Generation of clinical-grade human embryonic stem cell line KthES11 according to Japanese regulations.

The human embryonic stem cell line, KthES11, is derived from a normal healthy blastocyst donated for clinical research. The inner cell mass (ICM) was isolated using mechanical dissection and plated on laminin fragments. Cell line derivation, its propagation and storage were performed without feeders in an animal product-free environment according to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards. KthES11 shows a normal karyotype, pluripotent state and differentiation to the three germ layers. The cell line was further validated for sterility, mycoplasma-free, antibiotic residues and specific human pathogens.

Effectiveness of Changing the Application of Japanese Honey to a Hydrocolloid Dressing in Between the Inflammatory and Proliferative Phases on Cutaneous Wound Healing in Male Mice.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of changing the application of Japanese honey to a hydrocolloid dressing (HCD) in between the inflammatory and proliferative phases on cutaneous wound healing in 8-week-old, BALB/cCrSlc male mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mice were divided into 4 groups: acacia honey followed by a HCD, buckwheat flour honey followed by a HCD, Chinese milk vetch honey followed by a HCD, and a HCD alone (control group). All mice received 2 full-thickness wounds on both sides of the dorsum using a Disposable Biopsy Punch. The wounds of the control group were covered with a HCD, whereas wounds in the other groups were treated with 0.1 mL of the relevant type of honey until day 3 post-wound and then were covered with a HCD from days 4 to 14. RESULTS: In the experimental groups, the wound area ratio was significantly smaller in the inflammatory phase but significantly larger in the proliferative phase. Reepithelialization, collagen deposition, and wound contraction were significantly delayed compared with those in the control group. DISCUSSION: The re-expansion of the wounds in the proliferative phase could not be prevented, and reepithelialization, collagen deposition, and wound contraction were delayed compared with those upon the use of a HCD. CONCLUSION: The study's authors concluded that these methods do not promote cutaneous wound healing better than the use of a HCD alone.

E3 ubiquitin ligase Pub1 is implicated in endocytosis of a GPI-anchored protein Ecm33 in fission yeast.

We previously identified three glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins including Ecm33, as multicopy suppressors of the phenotypes of a mutant allele of cis4(+) that encodes a zinc transporter in fission yeast. Here, we further identified two multicopy suppressor genes, ubi1 (+) and ubc4 (+), encoding ubiquitin-ribosomal fusion protein and ubiquitin conjugating enzyme E2, respectively. In addition, Ubi1 or Ubc4 overexpression failed to suppress the phenotypes of the double deletion of cis4 (+) and pub1 (+) gene, which encodes a HECT-type ubiquitin ligase E3. During exponential phase GFP-Ecm33 localized at the growing cell tips of the cell surface and the medial region in wild-type cells. Notably, during the post-exponential and stationary phase, GFP-Ecm33 in wild-type cells was internalized and mostly localized to the Golgi/endosomes, but it was still stably localized at the cell surface in Δpub1 cells. The Δpub1 cells showed osomoremedial phenotypes to various drugs indicating their defects in cell wall integrity. Altogether, our findings reveal a novel role for Pub1 in endocytosis of Ecm33 and regulation of cell wall integrity in fission yeast.

Extraction of the pharmacological treatment features in literature-based discovery by applying cluster analysis.

Literature-based discovery (LBD) facilitates the extraction of hidden relationships between a disease and chemical substances. As a methodology of LBD, we had previously proposed to apply cluster analysis to analyze the intermediate concepts between them. In this study, we compared the ranks of chemical substances predicted by our methodology to the original rank so as to validate possibilities for extraction of the heterogeneity in the relationships. As a result, we obtained two clusters. The rank for one cluster was similar to the original rank (ρ=0.956), but another was different (ρ=0.580). The different features from the original rank were obtained on Pharmacological Action Terms of MeSH terms.