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A Brief Overview of Stem Cells

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Stem cells  are primitive, undifferentiated cells that can potentially turn into a wide variety of cell types. Liver cells, blood cells, and muscle cells are only a few of the specialized types that have their origin in stem cells. Aside from their ability to differentiate into cells with specific functions, they can also divide or renew themselves indefinitely.     Because they can repair and regenerate damaged tissue, stem cells continue to command the attention of biomedical researchers who seek insights into the prevention and treatment of various diseases. In the 21st century, researchers have made several breakthroughs that have broadened our understanding of stem cells, which are expected to grow in importance over the coming years as an essential laboratory research tool.   Types of Stem Cells Not all stem cells have the same degree of differentiation ability. For that reason, they are commonly categorized according to the types of cells they can differentiate into. These categ

Culture and Application of Human Hepatocytes

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Hepatocytes are parenchymal cells that constitute as much as 80% of the total liver volume and mediate a number of vital liver functions, such as the control of lipid and carbohydrate homeostasis, the synthesis of various proteins, the storage of vitamins, the processing of bile, immunological defense, and the biotransformation of endogenous molecules and xenobiotics [1]. Human hepatocytes directly reflect the specific metabolism and functionality of the human liver, which are recognized as a valuable  in vitro  tool for investigating drug metabolism and assessing the potential hepatotoxicity of new drugs. Cellular therapy based on human hepatocytes is also an alternative to organ transplantation for patients with acute liver failure and liver-based metabolic disease [2, 3].   Human Hepatocytes Isolation For isolation of hepatocytes from liver tissue, the well-established procedure is a standard collagenase perfusion technique, which was first described in 1969 by Berry and Friend and

Cancer associated fibroblasts: how do they contribute to cancer progression?

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Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs), or Carcinoma associated fibroblasts, can contribute to cancer progression through multiple mechanisms, including the secretion of soluble factors and extracellular matrix, physical interactions with cancer cells, the regulation of  angiogenesis , immunity and metabolism, and resistance to chemoprevention according to many present researches. Therefore, CAFs are attracting increasing attention as a therapeutic target in cancer. What is CAF s ? Tumors are multicellular tissues consisting of not only tumor cells but also resident cells in the local stroma. Fibroblasts are a significant portion to the cell composition of most solid tumors, including prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. CAF cells, which mainly originate from local tissue fibroblasts, are a heterogeneous population of activated fibroblasts found within the tumor microenvironment (TME) [1]. CAFs produce nutrients and metabo