Neural Cell News Volume 10.11 | Mar 23 2016

A Subcutaneous Cellular Implant for Passive Immunization against Amyloid-β Reduces Brain Amyloid and Tau Pathologies
When encapsulated cells were implanted before the onset of amyloid plaque deposition in TauPS2APP mice, chronic exposure to anti-amyloid-β antibodies dramatically reduced amyloid-β₄₀ and amyloid-β₄₂ levels in the brain, decreased amyloid plaque burden, and most notably, prevented phospho-tau pathology in the hippocampus. [Brain] Full Article | Video | Press Release

Alternative Splicing of G9a Regulates Neuronal Differentiation
The authors found that the G9a methyltransferase is required for differentiation of the mouse neuronal cell line N2a and that exon 10 inclusion increases during neuronal differentiation of cultured cells, as well as in the developing mouse brain. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Differential Response of Patient-Derived Primary Glioblastoma Cells to Environmental Stiffness
Scientists compared the rigidity-response of primary patient-derived glioblastoma lines. Cells were plated on polyacrylamide gels of defined rigidity that reflect the diversity of the brain tissue mechanical environment, and cell morphology and migration were analyzed by time-lapse microscopy. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The miR-20-Rest-Wnt Signaling Axis Regulates Neural Progenitor Cell Differentiation
Researchers screened the differential expression patterns of miRNAs between two dimensional cultured and three dimensional cultured neural progenitor cells (NPCs) using microarray analysis. Among these differentially expressed miRNAs, miR-20 was found to increase during differentiation of NPCs. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Establishment of In Vitro FUS-Associated Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Model Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Cell-derived motor neurons mimicked several neurodegenerative phenotypes including mis-localization of fused-in sarcoma (FUS) into cytosolic and stress granules under stress conditions, and cellular vulnerability. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Estradiol Facilitates Functional Integration of iPSC-Derived Dopaminergic Neurons into Striatal Neuronal Circuits via Activation of Integrin α5β1
Using wheat-germ agglutinin-based transsynaptic tracing, the authors showed that integrin α5 is selectively expressed in striatal neurons that are innervated by midbrain dopaminergic neurons. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Using Primate Neural Stem Cells Cultured in Self-Assembling Peptide Nanofiber Scaffolds to Repair Injured Spinal Cords in Rats
Neural stem cells (NSCs) and NSCs cultured in self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds could be induced to differentiate into neurons, glial cells and oligodendrocytes in vitro. [Spinal Cord] Abstract

Schwann Cell Exosomes Mediate Neuron–Glia Communication and Enhance Axonal Regeneration
Schwann cells, the peripheral nervous system glia, supply axons with ribosomes. Since proteins underlie cellular programs or functions, this dependence of axons from glial cells provides a new and unexplored dimension to the understanding of the nervous system. [Cell Mol Neurobiol] Full Article

Mutations in Chromatin Machinery and Pediatric High-Grade Glioma
Scientists review the current perspective on pediatric high-grade glioma genetics and epigenetics, and discuss the emerging and experimental therapeutics targeting the unique molecular abnormalities present in these deadly childhood brain tumors. [Sci Adv] Full Article

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the neural cell research field.

City of Hope Research Team Receives $7.38 Million Grant from California’s Stem Cell Agency
City of Hope announced that a research team led by Yanhong Shi, Ph.D., director of the Division of Stem Cell Biology Research, has received a $7.38 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to develop a novel treatment for Canavan disease, a rare and fatal neurological disease that afflicts infants. [City of Hope (Business Wire)] Press Release

Stem Cell Researcher Tracy Grikscheit Awarded $7.1 Million by CIRM
Tracy C. Grikscheit, a principal investigator with USC Stem Cell and The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, has received a $7.1 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine Translational Research program to develop a cellular therapy for the treatment of nerve disorders of the digestive system. [Keck School of Medicine of USC] Press Release

U-M Neuroscientist Receives Javits Award to Continue Studying How Brain Tumors Thwart the Immune System
U-M neuroscientist Maria G. Castro, Ph.D., has been selected to receive the 2016 Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, an honor that provides up to seven years of research funding for her brain tumor work. These funds will support Castro’s research with the ultimate aim to develop novel immunotherapies for brain cancer, studying basic immune-biology mechanisms leading to clinical implementation. [University of Michigan] Press Release

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Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the neural cell community.

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Brain Injury (Augusta University)

Scientist – Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Neural Differentiation (STEMCELL Technologies)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Neuroscience (University of Oslo)

Principal Investigator Positions – Neuroscience and Neurological Disorders (Institutes of Brain Science Fudan University)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Stem Cells, Oligodendrogenesis and Remyelination (UC Davis)

Research Fellow Positions – Regenerative Therapies (Queen’s University Belfast)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Gene Control of Neural Network (Baylor College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Neural Circuits and Behavior (Rutgers University)

PhD Studentship – Various Projects (Hector Fellow Academy)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Pediatric Brain Cancer (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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