Intestinal Differentiated Cells

This volume details the most up-to-date methods of intestinal differentiation program. Chapters guide readers through techniques to characterize intestinal differentiated cell, RNAseq, single-cell RNAseq transcriptional profiling methods, isolation of intestinal crypts, and methods for studying intestinal differentiated cancer cells. Written in the format of the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, each chapter includes an introduction to the topic, lists necessary materials and methods, includes tips on troubleshooting and known pitfalls, and step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Intestinal Differentiated Cells: Methods and Protocols aims to be comprehensive guide for researchers.

Advances in Stem Cells and Their Niches addresses stem cells during development, homeostasis, and disease/injury of the respective organs, presenting new developments in the field, including new data on disease and clinical applications. Video content illustrates such areas as protocols, transplantation techniques, and work with mice. Explores not only reviews of research, but also shares methods, protocols, and transplantation techniques Contains video content to illustrate such areas as protocols, transplantation techniques, and work with mice Each volume concentrates on one organ, making this a unique publication

“Infogest” (Improving Health Properties of Food by Sharing our Knowledge on the Digestive Process) is an EU COST action/network in the domain of Food and Agriculture that will last for 4 years from April 4, 2011. Infogest aims at building an open international network of institutes undertaking multidisciplinary basic research on food digestion gathering scientists from different origins (food scientists, gut physiologists, nutritionists...). The network gathers 70 partners from academia, corresponding to a total of 29 countries. The three main scientific goals are: Identify the beneficial food components released in the gut during digestion; Support the effect of beneficial food components on human health; Promote harmonization of currently used digestion models Infogest meetings highlighted the need for a publication that would provide researchers with an insight into the advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of respective in vitro and ex vivo assays to evaluate the effects of foods and food bioactives on health. Such assays are particularly important in situations where a large number of foods/bioactives need to be screened rapidly and in a cost effective manner in order to ultimately identify lead foods/bioactives that can be the subject of in vivo assays. The book is an asset to researchers wishing to study the health benefits of their foods and food bioactives of interest and highlights which in vitro/ex vivo assays are of greatest relevance to their goals, what sort of outputs/data can be generated and, as noted above, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the various assays. It is also an important resource for undergraduate students in the ‘food and health’ arena.

The mammalian gastrointestinal mucosa is a rapidly self-renewing tissue in the body, and its homeostasis is preserved through the strict regulation of epithelial cell proliferation, growth arrest, and apoptosis. The control of the growth of gastrointestinal mucosa is unique and, compared with most other tissue in the body, complex. Mucosal growth is regulated by the same hormones that alter metabolism in other tissues, but the gastrointestinal mucosa also responds to host events triggered by the ingestion and presence of food within the digestive tract. These gut hormones and peptides regulate the growth of the exocrine pancreas, gallbladder epithelium, and the mucosa of the oxyntic gland region of the stomach and the small and large intestines. Luminal factors, including nutrients or other dietary factors, secretions, and microbes that occur within the lumen and distribute over a proximal-to-distal gradient, are also crucial for maintenance of normal gut mucosal regeneration and could explain the villous-height-crypt-depth gradient and variety of adaptation, since these factors are diluted, absorbed, and destroyed as they pass down the digestive tract. Recently, intestinal stem cells, cellular polyamines, and noncoding RNAs are shown to play an important role in the regulation of gastrointestinal mucosal growth under physiological and various pathological conditions. In this book, we highlight key issues and factors that control gastrointestinal mucosal growth and homeostasis, with special emphasis on the mechanisms through which epithelial renewal and apoptosis are regulated at the cellular and molecular levels.

There are many separate groups working in gut biology, and they feel that the gut is an excellent model for investigating general problems in differentiation, growth control, stem cell biology, and regeneration and adaptive responses. There is a pressing need to define the objectives of the next 5 to 10 years, and the meeting, Part III of the Gastroenterology Symposia Freiburg 1996 (Falk Symposium No. 94), held in Freiburg, Germany, October 25-26, brought together some of these groups with a view to identifying areas which are not being utilized and need to be exploited, such as transgenic and knockout approaches, retrovirus delivery systems, and model cell/tissue systems. The main themes of the book are gastrointestinal development and differentiation, gut stem cell biology, and the control of gut growth in normal and abnormal situations. Basic research findings are related to clinical situations, and the book will appeal not only to gut cell and molecular biologists, but also to gastroenterologists interested in the potential applications of these subject areas.

Cancer cell biology research in general, and anti-cancer drug development specifically, still relies on standard cell culture techniques that place the cells in an unnatural environment. As a consequence, growing tumor cells in plastic dishes places a selective pressure that substantially alters their original molecular and phenotypic properties.The emerging field of regenerative medicine has developed bioengineered tissue platforms that can better mimic the structure and cellular heterogeneity of in vivo tissue, and are suitable for tumor bioengineering research. Microengineering technologies have resulted in advanced methods for creating and culturing 3-D human tissue. By encapsulating the respective cell type or combining several cell types to form tissues, these model organs can be viable for longer periods of time and are cultured to develop functional properties similar to native tissues. This approach recapitulates the dynamic role of cell–cell, cell–ECM, and mechanical interactions inside the tumor. Further incorporation of cells representative of the tumor stroma, such as endothelial cells (EC) and tumor fibroblasts, can mimic the in vivo tumor microenvironment. Collectively, bioengineered tumors create an important resource for the in vitro study of tumor growth in 3D including tumor biomechanics and the effects of anti-cancer drugs on 3D tumor tissue. These technologies have the potential to overcome current limitations to genetic and histological tumor classification and development of personalized therapies.

Advances in Stem Cells and their Niches addresses stem cells during development, homeostasis, and disease/injury of the respective organs, presenting new developments in the field, including new data on disease and clinical applications. Video content illustrates such areas as protocols, transplantation techniques, and work with mice. Explores not only reviews of research, but also shares methods, protocols, and transplantation techniques Contains video content to illustrate such areas as protocols, transplantation techniques, and work with mice Each volume concentrates on one organ, making this a unique publication

Technology and research in the field of tissue engineering has drastically increased within the last few years to the extent that almost every tissue and organ of the human body could potentially be regenerated. With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Tissue Engineering using Ceramics and Polymers reviews the latest research and advances in this thriving area and how they can be used to develop treatments for disease states. Part one discusses general issues such as ceramic and polymeric biomaterials, scaffolds, transplantation of engineered cells, surface modification and drug delivery. Later chapters review characterisation using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry as well as environmental scanning electron microscopy and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Chapters in part two analyse bone regeneration and specific types of tissue engineering and repair such as cardiac, intervertebral disc, skin, kidney and bladder tissue. The book concludes with the coverage of themes such as nerve bioengineering and the micromechanics of hydroxyapatite-based biomaterials and tissue scaffolds. Tissue Engineering using Ceramics and Polymers is an innovative reference for professionals and academics involved in the field of tissue engineering. An innovative and up-to-date reference for professionals and academics Environmental scanning electron microscopy is discussed Analyses bone regeneration and specific types of tisue engineering