Source: Uppsala University
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
Multiple myeloma is one of the most common blood cancers, and at present considered to be incurable. In a new study from Uppsala University, researchers now present a conceptually new model for the development and progression of multiple myeloma. The study was done in collaboration with Vrije Universitet Brussels and is published in the July edition of the on-line journal PLoS ONE.
Using large cohorts of myeloma patients the researchers have identified a profile of genes that are silenced by epigenetic mechanisms in the malignant plasma cell. The silenced gene profile was compared and contrasted to normal plasma cells, which are highly specialised and for which growth and lifetime is tightly controlled.
The silenced genes have a common denominator in being targets and controlled by the Polycomb repressor complex (PcG). This complex has previously been implicated in self-renewal and division of normal embryonic stem cells. In the study the researchers found that inhibitors of PcG also could decrease the growth of tumour cells in an animal model of myeloma.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Scientists develop new way to grow adult stem cells in culture
Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a technique they believe will help scientists overcome a major hurdle to the use of adult stem cells for treating muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting disorders that accompany aging or disease: They've found that growing muscle stem cells on a specially developed synthetic matrix that mimics the elasticity of real muscle allows them to maintain their self-renewing properties.
Adult stem cells already exist in the body, and are important in regenerating tissues like blood, muscles and neurons in the brain. But scientists have struggled to produce them in quantities needed for therapies because the cells differentiate and lose their "stemness" as soon as they're placed in a tissue culture dish. This new method of growing the cells creates a way to study the behavior of many types of adult stem cells in culture and may revolutionize the ability to produce these cells for future therapies, say the researchers. The research will be published online July 15 in Science Express.
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
STANFORD, Calif. — Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a technique they believe will help scientists overcome a major hurdle to the use of adult stem cells for treating muscular dystrophy and other muscle-wasting disorders that accompany aging or disease: They've found that growing muscle stem cells on a specially developed synthetic matrix that mimics the elasticity of real muscle allows them to maintain their self-renewing properties.
Adult stem cells already exist in the body, and are important in regenerating tissues like blood, muscles and neurons in the brain. But scientists have struggled to produce them in quantities needed for therapies because the cells differentiate and lose their "stemness" as soon as they're placed in a tissue culture dish. This new method of growing the cells creates a way to study the behavior of many types of adult stem cells in culture and may revolutionize the ability to produce these cells for future therapies, say the researchers. The research will be published online July 15 in Science Express.
Researchers Reverse Cognitive Decline in Fruit Flies With Alzheimer’s Gene Mutation
Source: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
PHILADELPHIA – Investigators have found that fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) males -- in which the activity of an Alzheimer’s disease protein is reduced by 50 percent -- show impairments in learning and memory as they age. What’s more, the researchers were able to prevent the age-related deficits by treating the flies with drugs such as lithium, or by genetic manipulations that reduced nerve-cell signaling.
The research team -- Thomas A. Jongens, Ph.D., associate professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Sean M. J. McBride M.D, Ph.D. and Thomas McDonald M.D., at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Catherine Choi M.D., Ph.D. at Drexel University College of Medicine – worked with the familial form of Alzheimer’s disease (FAD), an aggressive form of the disease that is caused by mutations in one of the two copies of the presenilin (PS) or amyloid precursor protein (APP) genes. Studies in animal models have previously shown that the FAD-linked PS mutations lead to less presenilin (psn) protein activity.
Their findings are published in this week’s issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Date: July 15, 2010
Summary:
PHILADELPHIA – Investigators have found that fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) males -- in which the activity of an Alzheimer’s disease protein is reduced by 50 percent -- show impairments in learning and memory as they age. What’s more, the researchers were able to prevent the age-related deficits by treating the flies with drugs such as lithium, or by genetic manipulations that reduced nerve-cell signaling.
The research team -- Thomas A. Jongens, Ph.D., associate professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Sean M. J. McBride M.D, Ph.D. and Thomas McDonald M.D., at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Catherine Choi M.D., Ph.D. at Drexel University College of Medicine – worked with the familial form of Alzheimer’s disease (FAD), an aggressive form of the disease that is caused by mutations in one of the two copies of the presenilin (PS) or amyloid precursor protein (APP) genes. Studies in animal models have previously shown that the FAD-linked PS mutations lead to less presenilin (psn) protein activity.
Their findings are published in this week’s issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Stem cells to aid study of Parkinson's
Source: University of Oxford
Date: 15 July 2010
Summary:
A new stem cell technology is to be used by Oxford University researchers to better understand the causes of Parkinson’s disease. The technique will use skin samples to grow the brain cells thought to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson’s disease, allowing these important neurons to be studied in detail.
Researchers will gather data from over 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson’s disease and take small samples of skin tissue to grow special stem cells – induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). iPS cells can be generated from accessible tissue such as the skin and then used to generate specific types of cell. The researchers will use the iPS cells to grow dopamine neurons, the brain cells responsible for the production of dopamine. It is these cells which die in patients with Parkinson’s, leading to the onset of the disease.
Date: 15 July 2010
Summary:
A new stem cell technology is to be used by Oxford University researchers to better understand the causes of Parkinson’s disease. The technique will use skin samples to grow the brain cells thought to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson’s disease, allowing these important neurons to be studied in detail.
Researchers will gather data from over 1,000 patients with early stage Parkinson’s disease and take small samples of skin tissue to grow special stem cells – induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). iPS cells can be generated from accessible tissue such as the skin and then used to generate specific types of cell. The researchers will use the iPS cells to grow dopamine neurons, the brain cells responsible for the production of dopamine. It is these cells which die in patients with Parkinson’s, leading to the onset of the disease.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Genetic mechanism once thought rare may allow rapid cell production
Source: Children's Hospital Boston
Date: July 8, 2010
Summary:
We take our blood for granted, but its creation requires a complicated series of steps, starting with the formation of blood stem cells during early embryonic development, followed by progressive differentiation into the progenitors of red cells, white cells and platelets, and ultimately the full set of blood cells. Now, in the July 9 issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report a surprising twist in how mature red blood cells form - which may explain the body's ability to rapidly replenish them in response to injury.
Date: July 8, 2010
Summary:
We take our blood for granted, but its creation requires a complicated series of steps, starting with the formation of blood stem cells during early embryonic development, followed by progressive differentiation into the progenitors of red cells, white cells and platelets, and ultimately the full set of blood cells. Now, in the July 9 issue of Cell, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report a surprising twist in how mature red blood cells form - which may explain the body's ability to rapidly replenish them in response to injury.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Researchers identify factors behind blood-making stem cells
Source: University of Montreal
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
A team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have made significant progress in the understanding of blood-producing (hematopoietic) stem cells. The study led by IRIC Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Dr. Guy Sauvageau, identifies factors that control the production of hematopoietic stem cells. Published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the research offers interesting insight critical to the development of novel regenerative therapies and treatments for leukemia.
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
A team of researchers from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have made significant progress in the understanding of blood-producing (hematopoietic) stem cells. The study led by IRIC Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Dr. Guy Sauvageau, identifies factors that control the production of hematopoietic stem cells. Published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the research offers interesting insight critical to the development of novel regenerative therapies and treatments for leukemia.
Neural stem cells attack glioblastoma cells
Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
In their latest research, scientists of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have demonstrated how the brain's own stem cells and precursor cells control the growth of glioblastomas. Of all brain tumors, glioblastomas are among the most common and most aggressive. Dr. Sridhar Reddy Chirasani, Professor Helmut Kettenmann and Dr. Rainer Glass have now shown in cell culture and mouse model experiments just how the body's own protective mechanism they identified in an earlier study, actually works (Brain, July 6, 2010).
Glioblastomas are brain tumors that are most common in adults in their mid-fifties or early sixties. The causes for developing the disease are not yet known. Researchers assume that misdirected neural stem cells / precursor cells mutate into cancer cells and can form glioblastomas.
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
In their latest research, scientists of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have demonstrated how the brain's own stem cells and precursor cells control the growth of glioblastomas. Of all brain tumors, glioblastomas are among the most common and most aggressive. Dr. Sridhar Reddy Chirasani, Professor Helmut Kettenmann and Dr. Rainer Glass have now shown in cell culture and mouse model experiments just how the body's own protective mechanism they identified in an earlier study, actually works (Brain, July 6, 2010).
Glioblastomas are brain tumors that are most common in adults in their mid-fifties or early sixties. The causes for developing the disease are not yet known. Researchers assume that misdirected neural stem cells / precursor cells mutate into cancer cells and can form glioblastomas.
Researchers Create HIV-Resistant Cells
Source: University of Southern California
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC successfully have transplanted blood stem cells modified to be resistant to HIV into mice, allowing the animals to control HIV infections. If the approach can be translated to human patients, it would enable the long-term generation of HIV-resistant T cells in a patient’s body, and the potential for the patient’s own cells to suppress HIV. The strategy is explained in a new study published online in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
The approach targets a gene called CCR5, one of the two gateway molecules that HIV uses to enter human cells. Cannon’s strategy arose from the observation that people with a mutation in a gene called CCR5 are naturally resistant to infection with the most common strains of HIV and do not develop AIDS.
The team used enzymes called zinc finger nucleases — which physically cut DNA — to knock out the the CCR5 gene in human blood stem cells. The researchers transplanted these modified stem cells into mice, where they developed into mature cells of the human immune system, including the T cells that HIV infects. When the researchers then infected the animals with HIV, they found that the mice were able to maintain normal levels of the human T cells and suppress HIV to very low levels, unlike control mice that received unmodified stem cells.
Date: July 6, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC successfully have transplanted blood stem cells modified to be resistant to HIV into mice, allowing the animals to control HIV infections. If the approach can be translated to human patients, it would enable the long-term generation of HIV-resistant T cells in a patient’s body, and the potential for the patient’s own cells to suppress HIV. The strategy is explained in a new study published online in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
The approach targets a gene called CCR5, one of the two gateway molecules that HIV uses to enter human cells. Cannon’s strategy arose from the observation that people with a mutation in a gene called CCR5 are naturally resistant to infection with the most common strains of HIV and do not develop AIDS.
The team used enzymes called zinc finger nucleases — which physically cut DNA — to knock out the the CCR5 gene in human blood stem cells. The researchers transplanted these modified stem cells into mice, where they developed into mature cells of the human immune system, including the T cells that HIV infects. When the researchers then infected the animals with HIV, they found that the mice were able to maintain normal levels of the human T cells and suppress HIV to very low levels, unlike control mice that received unmodified stem cells.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Biologists Find Way to Lower Tumor Risk in Stem Cell Therapies
Source: University of California - San Diego
Date: July 2, 2010
Summary:
One of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells is their ability to form unusual tumors called teratomas. These tumors, which contain a mixture of cells from a variety of tissues and organs of the body, are typically benign. But they present a major obstacle to the development of human embryonic stem cell therapies that seek to treat a variety of human ailments such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, genetic blood disorders and spinal cord injuries.
Now a team of biologists at UC San Diego funded by a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem-cell funding agency, has discovered a way to limit the formation of teratomas. In this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have identified a new signaling pathway critical for unlimited self propagation of embryonic stem cells. Using small molecule compounds that inhibit this pathway, the scientists were able to dramatically reduce the potential of embryonic stem cells to form teratomas.
Date: July 2, 2010
Summary:
One of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells is their ability to form unusual tumors called teratomas. These tumors, which contain a mixture of cells from a variety of tissues and organs of the body, are typically benign. But they present a major obstacle to the development of human embryonic stem cell therapies that seek to treat a variety of human ailments such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, genetic blood disorders and spinal cord injuries.
