ESC & iPSC News Volume 5.07 | Feb 23 2010

TOP STORY

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Patients with a Premature Aging Disorder Bring Surprises
In a study that ties stem cell research together with research on aging and cancer, investigators have used genetic reprogramming to create cells from patients with a rare premature-aging disorder that are able to rebuild their telomeres. [Press release from the Children’s Hospital Boston discussing the online prepublication in Nature]

SPECIAL FEATURE

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

SCIENCE NEWS

Unpacking Condensins’ Function in Embryonic Stem Cells
Regulatory proteins common to all eukaryotic cells can have additional, unique functions in embryonic stem cells, according to a study. [Press release from ScienceDaily discussing the online prepublication in the Journal of Cell Biology]

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

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

Telomere Elongation in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells from Dyskeratosis Congenita Patients
Researchers show that reprogrammed dyskeratosis congenita cells overcome a critical limitation in telomerase RNA component levels to restore telomere maintenance and self-renewal. [Nature]

Proviral Silencing in Embryonic Stem Cells Requires the Histone Methyltransferase ESET
Researchers show that the histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation methyltransferase ESET (also called SETDB1 or KMT1E) and the Krüppel-associated box-associated protein 1 (also called TRIM28) are required for H3K9me3 and silencing of endogenous and introduced retroviruses specifically in mouse embryonic stem cells. [Nature]

Hematopoietic Stem Cells Derive Directly from Aortic Endothelium During Development
Using combinations of fluorescent reporter transgenes, confocal time-lapse microscopy and flow cytometry, researchers have identified and isolated the stepwise intermediates as aortic hemogenic endothelium transitions to nascent hematopoietic stem cells. [Nature]

In Vivo Imaging of Cells Emerging from the Mouse Aortic Endothelium
Investigators show the dynamic de novo emergence of phenotypically defined stem cells (Sca1⁺, c-kit⁺, CD41⁺) directly from ventral aortic hemogenic endothelial cells. [Nature]

Condensin Complexes Regulate Mitotic Progression and Interphase Chromatin Structure in Embryonic Stem Cells
In this study, researchers show that for Smc2 and -4, as well as an additional 49 of 62 previously identified genes required for embryonic stem cell viability, knockdown in somatic cells had minimal effects on proliferation or viability. [J Cell Biol]

No Evidence for Clonal Selection due to Lentiviral Integration Sites in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
This study supports recent reports that efficient reprogramming of human somatic cells is not dependent on insertional activation or deactivation of specific genes or gene classes. [Stem Cells]

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generate Both Retinal Ganglion Cells and Photoreceptors: Therapeutic Implications in Degenerative Changes in Glaucoma and Age-Related Macular Degeneration
The depth of retinal potential of induced pluripotent cells suggests that they may be used to formulate stem cell approaches to understand and treat a wide range of retinal degenerative diseases from glaucoma to age-related macular degeneration. [Stem Cells]

Retinoic Acid Orchestrates Fibroblast Growth Factor Signaling to Drive Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
In the embryo, retinoid repression of fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) signaling promotes neural differentiation onset in an analogous step in the extending embryonic body axis and so identify attenuation of Fgf signaling by retinoic acid as a conserved fundamental mechanism driving differentiation towards somatic cell fates. [Development]

Extracellular Matrix-Mediated Osteogenic Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells
Results demonstrate that decellularised bone-specific extracellular matrix promotes the osteogenic differentiation of embryonic stem cells. [Biomaterials]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Thermo Fisher Said to Offer $6 Billion for Millipore
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. made an unsolicited takeover offer of about $6 billion for Millipore Corp., according to a person close to the situation. [Bloomberg Business Week]

University of Minnesota Awarded $8.6 Million Contract to Manufacture Stem Cell Therapies
The University of Minnesota has been awarded an $8.6 million contract to speed the development of novel stem cell and immune cell-based therapies from the laboratory to clinical trials. [University of Minnesota Press Release]

Sanofi-Aventis Enters French Research Partnership
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis said recently that it has formed a research partnership with France’s National Alliance for Life Sciences and Healthcare to boost research in areas such as aging, infectious diseases and regenerative medicine. [Forbes]

Stem Cell Firm Cellular Dynamics Raises $40.6 Million
Madison-based Cellular Dynamics Inc. has raised $40.6 million, according to a filing the company made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. [Journal Sentinel]

POLICY NEWS

Indian Council of Medical Research to Set Up Apex Committee to Regulate Stem Cell Research
The Indian Council of Medical Research said recently it would soon set up a body to regulate the scientific community on the crucial health research of stem cell therapy. [Indian Council of Medical Research, India]

Study Finds Stem Cell Research in the State of Maryland Supports More than 500 Local Jobs and Facilitates $71.3 Million in Business Sales Annually
A recent third party economic development impact study conducted by Sage Policy Group, Inc., entitled “Economic Benefits of Maryland’s Stem Cell Program already Apparent,” found that Maryland’s Stem Cell Research Fund supports 514 local jobs, with an average salary of $64,000, and facilitates $71.3 million in business sales in the state. [Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, United States]

National Institutes of Health Stem Cell Guidelines Should Be Modified, University of California, San Francisco Team Reports
A University of California, San Francisco team, led by bioethicist Bernard Lo, MD, recommends that the National Institutes of Health ethics guidelines for embryonic stem cell research be modified to better protect the rights of individuals donating egg or sperm to patients undergoing in vitro fertilization. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

United States “Tweaks” Stem Cell Policy
The U.S. government broadened the definition of a human embryonic stem cell on Friday, helping qualify several corporate and academic experiments for federal funding. [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Health and Human Services Announces New Partnership Between the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration [Health and Human Services, United States]

2010 Meeting Materials, Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee – Draft Agenda, Member Roster [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

Status of Certain Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines (NOT-OD-10-063) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Review Considerations for Applications and Awards under the New National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research (NOT-OD-10-056) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

UPDATE TO RFA-OD-10-009: OS Recovery Act Limited Competition: Methodology Development in Comparative Effectiveness Research (RC4) Announcement of Non-Applicability of Requirement to Attend Meetings (NOT-OD-10-062) [National Institutes of Health, United States]

Delays in Grant Application Submission to AHRQ due to Recent Winter Storm (NOT-HS-10-013) [National Institutes of Health, 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 MD/PhD and Other Dual Doctoral Degree Fellows (Parent F30) (PA-10-107) [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]

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]

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Will Provide Limited Supplemental Support to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Medical Scientist Training Program in FY 2010 (NOT-HL-11-103) [National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 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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