Curcumin mitigates high glucose-induced cardiac oxidative stress via Notch1 pathway activation.

This study aims to investigate the protective effects of curcumin (CUR) in high glucose (HG)-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis of primary cardiomyocytes by activating the Notch1 signaling pathway. CUR is a natural polyphenol isolated from turmeric rhizomes and is known for its antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects, particularly relevant in diabetes.Therefore, we used neonatal rat cardiomyocytes exposed to HG conditions, followed by treatment with CUR and DAPT, respectively.

Environmental enrichment promotes functional recovery from stroke via enhancing neuroplasticity through the action of -HB.

Stroke is a leading cause of adult disability worldwide, unfortunately, no drugs are clinically available to promote functional recovery after stroke. Although animal environmental enrichment is a recognized paradigm for promoting stroke repair, elusive mechanisms hinder its clinical translation. Here, we show that β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB) level in the peri-infarct cortex is upregulated after environmental enrichment (EE) exposure.

Modeling Down Syndrome with Patient iPSCs Reveals Cellular and Migration Deficits of GABAergic Neurons.

The brain of Down syndrome (DS) patients exhibits fewer interneurons in the cerebral cortex, but its underlying mechanism remains unknown. By morphometric analysis of cortical interneurons generated from DS and euploid induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we found that DS GABA neurons are smaller and with fewer neuronal processes. The proportion of calretinin over calbindin GABA neurons is reduced, and the neuronal migration capacity is decreased.

Directed differentiation of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons from human pluripotent stem cells.

Background: Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) play critical roles in learning, memory and cognition. Dysfunction or degeneration of BFCNs may connect to neuropathology, such as Alzheimer's disease, Down's syndrome and dementia. Generation of functional BFCNs may contribute to the studies of cell-based therapy and pathogenesis that is related to learning and memory deficits.

Efficient generation of region-specific forebrain neurons from human pluripotent stem cells under highly defined condition.

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have potential to differentiate to unlimited number of neural cells, which provide powerful tools for neural regeneration. To date, most reported protocols were established with an animal feeder system. However, cells derived on this system are inappropriate for the translation to clinical applications because of the introduction of xenogenetic factors.