ESC & iPSC News Volume 13.31 | Aug 8 2018

TOP STORY

Precardiac Organoids Form Two Heart Fields via Bmp/Wnt Signaling

Investigators generated precardiac spheroids with PSCs harboring GFP/RFP reporters under the control of first heart field/second heart field markers, respectively. GFP⁺ cells and RFP⁺ cells appeared from two distinct areas and developed in a complementary fashion. [Nat Commun] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Fine-Tuning Mybl2 Is Required for Proper Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition during Somatic Reprogramming

Scientists demonstrated that Mybl2 levels were crucial to the dynamics of the reprogramming process. Mybl2 overexpression changed chromatin conformation, affecting the accessibility of pioneer factors to the chromatin and promoted accessibility for early immediate response genes known to be reprogramming blockers. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Scalable and Efficient Bioprocess for Manufacturing Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells

Human PSCs (hPSCs) were expanded and differentiated into endothelial cells in a 3D thermoreversible PNIPAAm-PEG hydrogel. The hydrogel protected cells from hydrodynamic stresses in the culture vessel and prevented cells from excessive agglomeration, leading to high-culture efficiency including high-viability, high-purity, and high-volumetric yield. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Directed Evolution of Reprogramming Factors by Cell Selection and Sequencing

Investigators describe a method termed directed evolution of reprogramming factors by cell selection and sequencing to identify artificially enhanced and evolved reprogramming transcription factors. They benchmarked this approach using pluripotency reprogramming with libraries based on the reprogramming factor SOX2 and the reprogramming incompetent endodermal factor SOX17. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Generation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Resistant Macrophages from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Using Transcriptional Gene Silencing and Promoter-Targeted RNA

Human iPSCs were transduced with short hairpin RNAs targeting the HIV-1 promoter region (shPromA) by using a lentiviral vector. The shPromA-transfected iPSCs were successfully differentiated into functional macrophages, and they exhibited strong protection against HIV-1 replication with alteration in the histone structure of the HIV-1 promoter region to induce heterochromatin formation. [Mol Ther Nucleic Acids] Abstract | Full Article

A Patient-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Model for West Syndrome Caused by ST3GAL3 Deficiency

Researchers generated iPSC lines from fibroblasts obtained from a patient with West syndrome, carrying a variant in exon 12 of ST3GAL3, and a healthy sibling, using lentiviral reprogramming. [Eur J Hum Genet] Abstract

Efficient Homology-Directed Gene Editing by CRISPR/Cas9 in Human Stem and Primary Cells Using Tube Electroporation

Investigators reported a tube electroporation method that could effectively transfect human stem cells and primary cells with minimal cytotoxicity. When applied to genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 along with single stranded DNA oligonucleotide template in human iPSCs, up to 42.1% homology-directed repair rate was achieved, drastically higher than many reported before. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Interrupted Reprogramming into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Does Not Rejuvenate Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Mesenchymal stromal cells were transfected with episomal plasmids and either successfully reprogrammed into iPSCs or cultured in different media with continuous passaging every week. Overexpression of pluripotency factors without reprogramming did neither prolong culture expansion nor ameliorate molecular and epigenetic hallmarks of senescence. [Sci Rep] Full Article

TBX18 Transcription Factor Overexpression in Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Increases Their Differentiation into Pacemaker-Like Cells

Human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPS-CMs) showed spontaneous beating and expressed specific markers of cardiac cells. Lentiviral-mediated TBX18 delivery was the most efficient method for transfection. TBX18-hiPSCMs were detected with pacemaker cell features. [J Cell Physiol] Abstract

Reversible Permeabilization of the Mitochondrial Membrane Promotes Human Cardiomyocyte Differentiation from Embryonic Stem Cells

Scientists assessed the hallmarks of apoptosis during cardiomyocyte differentiation of human ESCs and found remarkable changes in P53, reactive oxygen species, apoptotic protease-activating factor 1, poly[ADP-ribose]polymerase 1, cellular adenosine triphosphate, and mitochondrial complex I activity. [J Cell Physiol] Abstract

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Stem Cell Bioengineering: Building from Stem Cell Biology

Applied to the different layers of complexity present in stem-cell-derived systems — from gene regulatory networks in single stem cells to the systemic interactions of stem-cell-derived organs and tissues — stem cell bioengineering can address existing challenges and advance regenerative medicine and cellular therapies. [Nat Rev Genet] Abstract

Will iPSC-Cardiomyocytes Revolutionize the Discovery of Drugs for Heart Disease?

