Mesenchymal Cell News Volume 11.29 | Jul 30 2019

TOP STORY

Phase III DREAM-HF Trial of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells in Chronic Heart Failure

The Double-Blind Randomized Assessment of Clinical Events With Allogeneic Mesenchymal Precursor Cells in Advanced Heart Failure (DREAM-HF) trial is an ongoing, randomized, sham-controlled Phase III study of the efficacy and safety of mesenchymal precursor cells as immunotherapy in patients with advanced chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. [Circ Res] Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

IN VITRO

Stabilizing Heterochromatin by DGCR8 Alleviates Senescence and Osteoarthritis

An N-terminal-truncated version of DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8 (DGCR8) accelerated senescence in human MSCs independent of its microRNA-processing activity. Further studies revealed that DGCR8 maintained heterochromatin organization by interacting with the nuclear envelope protein Lamin B1, and heterochromatin-associated proteins, KAP1 and HP1γ. [Nat Commun] Full Article

A Systems-Level Characterization of the Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells into Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Researchers combined transcriptome, proteome and phosphoproteome profiling to perform an in-depth, multi-omics study of the human embryonic stems cells-to-MSCs differentiation process. Based on RNA-to-protein correlation, they determined a set of high confidence genes that are important to differentiation. [Mol Cell Proteomics] Abstract

miR-140-5p Regulates the Odontoblastic Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells via the Wnt1/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) from normal human impacted third molars were isolated and cultured. After overexpression or silencing of miR-140-5p in DPSCs, activity, proliferation, and odontoblastic differentiation of DPSCs were evaluated. The possible target gene of miR-140-5p was verified by luciferase reporter gene assay. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

The Role of Nonmuscle Myosin 2A and 2B in the Regulation of Mesenchymal Cell Contact Guidance

Loss of nonmuscle myosin 2 (NM2) and overexpression of NM2A resulted in a prominent cell polarization that was found to be linked to the increased alignment of microtubules with the actomyosin scaffold. Suppression of actomyosin with blebbistatin reduced cell polarity on a flat surface, but not on a surface with contact guidance cues. [Mol Biol Cell] Abstract

3D-Imaging of Whole Neuronal and Vascular Networks of the Human Dental Pulp via CLARITY and Light Sheet Microscopy

Investigators used Clear Lipid-exchanged Acrylamide Tissue hYdrogel (CLARITY) to study the whole human dental pulp with emphasis on the neurovascular components. Dental pulp from sound teeth were CLARITY-cleared, immunostained for PGP9.5 and CD31, as markers for peripheral neurons and blood vessels, respectively, and imaged with light sheet microscopy. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Infrapatellar Fat Pad-Derived MSC Response to Inflammation and Fibrosis Induces an Immunomodulatory Phenotype Involving CD10-Mediated Substance P Degradation

The authors interrogated human infrapatellar fat pad-derived MSC (IFP-MSC) reaction to inflammatory and pro-fibrotic environments, compared with bone marrow-derived (BM) MSCs. Naïve IFP-MSCs exhibited increased clonogenicity and chondrogenic potential compared with BM-MSC. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Homing towards Cancer Cells Is Increased by Enzyme Activity of Cathepsin D

Scientists demonstrated that the aspartic acid protease cathepsin D was part of the chemoattraction process. Using a Boyden chamber co-culture system, the migration of the MSCs and their invasion through Matrigel increased in the presence of breast cancer MDA-MB-231-cells, colon cancer HT29-cells or their conditioned media. [Exp Cell Res] Abstract

AML-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Upregulate CTGF Expression through the BMP Pathway and Induce K562-ADM Fusiform Transformation and Chemoresistance

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)-MSCs were co-cultured with K562/K562-ADM cells, and the interactions between the cells were verified by morphological detection, peroxidase staining, reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The proliferation of K562/K562‑ADM cells under co-culture conditions was detected by flow cytometry. [Oncol Rep] Abstract

