ESC & iPSC News Volume 5.06 | Feb 16 2010

TOP STORY

Long-Term Comparisons of Induced Pluripotency Stem Cells and Human Embryonic Stem Cells Conducted to Assess Therapeutic Potential
For the first time, scientists have performed a detailed long-term evaluation and comparison of two different types of pluripotent stem cells: human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotency stem cells. [Press release from PR Newswire discussing the online prepublication in Stem Cells]

Derive iPSCs feeder-free* with mTeSR®1 by STEMCELL Technologies     *Sun et al., PNAS, 2009

SPECIAL FEATURE

Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Training Course
Thursday, March 26 & Friday, March 27
Vancouver, Canada

SCIENCE NEWS

McGill Discovery Offers Hope in Diabetes
The team discovered mutations in the unstudied gene called RFX6 and found that these mutations are the cause of a rare syndrome of neonatal diabetes involving the complete absence of islets of Langerhans. [Press release from McGill University discussing the online prepublication in Nature]

Biologists Image Birth of Blood-Forming Stem Cells in Embryo
Biologists have identified the specific region in vertebrates where adult blood stem cells arise during embryonic development. [Press release from EurekaAlert! discussing the online prepublication in Nature]

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Not Yet Reliable for Clinical Use
A new study comparing the ability of induced cells and embryonic cells to morph into the cells of the brain has found that induced cells – even those free of the genetic factors used to program their all-purpose qualities – differentiate less efficiently and faithfully than their embryonic counterparts. [Press release from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health discussing the online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]

‘Death’ Proteins Help Stem Cells Develop: Study
Stem cells that can repair and regenerate tissues may need to get their DNA chopped up as a normal part of growing up and turning into specialized cells like muscle cells, Ottawa researchers have found. [Press release from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation discussing the online prepublication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

Haematopoietic Stem Cells Derive Directly from Aortic Endothelium During Development
Here researchers have used the unique strengths of the zebrafish embryo to image directly the generation of hematopoietic stem cells from the ventral wall of the dorsal aorta. [Nature]

Rfx6 Directs Islet Formation and Insulin Production in Mice and Humans
Studies demonstrate a unique position for Rfx6 in the hierarchy of factors that coordinate pancreatic islet development in both mice and humans. [Nature]

Caspase 3/Caspase-Activated DNase Promote Cell Differentiation by Inducing DNA Strand Breaks
Inhibition of caspase 3 or reduction of caspase-activated DNase expression leads to a dramatic loss of strand-break formation and a block in the myogenic program. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Neural Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Follows Developmental Principles but with Variable Potency
Researchers have shown that human induced pluripotent stem cells use the same transcriptional network to generate neuroepithelia and functionally appropriate neuronal types over the same developmental time course as human embryonic stem cells in response to the same set of morphogens; however, they do it with significantly reduced efficiency and increased variability. [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A]

Hemangioblastic Derivatives from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Exhibit Limited Expansion and Early Senescence
Using established methods, researchers demonstrate here that human induced pluripotent stem cells are capable of generating hemangioblasts/blast cells, endothelial cells and hematopoietic cells with phenotypic and morphological characteristics similar to those derived from human embryonic stem cells, but with a dramatic decreased efficiency. [ Stem Cells]

An Elastomeric Patch Derived from Poly(Glycerol Sebacate) for Delivery of Embryonic Stem Cells to the Heart
Scientists conclude that poly(glycerol sebacate) is a suitable biomaterial for stem cell-based regeneration strategies to restore cardiomyocyte function, and the hybrid heart patch engineered under optimal conditions would be a promising support device for the cardiac repair. [Biomaterials] 

Subfractionation of Differentiating Human Embryonic Stem Cell Populations Allows the Isolation of a Mesodermal Population Enriched for Intermediate Mesoderm and Putative Renal Progenitors
Investigators developed a protocol in this study to differentiate human embryonic stem cells to mesodermal renal progenitor lineages. [Stem Cells Dev]

