International Journal of Molecular and Cellular Medicine
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Winter 2012

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells or mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are mainly isolated from bone marrow or fat tissue. Because of their potential of multilineage differentiation towards bone, cartilage and fat tissue, they were initially evaluated to develop innovative strategies for tissue engineering applications. More recently, they have gained interest based on their immunomodulatory properties and have been tested in various clinical trials aiming at modulating the host immune response in graft-versus-host disease or autoimmune diseases. MSC-mediated immunomodulation occurs through the secretion of soluble mediators. The clinical applications of MSCs for rheumatic diseases are focusing on their potential to help tissue repair/regeneration and to prevent inflammation. The aim of the present review is to focus on the mechanisms by which MSCs might exhibit a therapeutic potential in rheumatology and present an update on the mechanisms involved in the therapeutic effect of MSCs. Special attention is given to their possible modulation for future innovative strategies.

In 1909, several years before the famous `Organizer’ experiments of Spemann and Mangold, Ethel Browne demonstrated induction of a secondary axis in hydra by grafting a hypostome. Based on this and subsequent work, in the late sixties, Lewis Wolpert proposed the theory of morphogen gradients and positional information. We have studied secondary axis induction by hypostome and foot tissue using three species of hydra as well as transgenic, GFP-expressing lines of hydra. We have found that pieces of hypostome and complete foot of a donor hydra can induce a secondary axis all along (in upper, middle or lower parts of) the body column of a host hydra, both within and across species with comparable rates. Thus, contrary to the available literature, our results show that the host hypostome does not completely inhibit the induction of a secondary axis. The length of the induced axis though is determined by the position of the graft. By using GFP-expressing lines of hydra we have demonstrated that host ectodermal and endodermal cells actively contribute to the secondary axis. On comparison, the hypostome was found to be a stronger and dominant Organizer than the foot. Foot grafting experiments show a transient increase in the host length as well as the distance between the two Organizers. The length becomes normal once the grafted foot reaches the budding zone. Our work brings out several new aspects of the role of positional cues in pattern formation in hydra that can be now be explored at cellular and molecular levels.

There are many effective chemothereutic agents used in influenza disease which some of them inhibit virus replication by interfering with FluV (influenza virus) viral binding or its penetration into cell membrane. A series of polyoxometalates compounds such as POM-523 and PM-504 have been synthesized and have showed inhibitory effects on viruses. In this study we examined anti influenza activity of a novel polyoxometalate derivative (POM-4960) synthesized in the Faculty of Chemistry of Damghan University of Basic Sciences.To evaluate the anti-influenza activity of POM, following the treatment of FluV with POM at different temperatures and incubation periods, viral titer reduction was assessed by haemaglutination assay (HA). The 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine TCID50 (tissue culture infective dose) of virus, CC50 (median cytotoxic concentration) of POM, protection percentage and antiviral activity of POM in cell culture. RT-PCR and direct Immunofluorescent assays were performed to evaluate the effect of POM on viral infection and viral RNA load, respectively. POM reduced HA titer near to zero in all cell culture specimens and showed high protection against viral infection of the cells. Reduction in viral infection was confirmed by RT-PCR and Immunofluorescent staining methods. Moreover, this POM derivative has a dual (cumulative) effect on attachment and penetration inhibition compared to other POM’s with just one inhibitory effect. POM-4960 could be considered as a powerful anti-influenza agent with low toxicity and high antiviral potency.

Members of the 14-3-3 protein family are involved in many important cellular events, including stress response, survival and apoptosis. Genes of the 14-3-3 family are conserved from plants to humans, and some members are responsive to UV radiation. Despite the high rate of pollution generated by nano-pollutants, up to now is totally obscure their toxic effect on development. Embryos treated with carbon nanoparticles, RNA preparation, retro-transcription and quantitative real-time PCR. In response to carbon nano-particles exposure, the embryos collected 24 h later showed a 3,07-fold at 5x1012 p and a 1,58-fold at 2.5x1013 p and a 1,92-fold at 2.5x1014 p increase in Pl14-3-3ε transcript levels compared with controls. The Pl14-3-3ε mRNA delocalization parallels the failure in archenteron elongation observed morphologically, as well as the lack of specific endoderm markers. Here, we report the isolation of the complete cDNA encoding the 14-3-3 epsilon isoform from Paracentrotus lividus sea urchin embryos, referred to as Pl14-3-3ε. Pl14-3-3ε mRNA levels were measured by RT-PCR during development and found to increase from the mesenchyme blastula to the prism stage. Our results confirm the involvement of 14-3-3ε in the stress response elicited by carbon nano-particles.

