ESC & iPSC News Volume 5.47 | Dec 1 2010

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    ESC & iPSC News 5.46, November 24, 2010.
    In this issue:  Science News |  Current Publications |  Industry News |  Policy News |  Events
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    TOP STORY

    Molecular Coupling of Tsix Regulation and Pluripotency 
    Researchers show that Tsix upregulation in embryonic stem cells depends on the recruitment of the pluripotent marker Rex1, and of the reprogramming-associated factors Klf4 and c-Myc, by the DXPas34 minisatellite associated with the Tsix promoter. [Nature]

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    SCIENCE NEWS

    Bioengineers Provide Adult Stem Cells with Friendly Environment: Simultaneous Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical Cues
    Bioengineers have achieved the “Triple Crown” of stem cell culture — they created an artificial environment for stem cells that simultaneously provides the chemical, mechanical and electrical cues necessary for stem cell growth and differentiation. [Press release from the University of California, San Diego discussing online prepublication in Advanced Functional Materials]
     
    Reprogrammed Amniotic Fluid Cells Can Generate All Types of Body Cells
    Scientists have now managed to convert amniotic fluid cells into pluripotent stem cells. [Press release from the Max Planck Society discussing online prepublication in PLoS One]
     
    Organs Made from Scratch
    Growing living tissue and organs in the lab would be a life-saving trick. Researchers have taken a step toward this goal by coming up with a way to make “building blocks” containing different kinds of tissue that can be put together. [MIT Technology Review]

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    CURRENT PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)

    Enrichment of Human ESC-Derived Multipotent Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Immunosuppressive and Anti-Inflammatory Properties Capable to Protect Against Experimental Inflammatory Bowel Disease
    Researchers report an efficient enrichment of mesenchymal stem cells from human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) through specific inhibition of SMAD-2/3 signaling. [Stem Cells]

    Osteoblasts Derived from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Form Calcified Structures in Scaffolds Both In Vitro and In Vitro
    Researchers performed directed differentiation to assess the ability of murine induced pluripotent stem cells to differentiate into bone, cartilage and fat in vitro and to maintain an osteoblast phenotype on a scaffold in vitro and in vivo. [Stem Cells]
     
    The Apical Polarity Determinant Crumbs 2 Is a Novel Regulator of Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Neural Progenitors
    This is the first demonstration that a member of the Crumbs family is essential for survival and differentiation of embryonic stem cell derived neural progenitors. [Stem Cells]
     
    Tracking Stem Cell Differentiation in the Setting of Automated Optogenetic Stimulation
    Researchers introduced a microbial opsin into embryonic stem cells and develop optogenetic technology for stem cell engineering applications, with an automated system for noninvasive modulation of embryonic stem cell differentiation employing fast optogenetic control of ion flux. [Stem Cells]
     
    Dynamic Electromechanical Hydrogel Matrices for Stem Cell Culture
    Researchers report the development of hydrogel based multifunctional matrices that not only provide three dimensional structural support to the embedded cells but also can simultaneously provide potentially beneficial dynamic mechanical and electrical cues to the cells. [Adv Funct Mater]
     
    Epigenomic Reorganization of the Clustered Hox Genes in Embryonic Stem Cells Induced by Retinoic Acid
    Using mutant embryonic stem cell lines deficient in the retinoic acid (RA) receptor gamma or Hoxa1 3’RA-responsive element, researchers studied the kinetics of transcriptional and epigenomic patterning responses to RA. [J Biol Chem]
     
    Injection of Wild Type Embryonic Stem Cells into Mst1 Transgenic Blastocysts Prevents Adult-Onset Cardiomyopathy
    The experiments suggest that an adult-onset cardiac myopathy induced by overexpression of the pro-apoptotic mammalian sterile 20 like-kinase 1 (Mst1) can be reversed by developmental incorporation of wild type embryonic stem cells. [Stem Cell Rev]
     
    The LARGE Principle of Cellular Reprogramming: Lost, Acquired and Retained Gene Expression in Foreskin and Amniotic Fluid-Derived Human iPS Cells
    Researchers report the generation and characterization of human amniotic fluid-derived induced pluripotent stem cells and demonstrate their ability to differentiate into the trophoblast lineage after stimulation with BMP2/BMP4. [PLoS One]
     
    Differential Hox Expression in Murine Embryonic Stem Cell Models of Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis
    Results provide direct evidence that transcriptional flux through the Hox network occurs at very early stages during hematopoietic differentiation and validates embryonic stem cell models for gaining insights into the genetic regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis. [Stem Cells Dev]
     
    Polarized Secretion of Pigment Epithelial Derived Factor from Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived RPE Promotes Retinal Progenitor Cell Survival
    Researchers sought to determine the effect of polarization of human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE monolayers on their ability to promote survival of retinal progenitor cells. [Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci]

    INDUSTRY NEWS

    Advanced Cell Technology Receives FDA Clearance for the First Clinical Trial Using Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Macular Degeneration
    Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Company’s Investigational New Drug application to immediately initiate a Phase I/II multicenter clinical trial using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy. [Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. Press Release]

    A New Collaboration with Tokyo Women´s Medical University
    Karolinska Institutet and the Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science, Tokyo Women´s Medical University have agreed to collaborate on education and biomedical research. [Karolinska Institutet Press Release]
     
