TOP STORIES

Duke Researchers Find Explanation For Rapid Maturation Of Neurons At Birth
At the moment a newborn switches from amniotic fluid to breathing air, another profound shift occurs: nerve cells in the brain convert from hyperexcitability to a calm frame against which outside signals can be detected. [Duke University Health System, Durham]

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SCIENCE NEWS

New Discovery About the Formation of New Brain Cells
The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through the brain tissue. [The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg]

Stem Cell Transplants Enter Phase I Trials for CNS Disorders
Purified human neural stem cells (HuCNS-SC) are being trialled to see if they can help treat neurodegenerative disorders that primarily afflict children. [University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Children's Hospital]

Polyphenols and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Boost the Birth of New Neurons
Researchers have confirmed that a diet rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, patented as an LMN diet, helps boost the production of the brain's stem cells -neurogenesis- and strengthens their differentiation in different types of neuron cells. [Institute of Neuroscience of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona]

Cancer Metabolism Discovery Uncovers New Role of IDH1 Gene Mutation in Brain Cancer
Agios Pharmaceuticals today announced that its scientists have established, for the first time, that the mutated IDH1 gene has a novel enzyme activity consistent with a cancer-causing gene, or oncogene. [Agios Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Cambridge]

 

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS

Neuronal Subtype Specification within a Lineage by Opposing Temporal Feed-Forward Loops
Neural progenitors generate distinct cell types at different stages, but the mechanisms controlling these temporal transitions are poorly understood. In the Drosophila CNS, a cascade of transcription factors, the "temporal gene cascade," has been identified that acts to alter progenitor competence over time. [Cell]

FoxJ1-Dependent Gene Expression is Required for Differentiation of Radial Glia into Ependymal Cells and a Subset of Astrocytes in the Postnatal Brain
Results suggest that time- and cell-specific expression of FoxJ1 in the brain acts on an array of target genes to regulate the differentiation of ependymal cells and a small subset of astrocytes in the adult stem cell niche. [Development]

The Neural Stem Cell Line CTX0E03 Promotes Behavioral Recovery and Endogenous Neurogenesis After Experimental Stroke in a Dose-Dependent Fashion
This study found that the implantation of CTX0E03 human neural stem cells in rats after MCAO stroke promoted significant behavioral recovery depending on cell dose. [Neurorehabil Neural Repair]

Functional Excitatory GABAA Receptors Precede Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors in Radial Glia-like Neural Stem Cells
To investigate the expression profiles of the most important ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors, namely GABAA receptors (GABAARs), NMDA receptors (NMDARs), and AMPA receptors (AMPARs), quantitative RT-PCR, immunoblot analysis and patch clamp studies were performed in in vitro-generated neural stem cells (NSCs). [Mol Cell Neurosci]

Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule Modulates Dopaminergic Signaling and Behavior by Regulating Dopamine D2 Receptor Internalization
Results demonstrate that, in addition to its classical function in cell adhesion, neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is involved in regulating the trafficking of the neurotransmitter receptor D2R as well as receptor-mediated signaling and behavior, thus implicating NCAM as modulator of the dopaminergic system and a potential pharmacological target for dopamine-related neurological and psychiatric disorders. [J Neurosci]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. Announces Third Quarter Financial Results
Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp. today announced its financial results for the period ended September 30, 2009.

Large Companies Still Looking for Acquisition Targets, Says Cutting Edge Information
In the past year, drug makers' thirst for innovation combined with small companies' dwindling operating capital to drive merger and acquisition activity. At the high end of the scale, consolidation among industry leaders created some of the richest pharmaceutical mergers in history. 

POLICY NEWS

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (United States)

Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Biological Products
Reporting of Biological Product Deviations and Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Product Deviations in Manufacturing; Form FDA 3486 and Addendum 3486A 

EVENTS

The Biology and Pathology of Tau and its Role in Tauopathies
January 7-8, 2010
Cambridge, United Kingdom

Alzheimer's Disease Beyond Abeta
January 10-15, 2010
Copper Mountain, United States

Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference 2010
February 3-5, 2010
San Francisco, United States

Keystone Symposium B4 Stem Cell Differentiation and Dedifferentiation
February 15-20, 2010
Keystone, United States

2010 Canadian Neuroscience Meeting
May 15-18, 2010
Ottawa, Canada

ISSCR 8th Annual Meeting
June 16-19, 2010
San Francisco, United States

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