ESC & iPSC News Volume 15.04 | Feb 5 2020

TOP STORY

Reconstructed Single-Cell Fate Trajectories Define Lineage Plasticity Windows during Differentiation of Human PSC-Derived Distal Lung Progenitors

Scientists engineered alveolar epithelial type 2 cells (AEC2s) from human PSCs in vitro and used time-series single-cell RNA sequencing with lentiviral barcoding to profile the kinetics of their differentiation in comparison to primary fetal and adult AEC2 benchmarks. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Increased Neural Progenitor Proliferation in a hiPSC Model of Autism Induces Replication Stress-Associated Genome Instability

Researchers showed that human (h)iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells from autism spectrum disorder individuals with macrocephaly displayed an altered DNA replication program and increased DNA damage. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Single-Cell Transcriptomic Comparison of Human Fetal Retina, hPSC-Derived Retinal Organoids, and Long-Term Retinal Cultures

Investigators analyzed human (h)PSC-derived retinal organoids; although organoids had a very similar cellular composition at equivalent ages as the fetal retina, there were some differences in gene expression of particular cell types. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Oct4-Mediated Inhibition of Lsd1 Activity Promotes the Active and Primed State of Pluripotency Enhancers

Silencing of pluripotency gene (PpG) enhancers (PpGe) during ESC differentiation involves Lsd1-mediated H3K4me1 demethylation and DNA methylation. The authors observed retention of H3K4me1 and DNA hypomethylation at PpGe associated with a partial repression of PpGs in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells post-differentiation. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

BIG-TREE: Base-Edited Isogenic hPSC Line Generation Using a Transient Reporter for Editing Enrichment

Researchers utilized Cas9 deaminase base-editing technologies to co-target genomic loci and an episomal reporter to enable single-nucleotide genomic changes in human (h)PSCs without homology-directed repair. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

Critical Role for P53 in Regulating the Cell Cycle of Ground State Embryonic Stem Cells

Investigators provided evidence that P53 was activated upon transition of serum ESCs to their pluripotent ground state using serum-free 2i conditions and that was required for the elongated G1 phase characteristic of ground state ESCs. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Regulates Initiation of Pluripotency Exit before Gastrulation

Using chicken epiblast and mammalian PSC models, scientists showed that PSCs underwent a mesenchymal-epithelial transition prior to epithelial-mesenchymal transition -associated pluripotency loss. [Development] Abstract

Tissue-Specific Promoter-Based Reporter System for Monitoring Cell Differentiation from iPSCs to Cardiomyocytes

The authors created and evaluated a responsive promoter reporter system that allowed monitoring of iPSC differentiation towards cardiomyocytes. The lentiviral promoter reporter system was based on troponin 2 and alpha cardiac actin with firefly luciferase and mCherry, respectively. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Systematic Comparison of High-Throughput Single-Cell and Single-Nucleus Transcriptomes during Cardiomyocyte Differentiation

Researchers compared Drop-seq and DroNc-seq, two microfluidic-based 3′ RNA capture technologies that profiled total cellular and nuclear RNA, respectively, during a time course experiment of human iPSCs differentiating into cardiomyocytes. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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Regulation of Long Non-Coding RNAs and Genome Dynamics by the RNA Surveillance Machinery

The authors describe the RNA surveillance factors and discuss the vital role of long non-coding RNA surveillance in orchestrating various biological processes, including the protection of genome integrity, maintenance of pluripotency of ESCs, antibody-gene diversification, coordination of immune cell activation and regulation of heterochromatin formation. [Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol] Abstract

Cardiomyocyte Maturation: Advances in Knowledge and Implications for Regenerative Medicine

Scientists describe the structural and functional properties of cardiomyocytes and present the current approaches to mature PSC-derived cardiomyocytes. [Nat Rev Cardiol] Abstract

PI3K in Stemness Regulation: From Development to Cancer

Researchers summarize current known and unknowns of PI3K-dependent stemness regulation, by integrating knowledge from the fields of developmental, signaling and cancer biology. [Biochem Soc Trans] Full Article

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

AgeX Therapeutics to Collaborate with University of California, Irvine on Neural Stem Cell Research Program for Huntington’s Disease and Other Neurological Disorders

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. announced a research collaboration with the University of California, Irvine using AgeX’s PureStem^® technology to derive neural stem cells, with the goal of developing cellular therapies to treat neurological disorders and diseases for which there are no cures. [AgeX Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

Biomedical Engineering Student Earns American Heart Association Fellowship

A fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA) will help a biomedical engineering doctoral student advance his research into more effective methods of stem cell production. Christofer Baldwin was awarded $62,000 through the AHA’s Predoctoral Fellowship program. [University of Arkansas] Press Release

Ex-Emory Scientist with Ties to China Charged with Fraud

A former Emory University neuroscientist has been charged with defrauding the US government by taking a salary from a Chinese institution while also being paid through research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The charges against Li Xiao-Jiang were filed on 21 November 2019 in US district court in Atlanta and were first reported by NBC News. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Why Did a Chinese University Hire Charles Lieber to Do Battery Research?

Among the ongoing mysteries surrounding last week’s arrest of Harvard University nanoscientist Charles Lieber is the precise nature of the research program Lieber was conducting in his cooperation with Chinese researchers. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW First International STEMNET Meeting
May 6-8, 2020
Padua, Italy

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

NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Human iPS Models of Parkinson’s Disease (Karolinska Institutet)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Stem Cell Niche Biology (University of California San Francisco)

Postdoctoral Positions – Create ‘Foie Gras’ in Vitro from Stem Cells (KU Leuven)

PhD Position – Human Inducible Stem Cells (University of Fribourg)

Postdoctoral Positions – Stem Cell Biology (Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Training Fellow – Drosophila Genetics (The Francis Crick Institute)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Research (Georgetown University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Endocrinology (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

Scientist – Stem Cell Biology (Genentech, Inc.)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Organ Progenitor Fate (University of Copenhagen)

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

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