Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover.

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Redundant human omentum fat: A leap towards regenerative medicine

Mesenchymal stem cells possess a ground-breaking potential and appear to offer a wonderful opportunity, indeed a responsibility to understand important aspects of human biology involving tissue repair and regeneration. The ubiquitous existences of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) annex to be a regenerative tool rendering the replacement of worn-out cells. Researchers have averted their attention towards identification of various sources of adult mesenchymal stem cells from our own body tissues and fluids. Despite the existence of several advantages and potentials of MSCs from several sources being investigated, bringing stem cells adaptable for regenerative medicine applications in adequate quantities at the right time is a challenge. This is with regard to the inevitable fact that the frequencies of mesenchymal stem cells and their proliferative capacities and differentiation potentials as well as phenotypical and immunomodulatory properties have been shown to vary among sources. Furthermore, cell-based therapies rely to a larger degree on the preparation of an effective dose of ex vivo expanded cells, capable of self-renewal and differentiation. The identification of physiologically relevant and ideal source of stem cells that might be more useful in clinical setting needs to be investigated to ascertain an assured quality in cellular therapy. Additionally, changing the perception, about the successful treatment of stem cells for various diseases, in the light of recent findings becomes mandatory to cure these diseases and further to broaden the potential applications of stem cells. Adult stem cell therapies are routinely used to treat diseases using umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants and peripheral blood stem cell and bone marrow stem cell transplants which are probably the most well-known therapy

5T4 oncofetal antigen is expressed in high risk of relapse childhood pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is associated with a more invasive and chemotactic phenotype

Although the overall prognosis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is good, outcome after relapse is poor. Recurrence is frequently characterised by the occurrence of disease at extramedullary sites such as the central nervous system and testes. Subpopulations of blasts able to migrate to such areas may have a survival advantage and give rise to disease recurrence. Gene expression profiling of 85 diagnostic pre-B-ALL bone marrow samples revealed higher 5T4 oncofoetal antigen transcript levels in cytogenetic high-risk subgroups of patients (p < 0.001). Flow cytometric analysis determined that bone marrow from relapse patients have a significantly higher percentage of 5T4 positive leukemic blasts than healthy donors (p = 0.005). The high-risk Sup-B15 pre-B-ALL line showed heterogeneity in 5T4 expression, and the derived, 5T4(+) (Sup5T4) and 5T4(−) (Sup) subline cells, displayed differential spread to the omentum and ovaries following intraperitoneal inoculation of immunocompromised mice. Consistent with this, Sup5T4 compared to Sup cells show increased invasion in vitro concordant with increased LFA-1 and VLA-4 integrin expression, adhesion to extracellular matrix and secretion of matrix metalloproteases (MMP-2/-9). We also show that 5T4 positive Sup-B15 cells are susceptible to 5T4 specific superantigen antibody-dependent cellular toxicity providing support for targeted immunotherapy in high risk pre-B-ALL