BACKGROUND:There are myoblasts in human embryonic skeletal muscle. It remains poorly understand whether myoblasts in vitro can form myotube and what are the corresponding markers for identifying myoblasts and myotubes. OBJECTIVE:To investigate whether in vitro cultured myoblasts from human embryonic skeletal muscle can form myotube and whether they can express neural markers. METHODS:Human embryonic muscle-derived myoblasts were cultured in serum-containing medium. When the primary culture was established, cultured cel s were identified with immunocytochemistry for neural markers, such asβ-tubulin markers (desmin, myogenin, smooth muscle actin and myosin). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A population of myoblasts could migrate from human embryonic muscle tissues. They could express the markers for skeletal muscle such as desmin and myogenin, and they could express neuron specific enolase, nestin and neurofilament 200. They could form myotubes in vitro, and myotubes expressedβⅢ-tubulin, neurofilament 200 and glial fibril ary acidic protein. The data support the hypothesis that myoblasts from human embryonic muscle express neural markers and muscle markers, and cultured myoblasts and myotubes expressed neuron specific enolase,β-tubulin Ⅲ, nestin, neurofilament 200 and glial fibrillary acidic protein. This indicates that these markers could not be used for cel identification of trans-differentiation study from muscle origin to nervous system.

BACKGROUND:Human skin-derived precursors can be cultured for a long term in vitro, and differentiated into neurons, glial cel s, smooth muscle cel s, Schwann cel s and cel s with peripheral neurons phenotype.
OBJECTIVE:To investigate the culture conditions and multiple differentiation capacity of multipotential stem cel s from human skin, especial y the potentials of differentiating into neurons and osteoblasts.
METHODS:Human skin-derived precursor cel s were cultured with trypsin digestion method, and identified with immunocytochemistry. Cel s at passages 3-4 were induced to differentiate into neurons and osteoblasts, and underwent von Kossa staining protocol for calcium, chondrocyte induction, toluidine blue staining, immunohistochemical staining and Sudan black staining. The expression of nestin, vimentin,βIII-tubulin, S100 and col agen II in the human skin-derived precursors was detected.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The human skin-derived precursor cel s cultured with trypsin digestion method could proliferate and form suspending spheres, and nestin positive cel s were detected at any time point of the culture. Al the cultured cel s expressed vimentin, and some adherent cel s expressedβIII-tubulin. Human skin-derived precursor cel s were induced with Salvia miltiorrhiza to differentiate into neuron-like cel s, and expressed marker of nerve cel s. Skin-derived precursors could be induced to differentiate into osteoblasts and von Kossa staining displayed black calcified nodules in the culture dish. Skin-derived precursors could also be induced to differentiate into chondrocytes, and toluidine blue staining was strongly positive, and some cel s expressed col agen II, which suggested that, the differentiated cel s contained chondrocytes. Experimental findings indicate that, skin contains multipotential stem cel s that are capable of differentiating into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, Schwann cel s and oligodendrocytes.

Objective: To investigate the optimal culture conditio ns for adipose tissue-derived stromal cells(ADSCs) and for the induction of these cells to differentiate into osteogenic cells. Methods: ADSCs were cultured with routine methods,bFGF at 20 ng/ml was added into the medium and the proliferative of ADSCs was examined by cell counting. 0.1 ?mol /L of dexamethasone,10 mmol/L of ?-glycerophosphate and 50 ?mol/L of ascorbic acid were adapted to induce the cells to differentiate into osteogenic cells, ADSCs were identified by immunocytochemistry and differentiated osteogenic cells were identified by alkaline phosphatase(AP) staining and immunocytochemistry. Result: A population of ADSCs could be isolated from adul t human adipose tissue,the cells were fibroblast-like and could be maintaine d in vitro for extended periods with stable population doubling.The cells w ere expanded as undifferentiated in culture for more than 10 passages, indicati ng their proliferative capacity.bFGF stimulated the cell proliferation.Dexameth asone,?-glycerophosphate and ascorbic acid induced (40?8.6)% of ADSCs to ex press alkaline phosphatase(AP) ,(35?10.6)% of AP positive ADSCs were found to be collagen I positive. Calcification plaques were occasionally found in the cul tures. Conclusion:The data support the hypothesis that adu lt human adipose tissue contains stem cells capable of diffferentiating into ost eogenic cells.

