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Decoding Telocytes

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Telocytes

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 913))

Abstract

Telocytes (TCs) are a novel type of interstitial cells, with extremely long and thin cellular prolongations termed telopodes (Tps). TCs were first identified by Popescu et al. and described their finding as “cells with telopodes.” The presence of TCs has been reported in the majority of tissues and organs (for details please visit www.telocytes.com). TCs have been ignored or overlooked for a long time due to our inability to observe these cells via a light microscopy. TCs represent a distinct cell population, different from other types of interstitial cells, based on their distinct (ultra)structure, immunophenotype, microRNA profile, gene feature, proteome signature, and secretome features. As TCs have been suggested as new cellular targets for forthcoming therapies, developing specific methods to modulate TC numbers represents an important objective.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81570362 and 81200169 to JJ Xiao, 81400647 to Y Bei), Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (13YZ014 to JJ Xiao), Innovation fund from Shanghai University (sdcx2012038 to JJ Xiao), and Program for the integration of production, teaching, and research for University Teachers supported by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (year 2014, to JJ Xiao).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regeneration and Ageing Lab, Experimental Center of Life Sciences, School of Life Science, Shanghai University, 333 Nan Chen Road, Shanghai, 200444, China

    Junjie Xiao & Yihua Bei

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  1. Junjie Xiao
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  2. Yihua Bei
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Correspondence to Junjie Xiao .

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  1. Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University Medical School, Shanghai, China

    Xiangdong Wang

  2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Med, Carol Davila Univ of Medicine&Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

    Dragos Cretoiu

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Xiao, J., Bei, Y. (2016). Decoding Telocytes. In: Wang, X., Cretoiu, D. (eds) Telocytes. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 913. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1061-3_2

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