The present invention provides a method for proliferating neural progenitor cells and a composition for treating neurological diseases, the composition including a proliferated neural progenitor cell. When a fetal neural progenitor cell is cultured under a hypoxia condition and/or in a medium containing tocoperol, tocoperol acetate, or a mixture thereof, the improved cell proliferation rates of the fetal neural progenitor cell are confirmed. In addition, considering an effect of the neural progenitor cell on preventing differentiation thereof into neurons at the time of proliferation, the present disclosure may contribute to mass production of neural stem cells, and accordingly, the proliferated neural progenitor cell is expected to be utilized in the treatment of a neurological disease.

The present invention is directed to antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof having binding specificity for PACAP. The antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof comprise the sequences of the V.sub.H, V.sub.L, and CDR polypeptides described herein, and the polynucleotides encoding them. Antibodies and antigen binding fragments described herein bind to and/or compete for binding to the same linear or conformational epitope(s) on human PACAP as an anti-PACAP antibody. The invention contemplates conjugates of anti-PACAP antibodies and binding fragments thereof conjugated to one or more functional or detectable moieties. Methods of making said anti-PACAP antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof are also contemplated. Other embodiments of the invention contemplate using anti-PACAP antibodies, and binding fragments thereof, for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of diseases and disorders associated with PACAP and conditions where antagonism of PACAP-related activities, such as vasodilation, photophobia, mast cell degranulation, and/or neuronal activation, would be therapeutically beneficial.

The present disclosure pertains to methods and devices for delivering a compound into a cell, including passing a cell suspension through a surface containing pores, wherein the pores deform the cell thereby causing a perturbation of the cell such that the compound enters the cell, wherein the cell suspension is contacted with the compound.

The present invention relates to insect cell lines for the production of parvoviral gene therapy vectors. In particular the invention relates to stable insect cell lines with expression constructs for viral replicase proteins integrated into their genomes, which cell lines allow for high-yield, robust, and scalable production of heterologous parvoviral-related proteins and vectors.

The present disclosure relates to a method of isolating extracellular vesicles directly from human tissues. The invention further relates to a method of identifying disease and tissue specific membrane proteins on extracellular vesicles by membrane isolation and proteomic analysis. The invention further relates to methods of diagnosing diseases by capturing extracellular vesicles by the use of disease specific membrane proteins from body fluids, and detecting or analyzing molecular signatures (proteome, DNA, and RNA) on captured extracellular vesicles. Moreover, the present invention relates to kits, apparatus and software required for implementing aforementioned methods.

Described herein are compositions and methods to cryopreserve sporozoites. In some aspects, the method can include the step of placing harvested salivary glands containing sporozoites into an insect-based medium.

An insect culture maintenance system includes a sequence of open-ended cylindrical tubes [500, 502, 504, 506] joined pairwise alternately at their tops and bottoms using multiple dual-cap connectors. Each dual-capped connector has a channel from an inside of a first cap to an inside of a second cap. In use, connectors that cap the bottoms of the tubes [508, 512] are filled with insect food media [518, 520], while connectors that cap the tops of the tubes [510] are open. As a result of this design, adults pass from one tube to the next through the top dual-cap connectors, while larvae pass from one tube to the next through the bottom dual-cap connectors, resulting in propagation of subsequent generations of insects through the sequence of tubes.

The present invention relates to cell-derived vesicles comprising target protein Prokineticin receptor 1 (PROKR1), and a therapeutic agent for muscle diseases comprising the same. When applied to myoblasts, the cell-derived vesicles comprising PROKR1 according to the present invention promote muscle differentiation and induce differentiation into myotubes, and can thus be used to prevent or treat muscle diseases and can be widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and the field of health functional foods.

The present invention is to provide a method for producing a cartilage tissue which comprises a step of providing a substrate for producing cell aggregates provided with a plurality of spots comprising a copolymer containing recurring units derived from monomers represented by the following formulae (I) and (II):

##STR00001##

[wherein U.sup.a1, U.sup.a, R.sup.a1, R.sup.a2 and R.sup.b are as described in the specification and claims] on a substrate having an ability to suppress adhesion of cells; a step of seeding human cartilage progenitor cells which are positive for PRRX1 protein and derived from pluripotent stem cells on the substrate; a step of producing cell aggregates by culturing the cells; and a step of culturing the aggregates to produce a cartilage tissue.

A cell clump dispersing device for dispersing cell clumps is provided, including a dispersion structure module that includes at least one structure for providing fluid flow shear force. Each structure for providing liquid flow shear force includes an inlet for cell clumps to be dispersed to enter the structure, and at least one outlet for dispersed cell clumps to flow out of the structure. A diameter of the outlet is smaller than that of the inlet, and an end of at least one of the structure is capable of being connected to an end of another of the structure.