|  |  |  | | | | | TE-RegenMed-StemCell feed | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A key group of directors of the $3 billion California stem cell agency today recommended criteria for a new chair of the research effort, including a proposal that the position remain part-time.
Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for CIRM, said in an email that the salary range would remain unchanged under the proposals approved by the directors' Governance Subcommittee, with a top of | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Robert Klein, chairman of the California
stem cell agency
Robert Klein, lawyer, real estate investment banker and the chairman of the $3 billion California stem cell agency, has produced a remarkable document that details how he reaches deeply into CIRM operations on matters ranging from its economic impact to employee travel policy.
The 9-page, single-spaced memo was prepared for this | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Forced Runx1 expression in human neural stem/progenitor cells transplanted to the rat dorsal root ganglion cavity results in extensive axonal growth specifically from spinal cord-derived neurospheres. Stem Cells Dev. 2011 Feb 15; Authors: König N, Akesson E, Télorack M, Vasylovska S, Ngamjariyawat A, Sundström E, Oster A, Trolle C, Berens C, Aldskogius H, Seiger A, Kozlova EN Cell replacement therapy holds great promise for treating a wide range of human disorders. However, ensuring the predictable differentiation of transplanted stem cells, eliminating their risk of tumor formation and generating fully functional cells after transplantation remain major challenges in regenerative medicine. Here, we explore the potential of human neural stem/progenitor cells isolated from the embryonic forebrain (hfNSPCs) or the spinal cord (hscNSPCs) to differentiate to projection neurons when transplanted into the dorsal root ganglion cavity of adult recipient rats. To stimulate axonal growth, we transfected hfNSPC- and hscNSPC-derived neurospheres, prior to their transplantation, with a Tet-Off Runx1 overexpressing plasmid to maintain Runx1 expression in vivo after transplantation. While pronounced cell differentiation was found in the Runx1-expressing transplants from both cell sources, we observed extensive, long distance growth of axons exclusively from hscNSPC-derived transplants. These axons ultimately reached the dorsal root transitional zone, the boundary separating peripheral and central nervous systems. Our data show that hscNSPCs have the potential to differentiate to projection neurons with long distance axonal outgrowth and that Runx1 overexpression is a useful approach to induce such outgrowth in specific sources of NSPCs. PMID: 21322790 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Derivation of cloned human blastocysts by histone deacetylase inhibitor treatment after somatic cell nuclear transfer with β-thalassemia fibroblasts. Stem Cells Dev. 2011 Feb 15; Authors: Fan Y, Jiang Y, Chen X, Ou Z, Yin Y, Huang S, Kou Z, Qing L, Long X, Liu J, Luo Y, Liao B, Gao S, Sun XF Derivation of embryonic stem (ES) cells from patient-specific cloned blastocysts by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) holds great promise in modern regenerative medicine and cell-based drug discovery. However, the efficiency of blastocyst formation after human SCNT is very low. It has been demonstrated that the developmental competence of SCNT embryos in several species was significantly enhanced by treatment with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, such as trichostatin A (TSA), to increase histone acetylation. In this study, we report that treatment of SCNT embryos with 5 nM TSA for 10 h following activation incubation increased the developmental competence of human SCNT embryos constructed from β-thalassemia fibroblast cells. The efficiency of blastocyst formation from SCNT human embryos treated with TSA was approximately two times greater than that from untreated embryos. Cloned blastocysts were confirmed to be generated through SCNT by DNA and mitochondrial DNA fingerprinting analyses. Moreover, treatment of SCNT embryos with TSA improved the histone acetylation of histone H3 at lysine 9 (AcH3K9) in a pattern similar to that seen in in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos. PMID: 21322785 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Novel chemically defined approach to produce multipotent cells from terminally differentiated tissue syncytia. ACS Chem Biol. 2011 Feb 15; Authors: Jung DW, Williams D In urodele amphibians, a critical step in limb regeneration is the cellularization and dedifferentiation of skeletal muscle. In contrast, mammalian skeletal muscle does not undergo this response to injury. We have developed a novel simple, step-wise chemical method to induce dedifferentiation and multipotency in mammalian skeletal muscle. Optimal muscle fiber cellularization was induced by the tri-substituted purine small molecule, myoseverin, compared to colchicine, nocodazole or myoseverin B. The induction of a proliferative response in the cellulate was found to be a crucial step in the dedifferentiation process. This was achieved by down-regulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21 (CDKN 1A, CIP1). p21 was found to be a key regulator of this process, because down-regulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p27 (CDKN1B/KIP1), p57 (CDKN1C/KIP2) or the tumor suppressor p53 (TP53/LFS1) failed to induce proliferation and subsequent dedifferentiation. Treatment with the small molecule reversine (2-(4-morpholinoanilino)-6-cyclohexylaminopurine) during this proliferative 'window' induced the muscle cellulate to differentiate into non-muscle cell types. This lineage switching was assessed using a relatively stringent approach, based on comparative functional and phenotypic assays of cell-type specific properties. This showed that our chemical method allowed the derivation of adipogenic and osteogenic cells that possessed a degree of functionality. This is the first demonstration that mammalian muscle culture can be induced to undergo cellularization, proliferation and dedifferentiation, which is grossly similar to the key early steps in urodele limb regeneration. These results, based solely on the use of simple chemical approaches, have implications for both regenerative medicine and stem cell biology. PMID: 21322636 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
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