ESC & iPSC News Volume 12.36 | Sep 13 2017

TOP STORY

Outside-In Reprogramming: Antibody Study Suggests a Better Way to Make Stem Cells

Scientists have found a new approach to the “reprogramming” of ordinary adult cells into stem cells. They screened a library of 100 million antibodies and found several that can help reprogram mature skin-like cells into stem cells known as induced pluripotent stem cells. [Press release from The Scripps Research Institute discussing online prepublication in Nature Biotechnology] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

A 3D Magnetic Tissue Stretcher for Remote Mechanical Control of Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation

Researchers assessed the impact of magnetic nanoparticles internalization on ESCs viability, proliferation, pluripotency and differentiation profiles. They developed magnetic attractors capable of aggregating the cells remotely into a 3D embryoid body. [Nat Commun] Full Article | Press Release

Use of a Neonatal Rat System as a Bioincubator to Generate Adult-Like Mature Cardiomyocytes from Human and Mouse Pluripotent Stem Cells

The authors present a detailed protocol that describes how to initiate the in vitro differentiation of mouse and human PSCs into cardiac progenitor cells, followed by intramyocardial delivery of the progenitor cells into neonatal rat hearts, in vivo incubation and analysis. [Nat Protoc] Abstract

Drusen in Patient-Derived hiPSC-RPE Models of Macular Dystrophies

Investigators used human induced pluripotent stem cell-retinal pigment epithelium (hiPSC-RPE) derived from patients with three dominant macular dystrophies, Sorsby’s fundus dystrophy, Doyne honeycomb retinal dystrophy/malattia Leventinese, and autosomal dominant radial drusen, and demonstrated that dysfunction of RPE cells alone is sufficient for the initiation of sub-RPE lipoproteinaceous deposit formation and extracellular matrix alteration in these diseases. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

MyD88 Is an Essential Component of Retinoic Acid-Induced Differentiation in Human Pluripotent Embryonal Carcinoma Cells

Scientists report that loss of MyD88 is essential for retinoic acid (RA)-facilitated differentiation of human embryonal carcinoma cells. At a molecular level, MyD88 inhibition combined with RA treatment upregulated HOX, RA signaling and TLR signaling genes. These events permit differentiation through a standard downregulation of Oct4-Sox2-Nanog mechanism. [Cell Death Differ] Abstract

p73 Is Required for Appropriate BMP-Induced Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition during Somatic Cell Reprogramming

Researchers derived total Trp73 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts, with or without Trp53, and examine their reprogramming capacity. They showed that p73 is required for effective reprogramming by the Yamanaka factors, even in the absence of p53. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Reprogramming of Rabbit Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells toward Epiblast and Chimeric Competency Using Krüppel-Like Factors

The authors reprogrammed rabbit induced iPSCs using human Krüppel-like factors 2 and 4 and cultured them in a medium supplemented with fetal calf serum and leukemia inhibitory factor. [Stem Cell Res] Full Article

Regulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor 8 in Chicken Embryonic Stem Cells Differentiation into Spermatogonial Stem Cells

Investigators explored the effect of fibroblast growth factor 8 (FGF8) on chicken spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) formation by knockdown or overexpression of FGF8 in chicken embryonic stem cells (ESCs) both in vitro and in vivo. Their results showed that knockdown of FGF8 could facilitate the differentiation of ESCs into SSCs, overexpression of FGF8 could promote PGCs self-renewal, inhibit SSCs formation. [J Cell Biochem] Abstract

Critical Roles of hMAGEA2 in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Pluripotency, Proliferation, and Differentiation

To evaluate the function of human melanoma-associated antigen A2 (hMAGEA2) and its characteristics in iPS cells, scientists produced hMAGEA2-overexpressing iPS cells from hMAGEA2-overexpressing transgenic mice. Although the iPS cells with overexpressed hMAGEA2 did not differ in morphology, their pluripotency, and self-renewal related genes, expression level was significantly upregulated. [Cell Biochem Funct] Abstract

Regulation of ERVs in Pluripotent Stem Cells and Reprogramming

The authors review studies in recent years with a focus on the role of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in maintaining stemness and cell fate reprogramming, along with the recent discoveries of novel regulatory factors which have been shown to mediate ERV expression in both canonical and non-canonical pathways. [Curr Opin Genet Dev] Abstract

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

UW–Madison to Partner in $20 Million Cell-Based Therapy Center

The National Science Foundation has awarded nearly $20 million to a consortium of universities, including the University of Wisconsin–Madison, to support a new engineering research center that will develop transformative tools and technologies for the consistent, scalable and low-cost production of high-quality living therapeutic cells. [University of Wisconsin–Madison] Press Release

Avery Therapeutics Inc. To Be Honored with an Azbio Fast Lane Award

The Arizona Bioindustry Association will honor Avery Therapeutics Inc. with an AZBio Fast Lane Award at the 2017 AZBio Awards. [The Arizona Bioindustry Association (Business Wire, Inc.)] Press Release

CReM Wins AAMC Sharing Research Resources Award

CReM’s philosophy of openness challenges the cutthroat, hyper-secret culture that dominates many other life science labs. And now the lab’s commitment to “open-source biology,” as it is known, has earned them the 2017 Sharing Research Resources award from the Association of American Medical Colleges, established “to recognize successful models for sharing biomedical research resources.” [Boston University] 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

South Korean Researchers Lobby Government to Lift Human-Embryo Restrictions

More than a decade after a fraud scandal in stem-cell science rocked South Korea, scientists in the field are ramping up pressure on the government to relax the country’s strict regulations on human-embryo research — which many researchers label a ban. The nation’s bioethics committee held a public forum with the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Seoul, inviting 11 researchers and scholars to discuss possible changes to the country’s bioethics policies on research. [Nature News] 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

NEW EMBO-EMBL Symposia: Tissue Self-Organization: Challenging the Systems
March 11-14, 2018
Heidelberg, Germany

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

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

NEW Postdoctoral Position – Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Biomaterial Scaffold (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellowship – Cell Biology of Tubulogenesis (University of Copenhagen)

NEW Research Assistant – Cardiovascular Stem Cells and Regeneration (University of Oxford)

NEW Postdoctoral Research Associate – Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine (University of Cambridge)

Postdoctoral Position – Molecular Medicine and Translational Research (Oslo University Hospital)

Postdoctoral Position – Functional Cardiogenetics using iPSC-Derived Cardiac Myocytes (Maastricht University)

Technical Director – Personalized Stem Cell Banking (Brilliant Research)

Faculty Position – Stem Cell Research (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

Assistant Professorship – Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine)

Director – Stem Cell Research Facility (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Senior Research Fellow/Principal Research Fellow – Stem Cell Research (University of Technology Sydney)

Postdoctoral Position – Islet Biology (Sanofi)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Stem Cell Biology (CRUK Manchester Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Research (Tsinghua University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cellular Neuroscience/Stem Cell (UC San Diego)

Assistant Professor – Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position – Mammalian Stem Cell Biology (New York University, School of Medicine)

Assistant Professor – Human Anatomy and Cell Science (University Of Manitoba)

Postdoctoral Position – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

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

Post-Doctoral/PhD Position – Stem Cell Biology & Metabolism (University of Freiburg)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Tissue Engineering (Stanford University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Multiple Areas (University of Oklahoma)

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