Now a team of biologists at UC San Diego funded by a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s stem-cell funding agency, has discovered a way to limit the formation of teratomas. In this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have identified a new signaling pathway critical for unlimited self propagation of embryonic stem cells. Using small molecule compounds that inhibit this pathway, the scientists were able to dramatically reduce the potential of embryonic stem cells to form teratomas.
Scientists uncover important clues in the biology of stem cells
Source: Samuel Lunenfield Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital
Date: July 2, 2010
Summary:
Mount Sinai Hospital researchers including Drs. Andras Nagy and Jeff Wrana have discovered new insights into the genesis of stem cells, which will improve the efficiency of stem cell creation for use in tissue regeneration and in the development of new drugs. The study was published today in the leading biomedical journal Cell Stem Cell.
The goal of the study was to explore the process of changing fully mature cells of the body (known as somatic cells) into a pluripotent state (i.e., cells that can develop into most other cell types), and understand the molecular and genetic changes that occur during the cells’ reprogramming. Understanding this process will help researchers identify limitations in making induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are a source of great hope for use in regenerative medicine, as well as in the development of new drugs to prevent and treat various diseases.
Date: July 2, 2010
Summary:
Mount Sinai Hospital researchers including Drs. Andras Nagy and Jeff Wrana have discovered new insights into the genesis of stem cells, which will improve the efficiency of stem cell creation for use in tissue regeneration and in the development of new drugs. The study was published today in the leading biomedical journal Cell Stem Cell.
The goal of the study was to explore the process of changing fully mature cells of the body (known as somatic cells) into a pluripotent state (i.e., cells that can develop into most other cell types), and understand the molecular and genetic changes that occur during the cells’ reprogramming. Understanding this process will help researchers identify limitations in making induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are a source of great hope for use in regenerative medicine, as well as in the development of new drugs to prevent and treat various diseases.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Biologists discover how T cells make a commitment
Source: California Institute of Technology
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
PASADENA, Calif.—When does a cell decide its particular identity? According to biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in the case of T cells—immune system cells that help destroy invading pathogens—the answer is when the cells begin expressing a particular gene called Bcl11b. The activation of Bcl11b is a "clean, nearly perfect indicator of when cells have decided to go on the T-cell pathway," says Ellen Rothenberg, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech and senior author of a paper about the discovery that appears in the July 2 issue of the journal Science.
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
PASADENA, Calif.—When does a cell decide its particular identity? According to biologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in the case of T cells—immune system cells that help destroy invading pathogens—the answer is when the cells begin expressing a particular gene called Bcl11b. The activation of Bcl11b is a "clean, nearly perfect indicator of when cells have decided to go on the T-cell pathway," says Ellen Rothenberg, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology at Caltech and senior author of a paper about the discovery that appears in the July 2 issue of the journal Science.
Work-life balance: Brain stem cells need their rest, too
Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
LA JOLLA, CA—Stem cells in the brain remain dormant until called upon to divide and make more neurons. However, little has been known about the molecular guards that keep them quiet. Now scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified the signal that prevents stem cells from proliferating, protecting the brain against too much cell division and ensuring a pool of neural stem cells that lasts a lifetime.
The research, which will be published in the July 1 issue of Cell Stem Cell, highlights the importance of bone morphogenetic factor protein (BMP) signaling for the maintenance of a neural stem cell reservoir throughout adult life and may provide the key to understanding the interplay between exercise, aging and neurogenesis.
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
LA JOLLA, CA—Stem cells in the brain remain dormant until called upon to divide and make more neurons. However, little has been known about the molecular guards that keep them quiet. Now scientists from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified the signal that prevents stem cells from proliferating, protecting the brain against too much cell division and ensuring a pool of neural stem cells that lasts a lifetime.
The research, which will be published in the July 1 issue of Cell Stem Cell, highlights the importance of bone morphogenetic factor protein (BMP) signaling for the maintenance of a neural stem cell reservoir throughout adult life and may provide the key to understanding the interplay between exercise, aging and neurogenesis.
Gene regulating human brain development identified
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
With more than 100 billion neurons and billions of other specialized cells, the human brain is a marvel of nature. It is the organ that makes people unique. Now, writing in the journal Cell Stem Cell (July 1, 2010), a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has identified a single gene that seems to be a master regulator of human brain development, guiding undifferentiated stem cells down tightly defined pathways to becoming all of the many types of cells that make up the brain.
The new finding is important because it reveals the main genetic factor responsible for instructing cells at the earliest stages of embryonic development to become the cells of the brain and spinal cord. Identifying the gene — known as Pax6 — is a first critical step toward routinely forging customized brain cells in the lab. What's more, the work contrasts with findings from animal models such as the mouse and zebrafish, pillars of developmental biology, and thus helps cement the importance of the models being developed from human embryonic stem cells.
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
With more than 100 billion neurons and billions of other specialized cells, the human brain is a marvel of nature. It is the organ that makes people unique. Now, writing in the journal Cell Stem Cell (July 1, 2010), a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has identified a single gene that seems to be a master regulator of human brain development, guiding undifferentiated stem cells down tightly defined pathways to becoming all of the many types of cells that make up the brain.
The new finding is important because it reveals the main genetic factor responsible for instructing cells at the earliest stages of embryonic development to become the cells of the brain and spinal cord. Identifying the gene — known as Pax6 — is a first critical step toward routinely forging customized brain cells in the lab. What's more, the work contrasts with findings from animal models such as the mouse and zebrafish, pillars of developmental biology, and thus helps cement the importance of the models being developed from human embryonic stem cells.
Patients With Treatment-Resistant Chronic Leukemia Respond Positively to Stem Cell Transplants
Source: American Society of Hematology.
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
(WASHINGTON) – Allogeneic (donor-derived) stem cell transplant (alloSCT) may be a promising option for patients with treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), regardless of the patient’s underlying genetic abnormalities, according to the results of a study published online today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.
In alloSCT, blood stem cells are collected from a donor and then infused into the patient where they travel to the bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells, replacing those that have been affected as a result of the disease. This type of treatment can pose serious complications, some of which are potentially fatal. In this prospective phase II study, a total of 90 patients with treatment-resistant CLL received alloSCT, and stem cell donors were either healthy siblings or unrelated, but matched, volunteers.
Prior to the transplant, patients in this study received conditioning, a standard therapy administered immediately before a stem cell transplant to help prepare the body to receive and accept the transplanted cells. The research team used a reduced-intensity conditioning approach with two common chemotherapies (fludarabine and cyclophosphamide) to reduce complications and allow the donor stem cells to fight the disease themselves.
After treatment with alloSCT, more than 40 percent of participants with this otherwise fatal disease enjoyed long-term freedom from relapse. These findings suggest that alloSCT is a feasible and potentially curative treatment for patients with high-risk CLL and should be considered for this patient population.
Date: July 1, 2010
Summary:
(WASHINGTON) – Allogeneic (donor-derived) stem cell transplant (alloSCT) may be a promising option for patients with treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), regardless of the patient’s underlying genetic abnormalities, according to the results of a study published online today in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.
In alloSCT, blood stem cells are collected from a donor and then infused into the patient where they travel to the bone marrow and begin to produce new blood cells, replacing those that have been affected as a result of the disease. This type of treatment can pose serious complications, some of which are potentially fatal. In this prospective phase II study, a total of 90 patients with treatment-resistant CLL received alloSCT, and stem cell donors were either healthy siblings or unrelated, but matched, volunteers.
Prior to the transplant, patients in this study received conditioning, a standard therapy administered immediately before a stem cell transplant to help prepare the body to receive and accept the transplanted cells. The research team used a reduced-intensity conditioning approach with two common chemotherapies (fludarabine and cyclophosphamide) to reduce complications and allow the donor stem cells to fight the disease themselves.
After treatment with alloSCT, more than 40 percent of participants with this otherwise fatal disease enjoyed long-term freedom from relapse. These findings suggest that alloSCT is a feasible and potentially curative treatment for patients with high-risk CLL and should be considered for this patient population.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Stem cells from fat may help heal bone
Source: University of California - Davis
Date: June 30, 2010
Summary:
Wounded soldiers may one day be treated with stem cells from their own fat using a method under development at UC Davis. The method employs a gel-like material to encourage stem cells from fat to regenerate damaged bone. The stem cells have been shown to stimulate the growth of small blood vessels in developing bone, encouraging healing. The gel keeps the stem cells at the injury site; as the bone heals, the gel breaks down.
Date: June 30, 2010
Summary:
Wounded soldiers may one day be treated with stem cells from their own fat using a method under development at UC Davis. The method employs a gel-like material to encourage stem cells from fat to regenerate damaged bone. The stem cells have been shown to stimulate the growth of small blood vessels in developing bone, encouraging healing. The gel keeps the stem cells at the injury site; as the bone heals, the gel breaks down.
Melanoma-Initiating Cell Identified
Source: Stanford University School of Medicine
Date: June 30, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a cancer-initiating cell in human melanomas. The finding is significant because the existence of such a cell in the aggressive skin cancer has been a source of debate. It may also explain why current immunotherapies are largely unsuccessful in preventing disease recurrence in human patients. The research will be published in the July 1 issue of Nature.
Date: June 30, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a cancer-initiating cell in human melanomas. The finding is significant because the existence of such a cell in the aggressive skin cancer has been a source of debate. It may also explain why current immunotherapies are largely unsuccessful in preventing disease recurrence in human patients. The research will be published in the July 1 issue of Nature.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Turning back the cellular clock: Method developed for tracking adult stem cells as they regress
Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Date: June 29, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Tel Aviv University in collaboration with researchers at Harvard University have succeeded in tracking the progression of reprogrammed stem cells through live imaging to learn more about how they are reprogrammed, and how the new cells evolve over time. This will allow researchers to develop techniques and choose the right cells for replacement therapy and give invaluable insight into how these cells will eventually react in the human body.
Dr. Iftach Nachman of TAU's Department of Biochemistry says that this represents a huge stride forward. It will not only allow researchers to develop techniques and choose the right cells for replacement therapy, increasing the efficiency of cell reprogramming, but will give invaluable insight into how these cells will eventually react in the human body. Results from the research project were recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Date: June 29, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Tel Aviv University in collaboration with researchers at Harvard University have succeeded in tracking the progression of reprogrammed stem cells through live imaging to learn more about how they are reprogrammed, and how the new cells evolve over time. This will allow researchers to develop techniques and choose the right cells for replacement therapy and give invaluable insight into how these cells will eventually react in the human body.
Dr. Iftach Nachman of TAU's Department of Biochemistry says that this represents a huge stride forward. It will not only allow researchers to develop techniques and choose the right cells for replacement therapy, increasing the efficiency of cell reprogramming, but will give invaluable insight into how these cells will eventually react in the human body. Results from the research project were recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Embryonic cell and adult pig islet transplants cure diabetes in rats
Source: Washington University School of Medicine
Date: June 28, 2010
Summary:
In a step toward curing diabetes in humans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have alleviated the disease in rats using transplants from both embryonic and adult pigs. The rats adopted the pig transplants as their own and produced enough insulin to control their blood sugar – all without the need for anti-rejection drugs. The researchers report their findings online in the American Journal of Pathology.
Using a two-step approach, the researchers first transplanted a cluster of embryonic pig pancreatic cells into diabetic rats. These cells grow to become the pancreas, which houses the islet cells that produce insulin. The embryonic cells primed the rats’ immune system to accept a second implant of islets from adult pigs several weeks later.
The new research – the first long-term, successful cross-species transplant of pig islets without immune suppression – raises the prospect that it may one day be possible to cure diabetes in humans using a similar strategy. Pig cells could overcome the shortage of human islets available from deceased donors and the need for transplant patients to take anti-rejection drugs for life.
