The subject matter of the present invention is a device for guiding cell migration comprising a substrate having a textured surface intended to be brought into contact with cells, said textured surface having an anisotropic three-dimensional structure consisting of a network of projections inclined relative to the normal to the plane formed by said textured structure, in the direction imparted by said anisotropic structure. The invention also concerns, according to another aspect, a method for guiding cell migration including the bringing into contact of cells with a substrate having a textured surface and an anisotropic three-dimensional structure, said structure consisting of projections inclined as previously described. The device or method according to the invention can in particular be applied in the fields of dermatology, implantology and tissue engineering.

Preparing a cell population rich in cells having a given phenotype depending on their use (e.g., type II collagen-positive nucleus pulposus cells) from a cell population containing Tie2-positive stem/progenitor cells (e.g., nucleus pulposus stem/progenitor cells). The present invention provides culture methods wherein a cell population containing Tie2-positive stem/progenitor cells is cultured (1) while present in a non-digested tissue, (2) in a culture medium containing at least one kind of Tie2 expression enhancer other than growth factors, (3) using cultureware with a culture surface having undergone cell attachment-increasing treatment, or (4) while suppressing formation of spheroid colonies in a culture medium containing an extracellular matrix-degrading agent.

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.

A bacteriophage structure, a method of making the structure, and uses of the structure are described. The structure is a substrate with a surface having an ordered arrangement of parallel microridges thereon. Each microridge is composed of a plurality of nanoridges and has a longitudinal axis. Each nanoridge contains a bundle of phage nano fibers having longitudinal axes. The phage nanofibers in each nanoridge bundle are arranged in a substantially smectic alignment. The longitudinal axis of each microridge is perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the phage nanofibers which make up the nanoridges of the microridge. The structure may be used as a growth surface for inducing differentiation of stem cells such as neural progenitor cells.

The invention relates to the discovery that the proliferation and survival of pancreatic progenitor cells can be enhanced by contacting the cells with, (1) a caspase inhibitor sufficient to reduce apoptosis in the pancreatic endocrine cells; and, (2) a growth factor in an amount sufficient to increase the level of activated Akt in the pancreatic endocrine cells.

Provided are pharmaceutical compositions that include a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and isolated post-natal cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) and/or progeny cells thereof that are SSEA3-positive and c-kit-negative. Also provided are methods for preparing cells capable of repairing damaged myocardium, methods for isolating populations of SSEA3-positive/c-kit-negative CPCs from cardiac tissue samples, methods for preparing an isolated cell population enriched in post-natal SSEA3-positive/c-kit-negative CPCs, therapeutic methods for using the presently disclosed cells and populations of cells to treat subjects in need thereof, and cell cultures that contain the presently disclosed cells and populations of cells.

The invention relates to a method of preparing pancreatic islet-like cell structures characterized by a unique combination of morphological and functional features which make them particularly suitable for use in both clinical and drug screening application, as well as to the pancreatic islet-like cell structures obtained therefrom.

A method for isolating and processing bone marrow derived stem cells, including the steps of: (a) collecting a biological sample containing adherent bone marrow stem cells in a receptacle with interior walls coated with a cell-adherent substrate; (b) incubating the bone marrow cells on the adherent substrate so that a layer of adherent bone marrow stem cells adheres to the substrate; (c) washing any non-adherent cells from the substrate; and (d) collecting the bone marrow stem cell layer. Isolation kits and use of bone marrow cells harvested for cell therapies are also described.

The present invention relates to a method for producing cholinergic neurons comprising obtaining neural progenitor cells from stem cells so as to continuously produce cholinergic neural cells with high purity and the same traits, followed by differentiating the neural progenitor cells into the cholinergic neurons, and cholinergic neurons produced therefrom. Since the method of preparing the cholinergic neurons provided in the present invention enables not only production of the cholinergic neurons with high purity, but also rapid production of the cholinergic neurons with the same traits, it can be widely used for effectively treating degenerative cranial nerve diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

The invention relates to a biocompatible scaffold for three dimensional cultivation of cells, said scaffold comprise one or more fibers randomly oriented to form a scaffold with open spaces for cultured cells. The one or more fibers are also coated with a bio-active coating and have a diameter of 100-3000 nm.