Chemical Control of Grafted Human PSC-Derived Neurons in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease The authors showed tunable rescue of motor function in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, following transplantation of human midbrain dopaminergic neurons differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells engineered to express DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drug). [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release MDM2 Inhibition Rescues Neurogenic and Cognitive Deficits in a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome The authors showed that loss of fragile X mental retardation protein leads to activation of adult mouse neural stem cells and a subsequent reduction in the production of neurons. [Sci Transl Med] Abstract | Press Release Homophilic Protocadherin Cell-Cell Interactions Promote Dendrite Complexity Using transgenic and conditional knockout mice to manipulate γ-protocadherin (Pcdh) repertoire in the cerebral cortex, scientists showed that the complexity of a neuron’s dendritic arbor is determined by homophilic interactions with other cells. Neurons expressing only one of the 22 γ-Pcdhs can exhibit either exuberant or minimal dendrite complexity, depending only on whether surrounding cells express the same isoform. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release Human iPSC-Derived Immature Astroglia Promote Oligodendrogenesis by Increasing TIMP-1 Secretion Investigators generated astrocytes from human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and demonstrated that immature astrocytes, as opposed to mature ones, promote oligodendrogenesis in vitro. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release Polarizing the Neuron through Sustained Co-Expression of Alternatively Spliced Isoforms Scientists showed that many 3′-terminal exons are persistently co-expressed with their alternatives in mammalian neurons. In an important example of this scenario, cell polarity gene Cdc42, a combination of polypyrimidine tract-binding, protein-dependent, and constitutive splicing mechanisms ensures a halfway switch from the general to the neuron-specific alternative 3′-terminal exon during neuronal differentiation. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract | Press Release Brain Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Directs the Transition from Stem Cells to Mature Neurons during Postnatal/Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis To address the influence of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) on the stages of hippocampal neurogenesis, scientists studied a postnatal/adult global Igf-I knockout (KO) mice and a nervous system Igf-I conditional KO. In both KO mice they found an accumulation of Tbr2+-intermediate neuronal progenitors, some of which were displaced in the outer granule cell layer and the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus. [Stem Cells] Abstract The G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR157 Regulates Neuronal Differentiation of Radial Glial Progenitors through the Gq-IP3 Pathway Activation of GPR157-Gq signaling enhances neuronal differentiation of radial glial progenitors (RGPs) whereas interfering with GPR157-Gq-IP3 cascade in RGPs suppresses neurogenesis. [Sci Rep] Full Article Quantification of Dopaminergic Neuron Differentiation and Neurotoxicity via a Genetic Reporter Investigators generated a genetic reporter assay in pluripotent stem cells using newly-developed genome editing technologies in order to monitor differentiation efficiency and compare dopaminergic neuron survival under different conditions. [Sci Rep] Full Article CD95 Maintains Stem Cell-Like and Non-Classical EMT Programs in Primary Human Glioblastoma Cells Investigators showed that the expression of CD95 associates with stemness and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) features in glioblastoma tumors and cells and serves as a prognostic biomarker. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article GSK-3β-Induced Tau Pathology Drives Hippocampal Neuronal Cell Death in Huntington’s Disease: Involvement of Astrocyte–Neuron Interactions Scientists identified a disease and stage-dependent upregulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) mRNA and protein levels in the Huntington’s disease hippocampus, with the active isoform pGSK-3β-Tyr216 being strongly expressed in dentate gyrus neurons and astrocytes at a time when phosphorylation of Tau at the AT8 epitope was also present in these same neurons. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article |