Mouse stem cells

Burn Treatment. Patients who have suffered severe burns may be treated with grafts of skin grown from their own cells. To promote the rapid growth of these grafts, the human skin cells are cultured in a laboratory together with mouse stem cells. This particular xenotransplantation application has already been tested for safety and effectiveness and is in clinical use. 

Figure 7. Survival of frozen-thawed mouse marrow stem cells based on colonyforming activity) as a function of the concentration of glycerol in the tyrode saline suspending medium. (From Leibo et al., 1970.)...

Adding another layer of complexity to the regulation of mast cell activation levels in vivo is the observation that activated mast cells can respond to, and in some cases produce, a myriad of mediators that may serve to amplify FceRI-induced responses. For example, stem cell factor (SCF), the ligand for KIT, both can enhance FceRI-dependent activation of mouse or human mast cells and, under certain circumstances, can directly induce mast cell degranulation [6, 25, 62]. Thus, elevated SCF levels and/or activating KIT mutations (such as those that occur in mastocytosis) may exacerbate mast cell-driven reactions. Indeed, patients (both adult and children) with extensive skin disease associated with mastocytosis are at increased risk to develop severe anaphylaxis [63]. Moreover, it was recently reported that cases of idiopathic anaphylaxis are... 

Fig. 1. Surface phenotype of HSPCs. Primitive HSPCs have the phenotype of c-KitThy-ll0WLin CD34+CD33 in humans, and the mouse counterparts have the phenotype of c-KifThy-llowLin Sca-l+. Primitive HSPCs express CXCR4 as the major chemokine receptor and various adhesion molecules such as VLA-4, VLA-5, LFA-1, P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1), and CD44 for migration to the stem cell niche.

This suggests that cyclin A2 is not essential for the early embryonic cell cycles. Also D-type cyclins seem to be dispensable for the early mouse embryo cell cycle progression since embryonic stem (ES) cells do not express them at all before differentiation (Savatier et al 1996). We do not know, however, whether the D-type cyclins are also absent in the early embryo. These observations suggest that not only could the first cell cycles of the mouse embryo have specific modifications, but also further embryonic cell cycles are specifically modified as well. Mammalian embryonic cell cycles are probably modified often during development. Such studies could allow us to determine a profile of a minimal cell cycle in mammals which must, however, be much more complex than a simple S M phase embryonic cell cycle of amphibians or insects. 

Zhu, L. et al. (2007) DNA damage induced by multiwalled carbon nanotubes in mouse embryonic stem cells. Nano Letters Issues, 7 (12), 3592-3597. 

Fig. 13 Phase contrast microscope images of mouse embryonic stem cells in the PMBV/PVA hydrogel left) and on TCPS (right)...

Takahashi K, Yamanaka S (2006) Induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse embryonic and adult fibroblast cultures by defined factors. Cell 126 663-676... 

Such cells are often classified on the basis of their original source as either embryonic or adult stem cells. As the name suggests, embryonic stem cells are derived from the early embryo, whereas adult stem cells are present in various tissues of the adult species. Much of the earlier work on embryonic stem cells was conducted using mouse embryos. Human embryonic stem cells were first isolated and cultured in the laboratory in 1998. Research on adult stem cells spans some four decades, with the discovery during the 1960s of haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow (Chapter 10). However, the exact distribution profile, role and ability to manipulate adult stem cells (particularly those outside of the bone marrow) are subjects of intense current research, and for which more questions remain than are answered. 

Figure 14.18 Some cell types reported to have been produced via in vitro directed differentiation from either mouse or human embryonic stem cells. Potential uses for such cell types in regenerative medicines are listed in italics...

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