Guest:

Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta cross-appointed to the Faculties of Law and Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is interested in the ethical, legal and societal implications of novel and emerging biomedical research and health care technologies.

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Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Updates and Debates

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Major 'Don't Eat Me' Signal Found in Cancer Cells - Researchers have identified a protein whose signaling enables cancer cells to evade detection by the immune system, making it a promising target for cancer immunotherapy.

Smooth Muscle Cells Change Identity to Protect against Atherosclerosis - Investigators have found that smooth muscle cells modulate their phenotype during atherosclerosis to protect the arterial walls.

Tracking Stem Cells in Skin - Scientists tracked stem cell division in the sebacious gland to understand the development and maintenance of the skin, and the effects of mutations on stem cell behavior.

Reversing Sickle Cell Disease with CRISPR- CRISPR was used to edit HSCs in nonhuman primates to reverse the clinical symptoms of certain blood disorders.

Modeling Monogenic Diabetes - The authors modeled monogenic diabetes using human ESCs to identify the role of the transcription factor that is mutated in the most common form of the disease.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Ubaka Ogbogu

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Guest:

Dr. Jennifer Adair is an Assistant Member in the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her lab uses a combination of cell biology, molecular biology, chemistry, engineering, nanomedicine and bioinformatics to develop new gene therapy treatments for many different diseases, including cancer. Her goal is to develop safe, cost-effective and clinically relevant applications for gene therapy that can be implemented worldwide.

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Possible Drug Target for Heart Condition Identified - Researchers have found that a genetic mutation linked to dilated cardiomyopathy activates a signaling pathway that is normally turned off in healthy adult hearts.

Fibrosis Target Identified - Investigators have identified a protease that is activated by TGFβ that contributes to fibrosis development.

Improved Kidney Organoids - Scientists have developed a protocol for generating vascularized and functional human PSC-derived 3D kidney organoids, and used them to model disease.

New Tool for Immune Monitoring using Mass Cytometry - A mass cytometry workflow has been developed for identifying major immune cell lineages to improve biomarker discovery in immunotherapy trials.

Delayed Neurodevelopment in Zika-Exposed Children - In this prospective cohort study, the authors found that one third of children up to age three who were exposed to Zika in-utero had below-average neurological development.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Jennifer Adair

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Guest:

Dr. Arun Sharma is a Senior Research Fellow in the Svendsen lab at Cedars-Sinai. His research focuses on the applications of iPSCs for studying cardiovascular biology, modeling diseases in a dish with genome editing technologies, and developing high-throughput platforms for screening drug toxicity and efficacy.

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Webinar: Modeling Arrhythmias Using hPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Tracking Their Excitability

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Regeneration Potential of Neonatal Mouse Heart - Researchers have shown that the regeneration capacity of the neonatal mouse heart is limited, suggesting that the processes of embryonic heart development and postnatal heart generation are distinct.

Guiding Human Development in a Dish- Scientists have developed a method for exposing human ESCs to gradients of key signaling molecules to mimic the early stages of embryonic development.

Immune Cells Invade Aging Brains - Investigators have found that T cells invade the brain of aged mice and inhibit the proliferation of neural stem cells.

Ethical Development of Stem-Cell Based Interventions - The authors address key ethical and policy challenges confronting the clinical translation of stem cell-based interventions.

Dopamine Replacement Trial for Parkinson's Disease - A clinical trial is underway to assess the efficacy of transplanting PSC-derived dopamine-producing cells in Parkinson's disease patients.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Arun Sharma

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Guest:

Dr. James Hudson is Group Leader of the Organoid Research Laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, whose research is focused on developing state-of-the-art bioengineering approaches for human 3D organoids to use for studying cardiac biology and discovering new heart disease therapeutics.

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Webinar: Modeling Arrhythmias Using hPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes and Tracking Their Excitability

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Stimulating Hair Growth - Investigators have demonstrated that quiescent hair follicles can be stimulated to grow by small molecules that activate autophagy.

Organoid Model of Fibrotic Lung Disease - Researchers used ESC-derived 3D organoids to model fibrotic lung disease, and identified a possible pathogenic mechanism.

Antibody Conditioning for HSC Transplants - A transplant of mismatched HSCs without immune suppression by chemotherapy or radiation was successful in mice by performing a conditioning treatment with six antibodies.

Improving Pancreatic Islet Transplantation - Researchers have identified a protein that improves revascularization of pancreatic islet grafts, and is a potential target for enhancing transplant outcomes in type 1 diabetes.

Reprogramming Scar Tissue into Heart Muscle - For the first time, scientists have developed a stable, reproducible, and minimilistic platform to reprogram human fibroblast cells into cardiomyocytes.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. James Hudson

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Guest:

Dr. Tannishtha Reya is a Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Her lab  focuses on understanding the signaling pathways that regulate the choice between stem cell renewal and commitment, and define how the same signals are subverted in cancer.

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Dunn Webinar: Understanding Pancreatic Development and Diabetes Using Patient-Specific iPS Cells

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HIV-Preventing Gene Mutation Linked to Earlier Death - A variant of the CCR5 gene that protects against HIV infection, and that was infamously edited in babies using CRISPR, has been associated with an earlier death.

Establishment of Expanded Potential Stem Cells - Investigators have generated pig and human expanded potential stem cells that have the features of the first cells in the developing embryo.

Single Cell Trajectories of Cardiopharyngeal Fates - Scientists have mapped the development of heart lineages and identified the mechanisms dictating cardiopharyngeal fate choices.

Improved Human Brain Organoids - Researchers have developed a new method of generating brain organoids with little developmental variability between the organoids.

Stromal Cells Influence Pancreatic Cell Tumors - The stromal microenvironment has been shown to affect gene expression and shape tumor growth and metastasis in pancreatic cancer.

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Tannishtha Reya

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Guest:

Dr. Bertie Göttgens is a Professor of Molecular Hematology at the University of Cambridge. His lab studies how transcription factor networks control the function of hematopoietic stem cells, and how mutations that perturb such networks cause leukemia. In this episode, he talks about his research and his groundbreaking paper that mapped mouse gastrulation and early organogenesis.

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New Neurons Form in Old Age, Even in People with Alzheimer's - Researchers have shown that hippocampal neurons continue to form well into old age, as well as in individuals with mild cognitive impairments and Alzheimer's disease.

Blocking an Inflammatory Protein Reverses Brain Aging - Blocking an inflammatory protein in brain cells reversed the effects of brain aging in old mice, and prevented signs of brain aging in young mice infused with old blood.

New Mechanism Identified for Blood Stem Cell Development - Researchers have discovered a new role for the epidermal growth factor receptor in regulating hematopoietic stem cell development.

Mapping the Bone Marrow Microenvironment - Investigators created a map of the stem cell niche in mouse bone marrow, and identified how it is influenced during healthy homeostasis and in leukemia.

Non-Invasive Tool Tracks Efficacy of Transplanted Stem Cells - Exosomes isolated from blood are a potential non-invasive method for monitoring the activity of transplanted cardiac progenitor cells following a heart attack.

 

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Bertie Göttgens

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Guest:

Dr. Adrian Teo is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. His research focuses on using stem cell technology to model human pancreatic development in vivo and to study the mechanisms that cause diabetes and underlie diabetic complications.

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Advancing Cell Therapies for Diabetes - Researchers mapped stem cell-derived beta cell differentiation, and developed an improved process for purifying beta cells, which can be used to enhance cell therapies for diabetes.

Essential Role of YAP in Liver Regeneration - YAP signaling, which activates the transcription of certain genes, has been shown to be necessary for the survival and regeneration of liver epithelial cells upon injury.

Gene Therapy Repairs Heart Attack Damage in Pigs - Expression of a microRNA delivered by adeno-associated viral vectors stimulated cardiac repair in pig hearts following a heart attack.

How Low Oxygen Affects the Premature Brain - Using 3D brain-region-specific organoids, research have identified certain brain cells that are susceptible to harm from exposure to oxygen deprivation during early development.

Tumor-Initiating Cells Addicted to Methionine - Scientists have found that tumor-initiating cells are metabolically dependent on methionine, providing a potential therapeutic target.

 

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Adrian Teo

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Guest:

Dr. Rita Perlingeiro is the Lillehei Professor in Stem Cell and Regenerative Cardiovascular Medicine at the Lillehei Heart Institute. Her lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling lineage-specific differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, and applying this information to generate tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells endowed with in vivo regenerative potential. Much of her work is focused on muscular dystrophies.

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New CAR T-Cell Therapy Less Toxic - A Phase I clinical trial has shown that a redesigned CAR T-cell molecule was less toxic and produced fewer side effects in patients, making the treatment safer.

Using MSCs to Engineer an HSC Niche - Researchers have identified genes in mesenchymal stem cells that enhanced the production of niche factors that could maintain hematopoietic stem cells in culture.

Generating Ovarian Cancer Organoids - Investigators developed a protocol for generating and expanding ovarian cancer organoids, and demonstrated their potential applications.

Stress-Resistant Muscle Stem Cells - Scientists have identified a population of muscle stem cells that resist radiation and are able to expand under severe stress.

Muscle Stem Cells Protected from Environmental Stress - The expression of a transcription factor has been shown to protect muscle stem cells against environmental stress caused by a toxic pollutant.

 

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Rita Perlingeiro

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Guest:

Dr. Josef Penninger is the Director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia and a Canada 150 Chair in Functional Genetics. He was previously the Scientific and Founding Director of the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research is focused on understanding the complex mechanisms of how diseases develop, particularly in cardiovascular, autoimmune and bone diseases, and cancers.

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Shutting Down Glioblastoma at its Earliest Moments - By performing cell-by-cell genetic analyses of developing brain tissues in neonatal mice and laboratory models of brain cancer, scientists have identified a molecular driver of glioblastoma.

The Bone Marrow Microenvironment at Single-Cell Resolution -  Researchers have mapped the transcriptional landscape of mouse bone marrow cell populations, both at homeostasis and under conditions of stress-induced hematopoiesis.

Exploring the Mouse Gut Endoderm at Single Cell Resolution - Investigators have shown that throughout embryogenesis endoderm cells acquire a transcriptional identity that reflects their future fate and spatial positioning.

Specification of Positional Identity in the Forebain - Scientists have grown topographically organized human forebrain organoids using engineered signaling centers.

The Developmental Origin and Lifespan of Osteoclasts - Researchers have identified the developmental origin of osteoclasts and a mechanism that controls their maintenance in bones after birth.

 

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Josef Penninger

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Guest:

Dr. Kristen Brennand is an Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomics, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. A major focus of her work is in developing in vitro models for schizophrenia in order to identify novel insights into the molecular and cellular phenotypes of mental illness. Her lab has established a new mechanism using iPSC-based models to systematically test the impact of causal variants in human cells.

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Dr. Kristen Brennand Webinar: Using hiPSCs to Study Genetic Variants Linked to Schizophrenia

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Testicular Graft Produces Sperm and Live Offspring - Primates that had prepubertal testicular tissue removed, frozen, and grafted back later in life were able to produce sperm and offspring.

Using Cardiac Organoids for Drug Screening - Cardiac organoids were used to identify pro-regenerative drugs without detrimental side effects on cardiac function.

A Common Embryonic Origin of Neural Progenitors - Investigators have found that in mice, a single population of neural progenitors contributes to lifelong neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

New Brain Cells Made throughout Life - Scientists have shown that humans can make new brain cells into their nineties, but this production progressively declines in individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

Using Phenotypes to Identify Schizophrenia Genes - Researchers have developed a phenotypic atlas of schizophrenia-associated genes, and identified 30 genes for further study.

 

Photo Reference: Courtesy of Dr. Kristen Brennand

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