细胞技术

Small molecules will need to be identified and/or developed that target protein classes limiting reprogramming efficiency. A specific class of proteins includes epigenetic regulators that silence, or minimize expression, of pluripotency genes in differentiated cells. To bet ...

The versatile differentiation potential of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) into cells of mesodermal, entodermal, and ectodermal origin places these cells at the forefront of cell-based therapies and cell transplantation. Epithelial differentiation of ASC may either be initi ...

For a long time, adipose tissue was only considered for its crucial role in energy balance and associated diseases. The discovery of the presence of immature cells highlights a putative role for these tissues as reservoirs of therapeutic cells. Indeed, since fat pads can be sampled by liposuction ...

The differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) into functional smooth muscle cells has received limited investigation. Various methodologies for both in vitro and in vivo differentiation is described. In vitro differentiation is obtained by either chemical or mechan ...

The demand for primary human hepatocytes to test the toxicity of new drug candidates and to develop cell therapies for liver disease far exceed the number of hepatocytes that can be isolated from donated tissues. Less than 700 whole livers per year are available for research applications. The abi ...

Adipose stem cell preparations, either obtained as a freshly isolated so-called stromal vascular fraction (SVF) or as cells cultured to homogeneity and then referred to as adipose stem cells (ASCs), have found widespread use in a broad variety of studies on tissue engineering and regenerat ...

While adult stem cells can be induced to transdifferentiate into multiple lineages of cells or tissues, their plasticity and utility for human therapy remains controversial. In this chapter, we describe methods for the transdifferentiation of human adipose tissue-derived stem cel ...

Stem cells can easily be harvested from adipose tissue in large numbers for use in tissue-engineering approaches for cartilage repair or regeneration. In this chapter, we describe in vitro tissue-engineering models that we have used in our laboratory for the chondrogenic induction of adi ...

The primary physiological function of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) is to differentiate into adipose tissue. It is now possible to isolate, expand, and cryopreserve ASC from adipose depots of many animal species. These ASC can be induced to undergo adipogenic differentiation in vitro ...

Peripheral adipose tissue contains a population of clonogenic precursor cells referred to as adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) that retain the capacity to differentiate into multiple cell types including osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondrocytes, myocytes, and neuronal cells fo ...

The following chapter describes several methods involved in the detection of MAPK activities and phosphorylated proteins during early development of Xenopus laevis. The Xenopus embryo provides a powerful platform for biochemical studies. We describe here basic methods of embryo ...

The technique of single muscle-fiber cultures has already proven valuable in extending knowledge of myogenesis, stem cell heterogeneity, the stem cell niche in skeletal muscle, and satellite cell activation. This report reviews the background of the model and applications, and detai ...

Phase specificity, the temporal and tissue restriction of teratogen-induced defects during embryonic �development, is a poorly understood but common property of teratogens, an important source of human birth defects. Somite counting and somite units are novel chronometric too ...

Caenorhabditis elegans is a premier model genetic system for discovering new information about the assembly and maintenance of striated muscle. The localization of a protein within a nematode muscle cell can reveal important clues to its function. In C. elegans, proteins can be localized by ...

The Drosophila system has been invaluable in providing important insights into mesoderm specification, muscle specification, myoblast fusion, muscle differentiation, and myofibril assembly. Here, we present a series of Drosophila protocols that enable the researcher to vis ...

During myogenesis, cells gradually transition from mesodermal precursors to myoblasts, myocytes, and then to muscle fibers. The molecular characterization of this process requires the ability to identify each of these cell types and the factors that regulate the transitions betwe ...

Resistance loading provides an important tool for understanding skeletal muscle responses and adaptations to various perturbations. A model using anesthetized rodents provides the means to control the input parameters carefully, and to measure the output parameters of each mus ...

Plasmid DNA electrotransfer is a direct method of gene delivery to skeletal muscle commonly used to identify endogenous signaling pathways that mediate muscle remodeling or pathological states in adult rodents. When plasmids encoding a protein to be overexpressed are fused to a fluor ...

Skeletal muscle is a highly adaptive tissue that modifies its size in response to a variety of external stimuli. In adult mammals, skeletal muscle hypertrophy occurs primarily as a response to increases in external loading. Here, we describe the methods that should be used for a comprehensive as ...

Skeletal muscle mass is determined by the balance between rates of protein synthesis and degradation. Protein synthesis rates can be measured in vivo by administering an amino acid as a tracer that is labeled with an isotope (radioactive or stable) of C, H, or N. The rate at which the labeled amino acid is in ...