| Neural Cell News 12.37 September 19, 2018 | |
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TOP STORYResearchers found that ( R)-2HG potently inhibited the 2OG-dependent transaminases BCAT1 and BCAT2, likely as a bystander effect, thereby decreasing glutamate levels and increasing dependence on glutaminase for the biosynthesis of glutamate and one of its products, glutathione. Inhibiting glutaminase specifically sensitized IDH mutant glioma cells to oxidative stress in vitro and to radiation in vitro and in vivo. [Cell] Abstract | Graphical Abstract |
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PUBLICATIONS(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)BRAF Somatic Mutation Contributes to Intrinsic Epileptogenicity in Pediatric Brain Tumors The authors showed that the oncogenic BRAF somatic mutation p.Val600Glu in developing neurons underlies intrinsic epileptogenicity in ganglioglioma, one of the leading causes of intractable epilepsy [Nat Med] Abstract | Press Release Investigators showed a tailored program of noncoding genome elements active in situ in physiologically distinct dopamine neurons of the human brain. They found 71,022 transcribed noncoding elements, many of which were consistent with active enhancers and with regulatory mechanisms in zebrafish and mouse brains. Genetic variants associated with schizophrenia, addiction, and Parkinson’s disease were enriched in these elements. [Nat Neurosci] Abstract ROS and cell death in primary neuronal cultures were significantly reduced by TLR4 antagonists revealing that an indirect inflammatory mechanism involving cytokines produced by glial cells made a major contribution to neuronal death. [Acta Neuropathol] Full Article The Last-Born Daughter Cell Contributes to Division Orientation of Drosophila Larval Neuroblasts The authors used stem cells of the Drosophila larval brain that stably maintain their axis of polarity and division between cell cycles to identify cues that orient cell division. Using live cell imaging of cultured brains, laser ablation and genetics, they revealed that division axis maintenance relied on their last-born daughter cell. [Nat Commun] Full Article Rapid Functional Genetics of the Oligodendrocyte Lineage Using Pluripotent Stem Cells To enable functional genetics in oligodendrocytes, researchers report a highly efficient method for generating oligodendrocytes and their progenitors from mouse embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, independent of mouse strain or mutational status. [Nat Commun] Full Article Investigators showed in Drosophila Parkinson’s disease (PD) models that Ca2+ transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to mitochondria through the ER-mitochondria contact site critically regulated mitochondrial Ca2+ homeostasis in dopaminergic neurons, and that the PD-associated PINK1 protein modulated this process. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract Treatment of Human Glioblastoma with a Live Attenuated Zika Virus Vaccine Candidate Because Zika virus (ZIKV) has an oncolytic tropism for infecting glioma stem cells (GSCs), scientists investigated the safety and efficacy of a live attenuated ZIKV vaccine candidate (ZIKV-LAV) for the treatment of human glioblastoma in a GSC-derived orthotopic model. ZIKV-LAV significantly reduced intracerebral tumor growth and prolonged animal survival by selectively killing GSCs within the tumor. [MBio] Full Article | Press Release The authors investigated the impact of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) on neural stem cell (NSC) mitochondria and cell fate decisions, namely whether and how Aβ affects neurogenesis. NSC fate and mitochondrial parameters, including biogenesis, dynamics, and oxidative stress, were evaluated. [Mol Neurobiol] Abstract Millifluidic Culture Improves Human Midbrain Organoid Vitality and Differentiation Investigators developed a computational model of oxygen transport and consumption in order to predict oxygen levels within human midbrain-specific organoids (hMOs). The modeling predicted higher oxygen levels in the hMO core region under millifluidic conditions. In agreement with the computational model, a significantly smaller “dead core” was observed in hMOs cultured in a bioreactor system compared to those ones kept under conventional shaking conditions. [Lab Chip] Abstract | Full Article | Graphical Abstract Establishment of Stable iPS-Derived Human Neural Stem Cell Lines Suitable for Cell Therapies Scientists generated human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (hiNSCs) by a virus-free technique, whose properties recapitulated those of the clinical-grade hNSCs successfully used in an ALS Phase I clinical trial. Ex vivo, hiNSCs critically depended on exogenous mitogens for stable self-renewal and amplification and spontaneously differentiated into astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neurons upon their removal. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article The authors identified a population of neural stem cells in the chick hindbrain. They investigated whether these cells could recapitulate hindbrain development in culture. By developing approaches to propagate and image cells, manipulate their growth-conditions and separate them into subpopulations, they demonstrated the ordered formation of multipotent and self-renewing neurospheres that maintained regional identity and displayed differential stem/differentiation/proliferation properties. [Sci Rep] Full Article Researchers identified an in vivo astrocyte subpopulation termed “ieAstrocytes” that was defined by functional c-Fos activation during central nervous system (CNS) disease development. An unbiased screen for CNS cells showing c-Fos activation during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a mouse model for MS, was developed by using inducible, TetTag c-Fos reporter mice that label activated cells with a temporally stable, nuclear green fluorescent protein. [eNeuro] Abstract | Full Article | Press Release Subscribe to one of our other 19 science newsletters such as Cancer Stem Cell News & ESC & iPSC News. |
