Pluripotent and committed haemopoietic progenitor cells in rat peripheral blood

The assay system for determination of haemopoietic progenitors in peripheral blood of rats is essen tial for potential studies on mobilisation and transplantation of circulating progenitor cells in a rat experimental model. This paper demonstrates the possibility of detection and quantification of pluripotent progenitors (Colony Forming Units-Spleen day 8-CFU-Sd8) and committed progenitors (Colony Forming Units Granulocyte Macrophage-CFU-GM and Burst Forming Units-Erythroid-BFU-E) in peripheral blood of rats in a steady state. For determination of CFU-Sd8 the rat to mouse in vivo assay was used, and for committed progenitors in vitro assays on methylcellulose were employed. The CFU-Sd8 incidence ranged from 7.3 to 11.6/ml of rat blood, similar to that reported in literature for mice. The incidence of CFU-GM was found to be 59.7 ± 9.4/ml which is in the range of the literature data for mice, rabbits, dogs and humans. The incidence of BFU-E in rat peripheral blood was 4.3 ± 1/ml, which was relatively low, but could be also considered as comparable with some literature data for dogs and humans. The CFU-E were not detected by the technique used. These results confirmed the existence of circulatory blood pluripotent progenitors (CFU-Sd8) and committed (CFU-GM and BFU-E) progenitors in rat, as has been established for some other mammalian species.     

蝎毒多肽对辐射损伤小鼠骨髓造血干细胞及祖细胞的作用

目的探讨不同蝎毒多肽(scorpion venom peptide,SVP)组分对辐射后机体造血干细胞及祖细胞恢复的作用。方法6.0GyX射线一次性全身照射,制作辐射损伤小鼠模型。内源性脾结节法观察照射后第10天脾集落形成单位(CFU-S)的变化。用甲基纤维素半固体培养基培养骨髓混合集落生成单位(CFU-Mix),观察体内外给药方法及照射后不同时间对CFU-Mix生成的影响。结果(1)体内实验:SVPⅣ组分处理后的CFU-S数明显高于照射对照组(P<0.05);SVPⅤ组分CFU-S数量与照射对照组差异无统计学意义。照射后各SVP组CFU-Mix的数量均高于照射对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。(2)体外实验:与照射对照组相比,体外分别单独加入SVPⅣ、Ⅴ组分以及细胞因子(IL-6和SCF)均能够促进CFU-Mix的增殖;而SVPⅣ、Ⅴ组分分别与细胞因子联合应用对CFU-Mix生成的促进作用更为明显,其中Ⅳ组分效果更强,与照射对照组相比差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论SVP具有保护辐射损伤小鼠造血干细胞及祖细胞,加速其增殖能力恢复的作用。     

蝎毒多肽对辐射损伤小鼠骨髓造血干细胞及祖细胞的作用

目的 探讨不同蝎毒多肽(scorpion venom peptide,SVP)组分对辐射后机体造血干细胞及祖细胞恢复的作用.方法 6.0 Gy X射线一次性全身照射,制作辐射损伤小鼠模型.内源性脾结节法观察照射后第10天脾集落形成单位(CFU-S)的变化.用甲基纤维素半固体培养基培养骨髓混合集落生成单位(CFU-Mix),观察体内外给药方法及照射后不同时间对CFU-Mix生成的影响.结果 (1)体内实验:SVPⅣ组分处理后的CFU-S数明显高于照射对照组(P＜0.05);SVPV组分CFU-S数量与照射对照组差异无统计学意义.照射后各SVP组CFU-Mix的数量均高于照射对照组,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).(2)体外实验:与照射对照组相比,体外分别单独加入SVPⅣ、Ⅴ组分以及细胞因子(IL-6和SCF)均能够促进CFU-Mix的增殖;而SVPⅣ、Ⅴ组分分别与细胞因子联合应用对CFU-Mix生成的促进作用更为明显,其中Ⅳ组分效果更强,与照射对照组相比差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.05).结论 SVP具有保护辐射损伤小鼠造血干细胞及祖细胞,加速其增殖能力恢复的作用.     

