Glycopeptide-Based Supramolecular Hydrogels Induce Differentiation of Adipose Stem Cells into Neural Lineages.

We applied a bottom-up approach to develop biofunctional supramolecular hydrogels from an aromatic glycodipeptide. The self-assembly of the glycopeptide was induced by either temperature manipulation (heating-cooling cycle) or solvent (DMSO to water) switch. The sol-gel transition was salt-triggered in cell culture media and resulted in gels with the same chemical compositions but different mechanical properties.

LncRNAs regulating stemness in aging.

One of the most outstanding observations from next-generation sequencing approaches was that only 1.5% of our genes code for proteins. The biggest part is transcribed but give rise to different families of RNAs without coding potential.

Silencing of the lncRNA Zeb2-NAT facilitates reprogramming of aged fibroblasts and safeguards stem cell pluripotency.

Aging imposes a barrier to somatic cell reprogramming through poorly understood mechanisms. Here, we report that fibroblasts from old mice express higher levels of Zeb2, a transcription factor that activates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Synthesis of Zeb2 protein is controlled by a natural antisense transcript named Zeb2-NAT.