DNA was extracted from three fecal samples, more than 2,000 years old, from Hinds Cave, Texas. Amplification of human mtDNA sequences showed their affiliation with contemporary Native Americans, while sequences from pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and cottontail rabbit allowed these animals to be identified as part of the diet of these individuals. Furthermore, amplification of chloroplast D...

Bone and cartilage formation in the embryo and repair and turnover in the adult involve the progeny of a small number of cells called mesenchymal stem cells. These cells divide, and their progeny become committed to a specific and distinctive phenotypic pathway, a lineage with discrete steps and, finally, end-stage cells involved with fabrication of a unique tissue type, e.g., cartilage or bone...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells that are being clinically explored as a new therapeutic for treating a variety of immune-mediated diseases. First heralded as a regenerative therapy for skeletal tissue repair, MSCs have recently been shown to modulate endogenous tissue and immune cells. Preclinical studies of the mechanism of action suggest that the therapeutic effects afford...

The multipotency of scaffolds is a new concept. Skeletal muscle acellular scaffolds (MAS) implanted at the interface of Tibialis Anterior/tibial bone and masseter muscle/mandible bone in a murine model were colonized by muscle cells near the host muscle and by bone-cartilaginous tissues near the host bone, thus highlighting the importance of the environment in directing cell homing and differen...

The presence of digestive enzymes within cells has been known for a long time, but it was not until de Duve and his co-workers investigated the intracellular localisation of these enzymes that it was realised that a variety of acid hydrolases coexisted within a distinctive organelle (for review see de Duve 1969). This organelle, named the “lysosome” by the Louvain workers, is now known to be pa...

BACKGROUND The zebrafish is an important developmental model. Surprisingly, there are few studies that describe the glycosaminoglycan composition of its extracellular matrix during skeletogenesis. Glycosaminoglycans on proteoglycans contribute to the material properties of musculo skeletal connective tissues, and are important in regulating signalling events during morphogenesis. Sulfation moti...

The development of the vertebrate face is a dynamic process that starts with the formation of facial processes/prominences. Facial processes are small buds made up of mesenchymal masses enclosed by an epithelial layer that surround the primitive mouth. The 2 maxillary processes, the 2 lateral nasal processes, and the frontonasal processes form the upper jaw. The lower jaw is formed by the 2 man...

The expression of tissue transglutaminase in skeletal tissues is strictly regulated and correlates with chondrocyte differentiation and cartilage calcification in endochondral bone formation and in maturation of tracheal cartilage (Aeschlimann, D., A. Wetterwald, H. Fleisch, and M. Paulsson. 1993. J. Cell Biol. 120:1461-1470). We now demonstrate the transglutaminase reaction product, the gamma-...