We present a short atlas illustrating the unusual Ca ii K-line profiles in upper main sequence stars with anomalous abundances. Slopes of the profiles for 10 cool, magnetic chemically peculiar (CP) stars change abruptly at the very core, forming a deep " nib. " The nibs show the same or nearly the same radial velocity as the other atomic lines. The near wings are generally more shallow than in ...

The role of fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) in maintaining undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESC) was investigated using a targeted phosphoproteomics approach to specifically profile tyrosine phosphorylation events following FGF-2 stimulation. A cumulative total number of 735 unique tyrosine phosphorylation sites on 430 proteins were identified, by far the largest inventory to da...

To enhance the understanding of differentiation patterns and bone formation capacity of hESCs, we determined (1) the temporal pattern of osteoblastic differentiation of human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hESC-MSCs), (2) the influence of a three-dimensional matrix on the osteogenic differentiation of hESC-MSCs in long-term culture, and (3) the bone-forming capacity of oste...

We develop a label-free optical technique to image and discriminate undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) from their differentiating progenies in vitro. Using intrinsic cellular fluorophores, we perform fluorescence lifetime microscopy (FLIM) and phasor analysis to obtain hESC metabolic signatures. We identify two optical biomarkers to define the differentiation status of hESCs: N...

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide an unlimited source for the generation of human hepatocytes, owing to their indefinite self-renewal and pluripotent properties. Both hESC-/iPSC-derived hepatocytes hold great promise in treating liver diseases as potential candidates for cell replacement therapies or as an in vitro platform to conduct new drug...

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). A potential new therapeutic approach for MS is cell transplantation which may promote remyelination and suppress the inflammatory process. METHODS We transplanted human embryonic stem cells (hESC)-derived early multipotent neural precursors (NPs) into the brain ventricles of mic...

Clonality is, at present, the only means by which the self-renewal potential of a given stem cell can be determined. To assess the clonality of human embryonic stem cells (hESC), a protocol involving seeding wells at low cell densities is commonly used to surmount poor cloning efficiencies. However, factors influencing the accuracy of such an assay have not been fully elucidated. Using clonogen...

Cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-CMs) can improve the contractility of injured hearts.We hypothesized that mesodermal cardiovascular progenitors (hESC-CVPs), capable of generating vascular cells in addition to cardiomyocytes, would provide superior repair by contributing to multiple components of myocardium. We performed a head-to-head comparison of hESC-CMs and hESC...

Mouse (m) and human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) are known to exhibit immature Ca(2+) dynamics such as small whole-cell peak amplitude and slower kinetics relative to those of adult. In this study, we examined the maturity and efficiency of Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release in m and hESC-CMs, the presence of transverse (t) tubules and its effects on the regional Ca(2+) dyna...

BACKGROUND Stromal-Derived Inducing Activity (SDIA) is one of the most efficient methods of generating dopaminergic (DA) neurons from embryonic stem cells (ESC). DA neuron induction can be achieved by co-culturing ESC with the mouse stromal cell lines PA6 or MS5. The molecular nature of this effect, which has been termed "SDIA" is so far unknown. Recently, we found that factors secreted by PA6 ...