background: in this study, we examined a new two step induction protocol for improving the differentiation of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neural progenitor cells. materials and methods: human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were first cultured in dulbecco’s modified eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum in a humidified incub...

The differentiation of resting B lymphocytes to Ig secretion involves several sequential steps regulated by antigen, T lymphocytes, and macrophages. The requirement for T cells may in some cases be replaced by lymphokines secreted upon T cell activation (1, 2). A number of distinct T cell-derived lymphokines have been described (3-9) that directly regulate the growth and maturation of B cells. ...

Receptor tyrosine kinases are regulators of diverse cellular functions including cell growth, cell survival, differentiation, locomotion, and morphogenesis. Activation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase A inhibits receptor tyrosine kinase-stimulated growth responses in a number of cell types. In this study, we investigated the consequences of elevated cAMP on growth factor-mediated keratinocy...

The homeobox transcription factor OTX2 plays an essential role during embryonic brain development. It is normally silenced in the adult brain, but is overexpressed by genomic amplification or other mechanisms in the majority of medulloblastomas (MBs). Retinoic acids (RAs) can suppress OTX2 expression and inhibit MB growth. In this study, 9-cis RA most potently inhibited MB cell growth. 9-cis RA...

the object of the present study was to establish conditions (optimal serum concentration and growth factor supplement) for prolonged culture of pig granulosa cells (gc). gc were cultured in the presence of different fetal calf serum (fcs) concentrations (10% and 20%) and one of the following growth factors: leukemia inhibitory factor (lif), basic fibroblast growth factor (bfgf) and stem cell fa...

Mammalian oocytes secrete transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily proteins, such as growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9), bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) and BMP15, and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). These oocyte-derived paracrine factors (ODPFs) play essential roles in regulating the differentiation and function of somatic granulosa cells as well as the development of ovarian...