Royan Newsletter Vol 3 No 2 Spring 2010 (88-12 ... - Royan Institute

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Vol. 3, No.2, Spring 2010
از چرخ به هر گونه همى دار اميد
پس موى سياه من چرا گشت سفيد
وز گردش روزگار مى لرز چو بيد
گفتى كه پس از سياه رنگى نبود
With fate you still hope to trade;
You said no color comes after black,
Passage of time should make you afraid
I said my black hair to white degrade]
Hafiz (1320-1389 A.D)
Granulocyte-Colony Stimulation Factor (G-CSF)
for Treatment of Chronic Lower Limb Ischemic
Patients
Autologous Transplantation of Cultivated Limbal
Stem Cells on Amniotic Membrane in Limbal Stem
Cell Deficiency (LSD) Patients
Finished Projects
Esfahan, Iran - Sep 2009
An Amazing Trip
“…Regarding my trip to Iran, I had a great time. The
conference was thoroughly interesting as was my visit
to the Royan Institute and the Regenerative Medicine
Centre… Regarding the post-congress tour, it was
truly amazing. Esfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis were
beautiful places to visit and I remember them fondly. I
am also grateful to you all at the Royan Institute for all
the wonderful friends I was able to make both Iranian
and the international delegates. In particular, I would
like to thank you Kamal for showing us the beautiful
sites of Iran. Best regards,
Dr Sajjad Ahmad, PhD,
North East England Stem Cell Institute and Institute of
Human Genetics,
Newcastle University, Bioscience Centre, International
Centre for Life,
Times Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4EP, United
Kingdom
Research Projects in Royan
Institute:
Projects on Process
Autologous Transplantation of Bone Marrow
Mononuclear Cell (BM-MNC) With and Without
Evaluation of factors that induce differentiation
of mouse embryonic stem cells to cholinergic
neuron
Three- dimensional & monolayer culture of
chndrocytes isolated from Rat articular cartilage
The effect of superovulation on blastocyst quality
of NMM mouse In Vitro
Royan Articles
Reprod Biomed Online. 2009 Nov;19(5):734-6.
Appropriate timing of uterine cavity length
measurement positively affects assisted
reproduction cycle outcome.
Madani T, Ashrafi M, Abadi AB, Kiani K.
Edocrinology and Female Infertility Department,
Reproductive Medicine Research Centre, Royan Institute,
ACECR, Tehran, Iran. tmadani@royaninstitute.org
An appropriate and easy embryo transfer has a direct
impact on pregnancy rates. Proper evaluation of the
uterocervical axis and uterine depth are necessary
for suitable embryo transfer. The aim of this study
was to assess the appropriate time for cervical axis
evaluation and uterine measurement. A total of 124
Royan Institute
Reproductive Biomedicine Stem Cell Biology
& Technology Tehran, Iran
P.O.Box: 19395 - 4644
Tel/Fax: (+9821) 22310406
E-mail: info@royaninstitute.org

patients undergoing IVF treatment were included in
the study. They were divided equally into two groups.
In group I (62 women), uterine cavity depth was
measured and the uterocervical axis was determined
on day 2 or 3 of the menstrual cycle, and in group II
(62 women) at the time of oocyte retrieval. There was a
statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy
rates between the two groups (P = 0.006). Thirty-four
women became pregnant in group I (64.2%) versus
19 women in group II (35.8%). In conclusion, uterine
cavity measurement is necessary for suitable embryo
transfer. It seems that the time of measurement
significantly affects clinical pregnancy rate in IVF
cycles. The best time for uterine measurement is on
day 2 or 3 of menstruation.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Jan
1;391(1):329-34. Epub 2009 Nov 11.
Generation of human induced pluripotent stem
cells from a Bombay individual: Moving towards
“universal-donor” red blood cells.
Seifinejad A, Taei A, Totonchi M, Vazirinasab H, Hassani
SN, Aghdami N, Shahbazi E, Yazdi RS, Salekdeh GH,
Baharvand H.
Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology,
Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology,
P.O. Box 19395-4644, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Bombay phenotype is one of the rare phenotypes
in the ABO blood group system that fails to express
ABH antigens on red blood cells. Nonsense or
missense mutations in fucosyltransfrase1 (FUT1)
and fucosyltransfrase2 (FUT2) genes are known to
create this phenotype. This blood group is compatible
with all other blood groups as a donor, as it does
not express the H antigen on the red blood cells. In
this study, we describe the establishment of human
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from the dermal
fibroblasts of a Bombay blood-type individual by the
ectopic expression of established transcription factors
Klf4, Oct4, Sox2, and c-Myc. Sequence analyses of
fibroblasts and iPSCs revealed a nonsense mutation
826C to T (276 Gln to Ter) in the FUT1 gene and a
missense mutation 739G to A (247 Gly to Ser) in the
FUT2 gene in the Bombay phenotype under study.
The established iPSCs resemble human embryonic
stem cells in morphology, passaging, surface and
pluripotency markers, normal karyotype, gene
expression, DNA methylation of critical pluripotency
genes, and in-vitro differentiation. The directed
differentiation of the iPSCs into hematopoietic
lineage cells displayed increased expression of the
hematopoietic lineage markers such as CD34, CD133,
RUNX1, KDR, alpha-globulin, and gamma-globulin.
Such specific stem cells provide an unprecedented
opportunity to produce a universal blood group donor,
in-vitro, thus enabling cellular replacement therapies,
once the safety issue is resolved. Copyright © 2009
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Int J Dev Biol. 2009 Oct 2. [Epub ahead of print]
Feeder- and serum-free establishment and
expansion of human induced pluripotent stem cells.
Totonchi M, Taei A, Seifinejad A, Tabebordbar M,
Rassouli H, Farrokhi A, Gourabi H, Aghdami N,
Hosseini-Salekdeh G, Baharvand H.
Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology,
Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology,
ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Although human induced pluripotent stem cells
(hiPSCs) hold great promise as a source of
differentiated cells for vast therapeutic implications,
many obstacles still need to be surmounted before
this can become a reality. One obstacle, a robust
feeder- and serum-free system to generate and
expand hiPSCs in culture is still unavailable. Here,
for the first time, we describe a novel establishment
and maintenance culture technique that uses human
dermal fibroblasts to generate hiPSCs by introducing
four factors, Klf4, Oct4, Sox2, and c-Myc under serumand
feeder-independent conditions. We have used
a serum replacement product, conditioned medium
(CM), or feeder-free medium (FFM) supplemented
with high elevated basic-fibroblast growth factor in the
absence or presence of Matrigel. Our FFM system in
the presence of Matrigel enhanced the efficiency of
alkaline phosphatase-positive colonies at a frequency
at least 10-fold greater than the conventional
method on feeder cells. The established hiPSCs
are similar to human embryonic stem cells in many
aspects including morphology, passaging, surface
and pluripotency markers, normal karyotype, gene
expression, ultrastructure, and in vitro differentiation.
Such hiPSCs could be useful particularly in the
context of in vitro disease modeling, pharmaceutical
screening and in cellular replacement therapies once
the safety issues have been overcome.
ROYAN
International Twin Congress
11 th Congress on Reproductive
Biomedicine &
6 th Congress on Stem Cells Biology
&
Technology
Sep 15 – 17, 2010 - Tehran – Iran
Deadline 10 May 2010
Email: royancongress@gmail.com
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Some of our invited speakers in 11 th Royan Twin International Congress
15 – 17 Sep 2010, Tehran, Iran
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Name From Position
Prof. Rudolf Jaenisch
USA
Professor of Biology
Whitehead Institute and Dept. of Biology, MIT,
Cambridge
Prof. Stuart Forbes
UK
Centre for Inflammation Research,
Queen’s Medical Res. Ins., Edinburgh
Prof. Richard A. Young
USA
Professor of Biology Member, Whitehead Institute,
Yale University
Prof. Sir Ian Wilmut
UK
Centre for Regenerative Medicine,
University of Edinburgh,
Prof. Ahmed Mansouri
Germany
Investigator Max-Planck Institute,
Molecular Cell Biology, Gottingen,
Prof. Oscar K. Lee
Taipei
Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming
University and Taipei Veterans
Prof. Marius Wernig
U.S.A.
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative
Medicine, Stanford University
Prof. Gerlinde Wernig
U.S.A.
Pathology Dept. & Institute for Regenerative Med.
