Optimal use of patient-derived, induced pluripotent stem cells for modeling neuronal diseases is crucially dependent upon the proper physiological maturation of derived neurons. As a strategy to develop defined differentiation protocols that optimize electrophysiological function, we investigated the role of Ca(2+) channel regulation by astrocyte conditioned medium in neuronal maturation, using...

L-Triiodothyronine (T3) stimulates DNA synthesis and replication of cultured GC cells, a T3-responsive growth hormone (GH)-secreting cell line. To determine whether T3 stimulates secretion of an autocrine growth factor, we compared the growth-promoting activity of medium conditioned by T3-stimulated and T3-depleted cells to that of unconditioned medium. Addition of polyclonal rabbit anti-T3 ser...

We tested the ability of an identified interneuron from the mollusk, Lymnaea stagnalis, to reestablish appropriate synapses in vitro. In the CNS, the giant dopaminergic neuron, designated as right pedal dorsal one (RPeD1), makes an excitatory, chemical synapse with a pair of essentially identical postsynaptic cells known as visceral dorsal two and three (VD2/3). When the somata of the pre- and ...

Background Transient gene expression (TGE) allows rapid protein production in mammalian cells and has become an important tool in the pharmaceutical product development pipeline [1]. Polyethylenimine (PEI)-mediated, high-density transfection allowed to express recombinant proteins at yields exceeding 1 g/L in only a few weeks [2]. Although highly efficient protocols are available, volumetric sc...

We have produced a number of astrocytic cell lines, some of which promote abundant neurite outgrowth, some of which are poor promoters of neurite outgrowth. The critical difference between these lines lies in the extracellular matrix, cell lines that are good promoters of axon growth producing a matrix that promotes axon growth, cell lines that are poor promoters of axon growth producing a non-...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of the capping materials mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), calcium hydroxide (CH) and BiodentineTM (BD) on stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED) in vitro. SHED were cultured for 1 - 7 days in medium conditioned by incubation with MTA, BD or CH (1 mg/mL), and tested for viability (MTT assay) and proliferation (SRB assay). Also, t...

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) is produced by most cultured cells in an inactive form. Potential activation mechanisms of latent TGF beta were studied using fibroblastic (NRK-49F and AKR-MCA) cell-conditioned medium as a model. Active TGF beta was monitored by radioreceptor and soft agar assays as well as by antibody inhibition and immunoprecipitation. Little or no TGF beta was dete...

Factors secreted by macrophages contribute to whole body insulin resistance, acting in part on adipose tissue. Muscle is the major tissue for glucose disposal, but how macrophage-derived factors impact skeletal muscle glucose uptake is unknown, or whether the macrophage environment influences this response. We hypothesized that conditioned medium from macrophages pretreated with palmitate or LP...

Paracrine factors may modulate low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity in hepatocytes. To study this the effect of conditioned medium prepared from a range of cell types on the binding and internalisation of 125I-LDL in Hep G2 cells was studied. Seven of the fourteen conditioned media tested, including those from P388D1, U937, porcine smooth muscle (Pc SMC) Swiss 3T3, STO, = 48 and MDCK...

Endothelial cells from both human retinal microvessels (HME) and fetal bovine aortic endothelium (FBAE) were grown in aggregate cultures alone, or with either retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells or fibroblasts. The levels of plasminogen activator (PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) in the conditioned media of the various aggregate types were measured. High PA levels were detected ...