Centrifugation Conditions in the L-PRP Preparation Affect Soluble Factors Release and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Proliferation in Fibrin Nanofibers

Human adipose-derived MSCs (h-AdMSCs) were seeded in the nanofibers, and their viability and growth were evaluated. Leukocyte and platelet-rich plasma (L-PRPs) prepared at 100× g and 100 + 400× g released higher levels of transforming growth factor-β1 and platelet-derived growth factor-BB due to the increased platelet concentration, while inflammatory cytokines interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α were more significantly released from leukocyte and platelet-rich plasma prepared via two centrifugation steps due to the increased concentration of leukocytes. [Molecules] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Download Full Article

IN VIVO

Exosomes Derived from Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reverse EMT via TGF-β1/Smad Pathway and Promote Repair of Damaged Endometrium

Scientists studied the effect of bone marrow MSC-derived exosomes on repairing endometrium of intrauterine adhesion animal models and its effect on TGF-β1 induced EMT in endometrial epithelial cells. [Stem Cell Res Ther] Full Article

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Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Perianal Crohn’s Disease

The administration of MSCs have shown notable promising results in the treatment of perianal fistulizing Crohn’s disease (PFCD). The authors describe the rationale and the possible mechanism of action of MSC application for PFCD and the most recent results of randomized clinical trials. [Cells] Full Article

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the mesenchymal cell research field.

OUHSC Receives $18.7M Grant for Biomedical Research, Workforce Development

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) has received an $18.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand biomedical research for some of the most complex diseases and to develop the workforce to take that research into the future. [The University of Oklahoma (EurekAlert)] Press Release

Adaptimmune Starts SPEARHEAD-1 Trial with ADP-A2M4 SPEAR T-Cells for Patients with Synovial Sarcoma or MRCLS

Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc has started its SPEARHEAD-1 trial with ADP-A2M4 SPEAR T-cells for patients with synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma. Earlier this year, Adaptimmune presented compelling data with responses observed in synovial sarcoma patients treated in the ADP-A2M4 pilot study. [Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc] Press Release

Trump Administration Releases Details on Fetal Tissue Restrictions

The National Institutes of Health detailed how President Donald Trump’s administration will implement restrictions it announced in June on the use of human fetal tissue in research. The policy doesn’t kick in immediately, meaning grant applications already in the pipeline at NIH won’t be affected. But starting in late September, scientists applying for grants will need to explain in detail why they need to use fetal tissue and how it will be obtained. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Japan Approves First Human-Animal Embryo Experiments

A Japanese stem-cell scientist is the first to receive government support to create animal embryos that contain human cells and transplant them into surrogate animals since a ban on the practice was overturned earlier this year. Hiromitsu Nakauchi, who leads teams at the University of Tokyo and Stanford University in California, plans to grow human cells in mouse and rat embryos and then transplant those embryos into surrogate animals. [Nature News] Editorial

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Hardline Brexit Stance Stokes Fears for Scientists

In his inaugural speech last week, Johnson cited the “extraordinary” UK bioscience sector and pledged to ditch European rules that he says have hampered the development of genetically modified crops. He said the nation should develop its own multibillion-dollar GPS satellite system, presumably a response to the EU plan to eliminate the ability of the U.K. government to tap into a secure signal from the European Galileo GPS system. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW European Cancer (ECCO) Summit 2019
September 12-14, 2019
Brussels, Belgium

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

NEW Postdoctoral Scientist – Sarcoma and Leukemia (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

Scientific Communications Coordinator (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

Research Fellow – Regenerative Medicine (ROHTO Advanced Research)

Associate Professor – Stem Cell Science (University College London)

Tenure-Track Position – Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Mesenchymal Tumor Invasion Research (Luxembourg Institute of Health)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology & Respiratory Disease Research with MSCs (Boehringer Ingelheim)

Development Scientist – Cell Therapy (GE)

Postdoctoral Researchers – Cardiometabolic Diseases (Columbia University Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Fellow – MSCs in Skeletal Development (University of Pennsylvania)

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