: Strategies that exploit induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to derive neurons have relied on cocktails of cytokines and growth factors to bias cell-signaling events in the course of fate choice. These are often costly and inefficient, involving multiple steps. In this study, we took an alternative approach and selected 5 small-molecule inhibitors of key signaling pathways in an 8-day progr...

The role of the serum proteolytic system plasminogen/plasminogen activator as a biochemical tool used by the glia or neurons, or both, for maintaining their temporary and flexible cellular interactions during histogenesis of the nervous system is under study. The present report identifies a glia cell type, the Schwann cell, as one of the cellular components of the nervous system that uses extra...

In this paper the stimuli for and pattern of Schwann cell proliferation are defined under various experimental conditions . We used a tissue culture system in which fetal rat dorsal root ganglia, treated to eliminate contaminating fibroblasts (Wood, P., 1976, Brain Res. 115:361-375), appear to recapitulate many aspects of the developing peripheral nervous system . We observed that : (a) prolife...

In this paper the stimuli for and pattern of Schwann cell proliferation are defined under various experimental conditions. We used a tissue culture system in which fetal rat dorsal root ganglia, treated to eliminate contaminating fibroblasts (Wood, P., 1976, Brain Res. 115:361--375), appear to recapitulate many aspects of the developing peripheral nervous system. We observed that: (a) prolifera...

In this paper the stimuli for and pattern of Schwann cell proliferation are defined under various experimental conditions . We used a tissue culture system in which fetal rat dorsal root ganglia, treated to eliminate contaminating fibroblasts (Wood, P., 1976, Brain Res. 115:361-375), appear to recapitulate many aspects of the developing peripheral nervous system . We observed that : (a) prolife...

INTRODUCTION: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) shows potential as an effective treatment for prostate cancer [1]. Clinical observations indicate that this approach causes fewer nerve damage related side effects than conventional treatments. The aim here is to investigate the effect of PDT on nerve tissue using engineered 3-dimensional cell culture models. Initial experiments focussed on establishing ...

Abstract In peripheral nerves, Schwann cells form myelin and provide trophic support to axons. We previously showed that the mitochondrial protein prohibitin 2 can localize axon-Schwann-cell interface is required for developmental myelination. Whether homologous 1 has a similar role, whether prohibitins also play important roles in cell mitochondria unknown. Here, we show deletion of minimally ...

6 ORIGINAL PAPERS 7 ABBREVIATIONS 8 INTRODUCTION 1. Clinical background and epidemiology 9 2. Pathophysiology of spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury 2.1. Spinal cord 9 2.1.1. Acute and sub-acute spinal cord injury 10 2.1.2. Chronic spinal cord injury 11 2.2. Peripheral nerve 11 3. Regeneration following spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury 3.1. Regeneration following spinal cord injury 1...

The present study uses the embryonic chick to examine in vivo the mechanisms and regulation of Schwann cell programmed cell death (PCD) in spinal and cranial peripheral nerves. Schwann cells are highly dependent on the presence of axons for survival because the in ovo administration of NMDA, which excitotoxically eliminates motoneurons and their axons by necrosis, results in a significant incre...