A special issue on cell signaling, disease, and stem cells

As the basic unit of life, cells utilize signaling pathways to receive inputs from the environment and translate such information into appropriate cellular behaviors and responses. Cell signaling is also pivotal for multi-cellular organisms such as mammals, as cells need to communicate extensively among each other and with the environment in order to orchestrate appropriate actions, which are in turn integrated at the system level for the proper functioning and well-being of the organism. Thus, understanding the molecular mechanisms of cell signaling constitutes a fundamental quest of today's life science research. Not surprisingly, dysregulation of cell signaling causes many diseases such as cancer, and in such cases, a thorough understanding of the nature of cell signaling under disease states would provide an important basis to the efforts of developing novel therapeutic strategies. In this context, we are pleased to present this 2012 Cell Research Special Issue focusing on “Cell signaling, disease, and stem cells”.

[1]  Jing Zhang,et al.  Direct differentiation of atrial and ventricular myocytes from human embryonic stem cells by alternating retinoid signals , 2011, Cell Research.

[2]  Weiqi Zhang,et al.  Generation of iPSCs from mouse fibroblasts with a single gene, Oct4, and small molecules , 2011, Cell Research.

[3]  I. Sancho-Martinez,et al.  Efficient correction of hemoglobinopathy-causing mutations by homologous recombination in integration-free patient iPSCs , 2011, Cell Research.

[4]  Lei Xiao,et al.  Generation of hircine-induced pluripotent stem cells by somatic cell reprogramming , 2011, Cell Research.

[5]  Lei Xiao,et al.  Reprogramming of ovine adult fibroblasts to pluripotency via drug-inducible expression of defined factors , 2011, Cell Research.

[6]  谢欣.  Lithium, an anti-psychotic drug, greatly enhances the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells , 2011 .

[7]  P. Mali,et al.  Efficient human iPS cell derivation by a non-integrating plasmid from blood cells with unique epigenetic and gene expression signatures , 2011, Cell Research.

[8]  E. Hahm,et al.  Platelets generated from human embryonic stem cells are functional in vitro and in the microcirculation of living mice , 2011, Cell Research.

[9]  Qi Zhou,et al.  Mouse cloning and somatic cell reprogramming using electrofused blastomeres , 2011, Cell Research.

[10]  J. Chen,et al.  Rational optimization of reprogramming culture conditions for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells with ultra-high efficiency and fast kinetics , 2011, Cell Research.

[11]  Yi Zhang.  Recent progress in the epigenetics and chromatin field , 2011, Cell Research.

[12]  B. Lim,et al.  Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells from bovine embryonic fibroblast cells , 2011, Cell Research.

[13]  Fang Liu,et al.  Identification and characterization of neuroblasts in the subventricular zone and rostral migratory stream of the adult human brain , 2011, Cell Research.

[14]  Kristopher L. Nazor,et al.  Specific lectin biomarkers for isolation of human pluripotent stem cells identified through array-based glycomic analysis , 2011, Cell Research.

[15]  H. Schöler,et al.  Reprogramming fibroblasts into induced pluripotent stem cells with Bmi1 , 2011, Cell Research.

[16]  Shao-Cong Sun,et al.  A special issue on NF-κB signaling and function , 2011, Cell Research.

[17]  Jing Chen,et al.  BMPs functionally replace Klf4 and support efficient reprogramming of mouse fibroblasts by Oct4 alone , 2011, Cell Research.

[18]  Pengzhi Yu,et al.  Dynamic chromatin states in human ES cells reveal potential regulatory sequences and genes involved in pluripotency , 2011, Cell Research.