CD90 Expression on human primary cells and elimination of contaminating fibroblasts from cell cultures

Cluster Differentiation 90 (CD90) is a cell surface glycoprotein originally identified on mouse thymocytes. Although CD90 has been identified on a variety of stem cells and at varying levels in non-lymphoid tissues such as on fibroblasts, brain cells, and activated endothelial cells, the knowledge about the levels of CD90 expression on different cell types, including human primary cells, is limited. The goal of this study was to identify CD90 as a human primary cell biomarker and to develop an efficient and reliable method for eliminating unwanted or contaminating fibroblasts from human primary cell cultures suitable for research pursuant to cell based therapy technologies.     

Loss of LUC7L2 and U1 snRNP subunits shifts energy metabolism from glycolysis to OXPHOS

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Activity‐dependent release of tissue plasminogen activator from the dendritic spines of hippocampal neurons revealed by live‐cell imaging

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) has been implicated in a variety of important cellular functions, including learning‐related synaptic plasticity and potentiating N‐methyl‐D ‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor‐dependent signaling. These findings suggest that tPA may localize to, and undergo activity‐dependent secretion from, synapses; however, conclusive data supporting these hypotheses have remained elusive. To elucidate these issues, we studied the distribution, dynamics, and depolarization‐induced secretion of tPA in hippocampal neurons, using fluorescent chimeras of tPA. We found that tPA resides in dense‐core granules (DCGs) that traffic to postsynaptic dendritic spines and that can remain in spines for extended periods. We also found that depolarization induced by high potassium levels elicits a slow, partial exocytotic release of tPA from DCGs in spines that is dependent on extracellular Ca⁺² concentrations. This slow, partial release demonstrates that exocytosis occurs via a mechanism, such as fuse‐pinch‐linger, that allows partial release and reuse of DCG cargo and suggests a mechanism that hippocampal neurons may rely upon to avoid depleting tPA at active synapses. Our results also demonstrate release of tPA at a site that facilitates interaction with NMDA‐type glutamate receptors, and they provide direct confirmation of fundamental hypotheses about tPA localization and release that bear on its neuromodulatory functions, for example, in learning and memory. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Neurobiol, 2006