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Research Newsletter - April 2007

Spotlight

In a review article paper published in Néphrologie & Thérapeutique, HSCI Principal Faculty Member, Joseph V. Bonventre and Affiliated Faculty Member, Benjamin D. Humphreys survey the role of adult stem cells in renal repair.

The contribution of adult stem cells to renal repair

The kidney undergoes continuous, slow cellular turnover for tissue maintenance and rapid cell replacement after injury. The cellular origin of newly differentiated tubular epithelium remains controversial. In some non-renal organs, adult stem cells are recognized as the cell of origin for tissue replacement, such as the hematopoietic system, intestine and skin. These findings have prompted intense investigation for evidence of renal stem cells because of the great need for new therapeutic approaches to treat acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. Early excitement at reports that bone marrow-derived cells transdifferentiate into renal epithelial cells has been tempered by findings that show such events to be rare or potentially explained by cell fusion. More recent studies have focused on the possibility that renal progenitors exist within the kidney. In this review we compare data supporting the existence of adult renal stem cells with the body of evidence indicating that the kidney regenerates by self-duplication of differentiated cells. The identification of adult renal epithelial progenitor cells will ultimately determine the future direction of renal regenerative medicine.

Humphreys BD, Bonventre JV. The contribution of adult stem cells to renal repair. Nephrol Ther. 2007 Mar;3(1):3-10. Epub 2007 Feb 22. Read Article.

Scientific Papers

Review and Commentary

  • "Yu F, Hill RS, Schaffner SF, Sabeti PC, Wang ET, Mignault AA, Ferland RJ, Moyzis RK, Walsh CA, Reich D. Comment on ""Ongoing adaptive evolution of ASPM, a brain size determinant in Homo sapiens"". Science. 2007 Apr 20;316(5823):370. " Read Abstract.
  • Daley GQ. Gametes from embryonic stem cells: a cup half empty or half full? Science. 2007 Apr 20;316(5823):409-10. Read Abstract.
  • Eggan K. Dolly's legacy: human nuclear transplantation and better medicines for our children. Cloning Stem Cells. 2007 Spring;9(1):21-5. Read Abstract.
  • Schier AF. The maternal-zygotic transition: death and birth of RNAs. Science. 2007 Apr 20;316(5823):406-7. Read Abstract.
  • Sosnovik DE, Nahrendorf M, Weissleder R. Molecular magnetic resonance imaging in cardiovascular medicine. Circulation. 2007 Apr 17;115(15):2076-86. Read Abstract.

Blood

  • Gu TL, Mercher T, Tyner JW, Goss VL, Walters DK, Cornejo MG, Reeves C, Popova L, Lee K, Heinrich MC, Rush J, Daibata M, Miyoshi I, Gilliland DG, Druker BJ, Polakiewicz RD. A novel fusion of RBM6 to CSF1R in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia. Blood. 2007 Apr 13; Read Abstract.
  • Raffel GD, Mercher T, Shigematsu H, Williams IR, Cullen DE, Akashi K, Bernard OA, Gilliland DG. Ott1(Rbm15) has pleiotropic roles in hematopoietic development. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Apr 3;104(14):6001-6. Epub 2007 Mar 21. Read Abstract.

Cardiovascular System

  • Laugwitz KL, Moretti A, Lam J, Gruber P, Chen Y, Woodard S, Lin LZ, Cai CL, Lu MM, Reth M, Platoshyn O, Yuan JX, Evans S, Chien KR. Postnatal isl1(+) cardioblasts enter fully differentiated cardiomyocyte lineages. Nature. 2007 Apr 19;446(7138):934. Read Abstract.

Developmental Biology

  • Trede NS, Medenbach J, Damianov A, Hung LH, Weber GJ, Paw BH, Zhou Y, Hersey C, Zapata A, Keefe M, Barut BA, Stuart AB, Katz T, Amemiya CT, Zon LI, Bindereif A. Network of coregulated spliceosome components revealed by zebrafish mutant in recycling factor p110. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Apr 17;104(16):6608-13. Epub 2007 Apr 6. Read Abstract.
  • Vokes SA, Ji H, McCuine S, Tenzen T, Giles S, Zhong S, Longabaugh WJ, Davidson EH, Wong WH, McMahon AP. Genomic characterization of Gli-activator targets in sonic hedgehog-mediated neural patterning. Development. 2007 Apr 18; Read Abstract.

Imaging

  • Jaffer FA, Kim DE, Quinti L, Tung CH, Aikawa E, Pande AN, Kohler RH, Shi GP, Libby P, Weissleder R. Optical Visualization of Cathepsin K Activity in Atherosclerosis With a Novel, Protease-Activatable Fluorescence Sensor. Circulation. 2007 Apr 9; Read Abstract.

Immunology

  • Holler PD, Yamagata T, Jiang W, Feuerer M, Benoist C, Mathis D. The same genomic region conditions clonal deletion and clonal deviation to the CD8{alpha}{alpha} and regulatory T cell lineages in NOD versus C57BL/6 mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Apr 24;104(17):7187-92. Epub 2007 Apr 16. Read Abstract.

Muscular System

  • Legare F, Pfeffer CP, Olsen BR. The role of backscattering in SHG tissue imaging. Biophys J. 2007 Apr 20; Read Abstract.

Nervous System

  • Di Giorgio FP, Carrasco MA, Siao MC, Maniatis T, Eggan K. Non-cell autonomous effect of glia on motor neurons in an embryonic stem cell-based ALS model. Nat Neurosci. 2007 May;10(5):608-614. Epub 2007 Apr 15. Read Abstract.
  • Friocourt G, Liu JS, Antypa M, Rakic S, Walsh CA, Parnavelas JG. Both doublecortin and doublecortin-like kinase play a role in cortical interneuron migration. J Neurosci. 2007 Apr 4;27(14):3875-83. Read Abstract.