The olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) has attracted much interest recently because of its potential for transplantation-based therapy of CNS disease. Rat OECs are able to remyelinate demyelinated axons and support regeneration of damaged axons. Although OECs can be grown readily from the rat, a macrosmatic species, it has been uncertain whether it would be similarly straightforward to obtain the...

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) could be induced to differentiate into neural cells under certain conditions, nevertheless, optimal protocols that could be reproducible and reliable in generating transplantable BMSCs in vitro are still not available. We studied for the first time the neural differentiation of BMSCs induced by coculturing with olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). BMSCs and OECs...

Murine olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) promote central nervous system axonal regeneration in models of spinal cord injury. We investigated whether OECs could induce a neuroplastic effect to improve the neurological dysfunction caused by hypoxic/ischemic stress. In this study, human OECs/olfactory nerve fibroblasts (hOECs/ONFs) specifically secreted trophic factors including stromal cell-deri...

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) transplanted into the lesioned CNS can stimulate reportedly different degrees of regeneration, remyelination, and functional recovery, but little is known about the mechanisms OECs may use to stimulate endogenous repair. Here, we used a functional proteomic approach, isotope-coded affinity tagging and mass spectrometry, to identify active components of the OEC...

To the Editor: Patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to the general population, because of a number of factors including endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial cells (ECs) arise from progenitors that reside in both the bone marrow and vascular niches, including that of the kidney, and are classified according to specific morp...

The fibrotic scar formed after central nervous system injury has been considered an obstacle to axonal regeneration. The present study was designed to examine whether cell transplantation into a damaged central nervous system can reduce fibrotic scar formation and promote axonal regeneration. Nigrostriatal dopaminergic axons were unilaterally transected in rats and cultures of olfactory-ensheat...

The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has been watched by millions through the lens of social media. This “crowd” of social media users has given the group broad reach resulting in a massive online support community that is an essential element of their public affairs and resourcing strategies. Other extremist groups have begun to leverage social media as well. Online Extremi...

BACKGROUND Tumor hypoxia is associated with malignant progression and treatment resistance. Hypoxia-related factors, such as carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX), glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) permit tumor cell adaptation to hypoxia. We attempted to elucidate the correlation of these markers with variable clinicopathological factors and overall prognosis...

Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) are a unique glial population found in both the peripheral and central nervous system: they ensheath bundles of unmyelinated olfactory axons from their peripheral origin in the olfactory epithelium to their central synaptic targets in the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb. Like all other peripheral glia (Schwann cells, satellite glia, enteric glia), OECs ...

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have great clinical value because they can be used as diagnostic biomarkers and as a cellular therapy for promoting vascular repair of ischaemic tissues. However, EPCs also have an additional research value in vascular disease modelling to interrogate human disease mechanisms. The term EPC is used to describe a diverse variety of cells, and we have identified...