ESC & iPSC News Volume 13.10 | Mar 14 2018

TOP STORY

Making Eggs and Sperm: A New Piece to the Puzzle

Until now, it has remained impossible to initiate the formation of functional sperm or egg cells from early germ cell like cells in vitro. Research by Prof Hajkova, Head of Reprogramming and Chromatin at LMS, and her team provides a molecular explanation for this developmental barrier and the route that could be used to overcome it. [Press release from the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences discussing online prepublication in Nature] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Engineering of Mature Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes Using Substrates with Multiscale Topography

To mimic the biophysical and biomechanical complexity of the native in vivo environment during the differentiation and maturation process, polydimethylsiloxane substrates with 3D topography at the micrometer and sub-micrometer levels are developed and used as cell-culture substrates. [Adv Funct Mater] Abstract | Press Release

Long-Range Enhancer Interactions Are Prevalent in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and Are Reorganized upon Pluripotent State Transition

Researchers used promoter-capture Hi-C to identify promoters that interact with super-enhancers (SEs) in mouse ESCs. They found that SEs form complex, spatial networks in which individual SEs contact multiple promoters, and a rewiring of promoter-SE interactions occurs between pluripotent states. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Combinatorial Control of Recruitment of a Variant PRC1.6 Complex in Embryonic Stem Cells

Scientists report that the first and second MBT repeats of L3mbtl2 are important structural and functional features that are necessary and sufficient for L3mbtl2-mediated recruitment of polycomb repressive complex (PRC) 1.6 complex to target promoters. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

KLF4 Nuclear Export Requires ERK Activation and Initiates Exit from Naive Pluripotency

Investigators showed that, as ESCs exit pluripotency, KLF4 protein is exported from the nucleus causing rapid decline in Nanog and Klf4 transcription; as a result, KLF4 is the first pluripotency transcription factor removed from transcription-associated complexes during differentiation. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Combined Loss of JMJD1A and JMJD1B Reveals Critical Roles for H3K9 Demethylation in the Maintenance of Embryonic Stem Cells and Early Embryogenesis

The authors showed that JMJD1A and JMJD1B preferentially target histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) demethylation of gene-dense regions of chromosomes, thereby establishing an H3K9 hypomethylation state in euchromatin. JMJD1A/JMJD1B-deficient embryos died soon after implantation accompanying epiblast cell death. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

Squaramide-Based Supramolecular Materials for Three-Dimensional Cell Culture of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Their Derivatives

Investigators describe a family of synthetically accessible, squaramide-based tripodal supramolecular monomers consisting of a flexible tris(2-aminoethyl)amine core that self-assemble into supramolecular polymers and eventually into self-recovering hydrogels. [Biomacromolecules] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Mutant Best1 Expression and Impaired Phagocytosis in an iPSC Model of Autosomal Recessive Bestrophinopathy

The authors generated iPSCs from a patient with autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy (ARB) and her parents. After differentiation to retinal pigment epithelial (iPSC-RPE) cells, both BEST1 mRNA and bestrophin 1 (Best1) protein expression were compared to controls. BEST1 mRNA expression levels, determined by quantitative PCR, were similar in ARB iPSC-RPE, parental cells, and genetically unrelated controls. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Nucleus Pulposus-Like Cells

Scientists developed a new protocol for the efficient differentiation of human iPSCs into nucleus pulposus (NP)-like cells in vitro. This differentiation strategy derives from knowledge of the embryonic notochordal lineage of NP cells as well as strategies used to support healthy NP cell phenotypes for primary cells in vitro. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

Highly Efficient and Expedited Hepatic Differentiation from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells by Pure Small-Molecule Cocktails

Scientists established a novel efficient hepatocyte differentiation strategy of human pluripotent stem cells with pure small-molecule cocktails. This method induced hepatocyte differentiation in a stepwise manner, including definitive endoderm differentiation, hepatic specification, and hepatocyte maturation within only 13 days. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

