Pure bred: New stem cell medium only has canine components

Researchers create a stem cell medium for canine stem cells that doesn’t contain any human components

2025-12-12

(Press-News.org) Canine induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells possess the ability to differentiate into any type of cell, making them a useful tool for investigating common canine diseases and disease states, including those of humans.

When culturing iPS cells, a culture substrate is required to serve as a scaffold for the cells, which adhere to it and proliferate. Without the scaffold, the cells die or fail to differentiate.

Currently, recombinant proteins derived primarily from humans are used as culture substrates for canine iPS cells. However, these human-derived elements are an alien substance for dog cells, leading to immune rejection and making clinical use difficult.

A research team led by graduate student Kohei Shishida and Professor Shingo Hatoya at the Graduate School of Veterinary Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, engineered E. coli with canine-derived genes that made them produce vitronectin (VTN), a dog protein. The E. coli bacteria acted like factories, creating enough VTN to be used as a scaffold to support the growth of canine iPS cells without using any human- or mouse-derived materials.

They found that the canine-derived VTN supported stem cell culture as effectively as the human-derived version. The stem cells also maintained their full differentiation potential, just as they do in the standard medium.

“This achievement is highly significant as it has paves the way for the stable cultivation of canine iPS cells without the use of human components,” Shishida said. “This is valuable because it enables a fully canine culture system, reducing cross-species contamination risks.”

For potential clinical use, the researchers also evaluated a mutant form, VTN-N, generated by deleting a portion of the protein’s N-terminal region to establish whether trimming down unnecessary or potentially problematic parts of the protein hindered its effectiveness. VTN-N demonstrated similar performance to human-derived VTN, functioning adequately even with a simpler structure. Future studies will enable optimization of the manufacturing process using VTN-N.

“This research brings the clinical application of regenerative medicine for intractable diseases commonly seen in dogs, such as heart disease, neurological disorders, and blood disorders, closer to reality,” Professor Hatoya added. “Canine-derived VTN can be produced stably and cost-effectively using E. coli, making it a useful foundational technology with broad applicability from research to clinical use.”

The study was published in Regenerative Therapy.

###

About OMU

Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Largest study of its kind highlights benefits – and risks – of plant-based diets in children

2025-12-12

Vegetarian and vegan diets can support healthy growth when carefully planned with appropriate supplementation, finds a major new meta-analysis – the most comprehensive study to-date of plant-based diets in children. A team of researchers, from Italy, USA and Australia, analysed data from over 48,000 children and adolescents worldwide who followed different dietary patterns, examining health outcomes, growth and nutritional adequacy. They found that vegan and vegetarian diets can be nutrient-rich and support healthy growth, but also carry a risk of deficiencies if key nutrients are not obtained through fortified ...

Synergistic effects of single-crystal HfB2 nanorods: Simultaneous enhancement of mechanical properties and ablation resistance

2025-12-12

Background Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs), with their exceptional high-temperature stability, oxidation resistance, and ablation resistance, have become key materials for the thermal protection systems of hypersonic vehicles. However, ceramic materials constructed from traditional polycrystalline boride powders exhibit inherent defects under extreme service environments: grain boundaries, acting as preferential active regions for oxidation reactions and rapid diffusion channels for oxygen atoms, tend to trigger localized oxidation that spreads inward, ultimately leading to material structural damage and functional failure. ...

Mysterious X-ray variability of the strongly magnetized neutron star NGC 7793 P13

2025-12-12

When gas falls onto a compact object, such as a neutron star or black hole, due to its strong gravity (a process called accretion), it emits electromagnetic waves. High-sensitivity observations have discovered objects with extremely high X-ray luminosities. One possible explanation for the ultraluminosity is that an extraordinary amount of gas falls onto a compact object through a process called supercritical accretion. However, the mechanism of supercritical accretion remains unclear. The research team focused on NGC 7793 P13 (hereafter, P13), which is a neutron star in supercritical accretion, ...

