Human adult stem cells from diverse origins: an overview from multiparametric immunophenotyping to clinical applications.

Stem cells are known for their capacity to self-renew and differentiate into at least one specialized cell type. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were isolated initially from bone marrow but are now known to exist in all vascularized organ or tissue in adults. MSCs are particularly relevant for therapy due to their simplicity of isolation and cultivation. The International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) has proposed a set of standards to define hMSCs for laboratory investigations and preclinical studies: adherence to plastic in standard culture conditions; in vitro differentiation into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondroblasts; specific surface antigen expression in which ≥95% of the cells express the antigens recognized by CD105, CD73, and CD90, with the same cells lacking (≤2% positive) the antigens CD45, CD34, CD14 or CD11b, CD79a or CD19, and HLA-DR. In this review we will take an historical overview of how umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, adipose-derived, placental and amniotic fluid, and menstrual blood stem cells, the major sources of human MSC, can be obtained, identified and how they are being used in clinical trials to cure and treat a very broad range of conditions, including heart, hepatic, and neurodegenerative diseases. An overview of protocols for differentiation into hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, neuronal, adipose, chondrocytes, and osteoblast cells are highlighted. We also discuss a new source of stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and some pathways, which are common to MSCs in maintaining their pluripotent state.

The insulin receptor translocates to the nucleus to regulate cell proliferation in liver.

UNLABELLED: Insulin's metabolic effects in the liver are widely appreciated, but insulin's ability to act as a hepatic mitogen is less well understood. Because the insulin receptor (IR) can traffic to the nucleus, and Ca(2+) signals within the nucleus regulate cell proliferation, we investigated whether insulin's mitogenic effects result from activation of Ca(2+)-signaling pathways by IRs within the nucleus. Insulin-induced increases in Ca(2+) and cell proliferation depended upon clathrin- and caveolin-dependent translocation of the IR to the nucleus, as well as upon formation of inositol 1,4,5,-trisphosphate (InsP3) in the nucleus, whereas insulin's metabolic effects did not depend on either of these events. Moreover, liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy also depended upon the formation of InsP3 in the nucleus, but not the cytosol, whereas hepatic glucose metabolism was not affected by buffering InsP3 in the nucleus. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence that insulin's mitogenic effects are mediated by a subpopulation of IRs that traffic to the nucleus to locally activate InsP3 -dependent Ca(2+)-signaling pathways. The steps along this signaling pathway reveal a number of potential targets for therapeutic modulation of liver growth in health and disease.

[Type 2 diabetes mellitus in the pediatric age group]. / Diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en la edad pediátrica.

In the past two decades, type 2 diabetes mellitus has increased in children and adolescents, especially within certain ethnic groups. This increase has been parallel to the rising prevalence of obesity. Because of the overlap between some clinical characteristics, the differential diagnosis between type 1 and 2 diabetes is difficult. Of 300 diabetic patients in our diabetes section, only three (1 %) had type 2 diabetes. Two patients were obese adolescents with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes mellitus; the third patient was a prepubertal, overweight girl with no family history of this disorder. The diagnosis was incidental in two patients and one patient presented with ketoacidosis. The differences between the three patients reveal the great clinical variability of this disorder and suggest that various underlying factors are involved in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.