To investigate the effect of adenoviral vector infection on the differentiation potential of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs).

To observe the effect of neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation and nerve growth factor (NGF) on neurological function recovery in rats with ischemic stroke induced by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).

To observe the change of potassium current on cultured neurons differentiated from hippocampus neural stem cells of the newborn rat.

To explore the relationship between evoked potentials (EPs) and chronic anoxic brain damage by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), and provide theory evidence for diagnosis and treatment of anoxic encephalopathy.

To investigate the role of N-[N-(3,5-Difluorophenacetyl-L-alanyl)-S-phenylglycine t-butyl ester (DAPT), a gamma-secretases inhibitor, on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs).

To investigate the potentiality of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to differentiate into vascular endothelia cells (ECs) in peritubular capillary (PTC) in chronic aristolochic acid nephropathy (CAAN).

To observe the overexpression of dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) in mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) and the expression of specific gene involved in odontogenic and osteogenic differentiation in transfected cells.

To observe the spontaneous odontogenic differentiation of mouse dental papilla mesenchymal cells in blood serum medium. And to detect the critical gene expression of correlated transcription factors what are specific to odontogenic and osteogenic differentiation.

To investigate the feasibility of tooth regeneration by seeding cranial neural crest stem cell (CNCSC) in vivo.

To investigate the role of myosin light chain (Myl) in myogenesis in vitro.

To observe the effect of cytokines and combinations in the inducement of human umbilical cord blood-derived CD34+ cells into hepatocyte-like cells.

To explore an effective method to cultivate esophageal mucosa epithelial cells (EMECs) of canine in vitro, and to observe the biological characteristics of EMECs growing on SIS in order to provide an experimental basis for esophagus tissue engineering.

To observe the neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects ofliquiritin (LQ) on rats primary cultured hippocampal neuronal damage induced by Abeta25-35.

To investigate the effect of Liuwei Dihuang Pill on the number, the surface marker, cell cycle and colony formation of HSC from mouse marrow.

To investigate the role of histone deacetylases (HDACs) inhibitor FK228 in the IL-3 mediated proliferation and differentiation of human erythroid progenitor cells.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are immature endothelial cells which have the capacity to proliferate, migrate and differentiate into mature endothelial cells from bone marrow to the peripheral circulation. EPCs have been shown to participate in postnatal endothelial repair and neovascularization of ischemic organs, and have been used as a new source of seeded cells in vascular tissue engineering. In this review, we focus on the origin, identification, property and function of EPCs as well as their application in vascular tissue engineering.

To study the cleavage of neuron stem cells in time lapse image sequences and realize their features abstraction, identification and tracking, a precise segmentation algorithm that can preserve the shape of division cells is presented in this paper. The fuzzy threshold segmentation is based on Zadth's maximum entropy. The optimal parameters of the maximum fuzzy entropy are decided by genetic algorithm. Region merging and splitting of the under-segmentation objects of the result of fuzzy segmentation are realized by weighted distance transform, region labeling and some operations on morphology. By comparison with some results of fuzzy and hard segmentation, this algorithm can implement the precise segmentation that is necessary for some specified objects in automatic identification and tracking of neuron stem cells.

It is crucial to improve the orientation and growth of cells on substrates in tissue engineering. In this study, we investigated the effects of micropatterned surfaces coated with type I collagen (CNI) on the orientation and growth of SD rat tenocytes. Using the technique of microcontact printing and microfluidic channels, we prepared micropatterned microgrooves with a 10 microm width and 4 microm depth on silicone membrane substrates. The microgrooves were coated with CNI at concentrations 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, and 1.25 mg/ml, respectively. The rat tenocytes at 1 x 10(5)/ml were seeded onto the CNI-coated substrates and the control substrates (without CNI coating), and then cultured in a humidified 37 degrees C/5% CO2 incubator for 48 hours. Cell proliferation was measured by MTT method. After 1, 12, 24, 48 hrs of incubation, the tenocytes' alignment and morphology were observed by means of inverted phase microscope, scanning electron microscope and fluorescent microscope. The results showed there was obvious orientation of tenocytes in CNI-modified grooves, and most of the tenocytes spread along the grooves. The tenocyte orientation became more obvious with the increasing CNI concentration over a range from 0.25 to 1.25 mg/ml. This method could find important application in the construct of engineered tendons which need precise spatial organization of cells.

Wnt signaling is implicated in the initiation of human colorectal cancer (CRC). While the relationship between Wnt activity and proliferation is well known, studies have also shown an association between high levels of Wnt activity and apoptosis. Through analyses of ten human CRC cell lines, we have found that inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACis), such as butyrate, promote apoptosis of CRC cells through hyper-induction of Wnt signalingû thus, hyper-activation of Wnt activity by HDACis may represent a novel preventive and therapeutic strategy against CRC. Our findings may explain why studies on the protective role of dietary fiber and its product butyrate against CRC have yielded inconsistent findings. We believe that the variability in the levels of induced Wnt activity and apoptosis in CRC cells observed in vitro reflects the in vivo existence of CRC subtypes with variable degrees of responsiveness to butyrate. Given that Wnt activity has been linked to intestinal stem cell renewal and the migratory potential of CRC stem cells, this essay discussed the potential of modulation of Wnt signaling by HDACis as a therapeutic approach against CRC stem cells. Finally, we considered possible gene therapy approaches that target Wnt-positive CRC stem cells.