Simona will give a talk about new projects in the lab and work in progress at the next Nordic Developmental Biology Seminar (2nd of October 2025, 12:00).
Speaking at Nordic Developmental Biology Seminar: Simona Chera
Journal Club: Induction of experimental cell division to generate cells with reduced chromosome ploidy
by Kaykobad Hossain: in this article, researchers investigated an experimental reductive cell division process, termed mitomeiosis, wherein non-replicated (2n2c) somatic genomes are prematurely forced to divide following transplantation into the metaphase cytoplasm of enucleated human oocytes.
Journal Club: Neural xenografts contribute to long-term recovery in stroke via molecular graft-host crosstalk
by Thomas: This week’s journal club focuses on a study from Nature Communications (2025) showing that local transplantation of iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs) improves brain repair and long-term functional recovery in stroke-injured mice.
Journal Club: Amygdala–liver signalling orchestrates glycaemic responses to stress
by Ulrik: This week’s journal club focuses on a study from Nature (2025) showing that acute stress activates medial amygdala neurons that innervate the ventromedial hypothalamus, which precipitates hyperglycaemia and hypophagia.
Journal Club: HNF1A and A1CF coordinate a beta cell transcription-splicing axis that is disrupted in type 2 diabetes
This week’s journal club focuses on a study from Cell Metabolism (2025) describing a regulatory axis where HNF1A controls transcription of A1CF, which orchestrates an RNA splicing program encompassing genes that regulate β cell function.
Journal Club: Dysfunctional β-cell autophagy induces β-cell stress and enhances islet immunogenicity
This week’s journal club focuses on a study from Frontiers in Immunology (2025) aiming to assess the role of autophagy in b-cell health and survival, and whether defects in autophagy render islets more immunogenic.
Journal Club: Transplantation of chemically induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived islets under abdominal anterior rectus sheath in a type 1 diabetes patient
This week’s journal club discusses a landmark first-in-human study published in Cell (2024) investigating autologous transplantation of chemically induced pluripotent stem cell-derived islets (CiPSC-islets) for type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Journal Club: Venetoclax resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia is characterized by increased mitochondrial activity and can be overcome by co-targeting oxidative phosphorylation
by Fatemeh Rahmatabadi Venetoclax resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia is characterized by increased mitochondrial activity and can be overcome by co-targeting oxidative phosphorylation. Enzenmüller et al. explore why B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) cells sometimes resist the BCL-2 inhibitor…
Journal Club: Adhesion strength of tumor cells predicts metastatic disease in vivo
by Kaykobad Hossain: in this article, researchers applied adhesion measurements of cancer cells to predict metastatic ability in a mouse model.
Research Paper: Efficient cytoplasmic cell quantification using a semi-automated FIJI-based tool
A tour-de-force demonstrating the abilities of Lucas‘s quantitation tool (previously available as a preprint) on pancreatic islet cell quantitation is now published in Scientific Reports! The source code of SAM (semi-automated measurement tool) along with all documentation has been deposited…
Journal Club: Sex-specific differences in glucose metabolism and pancreatic function in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice: The protective role of estrogen
Can Sex Difference shape glucose regulation? by Shayla Sharmine This week’s journal club focuses on a study from Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2025) exploring the protective role of estrogen in glucose regulation. To explore the impact of sex difference,…
Journal Club: Early life high fructose impairs microglial phagocytosis and neurodevelopment
High fructose diet in early life is bad by Ulrik Larsen Inspired by a lab member constantly theorizing about HNF1A and the brain, I came across a study on how early-life high fructose exposure affects brain development, focusing on microglia…
Journal Club: CRISPR screening uncovers a central requirement for HHEX in pancreatic lineage commitment and plasticity restriction
by Lucas Unger Yang et al. demonstrate that HHEX is a lineage-restricting transcription factor essential for pancreas specification from foregut progenitors. Through CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function screening combined with hiPSC differentiation and single-cell multiomics, the study reveals that deletion of HHEX diverts…