Commitment of decidual haematopoietic progenitor cells in first trimester pregnancy

PROBLEM The aim of this study was to investigate the phenotype and commitment of decidual haematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) in healthy pregnant women and in women with early miscarriage. METHOD OF STUDY Peripheral blood and decidual tissue from healthy and pathological pregnant women were examined for HPCs and lymphoid progenitors using flow cytometric analysis. RESULTS Compared with peripheral blood, we found a significant increase in decidual HPCs in both healthy pregnant women and women with spontaneous abortion. T/NK, natural killer (NK), gamma-delta and NKT cell progenitors were identified in all peripheral blood and decidual samples. In pathologic pregnant women, the ratios of decidual T/NK and NK cell progenitors were significantly increased compared with healthy pregnant controls. CONCLUSION We demonstrated decidual cells with haematopoietic progenitor cell phenotype in human decidua. Increased levels of NK progenitors in the decidua of women with early spontaneous abortion suggest a dysregulation of this pathway that may contribute to pregnancy failure.     

Proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells and neuronal differentiation in the hypothalamus are enhanced in heat-acclimated rats

Male Wistar rats, initially maintained at an ambient temperature (T _a) of 24°C, were subjected to a constant high T _a of 32°C (HE) or were constantly kept at 24°C (controls, CN). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was intraperitoneally injected daily for five consecutive days after commencing heat exposure. On the 6th, 13th, 23rd, 33rd, 43rd, and 53rd day of heat exposure, rats’ brains were removed. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the numbers of BrdU-positive cells in the hypothalamus of HE were significantly and consistently greater than those of CN. In HE, the number of BrdU-positive cells double-stained by a mature neuron marker increased abruptly after 33 days of heat exposure by about seven times. This was not the case in CN. The results suggest that heat exposure facilitates proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells in the hypothalamus and promotes differentiation to neurons, which might have certain relation to establishing long-term heat acclimation in rats.     

Promotion of rat brain-derived progenitor cell neurogenesis by liquiritigenin treatment: Underlying mechanisms

The purpose of the present study was to determine if liquiritigenin, which is a newly discovered estrogen receptor β (ERβ) agonist, can induce differentiation of brain-derived progenitor cells from rats and to investigate the mechanisms involved. Treatment of brain-derived progenitor cell cultures with liquiritigenin increased the number of cells that differentiated into neurons; but the treatment did not alter the growth of astrocytes. Furthermore, treatment with liquiritigenin decreased Notch-2 mRNA and protein expression, which could promote the growth of new neurons. Using RNA interference (RNAi), we determined that inhibition of Notch-2 by liquiritigenin was probably ERβ-dependent. These findings highlight the possible role of liquiritigenin in the repair and regeneration of injured brain tissue of patients with neurodegenerative diseases and support further investigation of the Notch-2 signaling pathway using ERβ agonists.     

Lymphoid tissues of the ileum in young horses: distribution, structure, and epithelium

Lymphoid tissues in the ileum of young horses form raised plaques that are macroscopically visible from the mucosal surface. These are termed ileal lymphoid patches. These patches are variable in size, shape and position within the ileal wall, occasionally lying along the site of mesenteric attachment. Within lymphoid patches, follicles exist in three different morphological forms: follicle/dome structures, proprial follicles, and lymphoglandular complexes (LGCs). In follicle/dome structures, the majority of the follicle lies in the submucosa and merges with a dome in the lamina propria through a gap in the muscularis mucosae. In proprial follicles, the majority, or all, of the follicle is found in the lamina propria, and in LGCs, the follicles lie in the submucosa and communicate with the intestinal lumen via a central invagination of epithelium that extends vertically through a gap in the muscularis mucosae. Follicle-associated epithelium covers the follicle/dome structures and proprial follicles. It consists of enterocytes, cells morphologically resembling M cells, intraepithelial lymphocytes, goblet cells, and amine-precursor uptake and decarboxylation (APUD) cells. The epithelium of LGCs is mainly populated by immature enterocytes, intraepithelial lymphocytes and goblet cells. Cells with coarse, long microvilli are also present. Information regarding the presence of LGCs in the small intestine is scant, but LGCs have been well described in the large intestine of many species. Further investigation will be required to determine if factors exist that are common to both the ileum of the horse and the large intestine of other species to influence the development of LGCs at these specific sites.     

