ESC & iPSC News Volume 11.11 | Mar 23 2016

MLL1 Inhibition Reprograms Epiblast Stem Cells to Naive Pluripotency
Investigators showed that blocking histone H3K4 methyltransferase MLL1 activity with the small-molecule inhibitor MM-401 reprograms mouse epiblast stem cells to naive pluripotency. [Cell Stem Cell]
Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

Spatial Transcriptome for the Molecular Annotation of Lineage Fates and Cell Identity in Mid-gastrula Mouse Embryo
Researchers performed a high-resolution RNA sequencing analysis on single mid-gastrulation mouse embryos to collate a spatial transcriptome that correlated with the regionalization of cell fates in the embryo. [Dev Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Sp5 and Sp8 Recruit β-Catenin and Tcf1-Lef1 to Select Enhancers to Activate Wnt Target Gene Transcription
Investigators showed in mouse embryos and differentiating embryonic stem cells that Sp5/8 are gene-specific transcriptional coactivators in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

Rbm24 Regulates Alternative Splicing Switch in ESC Cardiac Lineage Differentiation
Researchers identified RNA binding motif protein 24 (Rbm24) as a key splicing regulator that plays an essential role in controlling post-transcriptional networks during embryonic stem cell transition into cardiac differentiation. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Establishment of In Vitro FUS-Associated Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Model Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
The authors generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from two familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with a missense mutation in the fused-in sarcoma (FUS) gene carrying the heterozygous FUS H517D mutation, and isogenic iPSCs with the homozygous FUS H517D mutation by genome editing technology. [Stem Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Zscan4 Is Activated after Telomere Shortening in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells
Investigators attempted to elucidate when, under what circumstances, Zscan4 is activated in embryonic stem cells. Using live cell imaging, they monitored the activity of Zscan4 together with the pluripotency marker Rex1. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Grapgical Abstract

Porcine Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived from IVF Embryos Contribute to Chimeric Development In Vivo
Scientists derived a porcine pluripotent stem cell (pPSCs) line from day 5.5 blastocysts in a newly developed culture system based on MXV medium and a 5% oxygen atmosphere. The pPSCs had been passaged more than 75 times over two years, and the morphology of the colony was similar to that of human embryonic stem cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines with Lesions in FOXP3 and NF1
Investigators obtained preimplantation genetic diagnosed blastocyst staged embryos with genetic mutations that cause human disorders and derived human embryonic stem cells from these embryos. [PLoS One] Full Article

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CIRM Grant to Fund Proposed Stem Cell Trials for ALS
The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine approved yesterday a $6.3 million grant to a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and University of California, Davis to pursue a novel human embryonic stem cell-based therapy to rescue and restore neurons devastated by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. [University of California, San Diego] Press Release

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Awarded $7.1 Million By CIRM
Tracy C. Grikscheit, MD, of 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. [Children’s Hospital Los Angeles] Press Release

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China Finally Setting Guidelines for Treating Lab Animals
China has released its first national standards governing the treatment of laboratory animals, and scientists hope the guidelines will improve both conditions for animals and China’s prospects for international research collaborations. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

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Scientist – Pluripotent Stem Cells (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Technologist – Pluripotent Stem Cell Biology (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

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

Postdoctoral Researcher – Stem Cell Biology/Bioinformatics (Darmstadt, Germany)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Cancer Stem Cell Biology (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Chromatin Biology (UT Southwestern Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Neural Repair (University of Nebraksa Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell Biology and Leukemogenesis (Fundação Hemocentro de Ribeirão Preto)

Postdoctoral Positions – Immunology, Cancer, and Stem Cells (University of Connecticut)

PhD Position – Developmental Epigenetics (Institute of Molecular Biology)

Postdoctoral Positions – Human Stem Cells (University of Pittsburgh)

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