Located within the perisinusoidal space and surrounded by extracellular matrix, hepatic stellate cells (HSC) undergo phenotypic trans-differentiation called "myofibroblastic activation" in liver fibrogenesis. This study investigated the regulation of interleukin-1 (IL-1alpha) on expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by HSC grown in three-dimensional extracellular matrix and the role of...

Although hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) migration into and out of sites of active hematopoiesis is poorly understood, it is a critical process that underlies modern clinical stem cell transplantation and may be important for normal hematopoietic homeostasis. Given the established roles of chemotactic cytokine (chemokine)-directed migration of other leukocyte subsets, the migration of murine HSC ...

Human stem cells (hSC) possess several distinct characteristics that set them apart from other cell types. First, hSC are self-renewing, capable of undergoing both asymmetric and symmetric cell divisions. Second, these cells can be coaxed to differentiate into various specialized cell types and, as such, hold great promise for regenerative medicine. Recent progresses in hSC biology fostered the...

Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are the main effector cells for liver fibrosis. We aimed at optimizing HSC isolation by an additional step of fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) via a UV laser. HSC were isolated from livers of healthy mice and animals subjected to experimental fibrosis. HSC isolation by iohexol- (Nycodenz) based density centrifugation was compared to a method with subsequen...

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) give rise to cells of all hematopoietic lineages, many of which are short lived. HSC face developmental choices: self-renewal (remain an HSC with long-term multilineage repopulating potential) or differentiation (become an HSC with short-term multilineage repopulating potential and, eventually, a mature cell). There is a large overcapacity of differentiating hemat...

Targeting the tumor microenvironment is critical toward improving the effectiveness of cancer therapeutics. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are one of the most abundant cell types of the tumor microenvironment, playing an important role in tumor progression. Multiple origins for CAFs have been proposed including resident fibroblasts, adipocytes, and bone marrow. Our laboratory previously i...

After bone marrow transplantation (BMT), there is a rapid regeneration to normal pretransplantation levels in the number of hematopoietic progenitors and mature end cells, whereas hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) numbers recover to only 5% to 10% of normal levels. This suggests that HSC are significantly restricted in their self-renewal behavior and hence in their ability to repopulate the host st...

Background and aims: Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are activated by liver injury to become proliferative fibrogenic myofibroblasts. This process may be regulated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) but the mechanisms involved are unclear. Methods: We studied cultured HSC and intact mice with liver injury to test the hypothesis that HSC respond to and produce SNS neurotransmitters to promote ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE We have recently assisted to an increasing scientific interest and a new research effort in the field of stem cell-based therapy. Since the late 1980s hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) have been used to set up therapeutic strategies for the treatment of solid tumors such as gynecological cancers. In this context, different approaches have been suggested and clinically inve...