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Cowan and colleagues have developed a method to efficiently differentiate human pluripotent stem cells into functional white or brown adipocytes, through the transient expression of PPARG2 alone or in combination with CEBP and PRDM16. The programmed cells are able to give rise to ectopic fat pads with white or brown adipose tissue characteristics.
Several specialized cell types assemble hundreds of motile cilia to accomplish their function. Kintner and colleagues identify the coiled-coil protein multicilin as an essential regulator of multicilia formation in Xenopus skin and the mammalian kidney. Their data indicate that multicilin activates the transcription of genes required for multicilia formation, including the transcription factor Foxj1.
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and activation of the unfolded protein response inhibits de novo protein translation and activates CHOP. However, the long-term induction of these pathways in response to prolonged ER stress would be detrimental. Tabas and colleagues now reveal a mechanism through which Toll-like receptor signalling suppresses CHOP activation and promotes protein translation, thus allowing cells to adapt to persistent ER stress.
