Neural Cell News Volume 10.32 | Aug 17 2016

TOP STORY

Researchers: ‘Reprogram’ Network of Brain Cells with Thin Beam of Light

Neuroscientists demonstrated that a set of neurons trained to fire in unison could be reactivated as much as a day later if just one neuron in the network was stimulated. [Press release from Columbia University discussing online prepublication in Science] Press Release | Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

De Novo Synaptogenesis Induced by GABA in the Developing Mouse Cortex

Dendrites of cortical pyramidal neurons contain intermingled excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Investigators studied the local mechanisms that regulate the formation and distribution of synapses. [Science] Abstract | Press Release

Zika Virus NS4A and NS4B Proteins Deregulate Akt-mTOR Signaling in Human Fetal Neural Stem Cells to Inhibit Neurogenesis and Induce Autophagy

Researchers showed that Zika virus infection of human fetal neural stem cells causes inhibition of the Akt-mTOR pathway, leading to defective neurogenesis and aberrant activation of autophagy. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Targeted Epigenetic Remodeling of Endogenous Loci by CRISPR/Cas9-Based Transcriptional Activators Directly Converts Fibroblasts to Neuronal Cells

Overexpression of exogenous fate-specifying transcription factors can directly reprogram differentiated somatic cells to target cell types. Investigators showed that similar reprogramming can also be achieved through the direct activation of endogenous genes using engineered CRISPR/Cas9-based transcriptional activators. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

The Parkinson’s Disease–Linked Proteins Fbxo7 and Parkin Interact to Mediate Mitophagy

Researchers showed that Fbxo7 participates in mitochondrial maintenance through direct interaction with PINK1 and Parkin and acts in Parkin-mediated mitophagy. Cells with reduced Fbxo7 expression showed deficiencies in translocation of Parkin to mitochondria, ubiquitination of mitofusin 1 and mitophagy. [Nat Neurosci] Abstract | Press Release

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) Silences Genes Responsible for Neurodegeneration

Researchers showed that PRC2, which supports neuron specification during differentiation, contributes to the suppression of a transcriptional program that is detrimental to adult neuron function and survival. [Nat Neurosci] Abstract | Press Release

Experience-Dependent Plasticity Drives Individual Differences in Pheromone-Sensing Neurons

Scientists considered the neuronal basis of individuality in the vomeronasal organ, a pheromone-detecting epithelium containing hundreds of distinct neuronal types. Using light-sheet microscopy, they characterized in each animal the abundance of 17 physiologically defined types, altogether recording from half a million sensory neurons. [Neuron] Abstract | Press Release

Motor, Cognitive, and Affective Areas of the Cerebral Cortex Influence the Adrenal Medulla

Scientists used transneuronal transport of rabies virus to identify the areas of the primate cerebral cortex that communicate through multisynaptic connections with a major sympathetic effector, the adrenal medulla. They demonstrated that two broad networks in the cerebral cortex have access to the adrenal medulla. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Press Release

Enriched Retinal Ganglion Cells Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells

The authors presented a 45-day protocol that utilizes magnetic activated cell sorting to generate enriched population of retinal ganglion cells via stepwise retinal differentiation using human embryonic stem cells. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Neuroprotective Effects of Apigenin Against Inflammation, Neuronal Excitability and Apoptosis in an Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Scientists have used a human induced pluripotent stem cell model of familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to healthy controls, to assess the neuroprotective activity of apigenin. [Sci Rep] Full Article

MicroRNA-125b Promotes Tumor Growth and Suppresses Apoptosis by Targeting DRAM2 in Retinoblastoma

Researchers demonstrated that miR-125b is a suppressor gene microRNA that can promote retinoblastoma (RB) cell proliferation and migration by downregulating the suppressor gene DRAM2, indicating that miR-125b may represent a new potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for RB treatment. [Eye (Lond)] Abstract

Stem Cells: A Dish of Neurons

Labs can generate neurons from pluripotent stem cells to study basic biology and to model disease. Protocols are getting more robust, and labs add personal preferences. [Nat Methods] Abstract

In Vivo Reprogramming for CNS Repair: Regenerating Neurons from Endogenous Glial Cells

The authors discuss the use of in vivo reprogramming as an emerging technology to regenerate functional neurons from endogenous glial cells inside the brain and spinal cord. [Neuron] Abstract

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

Statewide Research Universities Receive $9 Million for Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center

The U.S. National Institutes of Health will award an estimated $9 million over the next five years to a new statewide center to enhance the understanding and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Core Center will support researchers and clinicians from the University Research Corridor, comprised of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. [University of Michigan] Press Release

InVivo Therapeutics Announces Fifth Patient Conversion in INSPIRE Study of the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold™

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. announced that the ninth patient implanted with the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold™ in the INSPIRE study has improved from a complete AIS A spinal cord injury to an incomplete AIS B spinal cord injury in the time between the two- and three-month evaluations. [In Vivo Therapeutics] Press Release

Adverum Biotechnologies and Editas Medicine Announce Collaboration to Explore Delivery of Genome Editing Medicines to the Eye

Adverum Biotechnologies, Inc. and Editas Medicine, Inc. announced a collaboration to explore the delivery of genome editing medicines to treat up to five inherited retinal diseases. [Editas Medicine Inc.] Press Release

US Personalized-Medicine Industry Takes Hit from Supreme Court

Rejections for US patents related to personalized medicine have spiked after recent Supreme Court decisions tightened the rules for such claims, an analysis of more than 39,000 patent applications reveals. [Nature News] Editorial

Candidate Cancer Drug Suspected after Death of Three Patients at an Alternative Medicine Clinic

A new type of cancer drug developed at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, but not yet tested in clinical trials may have triggered the deaths of three patients who were undergoing an alternative cancer treatment by a nonmedical practitioner in Germany. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

UK Government Gives Brexit Science Funding Guarantee

British scientists say they’re relieved by a government promise to guarantee them funding for existing EU research projects, even after the country leaves the European Union. But the reassurance only partly allays concerns about Brexit’s effect on UK science. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference
November 6-9, 2016
Liverpool, United Kingdom

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

NEW Postdoctoral Position/Academic Advisor – Neural Engineering (University of Freiburg)

NEW Research Group Leader – Neuroscience (Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Sensorimotor Neuroscience (Western University)

Postdoctoral Position – Neural Substrates of Taste-Guided Behaviors (University of Illinois)

Faculty Positions – Neural Engineering (University of Pittsburgh)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Stem Cell Biology (Stanford University)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Neuroscience (University of California Riverside)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Neuroscience/Stem Cell Biology (State University of New York)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Neuroscience (Max Planck Society)

Postdoctoral Position – Brain Injury and Repair (University of Pennsylvania)

Faculty Positions – Brain Research (IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Peking University)

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