Source: University of California - Davis
Date: July 23, 2013
Summary:
Showing posts with label embryonic stem cells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label embryonic stem cells. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
A New Weapon Against Stroke: Stem Cell Study Uncovers the Brain-protective Powers of Astrocytes
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Stem Cell Injections Improve Spinal Injuries in Rats
Source: University of California - San Diego
Date: May 28, 2013
Summary:
An international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that a single injection of human neural stem cells produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The findings are published in the May 28, 2013 online issue of Stem Cell Research & Therapy.
The rats received the pure stem cell grafts three days after injury (no other supporting materials were used) and were given drugs to suppress an immune response to the foreign stem cells. Marsala said grafting at any time after the injury appears likely to work in terms of blocking the formation of spinal injury cavities, but that more work would be required to determine how timing affects functional neurological benefit. The human stem cells, said the scientists, appeared to vigorously take root at the injury site. Scientists observed the grafted stem cells appeared to be doing two things: stimulating host neuron regeneration and partially replacing the function of lost neurons.
The scientists used a line of human embryonic stem cells recently approved for Phase 1 human trials in patients with chronic traumatic spinal injuries. Marsala said the ultimate goal is to develop neural precursor cells (capable of becoming any of the three main cell types in the nervous system) from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patients, which would likely eliminate the need for immunosuppression treatment.
Pending approval by UC San Diego’s Institutional Review Board, the next step is a small phase 1 trial to test safety and efficacy with patients who have suffered a thoracic spinal cord injury (between vertebrae T2-T12) one to two years earlier, and who have no motor or sensory function at or below the spinal injury site.
Date: May 28, 2013
Summary:
An international team led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reports that a single injection of human neural stem cells produced neuronal regeneration and improvement of function and mobility in rats impaired by an acute spinal cord injury (SCI). The findings are published in the May 28, 2013 online issue of Stem Cell Research & Therapy.
The rats received the pure stem cell grafts three days after injury (no other supporting materials were used) and were given drugs to suppress an immune response to the foreign stem cells. Marsala said grafting at any time after the injury appears likely to work in terms of blocking the formation of spinal injury cavities, but that more work would be required to determine how timing affects functional neurological benefit. The human stem cells, said the scientists, appeared to vigorously take root at the injury site. Scientists observed the grafted stem cells appeared to be doing two things: stimulating host neuron regeneration and partially replacing the function of lost neurons.
Pending approval by UC San Diego’s Institutional Review Board, the next step is a small phase 1 trial to test safety and efficacy with patients who have suffered a thoracic spinal cord injury (between vertebrae T2-T12) one to two years earlier, and who have no motor or sensory function at or below the spinal injury site.
Monday, January 07, 2013
BioTime Signs Definitive Agreement With Geron Regarding Stem Cell Assets
Source: BioTime Inc.
Date: January 7, 2013
Summary:
ALAMEDA, Calif.-- BioTime, Inc. and its recently formed subsidiary BioTime Acquisition Corporation (BAC) jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive Asset Contribution Agreement with Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) to acquire the intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, and other assets related to Geron’s human embryonic stem (hES) cell programs consistent with the financial terms outlined in the letter of intent announced on November 15, 2012.
Date: January 7, 2013
Summary:
ALAMEDA, Calif.-- BioTime, Inc. and its recently formed subsidiary BioTime Acquisition Corporation (BAC) jointly announced today that they have entered into a definitive Asset Contribution Agreement with Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) to acquire the intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, and other assets related to Geron’s human embryonic stem (hES) cell programs consistent with the financial terms outlined in the letter of intent announced on November 15, 2012.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Human embryonic stem cells could help to treat deafness
Source: University of Sheffield
Date: 12 September 2012
Summary:
In research funded by the Medical Research Council and leading UK research charity, Action on Hearing Loss, experts from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Sciences developed a method to turn human embryonic stem cells into ear cells. They then transplanted them into deaf gerbils, obtaining a functional recovery that, on average, was of around 46 per cent. The improvement was evident about four weeks after administering the cells. As well as proving that stem cells can be used to repair damaged hearing, it is hoped the breakthrough – published in the journal Nature – will lead to new treatments and therapies in the future.
