http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/nobel_h2012_yamanaka/rss Recent eScholarship items from Shinya Yamanaka, UCSF (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2012) Sun, 20 Sep 2026 20:14:48 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/95v8v6mr NANOG (from Irish mythology Tír na nÓg) transcription factor plays a central role in maintaining pluripotency, cooperating with OCT4 (also known as POU5F1 or OCT3/4), SOX2, and other pluripotency factors. Although the physiological roles of the NANOG protein have been extensively explored, biochemical and biophysical properties in relation to its structural analysis are poorly understood. Here we determined the crystal structure of the human NANOG homeodomain (hNANOG HD) bound to an OCT4 promoter DNA, which revealed amino acid residues involved in DNA recognition that are likely to be functionally important. We generated a series of hNANOG HD alanine substitution mutants based on the protein-DNA interaction and evolutionary conservation and determined their biological activities. Some mutant proteins were less stable, resulting in loss or decreased affinity for DNA binding. Overexpression of the orthologous mouse NANOG (mNANOG) mutants failed to maintain self-renewal of mouse... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/95v8v6mr Sun, 16 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000 Hayashi, Yohei Caboni, Laura Das, Debanu Yumoto, Fumiaki Clayton, Thomas Deller, Marc C Nguyen, Phuong Farr, Carol L Chiu, Hsiu-Ju Miller, Mitchell D Elsliger, Marc-André Deacon, Ashley M Godzik, Adam Lesley, Scott A Tomoda, Kiichiro Conklin, Bruce R https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1463-6061 Wilson, Ian A Yamanaka, Shinya Fletterick, Robert J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7br5z2dd Human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) are a promising tool for cardiac cell therapy. Although transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived CMs have been reported in several animal models, the treatment effect was limited, probably due to poor optimization of the injected cells. To optimize graft cells for cardiac reconstruction, we compared the engraftment efficiency of intramyocardially-injected undifferentiated-iPSCs, day4 mesodermal cells and day8, day20 and day30 purified iPSC-CMs after initial differentiation by tracing the engraftment ratio (ER) using in vivo bioluminescence imaging. This analysis revealed the ER of day20 CMs was significantly higher compared to other cells. Transplantation of day20 CMs into the infarcted hearts of immunodeficient mice showed good engraftment and echocardiography showed significant functional improvement by cell therapy. Moreover, the imaging signal and ratio of Ki67-positive CMs at 3 months post injection... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7br5z2dd Fri, 22 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000 Funakoshi, Shunsuke Miki, Kenji Takaki, Tadashi Okubo, Chikako Hatani, Takeshi Chonabayashi, Kazuhisa Nishikawa, Misato Takei, Ikue Oishi, Akiko Narita, Megumi Hoshijima, Masahiko Kimura, Takeshi Yamanaka, Shinya Yoshida, Yoshinori