To compare the safety of therapy in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) who have received combination anti-inflammatory therapy using bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and standard therapy with 5-aminosalicylic acid, glucocorticosteroids, and immunosuppressive agents.

Recent data obtained at the junction of biochem: istry, molecular and cell biology and experimental oncology, showed that the formation of secondary foci of tumor growth during cancer progression--metastasis formation--is a highly determinate and regulated process. This process includes on the one hand the appearance of metastatic population of cells with special characteristics that allow their dissemination and seeding in distant organs and on the other.hand the formation of specific attractive micro environment in target organs. These cells show the ability to switch their motility to the most effective mode depending on the properties of the surrounding tissues (plasticity), appearance of specific receptors on the cell surface, which enhance their directed migration to target organs and acquisition of some characteristics of stem cells, allowing them to survive and reproduce in alien microenvironment. These alterations are strongly coordinated with development of a specific nichein the target organ which stimulates initiation and growth of a future metastasis, so-called premetastatic niche. In this review we analyzed recent data concerning mechanisms which regulate the emergence of metastatic population of cells, development of premetastatic niches and coordination of these processes:.

The authors present the material of their study of the morphological and molecular biological features of damage to the stem cell niches (SCN) in the respiratory acini of the lung and the significance of their occurring changes in the pathogenesis of chronic idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIP), including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP), cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) with bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP).

The current article briefly reviews the projects of development of combat burn injury treatment as they have been presented in the US Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine 2013 annual report. Eleven projects have been reviewed, in particular: P12 polypeptide for limiting burn injury progression, gamma keratose gelfor enhancement skin cell survival, starch-polyurethane iodophor dressing effective against the most common burn infection, microorganisms, autologous stem and progenitor cells for single cell cytotransplantation by "skin gun" spray device or 3D skin bioprinting, a bioreactor for skin autotransplant expansion.

We studied the influence on hemodynamics and radioprotective activity of two inhibitors of NO-synthase (NOS)--isothiourea derivatives with different NOS isoform selectivity: T1023--a selective inhibitor of endothelial and inducible NOS; and NTT2--a highly selective inhibitor of neuronal NOS. Both compounds at a dose of 1/7 LD50/15 caused a vasopressive effect and baroreflex response in normal Wistar rats. However, the nature of hemodynamic changes was qualitatively different. T1023 caused a prolonged elevation of vascular tone and reflex shift resulted in a significant and lasting reduction in the systemic blood flow (35-45%), which created conditions for the development of circulatory hypoxia. The use of NTT2 caused a reflex change in hemodynamics accompanied by vasodilation; and systemic blood flow was maintained at the initial level. T1023 effectively protected mice subjected to 10 Gy γ-irradiation and their bone marrow stem cells irradiated with 6 Gy, not yielding to the radioprotective effect of cystamine. NTT2 at these doses did not show any radioprotective effect. The obtained results support the leading mechanism of the radioprotective effect of NOS inhibitors is the induction of hypoxia. With this mechanism of action a significant radioprotective activity can be expected for the inhibitors which effectively suppress primarily endothelial NOS.

Radioresistance of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is regarded as one of the possible causes of cancer recurrence after radiotherapy. Since the regularities and mechanisms of radiation effects on this population of cells have not been sufficiently studied, the aim of this work is to elucidate the changes in the CSC number after γ-irradiation in stable cultures of tumor cells in vitro and tumor tissue in vivo (in the course of radiation therapy of patients with cancers of the upper respiratory tract). CSCs were identified in the cell lines B16, MCF-7, HeLa by the ability to exclude the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33342 (SP method) 48-72 h after irradiation at the doses of 1-20 Gy and in biopsy material by immunophenotype CD44+CD24(-/low) before and 24 h after irradiation at the total dose of 10 Gy. The essential differences in the response of CSCs and other cancer cells were found after exposure to low-LET radiation. The absolute number of CSCs increased after a single exposure at the doses ranging from 1 to 5-10 Gy in different cell cultures, but a further dose increase maintained the current number of CSCs or decreased it. At the same time, the number of non CSCs significantly decreased with increasing doses of radiation exposure, as expected. Fractionated irradiation in vivo at a total dose of 10 Gy increased the relative amount of CSCs in most patients. The registered changes are an integral indicator of cell death, cell division delay immediately after irradiation, proliferation at a later time, possible dedifferentiation of non CSCs, etc. The exact contribution of each of them to the radiation-induced increase of the CSCs number is of considerable interest and requires further research.

