Metabolic Makeover for HSCs

NIH needs a makeover.

This elegantly carved jade face from Liangzhu in southeastern China provides an intriguing glimpse into the beliefs of the people who lived there from 3400 B.C.E. to 2250 B.C.E. As described in a special News Focus section beginning on page 930, discoveries at Liangzhu and other regions far from the traditional heartland of Chinese civilization are revealing surprisingly complex ancient culture...

Extreme makeover for Hartford's print shop.

Getting Healthier Through Microbiome Makeover

In this issue of EBioMedicine, Liping Zhao and colleagues show that children with obesity have similar gut microbiota dysbiosis regardless of their geneticmakeup,whether it is simple obesity (no underlying pathology) or genetic obesity (Prader–Willi syndrome). Furthermore, their microbiome profile can be changed by a 1-month dietary intervention. Interestingly, the authors also show that transf...

N(o)-cadherin role for HSCs.

In this issue of Blood, Bromberg et al and Greenbaum et al delete the gene encoding the cell adhesion molecule N-cadherin in osteoblastic cells forming the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche to demonstrate that N-cadherin has no role in regulating hematopoiesis.

Do HSCs divide asymmetrically?

Hematopoiesis is maintained by stem cells with the ability to both self-renew and to give rise to differentiated progeny. A proper balance between these fates is essential to prevent hematopoietic failure or uncontrolled stem cell expansion. So how do HSCs undergo self-renewal? In theory, this can occur in 2 ways; either through symmetrical cell division (SCD) where 2 new stem cells are formed,...