Muscle Cell News Volume 2.25 | Jul 24 2017

TOP STORY

Muscle Function Regained in CRISPR-Treated Mice with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, SickKids Study Finds

Scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to correct a disease-causing mutation in mice with a form of congenital muscular dystrophy, MDC1A. [Press release from SickKids discussing online prepublication in Nature Medicine] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

CARDIAC MUSCLE CELLS

Multi-Cellular Transcriptional Analysis of Mammalian Heart Regeneration

Investigators assembled a transcriptomic framework of multiple cardiac cell populations during postnatal development and following injury, which enables comparative analyses of the regenerative (neonatal) versus non-regenerative (adult) state for the first time. [Circulation] Abstract

Identification of a Hybrid Myocardial Zone in the Mammalian Heart after Birth

The authors indicate that the expansion of Hey2⁺ fetal compact component, and its contribution to the hybrid myocardial zone, are essential for normal formation of the ventricular walls. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Selenium Deficiency-Induced Thioredoxin Suppression and Thioredoxin Knock Down Disbalanced Insulin Responsiveness in Chicken Cardiomyocytes through PI3K/Akt Pathway Inhibition

To investigate the role of thioredoxin (Txn) in myocardial metabolism, scientists developed a Se-deficient chicken model for in-vivo and Txn knock down cardiomyocytes culture model for in-vitro studies. [Cell Signal] Abstract

Engineering Micromyocardium to Delineate Cellular and Extracellular Regulation of Myocardial Tissue Contractility

The cellular demographics and biochemical and mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix remodel in many different cardiac diseases. However, the impact of diverse cellular and extracellular remodeling on the contractile output of the myocardium are poorly understood. [Integr Biol (Camb)] Abstract

SKELETAL MUSCLE CELLS

Enhanced Energetic State and Protection from Oxidative Stress in Human Myoblasts Overexpressing BMI1

The Polycomb group gene BMI1 is essential for efficient muscle regeneration in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and its enhanced expression in adult skeletal muscle satellite cells ameliorates the muscle strength in this model. Investigators showed that the impact of mild BMI1 overexpression observed in mouse models is translatable to human cells. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

BRD3 and BRD4 BET Bromodomain Proteins Differentially Regulate Skeletal Myogenesis

Using a screen of small molecule epigenetic probes researchers identified three compounds which inhibited myogenic differentiation in C2C12 myoblasts; (+)-JQ1, PFI-1, and Bromosporine. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Generation of Skeletal Myogenic Progenitors from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Non-Viral Delivery of Minicircle DNA

Scientists investigated whether transient expression of PAX7 using minicircle DNA would enable the generation of functional pluripotent stem cell-derived myogenic progenitors, equivalent to those generated by lentivirus. [Stem Cell Res] Full Article

SMOOTH MUSCLE CELLS

Transdifferentiated Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Are a New Potential Cell Source for Endothelial Regeneration

Researchers tested the feasibility of the conversion of smooth muscle cells into functional endothelial cells through the use of reprogramming factors. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Membrane‐Tethered Metalloproteinase Expressed by Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Limits the Progression of Proliferative Atherosclerotic Lesions

Investigators determined the effects of both membrane‐type 1 matrix metalloproteinase heterozygosity and tissue‐specific gene targeting on atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E–null mice. [J Am Heart Assoc] Full Article

α-Solanine Reverses Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling and Vascular Angiogenesis in Experimental Pulmonary Artery Hypertension

Scientists investigated the effects of α-solanine on pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells proliferation and apoptosis by using 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine proliferation assay, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and Ki67 staining, TUNEL and Anexine V assays. Scratch wound healing and tube formation assays were also used to study migration of endothelial cells. [J Hypertens] Abstract

The PPARα Activator Fenofibrate Inhibits Voltage-Dependent K⁺ Channels in Rabbit Coronary Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells

The authors examined the effects of the PPARα activator fenofibrate on voltage-dependent K⁺ channels using a patch clamp technique in native rabbit coronary arterial smooth muscle cells. [Eur J Pharmacol] Abstract

Heart Regeneration and Repair after Myocardial Infarction: Translational Opportunities for Novel Therapeutics

Recent findings have revealed novel pathways that could be therapeutically targeted to stimulate repair following myocardial infarction and have provided lessons to guide future efforts towards heart regeneration through cellular reprogramming or cardiomyocyte transplantation. [Nat Rev Drug Discov] Abstract

Molecular Imaging in Stem Cell-Based Therapies of Cardiac Diseases

Researchers provide a review on the role of different noninvasive imaging modalities and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. They focus on the different in vivo labeling and reporter gene imaging strategies for stem cell tracking as well as the concept and reliability to use imaging parameters as noninvasive surrogate endpoints for the evaluation of the post-therapeutic outcome. [Adv Drug Deliv Rev] Abstract

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

Phase III Clinical Trial Targeting Lou Gehrig’s Disease Gets $15.9 Million Investment from Stem Cell Agency

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a particularly nasty, almost always fatal neurological condition that has no effective treatment and no cure. Now the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is investing $15.9 million in a therapy to try and change that. [CIRM] Press Release

BrainStorm Announces Agreements with Massachusetts General Hospital and California Pacific Medical Center to Participate in Phase III Trial of NurOwn^® in ALS

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. announced that it has signed definitive agreements with Massachusetts General Hospital and California Pacific Medical Center to enroll patients in the planned Phase III clinical trial of NurOwn^® in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, pending FDA and Institutional Review Board approvals. [BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.] Press Release

Capricor Receives Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from FDA for CAP-1002 for Patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to CAP-1002, Capricor’s development candidate for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, as well as the Orphan Drug Designation previously granted to CAP-1002 by the FDA, covers the broad treatment of DMD. [Capricor Therapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

Summer Program Draws Emerging Stem Cell Researchers from Around the World to U of T

Twelve emerging researchers from universities around the world have converged in Toronto for Summer by Design, a month-long pilot program hosted by Medicine by Design in collaboration with the Rotman School of Management and Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine. [University of Toronto] Press Release

US Defence Agencies Grapple with Gene Drives

The JASONs, a group of elite scientists that advises the US government on national security, has weighed in on issues ranging from cyber security to renewing America’s nuclear arsenal. But at a meeting in June, the secretive group took stock of a new threat: gene drives, a genetic-engineering technology that can swiftly spread modifications through entire populations and could help vanquish malaria-spreading mosquitoes. [Nature News] Editorial

Salk Institute Hit with Discrimination Lawsuit by Third Female Scientist

Following two gender discrimination lawsuits filed last week, a third senior female professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has similarly sued the storied independent institute in San Diego, California. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Some Scientists Hate NIH’s New Definition of a Clinical Trial. Here’s Why

Scientists in behavioral research fields — from cognitive psychology to vision science — were dismayed to learn that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, could soon deem their studies to be clinical trials. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW 5^th Annual European Congress on Clinical & Translational Sciences (EUSTM-2017)
October 20-22, 2017
Berlin, Germany

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

NEW Assistant Professor – Skeletal Muscle Physiology (University of California, Davis)

NEW PhD Scholarship – Mechanisms of Stem Cell Dysfunction in Muscular Dystrophies (CIBIO – University of Trento)

Postdoctoral Position – Translational Cardiac Research (University of Utah)

Post Doctoral Fellow – Neuromuscular Diseases and Rare Genetic Diseases (University of Alberta)

Postdoctoral Positions – Center for Research on Inflammatory Diseases (The University of Sao Paulo)

Postdoctoral Research – Molecular and Integrative Cardiology and Muscle Biology (University of Minnesota)

PhD Position – Cardiac Tissue Engineering (Trinity College Dublin)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Cardiovascular Physiology (University of Nevada, Reno)

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

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

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