Neural Cell News Volume 10.42 | Oct 26 2016

TOP STORY

Transplanted Embryonic Neurons Integrate into Adult Neocortical Circuits

Using chronic in vivo two-photon imaging, researchers showed that embryonic neurons transplanted into the visual cortex of adult mice mature into bona fide pyramidal cells with selective pruning of basal dendrites, achieving adult-like densities of dendritic spines and axonal boutons within four to eight weeks. [Nature] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Sall1 Is a Transcriptional Regulator Defining Microglia Identity and Function

Using Sall1 for microglia-specific gene targeting, researchers found that the cytokine receptor CSF1R was involved in the maintenance of adult microglia and that the receptor for the cytokine TGF-β suppressed activation of microglia. [Nat Immunol] Abstract

Astrocytes Mediate Neurovascular Signaling to Capillary Pericytes but Not to Arterioles

Scientists showed that buffering astrocyte Ca²⁺ inhibits neuronally evoked capillary dilation, that astrocyte [Ca²⁺]i is raised not by release from stores but by entry through ATP-gated channels, and that Ca²⁺ generates arachidonic acid via phospholipase D2 and diacylglycerol kinase rather than phospholipase A2. [Nat Neurosci] Abstract

Protein-RNA Networks Regulated by Normal and ALS-Associated Mutant HNRNPA2B1 in the Nervous System

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated hnRNP A2/B1 D290V mutant patient fibroblasts and motor neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-MNs) demonstrated abnormal splicing changes, likely due to increased nuclear-insoluble hnRNP A2/B1. Mutant iPSC-MNs displayed decreased survival in long-term culture and exhibited hnRNP A2/B1 localization to cytoplasmic granules as well as exacerbated changes in gene expression and splicing upon cellular stress. [Neuron] Abstract | Press Release

Inhibition of STEP₆₁ Ameliorates Deficits in Mouse and hiPSC-Based Schizophrenia Models

The authors showed that STriatal-Enriched protein tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP₆₁) is elevated in the cortex in the Nrg1^+/− knockout mouse model of schizophrenia. [Mol Psychiatry] Full Article

Characterization and Transplantation of Enteric Neural Crest Cells from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Human induced pluripotent stem cells were induced to differentiate into neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) efficiently. When co-cultured with smooth muscle layers of ganglionic gut tissue, the NCSCs differentiated into different subtypes of mature enteric-like neurons expressing nitric oxide synthase, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, choline acetyltransferase or calretinin with typical electrophysiological characteristics of functional neurons. [Mol Psychiatry] Full Article

Orphan GPR110 (ADGRF1) Targeted by N-Docosahexaenoylethanolamine in Development of Neurons and Cognitive Function

Scientists demonstrated orphan G-protein coupled receptor 110 (GPR110, ADGRF1) as the synaptamide receptor, mediating synaptamide-induced bioactivity in a cAMP-dependent manner. [Nat Commun] Full Article

CD133⁺ Brain Tumor-Initiating Cells Are Dependent on STAT3 Signaling to Drive Medulloblastoma Recurrence

Investigators showed enrichment of CD133 in Group 3 medulloblastoma is associated with increased rate of metastasis and poor clinical outcome. [Oncogene] Full Article

MEK Inhibitors Reverse Growth of Embryonal Brain Tumors Derived from Oligoneural Precursor Cells

The authors showed that a subset of primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the CNS co-express oligoneural precursor cell markers OLIG2 and SOX10 with coincident activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphial Abstract

A Nuclear Role for miR-9 and Argonaute Proteins in Balancing Quiescent and Activated Neural Stem Cell States

The authors demonstrated that in the adult zebrafish pallium, the brain-enriched miR-9 is expressed exclusively in a subset of quiescent neural stem cells (NSCs), highlighting a heterogeneity within these cells, and is necessary to maintain NSC quiescence. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Marked Differences in C9orf72 Methylation Status and Isoform Expression between C9/ALS Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Researchers established two human embryonic stem cell (hESCs) lines with a GGGGCC expansion in the C9orf72 gene (C9), and compared them with haploidentical and unrelated C9 induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). They found a marked difference in C9 methylation between the cells. hESCs and parental fibroblasts are entirely unmethylated while the iPSCs are hypermethylated. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Fluorescent Protein Tagging of Endogenous Protein in Brain Neurons Using CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Knock-In and In Utero Electroporation Techniques