& Stem Cell Res., Stanford University
Prof. Tobias Cantz Germany Hanover Medical School, Hanover
Prof. Alan Mackay-Sim
Australia
Director, National Centre for Adult Stem Cell
Research, Griffith University
Prof. Miodrag Stojkovic
Spain
Deputy Director of regenerative medicine, Prince
Felipe Research Centre, Valencia,
Prof. Heiner Niemann
Germany
Institut für Tierzucht und Tierverhalten (FAL),
Mariensee,
Prof. John Aplin UK The University of Manchester, Manchester
Prof. Geraldine Hartshorne
UK
Clinical Sciences Research Institute, University of
Warwick
Prof. L. Frith UK University of Liverpool,
Prof. Petr Svoboda
Czech Republic
Department of Epigenetic Regulations, Institute of
Molecular Genetics , Prague
Prof. Vardhman K Rakyan
UK
Centre for Diabetes, Barts and The London
School of Medicine and Dentistry, London
Prof. Jean Bernard Dubuisson Switzerland
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty
of Medicine, Geneve University,
Prof. Aleksandr A. Popov
Russia
Chief of the Endoscopic Surgery Department,
Moscow
Prof. Jan. Brosens
UK
Imperial College London/Hammersmith Campus,
London
Prof. Enlan Xia Republic of China
Professor and Tutor of Master’s degree at Fuxing
Hospital , Beijing
About IRAN
Shahr-e Sūkhté (Persian: ‏,شهرسوخته meaning
“Burnt City”), also spelled as Shahr-e Sukhteh and
Shahr-i Shōkhta, is an archaeological site of a sizable
Bronze Age urban settlement, associated with the
Jiroft culture. It is located in Sistan and Baluchistan
Province, the southeastern part of Iran, on the bank
of the Helmand River, near the Zahedan-Zabol road.
A proposal is submitted to include it in the World
Heritage List of UNESCO.
Site
Covering an area of 151 hectares, Shahr-i Sokhta
was one of the world’s largest cities at the dawn of
the urban era. The settlement appeared around 3200
BCE. The city had four stages of civilization and was
burnt down three times before being abandoned in
2100 BCE. The site was discovered in 1967 and has
been continually excavated since the 1970s by Iranian
and Italian archaeological teams; new discoveries are
reported from time to time.

Finds
In December 2006, archaeologists discovered the
world’s earliest artificial eyeball. It has a hemispherical
form and a diameter of just over 2.5 cm (1 inch). It
consists of very light material, probably bitumen
paste. The surface of the artificial eye is covered
with a thin layer of gold, engraved with a central
circle (representing the iris) and gold lines patterned
like sun rays. The female remains found with the
artificial eye was 1.82 m tall (6 feet), much taller than
ordinary women of her time. On both sides of the eye
are drilled tiny holes, through which a golden thread
could hold the eyeball in place. Since microscopic
research has shown that the eye socket showed
clear imprints of the golden thread, the eyeball must
have been worn during her lifetime. The woman’s
skeleton has been dated to between 2900 and 2800
BCE. The oldest known backgammon, dice and
caraway seeds, together with numerous metallurgical
finds (e.g. slag and crucible pieces), are among the
finds which have been unearthed by archaeological
excavations from this site. Other objects found at the
site include a human skull which indicates the practice
of brain surgery and an earthen goblet depicting what
archeologists consider to be the first animation.
The ancient courier
In one of the most recent discoveries from January, a
team of Iranian and British anthropologists, working
on human remains in the city from the 3rd millennium
BC, identified a male camel rider who they believe
was a messenger in ancient times.
Studies of the skeletal remains belonging to the man
reveal evidence of bone trauma, suggesting that he
was a professional rider who most likely spent most of
his life on camel back.
Indications of riding are seen on the right leg bone
of the man, who died at the age of 40 to 45. The
swellings show that he continuously worked as a
professional rider since he was a teenager. There are
blade-shaped swellings on the lower part of the leg
bone which indicate that he used to gather up his right
leg while riding, suggesting that he rode on a large
animal like a camel or ox. Although there is evidence
showing that smaller draft animals were also used
in the Burnt City, the act of gathering up a leg while
riding is something that one does while riding a camel
over long distances. Scientists, then, believe that the
man was probably a courier who traveled regularly on
camelback.
Women’s role
Some paleoanthropologists believe that mothers in the
Burnt City had social and financial prominence. 5000
year-old insignias, made of river pebbles and believed
to belong only to distinguished inhabitants of the city,
were found in the graves of some female citizens.
Some believe the female owners of the insignias
used them to place their seal on valuable documents.
