不同转染方法及GFP表达载体对小鼠胚胎干细胞转染效率的比较

目的对比不同的转染方法及绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)表达载体对小鼠胚胎干细胞(ESC)的转染效率,为进一步研究ESC及衍生细胞移植示踪提供工具。方法用阳离子脂质体转染小鼠胚胎干细胞系ES-D3,对比贴壁细胞转染法、悬浮细胞转染法及不同载体pCX-EGFP、p-EGFP-C1和pIRES-hrGFP的转染效率。结果悬浮法和贴壁法转染效率分别为(90.0±4.1)%,(70.0±2.3)%,两组比较差异有显著性意义(P<0.05)。3种载体转染效率分别为pCX-EG-FP(90.0±4.1)%,pIRES-hrGFP(32.0±6.0)%,p-EGFP-C1(4.0±0.4)%。3组间两两比较差异均有显著性意义(P<0.05)。结论悬浮转染法转染pCX-EGFP可获得较高的转染效率。     

胚胎干细胞来源神经前体细胞在缺氧缺血性脑损伤海马内的分化

目的 研究胚胎干细胞（ESC）来源的神经前体细胞移植入缺氧缺血性脑损伤（HIBD）脑内后，在海马的迁移和分化。方法小鼠ESC体外培养和诱导分化，制作小鼠HIBD模型。术后第2～3天，将细胞植入损伤侧侧脑室。对脑组织进行病理学、聚合酶链反应（PCR）、X-gal和免疫荧光组化染色等检测。结景小鼠ESC在特定条件下，能成功诱导分化为神经前体细胞。细胞移植后，经PCR检测和X-gal染色发现能长期存在于脑内，并迁移、分布于受损海马，构成海马结构，经进一步免疫荧光检测发现可分化为神经元；同时病理学检测亦发现细胞移植后受损海马内的神经细胞数量明显增加。结论体外经过特定的诱导分化后。ESC被定向诱导分化为神经前体细胞，植入HIBD小鼠脑内后，能迁移至损伤海马，分化为神经元，替代损伤或坏死的神经细胞。是其发挥治疗作用的可能机制之一。     

Induction of cell-cycle arrest by all-trans retinoic acid in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM) cells.

all-trans retinoic acid (atRA), the oxidative metabolite of vitamin A, is essential for normal embryonic development. Also, high levels of atRA are teratogenic in many species and can effectively induce cleft palate in the mouse. Most cleft palate resulted from the failed fusion of secondary palate shelves, and maintenance of the normal cell proliferation is important in this process of shelf growth. To clarify the mechanism by which atRA causes cleft palate, we investigated the effect of atRA on proliferation activity and cell cycle distribution in mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal (MEPM) cells. atRA inhibited the growth of MEPM cells by inducing apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. atRA also caused a G1 block in the cell cycle with an increase in the proportion of cells in G0/G1 and a decrease in the proportion of cells in S phase, as determined by flow cytometry. We next investigated the effects of atRA on molecules that regulate the G1 to S phase transition. These studies demonstrated that atRA inhibited expression of cyclins D and E at the protein level. Furthermore, atRA treatment reduced phosphorylated Rb and decreased cdk2 and cdk4 kinase activity. These data suggest that atRA had antiproliferative activity by modulating G1/S cell cycle regulators and by inhibition of Rb phosphorylation in MEPM cells, which might account for the pathogenesis of cleft palate induced by retinoic acid.     

Impedance of Novel Therapeutic Technologies: The Case of Stem Cells

Embryonic stem cell (ES) technology has advanced considerably within the past three decades and has gained prominent distinction within the emerging field of regenerative medicine. As it now enters the nascent stages of clinical application, many hopes and expectations arise along with questions as to where the technology will go. This paper evaluates the technical and practical obstacles that must be overcome before it can fully translate into the clinical context, the existence of strong opposition to the technology, political and legal barriers that have impeded its progression, and the role of healthcare reform in creating new social and economic priorities. In contrast to the technological imperative, a driving force seeking to implement the most recent scientific advances into medical practice, we refer to such translational obstacles as “technological impedance.” Rather than expending inordinate effort to preserve existing systems that continue to possess major hurdles, we advocate fostering interdisciplinary approaches in the development of new generation platforms and embracing disruptive innovations that create solutions to technological impedance and move us forward in healthcare delivery. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume 5: 422–427     

Genetic and molecular identification of three human TPP1 functions in telomerase action: recruitment,activation, and homeostasis set point regulation

