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As primary lymphoid organ, the thymus provides the essential environment for maturation and selection of functional T lymphocytes. Thymic epithelial (TE) cells derive from the endoderm, and more specifically, from the third pharyngeal pouch. The thymic epi ...
Most tissue engineering approaches include the delivery of reparative cells to a damaged host tissue. Generally these cells are sought to be of a stem cell character since they retain a high potential for proliferation and differentiation into diverse phen ...
Stem cells are characterized by their dual ability to self- renew and differentiate, yielding essentially unlimited numbers of progeny that can replenish tissues with either high turnover such as blood and skin or contribute to the regeneration of organs w ...
The conjunctive presence of mechanical stress and active transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) is essential to convert fibroblasts into contractile myofibroblasts, which cause tissue contractures in fibrotic diseases. Using cultured myofibroblasts a ...
The epidermis and its appendages protect our body from environmental hazards. Cells generated in the basal layer continuously replace the terminally differentiated keratinocytes that are shed off the epidermal surface. Long-term renewal depends on specific ...
Integrins are crucial for the ability of cells to sense mechanical perturbations and to transmit intracellular stress to their environment. We here review the more recently discovered role of integrins in activating the pleiotrophic cytokine transforming g ...
The mammary gland is a unique organ in that it undergoes most of its development after birth under the control of systemic hormones. Whereas in most other organs stem cells divide in response to local stimuli, to replace lost cells, in the mammary gland la ...
Airway wall remodeling is a hallmark of asthma, characterized by subepithelial thickening and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Mechanical stress due to hyperresponsive smooth muscle cells may contribute to this remodeling, but its extent and relevanc ...
The extracellular matrix (ECM) exerts powerful control over many cellular phenomena, including stem cell differentiation. As such, design and modulation of ECM analogs to ligate specific integrin is a promising approach to control cellular processes in vit ...
This protocol describes the setup, maintenance and characteristics of a tissue-engineered model of the human bronchial mucosa that can be used for basic physiology and pathophysiology studies. The model includes a well-differentiated epithelium with functi ...