The research allowed evaluation of the influence exerted by synthetic peptide of the active center of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating (GM-CSF) factor on hematopoiesis in mice both under normal physiological conditions of the animals, and during the period of post-exposure recovery of hematopoiesis. It has been demonstrated that a synthetic peptide of the active GM-CSF center is able to exert a stimulating effect on animals with radiation-induced hematopoiesis inhibition. A single injection of the preparation at a dose of 0.005 μg/g to female C57Bl/6 mice, which had been exposed to fractionated exposure at a dose of 10 Gy and developed inhibition of bone-marrow hematopoiesis and cytopenia, exerted a stimulating effect on the granulocyte and monocyte lineages of hemopoiesis. Injections of an active GM-CSF center peptide to irradiated animals did not influence the content of CFUs in thebone-marrow (BM), but they exerted a stimulating influence on the population of these cells in unexposed animals. No effect of the influence of the preparation on the development of extramedullary hematopoiesis in the spleen was observed in the irradiated mice. The study showed that a peptide active site GM-CSF is a promising drug in terms of its use for the treatment of radiation-induced myelosuppression.

Development of new effective method for cancer therapy is one of the most important trends in the modern medicine. Along with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, induction of an immune response against the tumor cells is a promising approach for therapy of cancer, particularly metastatic, slowly dividing tumors and cancer stem cells. Induction of the antitumor T-cell immune response involves activation of antigen-presenting cells, which can efficiently present the cancer antigens and activate T-lymphocytes. The immune response may be activated by dendritic cells (DC) loaded with tumor antigens, such as tumor-specific proteins, tumor cell lysates, apoptotic or necrotic tumor cells, as well as nucleic acids encoding tumor antigens. Regardless of the selected source of the tumor antigen, preparation of mature DC is a principal step in the development of anticancer vaccines aimed at the induction of the cytotoxic T-cell immune response. Recently, various research groups have proposed several strategies for producing mature DC, differed by the set of agents used. It has been shown that the maturation strategy influences both their phenotype and the ability to induce the immune response. In this review we have analyzed the results of studies on the various strategies of preparation of mature DCs.

Possible involvement of MEK mitogen-activated protein kinase and TGF-β receptor in the processes of regeneration and morphogenesis in freshwater planarian flatworms Schmidtea mediterranea was studied using a pharmacological inhibitor analysis. It was found that pharmacological inhibitors of these kinases significantly inhibit the regeneration of the head end of the animals and that this effect is realized due to inhibition of proliferative activity of neoblasts, planarian stem cells. It is shown that that the inhibition of the studied protein kinases in regenerating planarians markedly disturbs stem cell differentiation and morphogenesis.

A constancycy of stem cell pool in shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana is provided by a genetic regulation system with negative feedback loop based on the interaction of the gene WUS, which maintains indeterminate state of cells, with CLV genes, which restrict the level of WUS expression and stem cell pool size. clv mutations lead to an increase in the pool of stem cells in the apical and floral meristems and wus mutation leads to the opposite effect. Mutation na (nana), like wus mutation, causes premature termination of shoot apical meristem function, although it does not affect the activity of the flower meristem. To elucidate the role of NA in the control of shoot apical meristem functioning, the interaction of NA with CLVgenes were investigated. Additive phenotype of double mutants na clv1, na clv1-1, anl na clv3-2 indicates that the NA gene makes an independent contribution to the functioning of the shoot apical meristem. It is assumed that the NA gene controls apical meristem cell proliferation during the transition to the reproductive phase of plant development, acting much later and independently of the genes WUS-CLV.

