ESC & iPSC News Volume 5.50 | Dec 22 2010

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    ESC & iPSC News 5.50, December 22, 2010.
    In this issue:  Science News |  Current Publications |  Industry News |  Policy News |  Events
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    TOP STORY

    Soft Substrate Promotes Pluripotent Stem Cell Culture 
    Researchers demonstrated that culturing mouse embryonic stem cells on a soft gel rather than on a hard plate or dish keeps them in their pluripotent state. The soft substrate maintains homogeneous pluripotent colonies over long periods of time. [Press release from the University of Illinois discussing online prepublication in PLoS One]

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    SCIENCE NEWS

    Study Identifies Multitude of Genetic Regions Key to Embryonic Stem Cell Development
    More than 2,000 genetic regions involved in early human development have been identified by researchers. The regions, called enhancers, are responsible for triggering the expression of distant genes when embryonic stem cells begin to divide to form the many tissues of a growing embryo. [Press release from Stanford University School of Medicine discussing online prepublication in Nature]

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    CURRENT PUBLICATIONS  (Ranked by Impact Factor of the Journal)

    A Unique Chromatin Signature Uncovers Early Developmental Enhancers in Humans
    Researchers show that in human embryonic stem cells, unique chromatin signatures identify two distinct classes of genomic elements, both of which are marked by the presence of chromatin regulators p300 and BRG1, monomethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4, and low nucleosomal density. [Nature]
     
    Prmt5 Is Essential for Early Mouse Development and Acts in the Cytoplasm to Maintain Embryonic Stem Cell Pluripotency
    Here researchers show that loss of Prmt5 function is early embryonic-lethal due to the abrogation of pluripotent cells in blastocysts. [Genes Dev]
     
    A High Proliferation Rate Is Required for Cell Reprogramming and Maintenance of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Identity
    Results establish a link that intertwines the mechanisms of cell-cycle control with the mechanisms underlying the acquisition and maintenance of embryonic stem cell identity. [Curr Biol]

    The Maintenance of Pluripotency Following Laser Direct-Write of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells
    A new gelatin-based laser direct-write technique was utilized to deposit mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells into defined arrays of spots, while maintaining stem cell pluripotency. Results showed that ES cells were successfully printed into specific patterns and remained viable. [Biomaterials]

    The Effect of Recombinant E-Cadherin Substratum on the Differentiation of Endoderm-Derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells from Embryonic Stem Cells
    Researchers demonstrated that E-cadherin substratum can guide differentiation of embryonic stem cells into endoderm-derived hepatocyte-like cells. [Biomaterials]

    Soft Substrates Promote Homogeneous Self-Renewal of Embryonic Stem Cells via Downregulating Cell-Matrix Tractions
    Findings demonstrate that mouse embryonic stem cell self-renewal and pluripotency can be maintained homogeneously on soft substrates via the biophysical mechanism of facilitating generation of low cell-matrix tractions. [PLoS One]

    Comparative Analysis of Human Embryonic Stem Cell and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocyte-Like Cells Reveals Current Drawbacks and Possible Strategies for Improved Differentiation
    Researchers aimed at investigating the differences and similarities at the transcriptional level between hepatocyte-like cells derived from both human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. [Stem Cells Dev]
     
    Milestones of Directed Differentiation of Mouse and Human Embryonic Stem Cells Into Telencephalic Neurons Based on Neural Development In Vivo
    Based on a comparison with in vivo telencephalic neurogenesis, researchers propose that the specific combinations of transcription factors expressed during development can serve as milestones for the in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells toward specific telencephalic neurons. [Stem Cells Dev]
     
    SVM Classifier to Predict Genes Important for Self-Renewal and Pluripotency of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells
    Researchers developed a classifier, a supervised machine learning framework for predicting self-renewal and pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cell stemness membership genes using support vector machines (SVM). [BMC Syst Biol]

