Mesenchymal Cell News Volume 10.29 | Jul 24 2018

TOP STORY

Circulating Apoptotic Bodies Maintain Mesenchymal Stem Cell Homeostasis and Ameliorate Osteopenia via Transferring Multiple Cellular Factors

Investigators used Fas-deficient MRL/lpr and Caspase 3^−/− mice to show that reduction of apoptotic body formation significantly impaired the self-renewal and osteo-/adipo-genic differentiation of bone marrow MSCs. Moreover, they used a parabiosis mouse model to reveal that apoptotic bodies participated in the circulation to regulate distant MSCs. [Cell Res] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

IN VITRO

Photocontrolled Multidirectional Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells on an Upconversion Substrate

A photocontrolled upconversion-based substrate was designed and constructed for guiding multidirectional differentiation of MSCs. MSCs cultured on the upconversion substrate could be specifically induced to differentiate to adipocytes or osteoblasts by adjusting the near-infrared laser. [Angew Chem Int Ed Engl] Abstract

BMSCs and miR-124a Ameliorated Diabetic Nephropathy via Inhibiting Notch Signaling Pathway

Researchers found that bone marrow MSCs (BMSCs) were induced into islet-like cells and that miR-124a could promote the BMSCs to differentiate into islet-like cells. BMSCs in combination with miR-124a regulated islet cell-specific transcription factors, apoptosis-related genes, podocytes-related genes, as well as the activity of Notch signaling pathway. [J Cell Mol Med] Full Article

Lung Resident Mesenchymal Cells Isolated From Patients With the Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome Display a Deregulated Epigenetic Profile

Investigators focused on MSCs, recently recognized as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome key effectors, and their primary aim was to identify their epigenetic determinants, such as histone modifications and non-coding RNA regulation, which could contribute to their differentiation in myofibroblasts. They identified a deregulated expression of histone deacetylases and methyltransferases, and a microRNA-epigenetic regulatory network. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Regulatory Protein SnoN Antagonizes Activin/Smad2 Signaling and Thereby Promotes Adipocyte Differentiation and Obesity in Mice

Mice lacking SnoN or expressing a mutant ski-related oncogene SnoN (SnoN) defective in binding to the Smads were protected from high fat diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance, and MSCs lacking a functional SnoN exhibited defective differentiation. SnoN repressed activin/Smad2 signaling and activin A expression, enabling expression of adipocyte-specific transcription factors and promoting adipogenic differentiation. [J Biol Chem] Full Article

Effect of Platelet-Rich Plasma on Chondrogenic Differentiation of Adipose- and Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Scientists examined the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment on chondrogenic differentiation of adult human MSCs derived from infrapatellar fat pad-adipose stem cells and bone marrow. Chondrogenesis was inhibited with increasing PRP concentrations and duration of exposure, on the basis of histological, biochemical, and gene expression analyses. [Tissue Eng Part A] Abstract

Energy Metabolic Capacities of Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells In Vitro and their Adaptations in Osteogenic and Adipogenic Differentiation

Investigators showed that non-differentiating and osteogenic cultivation conditions induced proliferation and showed increasing capacities of the glycolytic marker enzyme phosphofructokinase as well as the marker enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Adipogenic stimulation, which was accompanied by the absence of proliferation, reduced the glycolytic capacity and induced an increase in mitochondrial enzyme capacities. [Exp Cell Res] Abstract

Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 4 Inhibits Proliferation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Enhances Growth of Neurospheres Derived from the Stem Cells

Addition of insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4 (IGFBP-4) inhibited bone marrow MSC (BMSC) proliferation and immunodepletion of IGFBP-4 increased the proliferation. IGFBP-4 promoted the growth of neurospheres derived from BMSCs, as manifested by the increases in the number and the size of the derived neurospheres. [Cell Biochem Funct] Abstract

IN VIVO

MSX2 Initiates and Accelerates Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell Specification of hPSCs by Regulating TWIST1 and PRAME

Genetic deletion of muscle segment homeobox 2 (MSX2) impaired human pluripotent stem cell differentiation into MSCs. When aided with a cocktail of soluble molecules, MSX2 ectopic expression induced hPSCs to form nearly homogeneous and fully functional MSCs. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

The Effect of Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Sheets and CTGF on Early Flexor Tendon Healing in a Canine Model

Scientists used a combined treatment approach to modulate inflammation with adipose-derived MSCs while stimulating tendon regeneration with connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). The combined treatment was more effective than CTGF treatment alone, reducing the inflammatory IFNG and scar-associated COL3A1 gene expression and increasing CD146⁺ tendon stem/progenitor cells at the tendon surface and interior along the core suture tracks. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A New Tool for the Treatment of Renal Fibrosis

The authors discuss the mechanisms involved in the treatment of renal fibrosis with adipose-derived MSCs (AMSCs) and summarize the potential hazards that may exist in cell therapy. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract

The Impact of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and their Secretome as a Treatment for Gliomas

Investigators look with some detail into different studies using MSCs as a treatment for brain tumors and compare them, highlighting the main deviations and similarities among them. [Biochimie] Abstract

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Joint Research Agreement for SB623 Targeting Dementia

SanBio Company Limited announced it has concluded an agreement with Keio University School of Medicine on joint research for SB623 targeting dementia. SB623 consists of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult bone marrow that undergo a genetic modification. [SanBio Co,Ltd.] Press Release

UC San Diego Researchers Receive Funding to Pursue Novel Stem Cell-based Treatments

The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine unanimously approved two grants worth more than $2.2 million to University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers investigating stem cell-based therapies for a rare genetic disorder that affects the heart and a chronic, progressive affliction of the lungs. [UC San Diego Health] Press Release

$50 Million To Provide Life-Saving Support To Cancer Patients

The Turnbull Government will provide $50 million to support some of Australia’s sickest patients, battling the most aggressive and deadliest cancers, to access potentially life-saving medical treatment. The new national program – The Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Program – will treat more than 5,000 patients nationally, from every state and territory. [Greg Hunt MP] Press Release

NIH Delays Controversial Clinical Trials Policy for Some Studies

Basic brain and behavioral researchers will get more than a year to comply with a new U.S. policy that will treat many of their studies as clinical trials. The announcement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) appears to defuse, for now, a yearlong controversy over whether basic research on humans should follow the same rules as studies testing drugs. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

University of Edinburgh Demands Retraction of Researcher’s Papers

The University of Edinburgh has asked for the retraction of five papers by cell biologist and former faculty member Irina Stancheva following an internal investigation into scientific misconduct allegations, according to Times Higher Education. [The Scientist] Editorial

NEW EASL Basic School of Hepatology: Liver Cell Isolation and Characterization
January 16-18, 2019
Düsseldorf, Germany

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NEW Associate Professors/Assistant Professors – Biomedical Sciences (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

NEW Associate Professorships – Systems Biology, Regenerative Medicine and Cancer Biology (University of Pavia)

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Biology (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis)

PhD Student Positions – Regenerative Medicine (University Medical Center Utrecht)

Postdoctoral Position – Regenerative Biology (Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health)

Senior Lecturer – Stromal Immunology (University of Aberdeen)

Postdoctoral Research Fellows – Tissue Morphogenesis (Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Biomedicine)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – DNA Damage Repair and Pediatric Sarcoma Therapy (UT Health Science Center at San Antonio)

Faculty Position – Cellular Physiology and Engineering (Mayo Clinic)

Research Fellow – Stem Cell Biology and Engineering (New York Blood Center)

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