitro.

Promising new potential for mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly: sweat gland cell-like differentiative capacity.

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from Wharton's jelly of the human umbilical cord (hUC-MSCs) possess various advantageous properties, similar to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), including self-renewal, extended proliferation potential and multilineage differentiation potential. In this study, we hoped to determine whether hUC-MSCs could be induced to differentiate into sweat gland cell-like cells, that would be potential in sweat glands restoration after injury. In this study, the results of flow cytometry analysis revealed that hUC-MSCs showed the typical antigen profile of MSCs and were positive for CD29, CD44, CD90, CD105 and Oct-4; they were negative for the antigens of CD34, CEA and CK14.

Enhanced anti-apoptosis and gut epithelium protection function of acidic fibroblast growth factor after cancelling of its mitogenic activity.

Aim: Mitogenic and non-mitogenic activities of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) are coupled to a range of biological functions, from cell proliferation and differentiation to the onset of many diseases. Recent reports have shown that acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) has a powerful anti-apoptosis function, which may have potentially therapeutical effect on gut ischemia and reperfusion injuries. However, whether this function depends on its mitogenic or non-mitogenic activity remains unclear.

Special spectacles facilitating débridement: a report of their use in 300 cases.

Because the light reflected by tissues varies with the degree of viability, spectacles were made from glass transmitting light of a certain wavelength to help distinguish viable from non-viable tissue. They were used in wound débridement in 300 injured patients. The results showed that the quality of débridement was improved as shown by better and quicker healing.