A method of treating a spinal cord injury in a subject in need thereof is disclosed. The method comprises implanting a scaffold into the spinal cord of a subject, wherein the scaffold is seeded with oral mucosa stem cells (OMSC) and/or cells that have been ex vivo differentiated from said OMSCs, thereby treating the spinal cord injury.

Provided is a cell structure including: a connective tissue structure; and an epithelial structure placed on the connective tissue structure, in which the connective tissue structure contains a fragmented extracellular matrix component and first cells including mesenchymal cells, at least a part of the fragmented extracellular matrix component is placed between the first cells, and the epithelial structure contains epithelial cells.

A method for producing an epithelial cell sheet, comprising culturing cells derived from oral mucosal epithelial cells on a substrate in a serum-free medium, wherein the serum-free medium comprises (i) EGF protein or KGF protein, (ii) B-27 supplement, and (iii) a ROCK inhibitor.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide (i) a method for maintaining or enhancing the activity of a cell mass separated from an epithelial tissue; (ii) a method for increasing the proliferation ability of cells in an epithelial tissue; (iii) a method for producing a cell mass employing these methods; (iv) a pharmaceutical composition containing the cell mass; and, (v) a method for treating a disease using the cell mass. The purpose is fulfilled by culturing a cell mass separated from an epithelial tissue or an epithelial tissue with a thermoreversible polymer.

The present invention provides a method for culturing odontoma cells or normal cells, wherein these cells are cultured in the presence of a Rho kinase inhibitor.

A method for the ex vivo cultivation of oral mucosal epithelial progenitor cells and oral mucosal epithelial cells includes: subjecting an oral mucosal tissue to an enzymatic digestion treatment with collagenase, so as to obtain cell aggregates which include oral mucosal epithelial progenitor cells and oral mucosal epithelial cells; cultivating the cell aggregates with an amniotic membrane in a serum-free platelet lysate-containing medium in the absence of feeder cells, so that the cell aggregates are adhered onto the amniotic membrane; and subsequently cultivating the cell aggregates adhered on the amniotic membrane in a serum-free proliferation-facilitating medium in the absence of feeder cells.

The present invention concerns a method for inducing differentiation of neuroectodermal oral stem cells, in particular from FCS osteogenic medium PL osteogenic medium gingival tissue (GSCs), into osteoblasts by culturing them in an optimal serum-free medium supplemented by necessary components such as platelet lysate, growth hormone, heparin, and/or growth factors. The invention method provides osteoblasts for cell therapy, particularly for the restoration of bone defects in maxillary bones.

There is disclosed patient derived xenograft (PDXs) cells/systems/models and/or derivatives, parental (unlabelled) and/or labelled, expressing a fluorescent protein or a luciferase, or a combination thereof; for evaluating therapies comprising nasopharyngeal carcinoma (EBV positive and/or EBV negative). In another embodiment, there is disclosed a method of evaluating the efficacy of an agent used to treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) comprising: preparing a non-human model; whereby the non-human model carries cells from NPC xenograft; labelling the cells from the NPC xenograft with gfp-luc2 marker using a lentiviral vector system; and growing the cells in short term in vitro culture; including adaptation of said culture into multi-well plates for use in further screening and/or evaluation assays; wherein the NPC xenograft is PDX.

The present disclosure provides, in various aspects, a method of forming a prefabricated innervated pre-vascularized pre-laminated (PIPP) flap having a stoma or lumen. The method includes providing a cell construct including skin cells and/or mucosa cells. The method further includes forming an integrated in vivo composite at a donor site by grafting the cell construct onto a muscle. The method further includes stabilizing the composite on an obturator component. The method further includes developing a microvascular system in the composite by retaining it in vivo at the donor site for a predetermined period of time. The method further includes removing the obturator component from the stoma or lumen. In certain aspects, the present disclosure also provides a method of restoring a defect including damaged or surgically removed soft tissue using a PIPP flap. In certain aspect, the present disclosure also provides an obturator component for maintaining the stoma or lumen.

The present invention provides a method for diagnosing and determining prognosis of certain cancers (e.g., esophageal squamous cell carcinoma or ESCC) in a subject by detecting suppressed expression of the DLEC1 gene, which in some cases is due to elevated methylation level in the genomic sequence of this gene. A kit and device useful for such a method are also provided. In addition, the present invention provides a method for treating cancer by increasing DLEC1 gene expression or activity.