Others believe the owners may have used the seal to
indicate their lofty status in society.
Craftsmanship
Paleopathological studies on 40 teeth unearthed in
the Burnt City’s cemetery show that the inhabitants of
the city used their teeth as a tool for weaving to make
baskets and other handmade products.
“More than 40 teeth lesions have been identified, the
most prominent of which belongs to a young woman
who used her teeth as a tool for weaving baskets and
similar products,” said Farzad Forouzanfar, director
of the Anthropology Department of Iran’s Archeology
Research Center and head of the anthropology team
at the Burnt City in an interview with CHN. The use of
teeth as a tool in the Burnt City is seen in both males
and females of different age groups. Evidence shows
that weaving was more than a hobby in the prehistoric
city. It was one of the most common professions in the
city which required a special skill. Residents made a
variety of woven products such as carpets, baskets,
and other household items.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_City
Science News
Stem Cells Made From Developing
Sperm
ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2009) — The promise of stem
cell therapy may lie in uncovering how adult cells revert
back into a primordial, stem cell state, whose fate is
yet to be determined. Now, cell scientists at the Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified
key molecular players responsible for this reversion in
fruit fly sperm cells. Reporting online in Cell Stem Cell,
researchers show that two proteins are responsible
redirecting cells on the way to becoming sperm back
to stem cells.
“We knew from our previous work that cells destined
to be sperm could revert back to being stem cells, but
we didn’t know how,” says Erika Matunis, Ph.D., an
associate professor of cell biology at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine. “Since, dedifferentiation
is an interesting phenomenon probably occurring in
a lot of different stem cell populations, we wanted to
know more about the process.”
Like all stem cells, each of the nine stem cells in the
fly testis divides to form two daughter cells: One stays
a stem cell and the other differentiates into an adult
cell, in this case, a sperm cell. To figure out what
might cause sperm cells to revert or dedifferentiate,
Matunis’s research team genetically altered the flies
so that both cells become sperm, reducing the stem
cell population in the testis to nothing.
About a week later, the team examined these fly testes
and found that the stem cells had been repopulated.
To figure out how this was happening, the researchers
first suspected two proteins—Jak and STAT—known
to act together to help stem cells maintain their stem
cell-ness. The team genetically altered flies to reduce
the activity of Jak and STAT in the testis. Counting
the number of cells, they found that the loss of Jak-
STAT caused fewer cells to revert to stem cells; only
60 percent of testes regained stem cells compared to
97 percent in normal Jak-STAT-containing testes.
“We now know that in the fly testis, interfering with
Jak-STAT signaling interferes with the process of
dedifferentiation,” says Matunis.
Next, Matunis would like to figure out how Jak and
STAT control dedifferentiation. “We don’t know if a cell
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is just reversing all of the steps to go back to being
a stem cell or if it is doing something totally new and
different, but we’re eager to find out,” she says.
Authors on the paper are X. Rebecca Sheng and
Erika Matunis of Johns Hopkins and Crista Brawley,
formerly of Johns Hopkins, now at the University of
Chicago.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
releases/2009/08/090806121716.htm
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http://www.bentham.org/open/
toanatj/index.htm
The Open Anatomy Journal
ISSN: 1877-6094
Editor-in-Chief: Eimei Sato (Japan)
Associate Editor: Guido Macchiarelli (Italy)
Regional Editor (Europe): Stefania A. Nottola
(Italy)
11th Congress of the European
Society of Contraception and
Reproductive Health
May 19-22, 2010
The Hague, NETHERLANDS
11 th
ROYAN
International Research Award
Sep 15 -17, 2010
IFFS Munich 2010 - YES YOU CAN!!
IFFS is proud that in 2010 we celebrate 60 years as
the world´s leading organization devoted to human
fertility and infertility.
Made up of 59 international fertility societies IFFS
standardizes and classifies fertility and infertility
processes all over the world
Come join us in Munich on September 12-16 for our
20th World
Congress!
IFFS is you: write your abstract now and join us in
Munich.
YES YOU CAN !!
Professor David Healy
Key Note Lecture: Safety issues in hormonal therapy
Tuesday 14th September, Alfred O. Mueck, Germany
Congress, Meeting & Event Management AG
Albert-Rosshaupter-Strasse 65
Reproductive Biomedicine
& Stem Cells
Biology & Technology
Deadline 10 April 2008
E-mail: Info@RoyanInstitute.org