Source; Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Date: May 27, 2010
Summary:
Scientists from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered an unprecedented method of permanently blocking cancer stem cells so they remain stem cells instead of differentiating into other types of tumor-forming cells. The discovery, published in the June issue of the journal Stem Cells, is significant because it will allow researchers to further study and characterize cancer stem cells, as well as screen drugs that could specifically target them.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Researchers create retina from human embryonic stem cells
Source: University of California - Irvine
Date: May 26, 2010
Summary:
UC Irvine scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.
In the study, researchers utilized the differentiation technique to create the multiple cell types necessary for the retina. The greatest challenge, Keirstead said, was in the engineering. To mimic early stage retinal development, the researchers needed to build microscopic gradients for solutions in which to bathe the stem cells to initiate specific differentiation paths. The UCI researchers are testing the early-stage retinas in animal models to learn how much they improve vision. Positive results would lead to human clinical trials.
The study appears online in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods.
Date: May 26, 2010
Summary:
UC Irvine scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.
In the study, researchers utilized the differentiation technique to create the multiple cell types necessary for the retina. The greatest challenge, Keirstead said, was in the engineering. To mimic early stage retinal development, the researchers needed to build microscopic gradients for solutions in which to bathe the stem cells to initiate specific differentiation paths. The UCI researchers are testing the early-stage retinas in animal models to learn how much they improve vision. Positive results would lead to human clinical trials.
The study appears online in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Discovery of stem cell illuminates human brain evolution, points to therapies
Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: May 24, 2010
Summary:
UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex – the site of higher cognitive function—and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say. Future studies of these cells are expected to shed light on developmental diseases such as autism and schizophrenia and malformations of brain development, including microcephaly, lissencephaly and neuronal migration disorders, they say, as well as age-related illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Studies also will allow scientists to track the molecular steps that the cell goes through as it evolves into the nerve cell, or neuron, it produces. This information could then be used to prompt embryonic stem cells to differentiate in the culture dish into neurons for potential use in cell-replacement therapy. The study is reported in a recent issue of the journal Nature, (vol. no. 464, 554-561; issue 7288).
Date: May 24, 2010
Summary:
UCSF scientists have discovered a new stem cell in the developing human brain. The cell produces nerve cells that help form the neocortex – the site of higher cognitive function—and likely accounts for the dramatic expansion of the region in the lineages that lead to man, the researchers say. Future studies of these cells are expected to shed light on developmental diseases such as autism and schizophrenia and malformations of brain development, including microcephaly, lissencephaly and neuronal migration disorders, they say, as well as age-related illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Studies also will allow scientists to track the molecular steps that the cell goes through as it evolves into the nerve cell, or neuron, it produces. This information could then be used to prompt embryonic stem cells to differentiate in the culture dish into neurons for potential use in cell-replacement therapy. The study is reported in a recent issue of the journal Nature, (vol. no. 464, 554-561; issue 7288).
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Harnessing the power of stem cells to unlock the secrets of motor neuron disease
Source: University of Edinburgh
Date: 24 May 2010
Summary:
University of Edinburgh researchers are leading a study that will enable them to model motor neurone disease in the laboratory.
The research focuses on a gene which, while causes motor neuron disease in a small group of inherited cases, is believed to be relevant to more than 90 per cent of cases. Scientists will model motor neurone disease in a dish by taking skin cells from patients with the hereditary TDP-43 form of the disease.
The skin cells are reprogrammed to create induced pluripotent stem cells. These are similar to embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to form different cells in the body. The cells will be differentiated to form motor neurones as well as support cells, which are believed to play a key role in the spread of the disease spread.
Date: 24 May 2010
Summary:
University of Edinburgh researchers are leading a study that will enable them to model motor neurone disease in the laboratory.
The research focuses on a gene which, while causes motor neuron disease in a small group of inherited cases, is believed to be relevant to more than 90 per cent of cases. Scientists will model motor neurone disease in a dish by taking skin cells from patients with the hereditary TDP-43 form of the disease.
The skin cells are reprogrammed to create induced pluripotent stem cells. These are similar to embryonic stem cells, which have the ability to form different cells in the body. The cells will be differentiated to form motor neurones as well as support cells, which are believed to play a key role in the spread of the disease spread.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Body’s Own Stem Cells Can Lead to Tooth Regeneration
Source: Columbia University Medical Center
Date: May 19, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK - A technique pioneered in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, can orchestrate stem cells to migrate to a three-dimensional scaffold infused with growth factor, holding the translational potential to yield an anatomically correct tooth in as soon as nine weeks once implanted.
An animal-model study has shown that by homing stem cells to a scaffold made of natural materials and integrated in surrounding tissue, there is no need to use harvested stem cell lines, or create an environment outside of the body (e.g., a Petri dish) where the tooth is grown and then implanted once it has matured. The tooth instead can be grown “orthotopically,” or in the socket where the tooth will integrate with surrounding tissue in ways that are impossible with hard metals or other materials.
This study is published in the most recent Journal of Dental Research, the top-rated, peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to the dissemination of new knowledge and information on all sciences relevant to dentistry, the oral cavity and associated structures in health and disease.
Date: May 19, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK - A technique pioneered in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, can orchestrate stem cells to migrate to a three-dimensional scaffold infused with growth factor, holding the translational potential to yield an anatomically correct tooth in as soon as nine weeks once implanted.
An animal-model study has shown that by homing stem cells to a scaffold made of natural materials and integrated in surrounding tissue, there is no need to use harvested stem cell lines, or create an environment outside of the body (e.g., a Petri dish) where the tooth is grown and then implanted once it has matured. The tooth instead can be grown “orthotopically,” or in the socket where the tooth will integrate with surrounding tissue in ways that are impossible with hard metals or other materials.
This study is published in the most recent Journal of Dental Research, the top-rated, peer-reviewed scientific journal dedicated to the dissemination of new knowledge and information on all sciences relevant to dentistry, the oral cavity and associated structures in health and disease.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Geron Annonces Positive Study Data on GRNCM1
Source: Geron Corporation
Date: May 13, 2010
Summary:
Geron Corporation reported positive preclinical study data showing that GRNCM1, Geron's cardiomyocyte product derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), does not cause cardiac arrhythmias after transplantation into a model of chronic heart damage designed to test this potential safety concern. GRNCM1 is being developed for the treatment of heart failure. The data were presented today at the 31st Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, CO by Geron collaborator Dr. Michael Laflamme from the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, WA.
Date: May 13, 2010
Summary:
Geron Corporation reported positive preclinical study data showing that GRNCM1, Geron's cardiomyocyte product derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), does not cause cardiac arrhythmias after transplantation into a model of chronic heart damage designed to test this potential safety concern. GRNCM1 is being developed for the treatment of heart failure. The data were presented today at the 31st Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, CO by Geron collaborator Dr. Michael Laflamme from the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, WA.
Aiming to cure deafness, scientists first to create functional inner-ear cells
Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: May 13, 2010
Summary:
Deep inside the ear, specialized cells called hair cells detect vibrations in the air and translate them into sound. Ten years ago, Stefan Heller, PhD, professor of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, came up with the idea that if you could create these cells in the laboratory from stem cells, it would go a long way toward helping scientists understand the molecular basis of hearing in order to develop better treatments for deafness.
After years of lab work, researchers in Heller’s lab report in the May 14 issue of Cell that they have found a way to develop mouse cells that look and act just like the animal’s inner-ear hair cells — the linchpin to our sense of hearing and balance — in a petri dish. If they can further perfect the recipe to generate hair cells in the millions, it could lead to significant scientific and clinical advances along the path to curing deafness in the future, they said.
Date: May 13, 2010
Summary:
Deep inside the ear, specialized cells called hair cells detect vibrations in the air and translate them into sound. Ten years ago, Stefan Heller, PhD, professor of otolaryngology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, came up with the idea that if you could create these cells in the laboratory from stem cells, it would go a long way toward helping scientists understand the molecular basis of hearing in order to develop better treatments for deafness.
After years of lab work, researchers in Heller’s lab report in the May 14 issue of Cell that they have found a way to develop mouse cells that look and act just like the animal’s inner-ear hair cells — the linchpin to our sense of hearing and balance — in a petri dish. If they can further perfect the recipe to generate hair cells in the millions, it could lead to significant scientific and clinical advances along the path to curing deafness in the future, they said.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
New findings complicate use of stem cells
Source: Linköping University
Date: May 11, 2010
Summary:
A hitherto unknown function that regulates how stem cells produce different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system has been discovered by researchers at Linköping University. The results improve our understanding of how stem cells work which is crucial for our ability to use stem cells to treat and repair organs. Stefan Thor, professor of Developmental Biology, and graduate students Daniel Karlsson and Magnus Baumgardt are now publishing the findings of their research in the prestigious scientific journal PLoS Biology.
Date: May 11, 2010
Summary:
A hitherto unknown function that regulates how stem cells produce different types of cells in different parts of the nervous system has been discovered by researchers at Linköping University. The results improve our understanding of how stem cells work which is crucial for our ability to use stem cells to treat and repair organs. Stefan Thor, professor of Developmental Biology, and graduate students Daniel Karlsson and Magnus Baumgardt are now publishing the findings of their research in the prestigious scientific journal PLoS Biology.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Stem cells: in search of a master controller
Source: Rice University
Date: May 7, 2010
Summary:
With thousands of scientists across the globe searching for ways to use adult stem cells to fight disease, there's a growing emphasis on finding the "master regulators" that guide the differentiation of stem cells. New research from Rice University and the University of Cambridge suggests that a closely connected trio of regulatory proteins fulfills that role in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the self-renewing cells the body uses to make new blood cells. The results appear today in the online journal PLoS Computational Biology. Working with experimentalists at Cambridge, Rice bioengineers Oleg Igoshin and Jatin Narula created a computer model that accurately describes the observed behavior of the three regulatory proteins that are collectively known as the "Scl-Gata2-Fli1 triad."
Date: May 7, 2010
Summary:
With thousands of scientists across the globe searching for ways to use adult stem cells to fight disease, there's a growing emphasis on finding the "master regulators" that guide the differentiation of stem cells. New research from Rice University and the University of Cambridge suggests that a closely connected trio of regulatory proteins fulfills that role in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the self-renewing cells the body uses to make new blood cells. The results appear today in the online journal PLoS Computational Biology. Working with experimentalists at Cambridge, Rice bioengineers Oleg Igoshin and Jatin Narula created a computer model that accurately describes the observed behavior of the three regulatory proteins that are collectively known as the "Scl-Gata2-Fli1 triad."
Transplanted Adult Stem Cells Provide Lasting Help to Injured Hearts
Source: University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Date: May 7, 2010
Summary:
HOUSTON – Human adult stem cells injected around the damage caused by a heart attack survived in the heart and improved its pumping efficiency for a year in a mouse model, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online ahead of publication in Circulation Research. The study, with researchers at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, used innovative imaging techniques developed by researchers at MD Anderson to track the stem cells’ location and performance over time.
Date: May 7, 2010
Summary:
HOUSTON – Human adult stem cells injected around the damage caused by a heart attack survived in the heart and improved its pumping efficiency for a year in a mouse model, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report online ahead of publication in Circulation Research. The study, with researchers at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, used innovative imaging techniques developed by researchers at MD Anderson to track the stem cells’ location and performance over time.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
New nerve cells - even in old age Max Planck researchers find different types of stem cells in the brains of mature and old mice
Source: Max Planck Society
Date: May 6, 2010
Summary:
After birth the brain looses many nerve cells and this continues throughout life - most neurons are formed before birth, after which many excess neurons degenerate. However, there are some cells that are still capable of division in old age - in the brains of mice, at least. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, different types of neuronal stem cells exist that can create new neurons. While they divide continuously and create new neurons in young animals, a large proportion of the cells in older animals persist in a state of dormancy. However, the production of new cells can be reactivated, for example, through physical activity or epileptic seizures. What happens in mice could also be applicable to humans as neurons that are capable of dividing also occur in the human brain into adulthood. The research is reported in the current issue of Cell Stem Cell.
Date: May 6, 2010
Summary:
After birth the brain looses many nerve cells and this continues throughout life - most neurons are formed before birth, after which many excess neurons degenerate. However, there are some cells that are still capable of division in old age - in the brains of mice, at least. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, different types of neuronal stem cells exist that can create new neurons. While they divide continuously and create new neurons in young animals, a large proportion of the cells in older animals persist in a state of dormancy. However, the production of new cells can be reactivated, for example, through physical activity or epileptic seizures. What happens in mice could also be applicable to humans as neurons that are capable of dividing also occur in the human brain into adulthood. The research is reported in the current issue of Cell Stem Cell.
Endometrial Stem Cells Restore Brain Dopamine Levels. Mouse Study May Lead to New Therapies for Parkinson’s Disease
Source: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Date: May 6, 2010
Summary:
Endometrial stem cells injected into the brains of mice with a laboratory-induced form of Parkinson’s disease appeared to take over the functioning of brain cells eradicated by the disease. The finding raises the possibility that women with Parkinson’s disease could serve as their own stem cell donors. Similarly, because endometrial stem cells are readily available and easy to collect, banks of endometrial stem cells could be stored for men and women with Parkinson’s disease.
This is the first time that researchers have successfully transplanted stem cells derived from the endometrium, or the lining of the uterus, into another kind of tissue (the brain) and shown that these cells can develop into cells with the properties of that tissue. The findings appear online in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
Date: May 6, 2010
Summary:
Endometrial stem cells injected into the brains of mice with a laboratory-induced form of Parkinson’s disease appeared to take over the functioning of brain cells eradicated by the disease. The finding raises the possibility that women with Parkinson’s disease could serve as their own stem cell donors. Similarly, because endometrial stem cells are readily available and easy to collect, banks of endometrial stem cells could be stored for men and women with Parkinson’s disease.
This is the first time that researchers have successfully transplanted stem cells derived from the endometrium, or the lining of the uterus, into another kind of tissue (the brain) and shown that these cells can develop into cells with the properties of that tissue. The findings appear online in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Bone marrow stem cells in MS show promise
Source: University of Bristol
Date: 5 May 2010
Summary:
A groundbreaking trial to test bone marrow stem cell therapy with a small group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been shown to have possible benefits for the treatment of the disease. Bone marrow stem cells have been shown in several experimental studies to have beneficial effects in disease models of MS. The research team, led by Neil Scolding, Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences for the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust, have now completed a small trial in patients with MS to begin translating these findings from the laboratory to the clinic.
The Bristol team report on this pioneering trial in an article published online in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The paper, Safety and feasibility of autologous bone marrow cellular therapy in relapsing-progressive multiple sclerosis was performed at the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.
Date: 5 May 2010
Summary:
A groundbreaking trial to test bone marrow stem cell therapy with a small group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been shown to have possible benefits for the treatment of the disease. Bone marrow stem cells have been shown in several experimental studies to have beneficial effects in disease models of MS. The research team, led by Neil Scolding, Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences for the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust, have now completed a small trial in patients with MS to begin translating these findings from the laboratory to the clinic.
The Bristol team report on this pioneering trial in an article published online in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The paper, Safety and feasibility of autologous bone marrow cellular therapy in relapsing-progressive multiple sclerosis was performed at the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre.
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