Due to ethical issues surrounding embryonic stem cell (ESC), the search for adult stem cell (ASC) becomes more critical. Fetomaternal tissues: umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord matrix and placenta have been alternative sources due to their simple isolation and plasticity. As a method for measuring stem cell pluripotency from these tissues, we use Oct-4, a transcription factor known to regulate ESC pluripotency. The aim of this study was to measure the relative expression level of Oct-4 from fetomaternal tissues. Oct-4 gene expression was measured by semi quantitative method using two step RT-PCR followed by G-box gel documentation system analysis. Umbilical cord matrix express Oct-4 in a high significant number among other tissues, (p<0.0001) to umbilical cord blood (2.59 fold); mother’s blood (1.61 fold); and nuliparous women’s blood (1.11 fold), while the expression level difference to placenta is not statistically significant (1.09 fold). Interestingly, umbilical cord blood expresses the lowest although this is not statistically significant. It was concluded that umbilical cord matrix, placenta and umbilical cord blood express Oct-4, detected by two-steps RT-PCR. This shows us that umbilical cord matrix, umbilical cord blood, and placenta contains stem cell with pluripotent character.Keywords: adult stem cell, umbilical cord blood, umbilical cord matrix, placenta, pluripotency, Oct-4

Angiogenesis is a process of new blood vessel development from pre-existing vasculature. The process plays an essential role in the normal growth of tissues, wound healing, tissue regeneration following cardiovascular events, and even during female reproductive cycles (i.e. menstruation and placental development). Under these conditions, angiogenesis is highly regulated by angiogenic factors. Several angiogenic factors, such as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF), Transforming Growth Factor (TGF), and angiopoietin, have  extensively been  studied and have been used to treat many diseases. However, persistent unregulated angiogenesis has also been shown to contribute to many diseases such as tumor metastases, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetic retinopathy. Continued advances in understanding the mechanism of the angiogenic process may provide further diagnostic and therapeutic benefits in dealing with a variety of diseases.

Embryonic stem cells can be obtained by generating an embryo through fertilization; however, an embryo can also be generated asexually through parthenogenesis. This procedure will overcome the ethical issues regarding the use of embryos initially generated for reproductive purposes. The aim of this study was to obtain an optimized oocyte activation method through parthenogenesis by using mice oocytes as a model. Ten mM SrCl2 and 5 µg/ml Cytochalasin B (CB) in calcium-free Chatot Ziomek Bavister (CZB) were used as a medium for an in vitro activation of mouse oocytes. Treatment combinations for the oocyte activation methods were (A) activation in CZB & SrCl2 (prepared in stock) for two hours and in CZB & CB for four hours; (B) activation in CZB & SrCl2 (fresh medium) for two hours and in CZB & CB for four hours; and (C) activation in CZB & CB & SrCl2 (fresh medium) for six hours. The results show that the activation rate of  mouse oocytes  with  method C has  been  the best among all the protocols. This optimized protocol clearly provides a new insight in the generation of embryos for further use, particularly for producing embryonic stem cells.

Stem cell  has become a main focus for not only reseacrhers but also society due to its potency in cell-based therapy. Regardless ethical issues surrounding the human embryonic stem cell, adult human stem cell became the alternative of choice for transplantation. In the an effort to minimize ethical problems of human embryonic stem cell transplantation, many breaktroughs have been conducted, like ANT (Altered Nuclear Transfer) and iPS (Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell). Development of stem cell technology  in producing testing model will assist a lot in potential drug testing, which might decrease potential side effect and numbers of human clinical trial.  

Recently, it has been elucidated that a population of stem cells present in the blood circulation known as Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) plays an important role in the vascular regeneration. This cell population attracts medical attention thus promoting its potential use in diagnostic and therapy of many vascular diseases. There were several reports describing EPCs as cells with different characteristics which lead into the complexity in defining EPCs. Many efforts have been made in the search of distinct definition of EPCs. Certainly, a more precise definition of EPCs would facilitate the usage of stem cell therapy for various vascular diseases through EPCs. This paper reviews most common EPCs definitions and their implications.

Secara  in vitro,  Embryonic Stem Cell  (ESC) dapat diarahkan perkembangannya menjadi sel neuron dan sel glia. Conditionedmedium  dari kultur primer sel syaraf mengandung sejumlah faktor pertumbuhan antara lain  nerve growth factor (NGF), glial derived-neurotrophic factor (GDNF), nestin, dan glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). Dengan melakukan purifikasi protein yang terkandung  di dalam CM, maka diharapkan spektrum protein yang ada menjadi lebih sempit sehingga protein target dapat terdeteksi. Penelitian ini mempelajari kultur primer sel syaraf yang berasal dari hemisfer Mus musculus. Tujuan penelitian adalah untuk mendapatkan CM dari kultur primer sel syaraf  Mus musculus. Medium yang digunakan adalah Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) highglucose FBS 10%. Penggantian medium kultur dilakukan setiap 2 hari sekali. Kepadatan sel sekitar 32x103 sel/2 cm2. Setelah hari ke-4 terlihat adanya pertumbuhan neuron bipolar dan neural progenitor cell (NPC). Sel-sel astrosit akan teramati ketika periode kultur diperpanjang. Sel mengalami konfluensi setelah 12 hari kultur. Sel-sel yang tumbuh berguna untuk penjelasan neurogenesis. Kultur primer sel syaraf secara monolayer yang berasal dari hemisfer neonatus mampu mendukung  pertumbuhan sel yang tergolong sebagai neurogenic dan nonneurogenic.  Kata kunci: kultur primer, sel syaraf, conditioned medium, neural progenitor cell, neurogenesis.

