Aging is an inevitable process of life. Defined by progressive physiological and functional loss of tissues and organs, aging increases the risk of mortality for the organism. The aging process is ...affected by various factors, including genetic and epigenetic ones. Here, we review the chromatin-specific epigenetic changes that occur during normal (chronological) aging and in premature aging diseases. Taking advantage of the reversible nature of epigenetic modifications, we will also discuss possible lifespan expansion strategies through epigenetic modulation, which was considered irreversible until recently.
Interleukin (IL)-8 is a chemokine that is essential for inflammation and angiogenesis. IL-8 expression is elevated in tumor cell lines and tissues, as well as in peripheral blood obtained from cancer ...patients. Primary works have attempted to determine the biological effect of IL-8 on tumor cells, including cell proliferation, survival, and migration. More recently, IL-8 has acquired considerable attention as an immune modulator in the context of certain tumor microenvironments (TME); specifically, it can support a niche that favors tumor progression and metastasis. Tumor-derived IL-8 stimulates inflammation by interacting with the microenvironmental constituents, including fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells. However, the tumor immune system is complex, and mechanisms that construct the immune phenotype remain incompletely characterized. Herein, we will (1) address a potential role of IL-8 in regulating gene expression to establish immune landscape in tumor. Then, we will (2) review IL-8 signaling in the maintenance of stem cells and regulation of hematopoietic progenitors. Finally, (3) IL-8 functions will be discussed in naturally occurring animal cancers that offer a clinically realistic model for translational research. This chapter will provide a new insight into the tumor immune niche and help us develop immunotherapies for cancers.
Background
Transoral endoscopic thyroidectomy vestibular approach (TOETVA) is a novel remote‐access endoscopic approach. In this study, we compared the surgical outcomes of TOETVA with those of ...conventional transcervical approach (TCA) in two tertiary hospitals.
Methods
A total of 82 patients were done by TOETVA and 233 patients received TCA between January 2018 and April 2019. Propensity score matching was used to reduce selection bias.
Results
Operation time of the TOETVA group was longer than that of the TCA group. The mean number or retrieved lymph nodes were significantly higher in the TOETVA group. No significant difference was observed in the overall perioperative complications.
Conclusion
TOETVA is technically acceptable when compared to TCA in terms of equal baseline characteristics of patients. Although future large‐scale multicenter studies with longer follow‐up periods are needed, we expect this novel technique can be performed not only for cosmetic purposes but also for patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma.
ABSTRACT
Adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) have been shown to induce wound‐healing effects. Because inflammation near the wound area induces oxygen deficiency, it is interesting to elucidate the ...effect of hypoxia on the function of ADSCs. In this work, we asked: (1) does hypoxia alter the wound‐healing function of ADSCs? and (2) what are the major factors responsible for the alteration in the wound‐healing function? Effect of hypoxia on the proliferation of ADSCs was first examined that hypoxia (2% O2) enhanced the proliferation of ADSCs in either the presence of serum or in the absence of serum. The conditioned medium of ADSCs harvested under hypoxia (hypoCM) significantly promoted collagen synthesis and the migration of human dermal fibroblasts, compared with that in normoxia (norCM). In the animal studies, hypoCM significantly reduced the wound area compared with norCM. Furthermore, mRNA and protein measurements showed that hypoxia up‐regulated growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). Inhibition of VEGF and bFGF using neutralizing antibodies reversed the migration of the wounded human dermal fibroblasts and the healing of wounds in animal experiment. Collectively, these results suggest that hypoxia increases the proliferation of ADSCs and enhances the wound‐healing function of ADSCs, at least partly, by up‐regulating the secretion of VEGF and bFGF.
