Scripps Team Uses Conventional Compounds to Create IPS Cells
A team of scientists at Scripps Research Institute led by Shen Ding has found a combination of three conventional small-molecule chemical compounds that can coax adult human cells into an embryonic-like state.The team reports that the new technique is about twice as fast as existing methods, and produces 200 times more cells per batch. The research in how to efficiently make these so-called “induced pluripotent stem cells” was sponsored by San Diego-based FateTherapeutics. It has been published online in the journal Nature Methods.
“Both in terms of speed and efficiency, we achieved major improvements overconventional conditions,” said Scripps Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding, Ph.D., who led the study. “This is the first example inhuman cells of how reprogramming speed can be accelerated. I believe that the field will quickly adopt this method, accelerating iPS cellresearch significantly.”
In addition to its significant practical advantages, the development of the technique deepens the understandingof the biology behind the transformation of adult human cells into stemcells.
The process has been licensed exclusively to Fate, of which Ding is a founder.
Bicoastal Effort Could Help Revolutionize the Search for New Therapies
A pair of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, one on each coast, has been awarded a five-year $3.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new technology to accelerate the search for new protein ligands – compounds that bind to proteins and alter their function.
Salk Scientist Wins 2009 Aging Research Award
Dr. Martin Hetzer, Hearst Endowment associate professor in the Salk Institute's Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, has received a 2009 Senior Scholar Award in Aging from the Ellison Medical Foundation. He will receive $150,000 a year for four years to study the mechanisms at work in nuclear pore complexes, channels that mediate molecular traffic between the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells.
The Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Program in Aging supports established investigators at U.S. institutions who conduct research in the basic biological sciences relevant to understanding lifespan development processes and age-related diseases and disabilities.
Genetics of Patterning the Cerebral Cortex
The cerebral cortex, the largest and most complex component of the brain, is unique to mammals and alone has evolved human specializations. Although at first all stem cells in charge of building the cerebral cortex—the outermost layer of neurons commonly referred to as gray matter—are created equal, soon they irrevocably commit to forming specific cortical regions. But how the stem cells' destiny is determined has remained an open question.
In the Oct. 11 advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report that they have identified the first genetic mechanism that determines the regional identity of progenitors tasked with generating the cerebral cortex. Their discovery reveals a critical period during which a LIM homeodomain transcription factor known as Lhx2 decides over the progenitors' regional destiny: Once the window of opportunity closes, their fate is sealed.
Mentus Presents Workshop on Annual Reports
Want to learn more about how to plan for, create and implement an online annual report? Mentus, a San Diego-based full service marketing agency, is hosting “The How To of Online Annual Reports.” Join your peers for an informal, interactive roundtable discussion. Participants include John Stoepler, President of NIRI San Diego, Rick Howe, Director of Investor Relations at BioMed Realty Trust and Martha Hough, Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations at Santarus. Learn about the pros and cons from companies who have been through the process and ask questions of them and the Mentus team of creative directors and account executives. RSVP to John Stoepler at jstoepler@mentus.com or call 858-455-5500 x220.
Scripps Names Ronald Davis Founding Chair of New Neuroscience Department
The Scripps Research Institute has named Ronald L. Davis, Ph.D., formerly the R.P. Doherty-Welch Professor of Science at Baylor College of Medicine, as the founding chair of the Department of Neuroscience on the Scripps Florida campus.
Davis is best known for his work in the areas of memory and learning, particularly on the molecular and cellular basis of memory formation and related brain disorders.
Burnham Institute Dedicates New Facility
On Oct. 8, Burnham Institute for Medical Research officially dedicated its new 175,000-square-foot scientific facility and marked the opening of Orlando’s Medical City as a life science center. Burnham at Lake Nona is the research anchor for the new development in southeast Orange County and the east coast campus of the La Jolla, Calif.-based institute.
“We’ve established a foundation by bringing new expertise to the region and forging strong alliances that will enhance and accelerate scientific opportunities,” said Dr. John Reed, Burnham’s president and CEO. “Burnham’s collaborative approach has been very successful. We have generated research funding that has resulted in significant scientific discoveries. We’re transferring that model to the Lake Nona campus in Orlando, where scientists are conducting translational research in metabolic disorders, heart disease and cancer.”
In addition to Reed, dedication speakers included Florida Governor Charlie Crist; Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer; and Malin Burnham, philanthropist.
Salk Researchers Map the First Complete Human Epigenome
Although the human genome sequence faithfully lists (almost) every single DNA base of the roughly 3 billion bases that make up a human genome, it doesn't tell biologists much about how its function is regulated. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute provide the first detailed map of the human epigenome, the layer of genetic control beyond the regulation inherent in the sequence of the genes themselves.
Scripps Research Scientists Illuminate Structure of Circulating Lung Cancer Cells
Most cancer-related deaths are caused by metastases – the spread of cancer to other parts of the body – and tumor cells that circulate in the bloodstream are generally understood to be the cause of these dangerous secondary tumors. Now, for the first time, a collaboration led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has been able to determine the structural features of circulating tumor cells, which were collected from the blood of a woman with advanced lung cancer.
The Food-Eenergy Cellular Connection Revealed
The body's activity levels fall and rise to the beat of our internal drum - the 24-hour cycle that governs fundamental physiological functions - from sleeping and feeding patterns to the energy available to our cells. Whereas the master clock in the brain is set by light, the pacemakers in peripheral organs are set by food availability. The underlying molecular mechanism was unknown.
Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies shed light on the long missing connection: A metabolic master switch, which, when thrown, allows nutrients to directly alter the rhythm of peripheral clocks.
Since the body's circadian rhythm and its metabolism are closely intertwined, the risk for metabolic disease shoots up, when they are out of sync. "Shift workers face a 100 percent increase in the risk for obesity and its consequences, such as high blood pressure, insulin resistance and an increased risk of heart attacks," says Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., a professor in the Salk Institute's Gene Expression Laboratory.