Neural Cell News 12.10 March 14, 2018 | |
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TOP STORYA Single-Cell RNA-Seq Survey of the Developmental Landscape of the Human Prefrontal Cortex The authors identified 35 subtypes of cells in six main classes and traced the developmental trajectories of these cells. Detailed analysis of neural progenitor cells highlighted new marker genes and unique developmental features of intermediate progenitor cells. [Nature] Abstract | |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)Researchers found that co-regulator binding through the activation function-2 (AF2) domain of androgen receptor (AR) is essential for pathogenesis, suggesting that AF2 may be a potential drug target for selective modulation of toxic AR activity. [Nat Med] Abstract | Press Release The authors showed that a pair of sense/antisense lncRNA (6p22lncRNAs) encoded by CASC15 and NBAT1 located at the neuroblastoma (NB) risk-associated 6p22.3 locus are tumor suppressors and show reduced expression in high-risk NBs. [Cancer Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract FUS Regulates Activity of MicroRNA-Mediated Gene Silencing Scientists report that fused in sarcoma (FUS), an RNA-binding protein linked to neurodegenerative diseases including ALS, interacts with the core microRNA-induced silencing complex component AGO2 and is required for optimal microRNA-mediated gene silencing. [Mol Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract Researchers showed that the Itch/β-arrestin2 complex binds suppressor of fused (SuFu) and induces its Lys63-linked polyubiquitylation without affecting its stability. This process increases the association of SuFu with Gli3, promoting the conversion of Gli3 into a repressor, which keeps Hh signaling off. [Nat Commun] Full Article A mouse line with a selective deletion of the molecular target of antipsychotics, dopamine D2 receptors, from the most affected neuron subtype in patients, parvalbumin interneurons, resulted in animals with schizophrenia-like phenotypes and resistance to the broadly used antipsychotic aripiprazole. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract Using sporadic mouse models of Sonic hedgehog-medulloblastoma (MB) with the two mutations commonly seen in adult MB, constitutive activation of Smo (SmoM2) or loss-of-Ptch1, investigators found that regardless of timing of induction or type of mutation, tumors developed primarily in the hemispheres, with SmoM2-mutants showing a stronger specificity. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract Researchers generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from three retinitis pigmentosa patients with different frameshift mutations in the RPGR gene, which were then differentiated into retinal pigment epithelium cells and well-structured retinal organoids possessing electrophysiological properties. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract By morphometric analysis of cortical interneurons generated from Down syndrome (DS) and euploid induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), scientists found that DS GABA neurons are smaller and with fewer neuronal processes. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article Using functional in vitro assays, investigators showed that elevated Dbx2 expression in young adult neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) promotes age-related phenotypes, including the reduced proliferation of NSPC cultures and the altered transcript levels of age-associated regulators of NSPC proliferation and differentiation. [Aging Cell] Full Article | Press Release Researchers demonstrated that high-mobility group box 1/RAGE axis facilitates neural stem cells (NSCs) migration via promoting filopodia formation, which might serve as a candidate for central nervous system injury treatment and/or a preconditioning method for NSCs implantation. [Sci Rep] Full Article | |
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REVIEWSChromatin Regulation of Neuronal Maturation and Plasticity The authors discuss how mechanisms of chromatin regulation help to orchestrate the transcriptional programs that underlie the maturation of developing neurons and the plasticity of adult neurons. [Trends Neurosci] Abstract Glioblastoma-Activated Pericytes Support Tumor Growth via Immunosuppression Glioblastoma-activated pericytes develop an immunosuppressive phenotype, reducing T-cell activation through the induction of an anti-inflammatory response. Strikingly, pericytes support glioblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo. [Cancer Med] Full Article Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the neural cell research field. | |
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INDUSTRY NEWSIntra-Cellular Therapies, Inc. announced that the company had a positive pre-New Drug Application (NDA) meeting with the FDA regarding lumateperone for the treatment of schizophrenia. [Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.] Press Release VBL Therapeutics reported top-line results from its pivotal Phase III GLOBE study in patients with recurrent glioblastoma which was designed to evaluate VB-111 in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin®), compared to the bevacizumab control arm. [VBL Therapeutics (GlobeNewswire)] Press Release Kadimastem announced that it has received the approval of the Ministry of Health’s Supreme Committee, for conducting its Phase I/IIa clinical trial in ALS patients using the unique cell therapy developed by the company. [Kadimastem] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWS‘Right-to-Try’ Bill Rejected by House, in Major Blow to GOP Efforts In a major blow to the effort to pass a federal “right-to-try” law, House Republicans failed to muster the votes to pass a key compromise measure. [STAT News] Editorial Springer Nature and VSNU Renew Agreement on Open Access Publishing Springer Nature and the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) have renewed their agreement to secure open access publishing for Dutch universities up to 2021. [The Association of Universities in the Netherlands] Editorial Science ‘Champion’ Dan Lipinski Faces Tough Race in Illinois Primary Representative Daniel Lipinski—an anti-abortion Democrat who voted against the Affordable Care Act and who only recently has embraced a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants—knows that he’s out of step with progressives on many social issues. Lipinski will find out whether voters in Illinois’s third congressional district on Chicago’s southwest side feel there’s still room for him in the Democratic Party. [ScienceInsider] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW Annual Meeting of the Israel Stem Cell Society 2018 Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Associate – Tumor Stem Cell Biology (Weill Cornell Medicine) Research Technologist – Neural (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.) Research Associate – Cell Biology (Cambridge Institute for Medical Research) Scientist – Molecular Neuroscience (Loyola University Chicago) Postdoctoral Associate – hiPSC-Based Brain Organoids (Rutgers University) Postdoctoral Position – Neuroscience and Mitochondrial Physiology (University of Moncton) Postdoctoral Position – Pain in Mouse Models of Spinal Cord Injury (Indiana University) Postdoctoral Position – Spinal Cord Injury (Nanyang Technological University) Postdoctoral Fellowship – Neurodegeneration (Lund University) Multiple Faculty Positions – Neuroscience and Neuroengineering (Tsinghua University) Postdoctoral Position – Brain Injury and Repair (University of Pennsylvania) Faculty Members – Neuroscience (Mercer University) Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.
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