Summary Background Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are a population of pluripotent cells, which have characteristics similar to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Whereas ADSCs have ...potential applications for the repair and regeneration of various damaged tissues, few studies have dealt with the effect of ADSCs on fibroblasts, which play a key role in skin biology. Objective In this study, we investigated the possible roles of ADSCs in skin wound healing process, especially in the aspect of fibroblast activation—proliferation, collagen synthesis and migratory properties. Methods and results ADSCs promoted human dermal fibroblast (HDF) proliferation, not only by cell-to-cell direct contact, which was confirmed by co-culture experiment, but also by paracrine activation through secretory factors, resolved by transwell co-culture and culturing with conditioned medium of ADSCs (ADSC-CM). ADSC-CM enhanced the secretion of type I collagen in HDFs by regulating the mRNA levels of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins: up-regulation of collagen type I, III and fibronectin and down-regulation of MMP-1. Moreover, ADSC-CM showed stimulatory effect on migration of HDFs in in vitro wound healing models. Additional to those in vitro evidences, wound healing effect of ADSCs was also verified with in vivo animal study, resulted that ADSCs significantly reduced the wound size and accelerated the re-epithelialization from the edge. Conclusion Collectively, these data suggest that ADSC is constitutionally well suited for dermal wound healing and secretory factors derived from ADSCs promote wound healing via HDFs and ADSCs can be used for the treatment of photoaging and wound healing.
•Thiol functionalization on cellulose nanofiber surface imparting ability to adsorb metal ions.•Adsorption occurring only on the surface with homogeneously distributed adsorption energy.•Kinetic ...studies revealing the role of surface thiol in metal ion adsorption mechanism.•Expandability of cellulose for biocompatible, nontoxic, and sustainable water purification membrane applications.
This work reports the fabrication of a thiol-functionalized cellulose nanofiber membrane that can effectively adsorb heavy metal ions. Thiol was incorporated onto the surface of cellulose nanofibers, which were fabricated by the deacetylation of electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers and subsequent esterification of a thiol precursor molecule. Adsorption mechanism was investigated using adsorption isotherms. Adsorption capacity as a function of adsorbate concentration was described well with Langmuir isotherm, suggesting that metal ions form a surface monolayer with a homogenously distributed adsorption energy. Maximum adsorption capacities in the Langmuir isotherm for Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) ions were 49.0, 45.9, and 22.0 mg·g−1, respectively. The time-dependent adsorption capacities followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, suggesting that chemisorption of each doubly charged metal ion occurs with two thiol groups on the surface. These results highlight the significance of surface functionality on biocompatible, nontoxic, and sustainable cellulose materials to expand their potential and applicability towards water remediation applications.
Adipose‐derived stem cells (ASCs) have shown efficacy in promoting hair growth, while DKK1 inhibits the WNT pathway, which is associated with hair loss. Our study focused on investigating the ...expression of DKK1 in alopecia areata (AA), a condition characterised by significant increases in the DKK1 levels in human and mouse ASCs. Treatment of interferon‐γ increased the expression of DKK1 via STAT3 phosphorylation in ASCs. Treatment with recombinant DKK1 resulted in a decrease of cell growth in outer root sheath cells, whereas the use of a DKK1 neutralising antibody promoted hair growth. These results indicate that ASCs secrete DKK1, playing a crucial role in the progression and development of AA. Consequently, we generated DKK1 knockout (KO) ASCs using the Crispr/Cas9 system and evaluated their hair growth‐promoting effects in an AA model. The DKK1 KO in ASCs led to enhanced cell motility and reduced cellular senescence by activating the WNT signalling pathway, while it reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines by inactivating the NF‐kB pathway. As expected, the intravenous injection of DKK1‐KO‐ASCs in AA mice, and the treatment with a conditioned medium derived from DKK1‐KO‐ASCs in hair organ culture proved to be more effective compared with the use of naïve ASCs and their conditioned medium. Overall, these findings suggest that DKK1 represents a novel therapeutic target for treating AA, and cell therapy using DKK1‐KO‐ASCs demonstrates greater efficiency.