Date: 12 September 2012
Summary:
In research funded by the Medical Research Council and leading UK research charity, Action on Hearing Loss, experts from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Sciences developed a method to turn human embryonic stem cells into ear cells. They then transplanted them into deaf gerbils, obtaining a functional recovery that, on average, was of around 46 per cent. The improvement was evident about four weeks after administering the cells. As well as proving that stem cells can be used to repair damaged hearing, it is hoped the breakthrough – published in the journal Nature – will lead to new treatments and therapies in the future.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
First Lung Cells Grown Using Stem Cell Technology
Source: The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)
Date: August 26, 2012
Summary:
New stem cell research paves the way towards individualized medicine for patients with cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases. The study, led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), is the first to successfully use stem cells to produce mature lung cells that could potentially be used to study the disease and test drugs. The study is published in the August 26 advance online edition of Nature Biotechnology.
Researchers were able to induce human embryonic stem cells to become mature lung cells, that contained a gene, called CFTR that when mutated is responsible for cystic fibrosis (CFTR gene was discovered at SickKids in 1989). They then took the experiment a step further, by using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from the skin of patients with cystic fibrosis. They prompted these stem cells to become lung cells, which contain mutations specific to the patients involved. (Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells genetically induced to function like embryonic stem cells.)
Once researchers found that they could create lung cells derived from individual patients they then used a compound that resembles an investigational drug that is currently being tested for cystic fibrosis to see if it would rescue the CFTR gene mutation.
The Winnipeg Free Press published a news story today on this development.
Date: August 26, 2012
Summary:
New stem cell research paves the way towards individualized medicine for patients with cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases. The study, led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), is the first to successfully use stem cells to produce mature lung cells that could potentially be used to study the disease and test drugs. The study is published in the August 26 advance online edition of Nature Biotechnology.
Researchers were able to induce human embryonic stem cells to become mature lung cells, that contained a gene, called CFTR that when mutated is responsible for cystic fibrosis (CFTR gene was discovered at SickKids in 1989). They then took the experiment a step further, by using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from the skin of patients with cystic fibrosis. They prompted these stem cells to become lung cells, which contain mutations specific to the patients involved. (Induced pluripotent stem cells are adult cells genetically induced to function like embryonic stem cells.)
Once researchers found that they could create lung cells derived from individual patients they then used a compound that resembles an investigational drug that is currently being tested for cystic fibrosis to see if it would rescue the CFTR gene mutation.
The Winnipeg Free Press published a news story today on this development.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Stem Cells Can Become Anything, but Not Without This Protein
Source: University of Michigan Health System
Date: August 21, 2012
Summary:
How do stem cells preserve their ability to become any type of cell in the body? And how do they "decide" to give up that magical state and start specializing? If researchers could answer these questions, our ability to harness stem cells to treat disease could explode. Now, a University of Michigan Medical School team has published a key discovery that could help that goal become reality.
In the current issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, researcher Yali Dou, Ph.D., and her team show the crucial role of a protein called Mof in preserving the 'stem-ness' of stem cells, and priming them to become specialized cells in mice.
Their results show that Mof plays a key role in the "epigenetics" of stem cells -- that is, helping stem cells read and use their DNA. One of the key questions in stem cell research is what keeps stem cells in a kind of eternal youth, and then allows them to start "growing up" to be a specific type of tissue.
The researchers have zeroed in on the factors that add temporary tags to DNA when it's coiled around tiny spools called histones. In order to read their DNA, cells have to unwind it a bit from those spools, allowing the gene-reading mechanisms to get access to the genetic code and transcribe it. The temporary tags added by Mof act as tiny beacons, guiding the "reader" mechanism to the right place.
Date: August 21, 2012
Summary:
How do stem cells preserve their ability to become any type of cell in the body? And how do they "decide" to give up that magical state and start specializing? If researchers could answer these questions, our ability to harness stem cells to treat disease could explode. Now, a University of Michigan Medical School team has published a key discovery that could help that goal become reality.
