Neural Cell News Volume 12.35 | Sep 5 2018

TOP STORY

Autocrine Mfge8 Signaling Prevents Developmental Exhaustion of the Adult Neural Stem Cell Pool

Milk fat globule-epidermal growth factor 8 (Mfge8)-null mice exhibited decreased adult dentate neurogenesis, and furthermore, adult radial-glia-like (RGL)-specific deletion of Mfge8 led to RGL overactivation and depletion. Loss of Mfge8 elevated mTOR1 signaling in RGLs, inhibition of which by rapamycin returned RGLs to quiescence. [Cell Stem Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Tau Protein Disrupts Nucleocytoplasmic Transport in Alzheimer’s Disease

Pathological tau impaired nuclear import and export in tau-overexpressing transgenic mice and in human Alzheimer’s disease brain tissue. The nucleoporin Nup98 accumulated in the cell bodies of some tangle-bearing neurons and could facilitate tau aggregation in vitro. [Neuron] Full Article | Press Release | Graphical Abstract

Modeling Amyloid Beta and Tau Pathology in Human Cerebral Organoids

Scientists revealed that organoids produced from human-induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients affected by familial Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or Down syndrome (DS) spontaneously developed over time pathological features of AD, including accumulation of structures highly reminiscent to amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. [Mol Psychiatry] Abstract

Nuclear Localization of Huntingtin mRNA Is Specific to Cells of Neuronal Origin

Investigators showed that ~50% of wild-type HTT mRNA localized to the nucleus and that its nuclear localization was observed only in neuronal cells. They further showed that siRNAs and antisense oligonucleotides (AOs) efficiently eliminated cytoplasmic HTT mRNA and HTT protein, but only ASOs induced a partial but significant reduction of nuclear HTT mRNA. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

RanBP1 Couples Nuclear Export and Golgi Regulation through LKB1 to Promote Cortical Neuron Polarity

Researchers found that Ran-binding protein 1 (RanBP1) regulated axon specification and dendritic arborization in cultured neurons in vitro and radial neural migration in vivo. During axonogenesis, RanBP1 regulated the cytoplasmic levels of the polarity protein LKB1/Par4, and this was dependent on the nuclear export machinery. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

The Retromer Complex Safeguards against Neural Progenitor-Derived Tumorigenesis by Regulating Notch Receptor Trafficking

Investigators showed that the retromer complex directly and specifically regulated Notch receptor retrograde trafficking in Drosophila neuroblast lineages to ensure the unidirectional Notch signaling from neural progenitors to neuroblasts. [eLife] Full Article | Editorial

A Chemical Recipe for Generation of Clinical-Grade Striatal Neurons from hESCs

Scientists introduced the γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT into the recipe to accelerate neural differentiation, and replaced protein components with small molecules. Using this optimized protocol they could efficiently direct regular human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) as well as clinical-grade hESCs to lateral ganglionic eminence-like progenitors and striatal medium spiny neurons within less than half of the time than previous protocols. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Direct Reprogramming of Glioblastoma Cells into Neurons Using Small Molecules

The authors investigated a novel method for reprogramming U87MG human glioblastoma cells into terminally differentiated neurons using a small molecule cocktail consisting of forskolin, ISX9, CHIR99021 I-BET 151, and DAPT. [ACS Chem Neurosci] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

Single-Neuronal Cell Culture and Monitoring Platform Using a Fully Transparent Microfluidic DEP Device

Researchers present an advanced single-neuronal cell culture and monitoring platform using a fully transparent microfluidic dielectrophoresis device for the unabated monitoring of neuronal cell development and function. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Expression and Manipulation of the APC-β-Catenin Pathway during Peripheral Neuron Regeneration

Scientists probed the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)-β-catenin partner pathway in adult peripheral sensory neurons during regeneration. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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3D Human Brain Cell Models: New Frontiers in Disease Understanding and Drug Discovery for Neurodegenerative Diseases

The majority of non-animal neurodegenerative disease research has been conducted in 2-D models of rodent neonatal neurons and glia. While these systems have provided valuable insights into neural cell function and dysfunction, they have largely reached the end of their useful life, as human stem cell technologies combined with major advances in microfluidic technologies have opened the door to development of patient-derived 3D brain cell models. [Neurochem Int] Abstract

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

Watching an Embryo’s Neural Tube Close

With $3.2 million from the National Institutes of Health, University of Houston professor of biomedical engineering Kirill Larin will tackle the evolutionary anomaly of why the neural tube closes in most embryos but remains open in others, leading to birth defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. [University of Houston] Press Release

$3 Million Grant Will Fund New 3D Map of Brain’s Blood Vessels

In an upcoming project, a team of Pennsylvania State University researchers will use mice as a model for creating high-resolution, 3D maps of the blood vessels in both young and aging brains. The National Institute of Health Blueprint for Neuroscience Research will support the project with a $3 million grant. [The Pennsylvania State University] Press Release

REGENXBIO Announces Pipeline Expansion with RGX-181 Gene Therapy for CLN2 Form of Batten Disease

REGENXBIO Inc. announced it is developing a new product candidate, RGX-181, for the treatment of late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) disease, one of the most common forms of Batten disease caused by mutations in the tripeptidyl peptidase 1 gene. [REGENXBIO Inc.] Press Release

The Alzheimer’s Gamble: NIH Tries to Turn Billions in New Funding into Treatment for Deadly Brain Disease

The U.S. government had begun to ramp up research spending on the neurodegenerative condition, which is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States and will afflict an estimated 14 million people in this country by 2050. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Trump Science-Adviser Pick Breezes through Senate Committee Vote

Meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier is one step closer to becoming director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to President Donald Trump. [Nature News] Editorial

Documentary Puts Lens on the Open-Access Movement Upending Scientific Publishing

Jason Schmitt was working at Atlantic Records when the online site Napster disrupted the music industry by making copyrighted songs freely available. Now, the communications and media researcher at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, is pushing for a similar disruption of academic publishing with Paywall, a documentary about the open-access movement that debuts in Washington, D.C. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

Open-Access Journal Editors Resign after Alleged Pressure to Publish Mediocre Papers

All ten senior editors of the open-access journal Nutrients resigned last month, alleging that the publisher, the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, pressured them to accept manuscripts of mediocre quality and importance. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

European Science Funders Ban Grantees from Publishing in Paywalled Journals

Frustrated with the slow transition toward open access in scientific publishing, eleven national funding organizations in Europe turned up the pressure. As of 2020, the group, which jointly spends about €7.6 billion on research annually, will require every paper it funds to be freely available from the moment of publication. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW 6^th Annual German Stem Cell Network (GSCN) Conference
September 19-21, 2018
Heidelberg, Germany

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

NEW Postdoctoral Positions – Neuronal Signaling (Australian National University)

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Cell Biology of Neural Development (St Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

Assistant Professor – Systems Neuroscience (Carnegie Mellon University)

Tenure Eligible Investigator – Neurobiology (Universite Bourgogne Franche-Comté)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cell-Based Modeling of Psychiatric Disease (Universitat Bonn)

Postdoctoral Position – Bioinformatic Analysis of Neural Development in Nematostella (University of Bergen)

Excellence in Science PhD Scholarship Award – Neuroscience (University of Technology Sydney)

Postdoctoral Research Scientist/Fellow – Neural Development and Neurodegenerative Diseases (Columbia University)

Postdoctoral Position – Molecular Mechanisms & Neural Circuits of Memory & Behavior (Rutgers University)

Multiple Faculty Positions – Neuroscience and Neuroengineering (Tsinghua University)

Faculty Members – Neuroscience (Mercer University)

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