Stem cells always balance between self-renewal and differentiation. Hence, stem cell culture parameters are critical and need to be continuously refined according to progress in our stem cell biology understanding and the latest technological developments. In the past few years, major efforts have been made to define more precisely the medium composition in which stem cells grow or differentiat...

Canine distemper virus (CDV), a morbillivirus (Paramyxoviridae family) is the causative agent of a serious infection in dogs and other carnivores [2] and has been shown to be antigenically related to other members of the genus [13]. CDV infection in dogs generally is transmitted by inhalation of infectious aerosols. CDV causes acute generalized infection or chronic localized and persistent infe...

Microfluidic techniques allow precise control of fluids and particles at the nanoliter scale and facilitate simultaneous manipulation and analysis of cultured cells, starting from a single cell to larger populations and to intact tissues. The use of integrated microfluidic devices has considerably advanced the fields of quantitative and systems biology. In this review, we survey the recent deve...

Cell isolation and culture are essential tools for the study of cell function. Isolated cells grown under controlled conditions can be manipulated and imaged at a level of resolution that is not possible in whole animals or even tissue explants. Recent advances have allowed for large-scale isolation and culture of primary C. elegans cells from both embryos and all four larval stages. Isolated c...

The aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease is at present obscure, but there is evidence that transmissible agents such as bacteria or viruses may be associated with this condition.' 4 Chlamydia trachomatis agents are known to infect the rectum5 6 and lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) serotypes can cause chronic inflammation with fistula formation similar to manifestations of Crohn's disease. Prev...

OnFebruary 27, 2011, Hollywood’s royalty will gather in Kodak Theater to honor the best films of 2010. To add a scientific twist on this year’s Academy Awards, Cell Culture dives beneath the skin of the top films’ protagonists, identifying a brain structure that impacts our ‘‘friend count,’’ genes that make a king stammer, a cellular fragmentation process that saves a solo hiker, and stem cells...