Date: June 28, 2010
Summary:
In a step toward curing diabetes in humans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have alleviated the disease in rats using transplants from both embryonic and adult pigs. The rats adopted the pig transplants as their own and produced enough insulin to control their blood sugar – all without the need for anti-rejection drugs. The researchers report their findings online in the American Journal of Pathology.
Using a two-step approach, the researchers first transplanted a cluster of embryonic pig pancreatic cells into diabetic rats. These cells grow to become the pancreas, which houses the islet cells that produce insulin. The embryonic cells primed the rats’ immune system to accept a second implant of islets from adult pigs several weeks later.
The new research – the first long-term, successful cross-species transplant of pig islets without immune suppression – raises the prospect that it may one day be possible to cure diabetes in humans using a similar strategy. Pig cells could overcome the shortage of human islets available from deceased donors and the need for transplant patients to take anti-rejection drugs for life.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Ronin recruits protein allies to sustain embryonic stem cell growth
Source: Baylor College of Medicine
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
Ronin, crucial to the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, and a co-regulator called Hcf-1, binds to a small strand of DNA called a hyperconserved enhancer element to control a gene "program" that stimulates growth of the stem cells and may even play a role in cancer, said a group of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in a current report in the journal Genes and Development.
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
Ronin, crucial to the self-renewal of embryonic stem cells, and a co-regulator called Hcf-1, binds to a small strand of DNA called a hyperconserved enhancer element to control a gene "program" that stimulates growth of the stem cells and may even play a role in cancer, said a group of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine in a current report in the journal Genes and Development.
Mechanism that may trigger degenerative disease identified
Source: Penn State University
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
A mechanism that regulates stem-cell differentiation in mice testes suggests a similar process that may trigger degenerative disease in humans, according to researchers at Penn State University. Research involved manipulating a protein called STAT3 that signals stem cells to decide whether to differentiate into a specialized type of cell or self-renew and remain stem cells. By manipulating STAT3, researchers identified a key regulator of spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal. Every time a stem cell divides, it produces two new cells. The findings were published in the June online issue of Biology of Reproduction.
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
A mechanism that regulates stem-cell differentiation in mice testes suggests a similar process that may trigger degenerative disease in humans, according to researchers at Penn State University. Research involved manipulating a protein called STAT3 that signals stem cells to decide whether to differentiate into a specialized type of cell or self-renew and remain stem cells. By manipulating STAT3, researchers identified a key regulator of spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal. Every time a stem cell divides, it produces two new cells. The findings were published in the June online issue of Biology of Reproduction.
Researchers create breathing lungs in lab
Source: University of Minnesota
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists with the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center and Medical School have achieved another research first – creating breathing lungs in the laboratory. This innovation comes two years after another group of University of Minnesota researchers used a similar technique to create a beating heart in the laboratory. Lead scientist Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, Ph.D., and assistant scientist Andrew Price used a process called whole organ decellularization to remove cells from the lungs of dead adult mice and implant healthy stem cells derived from unborn mice into the decellularized matrix, the natural framework of the lungs. After about seven days in an incubator, the infused cells attached themselves to the matrix while breathing with the aid of a tiny, make-shift ventilator. The scientists’ work is in the online version of the journal Tissue Engineering (hard copy to be released August 6, 2010).
Date: June 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists with the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Cancer Center and Medical School have achieved another research first – creating breathing lungs in the laboratory. This innovation comes two years after another group of University of Minnesota researchers used a similar technique to create a beating heart in the laboratory. Lead scientist Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, Ph.D., and assistant scientist Andrew Price used a process called whole organ decellularization to remove cells from the lungs of dead adult mice and implant healthy stem cells derived from unborn mice into the decellularized matrix, the natural framework of the lungs. After about seven days in an incubator, the infused cells attached themselves to the matrix while breathing with the aid of a tiny, make-shift ventilator. The scientists’ work is in the online version of the journal Tissue Engineering (hard copy to be released August 6, 2010).
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Scientists Implant Regenerated Lung Tissue in Rats
Source: Yale University
Date: June 24, 2010
Summary:
A Yale University-led team of scientists reports that it has achieved an important first step in regenerating fully functional lung tissue that can exchange gas, which is the key role of the lungs. Their paper appears in the June 24 issue of Science Express.
The Yale team's goal was to see if it was possible to successfully implant tissue-engineered lungs, cultured in vitro, that could serve the lung's primary function of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. They took adult rat lungs and first removed their existing cellular components, preserving the extracellular matrix and hierarchical branching structures of the airways and vascular system to use later as scaffolds for the growth of new lung cells.
They then cultured a combination of lung-specific cells on the extracellular matrix, using a novel bioreactor designed to mimic some aspects of the fetal lung environment. Under the fetal-like conditions of the bioreactor, the cells repopulated the decellularized matrix with functional lung cells. When implanted into rats for short intervals of time (45-120 minutes), the engineered lungs exchanged oxygen and carbon dioxide similarly to natural lungs.
The team found that the mechanical characteristics of the engineered lungs were similar to those of native tissues and, when implanted, were capable of participating in gas exchange.
Date: June 24, 2010
Summary:
A Yale University-led team of scientists reports that it has achieved an important first step in regenerating fully functional lung tissue that can exchange gas, which is the key role of the lungs. Their paper appears in the June 24 issue of Science Express.
The Yale team's goal was to see if it was possible to successfully implant tissue-engineered lungs, cultured in vitro, that could serve the lung's primary function of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. They took adult rat lungs and first removed their existing cellular components, preserving the extracellular matrix and hierarchical branching structures of the airways and vascular system to use later as scaffolds for the growth of new lung cells.
They then cultured a combination of lung-specific cells on the extracellular matrix, using a novel bioreactor designed to mimic some aspects of the fetal lung environment. Under the fetal-like conditions of the bioreactor, the cells repopulated the decellularized matrix with functional lung cells. When implanted into rats for short intervals of time (45-120 minutes), the engineered lungs exchanged oxygen and carbon dioxide similarly to natural lungs.
The team found that the mechanical characteristics of the engineered lungs were similar to those of native tissues and, when implanted, were capable of participating in gas exchange.
Scientists grow new lungs using 'skeletons' of old ones
Source: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Date: June 24, 2010
Summary:
Tissue engineers' progress toward growing new lungs for transplantation or research has long been frustrated by the problem of coaxing stem cells to develop into the varied cell types that populate different locations in the lung Now, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have demonstrated a potentially revolutionary solution to this problem. As they describe in an article published electronically ahead of print by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A, they seeded mouse embryonic stem cells into "acellular" rat lungs — organs whose original cells had been destroyed by repeated cycles of freezing and thawing and exposure to detergent. The result: empty lung-shaped scaffolds of structural proteins on which the mouse stem cells thrived and differentiated into new cells appropriate to their specific locations.
Date: June 24, 2010
Summary:
Tissue engineers' progress toward growing new lungs for transplantation or research has long been frustrated by the problem of coaxing stem cells to develop into the varied cell types that populate different locations in the lung Now, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have demonstrated a potentially revolutionary solution to this problem. As they describe in an article published electronically ahead of print by the journal Tissue Engineering Part A, they seeded mouse embryonic stem cells into "acellular" rat lungs — organs whose original cells had been destroyed by repeated cycles of freezing and thawing and exposure to detergent. The result: empty lung-shaped scaffolds of structural proteins on which the mouse stem cells thrived and differentiated into new cells appropriate to their specific locations.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Stem cells made without new genes
Source: Nature
Date: 21 June 2010
Summary:
Researchers have transformed human skin cells into stem cells similar to those in an embryo without using any reprogramming genes, just the viral vector normally used to deliver them. The findings, reported last week at the International Society for Stem Cell Research annual meeting in San Francisco, California, challenge the conventional wisdom about what it takes to produce stem cells that are compatible with a specific patient.
Date: 21 June 2010
Summary:
Researchers have transformed human skin cells into stem cells similar to those in an embryo without using any reprogramming genes, just the viral vector normally used to deliver them. The findings, reported last week at the International Society for Stem Cell Research annual meeting in San Francisco, California, challenge the conventional wisdom about what it takes to produce stem cells that are compatible with a specific patient.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Researchers find that bone marrow transplantation combined with islet cell transplantation shows promise for treating late-stage type 1 diabetes
Source: City of Hope
Date: June 18, 2010
Summary:
City of Hope researchers have found that bone marrow transplantation with islet cell transplantation shows promise as a treatment for late-stage type 1 diabetes. This combination may enable patients to make their own insulin again. Results from laboratory research led by Defu Zeng, MD, associate professor in the departments of Diabetes Research and Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, were published online this month in the journal Diabetes.
Date: June 18, 2010
Summary:
City of Hope researchers have found that bone marrow transplantation with islet cell transplantation shows promise as a treatment for late-stage type 1 diabetes. This combination may enable patients to make their own insulin again. Results from laboratory research led by Defu Zeng, MD, associate professor in the departments of Diabetes Research and Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, were published online this month in the journal Diabetes.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Human Embryonic-Like Extracellular Matrix Significantly Inhibits Tumor Growth and Cancer Cell Proliferation
Source: Histogen, Inc.
Date: June 17, 2010
Summary:
Histogen, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing solutions based on the products of newborn cells grown under embryonic conditions, will present findings tomorrow at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting. Studies of the human extracellular matrix (hECM) produced under proprietary conditions of hypoxia and suspension have demonstrated its ability to diminish or eliminate tumor load in melanoma, breast cancer, colon cancer and glioma, both in vitro and in vivo.
Tumor growth was significantly inhibited across these cancer cell lines, with a 50-80% reduction in tumor weight seen in the tumor chorioallantoic membrane (tumcam) model (p<0.05) and a 70-90% reduction seen in subcutaneous mouse xenograft experiments (p<0.02). In studies of a carcinomatosis model established with a human colon carcinoma line, treatment with the hECM resulted in reduced tumor number and size, reduction of ascites, and, to date, a doubling in lifespan, as compared to untreated and cisplatin-treated mice.
Date: June 17, 2010
Summary:
Histogen, Inc., a regenerative medicine company developing solutions based on the products of newborn cells grown under embryonic conditions, will present findings tomorrow at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Annual Meeting. Studies of the human extracellular matrix (hECM) produced under proprietary conditions of hypoxia and suspension have demonstrated its ability to diminish or eliminate tumor load in melanoma, breast cancer, colon cancer and glioma, both in vitro and in vivo.
Tumor growth was significantly inhibited across these cancer cell lines, with a 50-80% reduction in tumor weight seen in the tumor chorioallantoic membrane (tumcam) model (p<0.05) and a 70-90% reduction seen in subcutaneous mouse xenograft experiments (p<0.02). In studies of a carcinomatosis model established with a human colon carcinoma line, treatment with the hECM resulted in reduced tumor number and size, reduction of ascites, and, to date, a doubling in lifespan, as compared to untreated and cisplatin-treated mice.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Clinical trial of gene therapy for AIDS-related lymphoma shows promising results against cancer and HIV infection
Source: City of Hope
Date: June 16, 2010
Summary:
City of Hope researchers demonstrated the first successful long-term persistence of anti-HIV genes in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma. In the investigational therapy, patients underwent autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in which their own blood stem cells were harvested and genetically engineered with three anti-HIV ribonucleic acids (RNAs) that block HIV from infecting new cells. The study appears online June 16 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The gene therapy was developed by City of Hope’s John Rossi, Ph.D., Lidow Family Research Chair and chair and professor, molecular and cellular biology, with technology that uses ribozymes and short strands of RNA, also known as small interfering RNA (siRNA), to selectively silence specific genes against HIV infection. The ribozyme molecule prevents the patient’s white blood cells from producing a protein called CCR5, which HIV needs to enter a cell. The new CCR5-deficient immune cells the patient produces are effectively resistant to HIV infection. Additionally, the siRNA inactivates the virus directly, and a third component, called a TAR decoy sequesters the HIV regulatory Tat protein from the virus. The goal of the therapy is to reboot the immune system to once again identify HIV and mount a response to the infection by lowering the viral load.
