ESC & iPSC News Volume 8.07 | Feb 20 2013

A Genomic Toolkit to Investigate Kinesin and Myosin Motor Function in Cells
Researchers generated a library of 243 amino- and carboxy-terminally tagged mouse and human bacterial artificial chromosome transgenes to establish 227 stably transfected HeLa cell lines, 15 mouse embryonic stem cell lines and 1 transgenic mouse line. [Nat Cell Biol] Abstract

Naive Pluripotency Is Associated with Global DNA Hypomethylation
The authors investigated whether differences exist between embryonic stem cells and embryonic germ cells, in view of their distinct developmental origins. [Nat Struct Mol Biol] Abstract

Critical Regulation of miR-200/ZEB2 Pathway in Oct4/Sox2-Induced Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Generation
Fibroblasts can be reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells by application of transcription factors octamer-binding protein 4 (Oct4), SRY-box containing gene 2 (Sox2), Kruppel-like factor 4, and c-Myelocytomatosis oncogene (OSKM), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Researchers report that exogenous Oct4 and Sox2 can bind at the promoter regions of microRNA (mir)-141/200c and mir-200a/b/429 cluster, respectively, and induce the transcription activation of miR-200 family during the OSKM-induced reprogramming. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

Oct4 and Canonical Wnt Signaling Regulate the Cardiac Lineage Factor Mesp1 through a Tcf/Lef-Oct4 Composite Element
Scientists identified a Tcf/Lef-Oct4 composite site in the promoter of the cardiac mesoderm gene Mesp1, with a nucleotide sequence identical to the previously established Sox2-Oct4 composite site. This Tcf/Lef-Oct4 composite site mediated synergistic activation of the Mesp1 promoter by Oct4 and canonical Wnt signaling. In ZHBTc4 murine embryonic stem cells, the loss of Oct4 during differentiation impaired Mesp1 expression and the development of the cardiac program. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Connexin 43 Is Involved in the Generation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
The connexin expression profiles in human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and the role of connexins in the process of reprogramming back to iPS cells remains unknown. Investigators determined the expression levels of most forms of connexin in human embryonic fibroblasts (hEFs) and in the hEF-derived iPS cells. [Hum Mol Genet] Abstract

Structural Complexity of Non-Acid Glycosphingolipids in Human Embryonic Stem Cells Grown Under Feeder-Free Conditions
To bring human embryonic stem cells into clinical applications, their cell surface antigen expression and its chemical structural complexity have to be defined. In the present study total non-acid glycosphingolipid fractions were isolated from two human embryonic stem cell lines (SA121 and SA181) originating from left over in vitro fertilized human embryos, using large amounts of starting material (1×10⁹ cells per cell line). [J Biol Chem] Abstract | Full Article

Generation of Functional Platelets from Canine Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
The authors report the generation of canine induced pluripotent stem cells (ciPSCs) from canine embryonic fibroblasts, and a novel protocol for creating mature megakaryocytes and functional platelets from ciPSCs. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract

Novel Pancreatic Endocrine Maturation Pathways Identified by Genomic Profiling and Causal Reasoning
Researchers showed that the embryonic stem cell differentiation protocol is highly reproducible in producing endocrine precursor cells and generates cells that recapitulate many aspects of human embryonic pancreas development, including maturation into functional endocrine cells when transplanted into recipient animals. [PLoS One] Full Article

Exploring Biological Processes Involved in Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation by Analyzing Proteomics Data
The authors used time-course proteomic data of a twenty day differentiation study of embryonic stem cells differentiating to embryoid bodies. Hierarchical clustering was used to cluster time-series concentration profile of proteins. Results demonstrated that there are eleven active processes with distinct concentration profiles in this initial differentiation. [Biochim Biophys Acta] Abstract

