Muscle Cell News Volume 2.19 | Jun 5 2017

TOP STORY

One Gene Closer to Regenerative Therapy for Muscular Disorders

A detour on the road to regenerative medicine for people with muscular disorders is figuring out how to coax muscle stem cells to fuse together and form functioning skeletal muscle tissues. Scientists identified a new gene essential to this process, shedding new light on possible new therapeutic strategies. [Press release from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center discussing online publication in Nature Communications] Press Release | Full Article

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

CARDIAC MUSCLE CELLS

Activation of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 Involves in Hypoxia/Reoxygenation Injury in Cardiomyocytes

Researchers investigated the mechanism underlying transient receptor potential vanilloid 4-mediated myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. To mimic myocardial I/R injury, they established a hypoxia/reoxygenation model in H9C2 cells and neonatal rat ventricle myocytes in vitro. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase 1B Is a Mediator of Cyclic ADP Ribose-Induced Ca²⁺ Signaling in Ventricular Myocytes

The authors demonstrated that cyclic ADP-ribose levels higher than physiological levels induce a slow and gradual increase in the resting intracellular Ca²⁺ level over 10 minutes by inhibiting the sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ ATPase. [Exp Mol Med] Full Article

Transforming Growth Factor-β Receptor III is a Potential Regulator of Ischemia-Induced Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis

Scientists demonstrated that transforming growth factor-β receptor III (TGFβR3) expression in the border region of the heart was dynamically changed during myocardial infarction. After stimulation with H₂O₂, TGFβR3 overexpression in cardiomyocytes led to increased cell apoptosis and activation of p38 signaling, whereas TGFβR3 knockdown had the opposite effect. [J Am Heart Assoc] Full Article

Caveolin-1-Autophagy Pathway Mediated Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy Induced by Apelin-13

Researchers explored the mechanism of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy induced by apelin-13/apelin receptor (APJ) system. Caveolin-1 was suppressed by apelin-13, and this effect was reversed by APJ antagonist F13A in cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Apelin-13 not only stimulated the formation of autophagolysosomes, autophagosome, and lysosomes but also increased the expression of autophagic markers Beclin-1 and LC3II/I. [DNA Cell Biol] Abstract

SKELETAL MUSCLE CELLS

The Microprotein Minion Controls Cell Fusion and Muscle Formation

Investigators report the identification of Minion (microprotein inducer of fusion), a small open reading frame encoding an essential skeletal muscle specific microprotein. Myogenic progenitors lacking Minion differentiated normally but failed to form syncytial myotubes, and Minion-deficient mice died perinatally and demonstrated a marked reduction in fused muscle fibres. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Engineering Muscle Cell Alignment through 3D Bioprinting

Scientists present a simple additive manufacturing methodology that exploits the thermoresponsive behavior of a block copolymer as a means to obtain good shape retention at physiological conditions and to induce cellular alignment. [J Biomed Mater Res A] Abstract

Catechins Activate Muscle Stem Cells by Myf5 Induction and Stimulate Muscle Regeneration

Scientists found that (−)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) and (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate activate satellite cells by induction of Myf5 transcription factors. For satellite cell activation, Akt kinase was significantly induced after ECG treatment and ECG-induced satellite cell activation was blocked in the presence of Akt inhibitor. [Biochem Biophys Res Commun] Abstract

SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS

Specification and Diversification of Pericytes and Smooth Muscle Cells from Mesenchymoangioblasts

Researchers found that mesoderm-derived pericytes (PCs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) originate from a clonal mesenchymal progenitor mesenchymoangioblast (MB). In clonogenic cultures, MBs differentiated into primitive PDGFRβ⁺CD271⁺CD73⁻ mesenchymal progenitors, which gave rise to proliferative PCs, SMCs, and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

VEGF-A Stimulates STAT3 Activity via Nitrosylation of Myocardin to Regulate the Expression of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Differentiation Markers

Scientists demonstrated that vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) promotes vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation via VEGFR2/STAT3-mediated upregulating the proliferation of markers like Cyclin D1 and PCNA. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Criteria for Chamber-Specific Categorisation of Human Cardiac Myocytes Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

The authors discuss the need for chamber-specific pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in a number of areas as well as current approaches employed to assess these cells on their likeness to those from different chambers of the heart. [Stem Cells] Abstract

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Neurana Pharmaceuticals Receives Notice of Allowance of Patents for Tolperisone, a Novel Skeletal Muscle Relaxant

Neurana Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced receipt of a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trade Office for two new tolperisone patents, including a second Composition of Matter patent for a novel form of tolperisone. [Neurana Pharmaceuticals Inc.] Press Release

AMO Pharma Announces FDA Fast Track Designation for AMO-02 for Treatment of Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy

AMO Pharma Limited announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for AMO-02, the company’s investigational therapy in development for the treatment of congenital myotonic dystrophy. [AMO Pharma Limited (PR Newswire Association LLC.)] Press Release

Trials of Embryonic Stem Cells to Launch in China

The experiments will also represent the first clinical trials of embryonic stem cells under regulations that China adopted in 2015, in an attempt to ensure the ethical and safe use of stem cells in the clinic. [Nature News] Editorial

Pay-To-View Blacklist of Predatory Journals Set to Launch

Scholarly-services firm Cabell’s International says that it will launch its own list of predatory journals: those that deceive their authors or readers, for example by charging fees to publish papers without conducting peer review. [Nature News] Editorial

Web of Science Owner Buys up Booming Peer-Review Platform

The owner of the vast science-citation database Web of Science — Clarivate Analytics — is buying up a firm that has gathered hundreds of thousands of peer-review records, in a deal that could lead to new ways of organizing scientific peer review and preventing peer-review fraud. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Glucose Transport: Gateway to Metabolic Systems Biology
July 16-21, 2017
Snowmass Village, United States

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NEW Postdoctoral Position – Genetics and Molecular Biology of Congenital Muscle Diseases (Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Muscular Dystrophy (University of Melbourne)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Diabetes and Heart Disease (University Health Network)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Physiology and Cell Biology (University of Nevada, Reno)

Research Fellow – Cardiovascular Diseases (Mayo Clinic)

Postdoctoral Position(s) – Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells (Inserm)

Postdoctoral Associate – Genetics of Muscular Dystrophy (University of Florida College of Medicine)

Postdoctoral/ Graduate Student Positions – Neuromuscular Diseases (University of Alberta)

PhD Studentship – Experimental Genetic Cardiology (Oslo University Hospital)

Postdoctoral Position(s) – Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle Disease Modeling and Regeneration (Duke University)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Heart Regeneration (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles – University of Southern California)

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