ABSTRACT
Despite significant developments in medical and surgical strategies, cardiac diseases remain the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Numerous studies involving preclinical and clinical trials have confirmed that stem cell transplantation can help improve cardiac function and regenerate damaged cardiac tissue, and stem cells isolated from bone marrow, heart tissue, adipose tissue and umbilical cord are the primary candidates for transplantation. During the past decade, menstrual blood-derived endometrial stem cells (MenSCs) have gradually become a promising alternative for stem cell-based therapy due to their comprehensive advantages, which include their ability to be periodically and non-invasively collected, their abundant source material, their ability to be regularly donated, their superior proliferative capacity and their ability to be used for autologous transplantation. MenSCs have shown positive therapeutic potential for the treatment of various diseases. Therefore, aside from a brief introduction of the biological characteristics of MenSCs, this review focuses on the progress being made in evaluating the functional improvement of damaged cardiac tissue after MenSC transplantation through preclinical and clinical studies. Based on published reports, we conclude that the paracrine effect, transdifferentiation and immunomodulation by MenSC promote both regeneration of damaged myocardium and improvement of cardiac function.
Subject(s)
Cardiac Rehabilitation/methods , Cardiovascular Diseases/therapy , Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy/methods , Endometrium/cytology , Stem Cell Transplantation , Stem Cells/cytology , Adult , Aged , Cell Transdifferentiation/physiology , Female , Humans , Male , Menstruation/blood , Young AdultABSTRACT
Successful isolation of human endometrial stem cells from menstrual blood, namely menstrual blood-derived endometrial stem cells (MenSCs), has provided enticing alternative seed cells for stem cell-based therapy. MenSCs are enriched in the self-regenerative tissue, endometrium, which shed along the periodic menstrual blood and thus their acquisition involves no physical invasiveness. However, the impact of the storage duration of menstrual blood prior to stem cell isolation, the age of the donor, the number of passages on the self-renewing of MenSCs, the paracrine production of biological factors in MenSCs and expression of adhesion molecules on MenSCs remain elusive. In this study, we confirmed that MenSCs reside in shedding endometrium, and documented that up to 3 days of storage at 4°C has little impact on MenSCs, while the age of the donor and the number of passages are negatively associated with proliferation capacity of MenSCs. Moreover, we found that MenSCs were actually immune-privileged and projected no risk of tumour formation. Also, we documented a lung- and liver-dominated, spleen- and kidney-involved organic distribution profile of MenSC 3 days after intravenous transfer into mice. At last, we suggested that MenSCs may have potentially therapeutic effects on diseases through paracrine effect and immunomodulation.
Subject(s)
Cell Proliferation , Endometrium/cytology , Menstruation/blood , Stem Cells/cytology , Adult , Animals , Cell Differentiation , Cells, Cultured , Female , Humans , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Mice, Nude , Stem Cell Transplantation/methods , Transplantation, Heterologous , Young AdultABSTRACT
In utero electroporation (IUE) is a simple and rapid approach to in vivo investigate exogenous gene function in mouse brain, and intensive studies using IUE have greatly contributed to analyze the characterization of specific steps during mouse brain development. Because the efficiency of IUE is highly dependent on the plasmid used and its concentration, and the transcriptional activity of plasmid is not only regulated by the host defense system, but also by the promoter of the expression vectors. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the transcriptional activity of three commonly used promoters, CMV, CAG and SV40, in IUE system through measuring the fluorescence intensity of green fluorescent protein which serves as an indicator. Our results demonstrated that the artificially-designed CAG promoter is a potent promoter that effectively drives target gene expression in IUE system.