    The Binding Specificity of the Marker Antibodies Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81 Reveals a Novel Pluripotency Associated Type 1 Lactosamine Epitope
    The present data indicates that the pluripotency marker antibodies Tra-1-60 and Tra-1-81 recognize the minimal epitope Gal(beta)1-3GlcNAc(beta)1-3Gal(beta)1-4GlcNAc, which is present in human embryonic stem cells as a part of a mucin type O-glycan structure. [Glycobiology]

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    INDUSTRY NEWS

    CIRM Governing Board Re-Elects Robert Klein as Chair, Senator Art Torres and Duane Roth as Co-Vice Chairs
    The Governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency created by proposition 71, voted to re-elect current chair Robert Klein. [California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Press Release]

    Massachusetts General Hospital’s Warren Triennial Prize to Honor Pioneers of Cellular Reprogramming
    The 2011 Warren Triennial Prize of Massachusetts General Hospital will be awarded to Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, who discovered a method to convert adult cells into cells with characteristics of embryonic stem cells, and Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, whose extension of Yamanaka’s work includes using those cells to generate animal models of important human diseases. [Massachusetts General Hospital Press Release]

    Plans Approved for Visionary Institute
    Plans to build a world-leading medical research institute at St Pancras in London have been approved by councilors at Camden Town Hall. The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation, designed by the architects HOK with PLP Architecture, will have 1,500 staff including 1,250 scientists. [UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation Press Release]



    POLICY NEWS

    NIH Accepts ACD Recommendations, Approves Four Additional Human Embryonic Stem Cell Lines
    Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH) accepted the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), NIH, and approved four additional lines for listing on the NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry. These four lines include two from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India, and two from Cellartis in Goteborg, Sweden. [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Presidential Commission on Bioethics Calls for Enhanced Federal Oversight in Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology
    The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues released its first report — a wide-ranging review of the emerging field of synthetic biology — issuing 18 recommendations including a call for coordinated federal oversight of scientists working in both large institutions and smaller settings. [The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, United States]
     
    Senate Spending Bill Would Boost NSF, NIH Budgets
    In some good fiscal news for the U.S. science community, a Senate spending panel has crafted a 2011 federal budget that would give several science agencies increases that are close to their requested levels. [Senate, United States]
     
    Funding for Science and Research
    Funding plans for science and research 2011/12 to 2014/15 were published by the Government. [Department for Business Innovation and Skills, United Kingdom]
     
    National Library of Medicine; Notice of Meeting (FR Doc. 2010-31623) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    National Library of Medicine; Notice of Meeting (FR Doc. 2010-31612) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    National Cancer Institute; Amended Notice of Meeting (FR Doc. 2010-31739) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Transfusion-Transmitted Retrovirus and Hepatitis Virus Rates and Risk Factors: Improving the Safety of the U.S. Blood Supply Through Hemovigilance (FR Doc. 2010-31734) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    National Center for Research Resources; Notice of Closed Meetings (FR Doc. 2010-32024) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    National Center for Research Resources; Notice of Meetings (FR Doc. 2010-32020) [National Institutes of Health, United States]
     
    Advisory Committees; Tentative Schedule of Meetings for 2011 [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0001] [Food and Drug Administration, United States]
     
    Good Laboratory Practice for Nonclinical Laboratory Studies [Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0548] [Food and Drug Administration, United States]

    EVENTS

    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

    SMi Stem Cells 2011 – Innovation and 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

    Cell Culture World Congress 2011 – Optimising Cell Culture Development for Biopharmaceutical, Bioprocessing and Manufacture
    February 28-March 2, 2011
    Munich, Germany

    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

    PITTCON Conference & Expo 2011
    March 13-18, 2011
    Atlanta, 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

    World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress 2011
    May 9-11, 2011
    London, United Kingdom

    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

    Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) – Europe 2010 Annual Conference
    June 7-10, 2011
    Granada, Spain

    International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 9th Annual Meeting
    June 15-18, 2011
    Toronto, Canada

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


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