The present disclosure relates to a microfluidic devices and methods for culturing bone marrow cells. Aspects include methods of preparing microfluidic devices and culturing bone marrow cells with the microfluidic devices. In some aspects, a method includes providing a microfluidic device having an upper chamber, a lower chamber, and a porous membrane separating the upper chamber from the lower chamber. The method further includes seeding walls of the lower chamber and a bottom surface of the membrane with endothelial cells. The method further includes providing a matrix within the upper chamber. The matrix includes fibrin gel and bone marrow cells. The method further includes filling or perfusing the upper chamber with a media.

Disclosed herein are human hepatocytes for example isolated human hepatic progenitor cells, artificial tissue or organ thereof, and kits or compositions thereof. Also disclosed herein are various methods of using a human hepatocyte disclosed herein.

This invention provides RNA, oligoribonucleotide, and polyribonucleotide molecules comprising pseudouridine or a modified nucleoside, gene therapy vectors comprising same, methods of synthesizing same, and methods for gene replacement, gene therapy, gene transcription silencing, and the delivery of therapeutic proteins to tissue in vivo, comprising the molecules. The present invention also provides methods of reducing the immunogenicity of RNA, oligoribonucleotide, and polyribonucleotide molecules.

Disclosed herein are methods, compositions, kits, and agents useful for inducing β cell maturation, and isolated populations of SC-β cells for use in various applications, such as cell therapy.

The present invention relates to a nano-ligand for promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells and a method of promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells by using the nano-ligand, and the method of promoting cell adhesion and differentiation of stem cells according to the present invention may temporally and spatially, and reversibly control nano-ligand sliding by applying a magnetic field to a substrate including the nano-ligands, and efficiently control stem cell adhesion and differentiation ex vivo or in vivo through the magnetic-field based on spatiotemporal control.

Provided in the present invention is a method for inducing pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into ventricular myocytes in vitro, which is achieved by maintaining, amplifying and culturing pluripotent stem cells in vitro, adding a substance capable of activating the Smad1/5/8 signaling pathway directly or indirectly into the culture medium when pluripotent stem cells are in the middle stage of myocardial differentiation, i.e. the period of differentiating into cardiac muscle cells from mesoderm cells or myocardial precursor cells, which enables stem cells to differentiate into ventricular myocytes directionally. Ventricular myocytes with biological activity and function are obtained successfully by means of the method of the present invention, which reveals the regulatory mechanism during differentiation of myocardial precursor cells into ventricular myocytes; moreover, the human ventricular myocytes obtained via differentiation can be widely used in treating myocardial infarction by cell transplantation, in toxicological analysis of the heart and in the development of heart-related drugs.

The invention relates to a method of producing a retinal pigment epithelial cell from a human pluripotent stem cell, and a method of treating or preventing a retinal disease by using the produced cell. The retinal pigment epithelial cell is prepared by (a) inducing differentiation of a human pluripotent stem cell into a pigment cell by adhesion cultivation of a human pluripotent stem cell in a medium containing a Nodal signal inhibitor and a Wnt signal inhibitor in the absence of a feeder cell to give a culture containing the pigment cell, (b) subjecting the obtained culture to further adhesion culture to give a culture containing a pigment cell colony, and (c) isolating the pigment cell from the obtained culture and culturing the cell to give a retinal pigment epithelial cell.

This invention is directed to, inter alia, compounds, methods, systems, and compositions for the maintenance, enhancement, and expansion of hematopoietic stem cells derived from one or more sources of CD34+ cells. Sources of CD34+ cells include bone marrow, cord blood, mobilized peripheral blood, and non-mobilized peripheral blood. Also provided herein are compounds of Formula I ##STR00001## which are useful in maintaining, enhancing, and expanding of hematopoietic stem cells.

A method for identifying a patient with malignant tumor which can be expected to benefit more from an immune checkpoint inhibitor, and agent for suppressing the progression of, suppressing the recurrence of, and/or treating malignant tumor, being prescribed based thereon, comprising use of a combination of two sets of evaluation items and specific condition defined by each of combination thereof.

This invention relates to brown adipose tissue (BAT) progenitor cells and methods for isolating BAT progenitor cells from skeletal muscle. BAT progenitor cell surface markers and medium and agents for inducing cell differentiation into brown adipocytes are also provided. In some embodiments, the BAT progenitor cell expresses a first cell surface marker associated with endothelial cells, the first cell surface marker being detectable in an antibody based assay using a first antibody. In addition, the BAT progenitor cell can be substantially free of a second cell surface marker associated with endothelial cells, the second cell surface marker being substantially undetectable in said antibody based assay using a second antibody. The BAT progenitor cell can also be substantially free of additional cell surface markers.