An Emerging Revolution in Automated 3D Cell Culture

The nuclear receptors pregnane X receptor (PXR) and constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) are closely related transcription factors that regulate the expression of phase I (cytochrome P450s), phase II metabolizing enzymes and transporter genes in response to xenobiotics, including prescription drugs.

We found a distinct subpopulation of Tregs within BMSCs. Tregs and BMSCs in co-culture conferred neuroprotection that varied in a dose-dependent manner. Tregs minimized stem cell production of IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and inhibited BMSC secretion of FGF-beta, a cytokine related to BMSC proliferation and differentiation. The ratio of Tregs found natively in BMSCs is optimally adapted to provide the maximum neuroprotective benefit of stem cell treatment after ischemic stroke.

We utilized paired synthetic crRNAs coupled with our synthetic tracrRNA in cells transduced with lentiviral Cas9 to perform a functional knockout on hsa-miR-221. This three-part system (crRNA, tracrRNA and Cas9) has demonstrated efficient gene editing when used with only one guide RNA, but the goal was to use two crRNAs to remove the entire stem-loop.