The invention relates to the use of matrix cells for obtaining a micro hair follicle and to the use thereof for evaluating the effect of cosmetic, pharmaceutical or dermatological products and also for the prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of a state of reduced pilosity.

The method for increasing contractility in patients with systolic heart failure involves screening for candidate small molecules which block the interaction between Rad and the plasma membrane and/or block the interaction between Rad and the Ca.sub.V1.2/Ca.sub.Vβ2 complex, or between Rad and Ca.sub.Vβ2, in order to increase cardiac contractility. A method for preventing calcium overload and arrhythmias in heart disease involves preventing the dissociation of Rad and the Ca.sub.V1.2/Ca.sub.Vβ2 complex, or between Rad and Ca.sub.Vβ2, during beta-adrenergic system activation. Additionally, a method of screening for drugs that block interaction between an RGK GTPase protein and a β-subunit of the calcium channel is provided. A suitable technique, such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), may be used to assess blocking of the interaction between the RGK GTPase protein and the β-subunit of the calcium channel for the treatment of heart disease, pain, diabetes, skeletal muscle disorders and/or central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

A developmental toxicity screening assay using spatially organized cardiac organoids with contracting cardiomyocytes in the center surrounded by stromal cells distributed along the pattern perimeter engineered from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Cardiac organoids generated from 600 μm-diameter circles were used as a developmental toxicity screening assay for the quantification of the embryotoxic potential of nine pharmaceutical compounds. The cardiac organoids were demonstrated as having a potential use as an in vitro platform for studying organoid structure-function relationships, developmental processes, and drug-induced cardiac developmental toxicity.

The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of patients having ovarian cancer, lung cancer or mesothelioma and showing a Selection Factor of −30% or below, comprising a therapeutically effective amount of ipilimumab, and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or carrier, wherein the patient is selected on the basis of a positive response to an ex vivo three-dimensional (3D) patient derived tumour culture, the method comprising: (a) preparing a three-dimensional, optionally size-normalised, tumour culture from a patient-derived tumour sample in a multitude of replicates; (b) adding one or more immunotherapeutic agents to the culture, and (c) culturing for a pre-defined time period; and (d) determining the effect that the one or more immunotherapeutic agents has on the tumour cell aggregates by measuring the total area of objects in the culture that are above a threshold area associated with tumour cell aggregates, and the total area of objects that are below a threshold associated with immune cells, using three-dimensional imaging of the cell culture; wherein if following culturing with a composition comprising ipilimumab, the total area of the large objects decreases and/or the total area of the small objects increases relative to a control the patient is treated with ipilimumab.

Provided is a culture medium containing amphiregulin for culturing primary breast epithelial cells and a culture method involving using the medium. In the culturing method, primary cells are cultured on a culture vessel coated with an extracellular matrix gel by using the culture medium, and the primary cells grow on the culture vessel, which has been coated with the extracellular matrix gel, and proliferate rapidly under the combined action of nutrient factors and an extracellular matrix contained in the primary cell culture medium. The cell model obtained by the primary cell culture medium and the primary cell culture method can be used for the evaluating the efficacy of and screening drugs.

A method for screening secretion-producing cells is provided, in which a cell that produces a secretion of interest is subjected to screening from a plurality of cells. The method includes capturing the cell and at least one detection particle that is allowed to capture the secretion of interest in each of a plurality of wells having a bottom section with a through-hole sized such that the cell does not pass through, causing the cell captured in each of the plurality of wells to produce a secretion, detecting the secretion of interest captured by the at least one detection particle, and identifying, based on a result of the detection as an index, a well in which a cell producing the secretion of interest is captured from the plurality of wells. Each of the wells has a size allowing the cell to be captured in one cell unit in a state in which one or more detection particles are captured.

A peptide is described herein that has: (i) a simple structure compared to existing natural human erythropoietin, thus capable of easily passing through a tissue-blood barrier, (ii) excellent bioactivity with respect to cell-protecting activity, (iii) a low manufacturing cost, thus being economically advantageous, and (iv) no side effects on cell proliferation. Also, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the erythropoietin-derived peptide described herein as an active ingredient is described. The pharmaceutical composition may be used for preventing or treating cell damage-related illnesses, such as stroke, mechanical damage or ischemic damage to the nervous system, myocardial infarction, retinal damage, and diabetes. Also, the described pharmaceutical composition may be used for preventing cell damage.

The disclosure provides means, methods, and compositions of preventing, reducing, and treating kidney failure through the administration of fibroblasts, modified fibroblasts, and/or products derived from fibroblasts. The disclosure may also concern administration of fibroblasts prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to administration of a nephrotoxic agent results in production of renal function. In some embodiments, fibroblasts are enhanced for augmentation of nephron-regenerative properties through culture under means including hypoxia, histone deacetylase inhibitor treatment, oxytocin, and/or DNA methyltransferase inhibitors.

Compositions, devices and methods are described for improving adhesion, attachment, and/or differentiation of cells in a microfluidic device or chip. In one embodiment, one or more ECM proteins are covalently coupled to the surface of a microchannel of a microfluidic device. The microfluidic devices can be stored or used immediately for culture and/or support of living cells such as mammalian cells, and/or for simulating a function of a tissue, e.g., a liver tissue, muscle tissue, etc. Extended adhesion and viability with sustained function over time is observed.

The present invention is primarily directed to provide a new process capable of performing direct conversion of or induction from a somatic cell to brown adipocytes with low molecular weight compounds, without performing artificial gene transfer.

The present invention includes, for example, a process for producing brown adipocytes by direct differentiation induction from somatic cells, comprising a step of culturing a somatic cell in a serum-free differentiation induction medium in the presence of a selective PPARγ agonist and a cAMP inducer.

According to the present invention, direct conversion of or induction from somatic cells to brown adipocytes can be effectively performed without gene transfer. The brown adipocytes obtained by the present invention are useful as regenerative medicine, models of human brown adipocytes and human beige cells, and the like.