Parkinson's Disease and Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Potential for Cell-Based Therapy

Cell transplantation is a strategy with great potential for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and many types of stem cells, including neural stem cells and embryonic stem cells, are considered candidates for transplantation therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells are a great therapeutic cell source because they are easy accessible and can be expanded from patients or donor mesenchymal tissues without posing serious ethical and technical problems. They have trophic effects for protecting damaged tissues as well as differentiation ability to generate a broad spectrum of cells, including dopamine neurons, which contribute to the replenishment of lost cells in Parkinson's disease. This paper focuses mainly on the potential of mesenchymal stem cells as a therapeutic cell source and discusses their potential clinical application in Parkinson's disease

BATF2 inhibits immunopathological Th17 responses by suppressing Il23a expression during Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Shoko Kitada, Hisako Kayama, Daisuke Okuzaki, Ritsuko Koga, Masao Kobayashi, Yasunobu Arima, Atsushi Kumanogoh, Masaaki Murakami, Masahito Ikawa, Kiyoshi Takeda; BATF2 inhibits immunopathological Th17 responses by suppressing Il23a expression during Trypanosoma cruzi infection. J Exp Med 1 May 2017; 214 (5): 1313–1331. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.2016107

Isolation and structure of the Streptococcus faecalis sex pheromone, cAM373

The Streptococcus faecalis sex pheromone, cAM373, which induces a mating response of donor cells harboring plasmid pAM373 and is also produced by Staphylococcus aureus, was isolated and its structure determined. Supernatant from an overnight culture of a recipient strain was subjected to successive purification procedures, and 4.4 [mu]g cAM373 was obtained. The isolated pheromone showed activity at a concentration as low as 5 x 10-11 M. Sequence analysis indicated that cAM373 was a heptapeptide, H-Ala-Ile-Phe-Ile-Leu-Ala-Ser-OH, and that its Mr was 733. A synthetic replicate of the peptide showed the same biological activity and chromatographic behavior as the native cAM373.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26041/1/0000114.pd

A Report of Four Cases of Intestinal Endometriosis

Four cases of intestinal endometriosis seen at our hospital are presented. The patients ranged in age from 35 to 43 years and developed abdominal pain, vomiting, and dyschezia due to stenotic lesions of the intestine. The sites of the lesions were the ileum in 2 cases, and the sigmoid colon and rectum in 1 case each. All cases had no history of bowel disease or laparotomy, and were not diagnosed preoperatively. These results suggested that evaluations of symptoms and clinical examinations are inadequate for an accurate diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis. The patients’ postoperative courses were uneventful, and there have been no recurrences. In conclusion, intestinal endometriosis should be considered in women of childbearing age who present with bowel obstruction, especially in women without a history of laparotomy

Isolation and structure of the bacterial sex pheromone, cAD1, that induces plasmid transfer in Streptococcus faecalis

The Streptococcus faecalis sex pheromone cAD1, which is involved in the conjugative transfer of the hemolysin plasmid pAD1, has been isolated and its structure determined. Its Mr is 818 and its amino acid sequence is H-Leu-Phe-Ser-Leu-Val-Leu-Ala-Gly-OH. A replicate of the pheromone synthesized by the liquid phase method showed the same biological activity and Chromatographie behavior as the isolated cAD1. Pheromone activity was detectable at a concentration of ~ 5 x 10-11 M.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24605/1/0000013.pd

Keto form of curcumin derivatives strongly binds to Aβ oligomers but not fibrils.

The accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates in the brain occurs early in the progression of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), and non-fibrillar soluble Aβ oligomers are particularly neurotoxic. During binding to Aβ fibrils, curcumin, which can exist in an equilibrium state between its keto and enol tautomers, exists predominantly in the enol form, and binding activity of the keto form to Aβ fibrils is much weaker. Here we described the strong binding activity the keto form of curcumin derivative Shiga-Y51 shows for Aβ oligomers and its scant affinity for Aβ fibrils. Furthermore, with imaging mass spectrometry we revealed the blood-brain barrier permeability of Shiga-Y51 and its accumulation in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, where Aβ oligomers were mainly localized, in a mouse model of AD. The keto form of curcumin derivatives like Shiga-Y51 could be promising seed compounds to develop imaging probes and therapeutic agents targeting Aβ oligomers in the brain

マウス ソンショウ セキズイ エ ノ イショク ニ ヨル ミャクラクソウ ジョウイ サイボウ ノ アストロサイト エ ノ ブンカ

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(医学)甲第9442号医博第2455号新制||医||792(附属図書館)UT51-2002-G200京都大学大学院医学研究科生理系専攻(主査)教授 金子 武嗣, 教授 橋本 信夫, 教授 井出 千束学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Medical ScienceKyoto UniversityDA

Congress report: A report of the 16th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine

The 16th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine was held from March 7–9, 2017, at Sendai International Center (Sendai city). The theme of this congress was “the renaissance of regenerative medicine” and it was an opportunity for information exchange between industry-leading researchers, doctors/dentists, and industry professionals. The objectives of the congress were to provide a place to promote and develop research in regenerative medicine. Numerous topics were covered in the 1 presidential lecture, 1 congress chair's lecture, 3 special lectures, the special symposia (2 sessions, 10 topics), symposia (41 sessions, 227 topics), evening symposia (3 sessions, 12 topics), joint symposium with another society (1 session, 4 topics), and presentations covering regular presentations including distinct presentations (oral presentations, 2 sessions, 8 topics), oral presentations (65 sessions, 383 topics), and poster presentations (44 sessions, 339 topics). There were co-organized seminars including 31 sessions for co-organized luncheon seminars, 2 sessions for co-organized evening seminars, and an up-to-date technology introduction corner, which hosted 153 organizations. Additionally, 4 special seminars and 3 hands-on training programs were hosted as part of the hands-on learning program for high school students during the congress. There were 3527 participants, and the event was a great success. Keywords: Congress report, Regenerative medicine, Cell therap