Date: June 16, 2010
Summary:
City of Hope researchers demonstrated the first successful long-term persistence of anti-HIV genes in patients with AIDS-related lymphoma. In the investigational therapy, patients underwent autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in which their own blood stem cells were harvested and genetically engineered with three anti-HIV ribonucleic acids (RNAs) that block HIV from infecting new cells. The study appears online June 16 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The gene therapy was developed by City of Hope’s John Rossi, Ph.D., Lidow Family Research Chair and chair and professor, molecular and cellular biology, with technology that uses ribozymes and short strands of RNA, also known as small interfering RNA (siRNA), to selectively silence specific genes against HIV infection. The ribozyme molecule prevents the patient’s white blood cells from producing a protein called CCR5, which HIV needs to enter a cell. The new CCR5-deficient immune cells the patient produces are effectively resistant to HIV infection. Additionally, the siRNA inactivates the virus directly, and a third component, called a TAR decoy sequesters the HIV regulatory Tat protein from the virus. The goal of the therapy is to reboot the immune system to once again identify HIV and mount a response to the infection by lowering the viral load.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Researchers develop functional, transplantable rat liver grafts
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: June 13, 2010
Summary:
A team led by researchers from the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has developed a technique that someday may allow growth of transplantable replacement livers. In their report that will be published in Nature Medicine and is receiving early online release, the investigators describe using the structural tissue of rat livers as scaffolding for the growth of tissue regenerated from liver cells introduced through a novel reseeding process.
Date: June 13, 2010
Summary:
A team led by researchers from the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has developed a technique that someday may allow growth of transplantable replacement livers. In their report that will be published in Nature Medicine and is receiving early online release, the investigators describe using the structural tissue of rat livers as scaffolding for the growth of tissue regenerated from liver cells introduced through a novel reseeding process.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Stem cells for first time used to create abnormal heart cells for study of cardiomyopathy
Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Date: June 9, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature.
The Mount Sinai team used skin cells from two patients with a genetic disorder known by the acronym LEOPARD syndrome. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or thickening of the heart muscle, is experienced by 80 percent of patients with LEOPARD syndrome and is the most life-threatening aspect of the disorder. The Mount Sinai team took patient skin cells and reprogrammed them to become pluripotent stem cells. Such cells can then develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The researchers then created heart cells that had characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Date: June 9, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature.
The Mount Sinai team used skin cells from two patients with a genetic disorder known by the acronym LEOPARD syndrome. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or thickening of the heart muscle, is experienced by 80 percent of patients with LEOPARD syndrome and is the most life-threatening aspect of the disorder. The Mount Sinai team took patient skin cells and reprogrammed them to become pluripotent stem cells. Such cells can then develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The researchers then created heart cells that had characteristics of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Researchers Convert Stem Cells into Cartilage
Source: University of Connecticut
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
For the millions of aging Americans who suffer from joint pain, stem cells may be riding to the rescue. Scientists at the University of Connecticut Health Center have recently developed a technique that reliably converts stem cells into cartilage cells. Someday, that might allow doctors to grow replacement cartilage in a laboratory for the surgical repair of joints lost to injury or impaired by degenerative diseases such as arthritis.
Stem cells have an unlimited capacity for self-renewal, as well as the ability to become any type of cell in the human body, so they are ideal for generating replacement cartilage tissue to repair damaged cartilage. Developmental biologists, like Dr. Caroline Dealy, an associate professor at UConn’s Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development, are attempting to understand the signals and conditions that regulate how stem cells differentiate into articular chondrocytes – which make up the unique type of cartilage present at the surface of joints.
Research published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology in April details how Dealy and her colleague, Dr. Robert Kosher, a former professor at the Health Center, successfully developed a methodology to direct “substantially uniform and progressive in vitro differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) into the chondrogenic lineage.”
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
For the millions of aging Americans who suffer from joint pain, stem cells may be riding to the rescue. Scientists at the University of Connecticut Health Center have recently developed a technique that reliably converts stem cells into cartilage cells. Someday, that might allow doctors to grow replacement cartilage in a laboratory for the surgical repair of joints lost to injury or impaired by degenerative diseases such as arthritis.
Stem cells have an unlimited capacity for self-renewal, as well as the ability to become any type of cell in the human body, so they are ideal for generating replacement cartilage tissue to repair damaged cartilage. Developmental biologists, like Dr. Caroline Dealy, an associate professor at UConn’s Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development, are attempting to understand the signals and conditions that regulate how stem cells differentiate into articular chondrocytes – which make up the unique type of cartilage present at the surface of joints.
Research published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology in April details how Dealy and her colleague, Dr. Robert Kosher, a former professor at the Health Center, successfully developed a methodology to direct “substantially uniform and progressive in vitro differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) into the chondrogenic lineage.”
New type of human stem cell may be more easy to manipulate
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have a developed a new type of human pluripotent stem cell that can be manipulated more readily than currently available stem cells. As described in the June 4 Cell Stem Cell, these new cells could be used to create better cellular models of disease processes and eventually may permit repair of disease-associated gene mutations.
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have a developed a new type of human pluripotent stem cell that can be manipulated more readily than currently available stem cells. As described in the June 4 Cell Stem Cell, these new cells could be used to create better cellular models of disease processes and eventually may permit repair of disease-associated gene mutations.
TAU research is inventing a tool to control the risk of "runaway" stem cells
Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
Stem cell research holds promise for improving the quality of human life -- especially embryonic stem cells, which can potentially develop into any tissue in the human body. Basic scientific problems still remain unresolved -- but Tel Aviv University researchers are leading the way to inventive solutions. The implications of this research can provide the basis for a new kind of research tool, one that biologists around the world could use to define and grow the specific kinds of neural stem cells they require.
Date: June 8, 2010
Summary:
Stem cell research holds promise for improving the quality of human life -- especially embryonic stem cells, which can potentially develop into any tissue in the human body. Basic scientific problems still remain unresolved -- but Tel Aviv University researchers are leading the way to inventive solutions. The implications of this research can provide the basis for a new kind of research tool, one that biologists around the world could use to define and grow the specific kinds of neural stem cells they require.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Gene Related To Aging Plays Role In Stem Cell Differentiation
Source: Thomas Jefferson University
Date: June 4, 2010
Summary:
A gene shown to play a role in the aging process appears to play a role in the regulation of the differentiation of embryonic stem cells, according to researchers from the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. In the study, published online in the journal Aging Cell, the researchers identified a protein interaction that controls the silencing of Oct4, a key transcription factor that is critical to ensuring that embryonic stem cells remain pluripotent. The protein, WRNp, is the product of a gene associated with Werner syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder hallmarked by premature aging. The gene expression in Werner syndrome closely resembles that of normal aging, and as a result, Werner syndrome is an accepted model of aging.
Date: June 4, 2010
Summary:
A gene shown to play a role in the aging process appears to play a role in the regulation of the differentiation of embryonic stem cells, according to researchers from the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. In the study, published online in the journal Aging Cell, the researchers identified a protein interaction that controls the silencing of Oct4, a key transcription factor that is critical to ensuring that embryonic stem cells remain pluripotent. The protein, WRNp, is the product of a gene associated with Werner syndrome, an autosomal recessive disorder hallmarked by premature aging. The gene expression in Werner syndrome closely resembles that of normal aging, and as a result, Werner syndrome is an accepted model of aging.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Synthetic peptide may regenerate brain tissue in stroke victims
Source: Henry Ford Hospital
Date: June 2, 2010
Summary:
A synthetic version of a naturally occurring peptide promoted the creation of new blood vessels and repaired damaged nerve cells in lab animals, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. In the latest study, adult rats were dosed with Thymosin beta 4 one day after they were subjected to a blockage in the cerebral artery, then given four more doses, once every three days. Rats treated only with saline were used as a control group.
After eight weeks, the Thymosin beta 4 group showed significant overall improvement compared to the control group. The researchers concluded that the peptide improved blood vessel density as well as promoted a certain type of immature brain cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes, which produces myelin to protect axons in nerve cells. These experiments conclude that the peptide repairs and regenerates stroke-injured brain tissue.
Date: June 2, 2010
Summary:
A synthetic version of a naturally occurring peptide promoted the creation of new blood vessels and repaired damaged nerve cells in lab animals, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. In the latest study, adult rats were dosed with Thymosin beta 4 one day after they were subjected to a blockage in the cerebral artery, then given four more doses, once every three days. Rats treated only with saline were used as a control group.
After eight weeks, the Thymosin beta 4 group showed significant overall improvement compared to the control group. The researchers concluded that the peptide improved blood vessel density as well as promoted a certain type of immature brain cells called oligodendrocyte progenitor cells to differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes, which produces myelin to protect axons in nerve cells. These experiments conclude that the peptide repairs and regenerates stroke-injured brain tissue.
City of Hope receives FDA approval for first human neural stem cell clinical trial to treat brain tumors
Source: City of Hope National Medical Center
Date: June 2, 2010
Summary:
DUARTE, Calif., — City of Hope researchers received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct the first-in-human study of a neural stem cell-based therapy targeting recurrent high-grade gliomas, the most aggressive type of brain tumor.
Date: June 2, 2010
Summary:
DUARTE, Calif., — City of Hope researchers received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct the first-in-human study of a neural stem cell-based therapy targeting recurrent high-grade gliomas, the most aggressive type of brain tumor.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Immune system helps transplanted stem cells navigate in central nervous system
Source: University of California - Irvine
Date: June 1, 2010
Summary:
— Irvine, Calif., — By discovering how adult neural stem cells navigate to injury sites in the central nervous system, UC Irvine researchers have helped solve a puzzle in the creation of stem cell-based treatments: How do these cells know where to go?
Tom Lane and Kevin Carbajal of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center found the answer with the body’s immune system.
Their study not only identifies an important targeting mechanism in transplanted stem cells but also provides a blueprint for engineering stem cell-based therapies for multiple sclerosis and other chronic neurological diseases in which inflammation occurs. Results appear in this week’s early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Date: June 1, 2010
Summary:
— Irvine, Calif., — By discovering how adult neural stem cells navigate to injury sites in the central nervous system, UC Irvine researchers have helped solve a puzzle in the creation of stem cell-based treatments: How do these cells know where to go?
Tom Lane and Kevin Carbajal of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center found the answer with the body’s immune system.
Their study not only identifies an important targeting mechanism in transplanted stem cells but also provides a blueprint for engineering stem cell-based therapies for multiple sclerosis and other chronic neurological diseases in which inflammation occurs. Results appear in this week’s early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Cancer Researchers in Pittsburgh Identify Method of Blocking Cancer Stem Cell Differentiation, Could Lead to More Effective Treatment
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Embryonic stem cells reveal oncogene’s secret growth formula
Source: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Date: April 29, 2010
Summary:
A comprehensive new gene expression study in embryonic stem cells has uncovered a transcription control mechanism that is not only more pervasive than once thought but is also heavily regulated by the cancer-causing gene c-Myc. In research published in the April 30th edition of Cell, a team of Whitehead Institute researchers describes a pausing step in the transcription process that serves to regulate expression of as many as 80% of the genes in mammalian cells.
Scientists have long known that DNA-binding transcription factors recruit the RNA polymerase Pol II (which prompts copying of DNA into mRNA protein codes) to promoters in order to kick off the transcription process. Now researchers in the lab of Whitehead Member Richard Young have found that additional factors recruited to the promoters serve to stop transcription in its tracks shortly after it’s begun.