In the current issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, researcher Yali Dou, Ph.D., and her team show the crucial role of a protein called Mof in preserving the 'stem-ness' of stem cells, and priming them to become specialized cells in mice.
Their results show that Mof plays a key role in the "epigenetics" of stem cells -- that is, helping stem cells read and use their DNA. One of the key questions in stem cell research is what keeps stem cells in a kind of eternal youth, and then allows them to start "growing up" to be a specific type of tissue.
The researchers have zeroed in on the factors that add temporary tags to DNA when it's coiled around tiny spools called histones. In order to read their DNA, cells have to unwind it a bit from those spools, allowing the gene-reading mechanisms to get access to the genetic code and transcribe it. The temporary tags added by Mof act as tiny beacons, guiding the "reader" mechanism to the right place.
Sunday, August 05, 2012
Heart muscle cell grafts suppress arrhythmias after heart attacks in animal study Transplanted heart cells
Source: University of Washington
Date: August 5, 2012
Summary:
Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. They discovered that transplanted heart muscle cells, grown from stem cells, electrically couple and beat in sync with the heart’s own muscle. The grafts also reduced the incidence of arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms) in a guinea pig model of myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). This finding from University of Washington-led research is reported in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature.
Date: August 5, 2012
Summary:
Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. They discovered that transplanted heart muscle cells, grown from stem cells, electrically couple and beat in sync with the heart’s own muscle. The grafts also reduced the incidence of arrhythmias (irregular heart rhythms) in a guinea pig model of myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). This finding from University of Washington-led research is reported in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Embryonic Blood Vessels That Make Blood Stem Cells Can Also Make Beating Heart Muscles
Source: University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Date: August 2, 2012
Summary:
UCLA stem cell researchers have found for the first time a surprising and unexpected plasticity in the embryonic endothelium, the place where blood stem cells are made in early development. Scientists found that the lack of one transcription factor, a type of gene that controls cell fate by regulating other genes, allows the precursors that normally generate blood stem and progenitor cells in blood forming tissues to become something very unexpected -- beating cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells.
The finding is important because it suggests that the endothelium can serve as a source of heart muscle cells. The finding may provide new understanding of how to make cardiac stem cells for use in regenerative medicine. The two-year study is published Aug. 3, 2012 in the peer-reviewed journal Cell.
Date: August 2, 2012
Summary:
UCLA stem cell researchers have found for the first time a surprising and unexpected plasticity in the embryonic endothelium, the place where blood stem cells are made in early development. Scientists found that the lack of one transcription factor, a type of gene that controls cell fate by regulating other genes, allows the precursors that normally generate blood stem and progenitor cells in blood forming tissues to become something very unexpected -- beating cardiomyocytes, or heart muscle cells.
The finding is important because it suggests that the endothelium can serve as a source of heart muscle cells. The finding may provide new understanding of how to make cardiac stem cells for use in regenerative medicine. The two-year study is published Aug. 3, 2012 in the peer-reviewed journal Cell.
Mending a Broken Heart -- With a Molecule That Turns Stem Cells Into Heart Cells
Source: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Date: August 2, 2012
Summary:
Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), the Human BioMolecular Research Institute, and ChemRegen, Inc. have been searching for molecules that convert stem cells to heart cells for about eight years -- and now they've found one. Writing in the August 3 issue of Cell Stem Cell, the team describes how they sifted through a large collection of drug-like chemicals and uncovered ITD-1, a molecule that can be used to generate unlimited numbers of new heart cells from stem cells.
Date: August 2, 2012
Summary:
Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), the Human BioMolecular Research Institute, and ChemRegen, Inc. have been searching for molecules that convert stem cells to heart cells for about eight years -- and now they've found one. Writing in the August 3 issue of Cell Stem Cell, the team describes how they sifted through a large collection of drug-like chemicals and uncovered ITD-1, a molecule that can be used to generate unlimited numbers of new heart cells from stem cells.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Regulation of Telomerase in Stem Cells and Cancer Cells
Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Date: June 27, 2012
Summary:
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics have gained important insights for stem cell research which are also applicable to human tumours and could lead to the development of new treatments. Researchers discovered a molecular link exists between the telomerase that determines the length of the telomeres and a signalling pathway known as the Wnt/β-signalling pathway.
