Nicotine exposure during pregnancy and shortly after birth caused lasting changes to the blood-forming stem cells and the developing immune system in mice, including a more damaging response to influenza infection later in life, researchers found.

The research team, led by Camilla Forsberg at the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA, exposed pregnant mice to nicotine to investigate the effects of perinatal nicotine exposure (PNE) to the blood building system. The researchers found that offspring exposed to nicotine had fewer blood-forming stem cells, the cells that produce mature effector immune cells and altered patterns of immune regulatory genes within these cells. These changes persisted into adulthood, even though nicotine exposure ended shortly after birth. The findings were published today in Stem Cell Reports.

Leading researchers bring expertise in hematopoietic and muscle stem cells to the ISSCR’s open access peer-reviewed journal

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) announces  the appointment of Dominique Bonnet, Ph.D., and Frederic Relaix, Ph.D., as Associate Editors of Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of the ISSCR.

Drs. Bonnet and Relaix bring internationally recognized expertise spanning hematopoietic and muscle stem cell biology, development, regeneration, disease modeling, and translational research. Their appointments further strengthen the journal’s editorial expertise across fundamental and disease-focused stem cell research.

Stem cell researchers have identified inflammatory pathways that may play a key role in driving kidney damage in diabetic kidney disease (DKD), pointing to potential new approaches for protecting the kidneys. Using stem cell-derived kidney organoids, Benjamin Freedman and colleagues from the University of Washington, USA, found that exposure to high sugar levels triggered inflammation and disrupted the organoids’ typical kidney tissue-like structure, causing individual kidney cells to detach. These changes were reminiscent of those observed in kidney biopsies and urine samples from patients with DKD. The research was published today in the peer-reviewed journal, Stem Cell Reports.