Subject(s)
Electroporation/methods , Plasmids/genetics , Promoter Regions, Genetic , Transcriptional Activation/genetics , Animals , Female , Gene Expression Regulation , Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics , Green Fluorescent Proteins/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Optical Imaging , Pregnancy , TransfectionABSTRACT
Using low-accumulative plant, especially excluder crop, to safely produce food is one of the very important technologies of phytoremediation, which is practical to safe production and long-term remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil. A pot experiment using field cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil (Cd concentration was 0.75 mg kg(-1)) was conducted to compare Cd accumulation differences among 39 normal rice cultivars (Japonica) in Shenyang region of China for food safety and high grain yield aim. The results showed that brown grain Cd concentration in 12 rice cultivars of a total of 39 tested cultivars was lower than 0.2 mg kg(-1) (Agricultural Trade Standard of Nonpollution Food for Rice of China, NY 5115-2008). In these 12 cultivars, Cd enrichment factors (Cd concentration ratio in shoot to that in soil) of nine cultivars were lower than 1. Likewise, Cd translocation factors (Cd concentration ratio in shoot to that in root) of eight cultivars were lower than the 0.28 average. Furthermore, grain yield per pot of seven cultivars were higher than the average 18.4 g pot(-1). Four cultivars, i.e., Shendao 5, Tianfu 1, Fuhe 90, and Yanfeng 47 showed Cd-exclusive characteristic and better foreground application.
Subject(s)
Cadmium/pharmacokinetics , Food Contamination/prevention & control , Oryza/metabolism , Plant Roots/metabolism , Plant Shoots/metabolism , Seeds/metabolism , Soil Pollutants/pharmacokinetics , Biodegradation, Environmental , Cadmium/analysis , Food Contamination/analysis , Oryza/chemistry , Plant Roots/chemistry , Plant Shoots/chemistry , Seeds/chemistry , Soil Pollutants/analysisABSTRACT
To explore a rapid seed germination method for hyperaccumulator Solanum nigrum, a germination experiment with different illumination and seed-soaking treatments was conducted in constant temperature box and greenhouse, with filter as burgeon base. Under illumination, the germination rate was about 5 times high of that without illumination (P < 0.05), indicating that illumination was one of the prerequisites for the seed germination of S. nigrum. All test seed-soaking reagents could significantly improve the germination rate of S. nigrum (P < 0.05), with the best effect of H2O2. The seeds treated with H2O2 had the shortest germination time. The germination rate of seeds soaked but without cleaning was 2-3 times as high as that of seeds soaked and cleaned with water.
Subject(s)
Germination , Hydrogen Peroxide/pharmacology , Light , Seeds/physiology , Solanum nigrum/growth & development , Germination/drug effects , Germination/radiation effects , Seeds/drug effects , Seeds/radiation effects , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Solanum nigrum is a newly found Cd-hyperaccumulator which showed very high remediation efficiency in polluted soil. Seed germination experiments with different illumination and seed-soaking reagents were conducted in constant temperature box and greenhouse with soil as burgeon base. The results showed that the germination rate with alternating light/dark photoperiod was about twice of that without lighting (p < 0.05), suggesting that illumination is one of the important conditions for seed germination of S. nigrum. All treatments with seed-soaking reagents significantly increased the seed germination rate of S. nigrum (p < 0.05). Treatment with H2O2 (0.1%) had the shortest germination time. The germination rate of seeds that were not washed in water following soaking was 2-3 times higher than that of seeds that were washed after soaking.
Subject(s)
Germination/physiology , Germination/radiation effects , Seeds/drug effects , Seeds/radiation effects , Solanum nigrum/growth & development , Darkness , Data Interpretation, Statistical , Germination/drug effects , Gibberellins/pharmacology , Hydrogen Peroxide/pharmacology , Indicators and Reagents , Light , Nitrates/pharmacology , Potassium Compounds/pharmacology , Seeds/growth & developmentABSTRACT
Characteristics of accumulation and tolerance of cadmium (Cd) in Bidens tripartite L. were investigated to identify Cd-accumulating properties. In this study, pot culture experiment and site sampling experiments were conducted to assess whether this plant is a heavy metal hyperaccumulator or accumulator. The results indicated that the Cd enrichment factor (concentration in plant/soil) and Cd translocation factor (concentration in shoot/root) of B. tripartite was principally >1 in pot culture and concentration gradient experiments. Shoot biomass was not reduced significantly (p<0.05) compared to the controls. However, the Cd concentration in B. tripartite shoots was not higher than 100 mg kg(-1), the threshold concentration for a Cd-hyperaccumulator. In the site sampling experiment, B. tripartite also showed Cd-accumulator properties. Based on these results, B. tripartite could be identified as a Cd-accumulator. Thus, B. tripartite should only be considered as a Cd-accumulator.
