To investigate the regulatory effects of rat mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) on T lymphocyte proliferation by examining the early activated markers such as CD25 and CD69.

To determine whether cleavage developmentally retarded embryos have not cleaved during a 24 hour period could develop into blastocysts and produce hESC cell lines.

To investigate biological characteristics of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) cultured in vitro and to explore their potential applications.

To study the correlation between polyoma virus load and hemorrhagic cystitis after allogeneic stem cells transplantation for prevention of hemorrhagic cystitis.

The paraffin sectioning, histochemistry and phytochemistry methods were applied in the study of the localization and the content changes of saponins and flavonoids in the vegetative organs in Bupleurum Chinense DC. The results showed that the saponins distributed in vascular cambium and secondary phloem of the root; In the stem, they distributed mainly in epiderm,collenchyma and the epithelial cells of the secretory canals which lied in cortex and pith; In the leaf, they distributed in the epiderm and spongy and palisade. However, flavonoids distributed in epiderm, collenchyma, cortex, pith path and myelin shealth cells of the stem; In the leaf, they were located mainly in the epiderm and the collenchyma. Meanwhile, the content of saponins in vegetative organs showed a changing law that the accumulation of them in the root occupied first place, the leaf came second and the stem was the lowest. But the content of flavonoids in leaf was higher than that in stem, and the content of them in stem was higher than that in root. Besides, the content of flavonoids in leaf was considerably high, thus it could offer basis for comprehensive utilization of Bupleurum Chinense DC. and made sense for both exploiting legitimately drug and conserving resource of Bupleurum Chinense DC.

To observe the therapeutic effect of vascular endothelial growth factors 165 (VEGF165) gene expressing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in chronic myocardial infarction model by providing enhanced cardioprotection, followed by angiogenic effects in infarcted myocardium.

To investigate the efficient transfection of green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) mediated by recombinant adenovirus vector(Ad-GFP) to rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro.

To investigate the possible pathways for ovarian injury after administration of cyclophosphamide in rats.

To explore the differences between recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) primed and non-primed peripheral blood stem cell harvests.

The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) plays an important role in regulating function of immunocytes in process of mobilizing hematopoietic stem cells. The deep understanding of the immunoregulatory effects of G-CSF has important significance to improve the outcomes of patients with hematological malignancies after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, included alleviating acute graft-versus-host disease, maintaining or enhancing graft-versus-leukemia effects and decreasing the relapse rates. In this article, the immunoregulatory effect of G-CSF on graft of peripheral blood and bone marrow, the immunoregulation of G-CSF and allo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as well as the prospective trend of research on immunoregulatory effects of G-CSF were reviewed.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a kind of adult stem cells which have the capability to differentiate into multiple cell types as well as self-renew continuously. Recent studies demonstrate that MSCs are low immunogenic and able to exert immunomodulatory function by various approaches, such as suppression of the lymphocyte proliferation, reduction of the dentritic cell generation, maturation and function, down-regulation of the CTL formation and enhancement of regulatory T-cell proportion. In vivo experiments show that MSC infusion can prolong the survival time of allo-skin graft in baboon and ameliorate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice. Successful reports have been documented about clinical application of MSC in the management of graft-versus-host disease. In this review, the immunological characteristics and the immunomodulation functions in vitro and in vivo of MSC were summarized.

The objective of this study was to investigate the expressions of TPO receptor (c-mpl) proteins on CD34 positive bone marrow cells (CD34+ BMCs), platelets and the expression of c-mpl mRNA in bone marrow cells of the patients with polycythemia vera (PV). The expressions of c-mpl proteins on CD34+ bone marrow hematopoietic cells of 13 PV patients and 15 normal controls were assessed by bicolor flow cytometry and the expressions of c-mpl proteins on platelets of 15 PV patients and 15 normal controls were assessed by monocolor flow cytometry, and the expressions of c-mpl mRNA in bone marrow hematopoietic cells (BMHCs) were assessed by RT-PCR. The results showed that no difference was found between the expression of c-mpl proteins on CD34+ BMHCs of PV patients (0.99% +/- 0.14%) and that of normal controls (0.92% +/- 0.12%) (p > 0.05). There was no difference too between the expression of c-mpl protein on platelets in PV patients (20.33% +/- 4.84%) and that in normal controls (23.50% +/- 3.64%) (p > 0.05). No difference between the expression of c-mpl mRNA in BMHCs of PV patients and that in normal controls was seen. In conclusion, the expressions of c-mpl proteins on CD34+ BMHCs, platelets and c-mpl mRNA in BMHCs of PV patients were not obviously abnormal.

