Laminin γ1 C-terminal Glu to Gln mutation induces early postimplantation lethality

Daiji Kiyozumi, Yukimasa Taniguchi, Itsuko Nakano, Junko Toga, Emiko Yagi, Hidetoshi Hasuwa, Masahito Ikawa, and Kiyotoshi Sekiguchi, "Laminin γ1 C-terminal Glu to Gln mutation induces early postimplantation lethality", Life Science Alliance, Vol.1, No.5, e201800064, Life Science Alliance, 201

Laminin γ1 C-terminal Glu to Gln mutation induces early postimplantation lethality

Daiji Kiyozumi, Yukimasa Taniguchi, Itsuko Nakano, Junko Toga, Emiko Yagi, Hidetoshi Hasuwa, Masahito Ikawa, and Kiyotoshi Sekiguchi, "Laminin γ1 C-terminal Glu to Gln mutation induces early postimplantation lethality", Life Science Alliance, Vol.1, No.5, e201800064, Life Science Alliance, 201

Parental gender influences their intention to HPV vaccinate their children, and the association between HPV and COVID-19 vaccination intentions

Purpose: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased public awareness of infectious diseases and interest in vaccines, including the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. We investigated differences between parental gender and intentions to vaccinate their child for HPV and COVID-19. Methods: We analyzed data from Japan’s COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS), a web-based cross-sectional survey of 2,444 respondents in 2021. Results: Females were more knowledgeable and more afraid of HPV and COVID-19 than males. The proportions of females in favor of, or against, HPV vaccination was higher than among males. The fathers’ intention for HPV vaccination was significantly associated with the child’s gender, knowledge regarding HPV, and intention to inoculate with the COVID-19 vaccine. The mothers’ intention was also associated with her knowledge of HPV and her intention to seek the COVID-19 vaccine, but it included a greater fear of HPV infection. Both male and female parents favored the COVID-19 vaccine over the HPV vaccine. Parents approving of COVID-19 vaccination believed in the overall efficacy of vaccines and were more receptive to opinions from the administration and physicians, even if the parent was currently against HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Mothers were more knowledgeable about HPV and more favorable to vaccinate their child for HPV than fathers. The intention to have children COVID-19 vaccinated was also higher than for HPV vaccination. During this period of heightened public interest in vaccines due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a good time to educate and inform the public about HPV

Selective Laminin-Directed Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Distinct Ocular Lineages

Summary: The extracellular matrix plays a key role in stem cell maintenance, expansion, and differentiation. Laminin, a basement membrane protein, is a widely used substrate for cell culture including the growth of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Here, we show that different isoforms of laminin lead to the selective differentiation of hiPSCs into different eye-like tissues. Specifically, the 211 isoform of the E8 fragment of laminin (LN211E8) promotes differentiation into neural crest cells via Wnt activation, whereas LN332E8 promotes differentiation into corneal epithelial cells. The immunohistochemical distributions of these laminin isoforms in the developing mouse eye mirrors the hiPSC type that was induced in vitro. Moreover, LN511E8 enables generation of dense hiPSC colonies due to actomyosin contraction, which in turn led to cell density-dependent YAP inactivation and subsequent retinal differentiation in colony centers. Thus, distinct laminin isoforms determine the fate of expanded hiPSCs into eye-like tissues. : Shibata et al. report that laminin isoforms differentially regulate the ocular cell differentiation from hiPSCs. The binding affinity of laminin and integrins determines the nature of expanded hiPSC colonies in terms of cell motility, cell-cell interactions, and cell density, with the involvement of Wnt and YAP signals. Keywords: human induced pluripotent stem cells, hiPSCs, laminin isoforms, YAP, Wnt, ocular cell differentiation, self-formed ectodermal autonomous multi-zone, SEA

Franseen Needles May Be Promising for Improving the Sampling Adequacy of EUS-FNA for Subepithelial Lesions

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is useful in diagnosing subepithelial lesions (SELs), and adequate tissue sampling is necessary to differentiate between benign and malignant diseases to determine therapeutic strategies. This study aimed to evaluate sampling adequacy and diagnostic performance of EUS-FNA for SELs with Franseen needles. This retrospective study enrolled 130 patients who underwent EUS-FNA with a 22-gauge needle for SELs from January 2010 to March 2021. We compared sampling adequacy and predictive factors influencing the sampling adequacy of EUS-FNA for SELs between Franseen and conventional needles. The sampling adequacy rates were 95.0% (38/40) with Franseen needles and 76.7% (69/90) with conventional needles (p = 0.011). The mean number of punctures with Franseen needles (2.80) was significantly less than that with conventional needles (3.42) (p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, the use of Franseen needles (p = 0.029; odds ratio [OR], 5.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18–23.36) was an independent factor influencing the sampling adequacy. Compared to conventional needles, the Franseen needle could play a vital role in accurately diagnosing SELs by yielding better sampling adequacy and reducing the number of passes

Laminin-guided highly efficient endothelial commitment from human pluripotent stem cells.

細胞外マトリックスを用いてヒト多能性幹細胞から高効率に血管内皮細胞の誘導に成功. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2016-11-09.Obtaining highly purified differentiated cells via directed differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) is an essential step for their clinical application. Among the various conditions that should be optimized, the precise role and contribution of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during differentiation are relatively unclear. Here, using a short fragment of laminin 411 (LM411-E8), an ECM predominantly expressed in the vascular endothelial basement membrane, we demonstrate that the directed switching of defined ECMs robustly yields highly-purified (>95%) endothelial progenitor cells (PSC-EPCs) without cell sorting from hPSCs in an integrin-laminin axis-dependent manner. Single-cell RNA-seq analysis revealed that LM411-E8 resolved intercellular transcriptional heterogeneity and escorted the progenitor cells to the appropriate differentiation pathway. The PSC-EPCs gave rise to functional endothelial cells both in vivo and in vitro. We therefore propose that sequential switching of defined matrices is an important concept for guiding cells towards desired fate