In the December issue of Cell Stem Cell, a group of researchers led by Dr. Freda Miller reported that skin-derived precursor (SKP) cells are derived from Sox2⁺ follicle-associated dermal precursors and display the functional properties predicted of a dermal stem cell, such as contributing to dermal maintenance, wound-healing and hair follicle morphogenesis.

Miller’s group transplanted adult EGFP-expressing rat Sox2⁺ or SKPs into adult NOD/SCID mouse back skin in order to track cells throughout the dermis. SKP cells, like their Sox2⁺ dermal precursors, differentiated into dermal cell types and were capable of homing back to the follicle dermal papillae (DP) and dermal sheath (DS) and expressing the correct genes for their new location. Interestingly, both Sox2⁺ and SKP cells could migrate from the DP toward a wound site in order to contribute to de novo hair follicle formation and dermal repair.

This work demonstrates a specific subpopulation of DP cells that display the properties of adult stem cells—including serial hair follicle initiation, dermal cell differentiation and skin-derived precursor production. Their multilineage differentiation and induction potential makes dermal stem cells potential candidates for the treatment of a number of diseases.

SKPs Derive from Hair Follicle Precursors and Exhibit Properties of Adult Dermal Stem Cells. Biernaskie J, Paris M, Morozova, O, Fagan BM, Marra M, Pevny L, Miller FD. Cell Stem Cell. 2009 Dec 4. [Abstract]

The McEwen Centre is awarding $450,000 in grants over a period of 3 years to support postdoctoral fellows, thanks to the support of our donors. The recipients will be involved in leading-edge research in the field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.

Congratulations to Dr. Andrea Ditadi (PI: Keller), Dr. Samer Hussein (PI: Nagy) and Dr. Mark Ungrin (PI: Zandstra) for their outstanding achievement!

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Fehlings, who recently won the Olivecrona Award for his research in the field of spinal cord injuries. This award is presented to a researcher who has made an outstanding contribution to the neurosurgical field by the Karolinska Institute, which is also responsible for Nobel Prize selection in physiology or medicine.

Dr. John Dick received two notable honours this month. On December 5, Dr. Dick was named in the “Toronto Star’s Top Ten Research Discoveries of the Decade” for his work showing the existence of colon cancer stem cells in 2006. Dr. Dick was also awarded the prestigious Clifford Prize for Cancer Research for his internationally recognized research in studying cancer stem cells that resulted in cancer research heading in new and revolutionary directions. The Clifford Prize is awarded every two years for international achievements in cancer research. It represents an appreciation by Australian scientists of seminal discoveries that lead to significant improvements in the fight against cancer.

Pfizer Canada recently announced their latest round of winners from its Cardiovascular Research Awards Program where seven recipients, including the McEwen Centre’s Dr. Rüdiger von Harsdorf, were awarded. Pfizer’s program supports independent cardiovascular research by physicians, scientists and pharmacists.

2009 has been a very productive year for the McEwen Centre and its investigators: In October the McEwen Centre, in collaboration with the Gairdner Foundation, co-sponsored the 50th Anniversary Toronto Symposium on Stem Cells, Disease Mechanisms and Future Therapies. Also this fall, in association with the Toronto Western Hospital, the McEwen Centre hosted Canadian-born actor Michael J. Fox in celebration of the latest stem cell and Parkinson’s disease research activities taking place in Toronto.

This year, McEwen Investigators have received several prestigious awards, brought in new grants, and published in high impact journals. Listed below are some of the outstanding achievements from this past year:

Individual Awards (in addition to the awards mentioned earlier in this report):

Dr. John Dick received the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize from the American Society of Hematology, in recognition of his pioneering research efforts in leukemia and hematology.

Dr. Peter Zandstra was named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for his pioneering work in the development of stem cell biology and its application. AIMBE membership includes the top two percent of experts in the medical and biological engineering field.

Notable Grants:

In the July announcement of infrastructure awards from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ontario stem cell researchers were awarded $9.9M for the development of new facilities dedicated towards the study of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

Dr. John Dick led one of two successful Canadian research teams that received funding through the Collaborative Partnership Program between the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium and The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). His team will receive close to $20M in funding over four years.

Publications in High Impact Journals:

Dr. Thomas Waddell’s group identified a new population of bone marrow cells expressing lung epithelial markers that were capable of repairing injured airway epithelium (Journal of Clinical Investigation, February).

Dr. Andras Nagy and colleagues demonstrated the successful use of piggyback transposition to deliver four transcription factors (c-Myc, Klf4, Oct4 and Sox2) to reprogram mouse and human fibroblasts, in an effort to make induced pluripotent stem cells safer and easier to produce (Nature, March).

A report published by Dr. Derek van der Kooy’s group demonstrated that BDNF, when infused into the ventral tegmental area of the brain, can induce an opiate-dependent-like reward state in rats in the absence of opiate administration, suggesting that BDNF may play a critical role in mediating the shift to a drug-dependent motivational state, a crucial step in the pathogenesis of drug addiction (Science, May).

In addition to her work published in Cell Stem Cell, described earlier in this report, Dr. Freda Miller’s group reported a major step forward in elucidating the machinery that controls the symmetric versus asymmetric division of apical progenitors (Nature Neuroscience, June).

Dr. Peter Zandstra’s group presented a novel mathematical model of blood stem cell development, finding that negative feedback signalling between differentiated cells and stem and progenitor populations is a dominant factor and that stem cell fate can be controlled non-autonomously by the dynamic perturbation of cell-cell signalling networks (Molecular Systems Biology, July).

Dr. Zandstra’s group also examined AC133, CD38 and Rhodamine expression while culturing human stem cells (HSC) in order to develop new markers and strategies for their study. His work demonstrated that the AC133⁺CD38^- phenotype is an improved strategy to enrich for and to track primitive progenitors and HSC during ex vivo culture (Blood, November).

Dr. John Dick’s laboratory found that the promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger (PLZF) plays a pivotal role in maintaining the balance between proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic specification (Genes & Development, September).

A study led by Dr. Shaf Keshavjee demonstrated that ex vivo IL-10 gene therapy in donor lungs decreases inflammation and improves lung function, potentially expanding the availability of lungs for transplant as well as improving the success of other types of transplants (Science Translational Medicine, November).

THE MCEWEN CENTRE WISHES EVERYONE HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2010!