background: prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men. new gene expressed in prostate (ngep), is a prostate-specific gene expressed only in normal prostate and prostate cancer tissue. because of its selective expression in prostate cancer cell surface, ngep is a potential immunotherapeutic target. to target the ngep in prostate cancer, it is essential to investigat...

Genes that are required for cell proliferation control in Drosophila imaginal discs were tested for function in the female germ-line and follicle cells. Chimeras and mosaics were produced in which developing oocytes and nurse cells were mutant at one of five imaginal disc overgrowth loci (fat, lgd, lgl, c43 and dco) while the enveloping follicle cells were normal. The chimeras were produced by ...

The human embryonic stem cell line, KthES11, is derived from a normal healthy blastocyst donated for clinical research. inner mass (ICM) was isolated using mechanical dissection and plated on laminin fragments. Cell line derivation, its propagation storage were performed without feeders in an animal product-free environment according to current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) standards. KthE...

Infertility affects 13-18% of couples and growing evidence from clinical and epidemiological studies suggests an increasing incidence of male reproductive problems. There is a male factor involved in up to half of all infertile couples. The pathogenesis of male infertility can be reflected by defective spermatogenesis due to failure in germ cell proliferation and differentiation. We report here...

Infertility affects 13–18% of couples and growing evidence from clinical and epidemiological studies suggests an increasing incidence of male reproductive problems. There is a male factor involved in up to half of all infertile couples. The pathogenesis of male infertility can be reflected by defective spermatogenesis due to failure in germ cell proliferation and differentiation. We report here...

spermatogonia are the male germ line stem cells whose life long expansion is needed for permanent production of spermatozoa. the present study was designed to examine the effect of hcg treatment on germ cell proliferation following stem cell transplantation in mice. spermatogonial stem cells were isolated from neonatal mice testes and characterized by alkaline phosphatase, immunoreactivity and ...

Spermatogenesis relies on the function of germ-line stem cells, as a continuous supply of differentiated spermatids is produced throughout life. In Drosophila, there must also be somatic stem cells that produce the cyst cells that accompany germ cells throughout spermatogenesis. By lineage tracing, we demonstrate the existence of such somatic stem cells and confirm that of germ-line stem cells....

The germ line and soma together maintain genetic lineages from generation to generation: the germ line passes genetic information between generations; the soma is the vehicle for germ line transmission, and is shaped by natural selection. The germ line and somatic lineages arise simultaneously in early embryos, but how their development is related depends on how primordial germ cells (PGC) are ...

The growing class of cancer/germ-line genes is characterized by a unique expression pattern with transcription restricted to germ cells and cancer cells. It is not known which fraction of germ-line genes is ectopically activated in tumor cells and whether this fraction displays common features as compared with strictly germ-line genes remaining silent in cancer. Using an unbiased genome-wide sc...

shiga toxins (stxs) are bacterial virulence factors produced by shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 and escherichia coli strains. stxs are critical factors for the development of diseases such as severe bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome. additionally, stxs trigger the secretion of pro- inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, particularly in monocytes or macrophages. the inflammatory cyto...