Optimization of Synthetic mRNA for Highly Efficient Translation and Its Application in the Generation of Endothelial and Hematopoietic Cells from Human and Primate Pluripotent Stem Cells

Investigators evaluated the effect of 5′ and 3′ RNA untranslated regions (UTRs) on translational efficiency of chemically-modified synthetic mRNA in human PSCs and showed that an addition of 5′UTR indeed enhanced protein expression. [Stem Cell Rev] Abstract

Modeling Human Diseases with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: From 2D to 3D and Beyond

Researchers discuss the progress and limitations of the current 2D iPSC disease-modeling platform, as well as recent advancements in the development of human iPSC models that mimic in vivo tissues and organs at the 3D level. [Development] Full Article

From the Psychiatrist’s Couch to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Bipolar Disease in a Dish

The authors discuss current challenges to the field of iPSC-based disease modeling and future steps to be taken in order to fully exploit the potential of this approach for the investigation of bipolar disease and the development of new therapies. [Int J Mol Sci] Full Article

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New Hope for ALS Patients Worldwide: Kadimastem Commences Its Clinical Trial in ALS Patients at Hadassah Medical Center

Kadimastem announced that it has received the approval of the Ministry of Health’s Supreme Committee, for conducting its Phase I/IIa clinical trial in ALS patients using the unique cell therapy developed by the company. With this approval, Kadimastem has obtained all the approvals required for its clinical trial, which will commence right away. [Kadimastem] Press Release

2018 Bressler Prize Awarded to Botond Roska, MD, PhD for Outstanding Accomplishments in Vision Science Research

Lighthouse Guild announced that the distinguished scientist Botond Roska, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the 2018 Bressler Prize. Currently, he is developing human retinal disease models in the form of iPS cell derived human retinal organoids. [Lighthouse Guild] Press Release

Get an overview of intestinal organoids and their applications. Learn More

‘Right-to-Try’ Bill Rejected by House, in Major Blow to GOP Efforts

In a major blow to the effort to pass a federal “right-to-try” law, House Republicans failed to muster the votes to pass a key compromise measure. [STAT News] Editorial

Springer Nature and VSNU Renew Agreement on Open Access Publishing

Springer Nature and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) have renewed their agreement to secure open access publishing for Dutch universities up to 2021. [The Association of Universities in the Netherlands] Editorial

Science ‘Champion’ Dan Lipinski Faces Tough Race in Illinois Primary

Representative Daniel Lipinski—an anti-abortion Democrat who voted against the Affordable Care Act and who only recently has embraced a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants—knows that he’s out of step with progressives on many social issues. Lipinski will find out whether voters in Illinois’s third congressional district on Chicago’s southwest side feel there’s still room for him in the Democratic Party. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Scientists Beware: The Price Is High, the Payoff Uncertain at Glossy Publications Aimed at Europe’s Decision-Makers

Van der Heyden isn’t the only European researcher to get a hard sell from Pan European Networks, a six-year-old publishing company with offices in Congleton, U.K., and Brussels that promises to provide opportunities for “leading figures from across Europe” to get attention for their work or ideas. Many other scientists had similar experiences, Van der Heyden discovered when he started poking around on blogs and Twitter, including the promise of attention from decision-makers and the warning about the imminent board meeting. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW Cold Spring Harbor (CSH): Mechanisms & Models of Cancer
August 14-18, 2018
Cold Spring Harbor, New York, United States

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NEW Postdoctoral Position – Cancer, Immunotherapy, and Fibrosis (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cells, Development and Cancer (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology and iPSCs (Stanford University)

Postdoctoral Associate – hiPSC-Based Brain Organoids (Rutgers University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Neurodegenerative Diseases (University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Principal Investigator – Stem Cell Approaches to Study Neurodevelopmental Diseases (CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal)

Postdoctoral Associate – Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (Duke University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Biology (City of Hope)

Associate Scientific Editor – Cell Reports/Cell Stem Cell (Elsevier)

Postdoctoral Position – Pancreas Development and Stem Cells (Helmholtz Zentrum München)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Neurodegeneration (Lund University)

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