Date: April 29, 2010
Summary:
A comprehensive new gene expression study in embryonic stem cells has uncovered a transcription control mechanism that is not only more pervasive than once thought but is also heavily regulated by the cancer-causing gene c-Myc. In research published in the April 30th edition of Cell, a team of Whitehead Institute researchers describes a pausing step in the transcription process that serves to regulate expression of as many as 80% of the genes in mammalian cells.
Scientists have long known that DNA-binding transcription factors recruit the RNA polymerase Pol II (which prompts copying of DNA into mRNA protein codes) to promoters in order to kick off the transcription process. Now researchers in the lab of Whitehead Member Richard Young have found that additional factors recruited to the promoters serve to stop transcription in its tracks shortly after it’s begun.
Monday, April 26, 2010
NIH Study Confirms Location of Stem Cells Near Cartilage-Rich Regions in Bones
Source: NIH / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Date: April 26, 2010
Summary:
Working with mice, a team of researchers has pinpointed the location of bone generating stem cells in the spine, at the ends of shins, and in other bones. The team also has identified factors that control the stem cells' growth. The research was conducted at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Researchers have long known that stem cells from bone marrow give rise to bone cells and to red and white blood cells. The current study is the first to identify the location of bone stem cells in the adult mouse skeleton. The researchers refer to the newly identified cells as bone stromal cells. "Stroma" is a term used to describe a supportive or connective structure in biological tissue. The term distinguishes the cells from hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to blood cells, and which are found in bone marrow. The findings appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Date: April 26, 2010
Summary:
Working with mice, a team of researchers has pinpointed the location of bone generating stem cells in the spine, at the ends of shins, and in other bones. The team also has identified factors that control the stem cells' growth. The research was conducted at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Researchers have long known that stem cells from bone marrow give rise to bone cells and to red and white blood cells. The current study is the first to identify the location of bone stem cells in the adult mouse skeleton. The researchers refer to the newly identified cells as bone stromal cells. "Stroma" is a term used to describe a supportive or connective structure in biological tissue. The term distinguishes the cells from hematopoietic stem cells, which give rise to blood cells, and which are found in bone marrow. The findings appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Stem cells from surgery leftovers could repair damaged hearts
Source: University of Bristol
Date: 26 April 2010
Summary:
Scientists have for the first time succeeded in extracting vital stem cells from sections of vein removed for heart bypass surgery. Researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that these stem cells can stimulate new blood vessels to grow, which could potentially help repair damaged heart muscle after a heart attack. The research, by Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine and his team in the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) at the University of Bristol, is published in the leading journal Circulation. In tests in mice, the cells proved able to stimulate new blood vessels to grow into injured leg muscles. Professor Madeddu and his team are now beginning to investigate whether the cells can help the heart to recover from a heart attack.
Date: 26 April 2010
Summary:
Scientists have for the first time succeeded in extracting vital stem cells from sections of vein removed for heart bypass surgery. Researchers funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that these stem cells can stimulate new blood vessels to grow, which could potentially help repair damaged heart muscle after a heart attack. The research, by Paolo Madeddu, Professor of Experimental Cardiovascluar Medicine and his team in the Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) at the University of Bristol, is published in the leading journal Circulation. In tests in mice, the cells proved able to stimulate new blood vessels to grow into injured leg muscles. Professor Madeddu and his team are now beginning to investigate whether the cells can help the heart to recover from a heart attack.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Gene silencing may be responsible for induced pluripotent stem cells' limitations
Source: Massachusetts General Hospital
Date: April 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists may be one step closer to being able to generate any type of cells and tissues from a patient's own cells. In a study that will appear in the journal Nature and is receiving early online release, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), describe finding that an important cluster of genes is inactivated in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that do not have the full development potential of embryonic stem cells. Generated from adult cells, iPSCs have many characteristics of embryonic stem cells but also have had significant limitations.
Date: April 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists may be one step closer to being able to generate any type of cells and tissues from a patient's own cells. In a study that will appear in the journal Nature and is receiving early online release, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), describe finding that an important cluster of genes is inactivated in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that do not have the full development potential of embryonic stem cells. Generated from adult cells, iPSCs have many characteristics of embryonic stem cells but also have had significant limitations.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Body builders - the worms that point the way to understanding tissue regeneration
Source: University of Nottingham
Posted: 23 April 2010 09:35:00 GMT
Summary:
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered the gene that enables an extraordinary worm to regenerate its own body parts after amputation — including a whole head and brain. Their research into the Planarian worm is another piece in the scientific jigsaw that could one day make the regeneration of old or damaged human organs and tissues a real possibility. The research led by Dr Aziz Aboobaker, a Research Councils UK Fellow in the School of Biology shows for the first time that a gene called 'Smed-prep' is essential for correctly regenerating a head and brain in planarian worms. The study is published on April 22 2010 in the open access journal PLoS Genetics.
Posted: 23 April 2010 09:35:00 GMT
Summary:
Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered the gene that enables an extraordinary worm to regenerate its own body parts after amputation — including a whole head and brain. Their research into the Planarian worm is another piece in the scientific jigsaw that could one day make the regeneration of old or damaged human organs and tissues a real possibility. The research led by Dr Aziz Aboobaker, a Research Councils UK Fellow in the School of Biology shows for the first time that a gene called 'Smed-prep' is essential for correctly regenerating a head and brain in planarian worms. The study is published on April 22 2010 in the open access journal PLoS Genetics.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Scientists Create Stem Cells from Eggs of Aging Mice
Source: New York University Langone Medical Center
Date: April 22, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have created stem cells from the eggs of aging mice that could be used for reproductive purposes and regenerative medicine. The study, published in April issue of the journal Aging Cell, found that even though the eggs from older females were slightly less efficient at making stem cells than those from younger females, the capacity to create stem cells was sustained.
Date: April 22, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have created stem cells from the eggs of aging mice that could be used for reproductive purposes and regenerative medicine. The study, published in April issue of the journal Aging Cell, found that even though the eggs from older females were slightly less efficient at making stem cells than those from younger females, the capacity to create stem cells was sustained.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
StemCells, Inc. Plans to Advance to Second Clinical Trial in Batten Disease
Source: StemCells, Inc.
Date: April 21, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Stem Cells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced plans to advance to a second clinical trial using purified human neural stem cells to treat Batten disease:
Date: April 21, 2010
Summary:
In an official company news release, Stem Cells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research, announced plans to advance to a second clinical trial using purified human neural stem cells to treat Batten disease:
StemCells, Inc., a biotechnology company in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, announced today that it has submitted a protocol to the FDA for initiation of a second clinical trial of its proprietary HuCNS-SC® human neural stem cells in neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), which is also often referred to as Batten disease. NCL is a genetic disorder characterized by the absence of a critical enzyme, which leads to the loss of neurons and the eventual death of the patient. The Company completed a Phase I clinical trial in NCL in January 2009 and reported the results to the FDA in September 2009.
The proposed new trial is designed to further assess the safety of HuCNS-SC cells in NCL, while also examining the ability of the cells to affect the progression of the disease. The Company plans to enroll six patients with infantile and late infantile NCL. Because intervention prior to the final stages of the disease will likely be key to providing a therapeutic benefit, the Company plans to enroll patients with less brain atrophy than those enrolled in its first trial. Under the proposed protocol, all patients would be transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells and immunosuppressed for nine months. The patients would also be evaluated and assessed at regular intervals over the course of 12 months following transplantation. As the Company intends to follow the effects of this therapy long-term, a separate four-year observational study would be initiated at the conclusion of this trial. Upon FDA authorization of the trial protocol, the Company will proceed with site selection and seek the necessary Institutional Review Board approval to initiate the trial.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Scripps Research scientists solve mystery of fragile stem cells
Source: The Scripps Research Institute
Date: April 12, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have solved the decade-old mystery of why human embryonic stem cells are so difficult to culture in the laboratory, providing scientists with useful new techniques and moving the field closer to the day when stem cells can be used for therapeutic purposes. The research is being published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of April 12, 2010.
In the study, the team discovered two novel synthetic small molecule drugs that can be added to human stem cell culture that each individually prevent the death of these cells. The team also unravels the mechanisms by which the compounds promote stem cell survival, shedding light on a previously unknown aspect of stem cell biology. The hope of most researchers in the field is that one day it will be possible to use stem cells — which possess the ability to develop into many other distinct cell types, such as nerve, heart, or lung cells — to repair damaged tissue from any number of diseases, from Type 1 diabetes to Parkinson's disease, as well as from injuries.
Date: April 12, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have solved the decade-old mystery of why human embryonic stem cells are so difficult to culture in the laboratory, providing scientists with useful new techniques and moving the field closer to the day when stem cells can be used for therapeutic purposes. The research is being published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of April 12, 2010.
In the study, the team discovered two novel synthetic small molecule drugs that can be added to human stem cell culture that each individually prevent the death of these cells. The team also unravels the mechanisms by which the compounds promote stem cell survival, shedding light on a previously unknown aspect of stem cell biology. The hope of most researchers in the field is that one day it will be possible to use stem cells — which possess the ability to develop into many other distinct cell types, such as nerve, heart, or lung cells — to repair damaged tissue from any number of diseases, from Type 1 diabetes to Parkinson's disease, as well as from injuries.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Research may help scientists understand mechanism behind cellular differentiation
Source: Carnegie Institution
Date: April 5, 2010
Summary:
Multipotent stem cells have the capacity to develop into different types of cells by reprogramming their DNA to turn on different combinations of genes, a process called "differentiation." In a new study, researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science have found that reprogramming is imperfect in the early stages of differentiation, with some genes turned on and off at random. As cell divisions continue, the stability of the differentiation process increases by a factor of 100. The finding will help scientists understand how stem cells reprogram their genes and why fully differentiated cells are very hard to reprogram, knowledge with potential impacts on aging, regenerative medicine, and cancer research. The results of this research are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Date: April 5, 2010
Summary:
Multipotent stem cells have the capacity to develop into different types of cells by reprogramming their DNA to turn on different combinations of genes, a process called "differentiation." In a new study, researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science have found that reprogramming is imperfect in the early stages of differentiation, with some genes turned on and off at random. As cell divisions continue, the stability of the differentiation process increases by a factor of 100. The finding will help scientists understand how stem cells reprogram their genes and why fully differentiated cells are very hard to reprogram, knowledge with potential impacts on aging, regenerative medicine, and cancer research. The results of this research are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Friday, April 02, 2010
New York Stem Cell Foundation Fellow Lead Author on Study That Derives Floor Plate Tissue From Embryonic Stem Cells
Source: New York Stem Cell Foundation
Date: April 2, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK, NY (April 2) - New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Fellow, Christopher Fasano, PhD, of the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, is lead author on a study that investigating human neural development. Dr. Fasano conducted this work while working as a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the lab of Dr. Lorenz Studer. Dr. Fasano and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to derive floor plate tissue, an important signaling center during brain development.
The study, Efficient derivation of functional floor plate tissue from human embryonic stem cells, was published in the online edition of Cell Stem Cell on April 1, 2010, and will also appear in the journal’s print edition.
Date: April 2, 2010
Summary:
NEW YORK, NY (April 2) - New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Fellow, Christopher Fasano, PhD, of the New York Neural Stem Cell Institute, is lead author on a study that investigating human neural development. Dr. Fasano conducted this work while working as a post-doctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the lab of Dr. Lorenz Studer. Dr. Fasano and his colleagues used human embryonic stem cells (hESC) to derive floor plate tissue, an important signaling center during brain development.
