OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to search for evidence of stem or progenitor cells in the adult human cochlea by testing for sphere formation capacity and the presence of the stem cell marker ABCG2. METHODS Cochleas removed from patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma resection (n=2) and from brain-dead organ donors (n=4) were dissociated for either flow cytometry analysis for the stem...

Methods The isolation of CSCs was performed using the sphere formation assay in serum-free medium in non-adherent conditions. The cells were characterized for the expression of mesenchymal stem cell markers (CD90/ CD105/CD73) by flow cytometry. MNNG/HOS and CSCs were irradiated with X-rays at different doses (020Gy). The sensitivity to ionizing radiation was evaluated using the MTT assay after ...

Abstract BACKGROUND Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most malignant primary brain tumors. Despite development treatment, prognosis GBM still poor. Here, we identified lomerizine, a prophylactic drug for migraine, as potential anti-GBM from thousands existing compounds. We investigated its therapeutic effects both in vitro and vivo with purpose repositioning. Materials method: Human patient-deri...

One-third of patients with medulloblastoma die due to recurrence after various treatments including radiotherapy. Although it has been postulated that cancer stem-like cells are radio-resistant and play an important role in tumor recurrence, the "stemness" of medulloblastoma cells surviving irradiation has not yet been elucidated. Using a medulloblastoma cell line ONS-76, cells that survived ga...

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether pristimerin affects the bone metastasis, stem cell characteristics and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of prostate cancer (PCa) PC-3 cells subjected to hypoxia. The PC-3 cells were cultured under hypoxia or normoxia for 48 h and were then treated with increasing concentrations of pristimerin from 0 to 0.8 µmol/l, under normoxia. Hy...

Recent reports have challenged the clonality of the neurosphere assay in assessing neural stem cell (NSC) numbers quantitatively. We tested the clonality of the neurosphere assay by culturing mixtures of differently labeled neural cells, watching single neural cells proliferate using video microscopy, and encapsulating single NSCs and their progeny. The neurosphere assay gave rise to clonal col...

PURPOSE To compare the distribution and self-renewal capacity of rabbit corneal endothelial cell precursors in the central and peripheral regions of the cornea. METHODS The corneal endothelium (CE) and Descemet's membrane of New Zealand White rabbit corneas were divided into a peripheral region (6.0-10.0 mm in diameter) and a central region (6.0 mm in diameter). Then a sphere-forming assay wa...