Mesenchymal Cell News Volume 5.30 | Aug 6 2013

Orchestrating Osteogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells – Identification of Placental Growth Factor as a Mechanosensitive Gene with a Pro-Osteogenic Role
The functional role of placental growth factor in modulating MSC osteogenic differentiation was interrogated and researchers showed a concentration dependent response whereby low concentrations exhibited the strongest pro-osteogenic effect. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-2a-Dependent Hypoxic Induction of Wnt10b Expression in Adipogenic Cells
Hypoxia increased the expression of Wnt10b in both human and mouse adipogenic cells, but not in hypoxia-inducible factor-2a-deficient adipogenic cells. [J Biol Chem] Abstract | Full Article

Analyses of Chondrogenic Induction of Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Combined Co-Stimulation Mediated by Adenoviral Gene Transfer
Scientists analyzed the in vitro chondrogenesis of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells transduced with adenoviral vectors encoding the factors Insulin-like growth factor-1, Transforming growth factor-b beta1, Fibroblast growth factor 2, and Sex determining region Y-box 9 either alone or in combinations. [Arthritis Res Ther] Abstract | Full Article

Development of an In Vitro Cell System from Zebrafish Suitable to Study Bone Cell Differentiation and Extracellular Matrix Mineralization
ZFB1 cells can differentiate toward osteoblast or chondroblast lineages, as demonstrated by expression of osteoblast- and chondrocyte-specific markers, they exhibit an alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker of bone formation in vivo, and they can mineralize their extracellular matrix. [Zebrafish] Abstract

Biomimetic Three-Dimensional Anisotropic Geometries by Uniaxial Stretching of Poly(e-Caprolactone) Films: Degradation and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Responses
Human mesenchymal stem cells aligned better towards uniaxial-stretch-induced poly(e-caprolactone) ridge/groove arrays when the geometries were remained intact, and became sensitive with gradually declined nucleus alignment and elongation to the geometric degradation of ridges. [J Biomed Mater Res A] Abstract

Short-Term Administration of Small Molecule Phenamil Induced a Protracted Osteogenic Effect on Osteoblast-Like MC3T3-E1 Cells
Scientists revealed that both short and continuous phenamil treatment triggers osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells on a biodegradable polymeric scaffold composed of polylactic-co-glycolic acid at the same time points. [J Tissue Eng Regen Med] Abstract

Inhibition of Apoptosis by Knockdown of Caspase-3 with siRNA in Rat Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Investigators determined whether small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting caspase-3 can inhibit the apoptosis of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro. [Exp Biol Med] Abstract

Bmp4 Expressed in Preadipocytes Is Required for the Onset of Adipocyte Differentiation
Researchers characterized the role of endogenous bone morphogenetic protein (Bmp) activity in preadipocytes. Higher levels of phosphorylated Smad1/5/8 were detected in adipogenic cells but not in non-adipogenic cells prior to differentiation induction. [Cytokine] Abstract

Dual Delivery of rhPDGF-BB and Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Expressing the BMP2 Gene Enhance Bone Formation in a Critical-Sized Defect Model
In in vitro experiments, the dual delivery of rh-platelet-derived growth factor-BB (rhPDGF-BB) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) significantly enhanced cell proliferation. However, the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) was significantly suppressed even though the amount of BMP-2 secreted by the adenoviral vector containing the BMP2 gene-transfected BMSCs was not significantly affected by the rhPDGF-BB treatment. [Tissue Eng Part A] Abstract

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BioRestorative Therapies Receives Approval to Conduct Retrospective Safety Study on Its Bulging/Herniated Disc Procedure
BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. announced that it has received approval from the Western Institutional Review Board to complete a retrospective safety study on selected subjects previously treated by the company’s brtxDISC™ bulging and herniated disc procedure. [PR Newswire Association LLC] Press Release

Cardium Reports on New Excellagen-Based Stromal Cell Research for Wound Healing with Orbsen Therapeutics under European FP7 REDDSTAR Diabetes Initiative
Cardium Therapeutics announced that it has entered into an agreement with Orbsen Therapeutics Ltd and the National University of Ireland, Galway, to utilize Cardium’s Excellagen® pharmaceutically-formulated gel as a delivery agent for Orbsen’s proprietary stromal cell therapy in pre-clinical studies for the potential treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. [Cardium Therapeutics] Press Release

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NEW Post-Doctoral Fellow/Graduate Research Assistant (Oklahoma State University)

Senior Scientist – Translational Medicine (Celgene Corporation)

PhD Studentship – Mechanobiology of Stem Cells (Queen Mary University of London)

Postdoctoral Position – Cardiopulmonary Molecular Biology (Hannover Medical School)

Director of Cell Processing Facility (S L Collins Associates, Inc.)

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