The study, Efficient derivation of functional floor plate tissue from human embryonic stem cells, was published in the online edition of Cell Stem Cell on April 1, 2010, and will also appear in the journal’s print edition.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Breakthrough Increases the Potential to Produce the Large Quantities of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Required For Transplantation
Source: Hadassah University Medical Center
Date: March 31, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center have developed a novel strategy to derive and culture human embryonic stem cells in suspension. This breakthrough may be the key to developing systems to manufacture the enormous quantities of stem cells required to treat millions of patients.
The research results, published in the recent edition of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, demonstrated that human embryonic stem cell lines can be developed and grown while floating within a cultivation medium. This obviates the need to seed the embryonic stem cells over a substrate – the current methodology – which is very labor intensive and can produce limited quantities of stem cells.
Date: March 31, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Jerusalem’s Hadassah University Medical Center have developed a novel strategy to derive and culture human embryonic stem cells in suspension. This breakthrough may be the key to developing systems to manufacture the enormous quantities of stem cells required to treat millions of patients.
The research results, published in the recent edition of the prestigious scientific journal Nature Biotechnology, demonstrated that human embryonic stem cell lines can be developed and grown while floating within a cultivation medium. This obviates the need to seed the embryonic stem cells over a substrate – the current methodology – which is very labor intensive and can produce limited quantities of stem cells.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Promoting Healing by Keeping Skeletal Stem Cells ‘Young’
Source: University of Rochester Medical Center
Date: March 30, 2010
Summary:
Scientists seeking new ways to fight maladies ranging from arthritis and osteoporosis to broken bones that won't heal have cleared a formidable hurdle, pinpointing and controlling a key molecular player to keep stem cells in a sort of extended infancy. It's a step that makes treatment with the cells in the future more likely for patients.
Controlling and delaying development of the cells, known as mesenchymal (pronounced meh-ZINK-a-mill) stem cells, is a long-sought goal for researchers. It's a necessary step for doctors who would like to expand the number of true skeletal stem cells available for a procedure before the cells start becoming specific types of cells that may - or may not - be needed in a patient with, say, weak bones from osteoporosis, or an old knee injury. In a study published online in the journal Development, Hilton's team discussed how it was able to increase the number and delay the development of stem cells that create bones, cartilage, muscle and fat.
Date: March 30, 2010
Summary:
Scientists seeking new ways to fight maladies ranging from arthritis and osteoporosis to broken bones that won't heal have cleared a formidable hurdle, pinpointing and controlling a key molecular player to keep stem cells in a sort of extended infancy. It's a step that makes treatment with the cells in the future more likely for patients.
Controlling and delaying development of the cells, known as mesenchymal (pronounced meh-ZINK-a-mill) stem cells, is a long-sought goal for researchers. It's a necessary step for doctors who would like to expand the number of true skeletal stem cells available for a procedure before the cells start becoming specific types of cells that may - or may not - be needed in a patient with, say, weak bones from osteoporosis, or an old knee injury. In a study published online in the journal Development, Hilton's team discussed how it was able to increase the number and delay the development of stem cells that create bones, cartilage, muscle and fat.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Neuroscientists reverse Alzheimer’s-like memory loss by targeting signaling protein in fruitflies
Source: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: March 29, 2010
Summary:
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. – By blocking the cellular signaling activity of a protein, a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has prevented memory loss in fruit flies caused by brain plaques similar to those thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease in humans. The study also resolves a long-standing controversy about the role of this protein, PI3 kinase, which was previously thought to have a protective function against the disease. The study appears online, ahead of print, March 29th in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences..
Date: March 29, 2010
Summary:
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. – By blocking the cellular signaling activity of a protein, a team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has prevented memory loss in fruit flies caused by brain plaques similar to those thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease in humans. The study also resolves a long-standing controversy about the role of this protein, PI3 kinase, which was previously thought to have a protective function against the disease. The study appears online, ahead of print, March 29th in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences..
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Insulin-like signal needed to keep stem cells alive in adult brain
Source: University of California - Berkeley
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
University of California, Berkeley, biologists have found a signal that keeps stem cells alive in the adult brain, providing a focus for scientists looking for ways to re-grow or re-seed stem cells in the brain to allow injured areas to repair themselves. The researchers discovered in fruit flies that keeping the insulin receptor revved up in the brain prevents the die-off of neural stem cells that occurs when most regions of the brain mature into their adult forms. Whether the same technique will work in humans is unknown, but the UC Berkeley team hopes to find out.
Hariharan noted that other researchers have gotten neural stem cells to persist by blocking genes that cause them to die. Yet this alone does not produce healthy, normal-looking neural stem cells that can make mature neurons. The UC Berkeley team's new finding shows that it also is necessary to provide an insulin-like signal. If stopping neural stem cell death is analogous to taking your foot off the brake, then providing an insulin-like signal is like stepping on the gas, he said. Both are essential. Hariharan, post-doctoral researcher Sarah E. Siegrist and their colleagues published their findings today (Thursday, March 25) in the online version of the journal Current Biology. Their report will appear in the journal's April 13 print edition.
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
University of California, Berkeley, biologists have found a signal that keeps stem cells alive in the adult brain, providing a focus for scientists looking for ways to re-grow or re-seed stem cells in the brain to allow injured areas to repair themselves. The researchers discovered in fruit flies that keeping the insulin receptor revved up in the brain prevents the die-off of neural stem cells that occurs when most regions of the brain mature into their adult forms. Whether the same technique will work in humans is unknown, but the UC Berkeley team hopes to find out.
Hariharan noted that other researchers have gotten neural stem cells to persist by blocking genes that cause them to die. Yet this alone does not produce healthy, normal-looking neural stem cells that can make mature neurons. The UC Berkeley team's new finding shows that it also is necessary to provide an insulin-like signal. If stopping neural stem cell death is analogous to taking your foot off the brake, then providing an insulin-like signal is like stepping on the gas, he said. Both are essential. Hariharan, post-doctoral researcher Sarah E. Siegrist and their colleagues published their findings today (Thursday, March 25) in the online version of the journal Current Biology. Their report will appear in the journal's April 13 print edition.
Novel Parkinson’s treatment strategy involves cell transplantation
Source: University of California, San Francisco
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have used a novel cell-based strategy to treat motor symptoms in rats with a disease designed to mimic Parkinson's disease. The strategy suggests a promising approach, the scientists say, for treating symptoms of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and disorders, including epilepsy.
The scientists transplanted embryonic neurons from fetal rats into an area of the adult rat brain known as the striatum, which integrates excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter signals to control movement. In Parkinson's disease, cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine are damaged, and thus unable to project their communication wires, or axons, to the region. As a result, the balance of excitation and inhibition in the striatum is lost, causing the motor deficits that are a primary symptom of the disease.
In the study, the transplanted embryonic neurons migrated and integrated into the correct neural circuitry of the striatum, matured into so-called GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, and dampened the over-excitation in the region. The rats had improved motor function, as seen in their balance, speed, and length of stride during walking. Moreover, the healthy "control" rats in which the cells had been transplanted took longer strides and ran faster on a runway test.
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have used a novel cell-based strategy to treat motor symptoms in rats with a disease designed to mimic Parkinson's disease. The strategy suggests a promising approach, the scientists say, for treating symptoms of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases and disorders, including epilepsy.
The scientists transplanted embryonic neurons from fetal rats into an area of the adult rat brain known as the striatum, which integrates excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter signals to control movement. In Parkinson's disease, cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine are damaged, and thus unable to project their communication wires, or axons, to the region. As a result, the balance of excitation and inhibition in the striatum is lost, causing the motor deficits that are a primary symptom of the disease.
In the study, the transplanted embryonic neurons migrated and integrated into the correct neural circuitry of the striatum, matured into so-called GABAergic inhibitory interneurons, and dampened the over-excitation in the region. The rats had improved motor function, as seen in their balance, speed, and length of stride during walking. Moreover, the healthy "control" rats in which the cells had been transplanted took longer strides and ran faster on a runway test.
New period of brain “plasticity” created with transplanted embryonic cells
Source: University of California - San Francisco
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco report that they were able to prompt a new period of “plasticity,” or capacity for change, in the neural circuitry of the visual cortex of juvenile mice. The approach, they say, might some day be used to create new periods of plasticity in the human brain that would allow for the repair of neural circuits following injury or disease. The strategy – which involved transplanting a specific type of immature neuron from embryonic mice into the visual cortex of young mice – could be used to treat neural circuits disrupted in abnormal fetal or postnatal development, stroke, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric illness and aging.
In their study, published in the journal Science, (Vol. 327. no. 5969, 2010), the scientists wanted to see if the embryonic neurons, once they had matured into GABA-producing inhibitory neurons, could induce plasticity in mice after the normal critical period had closed.
Date: March 25, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco report that they were able to prompt a new period of “plasticity,” or capacity for change, in the neural circuitry of the visual cortex of juvenile mice. The approach, they say, might some day be used to create new periods of plasticity in the human brain that would allow for the repair of neural circuits following injury or disease. The strategy – which involved transplanting a specific type of immature neuron from embryonic mice into the visual cortex of young mice – could be used to treat neural circuits disrupted in abnormal fetal or postnatal development, stroke, traumatic brain injury, psychiatric illness and aging.
In their study, published in the journal Science, (Vol. 327. no. 5969, 2010), the scientists wanted to see if the embryonic neurons, once they had matured into GABA-producing inhibitory neurons, could induce plasticity in mice after the normal critical period had closed.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Newly Discovered Gene Explains Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Immortality
Source: National Institute on Aging
Date: March 24, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a key to embryonic stem (ES) cell rejuvenation in a gene -- Zscan4 -- as reported in the March 24, 2010, online issue of Nature. This breakthrough finding could have major implications for aging research, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and cancer biology.
Date: March 24, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered a key to embryonic stem (ES) cell rejuvenation in a gene -- Zscan4 -- as reported in the March 24, 2010, online issue of Nature. This breakthrough finding could have major implications for aging research, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and cancer biology.
Scientists Find Cells That Mend A Broken Heart
Source: Duke University Medical Center
Date: March 24, 2010
Summary:
DURHAM, N.C. -- Humans have very limited ability to regenerate heart muscle cells, which is a key reason why heart attacks that kill cells and scar heart tissue are so dangerous. But damaged heart muscles in the amazing, highly regenerative zebrafish have given Duke University Medical Center scientists a few ideas that may lead to new directions in clinical research and better therapy after heart attacks.
The data in this study showed that the major contributors to the regeneration of surgically removed heart muscle came from a subpopulation of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) near the area where the removal occurred. The study appears in the March 25 issue of Nature. The team labeled cells in the heart and found that cells that activated the gata4 gene upon injury ultimately contributed to regenerating the heart muscle.
The New York Times published a news story today on this finding.
Date: March 24, 2010
Summary:
DURHAM, N.C. -- Humans have very limited ability to regenerate heart muscle cells, which is a key reason why heart attacks that kill cells and scar heart tissue are so dangerous. But damaged heart muscles in the amazing, highly regenerative zebrafish have given Duke University Medical Center scientists a few ideas that may lead to new directions in clinical research and better therapy after heart attacks.
The data in this study showed that the major contributors to the regeneration of surgically removed heart muscle came from a subpopulation of heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) near the area where the removal occurred. The study appears in the March 25 issue of Nature. The team labeled cells in the heart and found that cells that activated the gata4 gene upon injury ultimately contributed to regenerating the heart muscle.
The New York Times published a news story today on this finding.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Newly identified growth factor promotes stem cell growth, regeneration
Source: Duke University Medical Center
Date: March 21, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified a new growth factor that stimulates the expansion and regeneration of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells in culture and in laboratory animals. The discovery, appearing in the journal Nature Medicine, may help researchers overcome one of the most frustrating barriers to cellular therapy: the fact that stem cells are so few in number and so stubbornly resistant to expansion.
