ESC & iPSC News Volume 14.38 | Oct 2 2019

TOP STORY

Differential Regulation of OCT4 Targets Facilitates Reacquisition of Pluripotency

Researchers identified a transient period of high-efficiency reprogramming where ectopic transcription factors, but not serum/LIF alone, rapidly reverted cells to pluripotency with near 100% efficiency. [Nat Commun] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Heterochromatin Loosening by the Oct4 Linker Region Facilitates Klf4 Binding and iPSC Reprogramming

The authors found that Oct4 acted as a pioneer factor that loosened heterochromatin and facilitated the binding of Klf4 and the expression of epithelial genes in early reprogramming, leading to enhanced mesenchymal‐to‐epithelial transition. [EMBO J] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Line with Genetically Encoded Fluorescent Voltage Indicator Generated via CRISPR for Action Potential Assessment Post‐Cardiogenesis

Scientists report the use of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 nuclease technique to develop a human iPSC line stably expressing ArcLight from the AAVS1 safe harbor locus. [Stem Cells] Full Article

Cancer‐Associated Missense Mutations Enhance the Pluripotency Reprogramming Activity of OCT4 and SOX17

Investigators interrogated cancer mutation databases and identified recurrently mutated positions at critical structural interfaces of the DNA binding domains of paralogous SOX and POU family transcription factors. [FEBS J] Abstract

Mass Cytometry-Based Single-Cell Analysis of Human Stem Cell Reprogramming Uncovers Differential Regulation of Specific Pluripotency Markers

Researchers used mass cytometry to analyze the expression of pluripotency and cell cycle markers in the reprogramming of human stem cells. They confirmed that during the reprogramming, the main cell population was shifted to intermediate population consisting of neither fibroblasts nor human iPSCs. [J Biol Chem] Abstract | Full Article

Profiling Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation by MALDI TOF Mass Spectrometry: Development of a Reproducible and Robust Sample Preparation Workflow

The authors present a universal workflow for mammalian cell MALDI TOF MS analysis and applied it to distinguish ground-state naïve and differentiating mouse embryonic stem cells, which could be used as a model for drug discovery. [Analyst] Full Article

Tissue-Engineered Blood-Brain Barrier Models via Directed Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Investigators addressed four issues associated with blood-brain barrier models: cell source, barrier function, cryopreservation, and matrix stiffness. They reproduced a directed differentiation of brain microvascular endothelial cells from two fluorescently labeled human induced pluripotent stem cell lines and demonstrated physiological permeability of Lucifer yellow over six days. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The H3K9 Methylation Writer SETDB1 and Its Reader MPP8 Cooperate to Silence Satellite DNA Repeats in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Researchers showed that M-phase phosphoprotein 8 (MPP8) interacted physically and functionally with SET domain bifurcated histone lysine methyltransferase 1 (SETDB1) in ESCs. Combining biochemical, transcriptomic and genomic analyses, they found that MPP8 and SETDB1 co-regulated a significant number of common genomic targets, especially the DNA satellite repeats. [Genes (Basel)] Full Article

Gene Expression Profiling of Skeletal Myogenesis in Human Embryonic Stem Cells Reveals a Potential Cascade of Transcription Factors Regulating Stages of Myogenesis, Including Quiescent/Activated Satellite Cell-Like Gene Expression

Gene expression profiling was analyzed in hESCs over a 50 day skeletal myogenesis protocol and compared to datasets of other hESC-derived skeletal muscle and adult murine satellite cells. [PLoS One] Full Article

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Brown Adipocytes from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells—How Far Have We Come?

The author reviews basic brown adipose tissue biology and details the current progress toward developing brown adipocytes from human iPSCs. [Ann N Y Acad Sci] Abstract

The TCL1 Function Revisited Focusing on Metabolic Requirements of Stemness

Scientists highlight newly acquired evidence pinpointing TCL1 as a crucial regulator of metabolic pathways that dictate somatic cell reprogramming toward pluripotency. [Cell Cycle] Abstract

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

Platelet BioGenesis Receives $56 Million Contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to Develop Human Stem Cell-Derived Platelets as a Medical Countermeasure to Radiological and Nuclear Exposure

Platelet BioGenesis, Inc. announced that it has signed a $56 million contract with BARDA, an agency of the US government’s Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. [Platelet BioGenesis, Inc.] Press Release

Fate Therapeutics Announces the Opening of Its cGMP Manufacturing Facility Dedicated to iPSC-Derived Cell Therapies

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the company has opened its current Good Manufacturing Process (cGMP) compliant manufacturing facility for the clinical production of its off-the-shelf natural killer cell and chimeric antigen receptor T-cell product candidates. [Fate Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

‘There’s No Taboo, No Bad Ideas’: Anyone Can Help Shape European Union’s New €94 Billion Research Program

These encouraging words were spoken here last week at the European Research and Innovation Days, where policy bigwigs working with the European Commission invited the audience to help shape Europe’s next seven-year research funding program, Horizon Europe, set to begin in 2021. Their message: Anyone can help “cocreate” the program’s outlines. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Trump Set to Nominate Stephen Hahn as FDA Commissioner, Pending Vetting Process

President Trump is set to nominate Dr. Stephen Hahn to lead the FDA, pending completion of the vetting process, according to two people familiar with the selection process. Hahn, an oncologist, is the chief medical executive at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. [STAT News] Editorial

Two-Thirds of Researchers Report ‘Pressure to Cite’ in Nature Poll

An online poll answered by more than 4,300 Nature readers suggests that most researchers have felt pressured by peer reviewers to cite studies in their papers that seem unnecessary. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW From Stem Cells to Genes to Therapies
November 13-15, 2019
Brisbane, Australia

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

NEW Postdoctoral Position – Nuclear RNA Decay and Stem Cell Differentiation (Aarhus University)

Research Associate – Computational Image Analysis and AI (University of Bristol)

Research Associate – Human IPSC Culture (Bayer)

Group Leader – Stem Cell Science (University of Cambridge)

Faculty Position – Stem Cell Biology (Children’s Research Institute at UT Southwestern)

Research Fellow – Vascular Stem Cell Biology (Queen’s University Belfast)

Postdoctoral Positions – Stem Cell and Bioinformatics (Indiana University School of Medicine)

Assistant Specialist – Division of Cardiovascular Medicine (University of California, Davis)

Biologist – Stem Cell Engineering (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Postdoctoral Fellows – Striated Muscle Regeneration (Duke University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Genetics and Epigenomics of iPSC Biology (Stanford University)

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