This study was aimed to investigate whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) existed in human umbilical cord vein and to establish the methods of isolation and expansion in vitro. The MSCs derived for perfusion of umbilical cord vein (UVMSCs) were collected after parturition of Healthy pregnant women. The morphology of MSCs and their differentiation potential into osteoblast, adipocyte and chondrocyte were observed the phenotype and cell cycle of MSCs were determined by using flow cytometry. The result showed that the mesenchymal stem cells separated from umbilical cord vein gave rise to a population of adherent cells with a typical fibroblast-like morphology. Similarly to bone marrow-derived MSCs, they highly expressed CD29, HLA-ABC, CD166, CD105, CD73 and CD44, and were negative for any hematopoietic and endothelial markers (CD45, CD34, CD14 and CD144). Functionally, they could differentiate into the osteoblast, adipocyte and chondrocyte. It is concluded that MSCs exist in the human umbilical cord vein perfusion. Their read amplification in vitro contribute to clinical applications for cell therapy and tissue engineering.

This study was aimed to investigate the feasibility of low dose of fludarabine, cyclophosphamide combined with donor derived alloreactive NK cells as a new nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen in the haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haploidentical HSCT). F1 derived-NK cells were enriched with MACS magnetic separation system, in which the proportions of the Ly49C+ and Ly49A+ cells were detected by flow cytometry and the alloreactivity was measured by LDH method. The haploidentical HSCT models were constructed, and the myeloablativity in vivo, donor engraftment and the intensity of GVHD were compared between different myeloablative and nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens, including 9 Gy TBI, 6.5 Gy TBI, flu + cy, and flu + cy + allo-NK. The results showed that the flu + cy + allo-NK conditioning was nonmyeloablative, but the rate of donor chimerism after haploidentical HSCT was significantly higher as compared with other nonmyeloablative methods, which were (28.70 +/- 5.90)% in bone marrow and (46.40 +/- 5.00)% in spleen at day 21 post-transplantation. When compared with the flu + cy conditioning, the intensity of GVHD was slight in the flu + cy + allo-NK group, in which only a half of C57BL/6 recipients experienced weight loss, and no distinct pathological damages observed in the liver, intestine, kidney and skin samples. It is concluded donor derived-alloreactive NK cells can facilitate engraftment of the haploidentical hematopoietic stem cells and mitigate GVHD. The flu + cy + allo-NK conditioning provides a new method for those elder patients with high-risk solid tumor undergoing haploidentical-HSCT.

This study was aimed to explore whether the graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) could be alleviated by intra-bone marrow (IBM) infusion of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells. Female C57BL/6 mice as recipients received total body irradiation (TBI) 4 Gy on day 0, followed by injection of peripheral hematopoietic stem cells (1 x 10(7)) from mobilized male BALB/c with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF), and cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally two days later. The results showed that the incidence and severity of GVHD were more low and alleviative in group IBM-PBSCT than that in group TV-PBSCT (p < 0.05). Y chromosome of donor mice could be detected in the bone marrow of recipient mice. It is concluded that the method of intra-bone marrow infusion is superior to injection via the tail vein in the engraftment of hematopoietic stem cells in terms of stem cell homing while the frequency and severity of GVHD in allogeneic mice decrease.