Neural Progenitors Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Survive and Differentiate Upon Transplantation into a Rat Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Investigators analyzed the fate of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors transplanted into the spinal cord of wild-type and transgenic rats carrying a human mutated SOD1(G93A) gene. The aim was to follow survival and differentiation of human neural progenitors until day 60 post-transplantation in two different in vivo environments, one being amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like. iPSC-derived neural progenitors efficiently engrafted in the adult spinal cord and survived at high numbers. [Stem Cells Transl Med] Abstract | Press Release

Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Understanding, Creating, and Exploiting the Nano-Niche for Regenerative Medicine
Researchers discuss recent advances in embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell manipulation using nanomaterials and highlight future challenges within this area of research. [ACS Nano] Full Article

The Cellular Memory Disc of Reprogrammed Cells
The author synthesizes past and present observations in the field of cellular reprogramming to propose a theoretical picture of the cellular memory disc. The current hypothesis is that all cells undergo an endogenous and exogenous holographic memorization such that parts of the cellular memory dramatically decrease the efficiency of reprogramming cells, act like a barrier against reprogramming in the majority of cells, and activate immune responses. [Stem Cell Rev] Abstract

JDRF and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Increase Funding of ViaCyte
JDRF and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) announced that they are providing additional funding for the development of a novel stem cell therapy by San Diego-based ViaCyte, Inc.; JDRF and CIRM will each contribute $3 million to further advance the project. ViaCyte’s innovative product is designed to deliver to patients immature pancreatic progenitor cells developed from a human embryonic stem cell line. [JDRF] Press Release

Embryo-Like Stem Cells Enter First Human Trial
Masayo Takahashi of the Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe just cleared the second and, observers say, most difficult hurdle in starting her induced pluripotent stem cell trial to treat age-related macular degeneration. An institutional review board (IRB) at the Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation, which is going to sponsor the trial, gave conditional approval. The team needs now only to notify the IRB of the final results of some preclinical safety trials now underway. [Nature Publishing Group] Press Release

New Stem Cell Company Opens Lab at UConn Health Center
A new stem cell company, ImStem Biotechnology Inc., is the latest research venture to join the University of Connecticut’s (UConn) Technology Incubation Program. ImStem will utilize and commercialize the technologies developed by Dr. Ren He Xu, director of the UConn Stem Cell Core, and his post-doc Dr. Xiaofang Wang. Xu is one of the few scientists in the world who has generated new human embryonic stem cell lines. The goal of ImStem is to explore new approaches to utilizing these human embryonic stem cell lines for future clinical applications. [University of Connecticut] Press Release

NIH Urged to Consider Making All Applications New
With researchers facing ever-stiffer competition for scarce research dollars, advisers to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are urging the agency to dust off an old idea for improving its peer review process. Instead of allowing researchers one more shot if a proposal is rejected, NIH would give them unlimited chances to resubmit, but consider all applications to be new. [National Institutes of Health, United States] Press Release

Universities See Progress in New Rules for Managing U.S. Research
U.S. university administrators are poring over hundreds of pages of proposed changes to the rules governing how the federal government manages the money it spends on academic research. [White House Office of Management and Budget, United States] Press Release

Europe Scales Back Research Plans
The ambitious vision for Europe’s next research program dimmed when heads of the 27 member states of the European Union agreed to slash the overall budget for 2014-20, at the end of a long and acrimonious meeting. The deal scales back the budget proposed by the European Commission for its Horizon 2020 research program by about 13%, to €69.24 billion, and means that the first year of the new program will have a smaller budget than the last year of the previous one. [European Commission, European Union]
Press Release

NEW 3^rd Stem Cells for Drug Developers
March 19-21, 2013
Boston, United States

NEW International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR): 11th Annual Meeting
June 12-15, 2013
Boston, United States

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

Postdoctoral Position – Cardiovascular Regenerative Therapies (University of California, Los Angeles)

Senior Postdoctoral Position (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Biology)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell Biology (Stony Brook University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – iPS Cells in CNS Diseases (AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG)

Research Associate (Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Stem Cell (Yale University, School of Medicine)

Postdoctoral Position (University of Rochester Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell Research (University of Washington)


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