Neural Cell News Volume 8.32 | Aug 20 2014

Myc Inhibition Is Effective against Glioma and Reveals a Role for ​Myc in Proficient Mitosis
Researchers preclinically validated ​Myc inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in mouse and human glioma, using a mouse model of spontaneous multifocal invasive astrocytoma and its derived neuroprogenitors, human glioblastoma cell lines, and patient-derived tumors both in vitro and in orthotopic xenografts. [Nat Commun]
Full Article | Press Release

Cells from the Immune System Generate Adult-Born Neurons in Crayfish
Researchers report that adult-born neurons in crayfish can be derived from hemocytes. Following adoptive transfer of 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine-labeled hemocytes, labeled cells populate the neurogenic niche containing the first-generation neuronal precursors. [Dev Cell] Abstract | Press Release

A Self-Organizing miR-132/Ctbp2 Circuit Regulates Bimodal Notch Signals and Glial Progenitor Fate Choice during Spinal Cord Maturation
At early embryonic stages, high Ctbp2 levels sustain Notch signaling and radial glial expansion and concomitantly induce miR-132 expression via a double-negative feedback loop involving Rest inhibition. [Dev Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract | Press Release

Optogenetic Neuronal Stimulation Promotes Functional Recovery after Stroke
Researchers used optogenetics to selectively activate neurons that express channelrhodopsin 2 and demonstrated that selective neuronal stimulations in the ipsilesional primary motor cortex can promote functional recovery. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract | Press Release | Video

A Switch from Canonical to Noncanonical Wnt Signaling Mediates Early Differentiation of Human Neural Stem Cells
Researchers show that Wnt/AP-1 signaling drives differentiation of human embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells. [Stem Cells] Abstract

Assembly of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films on Supported Lipid Bilayers to Induce Neural Stem/Progenitor Cell Differentiation into Functional Neurons
A biomimetic material comprising a supported lipid bilayer with adsorbed sequential polyelectrolyte multilayer films was fabricated to induce neural stem/progenitor cells to form functional neurons without the need for serum and growth factors in a short-term culture. [ACS Appl Mater Interfaces] Abstract

Application and Assessment of Optical Clearing Methods for Imaging of Tissue-Engineered Neural Stem Cell Spheres
Scientists assessed the application of the recently published clearing techniques ClearT2, Scale, and SeeDB to tissue-engineered neural spheres. They found that scaffold-free self-assembled adult hippocampal neural stem cell spheres 100 µm in diameter could be optically cleared and imaged using either ClearT2 or Scale protocols, while SeeDB only marginally improved imaging depth. [Tissue Eng Part C Methods] Abstract

Pax6 Is Essential for the Maintenance and Multi-Lineage Differentiation of Neural Stem Cells, and for Neuronal Incorporation into the Adult Olfactory Bulb
Scientists indicated that the Paired type homeobox 6 (Pax6) mutation alters Nestin⁺-cell proliferation in vivo, as well as self-renewal, proliferation and survival of neural stem cells isolated from the adult olfactory bulb in vitro although a subpopulation of +/SeyDey progenitors is able to expand partially like wild type progenitors. [Stem Cells Dev] Abstract

The Snail Transcription Factor Regulates the Numbers of Neural Precursor Cells and Newborn Neurons throughout Mammalian Life
When mice containing a floxed Snail allele are crossed with Nestin-cre mice that express Cre recombinase in embryonic neural precursors, this causes inducible ablation of Snail expression throughout the postnatal cortex. This loss of Snail causes a decrease in proliferation of neonatal cortical neural precursors and mislocalization and misspecification of cortical neurons. [PLoS One] Full Article

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Ice Bucket Challenge Still Going Strong: $31.5 Million in Donations to The ALS Association
The ALS Association has received $31.5 million in donations compared to $1.9 million during the same time period last year. These donations have come from existing donors and 637,527 new donors to the association. [The ALS Association] Press Release

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