Cell transplantation
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Cell transplantation · Jan 2014
ReviewTherapeutic potential of microRNA let-7: tumor suppression or impeding normal stemness.
The first microRNA, let-7, and its family were discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans and are functionally conserved from worms to humans in the regulation of embryonic development and stemness. The let-7 family has been shown to have an essential role in stem cell differentiation and tumor-suppressive activity. Deregulating expression of let-7 is commonly reported in many human cancers. ⋯ However, findings reach beyond tumor therapeutics and may impinge on stemness and differentiation of stem cells. In this review, we discuss the role of let-7 in development and differentiation of normal adult stem/progenitor cells and offer a viewpoint of the association between deregulated let-7 expression and tumorigenesis. The regulation of let-7 expression, cancer-relevant let-7 targets, and the application of let-7 are highlighted.
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Cell transplantation · Jan 2014
ReviewThe potential therapeutic applications of olfactory ensheathing cells in regenerative medicine.
Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are unique glia cells restricted to the primary olfactory system including the olfactory mucosa, olfactory nerve, and the outer nerve layer of the olfactory bulb. OECs guide growing olfactory axons from the neurons of the nasal cavity olfactory mucosa to the olfactory bulb to connect both the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS). Based on these specialized abilities of OECs, transplantation of OECs to injury sites has been widely investigated for their potential therapeutic applications in neural repair in different injuries. In this article, we reviewed the properties of OECs and their roles in olfactory regeneration and in treatment of different injuries including spinal cord injury, PNS injury, and stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
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Cell transplantation · Jan 2014
Comparative StudyComparison of neurological and functional outcomes after administration of granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor in motor-complete versus motor-incomplete postrehabilitated, chronic spinal cord injuries: a phase I/II study.
Granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a major growth factor in the activation and differentiation of granulocytes. This cytokine has been widely and safely employed in different disease conditions over many years. The administration of the growth factors in spinal cord injury (SCI) has been reported elsewhere; here we have tried to see the effect of SCI severity on the neurological outcomes after neuroprotective treatment for SCI with G-CSF. ⋯ Motor-incomplete patients had significantly more improvement in ASIA motor score compared to the motor-complete patients (7.68 scores, p < 0.001); also they had significant improvement in light touch (6.42 scores, p = 0.003) and pinprick sensory scores (4.89 scores, p = 0.011). Therefore, G-CSF administration in motor-incomplete SCIs is associated with significantly higher motor improvement, and also the higher the initial ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS) grade, the less would be the final AIS change, and incomplete cases are more welcome into the future studies. This manuscript is published as part of the International Association of Neurorestoratology (IANR) special issue of Cell Transplantation.
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Cell transplantation · Jan 2014
Case ReportsFunctional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory ensheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging.
Treatment of patients sustaining a complete spinal cord injury remains an unsolved clinical problem because of the lack of spontaneous regeneration of injured central axons. A 38-year-old man sustained traumatic transection of the thoracic spinal cord at upper vertebral level Th9. At 21 months after injury, the patient presented symptoms of a clinically complete spinal cord injury (American Spinal Injury Association class A-ASIA A). ⋯ The pattern of recovery suggests functional regeneration of both efferent and afferent long-distance fibers. Imaging confirmed that the grafts had bridged the left side of the spinal cord, where the majority of the nerve grafts were implanted, and neurophysiological examinations confirmed the restitution of the integrity of the corticospinal tracts and the voluntary character of recorded muscle contractions. To our knowledge, this is the first clinical indication of the beneficial effects of transplanted autologous bulbar cells.
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Cell transplantation · Jan 2014
Transplantation of allogenic fetal membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells protects against ischemia/reperfusion-induced acute kidney injury.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive therapeutic cell source for treating renal diseases. MSC administration has been shown to improve renal function, although the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. We recently showed that allogenic fetal membrane-derived MSCs (FM-MSCs), which are available noninvasively in large amounts, had a renoprotective effect in an experimental glomerulonephritis model. ⋯ Administration of FM-MSCs mainly homed into the lung, but increased serum IL-10 levels. Of interest is that renoprotective effects of FM-MSCs were abolished by using anti-IL-10 neutralization antibody, suggesting that IL-10 would be one of the candidate factors to protect rat kidney from I/R injury in this model. We concluded that allogenic FM-MSC transplantation is a potent therapeutic strategy for the treatment of AKI.