BACKGROUND:At present,the most frequently agents used for neural induction of bone marrow stromal cells(BMSCs)in vitro are anti-oxidants,such as beta-mercaptoethanol and all trans-retinoids.The majorities of induction from BMSCs are neuron-like cells in these protocols;however,whether it has neuronal function or not should be further studied.OBJECTIVE:TO investigate the differentiated characteristics of inducing human BMSCs into neural cells in serum-free medium.DESIGN:Observational study.SETTING:Chaozhou Central Hospital.MATERIALS:The experiment was carried out in the Chaozhou Central Hospital from April 2004 to December 2005.Adult bone marrows were derived from femoral and tibial bone marrow of three patients with fracture.All patients provided the confirmed consent and were approved by the Ethics Committee of Chaozhou Central Hospital.DMEMIF12 medium(1:1),fetal bovine serum (FBS), glutamine, N2 supplements and B27 Supplements were from GIBCO/BRL Company;recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)and recombinant epidermal growth factor(EGF)from Sigma Company;monoclonal antibody for vimentin(1:100),monoclonal antibody for myelin basic protein(MBP) (1:100),monoclonal antibody for S1 00(1:1 00),monoclonal antibody for neuron specific enolase(NSE)(1:1 00),and monoclonal antibody for neurofilament 200(NF200)(1:1 00)from Beijing Zhongshan Company;monoclonal antibody for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)(1:200)and polyclonal antibody for nestin(1:100)from Boster Company(Wuhan);mouse monoclonal antibody for beta-tubulin 3(1:1 000)from Sigma Company;SP-9000 kits and quick AEC from Beijing Zhongshan Company; culture dishes and flasks from Coming Company.METHODS:BMSCs from human bone marrow were cultured in serum-containing medium.When the primary culture was established, BMSCs were transferred into serum-free medium containing N2 or B27 supplement with 20 μg/L basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)and epidermal growth factor(EGF),and cells were cultured in an incubator containing C02of 0.05 volume fraction at 37℃. Morphological changes of BMSCs in serum-free medium were observed under phase contrast microscope. And two days after culture. Expression of relative markers of BMSCs was detected withimmunocytochemistry.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Morphological changes of BMSCs and expression of relative markers of nerve cells.RESULTS:A population of BMSCs could be isolated from adult human bone marrow,and they were processed to obtain a fibroblast-like population and were expanded as undifferentiated cells in culture for more than 10 passages.indicating their proliferative capacity.They could form spheroid state when they were sub-cultured in serum-free media supplemented with bFGF and EGF.these cells could express the markers for neural stem cells such as vimentin and nestin;they could expressed neuron specific enolase(NSE),beta-tubulin 3,TrkC and neurofilament 200(NF200)when they were plated on dishes with serum-containing medium; some cells exhibited the phenotypes for astrocytes.expressing gilal fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)and S100 protein.CONCLUSION:The morphology,protein expression and differentiation ability of BMSCs in serum-free medium was similar to those of neural stem cells.The data support the hypothesis that adult bone marrow contains stem cells capable of differentiating into neural cells,the serum-free media make BMSCs overcome their mesenchymal commitment,showing the phenotypes for neural stem cells.

Objective To study the effects of thymus transplantation(TT)combined with CD4--DLI on T cell reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT). Methods BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups:hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT group),hematopoietic stem cell transplantation combined with thymus transplantation(TT group)and hematopoietic stem cell transplanta-tion combined with thymus transplantation plus CD4+ T cell-depleted lymphocyte infusion(CD4--DLI group). On day-1,the mice were treated with the lethal dose of radiotherapy. On day 0,C57BL/6 mice were used as donor for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The mice were sacrificed on 5 days,2 weeks,4 weeks and 3 months after transplantation,respectively. The peripheral blood and spleen cells of mice were collected for determinations of T cell surface antigen,T cell receptor,naive T cells and intracellular cytokines. HE staining was used to assess the development of donor thymus. Results TT and CD4--DLI did not impair each other′s effects on T cell reconstitu-tion. TT combined with CD4--DLI increased the number of T cell reconstruction. CD4--DLI promoted the effect of TT on enlargement naive CD4+and CD8+T cell pool. Combination of TT and CD4--DLI enhanced the cytokine pro-duction of T cells. Conclusion TT combined with CD4--DLI had no side effects on TCR repertoire and thymus. Conclusion TT combined with CD4--DLI can enhance the reconstitution of T cell number and function via thymus dependent and thymus independent mechanism.

The capacity for thermal tolerance is critical for industrial enzyme. In the past decade, great efforts have been made to endow wild-type enzymes with higher catalytic activity or thermostability using gene engineering and protein engineering strategies. In this study, a recently developed SpyTag/SpyCatcher system, mediated by isopeptide bond-ligation, was used to modify a rumen microbiota-derived xylanase XYN11-6 as cyclized and stable enzyme C-XYN11-6. After incubation at 60, 70 or 80 ℃ for 10 min, the residual activities of C-XYN11-6 were 81.53%, 73.98% or 64.41%, which were 1.48, 2.92 or 3.98-fold of linear enzyme L-XYN11-6, respectively. After exposure to 60-90°C for 10 min, the C-XYN11-6 remained as soluble in suspension, while L-XYN11-6 showed severely aggregation. Intrinsic and 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS)-binding fluorescence analysis revealed that C-XYN11-6 was more capable of maintaining its conformation during heat challenge, compared with L-XYN11-6. Interestingly, molecular cyclization also conferred C-XYN11-6 with improved resilience to 0.1-50 mmol/L Ca²⁺ or 0.1 mmol/L Cu²⁺ treatment. In summary, we generated a thermal- and ion-stable cyclized enzyme using SpyTag/SpyCatcher system, which will be of particular interest in engineering of enzymes for industrial application.
Animals ; Cyclization ; Endo-1,4-beta Xylanases ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Enzyme Stability ; Industrial Microbiology ; methods ; Microbiota ; Protein Engineering ; Rumen ; enzymology ; microbiology ; Temperature

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a micro-barrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells. METHODS: The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. RESULTS: Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Actins/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Glycolysis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Tripartite Motif Proteins/metabolism* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; Integrin beta Chains