The researchers demonstrated that β-catenin regulates the telomerase gene directly, and has explained the molecular mechanism at work here. Embryonic stem cells with mutated β-catenin generate more telomerase and have extended telomeres, while cells without β-catenin have low levels of telomerase and have shortened telomeres. This regulation mechanism can also be found in human cancer cells. These discoveries could lead to the development of a new approach to the treatment of human tumours.
Date: June 27, 2012
Summary:
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics have gained important insights for stem cell research which are also applicable to human tumours and could lead to the development of new treatments. Researchers discovered a molecular link exists between the telomerase that determines the length of the telomeres and a signalling pathway known as the Wnt/β-signalling pathway.
The researchers demonstrated that β-catenin regulates the telomerase gene directly, and has explained the molecular mechanism at work here. Embryonic stem cells with mutated β-catenin generate more telomerase and have extended telomeres, while cells without β-catenin have low levels of telomerase and have shortened telomeres. This regulation mechanism can also be found in human cancer cells. These discoveries could lead to the development of a new approach to the treatment of human tumours.
Stem Cells Can Beat Back Diabetes
Source: University of British Columbia
Date: June 27, 2012
Summary:
University of British Columbia scientists, in collaboration with an industry partner, have successfully reversed diabetes in mice using stem cells, paving the way for a breakthrough treatment for a disease that affects nearly one in four Canadians.
The research is the first to show that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. Crucially, they re-created the “feedback loop” that enables insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on blood glucose levels. The study is published online today in the journal Diabetes.
After the stem cell transplant, the diabetic mice were weaned off insulin, a procedure designed to mimic human clinical conditions. Three to four months later, the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even when being fed large quantities of sugar. Transplanted cells removed from the mice after several months had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.
Date: June 27, 2012
Summary:
University of British Columbia scientists, in collaboration with an industry partner, have successfully reversed diabetes in mice using stem cells, paving the way for a breakthrough treatment for a disease that affects nearly one in four Canadians.
The research is the first to show that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse diabetes in mice. Crucially, they re-created the “feedback loop” that enables insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on blood glucose levels. The study is published online today in the journal Diabetes.
After the stem cell transplant, the diabetic mice were weaned off insulin, a procedure designed to mimic human clinical conditions. Three to four months later, the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even when being fed large quantities of sugar. Transplanted cells removed from the mice after several months had all the markings of normal insulin-producing pancreatic cells.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Blood-Brain Barrier Building Blocks Forged from Human Stem Cells
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date: June 24, 2012
Summary:
The blood-brain barrier -- the filter that governs what can and cannot come into contact with the mammalian brain -- is a marvel of nature. It effectively separates circulating blood from the fluid that bathes the brain, and it keeps out bacteria, viruses and other agents that could damage it. But the barrier can be disrupted by disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis, for example, and also is a big challenge for medicine, as it can be difficult or impossible to get therapeutic molecules through the barrier to treat neurological disorders.
Now, however, the blood-brain barrier may be poised to give up some of its secrets as researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created in the laboratory dish the cells that make up the brain's protective barrier. Writing in the June 24, 2012 edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology, the Wisconsin researchers describe transforming stem cells into endothelial cells with blood-brain barrier qualities.
The research team coaxed both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to form the endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier. The use of induced cells, which can come from patients with specific neurological conditions, may be especially important for modeling disorders that compromise the blood-brain barrier. What's more, because the cells can be mass produced, they could be used to devise high-throughput screens for molecules that may have therapeutic value for neurological conditions or to identify existing drugs that may have neurotoxic qualities.
Date: June 24, 2012
Summary:
The blood-brain barrier -- the filter that governs what can and cannot come into contact with the mammalian brain -- is a marvel of nature. It effectively separates circulating blood from the fluid that bathes the brain, and it keeps out bacteria, viruses and other agents that could damage it. But the barrier can be disrupted by disease, stroke and multiple sclerosis, for example, and also is a big challenge for medicine, as it can be difficult or impossible to get therapeutic molecules through the barrier to treat neurological disorders.