Sulfur Mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent which was widely used in the World War I and more recently during Gulf war in the early 1980s'. SM is a strong alkylating agent with known mutagenic and carcinogenic effects; but only few studies have been published on its teratogenicity. Since SM has been widely used as a chemical weapon by the Iraqi regime against the Iranian soldiers as well as the civilian population particularly pregnant women in the border area; therefore, the investigation of SM adverse effects on cleft malformations which is one of the most frequent congenital anomalies is considered in this study. An experimental work has been carried out in embryopathy in mouse with intraperitoneal injection of 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg SM at different periods of gestation. Cleft lip and palate were examined by stereomicroscopy. Current data demonstrate that exposure with SM on the 11th day of gestation can increase the incidence of cleft defects in comparison with control group (P<0.001). These results also show that SM treatment in GD 11 and 13 can lead to more anomalies compared with GD 14 (P<0.001). They also show that the teratogenic effects of SM are restrictively under the influence of the threshold dose and time of gestation. The present results suggest that exposure to sufficient doses of SM on critical days of gestation may increase the risk of congenital cleft malformations.

Teucrium polium can reduce serum glucose. There are few reports in the literature related to this subject and the resolution of this mechanism requires further experiments. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Teucrium polium aerial parts extracts on oral glucose tolerance tests and pancreas histology in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. In order to prepare the aqueous concentrate, aerial parts extract was dissolved in distilled water and was boiled for 30 minutes. For the preparation of ethanolic solution, powder was dissolved in ethanol and mixed by a shaker. Diabetic rats were induced with single IP injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight dissolved in normal saline just before use to the 16 hr fast rats. Both groups, diabetic and normal were sacrificed by ether anesthesia. The tissue samples were formalin fixed and paraffin embedded for microscopic examination in accordance with routine laboratory procedures. Blood was collected from the tail vein of the rats. Serum glucose levels were then measured by commercial kits by using a glucose oxidized method. There were no biochemical abnormalities or histological changes in the pancreas of control rats. Post treatment of Teucrium polium aerial parts extract reduced the severity of streptozotocin diabetic pancreases. Our histopathological investigation along with the biochemical evaluations showed a significant effect on histological changes in the pancreas of induced diabetic rats upon Teucrium polium aerial parts extract treatment (P<0.05).

Although the etiology of varicose veins remains unknown, recent studies have focused on endothelial cell integrity and function because the endothelium regulates vessel tone and synthesizes many pro- and anti-inflammatory factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the evidence involving the endothelium in the development of varicose vein disease. In addition, tissue remodeling was investigated in varicose veins to determine the expression of different types of collagen. Tissue specimens of superficial varicose veins and control saphenous vein were used for immunohistochemical and transmission electron microscope (TEM). α-smooth muscle actin, and collagen I, III, IV antibodies were applied for immunohistochemical investigation. Findings of this study showed alterations of the intima, such as focal intimal discontinuity and denudation of endothelium; and the media, such as irregular arrangements of smooth muscle cells and collagen fibres in varicose veins. Our findings showed some changes in terms of distribution of types I, III and IV collagen in the intima and media of varicose vein walls compared with controls. These alterations to the media suggest that the pathological abnormality in varicose veins may be due to the loss of muscle tone as a result of the breakup of its regular structure by the collagen fibres. These findings only described some changes in terms of distribution of these types of collagen in the intima and media of varicose vein walls which may result in venous wall dysfunction in varicosis.

Lymphomas are classified as Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (HL; NHL); NHL being further sub-divided into B, T and Null cell categories on the basis of WHO classification. With a few exceptions worldwide, B-NHL are more common, accounting approximately 80-85% of all cases of NHL compared to T-NHL, which accounts for about 10-15% of all NHL cases. The incidence of NHL has shown a steady increase and attention is being focused on the possible causes of this increase. Epidemiologic studies indicate that environmental factors do play a role in the causation of NHL, such as drugs, pesticides, solvents, hair dyes, viruses (EBV, HTLV-1, Hepatitic C and HIV) and Helicobacter pylori. Hence many different environmental factors of risk acting on large segments of the population can contribute for increase of NHL.