Thymic crosstalk restrains the pool of cortical thymic epithelial cells with progenitor properties

Cortical (cTEC) and medullary (mTEC) thymic epithelial cells establish key microenvironments for T‐cell differentiation and arise from thymic epithelial cell progenitors (TEP). However, the nature of TEPs and the mechanism controlling their stemness in the postnatal thymus remain poorly defined. Using TEC clonogenic assays as a surrogate to survey TEP activity, we found that a fraction of cTECs generates specialized clonal‐derived colonies, which contain cells with sustained colony‐forming capacity (ClonoTECs). These ClonoTECs are EpCAM+MHCII‐Foxn1lo cells that lack traits of mature cTECs or mTECs but co‐express stem‐cell markers, including CD24 and Sca‐1. Supportive of their progenitor identity, ClonoTECs reintegrate within native thymic microenvironments and generate cTECs or mTECs in vivo. Strikingly, the frequency of cTECs with the potential to generate ClonoTECs wanes between the postnatal and young adult immunocompetent thymus, but it is sustained in alymphoid Rag2‐/‐Il2rg‐/‐ counterparts. Conversely, transplantation of wild‐type bone marrow hematopoietic progenitors into Rag2‐/‐Il2rg‐/‐ mice and consequent restoration of thymocyte‐mediated TEC differentiation diminishes the frequency of colony‐forming units within cTECs. Our findings provide evidence that the cortical epithelium contains a reservoir of epithelial progenitors whose abundance is dynamically controlled by continual interactions with developing thymocytes across lifespan.     

Recreating the hematon: microfabrication of artificial haematopoietic stem cell microniches in vitro using dielectrophoresis

The hematon is a three-dimensional aggregate of cells which is able to produce all blood types. To be able to do this, it must be able to create within the cell aggregate a microenvironment which enables haematopoietic stem cell maintenance, renewal and differentiation. A first step was taken towards the creation of artificial hematopoietic stem cell microniches in vitro by the creation with dielectrophoresis of hemispherical cell aggregates of a height of 50–100 μm with a defined internal architecture similar to that of a putative hematon. It is shown that, after their dielectrophoretic manipulation, the cells remain viable and active. Cells within the aggregate are in direct contact with each other, potentially allowing direct cell–cell communication within the cell construct. Some cell immobilisation methods are explored for further stabilising the 3-D organisation of the cell aggregate after its formation. The introduction of traceable individual cells into the artificial microniche is demonstrated.     

An initial survey of 150 horses from Thailand for anti-Pythium insidiosum antibodies

IntroductionPythium insidiosum causes a life-threatening infection termed pythiosis in humans and other animals. The organism has been identified in tropical and subtropical environments worldwide. Since 1985, human pythiosis has been increasingly reported from Thailand. Seroprevalence studies estimated that 32,000 Thai people had been exposed to the pathogen. In 2018, the first animal pythiosis case in Thailand was diagnosed in a horse. Here, we investigated the seroprevalence of anti-P. insidiosum antibodies in the Thai equine population.Materials and methodsWe surveyed serum anti-P. insidiosum antibodies in 150 horses distributed across Thailand, using three established serological tests: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunochromatographic test (ICT), and Western blot analysis.ResultsELISA detected the anti-P. insidiosum antibodies in three horses. ICT and Western blot confirmed the presence of the antibodies in one of the ELISA-positive horses. Based on one positive out of 150 horses tested, the seroprevalence of anti-P. insidiosum antibodies in the Thai equine population was 0.7%, which is markedly higher than that in the Thai human population (0.07%), but much lower than that in the Brazilian equine population (11.1%).ConclusionThe seroprevalence of the anti-P. insidiosum antibodies in the equine population suggests a higher incidence of pythiosis in horses than in humans. The antibody surveillance reported by our group was undertaken to promote a better understanding of the epidemiology and host susceptibility of pythiosis in Thailand.     

