The Longest Case of COVID-19 Lasted 613 Days – Healthnews.com

For most, COVID-19 symptoms last for a few weeks before passing. New research from the Netherlands finds a patient suffered from the respiratory virus for nearly two years before his death.

A Dutch man with a poor immune system lived with a high-mutated novel variant of COVID-19 for 613 days, according to the University of Amsterdams Centre for Experimental and Molecular Medicine (CEMM). The case is known as the longest bout of COVID-19.

Healthy patients diagnosed with COVID-19 typically recover from mild cases of the virus within a few weeks. However, immunocompromised individuals may develop a persistent infection with increased adverse effects that can evolve such as the Omicron variant, which originated in a patient with a weakened immune system.

A European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases release says the study led by Magda Vergouwe of the CEMM describes a male patient who was admitted to the Amsterdam University Medical Center in February 2022 due to COVID-19. He was infected with the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.1.17.

The patient suffered from myelodysplastic and myeloproliferative overlap syndrome due to a stem cell transplant. In myelodysplastic diseases, immature blood cells in bone barrow do not mature and become healthy blood cells. Meanwhile, myeloproliferative diseases result in a total number of blood cells slow increasing.

This case underscores the risk of persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections in immunocompromised individuals as unique SARS-CoV-2 viral variants may emerge due to extensive intra-host evolution, study authors said. We emphasise the importance of continuing genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 evolution in immunocompromised individuals with persistent infections given the potential public health threat of possibly introducing viral escape variants into the community.

The 72-year-old patient had previously received multiple COVID-19 vaccinations. He was treated with multiple antibody medications without any response and within 21 days, the man developed a mutation that resisted sotrovimab, one of the antibody medications. In the full genome sequencing of the virus that persisted for 613 days, researchers uncovered it had undergone 50 genetic code mutations.

The ESCMID Global release says study authors note there must be a balance between protecting the masses from new variants and providing care for these terminally ill patients. Also, scientists emphasize while there is an increased chance of novel variants in those with weakened immune systems, it is not the case for each patient.

The duration of SARS-CoV-2 infection in this described case is extreme, but prolonged infections in immunocompromised patients are much more common compared to the general community. Further work by our team includes describing a cohort of prolonged infections in immunocompromised patients from our hospital with infection durations varying between 1 month and 2 years.

The complete research of this unique COVID-19 case will be presented at the ESCMID Global Congress in Barcelona which runs from April 27-30.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID-19 guidelines in March, no longer recommending isolation following a positive test. Those who are infected should wear a high-quality mask or respirator when around others, monitor symptoms, and contact a healthcare provider for possible treatments. The CDC reported 6,406 COVID-19 hospitalizations last week, a 13.8% drop.

However, COVID-19 can still be a threat to those with weak immune systems like the 72-year-old Dutch man. The CDC highlights those who are immunocompromised have lesser defenses against infections. Those six months and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised are recommended to receive at least one dose of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC says people with weakened immune symptoms may reach out to their healthcare provider for possible antiviral medications. Recovering from COVID-19 for immunocompromised patients may take longer than the normal few weeks

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The Longest Case of COVID-19 Lasted 613 Days - Healthnews.com

Andy Cohen, Bravo Stars Mourn Death of RHOC Alum Lauri Peterson’s Son Joshua Waring at 35 – TooFab

The Bravo family came together over the weekend to mourn one of their own after OG Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Lauri Peterson announced that her son Joshua-Michael Waring had died on Easter Sunday. He was 35.

Waring's sister, Ashley Zarlin, paid tribute to her brother on Instagram while stating that he died from "the relentless grip of addiction." She posted a carousel of images from their lives growing up together, along with a heartfelt message.

"He was brilliant and had limitless potential, but addiction veered him off course," she wrote, calling addiction "a disease that distorts and destroys, leaving behind shattered dreams and broken hearts."

"My heart aches for the lost opportunities for us to grow together as adults, to share laughter and dreams, the conversations that we will never get to have, and the dreams that will be left unfulfilled," Zarlin continued.

She praised their mother for fighting alongside him, "never wavering in her belief that he could overcome this demon," while wishing that she could have done more to change this tragic outcome.

Then, Zarlin called for change in the healthcare system to prioritize "compassion and support above all else," saying that our current system "failed him time and again."

"I pray for a world where compassion and effective support systems replace judgment and neglect, so that others may find the help they desperately need," she wrote.

In her own post, Peterson wrote, "No one can ever prepare you for this feeling of such deep loss. Every fiber in my body hurts. Josh fought every single day for most of his adult life, for his life, but this past Sunday, the challenge was too great."

She eulogized her son beautifully, talking about his joy-filled childhood and his ability to be optimistic and kind through "adult hardship." "He received the most joy, pride and purpose through his daughter Kennady and watching her grow and thrive over the years," wrote Peterson.

She went on to thank everyone who tried to help Josh in his struggles with addiction, as well as all the support she's received while trying to help him.

"Josh I love you so much and I will miss you terribly! I will forever be your 'Mama Bear & Mama Dukes' and every time the clock turns to 11:11, I will expect your call to tell me to make a wish!" she wrote. "What will I wish for now?"

Andy Cohen was among the first to offer his condolences to Peterson, commenting, "Lauri I am so sorry. This is heartbreaking. You tried so hard to save him, and by sharing Joshs story you would up educating people around the world about the tragedy of addiction for those who are touched by it. May Joshs memory be a blessing to you always. Sending your family all my love. "

Heather McDonald commented, "Remember he was so lucky to have a mom who never gave up. RIP." Gretchen Rossi added, "Oh Laurie, my heart breaks for you so much. I know how much you fought for him and always wanted nothing but the best for him. May the Lord surround you with his angels and give you strength through this incredibly hard loss. I love you friend

Taking to the comments section on Zarlin's post, Rossi also wrote, "Im just so sorry to hear this news Ash, You all were such a great support to him for so many years. I am sending you all much love and healing prayers during this painful time. Love you friend ."

"So so sad. Im so sorry to hear this news Ash. Sending you and your family love and prayers ," added Laguna Beach star Casey Beau Brown.

On Peterson's post, Kelly Dodd commented, "Im so sorry for your loss !! My prayers go out to yall !!" Tamra Judge also shared her condolences, writing, "Lauri, Im so sorry. My heart breaks for you. Thinking of you and your family. Sending you all so much love ."

Jeana Keough shared, "My heart breaks for you, i know how hard you worked to be his advocate . Big hug and prayers for your family at this sad time ." Jill Zarin added, "My heart breaks for you and your family and especially his daughter. He was blessed you were his mama bear and you always will be . . Much love , Jill"

Rossi's partner Slade Smiley, who lost his son to brain cancer at just five years old, wrote, "Laurie, Im so so sorry for your loss. this type of pain is something I pray must people will never have to experience. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the family. The one thing that keeps me going is the thought that this is not good bye, but rather its just Ill see you again soon. Try to stay in the light and know our loved ones are now free of their pain and earthly constraints. Sending love and light to you and the family."

Peterson starred on The Real Housewives of Orange County for four seasons, starring alongside other OG stars Vicki Gunvalson, Jeana Keough, Jo De La Rosa, and Kimberly Bryant. She also shared the screenw ith Tammy Knickberbocker, Quinn Fry, Tamra Judge, Gretchen Rossi, Lynne Curtin, and Alexis Bellino. She returned as a friend for 2013's Season 8.

You can check out her and Ashley Zarlin's full tributes below.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, get help. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress.

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Communicating With Patients With Psoriasis With Skin of Color – MD Magazine

This is a video synopsis/summary of a panel discussion involving Linda Stein Gold, MD; Mona Shahriari, MD, FAAD; and Seemal Desai, MD.

In this conversation, the participants discuss the complexities of treating patients with skin of color who have psoriasis, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to care. They explore the cultural sensitivities surrounding skin conditions, acknowledging the stigma and isolation that patients may experience, particularly in cultures valuing fair skin.

The importance of recognizing and addressing cultural concerns during patient encounters is highlighted, with a focus on leaving biases behind and creating a judgment-free environment. The participants stress the significance of building trust and understanding individual patient needs and expectations.

Practical strategies for initiating conversations about cultural implications and treatment preferences are discussed, emphasizing the importance of active listening and collaboration in the decision-making process. Building a strong patient-provider relationship is seen as crucial for improving treatment adherence and overall patient outcomes.

Ultimately, the conversation underscores the importance of patient-centered care and the ongoing effort to break down barriers that may exist within the healthcare system, with the goal of providing personalized and effective treatment for all patients.

Video synopsis is AI-generated and reviewed by HCPLive editorial staff.

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Get Rich Quick With These 3 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy Now – InvestorPlace

As part of our day-to-day life, cloud computing companies are completely necessary as they keep us interconnected and take care of streamlining our operations, allowing us to be more efficient and effective. They also make many tasks much easier to perform through their great technological solutions. These solutions can be applied from the financial area to the human resources area.

If you want to take advantage of the great boom and the strong demand of these companies, here are three cloud computing stocks to buy quick and that you can consider adding to your portfolio.

Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com

Behind pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies there is a big figure that is responsible for providing them with cloud-based software solutions to streamline their entire operations, that big figure is Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV).

Financially VEEV is completely stable and are always on the move. Its revenues speak for themselves as they are on the rise and if we focus on net income, it is growing consistently reflected in their market performance.

One of the particularities that distinguishes this company is its capacity for innovation.

For example, their most recent release, the Veeva Compass Suite, is a comprehensive set of tools that gives healthcare companies a much deeper understanding of existing patient populations and a picture of healthcare provider behaviors.

Its practically like giving you a complete and specific picture of the entire healthcare network landscape.

On top of that, they make a real impact on the lives of patients, as their training solutions are helping many companies modernize their employee qualification processes.

Source: Sundry Photography / Shutterstock.com

Next on the list of companies involved in the cloud computing sector is Workday Inc (NASDAQ:WDAY), which specializes in providing companies with cloud-based enterprise applications for financial management and human resources.

They provide practical software-based solutions that allow companies to streamline their processes in managing their financial operations and human talent.

One of the things that makes this company completely attractive is its great financial performance, since in their last financial quarter they indicated that their revenues increased by 16.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, which can be translated into $1.87 billion, what good figures.

As part of their most important metrics we have subscription revenues, which increased much stronger than their normal revenues, with 18.1%, reaching approximately $1.69 billion.

In addition to these incredible numbers, they are making important strategic alliances, where they have partnered with McLaren Racing to provide them with innovative solutions.

This partnership demonstrates the versatility of Workday, as they not only provide business solutions in traditional sectors, but they also have a large participation in completely competitive industries.

Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

And to close the list of these companies completely necessary in our day to day, we have the giant Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), a technology company completely recognized worldwide.

This company specializes entirely in data management solutions and of course in cloud computing. One of its main commitments is to help organizations improve their efficiency and optimize their operations through completely innovative technological solutions.

Financially, this company is in a phase of solid growth specifically in its total revenue and in its cloud division.

One of the stars of this company is its cloud application suite, which has gained a strong foothold in the healthcare sector.

Large and important institutions such as Baptist Health Care and the University of Chicago Medicine, are adopting the solutions provided by this company to improve their experience with employees and of course the care of their patients.

In addition, they are expanding their global presence with the grand opening of a new cloud region in Nairobi, Kenya. This major expansion makes clear their important commitment to economic and technological development in the greater African continent.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructures (OCI) unique infrastructure allows them the great opportunity and advantage to offer governments and businesses the opportunity to drive innovation and growth in the region.

As of this writing, Gabriel Osorio-Mazzilli did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines(no position)

Gabriel Osorio is a former Goldman Sachs and Citigroup employee. He possesses discipline in bottom-up value investing and volatility-based long/short equities trading.

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Get Rich Quick With These 3 Cloud Computing Stocks to Buy Now - InvestorPlace

Let’s set the record straight on Montana’s Medicaid Daily Montanan – Daily Montanan

Plain and simple people get sick.

Right now, more than 250,000 predominantly low-income Montanans get help with healthcare through Medicaida state-federal partnership. Montana has overall and primary responsibility, while the Feds pick up most of the costs, averaging 80% (of total Medicaid spending). In 2022, the Federal government provided $1.8 billion to cover health care for Medicaid-eligible Montanans who live in every county across the Big Sky. Remarkably, two-thirds of Medicaid recipients live in our rural communities.

So, what is Medicaid, and who does it serve?

Not only does Medicaid fund health care services for our lower-income neighbors including children, families, and pregnant moms, but it also covers those with serious disabilities. By reducing the number of uninsured, Medicaid has also helped keep healthcare insurance costs down for everyone while pumping money into Montanas economy. The Medicaid reimbursements for rural and urban healthcare providers keep the doors of healthcare facilities open and help retain healthcare providers. Small businesses also benefit from Medicaid, as they often cannot afford to provide health insurance for their employeeswhether they work full or part-time.

Medicaid Expansion is a critical program for our Native American Montanans. The Indian Health Service continues to be woefully underfunded; a recent series of newspaper articles illustrates the healthcare challenges facing those who reside on reservations. Medicaid has greatly boosted services to Native Americans, allowing them to access a broader range of healthcare providers. The federal government reimburses the care provided to Native Americans on Medicaid at 100%.

Despite the benefits of Medicaid, we now have more than 120,000 Montanans18% of kiddoswho have lost Medicaid coverage due to DPHHSs procedural snafus. The end of the COVID public health emergency necessitated each state to review eligibility for Medicaid. Thats reasonable; however, Montana launched a process that is difficult, confusing, and sometimes impossible for people to reapply or maintain eligibility. The result: Almost one-in-every-three Medicaid recipients has been denied not because of eligibility, but 64% for technical or procedural issues. Montana now has among the highest and worst records in the nation for terminating health insurance for children. Disgraceful.

Reports indicate 4- to 6-hour telephone waits and multiple tries for Medicaid recipients to provide documentation to keep their insurance. Unbelievably, some folks did not know their coverage had been terminated until they arrived at the doctors office. What happened to Gov. Greg Gianfortes political promises of less bureaucracy?

Alarmed by Montanas record, federal healthcare authorities have twice requested changes to this processechoing a chorus of local healthcare providers (such as the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians) asking for a 30-day pause to stop children from losing their coverage. Meanwhile, state officials seem hell-bent on purging the Medicaid rolls, to the detriment of peoples health as well as our economy.

Is this purging a signal of things to come? Medicaid Expansion must be renewedduring the 2025 legislative session. Montanas Medicaid program is not plagued by fraud and abuseexactly the opposite. Its bewildering to think about the consequences of this purge. Ironically there is an ongoing major mental health reform initiative, aimed at expanding access. Yet, many of those losing Medicaid need mental or behavioral health servicesbut will no longer be eligible.

The governor is taking Montana backward, not forward Is this the Montana we want for our children, those less fortunate, or folks in rural areas?

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Let's set the record straight on Montana's Medicaid Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan

UT Health Science Center ‘State of the University’ Presentation Feb. 21 – UTHSC News – UTHSC News

Peter Buckley, MD, chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, will deliver his State of the University presentation Wednesday, February 21, at 11 a.m. CST, on the Memphis campus in the Mooney Library, Room 201.

The theme of the presentation is Tennessee is Our Campus,emphasizing UT Health Science Centers statewide presence and impact. The university trains the majority of the health care workforce for Tennessee and provides care through faculty physicians and other health care professionals and more than 1,400 residents at partner hospitals across Tennessee.

UT Health Science Centers main campus is in Memphis, where it has longtime clinical and educational partnerships with hospitals, including Regional One Health, Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital, Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center (formerly the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center), St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital, Baptist Memorial Healthcare, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and St. Francis Hospital, as well as multiple specialty clinics, physician practice groups, community, and public health programs. The university also has campuses in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, with clinical and educational partnerships at major hospitals, including Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, and West Tennessee Healthcare Jackson Madison County Hospital in Jackson, as well as more than 880 clinical and educational training sites in communities across Tennessee, all supported through strategic partnerships.

The presentation will belive streamed. For those who cannot watch the live event, a recording will be available after the presentation on theMessages from the Chancellor web page.

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UT Health Science Center 'State of the University' Presentation Feb. 21 - UTHSC News - UTHSC News

ROR2 expression predicts human induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation into neural stem/progenitor cells and … – Nature.com

Cell culture

Commercially available hiPSC lines were used in this study (Supplementary Table 1). HiPSC lines were obtained from RIKEN Cell Bank (201B7, 253G1, 409B2, HiPS-RIKEN-1A, HiPS-RIKEN-2A, and HiPS-RIKEN-12A), American Type Culture Collection (ATCC-DYR0110 hiPSC and ATCC-HYR01103 hiPSC), JCRB Cell Bank (Tic), and System Biosciences (human mc-iPS). HiPSCs were screened for mycoplasma contamination and hiPSCs used in this study were mycoplasma-free. Undifferentiated hiPSCs were maintained on an iMatrix-511 (Nippi) in StemFit AK02 medium (Ajinomoto). All cells were cultured at 37C in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO2 and 95% air.

Differentiation of hiPSCs into NS/PCs was induced, as previously reported, with a few modifications. For adhesive differentiation, hiPSCs were detached through incubation with StemPro Accutase (Thermo Fisher Scientific) containing 10M Y-27632 for 10min and seeded onto 24-well cell culture plates (BD Biosciences) coated with iMatrix at a density of 25,000 cells/cm2 for 23days before NS/PC induction. Confluent hiPSCs were treated with 10M of the ALK inhibitor SB431542 (Stemgent) and 500ng/mL of Noggin (R&D systems) in DMEM/F12 medium containing 20% KSR. The medium was replaced on days 1 and 2. On day 6 of differentiation, SB431542 was withdrawn, and increasing amounts of N2 media (25%, 50%, and 75%) were added to the knockout serum replacement medium every 2days while maintaining 500ng/mL of Noggin. For suspension differentiation, hiPSCs were treated with 10M Y-27632 for 1h at 37C and dissociated with StemPro Accutase (Thermo Fisher Scientific) containing 10M Y-27632 for 10min to generate single-cell suspensions and suspended in B27N2-based medium [DMEM/F12 with 15mM HEPES, 5% B27, and 5% N2 supplements (Life Technologies), 10M SB431542, 2M Dorsomorphin (Fujifilm), and 10ng/mL bFGF (R&D systems)]. The completely dissociated cells were seeded into ultralow attachment 96-well plates (PrimeSurface 96-well, Sumitomo Bakelite) at 9,000 cells/well, centrifuged at 700g for 3min (quick aggregation). The medium was changed daily for up to 10days; for the first 3days, 10M of Y-27632 was added. Total RNA was obtained from 40 wells of neuro spheres per sample. For microarray analysis, hiPSCs were differentiated into NS/PCs using a STEMdiff SMADi Neural Induction Kit (Stem Cell Technologies) according to the manufacturers instructions. Briefly, hiPSCs were maintained on an iMatrix-coated plate in StemFitAK02 media (Ajinomoto) before NS/PC induction. Cells were harvested using Accutase (Thermo Fisher Scientific); 2106 cells were transferred to a Matrigel-coated 6-well plate in STEMdiff Neural Induction Medium+SMADi (Stem Cell Technologies) supplemented with 10M Y-27632. The medium was replenished daily with warmed (37C) STEMdiff Neural Induction Medium+SMADi until the culture was terminated. Cells were passaged every 7days, and RNA was extracted from cells harvested at passages (days 7, 14, and 21).

Total RNA was isolated from hiPSCs or differentiated cells using the RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen) and treated with DNase I according to the manufacturers instructions. qRT-PCR was performed using a QuantiTect Probe One-Step RT-PCR Kit (Qiagen) on a STEPONEPLUS Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems). The expression levels of target genes were normalized to those of the GAPDH transcript or 18S rRNA, which were quantified using TaqMan human Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) control reagents (Applied Biosystems) or eukaryotic 18S rRNA endogenous controls (Applied Biosystems), respectively. The probes and primers were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich. The used primer and probe sequences are listed in Supplementary Table 2. PCA was performed using SYSTAT 13 software (Systat Software Inc.) after data standardization (z-scoring) for each NS/PC marker gene.

To identify microarray probe sets related to the differentiation of hiPSCs into NS/PC, correlations between the intensity value rank of the filtered probe sets and the PC1 rank in the 10 hiPSC lines were determined by calculating Spearmans rank correlation coefficients (rs), as described in a previous study26. Probe sets exhibiting statistically significant correlations (P<0.01) were selected. When n=10 data points, the observed value of rs should exceed 0.794 (positively correlated) or less than 0.794 (negatively correlated) to be considered statistically significant (P<0.01).

ROR2 KD cells were generated by infecting R-2A cells with MISSION Lentiviral Transduction Particle expressing ROR2-targeted shRNAs (#1: TRCN0000199888, #2: TRCN0000001492) or MISSIONpLKO.1-puro Control Non-Mammalian shRNA Control Transduction Articles (Sigma, SHC002V), according to the manufacturers instructions. Media containing viruses were collected 48h after transfection, and the cells were transduced with the viruses using 8g/mL polybrene (Sigma-Aldrich) for 24h. The cells were selected using 2g/mL puromycin (Gibco) for 48h.

The cell lysates were used for western blotting analysis. Proteins were separated using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to PVDF membranes (Bio-Rad), and blocked for 60min in Blocking One (Nacalai tesque). Primary antibody dilutions were prepared in Can Get Signal immunoreaction enhancer solution (TOYOBO) as follows: anti-ROR2 antibody (AF2064; R&D Systems) 1:1000, anti--actin antibody (A5441; Sigma-Aldrich) 1:2000. Membranes were incubated with HRP-conjugated anti-mouse IgG (Invitrogen) or anti-goat IgG (Invitrogen). Proteins were visualized using ECL Prime Western Blotting Detection Reagent (GE Healthcare) and the ChemiDoc Touch Imaging System (Bio-Rad).

HiPSC-derived NS/PC or forebrain neuron was fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde in PBS (Nacalai) for 20min at 25C. After washing with PBS, the cells were permeabilized with 0.2% Triton-X100 (Merk) in PBS for 15min and blocked with Blocking One (Nacalai) for 30min. The samples were incubated for 1h with primary antibodies (anti-PAX6 antibody [PRB-278P-100, BioLegend], anti-MAP2 antibody [MAB8304, R&D systems], and anti-GAD1 antibody [AF2086, BioLegend]). Indirect immunostaining was performed with the secondary antibody (anti-rabbit IgG/Alexa Fluor 555 [A27039, Thermo Fisher Scientific], anti-goat IgG/Alexa Fluor 488 [A32814, Thermo Fisher Scientific], and anti-mouse IgG/Alexa Fluor 488 [A28175, Thermo Fisher Scientific]) for 1h and examined under a BZ-X810 fluorescence microscope (Keyence).

ROR2 overexpression cells were generated by infecting 253G1 cells with lentiviral particles expressing ROR2. Briefly, the nucleotide sequence of the human ROR2 open reading frame (NM_004560) was de novo synthesized (Eurofins Genomics) and cloned into the pLVSIN-EF1 puromycin vector (Takara Clontech). Lentivirus packaging and virus infection were performed as described above.

Total RNA was extracted from hiPSC-derived NS/PC cells using an RNeasy Mini Kit (QIAGEN) according to the manufacturers instructions. Total RNA (100ng per sample) was used as the input for the Clariom D Assay (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Target preparation was performed using a Gene Chip WT PLUS Reagent Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific) according to the manufacturers instructions. Hybridization was performed in a Gene Chip Hybridization Oven 645 for 16h at 45C. Gene chips were scanned using a GeneChip Scanner 3000. Array quality control was performed using Transcriptome Analysis Console software (version 4.0.2.15). The National Center for Biotechnology Information Gene Expression Omnibus (NCBI GEO) accession number for the microarray data is GSE233228.

Differentiation of hiPSCs into mature nerves was performed according to the manufacturers instructions using the STEMdiff Forebrain Neuron Differentiation Kit (#08600, STEMCELL Technologies) for forebrain-type nerves and the STEMdiff Midbrain Neuron Differentiation Kit (#100-0038, STEMCELL Technologies) for midbrain nerves. Using the STEMdiff SMADi Neural Induction Kit (Stem Cell Technologies) monolayer culture protocol described above, hiPSCs were differentiated into NS/PC, and mature neural differentiation was induced.

For midbrain neuron differentiation, hiPSC-derived NS/PCs (day21, passage 3) were detached using Accutase and seeded into PLO (Sigma)-and laminin (Sigma)-coated 12-well plate at a density of 1.25105 cells/cm2 culture in STEMdiff Neural Induction Medium+SMADi medium for 24h. The complete medium was replaced daily for 6days with STEMdiff Midbrain Neuron Differentiation Medium. The midbrain neural precursors (day 7) were detached using ACCUTASE and seeded into PLO-and Laminin-coated 12-well plate at a density of 5104 cells/cm2 in STEMdiff Midbrain Neuron Maturation medium with a half-medium change every 23days for 14days.

For forebrain-type neuron differentiation, hiPSC-derived NS/PCs (day21, passage 3) were detached using Accutase and then seeded into PLO-and Laminin-coated 12-well plate at a density of 1.25105 cells/cm2 culture in STEMdiff Neural Induction Medium+SMADi medium for 24h. The full medium was replaced daily for 6days with STEMdiff Forebrain Neuron Differentiation medium. The forebrain neural precursors (day7) were detached using Accutase and seeded into PLO- and Laminin-coated 12-well plate at a density of 5104 cells/cm2 in STEMdiff Forebrain Neuron Maturation media with a half-medium change every 23days for 14days.

Statistical analyses were performed using Prism 9 software (version 9.5.1; GraphPad Software Inc.). Data are presented as meanstandard deviation (SD). For comparison between two groups the t-test was applied; in cases where another statistic test was applied, it is mentioned accordingly. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.

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ROR2 expression predicts human induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation into neural stem/progenitor cells and ... - Nature.com