In vivo hepatic differentiation potential of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells: Therapeutic effect on liver fibrosis/cirrhosis

AIM To investigate the hepatic differentiation potential of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells(h UC-MSCs) and to evaluate their therapeutic effect on liver fibrosis/cirrhosis.METHODS A CCl4-induced liver fibrotic/cirrhotic rat model was used to assess the effect of h UC-MSCs. Histopathology was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin(H&E), Masson trichrome and Sirius red staining. The liver biochemical profile was measured using a Beckman Coulter analyzer. Expression analysis was performed using immunofluorescent staining, immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and real-time PCR.RESULTS We demonstrated that the infused h UC-MSCs could differentiate into hepatocytes in vivo. Functionally, the transplantation of h UC-MSCs to CCl4-treated rats improved liver transaminases and synthetic function, reduced liver histopathology and reversed hepatobiliary fibrosis. The reversal of hepatobiliary fibrosis was likely due to the reduced activation state of hepatic stellate cells, decreased collagen deposition, and enhanced extracellular matrix remodeling via the up-regulation of MMP-13 and down-regulation of TIMP-1. CONCLUSION Transplanted h UC-MSCs could differentiate into functional hepatocytes that improved both the biochemical and histopathologic changes in a CCl4-induced rat liver fibrosis model. h UC-MSCs may offer therapeutic opportunities for treating hepatobiliary diseases, including cirrhosis.

Effect of Fe content on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cu-Fe-based composite coatings by laser induction hybrid rapid cladding

To select the proper composition and obtain an overall material?microstructure?property relationship for Cu?Fe alloy, theeffect of Fe content on microstructure and properties of Cu?Fe-based composite coatings by laser induction hybrid rapid claddingwas investigated. Microstructure characterization of the composite coatings was tested utilizing SEM, XRD and EDS. Microhardnessmeasurement was executed to evaluate the mechanical properties of the composite coatings. The results show that for low Fe content,the composite coating presents a feature that Fe-rich equiaxed dendrites are embedded in the Cu-rich matrix. With increasing Fecontent, the Fe-rich particles are dispersed in the Cu-rich matrix. With further increasing Fe content, large amounts of Cu-richparticles are homogeneously dispersed in the interdendrite of the Fe-rich matrix. Correspondingly, the average microhardness of thecomposite coatings increases gradually with the increase of Fe content and the microhardness of Cu14.5Fe83Si2C0.5 coating is muchtwice higher than that of the substrate.