Investigators successfully knocked in an EGFP coding sequence at the site immediately after the first ATG codon of the β-actin gene in neurons in the brain by the combined use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and in utero electroporation technique, resulting in the expression of the EGFP-tagged β-actin protein in cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Promises and Challenges of Human Brain Organoids as Models of Neuropsychiatric Disease

The authors discuss the advantages, limitations and future applications of human brain organoids as in vitro models of neuropsychiatric disease. [Nat Med] Full Article

Stem Cells for Modeling and Therapy of Parkinson’s Disease

The authors elucidate stem cell technology for modeling Parkinson’s disease and offering desired safe cell resources for cell transplantation therapy. [Hum Gene Ther] Abstract

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

Researchers Explore How Zika Infection Causes Microcephaly

Infection with Zika virus disrupts fetal brain development by interfering with the proliferation of human neural progenitor cells, a type of cell that drives neurodevelopment and proliferates into brain and nervous system cells. [Press release from The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2016 discussing research presented at ASHG 2016 Annual Meeting, Vancouver] Press Release

Experimental Drug Shows Promise in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease

An experimental drug shows promise in treating Alzheimer’s disease by preventing inflammation and removing abnormal protein clumps in the brain that are associated with the disease, suggests a study in mice. [Press release from American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) discussing research presented at Anesthesiology^® 2016 Annual Meeting, Chicago] Press Release

Cedars-Sinai Receives Approval to Test Novel Combined Stem Cell and Gene Therapy for ALS Patients

Cedars-Sinai regenerative medicine investigators have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test a combination stem cell-gene therapy they developed to stall the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurological disease that causes progressive paralysis and ultimately death. The approval allows 18 ALS patients to receive a new investigational drug in a few months when the study begins at the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute. [Cedars-Sinai] Press Release

UA Gets $10.3M to Study Alzheimer’s in Women

Neuroscientist Roberta Diaz Brinton and her colleagues in the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona Health Sciences have been awarded a $10.3 million, five-year program project grant from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health. [University of Arizona] Press Release

USC Researcher Targets Blood-Brain Barrier in Alzheimer’s Study

Berislav Zlokovic, a pioneer of the theory that fixing the brain’s leaky blood vessels will prevent Alzheimer’s disease, has received four grants totaling up to $24.9 million over five years. [University of Southern California] Press Release

Scientific Challenges Loom for Canada’s Popular Prime Minister

Many in Canada’s science community say they are reserving judgement, waiting to see whether Trudeau can sustain his string of victories as he tackles some of country’s thorniest science-policy issues. [Nature News] Editorial

Review Finds Misconduct in Events Surrounding WHO Fetal Growth Study

For the first time in its 68-year history, the World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded that researchers are guilty of research misconduct. An independent review commissioned by WHO has found that “research ethics misconduct occurred” in a multimillion-dollar global study on fetal growth led by researchers at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Two Major California Research Institutes Will Merge

One of the biggest nonprofit biomedical research outfits in the world is getting a new translational medicine research arm, aimed at speeding the conversion of basic research insights into novel medicines. Officials at the Scripps Research Institute announced that it will merge with the California Institute for Biomedical Research, which was launched in 2012 as a nonprofit version of a drug development company. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

To Save Money, NSF Requires University Cost-Sharing for Rotators

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has decided that universities should pay 10% of the salaries of faculty members working temporarily at the agency. NSF hopes the new policy will demonstrate its commitment to saving taxpayer dollars without alienating the academic community that it relies upon to stay on the cutting edge of basic science. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW 10th International Neuroscience and Biological Psychiatry ISBS Regional Conference “NEUROSCIENCE OF STRESS”
December 1-3, 2016
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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

NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Parkinson’s Disease Research (Van Andel Research Institute)

NEW NYSCF Investigator – Stem Cell And Neuroscience (New York Stem Cell Foundation)

NEW Cancer Research – PhD Studentships (University of Cambridge)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells (University of California – San Francisco)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Genetic and Epigenetic Features Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Diseases (Van Andel Research Institute)

Assistant Professor – Neural Mechanisms of Motor Control (University of California – Davis)

Postdoctoral Researcher – iPS & ESC Parkinson’s Disease (VIB)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Neural Basis of Brain States (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)

Systems Neuroscientist (University of Rochester)

PhD – Neural Circuits (The International Max Planck Research School for Neural Circuits)

International PhD Studentships (Medical Research Council)

Assistant Professor (Tenure) – Developmental Biology)

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