The erythropoietin (EPO) belongs to the family of angiogenic factors, which is regulated by Hypoxia-inducible factor- 1α (HIF-1α). As known, EPO are expressed in human villi and decidua, but the function is not clear. In this study, we investigated the expression and roles of HIF-1α, EPO and its receptor (EPOR) in the biological functions of trophoblast and decidual stromal cell (DSC) in human ...

BACKGROUND The inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) protects the heart from acute myocardial ischemia. However, the role of DPP4 in chronic heart failure independent of coronary artery disease remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS We first localized the membrane-bound form of DPP4 to the capillary endothelia of rat and human heart tissue. Diabetes mellitus promoted the activation of the...

In situ tissue regeneration approach aims to exploit the body's own biological resources and reparative capability and recruit host cells by utilizing cell-instructive biomaterials. In order to immobilize and release bioactive factors in biomaterials, it is important to engineer the load effectiveness, release kinetics and cell recruiting capabilities of bioactive molecules by using suitable bo...

Stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α has been reported to play a crucial role in stem cell homing and recruitment to injured sites. However, no information is available about its role in periodontal tissues. The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 on SDF-1α expression in immortalized periodon...

Stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) is a well-characterized chemokine that mobilizes stem cells homing to the ischemic heart, which is beneficial for cardiac regeneration. However, clinically administered native SDF-1α diffuses quickly, thus decreasing its local concentration, and results in side effects. Thus, a controlled release system for SDF-1α is required to produce an effective local...

CXCR4, stromal cell-derived factor-1α(SDF 1α) receptor, stimulates growth and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) governs the expression of some metastasis-related genes. Here we report that AFP and CXCR4 levels correlated in HCC tissues. AFP-expressing vectors induced CXCR4. In agreement, AFP depletion by siRNA decreased CXCR4. AFP co-localized and interacted w...

BACKGROUND Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are believed to play an essential role in cancer initiation and development. However, little research has been undertaken to evaluate the role of CAFs in endometrial cancer (EC) progression. We aim to detect the functional contributions of CAFs to promote progression of EC. METHODS Stromal fibroblasts were isolated from endometrioid adenocarcino...

PURPOSE Although stromal-cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α is suggested to be involved in tumorigenicity and tumor angiogenesis, the clinicopathological significance of its expression in colorectal cancers is not fully understood. We examined SDF-1α expression in colorectal cancers and investigated its relationship to clinicopathological features such as tumor staging, lymph-node metastasis, vascula...

Therapeutic delivery of regeneration-promoting biological factors directly to the site of injury has demonstrated its efficacy in various injury models. Several reports describe improved tissue regeneration following local injection of tissue specific growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. Evidence exists that combined cytokine/growth factor treatment is superior for optimizing tissue repair...

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth, 1 and it has been shown that anti-angiogenic therapy has been proven to be effective in several cancers such as colorectal cancer 2,3 and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 4 Currently available anti-angiogenic cancer chemotherapy targets the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway by VEGF monoclonal antibody (bevacizumab) 3 or multi-targeted r...