ESC & iPSC News Volume 11.12 | Mar 30 2016

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    ESC & iPSC News 11.12 March 30, 2016

    ESC & iPSC News

         In this issue: Publications | Reviews | Industry News | Policy News | Events | Jobs
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    TOP STORY
    DNA Methylation on N6-Adenine in Mammalian Embryonic Stem Cells
    Scientists identified N6-methyladenine as another form of DNA modification in mouse embryonic stem cells. Alkbh1 encodes a demethylase for N6-methyladenine. An increase of N6-methyladenine levels in Alkbh1-deficient cells led to transcriptional silencing. [Nature] Abstract
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    PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by impact factor of the journal)
    Primary Cilium-Autophagy-Nrf2 (PAN) Axis Activation Commits Human Embryonic Stem Cells to a Neuroectoderm Fate
    Investigators identified a primary cilium-autophagy-Nrf2 control axis coupled to cell-cycle progression that directs human embryonic stem cells toward neuroectoderm. [Cell]
    Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

    Heterogeneity in Oct4 and Sox2 Targets Biases Cell Fate in 4-Cell Mouse Embryos
    Researchers characterized transcriptomes of all individual cells throughout mouse pre-implantation development. This identified targets of master pluripotency regulators Oct4 and Sox2 as being highly heterogeneously expressed between blastomeres of the four-cell embryo, with Sox21 showing one of the most heterogeneous expression profiles. [Cell] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

    Modeling Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Reveals a Causal Role for Wnt/β-Catenin Defects in Neuronal Cholesterol Synthesis Phenotypes
    Using induced pluripotent stem cells from subjects with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), scientists identified cellular defects that lead to precocious neuronal specification within SLOS derived neural progenitors. They also demonstrated that 7-dehydrocholesterol accumulation, not cholesterol deficiency, is critical for SLOS-associated defects. [Nat Med] Abstract

    Essential Role of the TFIID Subunit TAF4 in Murine Embryogenesis and Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
    Researchers inactivated the murine Taf4a gene to address Taf4 function during embryogenesis. They showed that Taf4a−/− embryos survive until E9.5 where primary germ layers and many embryonic structures are identified showing Taf4 is dispensable for their specification. [Nat Commun] Full Article

    Loss of MAX Results in Meiotic Entry in Mouse Embryonic and Germline Stem Cells
    The authors demonstrated that knockdown of Max expression, a gene encoding a partner of MYC family proteins, strongly activates expression of germ cell-related genes in ESCs. [Nat Commun] Full Article

    G9a/GLP Complex Maintains Imprinted DNA Methylation in Embryonic Stem Cells
    Scientists showed that the histone H3 lysine 9 methylases G9a and GLP are required for stable maintenance of imprinted DNA methylation in embryonic stem cells; however, their catalytic activity and the G9a/GLP-dependent H3K9me2 mark are completely dispensable for imprinting maintenance despite the genome-wide loss of non-imprinted DNA methylation in H3K9me2-depleted cells. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

    Impaired ROS Scavenging System in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generated from Patients with MERRF Syndrome
    Investigators generated human induced pluripotent stem cells that carry the A8344G genetic mutation from patients with myoclonus epilepsy associated with ragged-red fibers syndrome (MERRF). [Sci Rep] Full Article

    Glycerol-3-Phosphate Acyltransferase-1 Upregulation by O-GlcNAcylation of Sp1 Protects against Hypoxia-Induced Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Apoptosis via mTOR Activation
    Researchers investigated the role of O-GlcNAcylation via glucosamine in the protection of hypoxia-induced apoptosis of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Hypoxia increased mESCs apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

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    REVIEWS
    Dissecting MicroRNA-Mediated Regulation of Stemness, Reprogramming, and Pluripotency
    Researchers summarize the recent knowledge regarding the regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in self-renewal of pluripotent ESCs and during cellular reprogramming, as well as the potential role of miRNAs in two distinct pluripotent states (naïve and primed). [Cell Regen] Full Article

    Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the ESC & iPSC research field.

     
    INDUSTRY NEWS
    Three ERC-Grants for Research Groups at the Vienna Biocenter
    Jan-Michael Peters and Tim Clausen of the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology and Jürgen Knoblich of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology each receive an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). [Institute of Molecular Pathology] Press Release

    ORIG3N and Sharp Edge Labs Enter into Drug Discovery Alliance
    ORIG3N, Inc. and Sharp Edge Labs, Inc. announced that they have entered into a drug discovery alliance. As part of the alliance, ORIG3N will make patient-derived cells available to Sharp Edge Labs for use in their drug discovery platform for genetic disorders. [ORIG3N, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

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    POLICY NEWS
    Canadian Scientists Smile as Liberals Deliver a Déjà vu Budget
    After spending nearly a decade in the darkness of the former Conservative government’s so-called “war on science,” Canada’s research community finds itself stepping into the sunshine after the nation’s new Liberal government unveiled a fiscal blueprint for 2015–16 that provides an immediate $72.79 million per year injection into the budgets of the nation’s research granting councils. The new money comes after years of static or declining budgets. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

    Scientists Say ‘No’ to UK Exit from Europe in Nature Poll
    The charged question of whether the United Kingdom should stay in the European Union — to be put to a national referendum on 23 June — splits the general population almost evenly. But most scientists want the country to stay in, suggests a Nature poll of nearly 2,000 researchers living in the EU, both inside and outside the United Kingdom. [Nature News] Editorial

     
    EVENTS
    NEW Mouse Development, Stem Cells & Cancer
    July 8-28, 2016
    Cold Spring Harbor, United States

    Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the ESC & iPSC community.

     
    JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Stem Cell Biology Regenerative Medicine Institute (NUI Galway)

    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.)

    Staff Scientist – Molecular Biology (Institut of Molecular Biology)

    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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