Now, however, the blood-brain barrier may be poised to give up some of its secrets as researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created in the laboratory dish the cells that make up the brain's protective barrier. Writing in the June 24, 2012 edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology, the Wisconsin researchers describe transforming stem cells into endothelial cells with blood-brain barrier qualities.
The research team coaxed both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to form the endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier. The use of induced cells, which can come from patients with specific neurological conditions, may be especially important for modeling disorders that compromise the blood-brain barrier. What's more, because the cells can be mass produced, they could be used to devise high-throughput screens for molecules that may have therapeutic value for neurological conditions or to identify existing drugs that may have neurotoxic qualities.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
'Magical State' of Embryonic Stem Cells May Help Overcome Hurdles to Therapeutics
Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: June 13, 2012
Summary:
LA JOLLA, CA—With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.
In a paper published June 13 in Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report discovering that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development, during which a battery of genes essential for cell potency (the ability of a generic cell to differentiate, or develop, into a cell with specialized functions) is activated. This unique condition, called totipotency, gives ES cells their unique ability to turn into any cell type in the body, thus making them attractive therapeutic targets.
Date: June 13, 2012
Summary:
LA JOLLA, CA—With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.
In a paper published June 13 in Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report discovering that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development, during which a battery of genes essential for cell potency (the ability of a generic cell to differentiate, or develop, into a cell with specialized functions) is activated. This unique condition, called totipotency, gives ES cells their unique ability to turn into any cell type in the body, thus making them attractive therapeutic targets.
Monday, May 28, 2012
New Stem Cell Technique Promises Abundance of Key Heart Cells
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date: May 28, 2012
Summary:
A team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes a way to transform human stem cells -- both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells -- into the critical heart muscle cells by simple manipulation of one key developmental pathway. The technique promises a uniform, inexpensive and far more efficient alternative to the complex bath of serum or growth factors now used to nudge blank slate stem cells to become specialized heart cells. in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The capacity to make the heart cells using induced pluripotent stem cells, which can come from adult patients with diseased hearts, means scientists will be able to more readily model those diseases in the laboratory. Such cells contain the genetic profile of the patient, and so can be used to recreate the disease in the lab dish for study. Cardiomyocytes are difficult or impossible to obtain directly from the hearts of patients and, when obtained, survive only briefly in the lab. Scientists also have high hopes that one day healthy lab-grown heart cells can be used to replace the cardiomyocytes that die as a result of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
Date: May 28, 2012
Summary:
A team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes a way to transform human stem cells -- both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells -- into the critical heart muscle cells by simple manipulation of one key developmental pathway. The technique promises a uniform, inexpensive and far more efficient alternative to the complex bath of serum or growth factors now used to nudge blank slate stem cells to become specialized heart cells. in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The capacity to make the heart cells using induced pluripotent stem cells, which can come from adult patients with diseased hearts, means scientists will be able to more readily model those diseases in the laboratory. Such cells contain the genetic profile of the patient, and so can be used to recreate the disease in the lab dish for study. Cardiomyocytes are difficult or impossible to obtain directly from the hearts of patients and, when obtained, survive only briefly in the lab. Scientists also have high hopes that one day healthy lab-grown heart cells can be used to replace the cardiomyocytes that die as a result of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
Monday, May 14, 2012
New York Stem Cell Foundation Scientist Grows Bone From Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Source: New York Stem Cell Foundation
Date: May 14, 2012
Summary:
NEW YORK, NY -- Dr. Darja Marolt, an Investigator at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory, is lead author on a study showing that human embryonic stem cells can be used to grow bone tissue grafts for use in research and potential therapeutic application. Dr. Marolt conducted this research as a post-doctoral NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Gordana Vunjak- Novakovic.
The study, published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of May 14th, is the first example of using bone cell progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells to grow compact bone tissue in quantities large enough to repair centimeter-sized defects. When implanted in mice and studied over time, the implanted bone tissue supported blood vessel ingrowth, and continued development of normal bone structure, without demonstrating any incidence of tumor growth.
