In vitro disease modeling can be used both for understanding the development of pathology and for screening various therapies, such as gene therapies. This approach decreases costs, shortens research timelines, reduces animal testing, and may be more accurate in replicating the disease phenotype compared to animal models. This review focuses on the two types of stem cells: induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can be used for this purpose. Special attention is given to the impact of the isolation source and the variable expression of certain phenotypic markers on the differentiation capacity of these cells. Both similarities and critical differences between iPSCs and MSCs, as well as the outcomes of past and ongoing clinical trials, are discussed in order to gain insight and understanding as to which of these two cell types can be more suitable for the particular biomedical application.

This review considers the main modern methods and approaches of fluorescence microscopy used in the study of intracellular signaling cascades. The methods for the analysis of fixed samples and live-cell imaging are discussed, and special attention is paid to the methods of super-resolution microscopy. The limits of application and limitations of the methods are analyzed, scientific advances of recent years obtained using the described methods are presented.

Time-lapse microscopy of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures allows for the quantitative observation of their self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation. However, the rigorous comparison of two conditions, baseline (A) versus perturbation (B) (the addition of molecular factors, environmental shifts, genetic modification, etc.), remains difficult because morphology, division timing, and migratory behavior are highly heterogeneous at the single-cell scale. MSCs can be used as an in vitro model to study cell morphology and kinetics in order to assess the effect of, for example, gene therapy and prime editing in the near future. By combining static, frame-wise morphology with dynamic descriptors, we can obtain weight profiles that highlight which morphological and behavioral dimensions drive divergence. In this study, we present A/B Cells Policy: a modular, open-source Python package implementing a robust cell tracking pipeline. It integrates a YOLO-based architecture as a two-stage assignment framework with fallback and recovery passes, re-identification of lost tracks, and lineage reconstruction. The framework links descriptive statistics to a transferable system, opening up avenues for regenerative medicine, pharmacology, and early translational pipelines. It does this by providing an interpretable, measurement-based bridge between in vitro imaging and in silico intervention strategy planning.

The high prevalence and diversity of liver diseases present a significant problem for modern healthcare. Despite FDA approval of gene therapy drugs to treat hemophilia A and B, available treatment methods for other hereditary liver diseases are mainly limited to the frequently ineffective traditional therapies and surgical intervention. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the treatment of hepatitis C, but hepatitis B is still considered an incurable disease. In this regard, the treatment of hereditary and viral liver diseases using gene or cell therapy remains relevant. This review is focused on the current state of the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) field in the context of modeling and treatment of hereditary, viral, and some other liver diseases, both ex vivo and in vivo. Here we present a detailed discussion of the possible ways of modeling liver diseases ex vivo using iPSCs (reprogramming of patient somatic cells and genetic engineering (GE) of healthy iPSCs), summarize gene editing (GE) and non-GE approaches for the treatment of liver diseases, and demonstrate that iPSCs and their derivatives are widely used to treat liver diseases in vivo. Taken together, we are presenting a comprehensive analysis of 2D and 3D iPSC-based products in the context of liver diseases, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of this platform, including the comparison with other types of stem cells and animal models. This analysis may help understand not only the potential but also the limitations associated with the use of iPSCs in the context of various types of liver diseases.

BACKGROUND: Mitochondria play vital roles in oocyte functions and they are critical indicators of oocyte quality which is important for fertilization and development into viable offspring. Quality-compromised oocytes in which mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role are correlated with infertility, developmental disorders and embryo loss. A significant role in the oocytes of cytoplasmic accumulation and a sufficient amount of the mitochondrial pool of oocytes is played by the cumulus cells surrounding it. AIM: to conduct a comparative analysis between the state of mitochondrial networks of cumulus cells and the quality of oocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 22 women aged 28 to 37 years inclusive (mean age 32.3 1.2 years) with tubal infertility. During the assisted reproductive technology procedures, 74 oocytes were obtained. 39 good quality oocytes and their cumulus cells were compared with 35 bad quality oocytes and their cumulus cells respectively. After puncture of ovarian follicles cumulus cells were isolated and stained with fluorescent dye for cell tracing and mitochondrial imaging in vivo. The method of confocal microscopy was used to analyze the three-dimensional organization of mitochondria in 2030 cells of one pool of follicular fluid. The following parameters were used to evaluate the mitochondrial network: fluorescence decay time and fluorescence intensity. RESULTS: The decay time of fluorescence in cumulus cells associated with a good quality oocyte was significantly higher (p = 0.032) than in the case of identification of oocytes with negative signs. CONCLUSION: The structure of mitochondrial networks in cumulus cells correlates (r = 0.76) with the quality of oocytes.