Journey of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Homing: Strategies to Enhance Efficacy and Safety of Stem Cell Therapy

Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) communicate with other cells in the human body and appear to “home” to areas of injury in response to signals of cellular damage, known as homing signals. This review of the state of current research on homing of MSCs suggests that favorable cellular conditions and the in vivo environment facilitate and are required for the migration of MSCs to the site of insult or injury in vivo. We review the current understanding of MSC migration and discuss strategies for enhancing both the environmental and cellular conditions that give rise to effective homing of MSCs. This may allow MSCs to quickly find and migrate to injured tissues, where they may best exert clinical benefits resulting from improved homing and the presence of increased numbers of MSCs

Log-transformed plasma level of brain natriuretic peptide during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease is quantitatively associated with myocardial dysfunction

PurposeBrain natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been considered a biochemical marker for myocarditis in Kawasaki disease. We performed this study to determine its quantitative significance.MethodsWe attempted to correlate log-transformed BNP concentrations (log-BNP) and clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic variables in 81 children with Kawasaki disease. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the variables independently associated with log-BNP concentration.ResultsSerum C-reactive protein level (P<0.0001), serum alanine aminotransferase concentration (P=0.0032), white blood cell count (P=0.0030), and left ventricular mass index (P=0.0024) were positively related with log-BNP, and hemoglobin level (P<0.0001), serum albumin level (P<0.0001), Na+ concentrations (P<0.0001), left ventricular fractional shortening (P=0.0080), and peak early diastolic tissue velocity of the left ventricular basal lateral segment (P=0.0045) were negatively related to the log-BNP concentration. Multiple regression analysis showed that serum albumin concentration (R2=0.31, P=0.0098) and left ventricular mass index (R2=0.09, P=0.0004) were significantly associated with the log-BNP concentration.ConclusionElevated BNP levels during the acute phase of Kawasaki disease may be attributable to cardiac dysfunction associated with the increase in left ventricular mass, and log-BNP concentration may be a quantitative biochemical marker of myocarditis in Kawasaki disease

Antigenic diversity of Theileria major piroplasm surface protein gene in Jeju black cattle

Piroplasms are tick-transmitted, intracellular, hemoprotozoan parasites that cause anorexia, fever, anemia, and icterus. Theileriosis is caused by Theileria sergenti and causes major economic losses in grazing cattle in Japan and Korea. In May 2003, we examined the antigenic diversity of the major piroplasm surface protein (MPSP) gene in 35 healthy Jeju black cattle that were born and raised at the National Institute of Subtropical Agriculture. On microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears, 9 of 35 cattle had intra-erythrocytic piroplasms. Hematological data were within normal range for all 35 cattle. Amplification of DNA from all blood samples using universal MPSP gene primers showed mixed infections with C, I, and B type Theileria spp. Type C was identified in 20 of 35 blood samples, and type B was identified in 17 samples. Allelic variation was seen in type B

Meningeal Relapse in a Patient with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

The involvement of central nervous system is rare in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). We report a APL patient of a 41 yr-old Korean male who presented with fever and petechia. Complete molecular remission was achieved with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), idarubicin, and cytarabine. Ten months later, he complained of a mild headache. The results of the physical examination and the complete blood counts were normal. The examination of cerebrospinal fluid showed the presence of promyelocyte. Bone marrow studies showed cytogenetic remission but with molecular relapse. He was treated with intrathecal and systemic chemotherapy

First Report for the Seasonal and Annual Prevalence of Flea-Borne Bartonella from Rodents and Soricomorphs in the Republic of Korea

