Differentiation of bone mar-row derived Thy-1~+β_2M~- cells into hepatocytes induced by coculture with transgenic CFSCs

Studies of transplantation in vivo indicted thatbone marrow derived stem cells had a potential to differenti-ate into mature hepatocytes. However, there are lots ofdoubts and uncertainties in the influencing factors and con-trol agents of effectively inducing stem cell differentiation invitro, the efficiency of stem cells‘ differentiation into hepato-cytes and differentiated cells‘ life-span and functional state,etc. In this study, rat bone marrow derived Thy-l^ β2M^- cells(BDTCs) were induced to differentiate into hepatocytes byco-culturing with CFSC/HGF feeder layers which expressedhHGF efficiently and stably. RT-PCR and immunofluores-cent texts proved induced BDTCs expressed infant and adulthepatocyte specific genes. Further more, these cells displayedfunctions of indocyanine green (ICG) uptake, ammoniummetabolism and albumin production. It was shown thatgrowth factors together with hepatic nonparenchyma cellsprovided a feasible microenvironment for differentiation ofbone marrow stem cells into hepatocytes. The studies notonly provided a significant biological model for going deepinto the mechanism of stem cell plasticity, but also offered atheoretical and technical foundation of gene and stem cellengineering-based regenerative medicine for end-stage liverdiseases.     

Adult neural stem cells-Functional potential and therapeutic applications

The adult brain has been thought traditionally as a structure with a very limited regenerative capacity. It is now evident that neurogenesis in adult mammalian brain is a prevailing phenomenon. Neural stem cells with the ability to self-renew, differentiate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes reside in some regions of the adult brain. Adult neurogenesis can be stimulated by many physiological factors including pregnancy. More strikingly, newborn neurons in hippocampus integrally function with local neurons, thus neural stem cells might play important roles in memory and learning function. It seems that neural stem cells could transdifferentiate into other tissues, such as blood cells and muscles. Although there are some impediments in this field, some attempts have been made to employ adult neural stem cells in the cell replacement therapy for traumatic and ischemic brain injuries.     

The molecular mechanism of embryonic stem cell pluripotency maintenance

In vitro cultured embryonic stem （ES） cells are derived from the inner cell mass （ICM） of pre-implantation embryos, and are capable of giving rise to all cell and tissue types of the three germ layers upon being injected back into blastocysts. These ceils are therefore said to possess pluripotency that can be maintained infinitely in culture under optimal conditions. Such pluripotency maintenance is believed to be due to the symmetrical cleavage of the cells in an undifferentiated state. The pluripotency of ES cells is the basis for their various practical and potential applications. ES cells can be used as donor cells to generate knockout or transgenic animals, as in vitro models of mammalian development, and as cell resources for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. The further success in these applications, particularly in the last two, is dependent on the establishment of a culture system with components in the medium clearly defined and the subsequent procedures for controlled differentiation of the cells into specific lineages. In turn, elucidating the molecular mechanism for pluripotency maintenance of ES cells is the prerequisite. This paper summarizes the recent progresses in this area, focusing mainly on the LIF/STAT3, BMPs/Smads, canonical Wnt, TGFβ/activin/nodal, PI3K and FGF signaling pathways and the genes such as oct4, nanog that are crucial in ES cell pluripotency maintenance. The regulatory systems of pluripotency maintenance in both mouse and human ES cells are also discussed. We believe that the cross-talkings between these signaling pathways, as well as the regulatory system underlying pluripotency maintenance will be the main focus in the area of ES cell researches in the future.     

Advances in studies on hepatic stem cells

The question whether hepatic stem cells exist or not has been debated for several decades. Current researches confirm that there are hepatic stem cells in the liver. Oval cells, putative bipotential hepatic stem cells, are probably located within canals of Hering, portal tracts or branches of biliary trees. Bone marrow is a potential source of oval cells, indicating that there exists a close relationship between liver and hematopoiesis in adulthood. Hepatic stem cells are able to proliferate in vitro and can be induced to differentiate into hepatocytes. This will provide a promising approach of cell transplantation, tissue engineering and gene therapy for liver diseases. In this review, the evidence of their presence, origin, identification, proliferation in vitro, differentiation by induction, application prospects of hepatic stem cells and future directions for the field are discussed.     

Electrospun Nanofibers of Hydroxyapatite/Collagen/Chitosan Promote Osteogenic Differentiation of BMSCs

Bone tissue engineering, aiming at developing bone substitutes for repair and regeneration of bone defects instead of using autologous bone grafts, has attracted wide attention in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Developing biomimetic biomaterial scaffolds able to regulate osteogenic differentiation of stem cells could be a promising strategy to improve the therapeutic efficacy. In this study, clectrospun composite nanofibers of hydroxyapatite/collagen/chitosan （ HAp/Col/CTS ） resembling the fibrous nanostructure and constituents of the hierarchically organized natural bone, were prepared to investigate their capacity for promoting bone mesenchymal stem cells （BMSCs） to differentiate into the osteogenic lineage in the absence and presence of the osteogenlc supplementation, respectively. Call morphology, proliferation and quantified specific osteogenic protein expression on the electrospun HAp/Coi/CTS scaffolds were evaluated in comparison with different controls including dectrospun nanofibrous CTS, HAp/CTS and tissue culture plate. Our remits showed that the nanofibrous HAp/Col/CTS scaffolds supported better spreading and proliferation of the BMSCs than other substrates （ P 〈 0.01 ）. Expressions of osteogenesis protein markers, alkaline phosphatase （ALP） and Col, were significantly upregulated on the HAp/Col/CTS than those on the CTS （P 〈0.01） and HAp/ CTS （P 〈 0. 05 ） scaffolds in the absence of the osteogeulc supplementation. Moreover, presence of osteogeulc supplementation also proved to enhance osteogeule differentiation of BMSCs on HAp/ Col/CTS scaffolds, indicative of a synergistic effect. This study highlights the potential of BMSCs/HAp/Col/CTS cell-scaffold system for functional bone repair and regeneration applications.     

Regenerative medicine of cornea by cell sheet engineering using temperature-responsive culture surfaces

Recently, regenerative medicine has been focused on as next-generation definitive therapies for several diseases or injuries for which there are currently no effective treatments. These therapies have been rapidly developed through the effective fusion be- tween different fields such as stem cell biology and biomaterials. So far, we have proposed ＂cell sheet engineering＂ through our core technology that simply applies alterations of the temperature which allows regulation of the attachment or detachment of living cells on the culture surfaces grafted with the temperature-responsive polymer ＂poly（N-isoproplyacrylamide）＂. This tech- nology enables us to construct bioengineered sheet-like tissues, termed ＂cell sheets＂, without the need of using biodegradable scaffolds and protease treatments that are traditionally used. Therefore, our carrier-free cell sheets not only are independent of the issues observed in conventional methods, but also showed further advantages in the reconstruction of the corneal epithelium or endothelium （e.g. improvement of optical transparency and cell-cell interactions to host stroma in reconstructed tissues）. Moreo- ver, our approach does not have issues such as immune rejection or limited number of donors, due to the use of cell sheets derived from autologous limbal （in patients with unilateral disease） or oral mucosal epithelial cells （in patients with bilateral disorders）. Indeed, we have successfully performed the clinical application for the reconstruction of ocular surfaces through the transplanta- tion of our carrier-free corneal epithelial cell sheets, as evidenced by improved visual acuity as well as long-term maintenance of postoperative health conditions on ocular surfaces in all patients. We have also proposed a novel approach for the reconstruction of the corneal endothelium using corneal endothelial cell sheets by demonstrating its successful application. Thus, our cell sheet engineering technique provides a breakthrough in the field of regenerative medicine applied to the cornea.     

Evaluation of Novel 3D Architectures Based on Knitting Technologies for Engineering Biological Tissues