Isolation and characterization of a population of stem-like progenitor cells from an atypical meningioma

The majority of meningiomas are benign tumors associated with favorable outcomes; however, the less common aggressive variants with unfavorable outcomes often recur and may be due to subpopulations of less-differentiated cells residing within the tumor. These subpopulations of tumor cells have tumor-initiating properties and may be isolated from heterogeneous tumors when sorted or cultured in defined medium. We report the isolation and characterization of a population of tumor-initiating cells derived from an atypical meningioma. We identify a tumor-initiating population from an atypical meningioma, termed meningioma-initiating cells (MICs). These MICs self-renew, differentiate, and can recapitulate the histological characteristics of the parental tumor when transplanted at 1000 cells into the flank regions of athymic nude mice. Immunohistochemistry reveals stem-like protein expression patterns similar to neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPCs) while genomic profiling verified the isolation of cancer cells (with defined meningioma chromosomal aberrations) from the bulk tumor. Microarray and pathway analysis identifies biochemical processes and gene networks related to aberrant cell cycle progression, particularly the loss of heterozygosity of tumor suppressor genes CDKN2A (p16^INK4A), p14^ARF, and CDKN2B (p15^INK4B). Flow cytometric analysis revealed the expression of CD44 and activated leukocyte adhesion molecule (ALCAM/CD166); these may prove to be markers able to identify this cell type. The isolation and identification of a tumor-initiating cell population capable of forming meningiomas demonstrates a useful model for understanding meningioma development. This meningioma model may be used to study the cell hierarchy of meningioma tumorogenesis and provide increased understanding of malignant progression.     

Growth factor assays for normal human hepatocytes and hepatoma cells

Summary An improved assay procedure of growth factors for normal human hepatocytes and hepatoma cells is reviewed. The combined use of improved cell isolation and dispersion procedures and a selective culture medium supports the response of human parenchymal cells homogenous to growth factors under serum-free culture conditions. Differentiated human hepatoma cells (HepG2), which synthesize and secrete the liver-specific plasma proteins and enzymes, provide a useful model for comparative study of growth factor requirements of hepatoma cells to normal hepatocytes. HepG2 cells grow in protein-free, defined medium at high cell density. This indicates that the hepatoma cells may secrete autocrine growth factors into the medium. HepG2 cells at low cell density permit detection of exogeneous growth factors that may be secreted by HepG2 cells at high cell density. HepG2 cells at high cell density are a useful assay for growth inhibitory activities for hepatoma cells.     

Determination of glycated haemoglobin in horses by cation exchange chromatography

Glycated haemoglobin (Hb) concentration is a retrospective measure of mean blood glucose level and is not affected by recent stresses, food ingestion or exercise. The purpose of this study was to develop a simple method for the determination of horse glycated haemoglobin. Blood samples were collected from jugular veins of 20 Iranian, crossbred horses. After separation and washing of red blood cells, hemolysate was prepared and subjected to cation exchange chromatography. Two peaks were observed in the chromatogram of each hemolysate sample. To determine which peak was related to glycated haemoglobin, hemolysates incubated with glucose (400 mg/dl final glucose concentration) were subjected to chromatography in the same conditions. It was shown that the first peak was spiked. It is concluded that weak cation exchange chromatography with linear gradient of ionic strength is able to determine glycated haemoglobin in horses. In 20 horses subjected to this study, glycated haemoglobin was 3.20±0.84% of total haemoglobin.     