Background: In Jakarta, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) usually detected in late stage with very low survival rate ofabout 1.1 years. OSCC may be preceded by premalignant lesion, so that early detection of the lesion may decrease the mortality rate due to oral malignancy. CD133 is a hematopoietic stem cell that play role in tissue regeneration, inflammation and tumor. Upregulated of CD133 was reported on tumor progression. Purpose: The aim of study is to determine circulating CD133 expression on premalignant (PML) and proliferative (PL) lesion. Method: Observational research was carried out on patients who seek treatment of PML and PL at Oral Medicine clinic. CD133 was taken from peripheral blood serum, examined using PCR. Data was analyzed by Chi square test. Result: 15 subjects (each of five subjects for PML, PL and control) consist of 40% male and 60% female. Age group of above 41 years old was most affected PML and PL (66.7%). Tongue is common site for oral lesion (40%). There is a significant different of circulating CD133 rate among all groups lesion (p=0.039). Conclusion: CD133 express differently in premalignant and proliferative lesions.

Aim Umbilical cord blood mononucleated (UCBMC) cells has been shown to be the stem cells originated from umbilical cord blood. To date, UCBMC has been introduced as an alternative source for stem cells used in autologous and allogeneic transplantations. Several clinical studies have demonstrated that UCBMCs required less stringent selection for HLA matches between donor and recipient with less cases of graft versus host reaction. In this study, UCBMCs are known to contain many stem cells, were characterized and compared to peripheral blood for their immunogenic profile.Methods To elucidate the potential of UCBMC alloreactivity, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay was performed. The donor and effectors cells were HLA-typed using PCR method to determine their alloreactivity. Further, to distinguish the level of HLA class I and II expression flowcytometry was done using monoclonal antibodies against those molecules. All the analyse were carried out on UCBMCs and peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs).Results The result of MLR assay showed that there was less IFN-γ secretion detected in the co-cultured medium in the presence of UCBMCs compared to PBMCs counterpart, indicating less possible rejection of UCBMC. Further, we found that there were only 1-3 alleles of HLA match (out of 8 alleles) among the PBMCs and UCBMCs. By using flowcytometry assay, we could further demonstrate lower HLA Class I expression level with less amount of HLA Class II expressing cells in UCBMC compared to those in PBMCs.Conclusion These findings clearly demonstrate the low immunogenicity of UCBMCs, based on the low level of secreted IFN-γ in the MLR assay, low expression level of HLA Class I, and small population of HLA Class II expressing cells. The outcomes from this study would raise a better understanding in the usage of umbilical cord blood as an alternative source of stem cells for allogeneic transplantation. (Med J Indones 2010; 19:14-20)Keywords: umbilical cord blood, immunogenicity, stem cell

Background: Wound healing in burn is a complex process and early complete wound closure still enfaces many problems. Application of stem cells is found to be the future method of wound healing. Among the available sources of allogenic stem cells, umbilical cord blood is quite easy to be obtained, has less ethical issue, and contain multipotent stem cells, which are characterized by low immunogenicity. The study aims to evaluate the potential of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (hUCBMNCs) treatment in the management of deep partial thickness burns. Methods: Twenty patients with deep partial thickness burns were treated with topical application of 2 x 107 hUCBMNCs and silver sulfadiazine (SSD) cream on the comparable wound size in the other sites. The treatments were applied for six times in every two consecutive days. Wound surface area was measured with Visitrak® on day 0, 7, and 11. Pain intensity was evaluated using Wong Baker’s faces scale on each wound dressing change. Histology examination was performed in some samples of collected skin biopsy of the newly re-epithelialized area of hUCBMNCs and SSD-treated wound at the end of treatment. HLA typing is used to evaluate the issue of safety. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the rate of wound healing. Results: Sixteen patients of hUCBMNCs-treated showed a significant wound closure in faster than SSD-treated; measured on day 7 (p = 0.041) and day 11 (p = 0.021). Number of patients with reduced pain intensity, from approximately scale 3 to 1/0 on day 7 and 11, were higher in hUCBMNCs-treated compared to SSD-treated wound. In spite of the HLA-mismatch, no allergic reaction, rejection, and infection found on hUCBMNCs-treated wound suggested the safety of this therapy. Histology examination found the formation of dermal-epidermal junction and rete ridges equal to the normal skin on hUCBMNCs-treated wounds. Conclusion: hUCBMNCs are effective and safe to promote re-epithelialization in deep partial thickness burns. (Med J Indones. 2013;22:92-9)Keywords: Deep partial thickness burn, mononuclear cells, re-epithelialization, umbilical cord blood

Lipoaspirate, a wasted by product from liposuction procedure recently has been shown to contain abundant adipose-derived-mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been studied in many research areas to regenerate many cell lineages. In addition, MSCs have immunomodulatory effect. This capability has been utilized in several clinical studies in hematopoetic stem cell and organ transplantation as a strategy to reduce the risk of Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD). It has been reported that the ‘stimulated’ MSC is able to secrete substances to suppress tissue rejection. One of the substances was known to be indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO).  A previous study has  characterized the secretion of IDO by bone marrow-derived MSCs stimulated by an inflammatory mediator interferon gamma (IFN-γ). IDO has been detected using Western blot analysis and by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) assay. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of IDO in AD-MSCs culture with and without INFγ stimulation. Our study showed that AD-MSC stimulated with IFN-γ significantly secreted high level of IDO as detected by Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA). Despite its property as a proinflammatory mediator, IFN-γ has shown to be able to induce IDO secretion in MSC culture which suggests the immuno modulatory effect of MSC. This study clearly demonstrates the potential application of adipose-derived MSC in the immunomodulatory strategy for allogenic transplantation.