Neural Cell News Volume 10.44 | Nov 9 2016

TOP STORY

Single-Cell Analysis Reveals a Close Relationship between Differentiating Dopamine and Subthalamic Nucleus Neuronal Lineages

The authors studied stem cell engineering and grafting of mesencephalic dopamine (mesDA) neurons using transcriptome-wide single-cell RNA sequencing of mouse neural progenitors expressing the mesDA neuron determinant Lmx1a. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Tissue Mechanics Promote IDH1-Dependent HIF1α–Tenascin C Feedback to Regulate Glioblastoma Aggression

Researchers found that glioma aggression and patient prognosis correlate with HIF1α levels and the stiffness of a tenascin C (TNC)-enriched extracellular matrix (ECM). Gain- and loss-of-function xenograft manipulations demonstrated that a mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) restricts glioma aggression by reducing HIF1α-dependent TNC expression to decrease ECM stiffness and mechanosignaling. [Nat Cell Biol] Abstract

Hierarchical Assembly of Bioactive Amphiphilic Molecule Pairs into Supramolecular Nanofibril Self-Supportive Scaffolds for Stem Cell Differentiation

Investigators exploited the bioactive hydrogel as a growth-factor-free scaffold to support and accelerate neural stem cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation into functional neurons. This study is a successful attempt to entirely use bioactive molecules for bottom-up self-assembly of new biomaterials mimicking the extracellular matrix to directly impact cell behaviors. [J Am Chem Soc] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Decrease of SYNGAP1 in GABAergic Cells Impairs Inhibitory Synapse Connectivity, Synaptic Inhibition and Cognitive Function

The authors showed that Syngap1 haploinsufficiency significantly reduces the formation of perisomatic innervations by parvalbumin-positive basket cells, a major population of GABAergic neurons, in a cell-autonomous manner. [Nat Commun] Full Article

REST Regulation of Gene Networks in Adult Neural Stem Cells

To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms by which repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor (REST) regulates adult neural stem cells, scientists perform chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing and RNA-sequencing to identify direct REST target genes. They found REST regulates both quiescent neural progenitors and transit-amplifying progenitors, and importantly, ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle and neuronal genes in the process. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Regulation of Embryonic Neurogenesis by Germinal Zone Vasculature

The authors identified the mouse embryo hindbrain as a powerful model to study embryonic neurogenesis and defined the relationship between neural progenitor cell (NPC) behavior and vessel growth. Using this model, they show that a subventricular vascular plexus (SVP) extends through a hindbrain germinal zone populated by NPCs whose peak mitotic activity follows a surge in SVP growth. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Press Release

Autophagy Flux in CA1 Neurons of Alzheimer Hippocampus: Increased Induction Overburdens Failing Lysosomes to Propel Neuritic Dystrophy

Scientists have comprehensively evaluated the entire autophagic process specifically in CA1 pyramidal neurons of hippocampus from early and late-stage Alzheimer disease subjects and nondemented controls. [Autophagy] Full Article

PTEN Signaling in the Postnatal Perivascular Progenitor Niche Drives Medulloblastoma Formation

Loss of the tumor suppressor gene PTEN exerts diverse outcomes on cancer in different developmental contexts. To gain insight into the effect of its loss on outcomes in the brain, scientists conditionally inactivated the murine Pten gene in neonatal neural stem/progenitor cells. Pten inactivation created an abnormal perivascular proliferative niche in the cerebellum that persisted in adult animals but did not progress to malignancy. [Cancer Res] Abstract

DIXDC1 Phosphorylation and Control of Dendritic Morphology Are Impaired by Rare Genetic Variants

The development of neural connectivity is essential for brain function, and disruption of this process is associated with autism spectrum disorders. Using a knockout mouse model, researchers determined that DIXDC1 is a regulator of excitatory neuron dendrite development and synapse function in the cortex. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Stimulation of the Hippocampal POMC/MC4R Circuit Alleviates Synaptic Plasticity Impairment in an Alzheimer’s Disease Model

Investigators mapped a functional pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) circuit in the mouse hippocampus, wherein POMC neurons in the cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) activate MC4R in the CA1. Suppression of hippocampal melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) activity in the APP/PS1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease exacerbates long-term potentiation impairment, which is alleviated by the replenishment of hippocampal POMC/MC4R activity or activation of hippocampal MC4R-coupled Gs signaling. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Application of the Co-Culture Membrane System Pointed to a Protective Role of Catestatin on Hippocampal plus Hypothalamic Neurons Exposed to Oxygen and Glucose Deprivation

