BACKGROUND Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) contribute to carcinogenesis and cancer progression, although their origin and role remain unclear. We recently identified and investigated the in situ identity and implications of gastric submucosa-resident mesenchymal stem cells (GS-MSCs) in the progression of gastric carcinogenesis. METHODS We isolated GS-MSCs from gastric submucosa using ...

Spermatogonial stem cells have unique properties to self-renew and support spermatogenesis throughout their lifespan. Although glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has recently been identified as a self-renewal factor for spermatogonial stem cells, the molecular mechanism of spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal remains unclear. In the present study, we assessed the role of the ph...

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common malignant brain tumor in adults, contains a subpopulation of cells with a stem-like phenotype (GS-cells). GS-cells can be maintained in vitro using serum-free medium supplemented with epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor-2, and heparin. However, this method does not conserve amplification of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene,...

The effect of salinity on the activity of glutamine synthetase (GS EC 6.3.1.2.) and glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD(P)H-GDH EC 1.4.1.2-4) in shoots and roots of triticale seedlings was investigated. Stressed plants were cultured hydroponically on the 100 mM NaCl-enriched medium for 7 days and the physiological responses were measured. Apart from changes in morphology of plants, alterations in GS a...

Development of glutamine synthetase (GS) activity in the chick embryo retina has proved to be a useful system for studying control mechanisms in animal cells (6, 12, 2, 21) . The enzyme activity rises rapidly late in embryonic development (16) and can be induced prematurely both in culture and in ovo by a variety of steroids (10, 11, 7) . Piddington and Moscona (9) have shown that the time of G...

Rough colonial morphology and bacteriocin production, two properties which may be associated with the cariogenicity of Streptococcus mutans, were transformed into several strain GS-5 mutants defective in each respective property. Transformation was determined by observing the frequency of cotransfer of these properties with different reference markers. The rough colonial transformants were iden...

Two extracellular polysaccharide mutants of Streptococcus mutans GS-5 were obtained and examined. The mutants were distinguished by colonial morphology and by growth on and adherence to hard surfaces. A technique was devised which allowed these bacteria to be studied as they appeared when grown on a hard surface in liquid medium which contained sucrose. Negative stains, replicas, and scanning e...