IFNγ stimulates an increase in DKK1 levels in adipose‐derived stem cells (ASCs) through the activation of the STAT3 pathway. The secreted DKK1 promotes inflammation and inhibits follicular growth. However, when DKK1 is knocked out in ASCs, it deactivates the NF‐kB pathway, resulting in reduced cytokine levels and suppression of the inflammatory response. Moreover, DKK1 knockout ASCs (DKK1‐KO‐ASCs) activate the Wnt pathway, enhancing the growth and migration abilities of the DKK1‐KO‐ASCs and reducing cellular senescence. As a result, DKK1‐KO‐ASCs exhibit an inhibitory effect on alopecia areata.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is an emerging trend, including in nontraditional technological sector (e.g., oil and gas industry). There are, however, a number of research challenges such ...using cryptography and other techniques to ensure security and privacy in IIoT applications and services. In this special issue, we present existing state-of-the-art advances reported by the 21 accepted papers. We then conclude the special issue with a number of potential research agenda.
Abstract Background Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) have wound-healing and antioxidant effects on human skin via secretion of growth factors and activation of dermal fibroblasts. Objective ...Paracrine mechanism reducing ultraviolet-B (UVB)-induced wrinkles by ADSC is investigated in this study. Methods and Results Wrinkles were induced by an eight-week UVB irradiation, and were significantly improved by the subcutaneous injection of ADSC in hairless mice. In a replica analysis, parameters involving wrinkles were improved with mid-level and high doses of ADSC (1 × 104 and 1 × 105 cells). Dermal thickness and collagen contents in the dermis also were increased in the ADSC-injected groups. To characterize the paracrine mechanism involving the antiwrinkle effect of ADSC, a conditioned medium of ADSC (ADSC-CM) was directly incubated in human dermal fibroblasts (HDF). UVB irradiation reduced the proliferation of HDF, but this was reversed by the pretreatment of ADSC-CM in a dose-dependent manner. In a cell cycle analysis, ADSC-CM decreased the UVB-induced apoptotic cell death, which was demonstrated by the reduced sub-G1 phase of HDF. In addition, the ADSC-CM increased the protein expression of collagen type I and decreased the protein level of matrix mataloproteinase 1 in HDF, which may account for the increased collagen contents in the dermis. Conclusions Collectively, these results indicate that the ADSC and its secretory factors are effective for UVB-induced wrinkles, and the antiwrinkle effect is mainly mediated by reducing UVB-induced apoptosis and stimulating collagen synthesis of HDF.
GPR40 is found primarily in pancreatic β cells, and is well known to regulate insulin secretion. Despite numerous studies on GPR40, the role and functions of GPR40 related to hair growth are not yet ...known. The current study investigated hair growth promoting effect of the GPR40 agonists and its mechanism of action using various bio-informatics tools, in vitro and animal experiments. GPR40 may affect the hair cycle, according to clustering and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). Hair growth effect of GPR40 was validated by telogen-to-anagen transition and vibrissae organ culture in the mouse. GPR40 was predominantly expressed in the outer root sheath (ORS) in anagen stage, suggesting that ORS cell is the target of GPR40 agonists. To investigate the mechanism of action for GPR40 agonists’ hair growth effect, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis was performed and it revealed that GPR40 agonists were associated with angiogenesis. ANGPTL4, known for promoting angiogenesis, was highly up-regulated after GPR40 agonists treatment in the hORS cells, and also increased the proliferation and migration. Furthermore, GPR40 agonists promoted hair growth by inducing angiogenesis via ANGPTL4 in the animal experiment. GPR40 agonists activated MAPK and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARγ) pathway in hORS cells, while the inhibition of MAPK pathway attenuated ANGPTL4 expression. Finally, GPR40 agonists increased hair growth via autocrine effects in the ORS cells, and induced angiogenesis through paracrine effects by upregulating ANGPTL4 via p38 and PPARγ pathways. As a result, GPR40 agonists have potential as a therapeutic drug for hair loss treatment.
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•Despite numerous studies on GPR40, the role and functions of GPR40 related to hair growth have yet to be reported.•GPR40 is predominantly expressed in the outer root sheath cell during the anagen stage of the hair cycle, indicating that the ORS cell is the target of GPR40.•GPR40 agonists accelerated the telogen-to-anagen transition and increased the hair length in vibrissae organ culture.•ANGPTL4 was significantly increased after GPR40 agonists treatment and mediated hair growth via p38 and PPARγ.
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