The Therapeutic Potential of Human Umbilical Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Wharton’s Jelly in the Treatment of Rat Peritoneal Dialysis-Induced Fibrosis The authors demonstrated that direct intraperitoneal transplantation of human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells into rats effectively prevented peritoneal dialysis/methylglyoxal-induced abdominal cocoon formation, ultrafiltration failure, and peritoneal membrane alterations such as peritoneal thickening, fibrosis, and inflammation. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Abstract Potency of Umbilical Cord Blood- and Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Scarless Wound Healing Umbilical cord blood (UCB)-MSCs expressed lower levels of the pre-inflammatory cytokines IL1A and IL1B, but higher levels of the extracellular matrix-degradation enzymes MMP1 and PLAU compared with Wharton’s jelly-MSCs, suggesting that UCB-MSCs were more likely to favor scarless wound healing. [Sci Rep] Full Article Discovery of Novel INK4C Small-Molecule Inhibitors to Promote Human and Murine Hematopoietic Stem Cell Ex Vivo Expansion Researchers identified a lead p18 inhibitor, XIE18-6, confirmed its p18-targeting specificity and bioactivity of promoting hematopoietic stem cells expansion, and then performed structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies by synthesizing a series of analogs of XIE18-6. [Sci Rep] Full Article Transplantation of Placenta-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduces Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Damage in Rats by Ameliorating the Inflammatory Response Investigators explored the immunoregulatory mechanism of placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage treatment. PD-MSC treatment inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased the production of interleukin-10 in the ischemic hemispheres and peripheral blood serum. [Cell Mol Immunol] Abstract MiR-26b-3p Regulates Human Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation by Targeting Estrogen Receptor Alpha Researchers explored the roles of miRNAs in regulating the in vitro proliferation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hUC-MSC). They found that miR-26b-3p was significantly up-regulated during serial in vitro passage of hUC-MSC and was correlated with cellular senescence and cell cycle genes. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Delivering sTRAIL Home to Lung Cancer Mediated by MCP-1/CCR2 Axis and Exhibit Antitumor Effects The migration of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells to lung cancer was observed through transwell migration assay and animal bioluminescent imaging both in vitro and in vivo. [Tumor Biol] Abstract Chondrogenic Induction of Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cells from Wharton’s Jelly Embedded in Alginate Hydrogel and without Added Growth Factor: An Alternative Stem Cell Source for Cartilage Tissue Engineering Investigators evaluated chondrogenic differentiation of Wharton’s jelly-mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (WJ-MSC) on three-dimensional scaffolds, without adding growth factors, at transcript and protein levels. Once seeded in the hydrogel scaffold, WJ-MSCs and bone marrow-MSCs have different profiles of chondrogenic differentiation at both the phenotypic level and matrix synthesis. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Induced the Differentiation of Amniotic Fluid-derived Stem Cells into Vascular Endothelial-Like Cells In Vitro Scientists investigated the effect of an adenovirus-mediated GDNF gene, which was engineered into amniotic fluid-derived stem cells (AFSCs), on the cells’ biological properties and whether GDNF in combination with AFSCs can be directionally differentiated into vascular endothelial-like cells in vitro. [J Mol Histol] Abstract |