To explore the effects of infusion with human mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow on bone marrow hematopoietic function and survival in mice with aplastic anemia (AA), immuno-mediated aplastic anemia mice model was established according to Yao's method. Thirty BALB/c female mice were divided into AA model group, MSC group and radiation group. In MSC group, 1 x 10(6) MSC was infused by intravenous injection at 3 days after establishment of model. The changes of blood count, the number of nuclear cells in a single thigh-bone, colony-forming units (CFU), pathological features of bone marrow and survival rate of mice were observed in all groups. The results showed that the number of white blood cells in peripheral blood of AA model group at day 7 after establishment of model was (0.65 +/- 0.05) x 10(9)/L, which was significantly lower than those in MSC group and radiation alone group, respectively. Pancytopenia was found in all three groups at day 10. At day 14 the pancytopenia was continued in AA model group while it was less severe in MSC and radiation groups. In MSC group the number of nucleated cells in single thigh bone and pathological slice as well as CFU-GM were significantly higher than those in AA model group, respectively. The survival rate of mice in MSC group was 80.0% which was higher than that of group in AA model (18.2%, p < 0.01). There were no significant differences between MSC group and radiation alone group in bone marrow hematopoiesis and survival rate. It is concluded that MSC infusion reduces the degree of bone marrow failure and improve survival of immuno-mediated AA mice model.

When hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were administrated by intravenous infusion (IV), most of them were trapped in some nonhematopoietic organs as like lungs that had abundant blood capillaries. Only a small fraction of injected cells could home to the bone marrow, which reduced the engraftment of HSCs. The purpose of intra-bone marrow (IBM) transplantation was to facilitate the homing of HSCs directly. Based on the established murine model for allogeneic umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) by IBM injection, the objective of this study was to compare the distribution of fetal and neonatal peripheral blood (FNPB) mononuclear cells (MNC) in vivo and the efficacy of HSCT by different routes of administration in mice. BALB/c recipient mice exposed to sublethal dose 60Co gamma-ray were transplanted with FNPBMNCs from C57BL/6 mice. Recipient mice were divided into six groups at random: unilateral-IBM group; bilateral-IBM group; IV group; bilateral-IBM + IV group; irradiated control group and normal group. The distribution of CFSE-labeled FNPBMNCs in the recipients was observed in frozen sections of different organs or by flow cytometry. The survival rate, engraftment level, recovery of hematopoietic function and GVHD of recipient mice were studied. The results showed that infused by IBM route, FNPBMNCs mainly accumulated in the bone marrow (BM) cavity of the injected side tibia. Some of them could enter the BM of noninjected bones via blood circulation and few were trapped in the lung. Though same amount of FNPBMNCs were injected into recipient mice of unilateral and bilateral-IBM group, less cells could leak into peripheral blood or other tissues when transplanted by bilateral-IBM route. Therefore, in term of accelerating hemopoietic recovery, the injection of IBM route was better than IV route, especially bilateral IBM injection of HSCs, which neared the normal level of peripheral blood cells and colony-forming units of bone marrow nucleated cells at day 21 after transplantation, followed by unilateral-IBM group and bilateral-IBM + IV group. The percentages of H-2Db cell subsets in the three IBM groups were much higher than that in IV group. There was no significant difference of the engraftment level in the injected side tibia between the unilateral and bilateral-IBM group. When secondary transplantation was performed, the engraftment level in bilateral-IBM group was still much higher than that in IV group. At day 90, the survival rates of IBM groups were all > or = 80%, while that of IV group was only 50%. It is concluded that bilateral-IBM route can facilitate the homing of more HSCs, accelerate the engraftment of HSCs and hematopoietic reconstitution, which promoted the efficacy of IBM-HSCT.

The study was aimed to explore whether there are leukemic characteristics in the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSC) from leukemic patients as compared with normal controls. The mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow of normal volunteers and patients with APL and CML were isolated, then cultured and proliferated in vitro. The morphology, growth curve and cell surface markers of two different sources mesenchymal stem cells were investigated for detecting whether the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells derived from leukemia patients have the specific abnormal fusion gene of leukemia cells through fluorescent in situ hybridization. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the mesenchymal stem cells derived from different subjects, the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells derived from leukemia patients did not have the clonal malignant fusion gene as seen in the leukemia cells. Taken altogether, mesenchymal stem cells derived from leukemia patients had no biological differences as compared with those from normal volunteers, and no malignant clonal abnormality was found. It is concluded that mesenchymal stem cells derived from leukemia patients as an alternative vehicle may be used for assistant of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or cell therapy and gene therapy.

As a negative regulator of hematopoiesis, AcSDKP is well known to inhibit the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells and reported to has a biological function in non-hematopoietic cells recently. Its biological activities and structure-function relationship are reviewed in this paper.