The advent of human induced pluripotent stem cells and the ability to make limitless numbers of cardiomyocytes could revolutionize heart disease modeling and drug discovery. The authors summarize the state of the art in the field, describe the strengths and weaknesses of the technology, and applications where the model system would be most appropriate. [Curr Opin Pharmacol] Abstract

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Stem Cell Transplants to Be Used in Treating Crohn’s Disease

A clinical trial has begun which will use stem cell transplants to grow a new immune system for people with untreatable Crohn’s disease – a painful and chronic intestinal disease which affects at least 115,000 people in the UK. [Queen Mary University of London] Press Release

Monash Tops Australian Universities for Future Fellowship Grants

The Australian Research Council has announced Monash University as the recipient of 13 acclaimed Future Fellowships worth more than $11 million – the most of any university in Australia – as part of a collective $26 million research investment in the University by the Federal Government. [Monash University] Press Release

Stanford Medicine Receives $10 Million Pledge from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to Fuel the Next Generation of Biomedical Innovation

The fund will support five Blavatnik Fellows a year in perpetuity and builds upon a previous $2 million Blavatnik Family Foundation commitment to assist Stanford bioscience graduate students in their research. [Stanford University] Press Release

Collaboration between MIT and Weizmann Institute of Science Supports New Avenues of Scientific Research

MIT and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have announced a new research collaboration, made possible by a gift from the Sagol family, that will support a series of multidisciplinary projects between the two institutions across all areas of science. [MIT News Office] Press Release

Japanese Medical University Admits to Discriminating against Female Applicants

A prominent Japanese medical university said that school administrators have deliberately manipulated entrance exam scores to limit the number of women admitted. The confession helps explain the lopsided gender ratio of graduates from Tokyo Medical University and strengthens suspicions that similar practices have prevailed at other Japanese medical schools. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Top US Biomedical Institute Settles Gender-Discrimination Lawsuits

The Salk Institute has reached a deal with two of three female scientists who alleged unequal treatment. Cancer researchers Katherine Jones and Victoria Lundblad have agreed to drop all claims against the institute in La Jolla, California, according to a joint statement released. [Nature News] Editorial

Embattled French Health-Agency Chief Withdraws Leadership Bid

The chief of France’s national biomedical-research agency INSERM has said that he will not run for a second term, a decision that ends months of uncertainty about his future at the organization. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Cell & Gene Therapy
October 10-11, 2018
London, United Kingdom

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NEW Senior Scientist – Pluripotent Stem Cells (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

NEW Research Assistant – Chromatin & Development Research (Medical Research Council)

Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Cell Fate & Early Development Research (Medical Research Council)

Postdoctoral Associate – Developmental Immunology & Human PSC-Based Disease Models (University of Massachusetts)

Postdoctoral Position – Pluripotency, Signaling & Epigenetics (Washington University School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Cellular Basis of Morphogenesis (University of California, San Francisco)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Pluripotent Stem Cell Biology (University of California, Berkeley)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Stem Cell Biology (University of Illinois at Chicago)

Research Associate/Scientist – iPSC Research and Manufacture (Evotec AG)

Postdoctoral Positions – Human Functional Genomics of Aging & Disease (Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University)

Research Specialist – Cardiovascular Disease (University of Illinois)

Postdoctoral Fellow – hiPSC Based Cardiac Regeneration (Duke University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Human Skeletal Muscle Disease Modeling and Regeneration (Duke University)

Scientist/Senior Scientist – Bioprocess Engineering (Bluerock Therapeutics, LLC.)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering (Stanford University)

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

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