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REVIEWSStem Cell Therapy for Neurological Disorders: A Focus on Aging The authors discuss current preclinical and clinical literature to highlight the interactions between aging, stem cell therapy, and the progression of major neurological disease states such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and multiple system atrophy. [Neurobiol Dis] Abstract Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the neural cell research field. |
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INDUSTRY NEWSRush Clinical Trial Testing Vaccine for Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Rush University Medical Center is part of a new clinical trial testing whether an experimental vaccine can help patients’ immune systems stop the spread of glioblastoma. [Rush University Medical Center] Press Release Retrotope announced that it has supplied its drug RT001 for the initiation of an expanded access trial to treat patients with ALS. [Retrotope] Press Release Moleculin Biotech, Inc. has initiated a Phase I clinical trial of a new first-in-class cancer drug candidate, a small molecule compound discovered by Prof. Waldemar Priebe at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and known as WP1066. [Moleculin Biotech, Inc.] Press Release Alector Initiates Phase I Trial of AL001 for the Treatment of Frontotemporal Dementia Alector announced the initiation of its Phase I trial called INFRONT, which is evaluating AL001, the company’s product candidate for the treatment of a genetically-defined sub-population of patients with frontotemporal dementia. [Alector (Business Wire Inc.)] Press Release M3 Biotechnology has begun testing its lead therapy in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment in the United States and France. The investigational drug, NDX-1017, is novel because it is designed to halt or reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, rather than just slow its progression. [M3 Biotechnology] Press Release Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that Health Canada has accepted the New Drug Submission for apomorphine sublingual film to treat motor fluctuations (OFF episodes), experienced by people living with Parkinson’s disease, including those who experience early morning OFF episodes. [Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.] Press Release Kessler Foundation Joins International Study to Improve Cognitive Dysfunction in Progressive MS Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, and John DeLuca, PhD, have been awarded a $410,000 grant from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the MS Scientific Research Foundation to assess the efficacy of a mixed-method intervention to improve cognition in people with progressive MS. [Kessler Foundation] Press Release The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) announces that Dr. Jason Christie, MPFI Research Group Leader, has been awarded a grant in the amount of $2,082,074 over five-years to support ongoing investigation of neural circuits in the cerebellum that instruct and guide motor learning. [The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience] Press Release Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center two five-year grants, each worth approximately $1.5 million, to participate in two nationwide clinical trial networks. [Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center] Press Release Geiger Gets $2.25M for Epilepsy-Related Research Jonathan Geiger, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UND’s School of Medicine & Health Sciences, is on a multi-university, multiple principal investigator team that received a four-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health totaling more than $2.25 million. [University of North Dakota] Press Release | |
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POLICY NEWSNIH Gets $2 Billion Boost in Final 2019 Spending Bill Congress has approved a $2 billion raise, to $39.1 billion, for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a 2019 spending bill approved by House of Representatives and Senate negotiators. [ScienceInsider] Editorial NIH Director Expresses Concern but Offers No New Policy on Sexual Harassment for Grantees National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins in Bethesda, Maryland, ended a monthslong silence on the topic of sexual harassment in biomedical research, announcing plans to beef up procedures in NIH’s own laboratories. [ScienceInsider] Editorial Huge Peer-Review Study Reveals Lack of Women and Non-Westerners The study looked at all submissions made to the open-access title eLife from its launch in 2012 to 2017 — nearly 24,000 in total. It found that women worldwide, and researchers outside North America and Europe, were less likely to be peer reviewers, editors and last authors. [Nature News] Editorial African and Asian Researchers Are Hampered by Visa Problems Going to a conference? Good luck getting a visa. Researchers from Africa and Asia still encounter much greater obstacles in getting visas to visit other countries for work than do those from Europe or North America. They are also less likely to visit another country for research, according to a global survey of academics’ movements. [Nature News] Editorial Reflecting the reluctance of the FDA to force drug makers to enroll more minority patients, and the failure of most manufacturers to do so voluntarily, stark underrepresentation of African-Americans is widespread in clinical trials for cancer drugs, even when the type of cancer disproportionately affects them. [STAT News] Editorial
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EVENTSNEW The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Conference NEW Keystone Symposia: Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Insights and Therapeutic Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIESNEW Postdoctoral Research Scientist – Brain Tumors (Columbia University) PhD Student – Aging and Neurodegeneration (DZNE Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenratie Erkrankungen) Postdoctoral Positions – Neuronal Signaling (Australian National University) 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) Excellence in Science PhD Scholarship Award – Neuroscience (University of Technology Sydney) Multiple Faculty Positions – Neuroscience and Neuroengineering (Tsinghua University) 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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