Extracellular Matrix Enhances Therapeutic Effects of Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine

Stem cell therapy is a promising option for regenerative of injured or diseased tissues. However, the extremely low survival and engraftment of transplanted cells and the obviously inadequate recruitment and activation of the endogenous resident stem cells are the major challenges for stem cell therapy. Fortunately, recent progresses show that extracellular matrix (ECM) could not only act as a spatial and mechanical scaffold to enhance cell viability but also provide a supportive niche for engraftment or accelerating stem cell differentiation. These findings provide a new approach for increasing the efficiency of stem cell therapy and may lead to substantial changes in cell administration. In order to take a giant stride forward in stem cell therapy, we need to know much more about how the ECM affects cell behaviours. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the influence of ECM on regulating stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Moreover, the enhancement of supportive microenvironment function of natural or synthetic ECMs in stem cell therapy is discussed

Down-regulated miR-9 and miR-433 in human gastric carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MircoRNAs(miRNAs) are short, endogenously non-coding RNAs. The abnormal expression of miRNAs may be valuable for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To screening the special miRNAs in gastric carcinoma, expression level of miRNAs in gastric carcinoma and normal gaster samples were detected by miRNA gene chip. Then, the expressions of miR-9 and miR-433 in gastric carcinoma tissue and SGC7901 cell line were validated by qRT-PCR. GRB2 and RAB34, targets of miR-433 and miR-9 respectively, were detected by Western blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found 19 miRNAs and 7 miRNAs were down-regulated and up-regulated respectively. Compared with normal gaster samples, our data showed that miR-9 and miR-433 were down-regulated in gastric carcinoma. Meanwhile, we also found that miR-433 and miR-9 regulated the expression levels of GRB2 and RAB34 respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data show miR-9 and miR-433 was down-regulated in gastric carcinoma. The targets of miR-433 and miR-9 were tumor-associated proteins GRB2 and RAB34 respectively. This result provided the related information of miRNAs in gastric carcinoma.</p

Increased red cell distribution width in patients with slow coronary flow syndrome

OBJECTIVE: An elevated red cell distribution width has been recognized as a predictor of various cardiovascular diseases. Slow coronary flow syndrome is an important angiographic clinical entity with an unknown etiology. This study aimed to examine the relationship between red cell distribution width and the presence of slow coronary flow syndrome. METHODS: In total, 185 patients with slow coronary flow syndrome and 183 age- and gender-matched subjects with normal coronary flow (controls) were prospectively enrolled in this study. Red cell distribution width and C-reactive protein were measured upon admission, and the results were compared between the patients with slow coronary flow syndrome and normal controls. RESULTS: Red cell distribution width levels were significantly higher in the patients with slow coronary flow syndrome than the normal controls. Moreover, the data showed that the plasma C-reactive protein levels were also higher in the patients with slow coronary flow syndrome than in the normal controls. In addition, a multivariate analysis indicated that C-reactive protein and red cell distribution width were the independent variables most strongly associated with slow coronary flow syndrome. Finally, the red cell distribution width was positively correlated with C-reactive protein and mean thrombosis in the myocardial infarction frame counts of the patients with slow coronary flow syndrome. CONCLUSION: The data demonstrated that red cell distribution width levels are significantly higher and strongly positively correlated with both C-reactive protein and thrombosis in the myocardial infarction frame counts of patients with slow coronary flow syndrome. These findings suggest that red cell distribution width may be a useful marker for patients with slow coronary flow syndrome

Transiting Exoplanet Monitoring Project (TEMP). V. Transit Follow Up for HAT-P-9b, HAT-P-32b, and HAT-P-36b

© 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. During the past five years, 6, 7, and 26 transit observations were carried out for the HAT-P-9b, HAT-P-32b, and HAT-P-36b systems, respectively, through the Transiting Exoplanet Monitoring Project network. Combined with the published photometric data and radial-velocity measurements, our new photometry allows us to revisit the system parameters and search for additional close-in planetary companions in these hot Jupiter systems. We measure an updated R P /R ∗ = 0.1260 ±0.0011 for HAT-P-36 system in the R band, which is 4.5σ larger than the published i-band radius ratio of 0.1186 ±0.0012. We also perform a transit timing variation (TTV) analysis for each system. Because no significant TTVs were found, we place an upper mass limit on an additional planet for each system

Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy achieved a pathologic complete response in stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma harboring RET fusion: a case report

Neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy has demonstrated significant benefit for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) excluding known EGFR/ALK genetic alterations. Recent evidence has shown that neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy could be clinically valuable in resectable localized driver gene-mutant NSCLC, though the data still lack robust support, especially for rare oncogenic mutations. Here, we report a patient with stage IIIA lung adenocarcinoma with a RET fusion gene and high expression of PD-L1 who underwent neoadjuvant chemoimmunotherapy and successfully attained a pathologic complete response. The patient has survived for 12 months with no recurrence or metastases after surgery. Our case suggests that this treatment strategy may be an alternative therapeutic option for resectable RET fusion-positive NSCLC patients

Cell lineage-specific mitochondrial resilience during mammalian organogenesis

Mitochondrial activity differs markedly between organs, but it is not known how and when this arises. Here we show that cell lineage-specific expression profiles involving essential mitochondrial genes emerge at an early stage in mouse development, including tissue-specific isoforms present before organ formation. However, the nuclear transcriptional signatures were not independent of organelle function. Genetically disrupting intra-mitochondrial protein synthesis with two different mtDNA mutations induced cell lineage-specific compensatory responses, including molecular pathways not previously implicated in organellar maintenance. We saw downregulation of genes whose expression is known to exacerbate the effects of exogenous mitochondrial toxins, indicating a transcriptional adaptation to mitochondrial dysfunction during embryonic development. The compensatory pathways were both tissue and mutation specific and under the control of transcription factors which promote organelle resilience. These are likely to contribute to the tissue specificity which characterizes human mitochondrial diseases and are potential targets for organ-directed treatments

Automatic multi-seed detection for MR breast image segmentation

In this paper an automatic multi-seed detection method for magnetic resonance (MR) breast image segmentation is presented. The proposed method consists of three steps: (1) pre-processing step to locate three regions of interest (axillary and sternal regions); (2) processing step to detect maximum concavity points for each region of interest; (3) breast image segmentation step. Traditional manual segmentation methods require radiological expertise and they usually are very tiring and time-consuming. The approach is fast because the multi-seed detection is based on geometric properties of the ROI. When the maximum concavity points of the breast regions have been detected, region growing and morphological transforms complete the segmentation of breast MR image. In order to create a Gold Standard for method effectiveness and comparison, a dataset composed of 18 patients is selected, accordingly to three expert radiologists of University of Palermo Policlinico Hospital (UPPH). Each patient has been manually segmented. The proposed method shows very encouraging results in terms of statistical metrics (Sensitivity: 95.22%; Specificity: 80.36%; Precision: 98.05%; Accuracy: 97.76%; Overlap: 77.01%) and execution time (4.23 s for each slice)