Rodents and soricomorphs are animal hosts of fleas and associated zoonotic microbial pathogens. A total of 4,889 small mammals were collected from Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces, Republic of Korea, from 2008 through 2010, including: Apodemus agrarius (4,122, 84.3%), followed by Crocidura lasiura (282, 5.8%), Microtus fortis (257, 5.3%), Myodes regulus (77, 1.6%), Micromys minutus (71, 1.5%), Mus musculus (63, 1.3%), and 4 other species (17, 0.3%). A total of 1,099 fleas belonging to 10 species and 7 genera were collected. Ctenophthalmus congeneroides (724, 65.9%) was the most commonly collected flea, followed by Stenoponia sidimi (301, 27.4%), Neopsylla bidentatiformis (29, 2.6%), and Rhadinopsylla insolita (25, 2.3%). The remaining species accounted for only 1.8% (20, range 1-6) of all fleas collected. The 2 dominant flea species, C. congeneroides and S. sidimi, showed an inverse seasonal pattern, with higher populations of C. congeneroides from January-September, whereas S. sidimi was more frequently collected during October-December. The overall flea infestation rates (FIR) and flea indices (FI) were 14.1% and 0.22, respectively, and were highest during April-June (19.7% and 0.30, respectively). A total of 735 of the 1,099 fleas were assayed for the detection of Bartonella spp. by PCR using Bartonella-specific primers, of which 515 were positive for Bartonella, with an overall maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of 700.7/1,000. The highest MLE values were observed during April-June (899.2) and July-September (936.2) trapping periods and, although lower, were similar for January-March (566.7) and October-December (574.1). C. congeneroides demonstrated high MLEs for all seasons (range 752.5-934.8), while S. sidimi was positive for Bartonella only during January-March (MLE = 342.1) and October-December (MLE = 497.2) collection periods. Continued long-term surveillance of small mammals and associated ectoparasites is needed to improve our understanding of the prevalence of Bartonella spp. in fleas and the role of fleas in the zoonotic maintenance and transmission of Bartonella to humans.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2013-01/102/0000051105/5SEQ:5PERF_CD:SNU2013-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000051105ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A077262DEPT_CD:551CITE_RATE:2.277FILENAME:2013 vbz 13(7)457-467 flea-borne bartonella.pdfDEPT_NM:수의학과SCOPUS_YN:YCONFIRM:

Highly promising lithium difluorophosphate additive for excellent cycling performance of graphite anodes at high rates

Recently, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have gained recognition as reliable power sources for transportation applications. However, LIBs suffer from inferior rate capability, high cost, and safety issues. To achieve good performance in terms of power, the electrodes should allow rapid charge transport at the electrode-electrolyte interface and good electronic conduction at the electrode-current collector interface. Solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) between bulk electrolyte and the graphite anode surface is a crucial parameter which determines the performance of LiBs at high rate. The formation of protective films on the anodes through the use of reducible additives such as vinylene carbonate (VC) can lead to a noticeable improvement in the electrochemical properties of the anodes. Here, we present, for the first time, the highly promising lithium difluorophosphate (LiDFP) additive for the formation of more ionic conductive surface film on the graphite anode. LiDFP additive is successfully employed to overcome the poor rate capability and cycling instability of graphite anodes, which have the VC-derived surface. The combination of a novel additive, LiDFP, and VC contributed to the formation of a more ionically conductive and stable SEI layer, allowing faster kinetics of the graphite anodes and profoundly reducing electrolyte decomposition at the anode during cycling

A renal biopsy study of hepatitis B virus-associated nephropathy in Korea

A renal biopsy study of hepatitis B virus-associated nephropathy in Korea. The pathogenic role of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection for glomerulonephritis (GN) is not clear. The frequency of HBsAg has been studied in sera of 732 consecutive patients who have glomerular diseases by using radioimmunoassay. The frequency of HBs antigenemia was 11.9%, which was not different from that in the general population of South Korea. Of the 87 HBsAg seropositive patients with GN, 29 cases with membranoproliferative GN (MPGN) and eighteen with membranous nephropathy (MN) were diagnosed as having HBV-associated nephropathy. Eighty-seven and one-half percent of the adults with MPGN and 80% of the children with MN were HBsAg carriers. The morphologic findings and laboratory data in cases with HBV-associated MPGN and MN did not differ significantly from those observed in patients with MPGN and MN without circulating HBsAg. Yet mesangial deposits were more frequently noted in patients with HBV-associated MN when compared to others with idiopathic MN. Glomerular deposits of HBsAg were not detected using indirect immunofluorescence technique. Even though HBsAg was not demonstrable within the glomeruli, HBV infection seems to play an important role in the pathogenesis of MPGN in Korean adults and MN in children

Absence of Autophagy-Related Proteins Expression Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

Background/Aim. Autophagy, a cellular degradation process, has paradoxical roles in tumorigenesis and the progression of human cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression levels of autophagy-related proteins in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to evaluate their prognostic significance. Methods. This study is a retrospective review of immunohistochemical and clinicopathological data. All specimens evaluated were obtained from 263 patients with colorectal cancer who had undergone surgery between November 1996 and August 2007. The primary outcomes measured were the expression levels of three autophagy-related proteins (ATG5, BECN1/Beclin 1, and Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B)) by immunohistochemistry and its association in clinicopathological parameters and patient survival. Results. The autophagy-related protein expression frequencies were 65.1% (151/232) for ATG5, 71.3% (174/244) for BECN1, and 74.7% (186/249) for LC3B for the 263 patients. Correlation between the expression of autophagy-related proteins was significant for all protein pairs. Multivariate analysis showed that negative LC3B expression and absence of autophagy-related proteins expression were independently associated with poor prognosis. Conclusion. Absence of autophagy-related proteins expression is associated with poor clinical outcome in CRC, suggesting that these proteins have potential uses as novel prognostic markers