Date: May 14, 2012
Summary:
NEW YORK, NY -- Dr. Darja Marolt, an Investigator at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Laboratory, is lead author on a study showing that human embryonic stem cells can be used to grow bone tissue grafts for use in research and potential therapeutic application. Dr. Marolt conducted this research as a post-doctoral NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellow at Columbia University in the laboratory of Dr. Gordana Vunjak- Novakovic.
The study, published in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of May 14th, is the first example of using bone cell progenitors derived from human embryonic stem cells to grow compact bone tissue in quantities large enough to repair centimeter-sized defects. When implanted in mice and studied over time, the implanted bone tissue supported blood vessel ingrowth, and continued development of normal bone structure, without demonstrating any incidence of tumor growth.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Regenerative Medicine: Could the Ways Animals Regenerate Hair and Feathers Help Restore Human Fingers and Toes?
Source: American Physiological Society
Date: May 10, 2012
Summary:
The latest issue of the journal Physiology contains a review article that looks at possible routes that unlock cellular regeneration in general, and the principles by which hair and feathers regenerate themselves in particular. The authors apply what is currently known about regenerative biology to the emerging field of regenerative medicine, which is being transformed from fantasy to reality.
Importance of the Findings
The reviewed studies suggest that while researchers are making headway in understanding how and why hair and feathers regenerate after normal loss or in response to different life stages, much still remains unknown. This missing knowledge could hold valuable clues to learning how to regenerate much more complicated and valuable structures after loss to injury, such as fingers and toes.
Date: May 10, 2012
Summary:
The latest issue of the journal Physiology contains a review article that looks at possible routes that unlock cellular regeneration in general, and the principles by which hair and feathers regenerate themselves in particular. The authors apply what is currently known about regenerative biology to the emerging field of regenerative medicine, which is being transformed from fantasy to reality.
Importance of the Findings
The reviewed studies suggest that while researchers are making headway in understanding how and why hair and feathers regenerate after normal loss or in response to different life stages, much still remains unknown. This missing knowledge could hold valuable clues to learning how to regenerate much more complicated and valuable structures after loss to injury, such as fingers and toes.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Stem cell researchers map new knowledge about insulin production
Source: University of Copenhagen
Date: April 26, 2012
Summary:
Scientists from The Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem) at the University of Copenhagen and Hagedorn Research Institute have gained new insight into the signaling paths that control the body's insulin production. This is important knowledge with respect to their final goal: the conversion of stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells that can be implanted into patients who need them. The research results have just been published in the well-respected journal PNAS.
Insulin is a hormone produced by beta cells in the pancreas. If these beta cells are defective, the body develops diabetes. Insulin is vital to life and therefore today the people who cannot produce their own in sufficient quantities, or at all, receive carefully measured doses – often via several daily injections. Scientists hope that in the not-so-distant future it will be possible to treat diabetes more effectively and prevent secondary diseases such as cardiac disease, blindness and nerve and kidney complications by offering diabetes patients implants of new, well-functioning, stem-cell-based beta cells.
This new knowledge about the characteristics of the Notch signaling mechanism will enable scientists to design new experimental ways to cultivate stem cells so that they can be more effectively converted into insulin-producing beta cells.
Date: April 26, 2012
Summary:
Scientists from The Danish Stem Cell Center (DanStem) at the University of Copenhagen and Hagedorn Research Institute have gained new insight into the signaling paths that control the body's insulin production. This is important knowledge with respect to their final goal: the conversion of stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells that can be implanted into patients who need them. The research results have just been published in the well-respected journal PNAS.
Insulin is a hormone produced by beta cells in the pancreas. If these beta cells are defective, the body develops diabetes. Insulin is vital to life and therefore today the people who cannot produce their own in sufficient quantities, or at all, receive carefully measured doses – often via several daily injections. Scientists hope that in the not-so-distant future it will be possible to treat diabetes more effectively and prevent secondary diseases such as cardiac disease, blindness and nerve and kidney complications by offering diabetes patients implants of new, well-functioning, stem-cell-based beta cells.
This new knowledge about the characteristics of the Notch signaling mechanism will enable scientists to design new experimental ways to cultivate stem cells so that they can be more effectively converted into insulin-producing beta cells.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Researchers Derive Purified Lung and Thyroid Progenitors from Embryonic Stem Cells
Source: Boston University Medical Center
Date: April 5, 2012
Summary:
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have derived a population of pure lung and thyroid progenitor cells in vitro that successfully mimic the developmental milestones of lung and thyroid tissue formation. The research, which will be published in the April 6 edition of the journal Cell Stem Cell, identifies factors necessary for embryonic stem cells to differentiate into lung progenitor cells and provides key information about how the tissue engineering technology can be used to develop new gene and cell-based therapies to treat lung diseases.
Date: April 5, 2012
Summary:
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) have derived a population of pure lung and thyroid progenitor cells in vitro that successfully mimic the developmental milestones of lung and thyroid tissue formation. The research, which will be published in the April 6 edition of the journal Cell Stem Cell, identifies factors necessary for embryonic stem cells to differentiate into lung progenitor cells and provides key information about how the tissue engineering technology can be used to develop new gene and cell-based therapies to treat lung diseases.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Embryonic Stem Cells Shift Metabolism in Cancer-Like Way Upon Implanting in Uterus
Source: University of Washington
Date: March 23, 2012
Summary:
Shortly after a mouse embryo starts to form, some of its stem cells undergo a dramatic metabolic shift to enter the next stage of development, University of Washington researchers have reported. These stem cells start using and producing energy like cancer cells. This discovery is recently published in EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organization journal.
The metabolic transition they discovered occurs very early as the mouse embryo, barely more than a speck of dividing cells, implants in the mother's uterus. The change is driven by low oxygen conditions, Ruohola-Baker explained.
The researchers also saw a specific type of biochemical slowdown in the stem cells' mitochondria -- the cells' powerhouses. The phenomenon previously was associated with aging and disease. This was the first example of the same downshift controlling normal early embryonic development.
Date: March 23, 2012
Summary:
Shortly after a mouse embryo starts to form, some of its stem cells undergo a dramatic metabolic shift to enter the next stage of development, University of Washington researchers have reported. These stem cells start using and producing energy like cancer cells. This discovery is recently published in EMBO, the European Molecular Biology Organization journal.
The metabolic transition they discovered occurs very early as the mouse embryo, barely more than a speck of dividing cells, implants in the mother's uterus. The change is driven by low oxygen conditions, Ruohola-Baker explained.
The researchers also saw a specific type of biochemical slowdown in the stem cells' mitochondria -- the cells' powerhouses. The phenomenon previously was associated with aging and disease. This was the first example of the same downshift controlling normal early embryonic development.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Stem Cells Hint at Potential Treatment for Huntington's Disease
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date: March 15, 2012
Summary:
Huntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. But if researchers can build on new research reported this week (March 15, 2012) in the journal Cell Stem Cell, a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease.
In In the new study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center focused on what are known as GABA neurons, cells whose degradation is responsible for disruption of a key neural circuit and loss of motor function in Huntington's patients. The researchers have learned how to make large amounts of GABA neurons from human embryonic stem cells, which they sought to test in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. The goal of the study, researchers note, was simply to see if the cells would safely integrate into the mouse brain. To their astonishment, the cells not only integrated but also project to the right target and effectively reestablished the broken communication network, restoring motor function.
Date: March 15, 2012
Summary:
Huntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. But if researchers can build on new research reported this week (March 15, 2012) in the journal Cell Stem Cell, a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease.
In In the new study, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center focused on what are known as GABA neurons, cells whose degradation is responsible for disruption of a key neural circuit and loss of motor function in Huntington's patients. The researchers have learned how to make large amounts of GABA neurons from human embryonic stem cells, which they sought to test in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. The goal of the study, researchers note, was simply to see if the cells would safely integrate into the mouse brain. To their astonishment, the cells not only integrated but also project to the right target and effectively reestablished the broken communication network, restoring motor function.
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