iPS cell aberrations

Propranolol induced chromosomal aberrations in Chinese hamster ovary cell line

Propranolol (PL), a non-selective beta-blocker, is a cardiovascular drug widely used to treat hypertension. The present study was concerned with assessing the cytogenetic effects of this drug on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. MTT assay was then carried out to determine the cytotoxicity index (IC50) of the drug. The IC50 value of PL was 0.43±0.02 mM. To investigate the clastogenic effect...

iPS-Cinderella Story in Cell Biology

Human iPS cell models of Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome

Recessive mutations in the ion channel-encoding KCNQ1 gene may cause Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome (JLNS), a fatal cardiac disease leading to arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death in young patients. Mutations in KCNQ1 may also cause a milder and dominantly inherited form of the disease, long QT syndrome 1 (LQT1). However, why some mutations cause LQT1 and others cause JLNS can often not be u...

Reprogramming Therapeutics: iPS Cell Prospects for Neurodegenerative Disease

The recent description of somatic cell reprogramming to an embryonic stem (ES) cell-like phenotype, termed induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology, presents an exciting potential venue toward cell-based therapeutics and disease models for neurodegenerative disorders. Two recent studies (Dimos et al. and Ebert et al.) describe the initial characterization of neurodegenerative disease pati...

Small RNA-mediated regulation of iPS cell generation

Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to an ES-like state to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by ectopic expression of four transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc. Here, we show that cellular microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate iPSC generation. Knock-down of key microRNA pathway proteins resulted in significant decreases in reprogramming efficiency. Three miRNA clusters, miR-17∼92, m...