The mechanism implicated in differentiation of endogenous cardiac stem cells into cardiomyocytes to regenerate the heart tissue upon an insult remains elusive, limiting the therapeutical goals to exogenous cell injection and/or gene therapy. We have shown previously that cardiac specific overexpression of the insulin-like growth factor 1 propeptide IGF-1Ea induces beneficial myocardial repair a...

The ability to develop tissue constructs with matrix composition and biomechanical properties that promote rapid tissue repair or regeneration remains an enduring challenge in musculoskeletal engineering. Current approaches require extensive cell manipulation ex vivo, using exogenous growth factors to drive tissue-specific differentiation, matrix accumulation, and mechanical properties, thus li...

In vitro derivation of germ cells from different stem cells sources has been challenging in the treatment of male infertility. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have an essential role in gene expression at post-transcriptional level. The aim of this research was to find more about miRNA-17 and miRNA-146 expression during differentiation of spermatogonial stem cell like cells (SSC like cells) from mouse bone m...

Cardiac cell therapy has the potential to revolutionize treatment of heart diseases, but its success hinders on the development of a stem cell therapy capable of efficiently producing functionally differentiated cardiomyocytes. A key to unlocking the therapeutic application of stem cells lies in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern the differentiation process. Here we report that ...

PURPOSE To compare the extent of modulation by various growth factors on clonal growth and differentiation between corneal and stem cell-containing limbal epithelium. METHODS A reported serum-free clonal growth assay was used. The mitogenic response was measured by colony forming efficiency, colony size, and bromodeoxyuridine labelling index; the differentiation was assessed by AE-5 monoclona...

signaling in pluripotent stem cells is a complex and dynamic process involving multiple mediators, finely tuned to balancing pluripotency and differentiation states. characterizing and modifying the necessary signaling pathways to attain desired cell types is required for stem-cell applications in various fields of regenerative medicine. these signals may help enhance the differentiation potent...

Nontransformed 3T3 T mesenchymal/proadipocyte stem cells can be readily induced to differentiate, yet previous work has shown that 3T3 T cells that are spontaneously or virally transformed not only lose their normal growth control mechanisms but also lose the ability to differentiate. Loss of growth control can be due to autocrine mechanisms in some transformed cells, but the mechanisms involve...

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are capable of differentiating into multiple cell types, providing an alternative cell source for cell-based therapy and tissue engineering. Simultaneous differentiation of human BMSCs into smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and urothelium would be beneficial for clinical applications in bladder regeneration for patients with bladder exstrophy or cancer who ne...