Date: March 21, 2010
Summary:
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have identified a new growth factor that stimulates the expansion and regeneration of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells in culture and in laboratory animals. The discovery, appearing in the journal Nature Medicine, may help researchers overcome one of the most frustrating barriers to cellular therapy: the fact that stem cells are so few in number and so stubbornly resistant to expansion.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Surgeons perform revolutionary transplant operation
Source: University College London
Date: 19 March 2010
Summary:
University College London scientists and surgeons have led a revolutionary operation to transplant a new trachea into a child and use the child's own stem cells to rebuild the airway in the body. The operation - a world first - involved laboratory-based scientists and hospital-based clinicians working in partnership with colleagues in Europe to treat a 10-year-old British boy.
Date: 19 March 2010
Summary:
University College London scientists and surgeons have led a revolutionary operation to transplant a new trachea into a child and use the child's own stem cells to rebuild the airway in the body. The operation - a world first - involved laboratory-based scientists and hospital-based clinicians working in partnership with colleagues in Europe to treat a 10-year-old British boy.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Using stem cells to mend damaged hips
Source: University of Southampton
Date: March 18, 2010
Summary:
Bone stem cells could in future be used instead of bone from donors as part of an innovative new hip replacement treatment, according to scientists at the University of Southampton. A team from the University’s School of Medicine believe that introducing a patient’s own skeletal stem cells into the hip joint during bone grafting would encourage more successful regrowth and repair. The grafting technique is used to repair the thigh bone and joint during replacement (known as 'revision') hip replacement therapy, a procedure in which surgeons introduce donor bone to the damaged area to provide support for the new hip stem. In this collaborative study between the University of Southampton and The University of Nottingham, researchers will use adult stem cells from bone marrow in combination with an innovative impaction process and polymer scaffolds.
Date: March 18, 2010
Summary:
Bone stem cells could in future be used instead of bone from donors as part of an innovative new hip replacement treatment, according to scientists at the University of Southampton. A team from the University’s School of Medicine believe that introducing a patient’s own skeletal stem cells into the hip joint during bone grafting would encourage more successful regrowth and repair. The grafting technique is used to repair the thigh bone and joint during replacement (known as 'revision') hip replacement therapy, a procedure in which surgeons introduce donor bone to the damaged area to provide support for the new hip stem. In this collaborative study between the University of Southampton and The University of Nottingham, researchers will use adult stem cells from bone marrow in combination with an innovative impaction process and polymer scaffolds.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
CBS News: Where America Stands: New Problems and Solutions as Stem Cell Research Finally Picks Up Steam
Source: CBS News
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
CBS News reports on the current state of stem cell research and examines recent discoveries in and future prospects for the field. A CBS News video accompanies this story:
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
CBS News reports on the current state of stem cell research and examines recent discoveries in and future prospects for the field. A CBS News video accompanies this story:
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Researchers Identify Key Mechanism that Guides Cells to Form Heart Tissue
Source: University of Southern California
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California have identified a key cellular mechanism that guides embryonic heart tissue formation—a process which, if disrupted, can lead to a number of common congenital heart defects.
Heart tissue forms in two distinct phases known as the First Heart Field, which includes the left ventricle and portions of both atrial chambers, and the Second Heart Field (SHF), which consists of the right ventricle and outflow tract. In humans, the process occurs within the fourth week of development. Using animal models, Keck School of Medicine researchers found that retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of vitamin A, regulates the SHF tissue formation and the septation, or division, of the outflow tract into the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery. The study appears in the March 16 issue of the journal Developmental Cell.
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California have identified a key cellular mechanism that guides embryonic heart tissue formation—a process which, if disrupted, can lead to a number of common congenital heart defects.
Heart tissue forms in two distinct phases known as the First Heart Field, which includes the left ventricle and portions of both atrial chambers, and the Second Heart Field (SHF), which consists of the right ventricle and outflow tract. In humans, the process occurs within the fourth week of development. Using animal models, Keck School of Medicine researchers found that retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of vitamin A, regulates the SHF tissue formation and the septation, or division, of the outflow tract into the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery. The study appears in the March 16 issue of the journal Developmental Cell.
BioTime, Inc. Reports Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publication on the Reversal of the Developmental Aging of Normal Human Cells
Source: BioTime, Inc.
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
BioTime, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, today announced the publication of a scientific paper titled "Spontaneous Reversal of Developmental Aging in Normal Human Cells Following Transcriptional Reprogramming." The article was released online today in the peer-reviewed journal Regenerative Medicine in advance of the print publication. The demonstration that the aging of human cells can be reversed may have significant implications for the development of new classes of cell-based therapies targeting age-related degenerative disease.
In the article, BioTime and its collaborators demonstrate the successful reversal of the developmental aging of normal human cells. Using precise genetic modifications, normal human cells were induced to reverse both the "clock" of differentiation (the process by which an embryonic stem cell becomes the many specialized differentiated cell types of the body), and the "clock" of cellular aging (telomere length). As a result, aged differentiated cells became young stem cells capable of regeneration.
Date: March 16, 2010
Summary:
BioTime, Inc., a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, today announced the publication of a scientific paper titled "Spontaneous Reversal of Developmental Aging in Normal Human Cells Following Transcriptional Reprogramming." The article was released online today in the peer-reviewed journal Regenerative Medicine in advance of the print publication. The demonstration that the aging of human cells can be reversed may have significant implications for the development of new classes of cell-based therapies targeting age-related degenerative disease.
In the article, BioTime and its collaborators demonstrate the successful reversal of the developmental aging of normal human cells. Using precise genetic modifications, normal human cells were induced to reverse both the "clock" of differentiation (the process by which an embryonic stem cell becomes the many specialized differentiated cell types of the body), and the "clock" of cellular aging (telomere length). As a result, aged differentiated cells became young stem cells capable of regeneration.
Monday, March 15, 2010
SCIENTISTS DEMONSTRATE MAMMALIAN REGENERATION THROUGH A SINGLE GENE DELETION
Source: The Wistar Institute
Date: March 15, 2010
Summary:
A quest that began over a decade ago with a chance observation has reached a milestone: the identification of a gene that may regulate regeneration in mammals. The absence of this single gene, called p21, confers a healing potential in mice long thought to have been lost through evolution and reserved for creatures like flatworms, sponges, and some species of salamander. In a report published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from The Wistar Institute demonstrate that mice that lack the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue.
Unlike typical mammals, which heal wounds by forming a scar, these mice begin by forming a blastema, a structure associated with rapid cell growth and de-differentiation as seen in amphibians. According to the Wistar researchers, the loss of p21 causes the cells of these mice to behave more like embryonic stem cells than adult mammalian cells, and their findings provide solid evidence to link tissue regeneration to the control of cell division.
Date: March 15, 2010
Summary:
A quest that began over a decade ago with a chance observation has reached a milestone: the identification of a gene that may regulate regeneration in mammals. The absence of this single gene, called p21, confers a healing potential in mice long thought to have been lost through evolution and reserved for creatures like flatworms, sponges, and some species of salamander. In a report published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from The Wistar Institute demonstrate that mice that lack the p21 gene gain the ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue.
Unlike typical mammals, which heal wounds by forming a scar, these mice begin by forming a blastema, a structure associated with rapid cell growth and de-differentiation as seen in amphibians. According to the Wistar researchers, the loss of p21 causes the cells of these mice to behave more like embryonic stem cells than adult mammalian cells, and their findings provide solid evidence to link tissue regeneration to the control of cell division.
Amniotic Fluid Cells More Efficiently Reprogrammed to Pluripotency Than Adult Cells
Source: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Date: March 15, 2010
Summary:
In a breakthrough that may help fill a critical need in stem cell research and patient care, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have demonstrated that skin cells found in human amniotic fluid can be efficiently "reprogrammed" to pluripotency, where they have characteristics similar to human embryonic stem cells that can develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The study is online now and will appear in print in the next issue of the journal Cellular Reprogramming, to be published next month.
The Mount Sinai researchers found that when compared to cultured adult skin cells, the amniotic fluid skin cells formed stem cell colonies in about half the time and yielded nearly a 200 percent increase in number. Reprogramming fetal skin cells also cuts significantly the cost of generating patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells when compared to reprogramming other cell types.
Date: March 15, 2010
Summary:
In a breakthrough that may help fill a critical need in stem cell research and patient care, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have demonstrated that skin cells found in human amniotic fluid can be efficiently "reprogrammed" to pluripotency, where they have characteristics similar to human embryonic stem cells that can develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The study is online now and will appear in print in the next issue of the journal Cellular Reprogramming, to be published next month.
The Mount Sinai researchers found that when compared to cultured adult skin cells, the amniotic fluid skin cells formed stem cell colonies in about half the time and yielded nearly a 200 percent increase in number. Reprogramming fetal skin cells also cuts significantly the cost of generating patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells when compared to reprogramming other cell types.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Researchers characterize stem cell function
Source: Northwestern University
Date: March 11, 2010
Summary:
The promise of stem cells lies in their unique ability to differentiate into a multitude of different types of cells. But in order to determine how to use stem cells for new therapeutics, scientists and engineers need to answer a fundamental question: if a stem cell changes to look like a certain type of cell, how do we know if it will behave like a certain type of cell?
Researchers at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering are the first to fully characterize a special type of stem cell, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) that exist in circulating blood, to see if they can behave as endothelial cells in the body when cultured on a bioengineered surface.
The results, published online in the journal Stem Cells show promise for a new generation of tissue-engineered vascular grafts which could improve the success rate of surgery for peripheral arterial disease. Peripheral arterial disease is estimated to affect one in every 20 Americans over the age of 50, a total of 8 to 12 million people.
Date: March 11, 2010
Summary:
The promise of stem cells lies in their unique ability to differentiate into a multitude of different types of cells. But in order to determine how to use stem cells for new therapeutics, scientists and engineers need to answer a fundamental question: if a stem cell changes to look like a certain type of cell, how do we know if it will behave like a certain type of cell?
Researchers at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering are the first to fully characterize a special type of stem cell, endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) that exist in circulating blood, to see if they can behave as endothelial cells in the body when cultured on a bioengineered surface.
The results, published online in the journal Stem Cells show promise for a new generation of tissue-engineered vascular grafts which could improve the success rate of surgery for peripheral arterial disease. Peripheral arterial disease is estimated to affect one in every 20 Americans over the age of 50, a total of 8 to 12 million people.
Discovery of Cellular "Switch" May Provide New Means of Triggering Cell Death, Treating Human Diseases
Source: University of Colorado at Boulder
Date: March 11, 2010
Summary:
The discovery of a novel cellular “switch” in the popular laboratory research worm, C. elegans, by a University of Colorado at Boulder team may provide researchers with a new means of triggering programmed cell death in humans to treat disease.
A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has discovered a previously unknown cellular "switch" that may provide researchers with a new means of triggering programmed cell death, findings with implications for treating cancer.
The new results are a big step forward in understanding programmed cell death, or apoptosis, a cell suicide process that involves a series of biochemical events leading to changes like cell body shrinkage, mitochondria destruction and chromosome fragmentation, said CU-Boulder Professor Ding Xue. But unlike traumatic cell death from injury, programmed cell death is a naturally occurring aspect of animal development that may help prevent human diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders, said Xue, lead author on the new study.
Date: March 11, 2010
Summary:
The discovery of a novel cellular “switch” in the popular laboratory research worm, C. elegans, by a University of Colorado at Boulder team may provide researchers with a new means of triggering programmed cell death in humans to treat disease.
A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has discovered a previously unknown cellular "switch" that may provide researchers with a new means of triggering programmed cell death, findings with implications for treating cancer.
