Main Category: Stroke
Also Included In: Stem Cell Research; Endocrinology
Article Date: 24 Jul 2013 – 1:00 PDT
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Agin. “Stem cell survival after transplantation impacted by melatonin pre-treatment.” Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Jul. 2013. Web.
27 Jul. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/263804.php>
MLA
The researchers noted that the impact of pre-treatment with melatonin was not MSC differentiation, and that development into mature brain cells was not an important factor in the beneficial effects derived from transplantation of either the untreated or the pre-treated cells. They suggested that the transplantation of MSCs pre-treated with melatonin may have a positive impact on the secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is a signal protein produced by cells that stimulate vascular and blood vessel growth that can help restore the oxygen supply to tissues when blood circulation is inadequate.
The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line.*
The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland located in the center of the brain, but outside of the blood-brain barrier. The melatonin it secretes acts as a signal and forms part of the system that regulates the sleep-wake cycle by chemically causing drowsiness and lowering body temperature. Melatonin is also known to be a powerful antioxidant and has been used clinically to treat sleep disorders.
The Coeditors-in-chief for CELL TRANSPLANTATION are at the Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Center for Neuropsychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, Beigang, Taiwan.
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Stem cell survival after transplantation impacted by melatonin pre-treatment
Researchers transplanted pre-treated MSCs into one group of brain injured rats and also used a control group of animals that received MSCs that were not pre-treated with melatonin.
Study results demonstrated that the melatonin pre-treated MSCs had “enhanced survival under oxidative stimulation by activating the Erk1/2 pathway” (extracellular signal-regulated kinases), a chain of proteins in the cell that communicates a signal from a receptor on the surface of the cell to the DNA in the nucleus of the cell.
Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair
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