Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a kind of intractable disease which threatens human health severely. The results of operation are unsatisfactory. Clinical drug therapy is the major treatment which aims to relieve symptoms, improve the quality of life, and prevent the disease from progressing. Over the last several years, the studies of stem cells provide a new direction for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. It's demonstrated that the therapeutic effects of stem cells are better than that of the traditional methods. With the deepening of the researches, the therapy of stem cells is more and more compelling. The therapy of stem cells for pulmonary arterial hypertension is reviewed in this paper.
Objective To explore repair role of allogeneic bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells （BM-MSCs） transplantation on treating hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury （HIRI） in rats. Methods Ten rats were executed to get BM-MSCs， then BM-MSCs were cultured in vitro and dyed by 4，6-diamidino-2-phenylindole （DAPI）. Models of 70% hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury were eatablished. Thirty two rats were randomly divided into sham operation group （Sham group）， ischemia reperfusion group （I/R group）， Vitamin C group （VC group）， and BM-MSCs group. Serum samples were analyzed for ALT and AST， and hepatic tissue were for superoxide dismutase （SOD） and malondialdehyde （MDA）. Liver sections were stain with hematoxylin and eosin （HE） for histological analysis， TUNEL staining was applied to detect hepatic apoptosis. Serum and tissues were both collected at 24 h after reperfusion. Results The isolated BM-MSCs maintained vigorous growth in vitro. Specific markers for MSCs antigens CD29 and CD44 were detected by flow cytometry， but antigens CD34 and CD45 were not be detected. Models of HIRI were stable， and BM-MSCs were detected around the periportal area by DAPI staining. Compared with I/R group， levels of ALT， AST， MDA， and AI in the VC group and BM-MSCs group decreased at 24 h after reperfusion （P＜0.05）， meanwhile SOD level increased （P＜0.05）. Compared with VC group， levels of ALT， AST， MDA， and AI in the BM-MSC group decreased at 24 h after reperfusion （P＜0.05）， meanwhile SOD level increased （P＜0.05）. Conclusion BM-MSCs could protect HIRI by alleviating oxidative stress and inhibiting cellular apoptosis.
Objective To summarize the status of tumor stem cells investigations in gastrointestinal carcinoma. Methods Domestic and international publications online involving tumor stem cells of gastrointestinal carcinoma in recent years were collected and reviewed. Results There are a small quantity of cancer cells shown some stem cell characteristics. They are named tumor stem cell and play an important role in tumorigenesis, proliferation, metastasis and recurrence. And also, tumor stem cells can resist the effect of antineoplastic drugs and lead to tumor recurrence. These tumor-initiating cells are CD133-positive in the gastrointestinal carcinomas, especially in colorectal cancers. CD133-positive colorectal cancer cells have the abilities of clone, proliferation, differentiation and form metastases. And a high CD133 mRNA content was found in the blood of patients who suffered from bone metastases. Conclusion The characteristics of CD133-positive cancer cell and the mechanisms of stem cell-niche system are the basis of developing better methods to tumor diagnosis and treatment, and provide theoretical basis of new methods, such as targeted therapy.
Objective To review the application advancements of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter in medical research.Methods Relevant literatures about the applications of ABC families in medical research were reviewed. Results ABC families mainly took roles in transporting substances across cell membrane. Some of them were useful for the prediction of drug resistance and the prognosis of malignant tumors. Others were target s for molecular researches. Their expressions or mutations might be related with the occurrence of diseases. Conclusion ABC families are very important in the diagnosis and therapy for diseases. Thus they are very promising tools for future medical research.
Objective To investigate the changes of stem cell factor（SCF） level in serum of asthma patients before and after acute exacerbation.Methods The serum SCF was detected in 30 asthma patients respectively in the onset period and catabasis by ELISA.The SCF levels were also determined in 20 normal subjects as control.Results the content of serum SCF of the asthma patients during the acute attack was increased significantly than normal subjects [（156.8±82.6）pmol/L vs （61.5±15.4）pmol/L，Plt;0.001]，and decreased significantly in remission [（66.2±15.8）pmol/L，Plt;0.001].Conclusions SCF may participate in the pathogenesis of asthma.
