ESC & iPSC News Volume 13.37 | Sep 19 2018

TOP STORY

Promoter Bivalency Favors an Open Chromatin Architecture in Embryonic Stem Cells

Researchers showed that MLL2 played a central role in ESC genome organization. They generated a catalog of bona fide bivalent genes in ESCs and demonstrated that loss of MLL2 led to increased polycomb occupancy. Consequently, promoters lost accessibility, long-range interactions were redistributed, and ESCs failed to differentiate. [Nat Genet] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Rapid Functional Genetics of the Oligodendrocyte Lineage Using Pluripotent Stem Cells

Scientists report a highly efficient method for generating oligodendrocytes and their progenitors from mouse embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, independent of mouse strain or mutational status. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Alternative Splicing Links Histone Modifications to Stem Cell Fate Decision

Investigators identified thousands of alternatively spliced exons and revealed their development and lineage-dependent characterizations. The histone modification-associated alternatively spliced genes predominantly functioned in G2/M phases and ATM/ATR-mediated DNA damage response pathway for cell differentiation, whereas other alternatively spliced genes were enriched in the G1 phase and pathways for self-renewal. [Genome Biol] Full Article

The RNA Exosome Contributes to Gene Expression Regulation during Stem Cell Differentiation

Researchers differentiated mouse ESCs, depleted for the ribonucleolytic RNA exosome, into embryoid bodies to determine to which degree RNA abundance in the two states could be attributed to changes in transcription versus RNA decay by the exosome. They found that exosome depletion mainly led to the stabilization of RNAs from lowly transcribed loci, including several protein-coding genes. [Nucleic Acids Res] Full Article

Establishment of Stable iPS-Derived Human Neural Stem Cell Lines Suitable for Cell Therapies

The authors generated human IPSC-derived neural stem cells (hiNSCs) by a virus-free technique, whose properties recapitulated those of the clinical-grade hNSCs successfully used in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Phase I clinical trial. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Generation of an Alveolar Epithelial Type II Cell Line from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Long lasting iPSC-alveolar type II epithelial cells ((LL)-iPSC-AECII) displayed morphological characteristics of AECII including growth in a cobble stone monolayer, the presence of lamellar bodies and microvilli as shown by electron microscopy. Also, (LL)-iPSC-AECII expressed AEC type II proteins such as cytokeratin, surfactant protein C and lysotracker DND 26. [Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol] Abstract

Groucho Related Gene 5 (GRG5) Is Involved in Embryonic and Neural Stem Cell State Decisions

Investigators demonstrated that ablation of GRG5 deregulated the ESC pluripotent state whereas its overexpression led to enhanced self-renewal and acquisition of cancer cell-like properties. The malignant characteristics of teratomas generated by ESCs that overexpressed GRG5 revealed its pro-oncogenic potential. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Neural Stem Cells for Disease Modeling and Evaluation of Therapeutics for Tay-Sachs Disease

Scientists generated iPSCs from two Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) patient dermal fibroblast lines and further differentiated them into neural stem cells (NSCs). The TSD neural stem cells exhibited a disease phenotype of lysosomal lipid accumulation. [Orphanet J Rare Dis] Full Article

In Vitro Derivation of Functional Sertoli-Like Cells from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Investigators demonstrated a novel differentiation method for mouse ESC-derived Sertoli-like cells (SLCs) via the intermediate mesoderm (IM). They showed that IM derived from an induction of six days expressed markers such as Wt1, Lhx1, Pax2 and Osr1, and that a sequential induction of six days resulted in ESC-SLCs. [Cell Transplant] Full Article

Engineering Neural Tissue from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Novel Small Molecule Releasing Microspheres

The combination of puro and retinoic acid microspheres promoted human iPSC differentiation as indicated by the expression of multiple neural markers, including the neuronal marker β-tubulin III, and the transcription factor Olig2 on day 28. [Adv Biosyst] Abstract

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Molecular Cytogenetics and Quality Control: Clinical Guardians for Pluripotent Stem Cells

To maximize patient safety, the authors recommend a set of standards to be utilized when preparing iPSCs for clinical use. Furthermore, clinical-grade stem cells need to be produced under accepted regulatory good manufacturing process standards. The creation of haplobanks that provide major histocompatibility complex matching is also recommended to improve allogeneic stem cell engraftment. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Full Article

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Fate Therapeutics Announces Strategic Collaboration with ONO Pharmaceutical to Develop Off-the-Shelf, iPSC-Derived CAR-T Cell Cancer Immunotherapies

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has entered into a collaboration with ONO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the joint development and commercialization of two off-the-shelf CAR-T cell product candidates. [Fate Therapeutics Inc.] Press Release

CRISPR Therapeutics and ViaCyte Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop Gene-Edited Stem Cell-Derived Therapy for Diabetes

CRISPR Therapeutics and ViaCyte, Inc. announced a collaboration focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of gene-edited allogeneic stem cell therapies for the treatment of diabetes. [ViaCyte, Inc.] Press Release

Eternity Healthcare Inc. Expects to Complete Stem Cell Facility and Commence Operations by the End of Year and Declare a 2.5 for 1 Stock Dividend

Eternity Healthcare Inc. announced that it expects to complete the construction and outfitting of its stem cell facility in Guizhou, Tongren, China, by the end of the calendar year 2018. [Eternity Healthcare Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

NSF Spells Out New Sexual Harassment Policy: Talk to Us

Starting next month, universities must tell the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, if any faculty members with NSF grants have been found guilty of sexual and other forms of harassment, or if they have suspended them for any reason. But NSF won’t pull its funding if institutions can assure the agency that another faculty member can take over the research project. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

African and Asian Researchers Are Hampered by Visa Problems

Going to a conference? Good luck getting a visa. Researchers from Africa and Asia still encounter much greater obstacles in getting visas to visit other countries for work than do those from Europe or North America. They are also less likely to visit another country for research, according to a global survey of academics’ movements. [Nature News] Editorial

Researcher Fazlul Sarkar Has 12 More Papers Retracted

Fazlul Sarkar, a former Wayne State University cancer researcher who once sued anonymous commenters on the discussion forum PubPeer for criticizing his work, continues to have his publication record whittled down. According to Retraction Watch, Cancer Research has retracted 12 of Sarkar’s papers and added an editor’s note to another. [The Scientist] Editorial

Denied ‘Life-Extending Opportunities’: Black Patients Are Being Left Out of Clinical Trials amid Wave of New Cancer Therapies

Reflecting the reluctance of the FDA to force drug makers to enroll more minority patients, and the failure of most manufacturers to do so voluntarily, stark underrepresentation of African-Americans is widespread in clinical trials for cancer drugs, even when the type of cancer disproportionately affects them. [STAT News] Editorial

NEW International Heart Congress
June 17-19, 2019
Paris, France

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

NEW Scientist – Cell Culture Media and Cell Line Development (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

NEW Director – Center for Cell Reprogramming (Georgetown University)

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

Assistant Professor – Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology (Columbia University Stem Cell Initiative)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Gene Transcription in Development & Disease (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)

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

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)

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

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering (Stanford University)

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