Functional Regeneration of Respiratory Pathways After Spinal Cord Injury Here researchers show that, after cervical spinal cord injury, the expression of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans associated with the perineuronal net is upregulated around the phrenic motor neurons. [Nature] MicroRNA-Mediated Conversion of Human Fibroblasts to Neurons Here researchers show that expression of mircoRNA (miR)-9/9* and miR-124 in human fibroblasts induces their conversion into neurons, a process facilitated by NEUROD2. [Nature] Mammalian Gcm Genes Induce Hes5 Expression by Active DNA Demethylation and Induce Neural Stem Cells Researchers found that mammalian Gcm1 and Gcm2 (glial cells missing 1 and 2) are involved in the epigenetic regulation of Hes5 transcription by DNA demethylation independently of DNA replication. [Nat Neurosci] Ephrin-Mediated Cis-Attenuation of Eph Receptor Signaling Is Essential for Spinal Motor Axon Guidance Researchers show that changes in motor neuron ephrin expression result in trajectory selection defects mirrored by changes in growth cone sensitivity to ephrins in vitro, arguing for ephrin cis-attenuation of Eph function. [Neuron] VPS35 Mutations in Parkinson Disease This study implicates disruption of VPS35 and retromer-mediated trans-membrane protein sorting, rescue, and recycling in the neurodegenerative process leading to Parkinson disease. [Am J Hum Genet] Nuclear Translocation of AMPK-α1 Potentiates Striatal Neurodegeneration in Huntington’s Disease Researchers report that activation of the α1 isoform of adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase (AMPK-α1) occurred in striatal neurons of humans and mice with Huntington’s disease. [J Cell Biol] Increase Developmental Plasticity of Human Keratinocytes with Gene Suppression In this study, primary human keratinocytes were successfully induced into a stage of plasticity by transient inactivation of p53, without enforced expression of any of the transcription factors previously used in induced pluripotent stem cell generation. [Proc Nat Acad Sci USA] Human Neural Stem Cell Transplantation Ameliorates Radiation-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction The potential of using stem cell replacement as a strategy to combat radiation-induced cognitive decline was addressed by irradiating athymic nude rats followed 2 days later by intrahippocampal transplantation with human neural stem cells. [Cancer Res] Rapid and Efficient Generation of Functional Motor Neurons from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Gene Delivered Transcription Factor Codes Researchers evaluated the motor neuron (MN) gene expression profile of retinoic acid/sonic hedgehog-differentiated human embryonic stem cells to identify rate-limiting factors involved in MN development. [Mol Ther] Electrospun Nanofibrillar Surfaces Promote Neuronal Differentiation and Function from Human Embryonic Stem Cells In this study, the impact of randomly oriented electrospun polyamide nanofibrous architecture on neurogenic differentiation of human embryonic stem cells compared to the lack of nanofibrous features in vitro in a neural inducing condition was examined. [Tissue Eng Part A] |