Age-related changes in genomic stability of horses

Recently, the old horse has been proposed as a model to study telomere-dependent senescence, immunosenescence and inflamm-aging. In the present paper, we used 80 Hucul and Anglo-Arabian horses divided into 3 age groups (juvenile, adult, old) to evaluate age-dependent changes at the genomic and DNA level and in cell proliferative potential. The level of positive TUNEL cells (both apoptotic and with DNA fragmentation), oxidative DNA damage (8-oxoG immunostaining), sister chromatid exchange and bleomycin-induced chromatid breaks were significantly increased in the combined old group compared to the combined adult group. We observed a negative correlation between micronuclei formation and age, which may be associated with damaged cells undergoing apoptosis, rather than expressing micronuclei. We were unable to show any significant changes in the nuclear division index value, which reflects the proliferative status of the viable cell fraction during aging. Here, we show that breed-independent and age-associated changes in genomic stability may contribute, at least in part, to the aging process in the horse.     

Demonstration of Borna disease virus (BDV) in specific regions of the brain from horses positive for serum antibodies to BDV but negative for BDV RNA in the blood and internal organs

Sero- and molecular-epidemiological studies on Borna disease virus (BDV) infection show that BDV RNA is not always detected in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from serum anti-BDV antibody-positive individuals such as horses, sheep, cattle, cats, and humans. In this study we demonstrated BDV RNA signals by polymerase chain reaction only in restricted regions of the brain from horses with locomotor disease. Four of six horses examined showed apparently positive reactions for anti-BDV antibodies. Specific regions of the brain of these four horses were positive for BDV RNA but the internal organs, lymph nodes, and PBMCs were negative. Histological studies of their brains revealed no apparent histological abnormalities such as inflammatory reactions. These results suggest that BDV chronically infects certain restricted regions of brain in seropositive horses. Received: 6 January 1997     

A B220+ CD117+ CD19- hematopoietic progenitor with potent lymphoid and myeloid developmental potential

In this report, we identify in the bone marrow (BM) of normal mice a subpopulation of B220+ CD117+ CD19- NK1.1- cells with potent lymphoid and myeloid developmental potential. These cells represent 0.1-0.2% of nucleated BM cells. By limiting dilution analysis in the presence of the appropriate combination of stromal cells and cytokines, 1 in 5-10 sorted cells formed B cells, 1 in 10-15 formed T cells and 1 in 5-10 generated macrophages. When cultured on a mixture of OP9 stroma and OP9 stromal cells expressing the Notch ligand Delta-like-1, single cells generated both T and B cells. Following intravenous infusion, freshly sorted cells transiently reconstituted both the T and B cell progenitor compartments, generating cohorts of mature T and B lymphocytes. The relationship between B220+ CD117+ CD19- NK1.1- cells of wild-type mice and other multi-lineage BM progenitors is discussed.     

Microbial sensing by haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells: Vigilance against infections and immune education of myeloid cells

Bone marrow haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) express pattern recognition receptors such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) to sense microbial products and activation of these innate immune receptors induces cytokine expression and redirects bone marrow haematopoiesis towards the increased production of myeloid cells. Secreted cytokines by HSPCs in response to TLR ligands can act in an autocrine or paracrine manner to regulate haematopoiesis. Moreover, tonic activation of HSPCs by microbiota-derived compounds might educate HSPCs to produce superior myeloid cells equipped with innate memory responses to combat pathogens. While haematopoietic stem cell activation through TLRs meets the increased demand for blood leucocytes to protect the host against infection, persistent exposure to inflammatory cytokines or microbial products might impair their function and even induce malignant transformation. This review highlights the potential outcomes of HSPCs in response to TLR ligands.