Featured Articles

Discovery of retinoic acid receptor agonists as proliferators of cardiac progenitor cells through a phenotypic screening approach
Lauren Drowley, et al., STEM CELLS Translational Medicine

Progenitor cells are rare and difficult to isolate, and little is known about the molecular mechanisms required for their proliferation and differentiation. Identification of small molecules that selectively proliferate cardiac progenitor cells will aid in the understanding of the signaling mechanisms involved and could provide tools for regenerative therapies for the treatment of cardiac dysfunction. A phenotypic screen identified retinoic acid receptor agonists as potent proliferators of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac progenitor cells. The agonists did not proliferate human cardiac fibroblasts, the major cell type in the heart but did proliferate human pluripotent stem cells, HuES6, in a time-of-differentiation-dependent manner.

Aberrant lipid metabolism as an emerging therapeutic strategy to target cancer stem cells
Malini Visweswaran, et al., STEM CELLS

This review describes the significance of altered lipid metabolism present in cancer stem cells (CSCs) originating from various cancers. It discusses the critical metabolic modifications occurring in CSCs that enable advanced growth and tumorigenesis through enhanced dependence on fatty acid synthesis and β-oxidation to fulfill their heightened energy and biomass requirements. Furthermore, this review also summarizes the various anticancer therapeutic strategies targeting CSC lipid metabolism.