This study was to investigate the effects of insulin-transferrin-selenium (ITS) on the proliferation and quantitative gene expression of adult human nasal septum chondrocytes in monolayer culture expansion and the formation of tissue engineered hyaline cartilage. Effects of ITS on human nasal septum chondrocytes monolayer culture expansion and gene expression were evaluated in various culture media either added with 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS) or 1 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor plus 1 ng/mL transforming growth factor or both serum and growth factors supplementation in comparison with medium added with 10%FBS. Chondrocytes cultured in medium added with 2% fetal bovine serum and growth factors either supplemented with or without ITS were then mixed with pluronic F-127 hydrogel for in vivo tissue engineered cartilage formation in nude mice model. Engineered tissues were removed after 8 weeks of implantation and evaluated with histological staining, immunohistochemistry, transmission electron microscopy and quantitative gene expression analysis. ITS promoted human chondrocytes proliferation and reduced chondrocytes dedifferentiation in media supplemented with serum and growth factors. ITS with 2% FBS and growth factors provided 15-fold increased in chondrocytes number by the end of the culture period compared to the standard culture medium used in chondrocytes culture (medium added with 10% FBS). Engineered tissue resulted from ITS supplementation demonstrated higher quality of cartilage formation. In conclusion, our study has demonstrated the benefits of ITS supplementation in human chondrocytes monolayer culture and tissue engineering cartilage formation.
Matched MeSH terms: Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Alzheimer's disease (AD) as a neurodegenerative brain disorder is the most common cause of dementia. To date, there is no causative treatment for AD and there are few preventive treatments either. The sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulator FTY720 (fingolimod) prevents lymphocytes from contributing to an autoimmune reaction and has been approved for multiple sclerosis treatment. In concert with other studies showing the anti-inflammatory and protective effect of FTY720 in some neurodegenerative disorders like ischemia, we have recently shown that FTY720 chronic administration prevents from impairment of spatial learning and memory in AD rats. Here FTY720 was examined on AD rats in comparison to the only clinically approved NMDA receptor antagonist, Memantine. Passive avoidance task showed significant memory restoration in AD animals received FTY720 comparable to Memantine. Upon gene profiling by QuantiGene Plex, this behavioral outcomes was concurrent with considerable alterations in some genes transcripts like that of mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and some inflammatory markers that may particularly account for the detected decline in hippocampal neural damage or memory impairment associated with AD. From a therapeutic standpoint, our findings conclude that FTY720 may suggest new opportunities for AD management probably based on several modulatory effects on genes involved in cell death or survival.