ESC & iPSC News Volume 10.17 | May 6 2015

Tex10 Coordinates Epigenetic Control of Super-Enhancer Activity in Pluripotency and Reprogramming
Scientists dissected the molecular control mechanism of super enhancer activity in pluripotency and reprogramming. Starting from a protein interaction network surrounding Sox2, they identified Tex10 as a key pluripotency factor that plays a functionally significant role in embryonic stem cell self-renewal, early embryo development, and reprogramming. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

SMADs and YAP Compete to Control Elongation of β-Catenin: LEF-1-Recruited RNAPII during hESC Differentiation
Researchers found that LEF-1 and other human embryonic stem cells (hESC) enhancers recruited RNAPII complexes that are highly phosphorylated at Ser5, but not Ser7. [Mol Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

TET1 Is Controlled by Pluripotency-Associated Factors in ESCs and Downmodulated by PRC2 in Differentiated Cells and Tissues
Investigators showed that the Tet1 gene is regulated, both in mouse and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs), by the stemness specific factors Oct3/4, Nanog and by Myc. [Nucleic Acids Res] Abstract

An HDAC2-TET1 Switch at Distinct Chromatin Regions Significantly Promotes the Maturation of Pre-iPS to iPS Cells
The authors report that knockdown of histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) specifically promoted the maturation of induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cells. [Nucleic Acids Res] Full Article

Efficient CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Generation of Knockin Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Lacking Undesired Mutations at the Targeted Locus
Investigators systematically tested the ability of CRISPR-Cas9 to mediate reporter gene knockin at 16 distinct genomic sites in human pluripotent stem cells. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Systematic Optimization of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Media Using Design of Experiments
Scientists applied design of experiments, a powerful statistical tool, to improve the medium formulation for hPSC. Using pluripotency and cell growth as read-outs, they determined the optimal concentration of both basic fibroblast growth factor and neuregulin−1 beta 1. [Sci Rep] Full Article | Press Release

Small-Molecule-Driven Hepatocyte Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Researchers devised a growth-factor-free protocol that relies on small molecules to differentiate human pluripotent stem cells toward a hepatic phenotype. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

High Glutathione and Glutathione Peroxidase-2 Levels Mediate Cell-Type-Specific DNA Damage Protection in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
In human induced pluripotent stem cells, the authors found that genome surveillance is achieved via two ways, namely, a hypersensitivity to apoptosis and a very low accumulation of DNA lesions. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Dendritic Cells and Pluripotency: Unlikely Allies in the Pursuit of Immunotherapy
The authors discuss how the directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells may address many of the current obstacles to the use of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) in immunotherapy, providing a novel source of previously inaccessible dendritic cell subsets and opportunities for their scale-up, quality control and genetic modification. [Regen Med] Abstract

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£2 Million for Edinburgh Multiple Sclerosis Research
The Mulitple Sclerosis (MS) Society announced it is investing a further £2 million into the Edinburgh Centre for MS Research. The Edinburgh Centre investigators will focus their research on stem cells, in the hope of building a clearer picture of how MS develops and a better method for modeling the condition and finding effective treatments. [University of Edinburgh] Press Release

NIH Reiterates Ban on Editing Human Embryo DNA
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reaffirmed its ban on research that involves gene editing of human embryos. In a statement, NIH director Francis Collins spelled out the agency’s long-standing policy against funding such research and the ethical and legal reasons for it. [Nature News] Editorial

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NEW Postdoctoral Position – Cell Replacement Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center )

NEW Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Stem Cell Disease Modeling (Nanyang Technological University)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell Biology, Epigenetics & Cancer (Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Epithelial Stem Cells & Membrane Trafficking (New York University School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Stem Cells & Epigenetics (National Institutes of Health)

Stem Cell Culture Scientist (Paramount Recruitment)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Stem Cells & Epigenetics (National Institutes of Health)

Postdoctoral Position – Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Study Metabolism and Gene Expression Regulating Neural Tube Development (Joslin Diabetes Center)

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