The key to increasing patients’ advance care medical planning may be automatic patient outreach

2025-12-12

A strategy for advance care planning (ACP) that included automated outreach from staff who contacted patients to offer assistance significantly boosted the number of patients who completed documentation outlining their wishes in times of serious illness, new research finds. People with serious illnesses should discuss their medical care wishes with families and doctors, said Dr. Neil Wenger, professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study’s senior author. But these conversations are not always easy, particularly for primary care doctors who are busy with other clinical ...

Palaeontology: Ancient tooth suggests ocean predator could hunt in rivers

2025-12-12

A 66-million-year-old tooth discovered in North Dakota, USA, suggests that some mosasaurs — extinct lizard-like reptiles that could grow up to 12 metres long — may have hunted in rivers as well as seas. The authors suggest that the findings, which are published in BMC Zoology, may represent the first evidence of a mosasaur hunting freshwater prey in Hell Creek at this time. Melanie During, Nathan Van Vranken, and colleagues examined the tooth after it was discovered in 2022 in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota, USA, in a river-like area formerly connected to an ancient sea known as the Western Interior ...

Polar bears may be adapting to survive warmer climates, says study

2025-12-12

New research reveals a link between rising temperatures and changes in polar bear DNA, which may be helping them adapt and survive in increasingly challenging environments. The study by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) discovered that some genes related to heat-stress, aging and metabolism are behaving differently in polar bears living in southeastern Greenland, suggesting they might be adjusting to their warmer conditions. The finding suggests that these genes play a key role in how different polar bear populations are adapting or evolving in response to their changing local climates ...

Canadian wildfire smoke worsened pediatric asthma in US Northeast: UVM study

2025-12-12

New research from the University of Vermont reveals exposure to smoke from Canadian wildfires in the summer of 2023 led to worsening asthma symptoms in children in Vermont and upstate New York. The study, published today [12/11] in the journal Environmental Health, is the first to examine the relationship between wildfire smoke and asthma in the Northeast—which in recent years has seen a marked increase in poor air quality days due to wildfires. “In 2023 when we couldn’t see New York across the lake, a lot of Vermonters began to worry about wildfire smoke,” says Anna Maassel, a Ph.D. candidate at the Rubenstein School of Environment ...

New UBCO research challenges traditional teen suicide prevention models

2025-12-12

The old proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” also applies to preventing youth suicide, according to UBC Okanagan researchers who found that community support is essential. In Canada, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among children under 14 and the second for youth and young adults between 15 and 34 years old. The UBCO Faculty of Health and Social Development researchers say governments, schools and community agencies need to rethink how youth suicide prevention efforts are designed. And work together on the issue. “Suicide among young people is a major public health issue and is among the leading causes of death among children ...

Diversity language in US medical research agency grants declined 25% since 2024

2025-12-12

Words reflecting diversity language have appeared less frequently in grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since the 2024 US presidential election, with a 25% relative decrease between January 2024 and June 2025, finds a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. News reports have indicated that US federal agencies have recently limited or discouraged use of words related to diversity, health inequities, and other scientific subjects commanding political attention in NIH research grants. News reports also suggest that researchers may be modifying their language or research topics to align with federal ...

Concern over growing use of AI chatbots to stave off loneliness

2025-12-12

AI chatbot systems, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot, are used increasingly as confidants of choice, but turning to AI chatbots for companionship and emotional support is a cause for concern, especially in younger people, say experts in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. They warn that “we might be witnessing a generation learning to form emotional bonds with entities that lack capacities for human-like empathy, care, and relational attunement” and say evidence based strategies for reducing ...

Synergistic effects of single-crystal HfB2 nanorods: Simultaneous enhancement of mechanical properties and ablation resistance

An ECOG-ACRIN imaging study solves a long-standing gap in metastatic breast cancer research and care: accurately measuring treatment response in patients with bone metastases

Cleveland Clinic presents final results of phase 1 clinical trial of preventive breast cancer vaccine study

Nationally renowned anesthesiology physician-scientist and clinical operations leader David Mintz, MD, PhD, named Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the UM School of Medicine

Pure bred: New stem cell medium only has canine components

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: