{"title":"FDA-approved fulvestrant-induced CAR phase separation enables precise control of CAR T antitumor function.","authors":"Yuwei Huang,Qichen Zhang,Kun Wang,Xiaohua Ren,Hao He,Jinjiao Wang,Li Li,Zhichao Tan,Jiayong Liu,Guangya Zhu,Haopeng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.005","url":null,"abstract":"Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy faces challenges, such as tumor relapse due to antigen loss and poor CAR T cell expansion in vivo. Optimal tonic signaling (spontaneous CAR signaling) is crucial for CAR T cell fitness and antitumor function, requiring precise calibration to avoid dysfunction or exhaustion. Although CAR phase separation can enhance CAR clustering and tonic signaling to improve cytotoxicity and antigen sensitivity, constitutively high signaling could lead to potential side effects, including cytokine storm and neuronal toxicity. To overcome this limitation, we developed a drug-inducible phase-separation CAR (iPhase-CAR) system utilizing FDA-approved fulvestrant and an engineered estrogen receptor α (ERα) mutant as the drug-inducible phase-separation (DiPS) module. Incorporating the DiPS module into CARs enables drug-inducible clustering of CARs on T cell membranes. iPhase-CAR T cells demonstrate superior antitumor function. This system provides quantitative, reversible promotion of CAR T effector functions, enabling precise control over therapeutic efficacy only upon administration of the FDA-approved drug.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148415957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell stem cellPub Date : 2026-07-10DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.001
Eoin C Whelan,Mingyue Guo,Ryo Yokomizo,Yasunari Seita,Young Sun Hwang,Yuichiro Shirafuta,N Adrian Leu,Keren Cheng,Franziska Ahrend,Astrid D Haase,Kotaro Sasaki
{"title":"Generation of spermatogonia from human and non-human primate pluripotent stem cells.","authors":"Eoin C Whelan,Mingyue Guo,Ryo Yokomizo,Yasunari Seita,Young Sun Hwang,Yuichiro Shirafuta,N Adrian Leu,Keren Cheng,Franziska Ahrend,Astrid D Haase,Kotaro Sasaki","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"Failures in germline development drive male infertility, but the lack of model systems that recapitulate human spermatogenesis hampers therapeutic development. Here, we develop a system to differentiate human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into primordial germ cell-like cells that self-organize with mouse fetal testicular cells into seminiferous tubule-like structures within a xenogeneic reconstituted testis (xrTestis). Subsequent transplantation of xrTestes into immunodeficient mice results in efficient generation of male germ cells up to meiotic onset, including spermatogonia with evidence of prepachytene PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) biogenesis, as well as differentiating spermatogonia and rare preleptotene spermatocytes exhibiting transcriptomic and phenotypic similarities to their in vivo counterparts. As future clinical applications will require testing in non-human primates, we apply a similar strategy to differentiate rhesus iPSCs through fetal germ cell stages into spermatogonia and differentiating spermatogonia. Together, these platforms provide a foundation for studying primate germ cell lineages and represent a step toward in vitro gametogenesis.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"321 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148415958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell stem cellPub Date : 2026-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.015
Lu Wang,Yan Pang,Jinyao Liu
{"title":"From reconstruction to intervention: Engineered organoids as living therapeutic depots.","authors":"Lu Wang,Yan Pang,Jinyao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.015","url":null,"abstract":"Wang et al. engineer mammary organoids as anticancer drug-secreting depots that inhibit post-surgical tumor recurrence and regenerate functional mammary gland tissue.1 This work extends the therapeutic utility of organoids beyond tissue reconstruction into living therapeutic depots, establishing a strategy to exploit intrinsic physiological processes of the organoids for therapeutic intervention.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"169 1","pages":"1060-1061"},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148372708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell stem cellPub Date : 2026-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.008
Kevin Achberger,Stefan Liebau
{"title":"From repair to relay: Human retinal organoids re-couple a severed optic nerve.","authors":"Kevin Achberger,Stefan Liebau","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.008","url":null,"abstract":"Restoring vision after complete optic nerve transection has long seemed out of reach. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Gong et al.1 now show that human retinal organoids transplanted into the lesion form a chimeric host-graft bridge capable of supporting partial, graft-dependent visual function in adult rats.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"14 1","pages":"1047-1048"},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148372707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell stem cellPub Date : 2026-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.004
Haiyan Zhou,Yuxi Wei,Dachuan Zhang
{"title":"Outside the niche: Gut microbiota relay psychological stress to hematopoietic stem cell dysfunction.","authors":"Haiyan Zhou,Yuxi Wei,Dachuan Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.004","url":null,"abstract":"Hematopoietic stem cells integrate local and systemic cues to sustain blood homeostasis. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Tian et al.1 uncover a stress-responsive brain-gut-bone marrow axis that drives aging-like dysfunction of hematopoietic stem cells.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"11 1","pages":"1051-1053"},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148372703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Psychological stress drives aging-like hematopoietic stem cell dysfunction through a brain-gut-bone marrow axis.","authors":"Xiaobin Tian,Binghuo Wu,Keyue Yang,Ying Wang,Yishan Li,Jingjing Guan,Kaitao Wang,Yijun Zhao,Kexin Sun,Yanjun Ling,Jiayin Zheng,Mengyun Xie,Weiming Liu,Xiaojing Ye,Changzheng Li,Linjia Jiang,Meng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.05.012","url":null,"abstract":"Chronic stress influences hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). However, how psychological stress regulates HSC function remains incompletely understood. Here, we show that psychological stress impairs HSC self-renewal and lymphoid differentiation, inducing aging-like phenotypes. Stress suppresses neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and periaqueductal gray (PAG), leading to HSC dysfunction, whereas chemogenetic activation of these regions restores HSC function. Psychological stress or chemogenetic inhibition of the mPFC and PAG reduces the abundance of L. reuteri in the gut microbiota and lowers spermidine levels. Mechanistically, spermidine depletion suppresses mitochondrial autophagy, promotes mitochondrial peroxidative stress, and increases ferroptotic stress in HSCs. We further demonstrate that mPFC and PAG activity regulate the intestinal environment through a sympathetic pathway, reducing intestinal mucin levels, L. reuteri abundance, and spermidine levels. These findings identify a brain-gut-bone marrow axis linking psychological stress to aging-like HSC dysfunction through sympathetic regulation of intestinal microbiota and spermidine metabolism.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"11 1","pages":"1205-1222.e11"},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148372701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cell stem cellPub Date : 2026-07-02DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.003
Sol Díaz de León-Guerrero,Zhiping P Pang
{"title":"Modeling human hypothalamic cell diversity through developmental patterning.","authors":"Sol Díaz de León-Guerrero,Zhiping P Pang","doi":"10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2026.06.003","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding the cellular diversity of the human hypothalamus has been limited by the lack of accessible models. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Abay-Nørgaard et al.1 demonstrate that temporal control of BMP signaling during human pluripotent stem cell differentiation generates diverse hypothalamic populations, providing a platform to study human hypothalamic development and function.","PeriodicalId":9665,"journal":{"name":"Cell stem cell","volume":"78 1","pages":"1049-1050"},"PeriodicalIF":23.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148372702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}