Gut busting discovery

It’s not often you read the word “sensational” in a news release about stem cells. But this week researchers at the University of Copenhagen released findings that are overturning long-held ideas about the development of cells in our stomachs. So perhaps calling it “sensational” is not too big a stretch.

In the past it was believed that the development of immature cells in our stomachs, before a baby is born, was predetermined, that the cells had some kind of innate sense of what they were going to become and when. Turns out that’s not the case. The researchers say it’s the cells’ environment that determines what they will become and that all cells in the fetus’ gut have the potential to turn into stem cells.

In the “sensational” news release lead author, Kim Jensen, says this finding could help in the development of new therapies.

“We used to believe that a cell’s potential for becoming a stem cell was predetermined, but our new results show that all immature cells have the same probability for becoming stem cells in the fully developed organ. In principle, it is simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Here signals from the cells’ surroundings determine their fate. If we are able to identify the signals that are necessary for the immature cell to develop into a stem cell, it will be easier for us to manipulate cells in the wanted direction’.

The study is published in the journal Nature.                             

A tale of a tail

It’s long been known that some lizards and other mammals can regrow severed limbs, but it hasn’t been clear how. Now scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK have figured out what’s going on.

Using single-cell genomics the scientists were able to track which genes are turned on and off at particular times, allowing them to watch what happens inside the tail of the African clawed frog tadpole as it regenerates the damaged limb.

They found that the response was orchestrated by a group of skin cells they called Regeneration-Organizing Cells, or ROCs. Can Aztekin, one of the lead authors of the study in the journal Science, says seeing how ROCs work could lead to new ideas on how to stimulate similar regeneration in other mammals.

“It’s an astonishing process to watch unfold. After tail amputation, ROCs migrate from the body to the wound and secrete a cocktail of growth factors that coordinate the response of tissue precursor cells. These cells then work together to regenerate a tail of the right size, pattern and cell composition.”

Orphan Drug Designation for CIRM-funded therapy

Poseida Therapeutics got some good news recently about their CIRM-funded therapy for multiple myeloma. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted them orphan drug designation.

Orphan drug designation is given to therapies targeting rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. It means the company may be eligible for grant funding toward clinical trial costs, tax advantages, FDA user-fee benefits and seven years of market exclusivity in the United States following marketing approval by the FDA.

CIRM’s President and CEO, Dr. Maria Millan, says the company is using a gene-modified cell therapy approach to help people who are not responding to traditional approaches.

“Poseida’s technology is seeking to destroy these cancerous myeloma cells with an immunotherapy approach that uses the patient’s own engineered immune system T cells to seek and destroy the myeloma cells.”

Poseida’s CEO, Eric Ostertag, said the designation is an important milestone for the company therapy which “has demonstrated outstanding potency, with strikingly low rates of toxicity in our phase 1 clinical trial. In fact, the FDA has approved fully outpatient dosing in our Phase 2 trial starting in the second quarter of 2019.”