In this review, the features of the regeneration of corneal tissue and its disorders leading to the development of fibrosis are considered. The data on the presence of stem (clonogenic) cell pool in the corneal tissues (epithelium, endothelium, stroma) are given; these cells can serve as a source for regeneration of the tissues at injury or various diseases. The main steps of regeneration of corneal tissues and their disorders that lead to outstripping proliferation of myofibroblasts and secretion of extracellular matrix in the wound area and eventually cause the formation of connective tissue scar and corneal opacity are considered. Particular attention is given to the successes of translational medicine in the treatment of corneal tissue fibrosis. The methods of cell therapy aimed at the restoration of stem cell pool of corneal tissues are the most promising. Gene therapy provides more opportunities; one of its main objectives is the suppression of the myofibroblast proliferation responsible for the development of fibrosis.

A comparative study of the effect of tissue and suspension allografts of an embryonic spinal cord on regeneration of nerve fibers of impaired (by application of a ligature) sciatic nerve in rats was conducted. It was demonstrated that unlike tissue grafts that reach a large volume 21 and 60 days after transplantation, suspension grafts do not inhibit the growth of axons of the recipient to the periphery. It was established that introduction of a suspension of dissociated cells of the spinal cord embryonic anlages (but not fragments of these anlages) into the impaired sciatic nerve in rats results in an increase in the amount of myelinated regenerating nerve fibers of the recipient 60 days after the operation.

TGFP3 family factors play an important role in regulating the balance of self-renewal and differentiation of mouse and human pluripotent stem and embryonic teratocarcinoma cells. The expression patterns of TGFbeta family signaling ligands and functional roles of these signaling pathways differ significantly in mouse and human embryonic stem cells, but the activity and functional role of these factors in mouse and human embryonic teratocarcinoma cells were not sufficiently investigated. Comparative quantitative real-time PCR analysis of the expression of TGF@[beta] family factors in mouse embryonic stem, embryonic germ, and embryonic teratocarcinoma cells showed that embryonic teratocarcinoma cells express lower ActivinA than pluripotent stem cells but similar levels of factors Nodal, Lefty 1, TGFbeta1, BMP4, and GDF3. In human nullipotent embryonic teratocarcinoma PA-1 cells, most factors of the TGFbeta family (ACTIVINA, NODAL, LEFTY 1, BMP4, and GDF3) are expressed at lower levels than in human embryonic stem cells: Thus, in mouse and human nullipotent teratocarcinoma cells, theexpression of ActivinA is significantly reduced com- pared ivith embryonic stem cells. Presumably, these differences may be associated with changes in the functional activity of the respective signaling pathways and deregulation of proliferative and antiproliferative mechanisms in embryonic teratocarcinoma cells.

The analysis of actin cytoskeleton reorganization in rat bone marrow multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells after one hour adhesion to a monolayer of endothelial cell line EA.hy 926 allowed us to identify three types of cells interacting with the endothelial cells. Approximately half of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells retained a rounded shape, most of them contained large round actin aggregates, had irregular borders and contacted with the surface of the endothelial cells by microvilli or protrusions similar to small lamellae. Almost all other cells were surrounded by narrow lamellae along the entire perimeter. In addition, a small amount.of elongated flattened cells that contacting with endothelial cells by means of focal contacts was observed. Microenvironmental factors such as proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α or plasma proteins affected the ratio of stromal cell types, with different types of organization of the actin cytoskeleton in multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells population.

