ESC & iPSC News Volume 13.35 | Sep 5 2018

TOP STORY

Modeling Amyloid Beta and Tau Pathology in Human Cerebral Organoids

Investigators revealed that organoids produced from iPSCs derived from patients affected by familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Down syndrome (DS) spontaneously developed over time pathological features of AD, including accumulation of structures highly reminiscent to amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. [Mol Psychiatry] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Inheritance of OCT4 Predetermines Fate Choice in Human Embryonic Stem Cells

By tracking single-cell OCT4 levels over multiple cell cycle generations, scientists found that the decision to differentiate was largely determined before the differentiation stimulus was presented and could be predicted by a cell’s preexisting OCT4 signaling patterns. [Mol Syst Biol] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Chemical Recipe for Generation of Clinical-Grade Striatal Neurons from hESCs

Using an optimized protocol researchers efficiently directed regular human ESCs (hESCs) as well as clinical-grade hESCs to lateral ganglionic eminence-like progenitors and striatal medium spiny neurons within less than half of the time than previous protocols. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Organoids from Nephrotic Disease-Derived iPSCs Identify Impaired NEPHRIN Localization and Slit Diaphragm Formation in Kidney Podocytes

Investigators established human iPSCs from a patient with an NPHS1 missense mutation, and reproduced the slit diaphragm (SD) formation process using iPSC-derived kidney organoids. The mutant NEPHRIN failed to become localized on the cell surface for pre-SD domain formation in the induced podocytes. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Fully Defined Static Suspension Culture System for Large-Scale Human Embryonic Stem Cell Production

The authors report on an efficient large-scale culture system, which enabled long-term, GMP grade, single-cell inoculation, and serial expansion of human ESCs with a yield of about 1.5 × 10⁹ cells per 1.5-L culture, while maintaining good pluripotency. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

SIRT2 Is Required for Efficient Reprogramming of Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts toward Pluripotency

Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) depletion not only upregulated elements of the INK4/ARF locus, which in turn had an antiproliferative effect, but also significantly altered the expression of proteins related to the PI3K/Akt and Hippo pathways, which are important signaling pathways for stemness. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Embryonic Stem Cell Engineering with Glycomimetic FGF2/BMP4 Co-Receptor Drives Mesodermal Differentiation in 3D Culture

Lipid functionalized synthetic heparan sulfate-mimetic glycopolymers with affinity toward both FGF2 and BMP4 were introduced into the plasma membrane of Ext1^-/- mouse ESCs, where they acted as functional co-receptors of these growth factors and facilitated signal transduction through associated MAPK and Smad signaling pathways. [ACS Chem Biol] Abstract

Differentiation and Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Otic Epithelial Progenitors in Mouse Cochlea

Human urinary cells isolated from a healthy donor were reprogrammed to form iPSCs that were induced to differentiate into otic epithelial progenitors (OEPs) and hair cell-like cells. In vitro, OEP-derived hair cell-like cells formed synaptic connections with spiral ganglion neurons in coculture. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

Functional and Mechanistic Neurotoxicity Profiling Using Human iPSC-Derived Neural 3D Cultures

There is an urgent need to develop more complex, biologically relevant, and predictive in vitro assays to screen larger sets of compounds with the potential for neurotoxicity. Researchers employed a human iPSC-based 3D neural platform composed of mature cortical neurons and astrocytes as a model for this purpose. [Toxicol Sci] Abstract

Effect of Celecoxib on Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells into Hepatocytes Involves STAT5 Activation

Scientists investigated whether celecoxib treatment could normalize the low drug metabolism activities in human iPSC-derived hepatocytes (hiHep). The mRNA expression levels of hepatic markers and metabolic enzymes in hiHep significantly increased after celecoxib treatment. [Drug Metab Dispos] Abstract

Genomic Integrity of Ground-State Pluripotency

Investigators focused on the DNA methylation pattern of repetitive elements (REs) and their activation levels under two ground-state conditions and assessed the genomic integrity of ESCs. They indicated that although the ground-state conditions show higher REs activity, they did not lead to DNA damage; therefore, the level of genomic instability is lower under the ground-state compared with the conventional condition. [J Cell Biochem] Abstract

Subscribe to one of our other 19 science newsletters such as Cell Therapy News & Mesenchymal Cell News.

