Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) participates in the regulation of morphogenesis and cellular differentiation through its modulation of cell-matrix interactions. We previously reported that SPARC expression significantly impairs medulloblastoma tumor growth in vivo. In this study, we show that adenoviral-mediated overexpression of SPARC cDNA (Ad-DsRed-SP) elevated the expres...

Although the morphology and development of the zebrafish enteric nervous system have been extensively studied, the precise neurochemical coding of enteric neurons and their proportional enteric distribution are currently not known. By using immunohistochemistry, we determined the proportional expression and coexpression of neurochemical markers in the embryonic and adult zebrafish intestine. Ty...

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are a very promising transplantable stem cell source for a variety of cell replacement therapies. As the main source of MSC is bone marrow (BM), most of studies have been done on BM-derived MSC (BM-MSC). Umbilical cord (UC)-derived MSC (UC-MSC) which are recently introduced, is one of the good alternative source for these cells. The objective of this stu...

A growing body of research examining biological factors associated with suicidal behaviors highlights the role of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF), involved in neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity. There is evidence suggesting that suicide attempters have lower BDNF levels than those with no history of suicide attempts. The key question addressed in the current investigation is whether d...

Stroke causes severe neuronal damage as disrupted cerebral blood flow starves neurons of oxygen and glucose. The hypoxia inducible factors (HIF-1α and HIF-2α) orchestrate oxygen homeostasis and regulate specific aspects of hypoxic adaptation. Here we show the importance of HIF-2α dependant signalling in neuronal adaptation to hypoxic insult. PC12 and NT2 cells were differentiated into neuronal-...

Introduction: Recently, herbal medicine is widely used as an alternative and complementary therapy in several neurological disorders such as epilepsy. The anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of Zingiber officinale or ginger have been well-documented. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of ginger extract pre-treatment on seizures behavior, neuronal density and as...

the purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of mir-429 ectopic over-expression on u251 glioblastoma cell line. it has been shown that mir-429 could target bmk1 and reduce glioma cells invasion. we cultured u251-mir-429 cells and observed changes in their morphology for 14 days. they seemed to become wider with expanded cytoplasm and go on differentiation. neuronal (nefm, nse and ...