The bone marrow mononuclear cell（BMMNC） subset comprises mesenchymal stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells. These cells can differentiate into cardiomyocytes, vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, and they can also release a wide array of cytokines that exert their effects on surrounding cells, including inducing neovascularization, preventing apoptosis of home cells and homing of endogenous systemic repairing cells. Many trials have been developed to evaluate the effect of bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation in treating ischemia heart diseases in this country and others. Several routes have been used to deliver these cells to human myocardium or to the coronary circulation in these trials, such as intracoronary injection, intravenous infusion, direct injection into the ventricular wall, or transepicardial/transendocardial infusions，and the cells are constructed into fragmented cell sheets to improve cell retention, or some cytokines are used to enhance therapeutic effect. Although the results of the recent clinical trials in this area are rather conflicting, these therapeutic approaches seem to be promising forthe treatment of ischemic heart disease. In this review, many aspects of bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation in myocardial infarction are summarized such as the mechanism, delivery routes, retaining of cells, homing, survival and future development, etc.
Magneticaly labeled stem cells and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) technology is an effective tracking method in vivo study, which has high spatial-temporal resolution. Gadolinium, which shows positive T1 signals and iron oxide showing negative T2 signals are the two often used contrast agents. The latter also include superparamagnetic iron oxide particle and ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particle. Transfection agents, e.g. poly-L-lysine and protamine sulfate，can enhance magnetical nanoparticles labeling stem cells. The biological characteristics of labeled stem cells did not seem to be altered. MRI can detect the labeled stem cells’ signals and also can track changes of signal in intensity and size with time past. In conclusion, MRI tracking magneticaly labeled stem cells represents a method for noninvasivly monitoring the existence and migration of engrafts.
Objective To study the short and medium term effect of myocardial contractile force by implantation of endothelial progenitor cells （EPCs） in the myocardial infarction model. Methods Hundred and twenty SD rats were equally and randomly divided into experimental group and control group （60 rats in each group）. Acute myocardial infarction model was created by ligation of LAD. Autologous EPCs were purified from peripheral blood then implanted into the acute myocardial infarct site via topical injection. IMDM were used in control group. Specimens and muscle strip were harvested at 3, 6 weeks, 6, 8 and 12 months after EPCs implantation for contractile force study and to detect the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）, basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） and Ⅷ factor by immunohistology and video image digital analysis system. Results The expression of VEGF, bFGF and the microvessel counts in experimental group were much higher than those of control group（P〈 0.01） at 3, 6 weeks and 6 months after transplantation. The contractile force in experimental group was better than that in control group（P〈0.01） at the same time. But from 8 months after implantation, the contractile force and so on were not up in the experimental group. Conclusion EPCs, after being implanted into infarct myocardium, shows the ability of improvement of the contractile performance in infarcted myocardium by means of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis and the medium term results are persistent.
Objective To summarize the research situation of stem cells transplantation for intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. Methods The original articles about stem cells transplantation for repair of IVD degeneration were extensively reviewed; the clinical applications, the mechanisms, and related factors to influence repair effect were analyzed; and obstacles in stem cells transplantation for repair of IVD degeneration. Results Autogenic stem cells transplantation can repair IVD degeneration and effectively relieve the symptoms of low back and leg pain. Stem cells can differentiate into disc chondrocytes in the disc microenvironment, increase the production of various growth factors, and exert a trophic effect on disc cells. It is also evident that the transplanted stem cells can potentially protect disc cells from apoptosis and maintain an immune-privileged state in the IVD. Multiple factors such as tissue origin of stem cells, methods to pre-modulate the seeds, choice of injectable scaffolds, and even the severity of degeneration are closely related to the repair effects. To get a more efficient stem cell therapy, future researches are challenged to modulate the migration and distribution of stem cells in the IVD, avoid flow back, and better understand their ability to restore stemness properties within the degenerative disc niche. Conclusion Stem cells transplantation is proven to be a promising biological approach for repair of IVD degeneration.
【Abstract】 Objective To review the progress and cl inical appl ication of cellular therapy for stress urinaryincontinence (SUI). Methods The l iterature about cellular therapy of SUI was extensively reviewed. Results Becauseof having no or poor regeneration capacity, the cl inical application of chondrocytes and myoblasts were l imited. Based on the rapid progress in stem cell biology, an increasing number of animal experiments and cl inical trials about cellular therapy of SUI have been reported with encouraging results. All these show that cellular therapy has great potential in cl inical application. Stem cells are considered as ideal seeded-cells for treatment of SUI. Conclusion Cellular therapy, especially stem cells, provides a novel approach for treatment of SUI, but the mechanism needs further study.