Textile-based technologies are considered as potential routes for the production of 3D porous architectures for tissue engineering( TE) applications. We describe the use of two polymers,namely polybutylene succinate( PBS) and silk fibroin(SF) to produce fiber-based finely tuned porous architectures by weft and warp knittings. The obtained knitted constructs are described in terms of their morphology, mechanical properties,swelling ability,degradation behaviour,and cytotoxicity. Each type of polymer fibers allows for the processing of a very reproducible intra-architectural scaffold geometry,with distinct characteristics in terms of the surface physicochemistry,mechanical performance,and degradation capability,which has an impact on the resulting cell behaviour at the surface of the respective biotextiles. Preliminary cytotoxicity screening shows that both materials can support cell adhesion and proliferation. Furthermore, different surface modifications were performed( acid /alkaline treatment, UV radiation,and plasma) for modulating cell behavior. An increase of cell-material interactions were observed,indicating the important role of materials surface in the first hours of culturing. Human adipose-derived stem cells( hASCs) became an emerging possibility for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement therapies. The potential of the recently developed silk-based biotextile structures to promote hASCs adhesion,proliferation,and differentiation is also evaluated. The obtained results validate the developed constructs as viable matrices for TE applications. Given the processing efficacy and versatility of the knitting technology, and the interesting structural and surface properties of the proposed polymer fibers,it is foreseen that our developed systems can be attractive for the functional engineering of tissues such as bone,skin,ligaments or cartilage and also for develop more complex systems for further industrialization of TE products.     

Electroporation Transfection as an Effective Tool to Trace Transplanted NSCs in Adult Central Nervous System

Neural stem cells, which are clonogenic cells with self-renewal and multilineage differentiation properties, are currently considered as powerful candidates for cell replacement therapy in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson‘s disease. A key issue is whether stem cells can survive, migrate and differentiate following transplantation into the adult central nervous system. This research shows that enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) plasmid electreporation transfected neural stem cells can functionally differentiate in vitro and that most of the EGFP-positive cells can survive and migrate towards the damaged areas when transplanted into the brain of a Parkinson‘s disease model rat. The results suggest an effective and maneuverable tracing tool to detect whether transplanted neural stem and progenitor cells function in the adult brain in vivo.     

Comparative pluripotency analysis of mouse embryonic stem cells derived from wild-type and infertile hermaphrodite somatic cell nuclear transfer blastocysts

Therapeutic cloning, whereby embryonic stem cells （ESCs） are derived from patient-specific cloned blastocysts via somatic cell nuclear transfer （SCNT）, holds great promise for treating many human diseases using regenerative medicine. Teratoma formation and germline transmission have been used to confirm the pluripotency of mouse stem cells, but human embryonic stem cells （hESCs） have not been proven to be fully pluripotent owing to the ethical impossibility of testing for germ line transmis- sion, which would be the strongest evidence for full pluripotency. Therefore, formation of differentiated cells from the three somatic germ layers within a teratoma is taken as the best indicator of pluripotency in hESC lines. The possibility that these lines lack full multi- or pluripotency has not yet been evaluated. In this study, we established 16 mouse ESC lines, including 3 genetically defective nuclear transfer- ESC （ntESC） lines derived from SCNT blastocysts of infertile hermaphrodite F1 mice and 13 ntESC lines derived from SCNT blastocysts of normal F1 mice. We found that the defective ntESCs expressed all in vitro markers of pluripotency and could form teratomas that included derivatives from all three germ layers, but could not be transmitted via the germ line, in contrast with normal ntESCs. Our results in- dicate that teratoma formation assays with hESCs might be an insufficient standard to assess full pluripotency, although they do define multipotency to some degree. More rigorous standards are required to assess the safety of hESCs for therapeutic cloning.     

Stimuli-responsive polymeric materials for human health applications

Stimuli-responsive polymers have the extraor- dinary ability to change their physical and/or chemical state after they ＂detect＂ a change in their environment; their response depends dramatically on their chemical compo- sition. This property has been used for a plethora of applications; this review highlights their utility for human health. Specifically, this review will highlight efforts in the areas of sensing and biosensing, antimicrobial/antifouling coatings, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and drug delivery. Specific examples are given in each of these areas, with some focus on our work engineering poly（N- isopropylacrylamide）-based microgels and other respon- sive systems.     

Calcium carbonate nanoparticles promote osteogenesis compared to adipogenesis in human bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Rhombohedron-like and fusiform calcium carbonate nanoparticles were fabricated using a new method. Their geometry was controlled by varying the mixing speed and ratio of ethanol versus water in reaction system. The calcium carbonate nanoparticles(CCNPs) have slight effect on viability of human bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells(hBMSCs) with dose-dependent and shape-dependent, but they can significantly promote osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs in vitro by 10–37% increase of alkaline phosphatase(ALP) activity, 9–36% growth of collagen secretion and 1.13–1.83 folds upregulation of osteogenesis-related genes, even at lower dose ranges(5–20 μg/ml). The efficacity of promoting osteogenesis depends on the shape and dose of CCNPs. Furthermore,adipogenesis was inhibited by less accumulation of lipid droplets, lower triglyceride(TG) secretion and downregulation of adipogenesis-related genes. These findings improve the understanding of effects CCNPs on hBMSCs fate towards osteoblasts or adipocytes and have meaningful impact for combining use of CCNPs and hBMSCs in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine fields.     