The authors induced in vitro ischemic conditions of the hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) hippocampal and hypothalamic neuronal cultures, grown on a newly compartmentalized membrane system, via oxygen and glucose deprivation. These cultures displayed notably differentiated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors-ergic and orexinergic-ergic receptor expression activities along with evident brain-derived neurotrophic factor plus orexin A secretion, especially under co-cultured conditions. [Mol Neurobiol] Abstract

Sustained Synchronized Neuronal Network Activity in a Human Astrocyte Co-Culture System

In order to study neuronal network formation and (mal)function in a fully humanized system, investigators have established an in vitro co-culture model of human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived cortical neurons and human primary astrocytes that recapitulates neuronal network synchronization and connectivity within three to four weeks after final plating. [Sci Rep] Full Article

The Road to Restoring Neural Circuits for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

The authors discuss how a broad outlook on neural-circuit-damaging processes may yield insights into new therapeutic strategies for curing memory loss in the disease. [Nature] Abstract

Adult Neurogenesis in the Hippocampus: From Stem Cells to Behavior

The authors discuss the molecular machinery involved in the generation of new neurons from a pool of adult neural stem cells and their integration into functional hippocampal circuits. They also summarize the potential functions of these newborn neurons in the adult brain, their contribution to behavior, and their relevance to disease. [Cell] Abstract

Neural Subtype Specification from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

The authors discuss human pluripotent stem cells as a model to study early neural development, model pathological processes, and develop therapeutics. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract

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

Asterias Biotherapeutics Announces Treatment of First Spinal Cord Injury Patient with Maximum Dose of AST-OPC1 in SCiStar Clinical Trial

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced that the first patient with complete (AIS-A) cervical spinal cord injury was successfully administered the highest dose of 20 million cells of AST-oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC1) in the SCiStar clinical trial. In addition, enrollment continues in the AIS-B 10 million cell cohort with a second patient now dosed. [Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc.] Press Release

Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center Awarded NCI Grant to Create Specialized Genomic Data Center

Weill Cornell Medicine and the New York Genome Center were recently awarded a federal grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to support a joint cancer genomics data center for the research and clinical interpretation of tumors. The grant will provide funding of $490,000 per year over the next five years. [Weill Cornell Medicine] Press Release

UNC Scientists Named to European Union-Funded Global Zika Research Consortium

The UNC School of Medicine was one of two U.S. institutions named to an international research consortium funded through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Program, which invested $49 million in Zika research and vaccine development at more than 20 laboratories in Europe and Brazil. Two researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have been named to a global consortium for Zika research and vaccine development. [University of North Carolina (UNC)] Press Release

Dr. Barbara Stonestreet Receives Additional Funding to Study Perinatal Brain Injury

Barbara Stonestreet has received a five-year, nearly $2.8 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for her research into determining the most effective strategies for the treatment of perinatal brain injury in full-term and premature infants. [Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island] Press Release

The Quiet Rise of the NIH’s Hot New Metric

Biomedical funders worldwide are adopting the US agency’s free Relative Citation Ratio to analyze grant outcomes. [Nature News] Press Release

Donald Trump’s US Election Win Stuns Scientists

Republican businessman and reality-television star Donald Trump will be the United States’ next president. Although science played only a bit part in this year’s dramatic, hard-fought campaign, many researchers expressed fear and disbelief as Trump defeated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. [Nature News] Press Release

On Election Day, Science also on the Ballot in Some States

Voters who go to the polls on Tuesday will not just choose the next president and other lawmakers. They will also weigh in on some 154 state ballot initiatives on topics ranging from gun control and marijuana legalization to minimum wage increases and environmental policy. [Science Insider] Editorial

NEW 29^th Lorne Cancer Conference
February 9-11, 2017
Lorne, Australia

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

NEW Research Associate Position in Neural Rehabilitation Experiments (Nanyang Technological University)

NEW Postdoctoral Researcher – Alzheimer’s Disease (University of Arkansas)

Computational Biologist – Aging Brain (Columbia University)

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

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

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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