According to the current concept, therapeutic physical exercises provide a simple and efficacious tool for reducing the risk of development of cardiovascular diseases and their complications. The main beneficial effects of regular physical training include positive dynamics of atherogenesis and angiogenesis, improved rheological properties of blood, decreased left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy and re-modeling. The present review is focused on some of the modern views of the molecular mechanisms underlying the influence of therapeutic physical exercises on the above processes with special reference to the activation of nitrous oxide production, regulation of the functions of the progenitor cells, and stimulation of the resident stem cells in the myocardium.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have for a long time been an object of investigation with a view to elucidating the prospects for their application in clinical medicine and cosmetology. One of the approaches to the non-specific regulation of the activity of these cells at the stage of preliminary in vitro combination is the treatment with low-intensity laser radiation (LILR). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the possibility of using pulsed LILR of the infrared and red spectra for this purpose.

This paper presents a brief survey and preliminary classification of embryonic cleavage patterns in the class Amphibia. We use published data on 41 anuran and 22 urodele species concerning the character of the third cleavage furrow (latitudinal or longitudinal) and the stage of transition from synchronous to asynchronous blastomere divisions in the animal hemisphere (4-8-celled stage, 8-16-celled stage or later). Based on this, four patterns of amphibian embryonic cleavage are recognized, and an attempt to elucidate the evolutionary relationships among these patterns is undertaken. The so-called "standard" cleavage pattern (the extensive series of synchronous blastomere divisions including latitudinal furrows of the third cleavage) with the typical model species Ambystoma mexicanum and Xenopus laevis seems to be derived and probably originated independently in the orders Anura and Caudata. The ancestral amphibian cleavage pattern seems to be represented by species with longitudinal furrows of the third cleavage and the loss ofsynchrony as early as the 8-celled stage (such as in primitive urodele species from the family Cryptobranchidae).

It was demonstrated that fibroblast growth factor bFGF influences the process of heme synthesis, the proliferation activity and viability of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in culture under hypoxic conditions. The addition of fibroblast growth factor bFGF (7 ng/ml) to the medium under above conditions led to the accumulation of aminolevulinic acid--an early porphyrin and heme precursor, an increase in CD 71 expression--a transferrin receptor, and also a decrease in porphyrin pigments and heme contents--a late precursor and end products of heme synthesis, respectively. It was found that cultivation of the cells under hypoxic conditions and bFGF is an optimum to maintain high viability and proliferation capacity of the mesenchymal stem cells.

We developed water-soluble supramolecular complexes of aluminium phthalocyanine based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles and polyvinylpirrolidone containing rare photoactive nanoaggregates. Radiative lifetimes, extinction coefficients and energy of electronic transitions of isolated and associated metal phthalocyanine complexes were calculated. Nontoxic concentrations of synthesized nanocomposite photosensibilizers were in vitro determined. In present study we compared photodynamic treatment efficacy using different modifications of aluminium phthalocyanine (Photosens®, AlPc-nSiO2 and AlPc-PVP). Mesenchymal stromal cells were used as a model for photodynamic treatment. Intracellular accumulation of aluminium phthalocyanine based on mesoporous silica nanoparticles AlPc-nSiO2 was the most efficient. Illumination of phthalocyanine-loaded cells led to reactive oxygen species generation and subsequent apoptotic cell death. Silica nanoparticles provided a significant decrease of effective phthalocyanine concentration and enhanced cytotoxicity of photodynamic treatment.

To clarify the mutual influence of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and cartilage cells we studied the organization of their actin cytoskeleton and cell spreading on different extracellular matrix proteins--laminin 2/4, collagen type I or fibronectin. It has been shown that the most pronounced difference in morphological characteristics of the cells such as their form, size and actin cytoskeleton organization occur in the case of interaction with fibronectin. So, after separate brief incubation of both cell types on fibronectin, the average area of BMSCs spreading was about 4 times greater than the area of the cartilage cell spreading. However, in the co-culture of these cells in a ratio of 1:1, the average jointed spreading area on fibronctin was nearly 1.5 times less than the theoretically calculated. To determine the nature of exposure of the cells to each other we have studied spreading of these cells in the media conditioned by another cell type. We have found that the area of BMSC's spreading in the medium conditioned by cartilage cells is markedly smaller than the area of spreading of the same cells in the control medium. These data suggest that the cartilage cells secrete factors that reduce BMSC's spreading.