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Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have extensive self-renewal capacity and the potential to differentiate into all tissue-specific cell lineages, including corneal endothelial cells (CECs). They are a promising prospect for the future of regenerative medicine. The method of derivation of CECs from ESCs and iPSCs, however, remains to be elucidated. In this study, mouse ESCs and iPSCs were induced to differentiate into CECs using CEC embryonic development events as a guide. All- trans retinoic acid (RA) treatment during the embryoid body (EB) differentiation step was used to promote neural crest (NC) cell differentiation as first step and was followed by a second induction in CEC- or lens epithelial cell (LEC)-conditioned medium (CM) to ultimately generate CEC-like cells. During the corresponding differentiation stages, NC developmental markers and CEC differentiation markers were detected at the protein level using immunocytochemistry (ICC) and at the mRNA level by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). During the first stage, the data indicated that 4 days of treatment with 1 μM RA starting on day 4 of EB formation favored NC cell differentiation and that plating on gelatin-coated plates led to cell migration out of the EBs. The second-stage differentiation results showed that the CM, particularly the LEC-CM, enhanced the yield of polygonal cells with CEC-specific marker expression shown by ICC and RT-qPCR. This study demonstrates that mouse ESCs and iPSCs were induced and expressed CEC differentiation markers when subjected to a two-step inducement process, suggesting that they are a promising resource for corneal endothelium failure replacement therapy in the future.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) for treatment of male pseudohermaphroditism., Methods: A 17-year-old patient with male pseudohermaphroditism and a female social sex was admitted. According to the request by the patient and the relatives for a female gender, LESS vaginoplasty and cryptorchidectomy were performed using a single multilumen port inserted through a 2.5 cm incision below the umbilicus, followed by reconstruction of the perineal region by open surgery., Results: The total operative time was 7 h, and the LESS procedure lasted for about 3.5 h. No other port incision was needed. The estimated intraoperative blood loss was 400 ml. No electrolyte or metabolic acid-base balance disorders were observed perioperatively. In the follow-up examination at 6 months after the operation, the reconstructed vagina healed smoothly without obvious contraction or fixation failure, and the perineal region showed good appearance., Conclusion: With minimal invasiveness, LESS surgery produces good cosmetic effect and allows rapid postoperative recovery, thus may become a promising alternative to the management of pseudohermaphroditism.

Strain TB-Chen is a group A rotavirus (RV) isolated from a Chinese infant suffering from gastroenteritis in hospital. The NSP5 and NSP6 of strain TB-Chen are encoded by the 10th gene segment (816bp in whole length) of the viral genome. The results obtained in this study showed that the NSP5 was encoded in the first open-reading-frame (ORF) of the gene segment (from 22bp to 624bp), and NSP6 was encoded in the second ORF (from 80bp to 355bp). The NSP5 protein consisted of 200 amino acid residues with a putative molecular mass of 21.9 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 7.86. The NSP6 protein consisted of 92 amino acids with a putative molecular mass of 11 kD, and a putative isoelectric point of 9.65. This study further analyzed phylogenetic relationship of the NSP5/NSP6 ORF nucleotide sequence. The results showed that the NSP5s of group A rotavirus could be at least classified into 7 genotypes (H1-H7), the NSP6s could be at least classified into 8 genotypes (hl-h8); the genotypes of the NSP5 and NSP6 derived from strain TB-Chen was classified as H2 and h2. This was the first report on the genotype classification of the NSP6 of group A RVs, and it was proposed English letter "h" to represent genotype of the NSP6, e. g. strain 69M classified as H7h7, strains Wa and KU classified as H1h8.

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of bulbourethral sling for treating urinary incontinence resulted from intrinsic sphincter deficiency., Methods: Eighteen male patients with urinary incontinence were treated by bulbourethral sling operation., Result: In the follow-up for 1 to 34 months, 16 patients achieved clinical cure and 2 showed significant improvement of the symptoms., Conclusion: This operation can be effective for treating urinary incontinence resulted from intrinsic sphincter deficiency.