Severe acute renal failure (ARF) remains a common, largely treatment-resistant clinical problem with disturbingly high mortality rates. Therefore, we tested whether administration of multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to anesthetized rats with ischemia-reperfusion-induced ARF (40-min bilateral renal pedicle clamping) could improve the outcome through amelioration of inflammatory, vascular, and apoptotic/necrotic manifestations of ischemic kidney injury. Accordingly, intracarotid administration of MSC (∼ 106/animal) either immediately or 24 h after renal ischemia resulted in significantly improved renal function, higher proliferative and lower apoptotic indexes, as well as lower renal injury and unchanged leukocyte infiltration scores. Such renoprotection was not obtained with syngeneic fibroblasts. Using in vivo two-photon laser confocal microscopy, fluorescence-labeled MSC were detected early after injection in glomeruli, and low numbers attached at microvasculature sites. However, within 3 days of administration, none of the administered MSC had differentiated into a tubular or endothelial cell phenotype. At 24 h after injury, expression of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and inducible nitric oxide synthase was significantly reduced and that of anti-inflammatory IL-10 and bFGF, TGF-α, and Bcl-2 was highly upregulated in treated kidneys. We conclude that the early, highly significant renoprotection obtained with MSC is of considerable therapeutic promise for the cell-based management of clinical ARF. The beneficial effects of MSC are primarily mediated via complex paracrine actions and not by their differentiation into target cells, which, as such, appears to be a more protracted response that may become important in late-stage organ repair.

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We conclude that the highly renoprotective capacity of mesenchymal stem cells opens the possibility for a cell-based paradigm shift in the treatment of I/R ARF.

Tapentadol ER (100 - 250 mg b.i.d.) effectively relieved moderate to severe chronic low back pain over 15 weeks and had better gastrointestinal tolerability than oxycodone HCl CR (20 - 50 mg b.i.d.).

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSC) are currently investigated for a variety of therapeutic applications. However, most expansion protocols still use fetal calf serum (FCS) as growth factor supplement which is a potential source of undesired xenogeneic pathogens. We established an expansion protocol for hMSC based on the use of GMP-produced basic medium LP02 supplemented with 5% of platelet lysate (PL) obtained from human thrombocyte concentrates. Compared to FCS-supplemented culture conditions, we found a significant increase in both colony forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) as well as cumulative cell numbers after expansion. This accelerated growth is optimized by pooling of at least 10 thrombocyte concentrates. A minimal requirement is the use of 5% of PL with an optimal platelet concentration of 1.5 x 10(9)/ml, and centrifugation of thawed lysate at high speed. Cells expanded by this protocol meet all criteria for mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), e.g. plastic adherence, spindle-shaped morphology, surface marker expression, lack of hematopoietic markers, and differentiation capability into three mesenchymal lineages. MSC at passage 6 were cytogenetically normal and retained their immune-privileged potential by suppressing allogeneic reaction of T-cells. Additionally, gene expression profiles show increased mRNA levels of genes involved in cell cycle and DNA replication and downregulation of developmental and differentiation genes, supporting the observation of increased MSC-expansion in PL-supplemented medium. In summary, we have established a GMP-compatible protocol for safe and accelerated expansion of hMSC to be used in cell and tissue therapy.

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Uniparental parthenotes are considered an unwanted byproduct of in vitro fertilization. In utero parthenote development is severely compromised by defective organogenesis and in particular by defective cardiogenesis. Although developmentally compromised, apparently pluripotent stem cells can be derived from parthenogenetic blastocysts. Here we hypothesized that nonembryonic parthenogenetic stem cells (PSCs) can be directed toward the cardiac lineage and applied to tissue-engineered heart repair. We first confirmed similar fundamental properties in murine PSCs and embryonic stem cells (ESCs), despite notable differences in genetic (allelic variability) and epigenetic (differential imprinting) characteristics. Haploidentity of major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) in PSCs is particularly attractive for allogeneic cell-based therapies. Accordingly, we confirmed acceptance of PSCs in MHC-matched allotransplantation. Cardiomyocyte derivation from PSCs and ESCs was equally effective. The use of cardiomyocyte-restricted GFP enabled cell sorting and documentation of advanced structural and functional maturation in vitro and in vivo. This included seamless electrical integration of PSC-derived cardiomyocytes into recipient myocardium. Finally, we enriched cardiomyocytes to facilitate engineering of force-generating myocardium and demonstrated the utility of this technique in enhancing regional myocardial function after myocardial infarction. Collectively, our data demonstrate pluripotency, with unrestricted cardiogenicity in PSCs, and introduce this unique cell type as an attractive source for tissue-engineered heart repair.