FANJIE MENG Manipulating mechanical forces alone can prompt somatic cells toward a stem cell-like state, according to researchers at the University of Buffalo in New York. Their work, published in PNAS last month (November 24), is reminiscent of the stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) papers, which were published in January and retracted in July.
Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell biologist at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in either project raised questions about this latest work. “I’m concerned in this paper and, more broadly, that the term ‘reprogramming’ is being used too loosely and without definitive evidence,” he told The Scientist.
EMBL-EBI, WANWISA DEJNIRATTISAI ET AL.A team led by investigators at Imperial College London has identified antibodies that recognize an envelope protein unique to dengue virus. The work, published in Nature Immunology this week (December 15), could inform future vaccine development efforts.
“What [our study] suggests is that it is potentially possible to provide cross-reactive immunity, and furthermore it means that we might be able to raise immunity against dengue using recombinant protein,” said study coauthor Gavin Screaton of Imperial College.
WIKIMEDIA, BRUCEBLAUSTI-2 antigens may stimulate the transcription of normally silent retroviral sequences in B cells, researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and their colleagues reported in Science this week (December 18). The retroviral expression in turn spurs B-cell proliferation and increased production of antibodies.