Telomere length homeostasis is essential for the long-term survival of stem cells, and its set point determines the proliferative capacity of differentiated cell lineages by restricting the reservoir of telomeric repeats. Knockdown and overexpression studies in human tumor cells showed that the shelterin subunit TPP1 recruits telomerase to telomeres through a region termed the TEL patch. However, these studies do not resolve whether the TPP1 TEL patch is the only mechanism for telomerase recruitment and whether telomerase regulation studied in tumor cells is representative of nontransformed cells such as stem cells. Using genome engineering of human embryonic stem cells, which have physiological telomere length homeostasis, we establish that the TPP1 TEL patch is genetically essential for telomere elongation and thus long-term cell viability. Furthermore, genetic bypass, protein fusion, and intragenic complementation assays define two distinct additional mechanisms of TPP1 involvement in telomerase action at telomeres. We demonstrate that TPP1 provides an essential step of telomerase activation as well as feedback regulation of telomerase by telomere length, which is necessary to determine the appropriate telomere length set point in human embryonic stem cells. These studies reveal and resolve multiple TPP1 roles in telomere elongation and stem cell telomere length homeostasis.     

未分化胚胎细胞转录因子1与恶性肿瘤关系的研究现状

未分化胚胎细胞转录因子1(UTF1)是干细胞相关基因之一,是参与胚胎干细胞分化的重要转录因子,能促进干细胞的自我更新及分化,调控胚胎细胞和生殖细胞的增殖分化。目前,对UTF1的研究大多在干细胞和生殖细胞中,而关于UTF1与肿瘤关系的研究成果较少。越来越多的证据显示,干细胞相关基因的异常表达与肿瘤发生、转移、复发及耐药性等密切相关。其转录和表观遗传胚胎程序可以在癌细胞中重新激活,使癌细胞具有干细胞表型,并参与肿瘤的发生、发展。为获得更好的疗效,部分学者长期致力于寻找各种有效的肿瘤标志物,其中UTF1在恶性肿瘤的诊断、治疗及预后方面具有重要的潜在应用价值。     

Role of viral RNA and lipid in the adverse events associated with the 2010 Southern Hemisphere trivalent influenza vaccine

In Australia, during the 2010 Southern Hemisphere (SH) influenza season, there was an unexpected increase in post-marketing adverse event reports of febrile seizures (FS) in children under 5 years of age shortly after vaccination with the CSL 2010 SH trivalent influenza vaccine (CSL 2010 SH TIV) compared to previous CSL TIVs and other licensed 2010 SH TIVs. In an accompanying study, we described the contribution to these adverse events of the 2010 SH influenza strains as expressed in the CSL 2010 SH TIV using in vitro cytokine/chemokine secretion from whole blood cells and induction of NF-κB activation in HEK293 reporter cells. The aim of the present study was to identify the root cause components that elicited the elevated cytokine/chemokine and NF-κB signature. Our studies demonstrated that the pyrogenic signal was associated with a heat-labile, viral-derived component(s) in the CSL 2010 SH TIV. Further, it was found that viral lipid-mediated delivery of short, fragmented viral RNA was the key trigger for the increased cytokine/chemokine secretion and NF-κB activation. It is likely that the FS reported in children <5 years were due to a combination of the new influenza strains included in the 2010 SH TIV and the CSL standard method of manufacture preserving strain-specific viral components of the new influenza strains (particularly B/Brisbane/60/2008 and to a lesser extent H1N1 A/California/07/2009). These combined to heighten immune activation of innate immune cells, which in a small proportion of children <5 years of age is associated with the occurrence of FS. The data also demonstrates that CSL TIVs formulated with increased levels of splitting agent (TDOC) for the B/Brisbane/60/2008 strain can attenuate the pro-inflammatory signals in vitro, identifying a potential path forward for generating a CSL TIV indicated for use in children <5 years.     

Assaying embryotoxicity in the test tube: Current limitations of the embryonic stem cell test (EST) challenging its applicability domain

Testing for embryotoxicity in vitro is an attractive alternative to animal experimentation. The embryonic stem cell test (EST) is such a method, and it has been formally validated by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods. A number of recent studies have underscored the potential of this method. However, the EST performed well below the 78% accuracy expected from the validation study using a new set of chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds, and also of toxicity criteria, tested to enlarge the database of the validated EST as part of the Work Package III of the ReProTect Project funded within the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union. To assess the performance and applicability domain of the EST we present a detailed review of the substances and their effects in the EST being nitrofen, ochratoxin A, D-penicillamine, methylazoxymethanol, lovastatin, papaverine, warfarin, β-aminopropionitrile, dinoseb, furosemide, doxylamine, pravastatin, and metoclopramide. By delineation of the molecular mechanisms of the substances we identify six categories of reasons for misclassifications. Some of these limitations might also affect other in vitro methods assessing embryotoxicity. Substances that fall into these categories need to be included in future validation sets and in validation guidelines for embryotoxicity testing. Most importantly, we suggest conceivable improvements and additions to the EST which will resolve most of the limitations.