| Vol. 15.25 – 8 July, 2020 |
| |
|
|
| To study how transcription factors (TFs) bind nucleosome-occupied motifs, researchers focused on the reprogramming factors OCT4 and SOX2 in mouse ESCs. They determined TF engagement throughout a nucleosome at base-pair resolution in vitro, enabling structure determination by cryo–electron microscopy at two preferred positions. [Science] |
|
|
|
| PUBLICATIONSRanked by the impact factor of the journal |
|
|
|
| Investigators found that polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) required RNA binding for chromatin localization in human PSCs and in turn for defining cellular state. [Nature Genetics] |
|
|
|
| Scientists evaluated the safety and efficacy of dopaminergic progenitors (DAPs) derived from a clinical-grade human iPSC line. They confirmed the characteristics of DAPs by in vitro analyses. [Nature Communications] |
|
|
|
| To investigate the pathogenetic mechanisms of mitochondrial presequence processing, researchers employed cortical neurons and cerebral organoids generated from pitrilysin metallopeptidase 1 (PITRM1)-knockout human iPSCs. [Molecular Psychiatry] |
|
|
|
| Researchers generated a series of ESC lines harboring compounding mutations of COMPASS methyltransferases. They found that the Set1B family was functionally redundant to Set1A in implementing histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at highly expressed genes, while Mll2 deposited H3K4me3 at less transcriptionally active promoters. [Science Advances] |
|
|
|
| Researchers showed that transient exposure to a single microRNA, expressed at early stages during normal development, improved the differentiation capacity of already‐established murine and human PSCs. [EMBO Journal] |
|
|
|
| Scientists demonstrated Tfap2c was induced during the generation of iPSCs from mouse fibroblasts and acted as a facilitator for iPSCs formation. Mechanistically, the c-Myc-dependent apoptosis, a roadblock to reprogramming, could be significantly mitigated by Tfap2c overexpression. [Cell Death & Disease] |
|
|
|
| The authors used both genetic ablation and steric inhibition of E‐cad function in mouse ESCs to assess alterations to phenotype using quantitative mass spectrometry analysis, network models, and functional assays. [Stem Cells] |
|
|
|
| The authors report a tissue-engineering approach to accelerate and standardize the production of retinal organoids by culturing mouse ESCs in optimal physico-chemical microenvironments. They suggested that TET1 deficiency impairs the intrinsic ability of ESCs to differentiate to neuroectoderm. [Scientific Reports] |
|
|
|
| Investigators report a tissue-engineering approach to accelerate and standardize the production of retinal organoids by culturing mouse ESCs in optimal physico-chemical microenvironments. [Scientific Reports] |
|
|
|
| Scientists presented a novel method for detecting residual undifferentiated iPSCs amongst directed differentiated cells of all three germ lineages. Marker genes, expressed specifically and highly in undifferentiated iPSC, were selected from single cell RNA sequence data to perform robust and sensitive detection of residual undifferentiated cells in differentiated cell products. [Scientific Reports] |
|
|
|
| Scientists evaluated the effects of the conditioned medium, collected at different time points during in vitro cardiomyogenesis of human ESCs, to direct cell behavior. [Journal of Cellular Physiology] |
|
|
|
|
| The authors discuss the applications, advantages and disadvantages of human organoids as models of development and disease and outlines the challenges that have to be overcome for organoids to be able to substantially reduce the need for animal experiments. [Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology] |
|
|
|
|
| Since higher education institutions ended in-person classes in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been uncertainty over what classes will look like in the fall. Universities will soon have to come up with an answer. [The Scientist] |
|
|
|
| In mid-March, as businesses and universities across Europe were shutting down in a bid to slow the COVID-19 pandemic, three longtime friends were talking about how they wished they could do something to combat the disease. [The Scientist] |
|
|
|
| The new director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, is familiar with the dark clouds over the agency. His boss, President Donald Trump, keeps proposing big cuts to NSF’s budget. Two recent executive orders on immigration make it harder for foreign scientists—who make up a sizeable share of the U.S. research enterprise—to enter the country. [Science] |
|
|
|
|
| October 12 – October 14 Paris, France |
|
|
|
|
|
| Wellcome Sanger Institute – Cambridge, United Kingdom |
|
|
|
| Columbia University Medical Center – New York, New York, United States |
|
|
|
| University of Connecticut Health – Farmington, Connecticut, United States |
|
|
|
| The Babraham Institute – Cambridge, United Kingdom |
|
|
|
| Northwestern University – Chicago, Illinois, United States |
|
|
|
|