Directing neural stem cell fate with biomaterial parameters for injured brain regeneration

The discovery of neural stem cells (NSCs), which have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into all types of neural lineages, offers promising prospect for the treatment of brain neurological disorders such as stroke/cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders. However, only limited number of NSCs could survive or propagate due to tissue inflammation or blood-brain barrier. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an appropriate culture system that highly mimics the natural NSCs niche to direct stem cell fate and behavior for nerve regeneration. Both biophysical and biochemical properties of the NSC niche, including topology, mechanical properties, bioactive molecules, and their spatial and temporal presentations should be considered for the design of functionalized scaffolds, which could not only serve as the delivery vehicles of NSCs but also stimulate specific cellular responses at the molecular level, such as support endogenous or exogenous cells proliferation, migration and homing, even promote the growth of axon at the injured brain site. This review attempts to outline the varieties of biomaterial     

Induction of corneal epithelial progenitors from bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells of rhesus monkeys in vitro

Bioengineered corneas are substitutes for human donor tissue that are designed to treat severe dis-ease affecting ocular surfaces. However,a shortage of candidate seed cells for bioengineering corneas is still a problem. Bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are capable of multilineage differen-tiation. Therefore,we determined whether MSCs differentiate into corneal epithelial cells (ECs). We applied three exoteric-microenvironmental systems to induce MSCs to become ECs. Induced MSC were identified by means of morphologic examination,immunocytochemical analysis,and flow cytometry. MSCs grown in one microenvironment had characteristics similar to those of corneal epithelial pro-genitors. Induced MSCs expressed markers for EC,including integrin β1,Cx43,Pax6,and P63. MSCs were successfully induced to become corneal epithelial progenitors. Therefore,the use of MSCs may hold substantial promise for reconstructing the ocular surface after corneal injury.     

Induction of corneal epithelial prosenitors from bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells of rhesus monkeys in vitro

Bioengineered corneas are substitutes for human donor tissue that are designed to treat severe disease affecting ocular surfaces. However, a shortage of candidate seed cells for bioengineering corneas is still a problem. Bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） are capable of multilineage differentiation. Therefore, we determined whether MSCs differentiate into corneal epithelial cells （ECs）. We applied three exoteric-microenvironmental systems to induce MSCs to become ECs. Induced MSC were identified by means of morphologic examination, immunocytochemical analysis, and flow cytometry. MSCs grown in one microenvironment had characteristics similar to those of corneal epithelial progenitors. Induced MSCs expressed markers for EC, including integrin 61, Cx43, Pax6, and P63. MSCs were successfully induced to become corneal epithelial progenitors. Therefore, the use of MSCs may hold substantial promise for reconstructing the ocular surface after corneal injury.[第一段]     

Advances in tissue engineering

Tissue engineering is a newly developed specialty involved in the construction of tissues and organs either in vitro or in vivo. Tremendous progress has been achieved over the past decade in tisse construction as well as in other related areas, such as bone marrow stromal cells, embryonic stem cells and tissue progenitor cells. In our laboratory, tissues of full-thickness skin, bone, cartilage and tendon have been successfully engineered, and the engineered tissues have repaired full-thickness skin wound, cranial bone defects, articular cartilage defects and tendon defects in animals. In basic research areas, bone marrow stromal cells have been induced and transformed into osteoblasts and chondrocytes in vitro. Mouse embryo stem cell lines we established have differentiated into neuron precursor, cardiac muscle cells and epithelial cells. Genetic modifications of seed cells for promoting cell proliferation, delaying cell aging and inducing immune tolerance have also been investigated.     

