Cord Blood News Volume 9.36 | Sep 14 2017

TOP STORY

Therapeutic Gene Editing in CD34⁺ Hematopoietic Progenitors from Fanconi Anemia Patients

Researchers conducted therapeutic gene editing in clinically relevant cells, such as hematopoietic stem cells. Using primary cord blood CD34⁺ cells from healthy donors, gene targeting was confirmed not only in in vitro cultured cells, but also in hematopoietic precursors responsible for the repopulation of primary and secondary immunodeficient mice. [EMBO Mol Med] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

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RUNX2 Induction during Differentiation of Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Osteoblasts Is Regulated by JARID1B Histone Demethylase

The authors assessed epigenetic control of the RUNX2 osteogenic master regulator gene in Wharton’s jelly (WJ)-MSCs. They present evidence indicating that modulation of RUNX2 expression through preventing JARID1B histone demethylase activity is relevant to enhance WJ-MSC osteoblastic potential. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Mass-Production of Fluorescent Chitosan/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Microspheres for In Vitro 3D Expansion of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Investigators designed a simple and low cost acid-dissolved/alkali-solidified self-sphering shaping method to automatically fabricate 3D stem cell expansion microsphere scaffolds in large scale to satisfy the urgent need for stem cells in tissue engineering and clinical medicine research. [Chem Eng J] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Electrospun Nanofibrous Meshes Cultured with Wharton’s Jelly Stem Cell: An Alternative for Cartilage Regeneration, without the Need of Growth Factors

Scientists tested electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous meshes for cartilage tissue engineering. For that, articular chondrocytes isolated from human osteoarthritic joints and Wharton′s jelly stem cells were cultured on electrospun nanofiber meshes, without adding external growth factors. [Biotechnol J] Abstract

Response of Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells to Varying Titanium Topographical Signals

Researchers investigated the response of umbilical cord (UC)-MSCs to anodized, particle blasted, and plasma sprayed highly porous Plasmapore surfaces, which is known to promote bony ingrowth in vivo. After 21 days, UC-MSCs underwent a morphological shift from a 2D to 3D behavior on micro- or macrostructures visualized by actin-vinculin fluorescence and are able to fill the porous surfaces completely. [J Biomed Mater Res A] Abstract

Hypoxia Is a Critical Parameter for Chondrogenic Differentiation of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Type I/III Collagen Sponges

The authors determined the growth factors (bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1)) and oxygen tension effects during chondrogenesis of human umbilical cord blood (UCB)-MSCs for cartilage engineering. Their results showed that UCB-MSCs can be committed to chondrogenesis in the presence of BMP-2+TGF-β1. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article

Osmotic Behavior of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Implications for Cryopreservation

Aimed at providing a contribution to the optimization of cryopreservation processes, investigators focused on the osmotic behavior of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Once isolated from the umbilical cord blood of three different donors, hMSCs were characterized in terms of size distribution and their osmotic properties suitably evaluated through the exposure to hypertonic and isotonic aqueous solutions at three different temperatures. [PLoS One] Full Article

IGFBP2 Enhances Adipogenic Differentiation Potentials of Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Wharton’s Jelly of the Umbilical Cord via JNK and Akt Signaling Pathways

Researchers found insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) expression was upregulated upon adipogenic induction, and that IGFBP2 enhanced adipogenic differentiation of MSCs derived from Wharton’s jelly of the umbilical cord and bone marrow MSCs. IGFBP2 increased phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and p-Akt, and activated JNK or Akt signaling significantly promoted adipogenic differentiation of MSCs. [PLoS One] Full Article

Integrative Analysis of DNA Methylation and mRNA Expression during Differentiation of Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Mononuclear Cells to Endothelial Cells

Investigators performed deep sequencing of DNA methylation and mRNA expression to profile global changes in promoter methylation and gene expression during differentiation from mononuclear cells to outgrowing cells. They identified 61 downregulated genes with hypermethylation, including CD74, VAV1, TLR8, and NCF4, as well as 21 upregulated genes with hypomethylation, including ECSCR, MCAM, PGF, and ARHGEF15. [Gene] Full Article

Proinflammatory Signals as Fuel for the Fire of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Emergence

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the extraordinary ability to both self-renew and generate all mature blood cell lineages. The ability to produce or expand patient-derived HSCs in vitro would greatly improve the outcome for patients with blood disorders that are currently treated with allogeneic HSC transplantation. [Trends Cell Biol] Abstract

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UCLA Opens First Engineered Blood Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Cancers with the NY-ESO-1 Tumor Marker

Scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have initiated a Phase I clinical trial to test a novel cancer treatment for certain kinds of cancers that have a specific tumor marker called NY-ESO-1. Directed by Dr. Antoni Ribas, the trial is the first to genetically engineer blood-forming stem cells to produce cancer-fighting white blood cells called T cells, which constitute part of the immune system. [University of California, Los Angeles] Press Release

Axolotl Biologix Launches AxoBioFluid^® A an Ambient Temperature Amnion-Derived Allograft Fluid

Axolotl Biologix announced that it will begin shipping its third amniotic allograft product, AxoBioFluid^® A. AxoBioFluid^® A is an ambient amniotic allograft fluid that is an alternative to the existing cryopreserved AxoBioFluid^®. Both products are media conditioned by amniotic MSCs and amniotic epithelial cells, which contain associated growth factors that are released during cell culture. [Axolotl Biologix] Press Release

Biocardia Receives US Patent Covering a Method of Preparing and Characterizing Mesenchymal Cells, Providing Further Protection to CardiALLO Cell Therapy Program

BioCardia^®, Inc. announced the issuance of United States Patent No. 9,301,975 relating to a method of producing mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow cells in a culture medium sourced from the same donor as the cell population being cultured. [BioCardia^®, Inc.] Press Release

Congress Rejects Trump Proposals to Cut Health Research Funds

Congress has not only rejected the president’s National Institutes of Health proposal; lawmakers from both parties have joined forces to increase spending on biomedical research — and have bragged about it. [The New York Times] Editorial

Pall Hangs over U.S.-Iran Science Ties

Rising tensions between the U.S. and Iranian governments have frozen most scientific contacts between the two nations, experts reported at a forum. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Senate Panel Seeks Middle Ground on Human Fetal Tissue Research and Abortion

A Senate spending panel countered a move by its House of Representatives counterpart to quash federal funding for research that uses human fetal tissue from elective abortions. The move sets up a conflict that will need to be resolved when lawmakers meet later this year to hash out differences between the House and Senate bills, which will provide funding for the National Institutes of Health in the 2018 fiscal year. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW 44^th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT)
March 18-21, 2018
Lisbon, Portugal

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NEW Postdoctoral Fellowship – Functional Genomics of Human Hematopoiesis (Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

NEW Postdoctoral Associate – Biomedical and Single-Cell Genomics (Cornell University)

Assistant Professorship – Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (Keck School of Medicine of USC)

Technical Director – Personalized Stem Cell Banking (Brilliant Research)

Director – Allogenic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Malignant Hematopoiesis (Penn State College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Molecular Pathogenesis of B-Cell Lymphoma (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio)

Tenure Track Assistant Professor Position – Tissue Regeneration (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

Research Associate II – Myelodeplastic Syndromes and Acute Myeloid Leukemia Research (H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center)

Assistant Professor – Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (Harvard University)

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