Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are specially manipulated cells from somatic cells by the introduction of four factors that are reprogrammed. The properties of iPSC are similar to embryonic stem cells (ESC) characteristic of self-renewal and pluripotency. The technology of reprogramming somatic cells to iPSC enables the generation of patient-specific cells that can be used as powerful tools for drug screening, in vitro models for human disease and autologous transplantation. The iPSC technology provides a priceless resource for regenerative medicine but there are still changing obstacles over the safety of iPSC in avoiding induction of tumorigenicity and maintaining high purity of re-differentiated cells from iPSC to produce more functional cells for cell therapy. A variety of methods to overcome the limitation of iPSC application applied in the clinical setting have been developed. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in iPSC generation and differentiation techniques to facilitate clinical application of iPSC with future potential in regenerative medicine.
Autografts ; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Humans ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells* ; Regenerative Medicine ; Stem Cells* ; Transplantation, Autologous

Cerebral gigantism(Sotos syndrome) is a growth disorder that consists of large size at birth, rapid early growth rate with accompanying advanced bone age, acromegalic features, and developmental delay. Clumsiness in the absence of other abnormal neurologic findings is common. The cause is unknown. We report here a case of 238/12-year-old Sotos syndrome with final adult height above 97 percentile, abnormal brain MRI findings(large ventricles, prominent trigone, prominent occipital horn & thining of corpus callosum), clumsiness, and some behavioral problems.
Adult ; Animals ; Brain ; Growth Disorders ; Horns ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neurologic Manifestations ; Parturition ; Sotos Syndrome

No abstract available.
Sensation* ; Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer*

No abstract available.
Cicatrix* ; Endometriosis* ; Female

No abstract available.
Cicatrix* ; Endometriosis* ; Female

Calbindin-D28k, a vitamin D-dependent calcium binding protein, plays a cardinal role in transport of calcium in kidney. Previous studies have demonstrated calbindin-D28k immunoreactivity in the distal nephron of mammalian kidney. However, it is well known that in most species including rat and human, there is a gradual transition from the distal convoluted tubule to the cortical collecting duct, and that the connecting segment do no tclearly demarcated, because of intermingling of distal convoluted tubule cells, connecting tubule cells, principal cells and at least two configurations of intercalated cells. In this study, to identify the cell types of calbindin-D28k-positive cells in distal nephron of rat kidney, we used double immunostaining with an antibody against calbindin-D28k and antibodies against thiazide sensitive Na+/Cl- cotransporter for distal convoluted tubule or H+-ATPase for intercalated cells. In the distal convoluted tubule, most of the distal convoluted tuble cells were calbindin-D28k-positive, whereas the intercalated cells were calbindin-D28k-negative. In the connecting tubule, 68% of the cells were calbindin-D28k-positive, and about 97% of the positive cells were connecting tubule cells and only 3% of them were intercalated cells. In the cortical collecting duct, and outer medullary collecting duct of outer stripe and inner stripe, only 8.6%, 11.8% and 4.4% of cells were weak positive for calbindin-D28k respectively. These weak positive cells in the collecting duct are mainly identified as intercalated cells. These findings indicate that calbindin-D28k is involved in not only transcellular transport of calcium but also processes regulating intracellular calcium in rat kidney.
Animals ; Antibodies ; Calbindin 1 ; Calcium* ; Carrier Proteins* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Kidney* ; Nephrons* ; Rats* ; Transcytosis ; Vitamins

Human sperm are not only pleomorphic but also tend to show large numbers of obvious abnormalities that may be associated with infertility. It is known that the greater the numbers of abnormalities present in each sperm (teratozoospermic index) relates closely to abnormalities in sperm function and the presence of infertility. The variation in morphology that may be seen among human sperm involve the head, midpiece and tail. An oval head is deemed to be normal but many shape and size variations can be seen in an ejaculate, and these include large, small or tapering heads. Amorphous heads are now known to be associated with chromosomal anomalies and a sperm may even show the presence of a double head. Another anomaly of sperm morphology that is occasionally seen is the abnormality known as globozoospermia. In this condition, the sperm head lacks an acrosome and, as a consequence, the head of each spermatozoon becomes rounded. We have experienced a case of globozoospermia which was conceived by intracytoplasmic sperm injection. So we report this case with a brief review of literatures.
Acrosome ; Head ; Humans ; Infertility ; Male ; Sperm Head ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic* ; Spermatozoa

No abstract available.
Polymerase Chain Reaction*

BACKGROUND: Techniques for identification of the epidural space have advantages and disadvantages. We made an electronic apparatus to ensure an epidural space by detecting the reduction of pressure. We investgated the instrument to see if this could be adequately used for identification of the epidural space. METHODS: Thirty adult patients scheduled to receive an epidural injection for surgery were selected for the investigation. We connected the apparatus with an epidural Tuohy needle of which the tip was in the ligamentum flavum. We injected air to increase the pressure inside the epidural needle to 50 mmHg or 100 mmHg, and then the epidural needle was advanced slowly until we heard the alarm from the epidural detector when pressure inside the epidural needle suddenly decreased under the set point, suggesting the epidural needle reached the epidural space. After ensuring the epidural space we injected the anesthetics to induce epidural anesthesia. RESULTS: In both groups, we obtained successful anesthesia results and there were no complications. The volume of air injected into the epidural space was 0.64 +/- 0.1 in 50 mmHg group and 0.95 +/- 0.2 in 100 mmHg group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the epidural detector in 30 patients demonstrated that this instrument could be a safe and effective means of identifying the epidural space. It allows the reduction of air injected into the epidural space, reducing the chance of complications due to an overinjection of air.
Adult ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anesthetics ; Epidural Space* ; Humans ; Injections, Epidural ; Ligamentum Flavum ; Needles

Most common diseases are caused by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Among the genetic factors, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are common DNA sequence variations in individuals and can serve as important genetic markers. Recently, investigations of gene-based and whole genome-based SNPs have been applied to association studies for marker discovery. However, SNPs are so population-specific that the association needs to be verified. Fifty-five genes and 384 SNPs were selected based on association with disease. Genotypes of 337 SNPs in candidate genes were determined using Illumina Sentrix Array Matrix (SAM) chips by an allelespecific extension method in 364 unrelated Korean individuals. Allelic frequencies of SNPs were compared with those of other populations obtained from the International HapMap database. Minor allele frequencies, linkage disequilibrium blocks, tagSNPs, and haplotypes of functional candidate SNPs in 55 genetic disease-associated genes were provided. Our data may provide useful information for the selection of genetic markers for genebased genetic disease-association studies of the Korean population.
Base Sequence ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Markers ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; HapMap Project ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide*