Emerging trends in cell-therapy based tissue repair have focused on the renewable source of adult stem cells including human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs). Due to immunomodulatory properties as well as a potential to differentiate into cells characteristic of all three germ layers, hMSCs provide a source of immature cells for utilization in cell-therapy based treatments. Marrow isolated adult multilineage inducible (MIAMI) cells are a homogeneous sub-population of hMSCs which maintain self-renewal potential during ex vivo expansion, in addition to efficiently undergoing trans-differentiation into neuron-like cells in vitro. Even though hMSCs have the potential to be used for neural tissue repair, the molecular mechanisms by which they are stimulated to become neuron-like cells have not been fully characterized. Therefore the work described herein focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which MIAMI cells undergo NT-3 dependent neuronal commitment. MIAMI cells express both the full length (FL-) and tyrosine kinase deficient (TKd-) isoforms of the NTRK3 receptor, the primary NT-3 receptor, at the protein level. NT-3 stimulation of MIAMI cells during neuronal commitment induced the phosphorylation of FL-NTRK3, degradation of TKd-NTRK3, downstream activation of the Mek1/2-Erk1/2 signaling cascade, and subsequent up-regulation of a limited number of pro-neuronal genes. These findings were verified using chemical inhibitors to block NTRK autophosphorylation (K252a) and Erk1/2 activation (U0126). TKd-NTRK3 is hypothesized to activate Rac1 upon NT-3 stimulation. Rac1 was found to suppress NT-3 stimulated Erk1/2 phosphorylation, as well as downstream gene expression, as determined using a Rac1 chemical inhibitor. Further characterization confirmed that Rac1b is the predominant Rac1 isoform in MIAMI cells. Rac1b siRNA mediated knock-down resulted in increased expression of the pro-neuronal genes NGN2, MAP2, NFH and NFL during NT-3 stimulation via regulation of Mek1/2-Erk1/2. Rac1b is also involved in NT-3 stimulated cell proliferation, as well as repression of CCND1 and CCNB1 mRNA expression. In an attempt to enhance neuronal differentiation of MIAMI cells, EGF and bFGF were used to pretreat MIAMI cells prior to NT-3 stimulated neuronal commitment. EGF/bFGF pretreatment increased NTRK3 and NTRK1 protein levels along with NT-3 stimulated Erk1/2 phosphorylation. In addition, bFGF versus EGF/bFGF pretreatment restricted the expression of the pro-neuronal transcription factors Ngn2 and Prox1 versus the neural stem cells self-renewal transcription factor Musashi-1, respectively. The culmination of this work provides a model for the NT-3 induced neuronal commitment of MIAMI cells in vitro, as well as insight into the neurogenic potential of MSCs for future applications in cell-therapy based tissue repair.

Heart failure is the leading cause of death worldwide. In 2013, the American Heart Association estimated that one American will die of cardiovascular disease every 39 seconds. While heart transplantation is the most viable treatment option, the limited availability of donor hearts has necessitated the search for treatment alternatives such as the use of adult stem cells for cardiac repair and regeneration. Following myocardial infarction (MI), the inflammatory cardiac microenvironment, limited survival of stem/progenitor cells, myocardial scarring and fibrosis affect cardiac regeneration. This dissertation examines adult stem cell based approaches for cardiac regeneration by studying the effect of i) H₂O₂- mediated oxidative stress on mesenchymal stem cells, ii) Notch1 activation in cardiac progenitor cells using a self-assembling peptide hydrogel containing the Notch1 ligand mimic RJ in vitro and functional consequences in a rat model of MI. Through these approaches, the central hypothesis that modulation of stem cell response using cues such as oxidative stress and activation of Notch1 signaling can improve functional outcome following myocardial infarction has been studied.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:50:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-07-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Introducao: Um dos objetivos da Medicina e superar os danos causados ao organismo por doencas, senilidade e traumas, restabelecendo um equilibrio normo-funcional. Nas perdas teciduais, inumeros autores afirmam que o substituto gideal h e o proprio tecido saudavel, de mesma origem ou o tecido produzido por Engenharia Tecidual (ET). Porem, ainda sao necessarias muitas pesquisas para a utilizacao in vivo. Objetivo: Avaliar tres suplementos hemoderivados, empregados em meios de cultivo, quanto a proliferacao celular e o dano celular de celulas-tronco de origem dentaria. Metodos: Foram realizados cinco experimentos a partir de dentes terceiros molares em desenvolvimento. Apos a digestao enzimatica, as celulas-tronco adultas foram cultivadas em quatro diferentes meios de cultivo. Meio I, isento de suplemento hemoderivado; meio II, suplementado com FBS (heterologo); meio III, suplementado com soro humano homologo; meio IV, suplementado com soro humano autologo. Essas culturas foram analisadas comparativamente quanto a proliferacao celular, submetidas a testes com marcadores Von Kossa e Alizarina Vermelha durante quatro semanas (avaliadas semanalmente) e a cada duas semanas quanto as unidades formadoras de colonias (UFCs). No 28o dia as quatro culturas foram submetidas ao teste do gcometa h, analisando-se possivel dano no DNA celular. Os resultados foram submetidos a analise estatistica de Variancia de Friedman, estabelecendo-se significancia para (p) . a 5%. Resultados: O meio de cultivo IV atingiu uma proliferacao celular superior ao Meio I, demonstrando um resultado significante (p*=0,0074). O meio de cultivo II, mostrou proliferacao superior ao meio I e desenvolvimento semelhante ao meio III, porem nenhum demonstrou significancia em relacao ao meio IV. Os resultados do teste do cometa evidenciaram um menor dano celular nas culturas do meio IV em relacao ao meio II e meio III. As UFCs foram numerosas nos meios IV e III respectivamente, havendo maior indice de mineralizacao no meio IV do que nos meios II e III. Conclusao: O meio de cultivo suplementado com hemoderivado autologo favoreceu significativamente a proliferacao celular. O hemoderivado humano mostrou-se viavel como suplemento nas culturas de celulas-tronco dentarias humanas. / Introduction: One among many aims of medicine is to overcome injuries inflicted to the organism by diseases, aging and trauma, re-establishing the usual functions. About tissues losses, several authors claim that the ideal replacement is the healthy tissue itself, originated from the same source or developed by Tissue Engineering (TE). However, much research is needed before in vivo application. Objective: To evaluate three different kinds of sera supplies used in stem cell culture media, as to cellular proliferation and cellular injuries on dental stem cell. Methods: Five experiments were made utilizing incompletely developed third molar teeth. After enzymatic digestion, the adult stem cells were cultivated in four different kinds of culture media. Medium I, serum free (SF); medium II, supplied with FBS (heterologous serum- HeS); medium III, supplied with homologous human serum (homologous serum- HoS) and medium IV, supplied with autologous human serum (autologous serum . AuHS).These cultures were analyzed comparatively as to cellular proliferation; they were submitted Von Kossa (VK) and Alizarin Red (AR) markers tests for four weeks (checked weekly), and each two weeks checked for Colonies Forming Unities (CFUs). On the 28th day, all four cultures were submitted to comet assay, and were inspected for possible cellular DNA injuries. The results underwent a non-parametric statistical Friedman fs variance test, with significance (p) . 5%. Results: Culture medium IV reached a cellular proliferation rate higher than medium I, showing a significant result (p*=0,0074). Culture medium II presented a superior proliferation result than medium I, and similar to medium III, although neither of them presented significant result when compared to medium IV. The comet assay fs results showed minor cellular DNA injury in the medium IV cultures, when compared to medium II and III cultures. The CFUs were numerous in the media IV and III cultures, respectively, and there was higher mineralization rate in the medium IV than in the media II and III. Conclusion: The culture medium supplied with AuHS significantly improved cellular proliferation. Human sera proved to be a viable supply to human dental stem cell culture. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Orientador: Ricardo Barini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T01:59:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ferraz_UbirajaraCosta_M.pdf: 1594344 bytes, checksum: e8aa86e55cf5506e54d472671ae37ff1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Objetivo: Avaliar a associação do intervalo de tempo entre coleta e processamento do sangue de cordão umbilical e a qualidade da amostra. Sujeitos e métodos: As amostras de sangue de cordão umbilical, colhidas no terceiro período do parto, foram acondicionadas em caixas homologadas para transporte de material biológico, com monitoração da temperatura, e enviadas ao Banco de Sangue de Cordão Umbilical, onde foram submetidas à contagem do número de células nucleadas, do número de células viáveis, do número de células CD 34+ e pesquisa de contaminação, nos intervalos de tempo de até 24, até 48 e até 72 horas. Os dados foram analisados pelo teste de variância para medidas repetidas MANOVA e comparados através do teste qui-quadrado de McNemar, considerando-se o nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: As médias e as medianas do número de células nucleadas, número de células viáveis e número de células CD34+ tiveram quedas significativas (P <0,0001) com o aumento do intervalo de tempo coleta/processamento, sendo entre 24 e 48 horas menor do que a comparação entre 24 e 72 horas. Constatada correlação linear entre as médias de células viáveis e células CD34+ nos três momentos da análise. A pesquisa de contaminação foi negativa em todas as amostras. Conclusões: O aumento do intervalo de tempo coleta/processamento influenciou negativamente na contagem de células nucleadas, células viáveis e CD34+ e não esteve associado à contaminação das amostras. Foi constatada correlação linear entre a queda do número de células viáveis e de células CD34+ / Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the association between the time interval from umbilical cord blood sampling until analysis and the quality of the sample. Materials and methods: Umbilical cord blood samples collected during the third stage of labor were placed in temperature-controlled boxes for the transport of biological material and sent to an umbilical cord blood bank, where the number of nucleated cells, the number of viable cells and the number of CD34+ cells were counted, and samples were additionally tested for contamination, at the following time intervals: up to 24 hours, up to 48 hours and up to 72 hours following sampling. The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and compared using McNemar's chi-square test. Significance was defined at p<0.05. Results: Means and medians of the number of nucleated cells, number of viable cells and number of CD34+ cells decreased significantly (p<0.0001) as a function of the increased time between sampling and analysis, the difference between 24 and 48 hours being less than the difference between 24 and 72 hours. A linear correlation was found between the mean number of viable cells and CD34+ cells at the three moments of analysis. Contamination testing was negative in all samples. Conclusions: The increase in the interval of time from sampling until analysis negatively affected the number of nucleated cells, viable cells and CD34+ cells but was not associated with specimen contamination. A linear correlation was found between the decrease in the number of viable cells and CD34+ cells / Mestrado / Tocoginecologia / Mestre em Tocoginecologia

Introdução: Atualmente a prostatectomia radical retropúbica tem sido responsável por grande parte dos casos de disfunção erétil de causa neurogênica. O desenvolvimento de técnicas como a cirurgia com preservação do feixe vásculo-nervoso, eletro-estimulação intra-operatória o uso de enxertos autólogos para se reestabelecer a comunicação dos nervos cavernosos têm minimizado o grau de lesão neuronal. Entretanto, faz-se necessária a criação de novos métodos de restauração do nervo cavernoso. Neste estudo, investigaremos o uso e a aplicação de células tronco adultas de medula óssea de ratos e sua capacidade para regeneração do nervo cavernosos lesado e para restauração da função erétil em ratos. Objetivo: Avaliar a influência de células tronco adultas da medula óssea de ratos na regeneração do nervo cavernosos lesado, tomando-se como parâmetro o retorno da função erétil nos animais submetidos ao teste de ereção induzido pela apomorfina. Material e Método: Quarenta e oito ratos Wistar-EPM machos, com idades entre 9 e 10 semanas, pesando aproximadamente 250 gramas foram usados e randomicamente subdivididos em quatro grupos de estudo contendo 12 animais cada. Os grupos experimentais foram divididos em: Grupo I: exposição cirúrgica bilateral nervo cavernoso sem lesão do mesmo.Grupo II: lesão cirúrgica bilateral do nervo cavernoso de aproximadamente 3 mm, sem reconstrução. Grupo III: lesão cirúrgica bilateral dos nervos cavernosos de aproximadamente 3 mm, e reconstrução bilateral com sondas guias de silicone contendo solução salina em seu interior. Grupo IV: lesão cirúrgica bilateral dos nervos cavernosos de aproximadamente 3 mm, e reconstrução bilateral com sondas guias de silicone semeadas com células-tronco adultas em seu interior. Quatro semanas após a cirurgia, os animais foram injetados com apomorfina para indução da ereção. Resultados: No grupo I observou-se resposta erétil completa em todos os animais (100% - 12 em 12). Por outro lado nenhum dos animais do grupo II apresentou ereções após a admnistração de apomorfina. Cinco dos doze animais do grupo III (41,7%) apresentaram ereções enquanto que nove dos 12 animais do grupo IV (75%) evidenciaram ereções após o estímulo. Quando foram comparadas as frequências de restauro de ereção nos quatro grupos, demonstrou-se que grupo IV teve um comportamento semelhante ao grupo I (p = 0,217), ao passo que os animais do grupo III apresentaram frequência de ereções inferiores aos do grupo I (p = 0,005). Por outro lado, a comparação dos resultados entre os grupo III e IV versus o grupo II, demostrou que a frequência de ereções foi estatisticamente superior nos dois primeiros grupos (p = 0,037 e p < 0,001, respectivamente). Finalmente, o grupo IV apresentou tendência a maior número de ereções quando comparado ao grupo III (75% versus 41,7%) mas essa diferença não foi estatisticamente significante (p = 0,098). Conclusão: O presente estudo demonstra que células tronco adultas da medula óssea, semeadas em sondas guias de silicone, favorecem a regeneração dos nervos cavernosos e promovem o reestabelecimento da função erétil em um modelo animal. / Objective: To assess the influence of adult stem cells from bone marrow of rats in the regeneration of cavernous nerve, taking as a parameter the return of erectile function in animals subjected to the test of erection induced by apomorphine. Methods: Forty-eight WISTAR-EPM male rats, aged between 9 and 10 weeks, weighing approximately 250 grams were used and randomly divided into four groups of study containing 12 animals each. The experimental groups were divided into: Group I: surgical exposure of bilateral cavernous nerves without injury. Grupo II: surgical bilateral lesion of cavernous nerve with approximately 3 mm, without reconstruction. Group III: surgical bilateral lesion of cavernous nerves of approximately 3 mm, and bilateral reconstruction with silicone tube containing saline solution inside. Group IV: surgical bilateral lesion of cavernous nerves of approximately 3 mm, and bilateral reconstruction with silicone tube containing adult stem-cells inside. Four weeks after surgery, the animals were injected with apomorphine for induction of erection. Results: In Group I there was complete erectile response in all animals (100% - 12 in 12). On the other hand none of the animals in Group II presented erection after the use of apomorphine. Five of the twelve animals of group III (41.7%) had erections while nine of the 12 animals of Group IV (75%) showed them after the stimulus. When we compared the frequency of restoration of erection in the four groups, it was shown that group IV had similar performance to the group I (p = 0,217), while the animals in Group III had a frequency of erections inferiors to the Group I (P = 0,005). Moreover, comparison of results between the group III and IV versus the group II, showed that the frequency of erections was statistically higher in the first two groups (p = 0,037 p < 0,001, respectively). Finally, the group IV presented trend the largest number of erections when compared to Group III (75% versus 41.7%) but this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0,098). Conclusion : This study shows that adult stem cells from bone marrow, sown in probes silicone guides, promote the regeneration of cavernous nerves and restore erectile function in an animal model.

Células-tronco adultas podem ser isoladas de vários tecidos, dentre eles a polpa dentária humana, tecido originado na papila dentária do dente em desenvolvimento. Estas linhagens multipotentes podem ser estudadas sob vários aspectos, como na elucidação da histogênese de tumores. O objetivo deste estudo foi inferir a histogênese do mixoma odontogênico, neoplasia odontogênica benigna, analisando a expressão de proteínas da matriz extracelular (MEC) e de metaloproteinases da matriz (MMPs) em células-tronco adultas de polpa dentária humana. Três linhagens diferentes de células-tronco originadas de polpas dentárias humanas IDPSCs (DL-1, DL-2 e DL4) foram utilizadas. As proteínas analisadas foram as mesmas expressas na neoplasia: vimentina, colágeno tipo I, fibronectina, tenascina, ácido hialurônico e MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-2 e MMP-9). Imunofluorescência e ensaios enzimáticos foram utilizados para analisar a presença de proteínas nas células cultivadas e no meio de cultura condicionado por estas células, respectivamente. Todas as linhagens celulares expressaram a vimentina e nenhuma expressou o ácido hialurônico. A linhagem celular DL-1 expressou todas as outras proteínas da matriz extracelular estudadas, enquanto que na linhagem DL-2 apenas não foi observada a expressão do colágeno tipo I. Fibronectina e tenascina não foram observados na linhagem DL-4. Todas as linhagens expressaram todas as MMPs, sendo que a produção de MMP-2 nas três linhagens foi significantemente maior que a de todas outras MMPs. Baseado nas condições deste estudo, é possível concluir que a expressão de proteínas da MEC e de MMPs em células-tronco de polpa dentária humana apresentaram perfil similar àquela apresentada no mixoma odontogênico, exceto pela ausência de marcação do ácido hialurônico em todas as linhagens. A ausência de secreção de ácido hialurônico pelas IDPSCs poderia indicar que o mixoma odontogênico deriva de uma célula mais diferenciada que as células-tronco. / Adult stem cells can be isolated from different tissues including the human dental pulp, a structure originated from the dental papillae. These cell lineages are of importance in a series of studies, as the analysis of tumors histogenesis. The aim of this study was to infer the histogenesis of odontogenic myxoma, a benign odontogenic neoplasia by analyzing the ECM and MMPs molecules expressed in human dental pulp stem cells. Three different lineages of immature dental pulp stem cells (IDPSCs) (DL-1, DL-2 and DL-4) were used. The proteins searched were those expressed by the tumoral cells: vimentin, type I collagen, fibronectin, tenascin and hialuronic acid (HA) and the matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9). Immunofluorecence and enzymatic assays were used for analyzing the presence of the proteins in the cells and in the culture media conditioned by the cells, respectively. All the lineages expressed vimentin; however none expressed HA. DL-1 lineage expressed all the other ECM proteins, and the expression of type I collagen was not observed in the DL-2 lineage. Fibronectin and tenascin were not observed in the DL-4 lineage. All the lineages expressed all the MMPs. The release of MMP-2 from all cell lineages was significantly higher than those of all other MMPs. Based on the conditions of this study its possible to conclude that the overall expression of MEC proteins and MMPs in the lineages of human dental pulp stem cells were similar to those found in the odontogenic myxoma, except for the absence of hyaluronic acid. The absence of HA secretion by the IDPSCs could indicate that the odontogenic myxoma tumoural cells derive from a cell more differentiated than the stem cells.

Introdução. O transplante de células é possibilidade terapêutica promissora para muitas doenças neurológicas. Nos últimos anos, a possibilidade do isolamento de células-tronco dos tecidos adultos, por exemplo da medula-óssea, atrai a atenção da comunidade científica, estratégia que minimiza os problemas éticos relativos ao uso de tecido fetal para implantes visando ao tratamento de doenças neurológicas. Entretanto, a eficiência da transdiferenciação de células-tronco mesenquimais em neurônios, bem como os mecanismos envolvidos nesse processo, permanecem desconhecidos. A obtenção de neurônios maduros ocorreu somente em sistemas de co-cultura, o que induz a questão se a diferenciação representa um potencial das células per si, ou se é possível somente devido à fusão com neurônios maduros. Objetivos. No presente trabalho, pretendeu-se verificar o potencial de as células-tronco mesenquimais tornarem-se neurônios e esclarecer os possíveis mecanismos envolvidos nesse processo. Material e métodos. Células-tronco mesenquimais foram isoladas de 20 doadores voluntários normais e caracterizadas por análise de separação celular ativada por fluorescência. A multipotencialidade foi investigada ao se diferenciar as células em condrócitos e osteócitos. A capacidade de auto-renovação foi confirmada pelo ensaio de incorporação de BrdU. Ulteriormente, as células foram diferenciadas por uma semana em meio contendo AMPc, IBMX, ou combinação de ambos, e os resultados foram comparados com o cultivo em meio básico. Diferentes bloqueadores de Ca2+ ou inibidores de PKA foram usados como tentativa de se impedir a diferenciação, ocorrência que foi mensurada com imunocitoquímica para NF-200 (marcador de neurônios maduros). O registro eletrofisiológico por meio de patch clamp foi usado para se confirmar o fenótipo neuronal. As figuras foram configuradas em microscopia confocal. Para análise estatística foi utilizada ANOVA com teste post-hoc. Resultados. As células isoladas expressaram CD90, 105, 44 e 13 mas foram negativas para CD34 e 45. Isto significa que não são de origem hematopoiética; 98,74 ± 0,43% das células incorporaram BrdU em 24 horas. Após o isolamento, foi possível diferenciá-las em condrócitos ou osteócitos. Em situação controle, não foram evidenciadas células positivas para NF200. Por outro lado, ocorreu positividade em 10,75% ± 1,35 (p<0,0001) das células sob IBMX e, em 15,18% ± 1,12, sob a combinação cAMP e IBMX (p<0,0001). Foram registradas correntes de Na+ e K+ dependentes de voltagem, mas não potenciais de ação. A diferenciação foi inibida com PKAi (5,73% ± 0,42, p<0,0001), nifedipina (5,79% ± 0,98, p<0,0001), Ni2+ (7,06% ± 1,68, p<0,0001) e Cd2+ (0 ± 0, p<0,0001). Discussão. Isolou-se uma população de células-tronco estromais da medula-óssea de seres humanos que se mostrou multipotencial e auto-renovável. O aumento da concentração de AMPc no meio elevou a concentração de neurônios para 15%. A diferenciação parece depender da via PKA mas também envolve a concentração intracelular de Ca2+. Conclusão. O correto entendimento de como as células-tronco mesenquimais diferenciam-se pode contribuir para aumentar a eficácia do método e, talvez um dia, tornar possível o uso dessa ferramenta no campo clínico. / Introduction. Cell transplantation has been considered a promising therapeutic approach for many neurological diseases. The possibility of isolation of stem cells from adult tissues, i.e. bone marrow, has attracted the attention of the scientific community in the recent years. This strategy is interesting on avoiding the ethical issues regarding the use of fetal tissue for neural implants. Moreover, the efficiency of the transdifferentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into neurons, and the mechanisms involved in this process remain largely unknown. The obtention of mature neurons was described only in coculture systems, what raised the question if the differentiation is a potential of the cells itself, or if it is possible only due to fusion with mature neurons. Objectives. In the present investigation, we aimed to verify the potential of MSCs to differentiate into neurons, and also to clarify the possible mechanisms involved on it. Material and methods. MSCs were isolated from 20 healthy human subjects and characterized by FACS-analysis. Multipotentiality was addressed by differentiating them into chondrocytes and osteocytes. The self-renewal capacity was confirmed with BrdU-incorporation assay. Afterwards, cells were differentiated for 1 week in a medium containing cAMP, IBMX, or a combination of both, and the results were compared with cells treated in basal-medium condition. Different Ca2+-blockers and PKA-inhibitor peptide were used on an attempt to impair differentiation, which was quantified with NF-200 immunostaining (a marker of mature neurons). Patch-clamp recording was used to confirm neuronal phenotype. Pictures were taken in confocal microscope. For statistical analysis ANOVA with a post-hoc test was used. Results. The isolated cells expressed CD90, 105, 44, and 13, but were negative for CD34 and 45, meaning that they were non-hematopoiethic; 98.74 ± 0.43 % of them incorporated BrdU in 6hs. After isolation, they differentiated into chondrocytes and osteocytes. In a control situation, no NF200 positive cell was seen. On the other hand, 10.75% ± 1.35 (p<.0001) of positivity was seen under IBMX and 15.18% ± 1.12 in the combination of cAMP with IBMX (p<.0001). Na+ and K+-voltage gated currents were recorded. Differentiation was impaired with PKAi (5.73% ± 0.42, p<.0001), nifedipin (5.79% ± 0.98, p<.0001), Ni2+ (7.06% ± 1.68, p<.0001), and Cd2+ (0 ± 0, p<.0001). Discussion. We were able to isolate a population of stromal stem cells from the bone marrow of human subjects, since they were multipotential and self-renewable. Increasing the concentration of cAMP raised the percentage of neurons up to 15%. The differentiation seems to be dependent on the PKA pathway, but also involved the intracellular concentration of Ca2+. Conclusions. The complete understanding of how MSC differentiate can contribute to increase the efficiency of the method and thus make possible to use this powerful tool in the clinical practice.

Despite the importance of integrins in epithelial cell biology surprisingly little is known about their regulation. It is known that they form hemidesmosomes (HDs), are actively involved in cell contacts during cell migration/invasion, and are key signaling molecules for survival and growth. However, there has been a distinct lack of understanding about what controls the dynamic integrin localization during cell activation and movement. Growth factors, such as EGF, are elevated during wound healing and carcinoma invasion leading to phosphorylation of ITGβ4 and the disassembly of the HD and mobilization of ITGβ4 to actin-rich protrusions. More recently the phosphorylation of a novel site on ITGβ4 (S1424) was found to be distinctly enriched on the trailing edge of migrating cells, suggesting a possible mechanism for the dissociation of ITGβ4 from HDs. Arrestin family member proteins are involved in the regulation of cell surface proteins and vesicular trafficking. In this study, we find that over-expression of arrestin family member ARRDC3 causes internalization and proteosome-dependent degradation of ITGβ4, while decreased levels of ARRDC3 stabilizes ITGβ4 levels. These results lead us to a new mechanism of ITGβ4 internalization, trafficking and degradation. During migration, ARRDC3 co-localizes with ITGβ4 on the lagging edge of cells but has a distinct distribution on the leading edge of cells. Additional immuno co-precipitation experiments demonstrate that ARRDC3 preferentially binds to ITGβ4 when phosphorylated on S1424. Using confocal microscopy, we show that the expression pattern of ARRDC3 on the lagging edge of a migrating cell is identical to the expression pattern of ITGβ4-pS1424. We demonstrate that ARRDC3 expression represses cell proliferation, migration, invasion, growth in soft agar and tumorigenicity. Collectively, our data reveals that ARRDC3 is a negative regulator of β4 integrin and demonstrates how this new pathway impacts biologic processes in stem cell and cancer biology. Additionally, as ARRDC3 is highly expressed in several tissues and conserved across species, our results are likely to be translated to other models.

La thérapie cellulaire est une avenue pleine de promesses pour la régénération myocardique, par le remplacement du tissu nécrosé, ou en prévenant l'apoptose du myocarde survivant, ou encore par l'amélioration de la néovascularisation. Les cellules souches de la moelle osseuse (CSMO) expriment des marqueurs cardiaques in vitro quand elles sont exposées à des inducteurs. Pour cette raison, elles ont été utilisées dans la thérapie cellulaire de l'infarctus au myocarde dans des études pre-cliniques et cliniques. Récemment, il a été soulevé de possibles effets bénéfiques de l'ocytocine (OT) lors d’infarctus. Ainsi, l’OT est un inducteur de différenciation cardiaque des cellules souches embryonnaires, et cette différenciation est véhiculée par la voie de signalisation du monoxyde d’azote (NO)-guanylyl cyclase soluble. Toutefois, des données pharmacocinétiques de l’OT lui attribue un profil non linéaire et celui-ci pourrait expliquer les effets pharmacodynamiques controversés, rapportés dans la lttérature. Les objectifs de ce programme doctoral étaient les suivants : 1) Caractériser le profil pharmacocinétique de différents schémas posologiques d'OT chez le porc, en développant une modélisation pharmacocinétique / pharmacodynamique plus adaptée à intégrer les effets biologiques (rénaux, cardiovasculaires) observés. 2) Isoler, différencier et trouver le temps optimal d’induction de la différenciation pour les CSMO porcines (CSMOp), sur la base de l'expression des facteurs de transcription et des protéines structurales cardiaques retrouvées aux différents passages. 3) Induire et quantifier la différenciation cardiaque par l’OT sur les CSMOp. 4) Vérifier le rôle du NO dans cette différenciation cardiaque sur les CSMOp. Nous avons constaté que le profil pharmacocinétique de l’OT est mieux expliqué par le modèle connu comme target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD), parce que la durée du séjour de l’OT dans l’organisme dépend de sa capacité de liaison à son récepteur, ainsi que de son élimination (métabolisme). D'ailleurs, nous avons constaté que la différenciation cardiomyogénique des CSMOp médiée par l’OT devrait être induite pendant les premiers passages, parce que le nombre de passages modifie le profile phénotypique des CSMOp, ainsi que leur potentiel de différenciation. Nous avons observé que l’OT est un inducteur de la différenciation cardiomyogénique des CSMOp, parce que les cellules induites par l’OT expriment des marqueurs cardiaques, et l'expression de protéines cardiaques spécifiques a été plus abondante dans les cellules traitées à l’OT en comparaison aux cellules traitées avec la 5-azacytidine, qui a été largement utilisée comme inducteur de différenciation cardiaque des cellules souches adultes. Aussi, l’OT a causé la prolifération des CMSOp. Finalement, nous avons observé que l'inhibition de la voie de signalisation du NO affecte de manière significative l'expression des protéines cardiaques spécifiques. En conclusion, ces études précisent un potentiel certain de l’OT dans le cadre de la thérapie cellulaire cardiomyogénique à base de cellules souches adultes, mais soulignent que son utilisation requerra de la prudence et un approfondissement des connaissances. / Cell therapy has been suggested as a promising treatment for myocardial regeneration through cardiomyocyte replacement or by preventing apoptosis of surviving myocardium and/or improving neovascularisation. Bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) express cardiac markers in vitro upon stimulation with different inducers. The BMSCs have been used as cell therapy after myocardial infarction (MI) in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Recent reports have uncovered the potential beneficial effects of oxytocin (OT) after MI. Particularly, OT is an inducer of cardiomyogenic differentiation of embryonic stem cells and this differentiation is mediated by the nitric oxide (NO)-soluble guanylyl cyclase pathway. However, some studies have shown that OT exhibits nonlinear pharmacokinetics and that this could explain the previously described controversial hemodynamic alterations. Therefore the objectives of the present work were to: 1) Characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of different dosing regimens of OT in swine, by using a more suitable pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic modelization that could explain the time-course of cardiovascular and renal effects observed following OT administration. 2) To isolate, differentiate and find the optimum time of porcine BMSC (pBMSC) differentiation based on the expression of cardiac related transcription factors and structural proteins expressed at different passages. 3) To induce and quantify the OT-mediated cardiomyogenic differentiation of pBMSCs. 4) To document the role of the NO pathway in the OT-mediated cardiomyogenic differentiation of pBMSCs. We found that OT pharmacokinetics are better explained by target-mediated drug disposition (TMDD) kinetics, because the time-course of plasma OT concentration depends on the binding capacity to its receptor, as well as OT elimination (metabolism). Also, we found that OT-mediated cardiomyogenic differentiation of pBMSCs should be induced during the first passages, because passaging affects the phenotypic profile of pBMSCs, as well as the differentiation potential of pBMSCs. We observed that OT induces cardiomyogenic differentiation of pBMSCs, because OT-induced cells expressed cardiac markers, and the expression of cardiac specific proteins was more abundant in OT-treated cells vs. 5-azacytidine-treated cells, which has been used widely as a cardiomyogenic differentiation inducer of adult stem cells. Moreover, OT improved proliferation of pBMSCs. Finally, we observed that the inhibition of the NO pathway significantly affects the expression of cardiac specific proteins. To conclude, these studies demonstrate some interesting potential in cardiomyogenic differentiation of adult stem cells for OT, but its precise role in cell therapy will need prudence and further investigations.