An efficient plant regeneration system for Pinellia ternata (Thunb) Breit, an important wild Chinese herb, was established. The investigated factors influencing callus induction and plant regeneration included sterilizing agents, explant type, culture medium, and combinations of plant growth regulators in the medium. Ten min treatment of explants with 0.1% HgCl2 was more suitable for sterilizat...

PURPOSE To investigate the functional significance of MIP/AQP0 phosphorylation at serine(235). METHODS MIP/AQP0 expression and cellular localization was studied in rat lens epithelia explants induced to differentiate by FGF-2. MIP wild type (WT) and MIP (S235A) mutant expression plasmids were constructed and transiently expressed in RK13 cells. Subcellular localization of endogenous MIP in di...

We used an antisense oligonucleotide (ODN) to inhibit laminin (LM) beta1 chain synthesis in mouse embryonic lung explants and cell cultures. The ODN spanned 17 bases located 13 bases downstream the initiation codon and contained phosphorothioate and C-5 propynyl pyrimidine modifications. Penetration of the ODN into the lung explants was confirmed by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) tagging. 50...

The ability of alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) and IFN-gamma to inhibit transmission of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) from neuronal axon to epidermal cells (ECs), and subsequent spread in these cells was investigated in an in vitro dual-chamber model consisting of human fetal dorsal root ganglia (DRG) innervating autologous skin explants and compared with direct HSV-1 infection of epidermal ...

PURPOSE To study the kinetics of growth and the phenotype of cells cultured from human limbal explants in a cholera toxin-free medium with no feeder cell layer. METHODS Human organ-cultured corneas were used to prepare limbal explants (full-thickness and superficial limbal explants) and corneal stromal explants. Cell growth kinetics and phenotypes were assessed by cultivating explants in chol...

PURPOSE Anterior subcapsular cataracts are characterized by the appearance of opaque plaques of abnormal cells. Distinctive spindle-shaped cells containing alpha-smooth muscle actin are present and are associated with wrinkling of the overlying lens capsule. Accumulations of extracellular matrix, including type I collagen, also are found. The authors previously reported that transforming growth...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Understanding the fate and dynamics of cells during callus formation is essential to understanding totipotency and the mechanisms of somatic embryogenesis. Here, the fate of leaf explant cells during the development of embryogenic callus was investigated in the model legume Medicago truncatula. METHODS Callus development was examined from cultured leaf explants of the high...

Recently, novel H7N9 influenza viruses have caused an unprecedented outbreak in humans. Pigs are an important intermediate host for influenza; thus, we assessed the replication ability of three human H7N9 viruses (A/Anhui/1/2013, A/Shanghai/1/2013, A/Shanghai/2/2013) in swine tissue explants. All viruses tested replicated efficiently in explants from tracheas and bronchi, with limited replicati...

The aim of this study was to establish the effect of bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the release of Type II phospholipase-A2 (PLA2) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) from late-pregnant human placental tissue incubated in vitro. Under basal conditions, immunoreactive Type II PLA2 and PGE2 were released from tissue explants in a time-dependent manner (up to 24 h, ANOVA, P<0. 0001, n=6)....

Superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons taken from perinatal rats and dissociated in culture develop cholinergic properties . This report examines this "plasticity" of neurotransmitter function with regard to its dependence on the stage of neuronal development. Explants of SCG from rats ranging in age from 2 d to adult were cultured, and the number of neurons surviving after 6 wk in culture wa...