Neural Cell News Volume 13.04 | Feb 6 2019

TOP STORY

Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Neurons or Cortical Organoids Requires Transcriptional Co-Regulation by UTX and 53BP1

Researchers showed that UTX and 53BP1 directly interact and co-occupy promoters in human embryonic stem cells and differentiating neural progenitor cells. The 53BP1-UTX interaction is required to upregulate key neurodevelopmental genes during the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into neurons or into cortical organoids. [Nat Neurosci] Abstract | Press Release

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

Increased Synapse Elimination by Microglia in Schizophrenia Patient-Derived Models of Synaptic Pruning

Using a reprogrammed in vitro model of microglia-mediated synapse engulfment, scientists demonstrated increased synapse elimination in patient-derived neural cultures and isolated synaptosomes. [Nat Neurosci] Full Article | Editorial

Axonogenesis Is Coordinated by Neuron-Specific Alternative Splicing Programming and Splicing Regulator PTBP2

Through unbiased transcriptome profiling of immature primary cortical neurons during early axon formation, investigators discovered an association between axonogenesis and neuron-specific alternative splicing. [Neuron] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

Altered Interplay between Endoplasmic Reticulum and Mitochondria in Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 2A Neuropathy

The presence of mutant protein led to a reduction in endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria contacts in Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2A (CMT2A) patient-derived fibroblasts, in primary neurons and in vivo, in motoneurons of a mouse model of CMT2A. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

Homeostatic Intrinsic Plasticity Is Functionally Altered in Fmr1 KO Cortical Neurons

Scientists demonstrated that homeostatic intrinsic plasticity (HIP) does not operate normally in a disease model, fragile X syndrome. HIP was either lost or exaggerated in two distinct neuronal populations from Fmr1 knockout cortical cultures. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Region-Restrict Astrocytes Exhibit Heterogeneous Susceptibility to Neuronal Reprogramming

The authors showed that astrocytes derived from cortex, cerebellum, and spinal cord exhibit biological heterogeneity and possess distinct susceptibility to transcription factor-induced neuronal reprogramming. [Stem Cell Reports] Full Article

Stress-Induced Precocious Aging in PD-Patient iPSC-Derived NSCs May Underlie the Pathophysiology of Parkinson’s Disease

Based on the early-onset parkinson’s disease (PD) patient-specific iPSCs, investigators found that PD-patient iPSC-derived NSCs were more susceptible to stress and became functionally compromised by radiation or oxidative insults. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Identification and Characterization of Synthetic Chondroitin-4-Sulfate Binding Peptides in Neuronal Functions

The chondroitin-4-sulfate-binding peptides, but not their scrambled counterparts, were added to cultures of mouse cerebellar neurons and human neuroblastoma cells, which neutralized the inhibitory functions of the C4S- and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans-coated substrate on cell adhesion, neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth. [Sci Rep] Full Article

A Human iPSC-Derived 3D Platform Using Primary Brain Cancer Cells to Study Drug Development and Personalized Medicine

Glioblastoma brain sphere (gBS) were exposed to temozolomide (TMZ) or doxorubicin (DOX) over a seven-day period. Untreated gBS tumors increased in size over a four-week culture period, however, there was no increase in the number of normal neuronal cells. TMZ and DOX treatments caused ~30% and ~80% decreases in the size of the tumors, respectively. [Sci Rep] Full Article

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Novel Immunotherapeutic Approaches to Target Alpha-Synuclein and Related Neuroinflammation in Parkinson’s Disease

The authors provide an in-depth overview of the pathomechanisms that alpha-Synuclein (aSyn) elicits in models of disease and focus on the affected glial cell and lymphocyte populations and their interaction with pathogenic aSyn species. [Cells] Full Article

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

Invenra and WARF Initiate a Collaboration to Discover and Develop Novel Therapeutics to Fight Neuroblastoma in Children

Invenra and WARF announced they have entered into a collaboration to discover and develop a bispecific antibody therapeutic for the treatment of neuroblastoma, a cancer that is the third most common childhood cancer, after leukemia and brain tumors. [Invenra, Inc] Press Release

AV-101 Stimulates the Formation of New Brain Cells in Nonclinical Studies

VistaGen Therapeutics announced data from nonclinical studies indicating that its orally available CNS drug candidate, AV-101 (4-chlorokynurenine), promotes hippocampal neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are formed in a region of the brain that involves high-level functions such as emotions, memory, and spatial navigation and exploration. [VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc] Press Release

Newron Completes Patient Enrollment in Pivotal STARS Study

Newron Pharmaceuticals S.p.A. announced the successful completion of patient enrollment in its STARS (Sarizotan for the Treatment of Apneas in Rett Syndrome) clinical study. Newron expects to report top line results from the STARS study in Q4 2019. [Newron Pharmaceuticals SPA (Business Wire, Inc.)] Press Release

Moleculin Announces the FDA Has Granted Orphan Drug Designation for Its Brain Tumor Drug

Moleculin Biotech, Inc. announced that the US FDA has granted Orphan Drug Status for its drug candidate WP1066 for the treatment of glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain tumor. [Moleculin Biotech, Inc] Press Release

University of California Staff Researchers Opt to Form a Union, Joining Postdocs

After 5 years as a postdoc—four of them at the University of California (UC), Los Angeles—molecular biologist Christina Priest hit the university’s time limit for postdoctoral appointments and transitioned to a university staff position as a project scientist in the same lab. Now an at-will employee in a job with no set end time, she says she finds her work “continuing the project I initiated as a postdoc … not enormously different, [despite] more responsibility.” [Science] Editorial

Thousands of Scientists Run Up against Elsevier’s Paywall

Researchers at German institutions that have let their Elsevier subscriptions lapse while negotiating a new deal are hitting the paywall for the publisher’s most recent articles around 10,000 times a day, according to Elsevier — which publishes more than 400,000 papers each year. [Nature News] Editorial

NEW Keystone Symposia: Myeloid Cells
February 24-28, 2019
Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

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

NEW Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Brain Tumor Biology (University of Bergen)

NEW Postdoctoral Position – Neurobiology (Karolinska Institutet)

NEW Postdoctoral Position – Neurophysiology (University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf)

NEW Post Doctoral Scholarship – Brain Tumor Biology (Lund University)

Postdoctoral Scholar – Brain Tumor Biology (Lund University)

Faculty Positions – Developmental Neurosciences (Kent State University)

Postdoctoral Scientist – Regenerative Plasticity of Neural Circuits (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

Postdoctoral Position – Stem Cells & Neurodegeneration (Lund University)

Assistant Member – Developmental Neurobiology (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

Associate Professor/Assistant Professor – Neuroscience (Hong Kong Baptist University)

Postdoctoral Fellowship – Alzheimer’s & Cerebrovascular Disease (Schepens Eye Research Institute/Massachusetts Eye and Eaar)

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