Generation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Lines from Zona-Free Nuclear Transfer Embryos
Researchers compared the efficiency of nuclear transfer-derived embryonic stem cells line establishment from zona-free (ZF)-nuclear transfer (NT), ZF-parthenogenetic, and ZF-fertilized embryos with that of the piezoelectric microinjection-NT method. [Cloning Stem Cells]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Living Cell Technologies Awarded NZ$4.04 Million New Zealand Government Grant to Advance DIABECELL® for Type 1 Diabetes
Cell implant company Living Cell Technologies Limited announced that it has been awarded a grant of NZ$4.04 million from the New Zealand government’s Foundation for Research Science & Technology. [Living Cell Technologies Limited Press Release]

Athersys Receives United States Patent Covering Adult Stem Cell Composition & Production
Athersys, Inc. announced that it has been granted U.S. patent 7,659,118 that covers non-embryonic multipotent stem cells, their isolation and expansion, and related pharmaceutical compositions. [Athersys, Inc. Press Release]

£6 Million to be Invested in Further Regenerative Medicine Research and Development
The Technology Strategy Board is to invest a further £6 million in regenerative medicine research and development and has invited British companies to bid for funding through two new competitions. [Technology Strategy Board Press Release]

University of California, Irvine Seeks $15 Million for ‘Mouse House’
University of California, Irvine says it has asked the federal government for $15 million to create a major vivarium, or rodent housing facility, in the $66 million stem cell research institute that’s scheduled to open on campus in July. [The Orange County Register]

Portland Development Commission Spends $800,000 for Bioscience ‘Wet Labs’
Oregon’s biotech community will soon have access to four wet labs, where early stage companies can test and analyze chemicals and drugs. [Portland Business Journal]

POLICY NEWS

Bills to Modify Stem Cell Amendment Held Up in Senate
A package of six bills to modify Michigan’s constitutional amendment that permits embryonic stem cell research appears to be stalled in the Senate because Majority Leader Mike Bishop is concerned the changes could lead to job losses and may not reflect voters’ intent in voting for the amendment. [Michigan Senate, United States]

Food and Drug Administration Budget Draws Cries of ‘Not Enough’
A coalition of interests will push for more money, saying chronic underfunding has led to failures at the agency and that society, not just companies, are affected. [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

National Institutes of Health Grants to Children’s Hospital Will Advance Novel Stem Cell Treatments for Blood Disorders
Two large federal grants recently awarded to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will advance the frontiers of research into cellular therapies. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Delays in Grant Application Submission due to Widespread Winter Storm (NOT-OD-10-061) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Recovery Act Limited Competition: Program to Enhance National Institutes of Health-Supported Global Health Research Involving Human Subjects (S07) (RFA-OD-10-006) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (U54) (RFA-RM-10-001) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Waivers for Conflicts of Interest for the February 22, 2010 Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting [Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States]

Notice of Intent to Establish a New National Institutes of Health Common Fund Program: Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) (NOT-RM-10-002) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellows (Parent F31) (PA-10-108) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Parent F31 – Diversity) (PA-10-109) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (Parent F32) (PA-10-110) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Senior Fellows (Parent F33) (PA-10-111) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Investigator Initiated Multi-Site Clinical Trials (Collaborative R01) (PAR-10-096) [National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, United States]

Expressions of Interest for Membership of the Therapeutic Goods Committee [Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australia]

EVENTS

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 101st Annual Meeting 2010
April 17-21, 2010
Washington, DC, United States

Society for Biological Engineering’s (SBE) 2nd International Conference on Stem Cell Engineering
May 2-5, 2010
Boston, United States

World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2010
May 11-13, 2010
London, United Kingdom

16th Annual International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) Meeting
May 23-26, 2010
Philadelphia, United States

Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – European Union 2010
June 13-17, 2010
Galway, Ireland

International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 8th Annual Meeting
June 16-19, 2010
San Francisco, United States

United Kingdom National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN) Third Annual Scientific Conference
July 12-14, 2010
Nottingham, United Kingdom

3rd Annual Stem Cells Europe
August 24-25, 2010
Edinburgh, Scotland

5th World Congress on Preventive & Regenerative Medicine (WCRM) 2010
October 5-7, 2010
Hannover, Germany

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