Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered to be a population of tumor cells, which are responsible for tumor initiation and progression. They are also involved in metastasizing and may be a possible cause of multidrug resistance and tumor recurrence. CSCs possess the ability to self  renew and show a tumorigenic potential. Functional assays, which enable the detection of these properties, represe...

Microorganisms that have been identified in dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) are of concern because they can cause infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. This study aimed to assess the incidence of microbial contamination in DUWLs before and after intervention to reduce contamination, and to investigate the presence of coliforms, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Water s...

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a rapid and effective method to detect Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a leading pathogen causing seafood-borne gastroenteritis. A newly designed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay including a short enrichment period was optimized. This assay correctly detected all the target strains (n=61) but none of the non-target strains (n=34). Ve...

The fungal population and distribution of aflatoxin-producing fungi in 30 samples of imported almond powder products purchased from retail markets were examined in this study. Total counts of fungi ranged from under 1.0 x 10 colony-forming units (CFU)/g to 8.5 x 10(3) CFU/g as determined with the dilution plating technique. The predominant fungi in the mould-contaminated almond samples were Asp...

Platelet factor 4 (PF4) is a multifunctional protein specific to platelets, synthesized in megakaryocytes and stored in alpha granules. This report of our work shows that PF4 potently inhibits human megakaryocyte colony formation in vitro. Colony formation by megakaryocyte progenitor cells from normal bone marrows was studied using the plasma clot culture system and indirect immunoperoxidase st...

PURPOSE We previously reported that the c-myb and Vav proto-oncogenes are amenable to silencing with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides and that inhibition of either impairs leukemic cell growth. Because the expression of these genes is not known to be linked, we sought to determine the therapeutic value of silencing both genes simultaneously in K562 and primary patient (n = 9) chronic myelogenous...

Spleen colony formation after transplantation of bone marrow cells into irradiated mice has been used as an assay for hematopoietic stem cells (CFU-S), but has serious limitations intrinsic to an in vivo assay. In this report we describe experiments using an in vitro clonogenic assay that is especially suitable for studies of stem cell regulation as defined growth factors and normal untreated b...

Further in vitro studies of hematopoietic regulation were carried out in two patients with polycythemia vera who were also heterozygotes (Gd(B)/Gd(A)) for glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G-6-PD). While only G-6-PD type A was detectable in circulating erythrocytes, granulocytes and platelets, cultures of peripheral blood and marrow from one patient revealed a substantial number of G-6-PD type...