Gut microbiota, inflammatory factors, and scoliosis: A Mendelian randomization study.

Several studies have reported a potential association between the gut microbiota (GM) and scoliosis. However, the causal relationship between GM and scoliosis and the role of inflammatory factors (IFs) as mediators remain unclear. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between GM, IFs, and scoliosis. We investigated whether IFs act as mediators in pathways from the GM to scoliosis. Additionally, using reverse Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, we further investigated the potential impact of genetic predisposition to scoliosis on the GM and IFs. In this study, we searched for publicly available genome-wide association study aggregate data and utilized the MR method to establish bidirectional causal relationships among 211 GM taxa, 91 IFs, and scoliosis. To ensure the reliability of our research findings, we employed 5 MR methods, with the inverse variance weighting approach serving as the primary statistical method, and assessed the robustness of the results through various sensitivity analyses. Additionally, we investigated whether IFs mediate pathways from GM to scoliosis. Three negative causal correlations were observed between the genetic predisposition to GM and scoliosis. Additionally, both positive and negative correlations were found between IFs and scoliosis, with 3 positive and 3 negative correlations observed. IFs do not appear to act as mediators in the pathway from GM to scoliosis. In conclusion, this study demonstrated a causal association between the GM, IFs, and scoliosis, indicating that IFs are not mediators in the pathway from the GM to scoliosis. These findings offer new insights into prevention and treatment strategies for scoliosis.

Multilineage potential research on pancreatic mesenchymal stem cells of bovine.

Stem cells are most likely to solve all three of diabetes's problems at once, but the previous studies have mostly focused on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived MSCs, and few studies have been done on pancreatic MSCs. In this study, pancreatic was collected to isolate MSCs from bovine, and then their biological characteristics such as growth kinetics, surface antigen, and multilineage potential were examined. Pancreatic MSCs of bovine (B-PMSCs) could be cultured for 65 passages in vitro. Growth kinetics analyses indicated that B-PMSCs had a strong capacity for self-renewal in vitro and their proliferation capacity appeared to decrease by passaging. Surface antigen detection showed that B-PMSCs expressed CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD106, CD166, Vimentin, Nestin and Insulin, but not expressed CD34 and CD45. Furthermore, B-PMSCs could be induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and smooth muscle cells as indicated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence. Most importantly, insulin-secreting cell differentiation of B-PMSCs exhibited islet-like clusters and dithizone staining displayed scarlet, and the response of the islet-like clusters to glucose suggested that high concentration glucose (20 mM) could quickly and persistently stimulate insulin release, and from the 2.0 h of the stimulation, the insulin of 20 mM glucose group were significantly higher than the 5.5 mM group. The B-PMSCs were isolated successfully, and the cells owned powerful self-renewal ability and multiple differentiative potential. Therefore, the present study plays an important role by providing a PMSCs choice for cell therapy of diabetes and tissue engineering.

Identification and Multilineage Potential Research of a Novel Type of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Goose Inguinal Groove.

Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) play a crucial role in the field of regenerative medicine and tissue repair for its own unique features. However, up to date, the isolation and characterizations of multidifferentiation potentials of goose ADSCs are still uncertain. In this study, we successfully isolated ADSCs from goose inguinal groove in vitro for the first time and also attempted to unravel its fundamental differentiation potentials and genetic characteristics. The results showed that isolated ADSCs exhibited a typical fibroblast-like morphology and high proliferative potential, could be passaged for at least 40 passages and maintained high hereditary stability with more than 92.2% of cells were diploid (2n = 78) by G-banding analysis. Moreover, the ADSCs could express pluripotent marker gene (OCT4) and mesenchymal stem cells-related surface antigens, which are similar to previously reported human ADSCs. Additionally, the goose ADSCs could be induced to transdifferentiate into cells of three layers in vitro, such as osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes derived from mesoderm, neurocytes from ectoderm, and hepatocytes of the endoderm. Most of all, we confirmed that the induced ß-like cells and hepatocytes had metabolic functions similar to normal cells in vivo. Taken together, these results demonstrated the multidifferentiation potentials of ADSCs in vitro, which conferred an appealing candidate for cell regenerative therapy.

Isolation and biological characterization of mesenchymal stem cells from goose dermis.

The skin is a natural target of stem cell research because of its large size and easy accessibility. Cutaneous mesenchymal stem cells have shown to be a promising source of various adult stem cell or progenitor cell populations, which provide an important source of stem cell-based investigation. Nowadays, much work has been done on dermal-derived mesenchymal stem cells (DMSCs) from humans, mice, sheep, and other mammals, but the literature on avian species has been rarely reported. As an animal model, the goose is an endemic species abounding in dermal tissues which is important in the global economy. In this study, we isolated and established the mesenchymal stem cell line from dermis tissue of goose, which were subcultured to passage 21 in vitro without loss of their functional integrity in terms of morphology, renewal capacity, and presence of mesenchymal stem cell markers. Cryopreservation and resuscitation were also observed in different passages. To investigate the biological characteristics of goose DMSCs, immunofluorescence, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and flow cytometry were used to detect the characteristic surface markers. Growth curves and the capacity of colony forming were performed to test the self-renew and proliferative ability. Furthermore, the DMSCs are induced to osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes in vitro. Our results suggest that DMSCs isolated from goose embryos possess similar biological characteristics to those from other species. The methods in establishment and cultivation of goose DMSCs line demonstrated a good self-renew and expansion potential in vitro, which provided a technological platform for preserving the valuable genetic resources of poultry and a great inspiration for in vitro investigation of avian MSCs.

Isolation and biological characteristic evaluation of a novel type of cartilage stem/progenitor cell derived from Small­tailed Han sheep embryos.

Cartilage stem/progenitor cells (CSPCs) are a novel stem cell population and function as promising therapeutic candidates for cell­based cartilage repair. Until now, numerous existing research materials have been obtained from humans, horses, cows and other mammals, but rarely from sheep. In the present study, CSPCs with potential applications in repairing tissue damage and cell­based therapy were isolated from 45­day­old Small­tailed Han Sheep embryos, and examined at the cellular and molecular level. The expression level of characteristic surface markers of the fetal sheep CSPCs were also evaluated by immunofluorescence, reverse transcription­polymerase chain reaction analysis and flow cytometric assays. Biological growth curves were drawn in accordance with cell numbers. Additionally, karyotype analysis showed no marked differences in the in vitro cultured CSPCs and they were genetically stable among different passages. The CSPCs were also capable of adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic lineage progression under the appropriate induction medium in vitro. Together, these findings provide a theoretical basis and experimental evidence for cellular transplant therapy in tissue engineering.

Differentiation potential of neural stem cells derived from fetal sheep.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into many cell types in vitro. In this study, we isolated and established an NSC line from fetal Ovis aries. Based on the results of immunofluorescence staining, NSCs expressed Nestin, Pax6 and MAP2. Moreover, a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay was used to biologically characterize the cell line. NSCs were induced to differentiate into neurogenic cells in vitro. They expressed MAP2, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and myelin basic protein (MBP). In this study, we successfully isolated and cultivated NSCs from the hippocampal tissue of fetal sheep. NSCs not only displayed a self-renewal capacity but also had the potential to differentiate into neurons and glial cells. This study provided valuable experimental data for NSC transplant research.