Resveratrol's Impact on the Chondrogenic Reagents' Effects in Cell Sheet Cultures of Wharton's Jelly-Derived MSCs.

Human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (hWJ-MSCs) are of great interest in tissue engineering. We obtained hWJ-MSCs from four patients, and then we stimulated their chondrogenic phenotype formation in vitro by adding resveratrol (during cell expansion) and a canonical Wnt pathway activator, LiCl, as well as a Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor, Y27632 (during differentiation). The effects of the added reagents on the formation of hWJ-MSC sheets destined to repair osteochondral injuries were investigated. Three-dimensional hWJ-MSC sheets grown on P(NIPAM-co-NtBA)-based matrices were characterized in vitro and in vivo. The combination of resveratrol and LiCl showed effects on hWJ-MSC sheets similar to those of the basal chondrogenic medium. Adding Y27632 decreased both the proportion of hypertrophied cells and the expression of the hyaline cartilage markers. In vitro, DMSO was observed to impede the effects of the chondrogenic factors. The mouse knee defect model experiment revealed that hWJ-MSC sheets grown with the addition of resveratrol and Y27632 were well integrated with the surrounding tissues; however, after 3 months, the restored tissue was identical to that of the naturally healed cartilage injury. Thus, the combination of chondrogenic supplements may not always have additive effects on the progress of cell culture and could be neutralized by the microenvironment after transplantation.

Genomic Variability of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Circulating in the Russian Federation during Early December 2021 and Late January 2022.

Analysis of genomic variability of pathogens associated with heightened public health concerns is an opportunity to track transmission routes of the disease and helps to develop more effective vaccines and specific diagnostic tests. We present the findings of a detailed genomic analysis of the genomic variability of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant that spread in Russia between 8 December 2021 and 30 January 2022. We performed phylogenetic analysis of Omicron viral isolates collected in Moscow (n = 589) and downloaded from GISAID (n = 397), and identified that the BA.1 lineage was predominant in Russia during this period. The BA.2 lineage was also identified early in December 2021. We identified three cases of BA.1/BA.2 coinfections and one case of Delta/Omicron coinfection. A comparative genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 viral variants that spread in other countries allowed us to identify possible cases of transmission. We also found that some mutations that are quite rare in the Global Omicron dataset have a higher incidence rate, and identified genetic markers that could be associated with ways of Omicron transmission in Russia. We give the genomic variability of single nucleotide variations across the genome and give a characteristic of haplotype variability of Omicron strains in both Russia and around the world, and we also identify them.