Creating a Future of Transplantation.

On behalf of the Japan Society for Organ Preservation and Medical Biology (JSOPMB), I express my sincere appreciation to Dr. David J. Eve and Professor Cesar V. Borlongan, Coeditors of Cell Medicine, for providing us with such an excellent opportunity to publish the data that were presented at the annual meeting of the JSOPMB. I also thank Dr. David J. Eve for the editing of our articles in detail. I am very sure that the relationship between Cell Medicine and JSOPMB has enhanced the motivation of JSOPMB members as well as board members and will continue to do so in the future, while also encouraging young Japanese researchers to join this organization. One of the extremely important missions of the annual meeting of the JSOPMB is to exchange new research outcomes and create new therapeutic concepts. JSOPMB always encourages and motivates young investigators. JSOPMB was started in 1974 for the study of organ preservation and developed widely in the 1990s with the participation of researchers in various fields of medicine, pharmacology, engineering, veterinary medicine, and basic science. Currently, JSOPMB has more than 700 members and is run under the direction of Professor Takashi Kondo, the president of the JSOPMB. Excellent presentations conducted at the 41th annual meeting of the JSOPMB held on November 28–29, 2014, in Osaka, Japan, under the supervision of Dr. Yoshiki Sawa (Professor, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan), were selected and given an opportunity to be published in this special issue of Cell Medicine. Seven of these presentations are herein published in this special JSOPMB issue. Stem cell research was a major topic of interest. There were two articles regarding stem cells. Miyagi-Shiohira et al. reviewed cryopreservation of mesenchymal stem cells, especially adipose-derived stem cells. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is commonly used as a cryopreservation medium as it diffuses into the cell through the plasma membrane and protects the cells from the damage caused by freezing. As substitutes for DMSO or animal-derived serum, cell banker series, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), sericin and maltose, and methyl cellulose (MC) have been investigated for their clinical applications. Saitoh et al. evaluated feeder cells for establishing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from human deciduous tooth dental pulp cells (HDDPCs). Their data showed that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were better feeder cells than an immortalized line established from Santos inbred mouse (SIM) embryonic fibroblasts resistant to 6-thioguanine and ouabain known as STO cells for establishing iPSCs. There were three articles regarding pancreatic islets. Noguchi et al. reviewed islet culture/preservation before islet transplantation. In the current clinical culture conditions, it seems that islets cultured at 37°C cannot receive enough oxygen because central necrosis of islets during culture was frequently observed. Low-temperature storage may be better than culture, although a future study should carefully evaluate the effects of islet equivalent and tissue volume in relation to the antigenicity of 4°C-preserved islets. Hanayama et al. showed efficient gene transduction of dispersed islet cells in culture using fiber-modified adenoviral vectors harboring a polylysine (K7) peptide in the C-terminus of the fiber knob. The fiber-modified adenoviral vector yielded higher transduction efficiencies than conventional adenoviral vector at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 5 and 10. Yamashita et al. evaluated human laminin (HL) isotype coating for creating islet cell sheet. HL-332 was an optimal human-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) for coating temperature-responsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) surfaces. Miyamoto et al. showed a Tapered Stencil for Cluster Culture (TASCL) device developed to create liver spheroids in vitro. The TASCL device will be useful for application as a toxicity evaluation system for drug testing. Pillai et al. have achieved the fluorescence off state of quantum dots (QDs) by the conjugation of black hole quencher (BHQ) molecules intermediated with a peptide using streptavidin-QDs585 and biotin-pep-BHQ-1. The technology is expected to be useful as molecular imaging with on–off control of QD fluorescence. The theme of this JSOPMB issue is “Creating a Future of Transplantation.” The board members and I are looking forward to seeing further progress in JSOPMB in conjunction with Cell Medicine.