FLICKR, PAUL ASMAN AND JILL LENOBLEProteome data for the coral Acropora digitifera suggest that the species have more TNF receptor-ligand superfamily (TNFSF) members—central mediators of the death receptor pathway—than “any organism described thus far, including humans,” a team led by investigators at San Diego State University (SDSU) wrote in PNAS this week (June 9). When the researchers exposed corals to a human TNFSF called HuTNFα, the protein caused apoptotic blebbing and cell death, inducing bleaching. Similarly, the researchers found, exposure of immortalized human T cells to a coral TNFSF member, AdTNF1, resulted in more cell death. The SDSU-led team concluded that coral and humans have likely shared this TNF-induced apoptotic response pathway for more than 500 million years.
“Corals are actually much more similar to humans than we ever thought,” Steven Quistad, lead author on the study, told The Scientist.
X. ZHONG. C. GUTIERREZ AND M.V. CANTO-SOLERIn a significant step toward regenerating functional retinal tissue for therapeutic applications, scientists from Johns Hopkins University have grown in culture retinal tissue, complete with functional photoreceptor cells, from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Their work was published in Nature Communications this week (June 10).
“The major advance here is the ability to make retinal cells that can respond to light and that form into what appears to be remarkably proper orientation,” said Bruce Conklin, a senior investigator with the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study.
“This is a beautifully performed set of experiments to show that human iPSCs are capable of forming retinal cells that follow the expected developmental ...
