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Molecular Biology of Stem Cells

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2024) | Viewed by 1753

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Dynamics and Mechanics of Epithelia Group, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University of Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6290, 35043 Rennes, France
Interests: embryo development; cell cycle; gene regulation; cancer; stem cells; gonads; genetic diseases
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Guest Editor
Transplant Immunology, The Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Interests: macrophages; actin cytoskeleton; RhoA pathway; chronic rejection; transplantation; germ cells; stem cells; Xenopus laevis; development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stem cells are at the center of interest in modern biology because of their importance in developmental and regenerative processes and potential applications in regenerative medicine. The full understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the stemness and directed cell differentiation towards a particular cell fate have key importance for the understanding of the plasticity of embryo development, functioning of young and adult organisms, numerous pathologies including cancer, aging, regeneration processes, and their biomedical applications, which will revolutionize the field of medicine. The emerging subjects in stem cell biology and their medical applicability are the effects of metabolism, the actin cytoskeleton, and different organelles, such as mitochondria, the ER, and Golgi apparatus, on the stemness and differentiation potential of stem cells. Other emerging subjects include the therapeutic potential of stem cell-derived vesicles such as exososmes, which contain various regulatory and signaling factors, and finding out how these stem cells epigenetically reprogram somatic cells in different organs and tissues.

This Special Issue entitled “Molecular Biology of Stem Cells” is focused on processes and molecular mechanisms governing stemness, different states of stem cell potency, and stem cells’ directed differentiation into particular cell types. We would like to focus this Special Issue on the processes that might have an impact on the medical applications of various stem cells and their products and derivatives. The subject of medical application is especially important due to the many cases of inappropriate use of these “miraculous” cells in pseudo-medical treatments, which are either ineffective or dangerous for patients. Only a solid understanding of the details of the molecular processes involved in the regenerative capacities of particular stem cell types will allow the development of targeted, safe, and effective medical applications. We encourage submitting original articles, review articles, perspectives/opinions, and methodology articles about all types of stem and progenitor cells, their propagation, differentiation, and potential use in medicine.

Dr. Jacek Z. Kubiak
Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Kloc
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • embryonic stem cells
  • adult stem cells
  • induced pluripotent stem cells
  • differentiation
  • adipogenesis
  • neurogenesis
  • osteogenesis
  • chondrogenesis
  • mesenchymal stem cells
  • hematopoietic stem cells
  • neural stem cells
  • epithelial stem cells
  • skin stem cells
  • pluripotency
  • totipotency
  • unipotency
  • progenitor cells

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3991 KiB  
Article
Chemical Landscape of Adipocytes Derived from 3T3-L1 Cells Investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman Spectroscopies
by Karolina Augustyniak, Monika Lesniak, Maciej P. Golan, Hubert Latka, Katarzyna Wojtan, Robert Zdanowski, Jacek Z. Kubiak and Kamilla Malek
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(22), 12274; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252212274 - 15 Nov 2024
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Abstract
Adipocytes derived from 3T3-L1 cells are a gold standard for analyses of adipogenesis processes and the metabolism of fat cells. A widely used histological and immunohistochemical staining and mass spectrometry lipidomics are mainly aimed for examining lipid droplets (LDs). Visualizing other cellular compartments [...] Read more.
Adipocytes derived from 3T3-L1 cells are a gold standard for analyses of adipogenesis processes and the metabolism of fat cells. A widely used histological and immunohistochemical staining and mass spectrometry lipidomics are mainly aimed for examining lipid droplets (LDs). Visualizing other cellular compartments contributing to the cellular machinery requires additional cell culturing for multiple labeling. Here, we present the localization of the intracellular structure of the 3T3-L1-derived adipocytes utilizing vibrational spectromicroscopy, which simultaneously illustrates the cellular compartments and provides chemical composition without extensive sample preparation and in the naïve state. Both vibrational spectra (FTIR—Fourier transform infrared and RS—Raman scattering spectroscopy) extended the gathered chemical information. We proved that both IR and RS spectra provide distinct chemical information about lipid content and their structure. Despite the expected presence of triacylglycerols and cholesteryl esters in lipid droplets, we also estimated the length and unsaturation degree of the fatty acid acyl chains that were congruent with known MS lipidomics of these cells. In addition, the clustering of spectral images revealed that the direct surroundings around LDs attributed to lipid-associated proteins and a high abundance of mitochondria. Finally, by using quantified markers of biomolecules, we showed that the fixative agents, paraformaldehyde and glutaraldehyde, affected the cellular compartment differently. We concluded that PFA preserves LDs better, while GA fixation is better for cytochromes and unsaturated lipid analysis. The proposed analysis of the spectral images constitutes a complementary tool for investigations into the structural and molecular features of fat cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Stem Cells)
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9 pages, 4225 KiB  
Communication
Doxycycline-Mediated Control of Cyclin D2 Overexpression in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
by Aijun Qiao, Yuhua Wei, Yanwen Liu, Asher Kahn-Krell, Lei Ye, Thanh Nguyen and Jianyi Zhang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(16), 8714; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25168714 - 9 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that when the cyclin D2 (CCND2), a cell-cycle regulatory protein, is overexpressed in human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), cardiomyocytes (CMs) differentiated from these CCND2-overexpressing hiPSCs can proliferate after transplantation into infarcted hearts, which significantly improves the cells’ potency for [...] Read more.
Previous studies have demonstrated that when the cyclin D2 (CCND2), a cell-cycle regulatory protein, is overexpressed in human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), cardiomyocytes (CMs) differentiated from these CCND2-overexpressing hiPSCs can proliferate after transplantation into infarcted hearts, which significantly improves the cells’ potency for myocardial regeneration. However, persistent CM proliferation could lead to tumor growth or the development of arrhythmogenic complications; thus, the goal of the current study was to generate a line of hiPSCs in which CCND2 overexpression could be tightly controlled. First, we transfected hiPSCs with vectors coding for a doxycycline-inducible Tet-On transactivator and S. pyogenes dCas9 fused to the VPR activation domain; then, the same hiPSCs were engineered to express guide RNAs targeting the CCND2 promotor. Thus, treatment with doxycycline (dox) activated dCas9-VPR expression, and the guide RNAs directed dCas9-VPR to the CCND2 promoter, which activated CCND2 expression. Subsequent experiments confirmed that CCND2 expression was dox-dependent in this newly engineered line of hiPSCs (doxCCND2-hiPSCs): CCND2 protein was abundantly expressed after 48 h of treatment with dox and declined to near baseline level ~96 h after dox treatment was discontinued. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Biology of Stem Cells)
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