Modeling Inherited Cardiac Disease Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes: Progress, Pitfalls and Potential

A comprehensive overview of the currently published iPSC-cardiomyocyte (CM) models for hereditary heart disease is compiled and analyzed. Besides the major findings of individual studies, detailed methodological information on iPSC generation, iPSC-CM differentiation, characterization and maturation is included. [Cardiovasc Res] Abstract

Building a New Strategy for Treating Heart Failure Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

While iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes have paracrine effects, they also have the potential to supply newly born myocytes that can function synchronously with the recipient myocardium as “mechanically working cells” in severely damaged myocardium. The authors present the state of basic research in the field of cardiac iPS cells. [J Cardiol] Abstract

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

Celling Biosciences Executes Exclusive License with RxBIO Corp. to Launch Proprietary Stem Cell Technology in Canada

Celling Bioscience has signed an exclusive agreement with RxBIO to launch its brand of products in Canada. Celling products are designed to collect, process and deliver autologous cells to the patient at the point of care to accelerate the body’s natural healing process. The partnership will fulfill the growing demand in Canada for innovative stem cell technology. [Celling Bioscience (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

NIH Grants Will Spur Innovation in Under-Resourced States

Four new grants will help to move scientific discoveries and technologies out of the lab and into commercial products that improve patient care and enhance human health. Awards for Regional Technology Transfer Accelerator Hubs for Institutional Development Award states will total almost $2 million in the first year and potentially more than $13 million over three years, pending the availability of funds. [National Institutes of Health] Press Release

New NSF Research Traineeship Awards Aim to Transform Approaches to STEM Graduate Education

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) program recently awarded 17 projects, totaling $51 million, to develop and implement graduate education traineeship models in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. [National Science Foundation] Press Release

First iPS Cell Trial for Heart Disease Raises Excitement, Concern

Early next year, a small clinical trial will begin in Japan, marking the first time reprogrammed stem cells will be deployed to help regenerate injured hearts. A team led by Osaka University cardiac surgeon Yoshiki Sawa will implant sheets-each consisting of 100 million stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes-onto the hearts of three patients with advanced heart failure. [The Scientist] Editorial

Google Unveils Search Engine for Open Data

Google has unveiled a search engine to help researchers locate online data that is freely available for use. The company launched the service, saying that it is aimed at “scientists, data journalists, data geeks, or anyone else”. [Nature News] Editorial

Open-Access Journal Editors Resign after Alleged Pressure to Publish Mediocre Papers

All ten senior editors of the open-access journal Nutrients resigned last month, alleging that the publisher, the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, pressured them to accept manuscripts of mediocre quality and importance. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

European Science Funders Ban Grantees from Publishing in Paywalled Journals

Frustrated with the slow transition toward open access in scientific publishing, eleven national funding organizations in Europe turned up the pressure. As of 2020, the group, which jointly spends about €7.6 billion on research annually, will require every paper it funds to be freely available from the moment of publication. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

UK ‘Missing Out’ on Overseas Students

University leaders are calling for changes to the UK visa system to allow international students to stay and work for two years after they graduate. Universities UK says otherwise overseas students, worth £26bn to the UK economy, will opt for countries such as the US, Canada and Australia. [The BBC] Editorial

NEW Cardiology World Conference: Advances in Cardiology: Research and Innovations
May 15-16, 2019
Tokyo, Japan

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

NEW Senior Scientists/Principal Investigators – iPSC & Diabetes Research (Qatar Biomedical Research Institute)

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

Faculty Position – Stem Cell Biology (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Optogenetic Control of Cell Polarity (European Molecular Biology Laboratory)

Assistant/Associate Professor – Stem Cell or Organoid Model Research (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center)

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)

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

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering (Stanford University)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Have we missed an important article or publication in ESC & iPSC News? Click here to submit!

Comments or suggestions? Submit your feedback here.