    Pfizer Launches Global Centers for Therapeutic Innovation, a Network of Research Partnerships, with University of California, San Francisco
    Pfizer Inc. announced the establishment of the Global Centers for Therapeutic Innovation, an entrepreneurial network of partnerships with leading academic medical centers to transform research and development by accessing leading translational researchers. [Pfizer Inc. Press Release]
     
    Cardio3 BioSciences Announces Positive Outcome of the C-Cure® Phase II Clinical Trial in Heart Failure Patients
    The Belgian biotechnology company, Cardio3 BioSciences announced positive six-month results, including significant functional and clinical benefit, from the Phase II clinical trial of its development program C-Cure®, designed as a novel stem cell therapy for heart failure based on breakthrough technology. [Cardio3 BioSciences Press Release]

    Roche Announces Implementation Plans for Its Operational Excellence Program
    Following a comprehensive portfolio review, Roche will discontinue certain activities in research and early development. These include RNA interference research in Kulmbach, Germany, and in Nutley, New Jersey, and Madison, Wisconsin, in the U.S. [Roche Press Release]

    POLICY NEWS

    Sherley’s Institute Asks to Support Government in Stem Cell Suit
    In an ironic twist, the institute that employs James Sherley, one of two scientists who sued to block federally funded stem cell research, is weighing in on the other side. The Boston Biomedical Research Institute asked to support the government’s appeal of a 23 August preliminary injunction that temporarily shut down National Institutes of Health-funded research on human embryonic stem cells. [Court of Appeals, United States]
     
    Committee for Advanced Therapies Adopts Five-Year Work Program to Foster Development of Advanced Therapies
    The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Advanced Therapies has unveiled a Work Program to 2015, intended to help increase the number of advanced-therapy medicinal products that make it from the early research stage to the market. [European Medicines Agency, European Union]

    European Research Body to Get New Head
    The European Research Council (ERC) is about to get a new leader, although not in the form most people expected. Helga Nowotny, chair of the ERC’s Scientific Council, a new secretary-general has been chosen to replace Andreu Mas-Colell, who stepped down for personal reasons in September. [European Research Council, European Union]
     
    Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; HIT; Standards Committee’s Workgroup Meetings; Notice of Meetings (FR Doc. 2010-29221) [Department of Health and Human Services, United States]
     
    AHRQ’s Career Development and Postdoctoral Training Awards for Comparative Effectiveness Research [Pub. No. 10(11)-P010-E] [Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, United States]

    National Center for Research Resources; Notice of Closed Meeting (FR Doc. 2010-29197) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Center for Scientific Review; Notice of Closed Meetings (FR Doc. 2010-29198) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Center for Scientific Review; Notice of Closed Meetings (FR Doc. 2010-28985) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; NIH NCI Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB) Initiative (NCI) (FR Doc. 2010-28883) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Public Workshop on Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials in Pediatric Populations — Presentations Added [Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States]
     
    Meeting Highlights from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), 15-18 November 2010 [European Medicines Agency, European Union]

    EVENTS

    Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – North America (TERMIS-NA) 2010 Annual Conference
    December 5-8, 2010
    Orlando, United States

    5th Annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa
    December 7, 2010
    La Jolla, United States

    Pharmacology in Stem Cells Research and Regenerative Medicine
    December 17, 2010
    London, United Kingdom

    The 3rd Guangzhou International Conference on Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine
    December 17-19, 2010
    Guangzhou, China

    Biotech Showcase 2011
    January 10-12, 2011
    San Francisco, United States

    5th Annual Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine World Congress
    January 24-25, 2011
    San Diego, United States

    Keystone Symposia: Stem Cells in Development, Tissue Homeostasis and Disease
    January 30-February 4, 2011
    Santa Fe, United States

    Stem Cell Research Forum of India 2nd Annual Meeting
    February 8-11, 2011
    Bangalore, India

    NEW SMi Stem Cells 2011 – Innovation & Commercialisation
    February 23-24, 2011
    London, United Kingdom

    Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference: Stem Cells – Revolutionizing Regenerative Medicine and Personalized Therapy 2011
    February 23-25, 2011
    San Francisco, United States

    6th Annual Stem Cell Summit
    March 1, 2011
    New York, United States

    American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Stem Cells, Development, and Cancer
    March 3-6, 2011
    Vancouver, Canada

    Keystone Symposia: Stem Cells, Cancer and Metastasis
    March 6-11, 2011
    Dillon, United States

    15th Annual Hilton Head Workshop – Regenerative Medicine, Innovations for Clinical Applications
    March 16-19, 2011
    Hilton Head Island, United States

    StemCONN 11
    March 22, 2011
    Farmington, United States

    United Kingdom National Stem Cell Network 2011 Annual Scientific Conference
    March 30-April 1, 2011
    York, United Kingdom

    Clinical Gene Transfer: State of the Art Conference and e-Chips European Congress on Human iPS Cells
    April 7-9, 2011
    Paris, France

    American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 14th Annual Meeting
    May 18-22, 2011
    Seattle, United States

    13th Annual C21 BioVentures
    May 24-26, 2011
    Napa, United States

    Visit our events page to stay up to date with the latest events in the cell, gene and immunotherapy community.


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