Biocompatibility studies of silk fibroin-based artificial nerve grafts in vitro and in vivo

Silk fibroin(SF)has been used extensively in the biomedical field including tissue engineering for the generation of artificial bones,skins or ligaments.We have previously reported on good in vitro biocompatibility of SF fibers with peripheral nerve tissues and cells.In the present study,we developed a novel design of the SF-based artificial nerve graft(SF graft)which was composed of a SF-nerve guidance conduit(NGC)inserted with SF fibers.MTT assay was performed to determine the cytotoxicity of the SF-NGC extract fluid on the cultured L929 cells derived from an immortalized mouse fibroblast cell line.In addition,this SF graft was implanted into adult rats for bridging a 10-mm long sciatic nerve defect.The following-up experiments at initial stage(1-4 week)of nerve regeneration including routine blood tests and histochemical investigation were conducted to evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility of the SF graft with peripheral nerves.The results demonstrated that the SF-NGC graft was biocompatible with the surrounding tissues and cells due to its low inflammatory potential with a grade 0 under the U.S.Pharmacopeia guidelines and it was generally suitable to a certain degree for bridging peripheral nerve defects in virtue of supporting Schwann cell adherence,expansion and migration.Therefore the SF graft is a promising alternative to classical autografts for peripheral nerve repair.     

Biocompatibility studies of silk fibroin-based artificial nerve grafts in vitro and in vivo

Silk fibroin (SF) has been used extensively in the biomedical field including tissue engineering for the generation of artificial bones, skins or ligaments. We have previously reported on good in vitro biocompatibility of SF fibers with peripheral nerve tissues and cells. In the present study, we developed a novel design of the SF-based artificial nerve graft (SF graft) which was composed of a SF-nerve guidance conduit (NGC) inserted with SF fibers. MTT assay was performed to determine the cytotoxicity of the SF-NGC extract fluid on the cultured L929 cells derived from an immortalized mouse fibroblast cell line. In addition, this SF graft was implanted into adult rats for bridging a 10-mm long sciatic nerve defect. The following-up experiments at initial stage (1—4 week) of nerve regeneration including routine blood tests and histochemical investigation were conducted to evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility of the SF graft with peripheral nerves. The results demonstrated that the SF-NGC graft was biocompatible with the surrounding tissues and cells due to its low inflammatory potential with a grade 0 under the U.S. Pharmacopeia guidelines and it was generally suitable to a certain degree for bridging peripheral nerve defects in virtue of supporting Schwann cell adherence, expansion and migration. Therefore the SF graft is a promising alternative to classical autografts for peripheral nerve repair.     

Effects of vascular endothelial growth factor on angiogenesis of the endothelial cells isolated from cavernous malformations

Human cerebral cavernous malformation （CM） is a common vascular malformation of the central nervous system. We have investigated the biological characteristics of CM endothelial cells and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of CM angiogenesis to offer new insights into exploring effective measures for treatment of this disease. The endothelial cells were isolated from CM tissue masses dissected during operation and expanded in vitro. Expression of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 was examined with immunocytochemical staining. Proliferation, migration and tube formation of CM endothelial cells were determined using MTT, wounding and transmigration assays, and three-dimensional collagen type I gel respectively. The endothelial cells were successfully isolated from the tissue specimens of 25 CMs dissected without dipolar electrocoagulation. The cells show the general characteristics of the vascular endothelial cells. Expression of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 on the cells is higher than that on the normal cerebral microvascular endothelial cells. After treatment with VEGF, numbers of the proliferated and migrated cells, the maximal distance of cell migration and the length and area of capillary-like structures formed in the three-dimensional collagen gel increase significantly. These results demonstrate that expression of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 on CM endothelial cells is up-regulated. By binding to receptors, VEGF may activate the downstream signaling pathways and promote proliferation, migration and tube formation of CM endothelial cells. VEGF/VEGFR signaling pathways play important regulating roles in CM angiogenesis.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> induced dopaminergic differentiation of expanded rat mesencephalic neural stem cell

Recent progress in stem cell biology and recognition of the unique biological properties of stem cell have made it possible to treat the neurodegenerative diseases includ- ing Parkinson抯 disease (PD) by the approach of cell-re- placement and nutritional support with NSCs. Tissue re-construction based on the stem cells endowed us some unpredicted application and market opportunities. Studies in a variety of systems have highlighted perfect prospects for the application of stem cells in the t…