The new results are a big step forward in understanding programmed cell death, or apoptosis, a cell suicide process that involves a series of biochemical events leading to changes like cell body shrinkage, mitochondria destruction and chromosome fragmentation, said CU-Boulder Professor Ding Xue. But unlike traumatic cell death from injury, programmed cell death is a naturally occurring aspect of animal development that may help prevent human diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders, said Xue, lead author on the new study.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Molecule Tells Key Brain Cells to Grow Up, Get to Work
Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: March 10, 2010
Summary:
About four out of every 10 cells in the brain are so-called oligodendrocytes. These cells produce the all-important myelin that coats nerve tracts, ensuring fast, energy-efficient transmission of nerve impulses. Mixed among them are proliferating but not particularly proficient precursor cells that are destined to become oligodendrocytes when needed but, for now, remain suspended in an immature, relatively undifferentiated state somewhere between stem cell and adult oligodendrocyte.
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have now identified a molecular master switch that catalyzes these cells' transition to mature, myelin-making mavens. The results may have implications for medical treatment, as defects in this maturation process have been observed in both multiple sclerosis and the most common kind of brain cancers in adults, known as gliomas.
In a study to be published March 10 in Neuron, the investigators found that a molecule known as miR-219 is found at high levels only in oligodendrocytes, and that it is both necessary and sufficient to induce their relatively undifferentiated precursors to become functioning adult cells.
Date: March 10, 2010
Summary:
About four out of every 10 cells in the brain are so-called oligodendrocytes. These cells produce the all-important myelin that coats nerve tracts, ensuring fast, energy-efficient transmission of nerve impulses. Mixed among them are proliferating but not particularly proficient precursor cells that are destined to become oligodendrocytes when needed but, for now, remain suspended in an immature, relatively undifferentiated state somewhere between stem cell and adult oligodendrocyte.
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have now identified a molecular master switch that catalyzes these cells' transition to mature, myelin-making mavens. The results may have implications for medical treatment, as defects in this maturation process have been observed in both multiple sclerosis and the most common kind of brain cancers in adults, known as gliomas.
In a study to be published March 10 in Neuron, the investigators found that a molecule known as miR-219 is found at high levels only in oligodendrocytes, and that it is both necessary and sufficient to induce their relatively undifferentiated precursors to become functioning adult cells.
Scientists track variant of gene-regulating protein in embryonic stem cells
Source: The Rockefeller University
Date: March 10, 2010
Summary:
The journey from embryonic stem cell to a fully developed liver, heart or muscle cell requires not only the right genes, but genes that are turned on and off at the right time — a job that is handled in part by DNA-packaging proteins known as histones. But it turns out that not all histones are created equally. New research from Rockefeller University shows that minute variations between histones play an important role in determining how and when genes are read. The findings, reported this week in the journal Cell, hint at an unimagined complexity of the genome and may open a new avenue of investigation regarding the mysterious causes of the human genetic disease known as ATR-X syndrome.
Date: March 10, 2010
Summary:
The journey from embryonic stem cell to a fully developed liver, heart or muscle cell requires not only the right genes, but genes that are turned on and off at the right time — a job that is handled in part by DNA-packaging proteins known as histones. But it turns out that not all histones are created equally. New research from Rockefeller University shows that minute variations between histones play an important role in determining how and when genes are read. The findings, reported this week in the journal Cell, hint at an unimagined complexity of the genome and may open a new avenue of investigation regarding the mysterious causes of the human genetic disease known as ATR-X syndrome.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Scientists identify reservoirs where HIV-infected cells can lie in wait
Source: University of Michigan Health System
Date: March 7, 2010
Summary:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan scientists have identified a new reservoir for hidden HIV-infected cells that can serve as a factory for new infections. New research shows that bone marrow, previously thought to be resistant to the virus, can contain latent forms of the infection. The findings, which appear online today in Nature Medicine, indicate a new target for curing the disease so those infected with the virus may someday no longer rely on AIDS drugs for a lifetime and may open the door to new treatments. The new research also gives a broader view of how HIV overwhelms the body’s immune system and devastates its ability to regenerate itself.
Date: March 7, 2010
Summary:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan scientists have identified a new reservoir for hidden HIV-infected cells that can serve as a factory for new infections. New research shows that bone marrow, previously thought to be resistant to the virus, can contain latent forms of the infection. The findings, which appear online today in Nature Medicine, indicate a new target for curing the disease so those infected with the virus may someday no longer rely on AIDS drugs for a lifetime and may open the door to new treatments. The new research also gives a broader view of how HIV overwhelms the body’s immune system and devastates its ability to regenerate itself.
Friday, March 05, 2010
THYMOSIN BETA 4 IMPROVES NEUROLOGICAL FUNCTION AFTER STROKE: TB4 Found to Stimulate Oligoprogenitor Cells
Source: RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Date: March 5, 2010
Summary:
REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced that a research team from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI reported that Thymosin beta 4 (TB4), administered to rats one day after embolic stroke, improved neurological functional outcome compared to control animals. Improvement in neurological function was measured at various time intervals over a seven week period and was statistically significant.
An increase in remyelination of axons (regeneration of the nerve sheath) was observed in rats receiving TB4 compared to control animals, likely due to an increased mobilization of oligodendrocyte progenitors (stem cells surrounding axons) that differentiate into mature myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. In cell culture, TB4 treated neuronal progenitor cells isolated from normal and stroke rats demonstrated increased mRNA levels of epidermal growth factor receptor. This receptor has previously been shown to be a regulator of oligoprogenitor cell expansion and tissue regeneration in response to brain injury and further supports the role of TB4 in stem cell-mediated tissue repair.
Date: March 5, 2010
Summary:
REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced that a research team from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI reported that Thymosin beta 4 (TB4), administered to rats one day after embolic stroke, improved neurological functional outcome compared to control animals. Improvement in neurological function was measured at various time intervals over a seven week period and was statistically significant.
An increase in remyelination of axons (regeneration of the nerve sheath) was observed in rats receiving TB4 compared to control animals, likely due to an increased mobilization of oligodendrocyte progenitors (stem cells surrounding axons) that differentiate into mature myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. In cell culture, TB4 treated neuronal progenitor cells isolated from normal and stroke rats demonstrated increased mRNA levels of epidermal growth factor receptor. This receptor has previously been shown to be a regulator of oligoprogenitor cell expansion and tissue regeneration in response to brain injury and further supports the role of TB4 in stem cell-mediated tissue repair.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Breakthrough reveals blood vessel cells are key to growing unlimited amounts of adult stem cells
Source: Weill Cornell Medical College
Date: March 4, 2010
Summary:
In a leap toward making stem cell therapy widely available, researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that endothelial cells, the most basic building blocks of the vascular system, produce growth factors that can grow copious amounts of adult stem cells and their progeny over the course of weeks. Until now, adult stem cell cultures would die within four or five days despite best efforts to grow them.
This new finding sets forth the innovative concept that blood vessels are not just passive conduits for delivery of oxygen and nutrients, but are also programmed to maintain and proliferate stem cells and their mature forms in adult organs. Using a novel approach to harness the potential of endothelial cells by "co-culturing" them with stem cells, the researchers discovered the means to manufacture an unlimited supply of blood-related stem cells that may eventually ensure that anyone who needs a bone marrow transplant can get one.
The vascular-cell model established in this study could also be used to grow abundant functional stem cells from other organs such as the brain, heart, skin and lungs. An article detailing these findings appears in the March 5 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Date: March 4, 2010
Summary:
In a leap toward making stem cell therapy widely available, researchers at the Ansary Stem Cell Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered that endothelial cells, the most basic building blocks of the vascular system, produce growth factors that can grow copious amounts of adult stem cells and their progeny over the course of weeks. Until now, adult stem cell cultures would die within four or five days despite best efforts to grow them.
This new finding sets forth the innovative concept that blood vessels are not just passive conduits for delivery of oxygen and nutrients, but are also programmed to maintain and proliferate stem cells and their mature forms in adult organs. Using a novel approach to harness the potential of endothelial cells by "co-culturing" them with stem cells, the researchers discovered the means to manufacture an unlimited supply of blood-related stem cells that may eventually ensure that anyone who needs a bone marrow transplant can get one.
The vascular-cell model established in this study could also be used to grow abundant functional stem cells from other organs such as the brain, heart, skin and lungs. An article detailing these findings appears in the March 5 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Using Own Skin Cells to Repair Hearts on Horizon
Source: University of Houston
Date: March 2, 2010
Summary:
A heart patient’s own skin cells soon could be used to repair damaged cardiac tissue thanks to pioneering stem cell research of the University of Houston’s newest biomedical scientist, Robert Schwartz. His new technique for reprogramming human skin cells puts him at the forefront of a revolution in medicine that could one day lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and many other diseases.
...Schwartz devised a method for turning ordinary human skin cells into heart cells. The cells developed are similar to embryonic stem cells and ultimately can be made into early-stage heart cells derived from a patient’s own skin. These then could be implanted and grown into fully developed beating heart cells, reversing the damage caused by previous heart attacks. These new cells would replace the damaged cardiac tissue that weakens the heart’s ability to pump, develops into scar tissue and causes arrhythmias. Early clinical trials using these reprogrammed cells on actual heart patients could begin within one or two years.
Date: March 2, 2010
Summary:
A heart patient’s own skin cells soon could be used to repair damaged cardiac tissue thanks to pioneering stem cell research of the University of Houston’s newest biomedical scientist, Robert Schwartz. His new technique for reprogramming human skin cells puts him at the forefront of a revolution in medicine that could one day lead to treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and many other diseases.
...Schwartz devised a method for turning ordinary human skin cells into heart cells. The cells developed are similar to embryonic stem cells and ultimately can be made into early-stage heart cells derived from a patient’s own skin. These then could be implanted and grown into fully developed beating heart cells, reversing the damage caused by previous heart attacks. These new cells would replace the damaged cardiac tissue that weakens the heart’s ability to pump, develops into scar tissue and causes arrhythmias. Early clinical trials using these reprogrammed cells on actual heart patients could begin within one or two years.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Scientists identify wide variety of genetic splicing in embryonic stem cells
Source: Stanford University Medical Center
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Like homing in to an elusive radio frequency in a busy city, human embryonic stem cells must sort through a seemingly endless number of options to settle on the specific genetic message, or station, that instructs them to become more-specialized cells in the body (Easy Listening, maybe, for skin cells, and Techno for neurons?). Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that this tuning process is accomplished in part by restricting the number of messages, called transcripts, produced from each gene.
Most genes can yield a variety of transcripts through a process called splicing. Variations in the ways a gene is spliced can change the form and function of the final protein product. Nearly all our genes can be spliced in more than one way. This research is the first time, however, that splicing variety has been linked to the unprecedented developmental flexibility, or pluripotency, exhibited by embryonic stem cells.
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Like homing in to an elusive radio frequency in a busy city, human embryonic stem cells must sort through a seemingly endless number of options to settle on the specific genetic message, or station, that instructs them to become more-specialized cells in the body (Easy Listening, maybe, for skin cells, and Techno for neurons?). Now researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that this tuning process is accomplished in part by restricting the number of messages, called transcripts, produced from each gene.
Most genes can yield a variety of transcripts through a process called splicing. Variations in the ways a gene is spliced can change the form and function of the final protein product. Nearly all our genes can be spliced in more than one way. This research is the first time, however, that splicing variety has been linked to the unprecedented developmental flexibility, or pluripotency, exhibited by embryonic stem cells.
Researchers Develop Tool to Measure Severity of Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease Symptoms
Source: University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new assessment tool to measure the severity of symptoms that can complicate stem cell transplantation. The tool assesses symptoms resulting from chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), and was presented with supporting research at the 2010 Bone and Marrow Transplant Tandem Meeting.
Using the existing M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory, or core MDASI, a systematic, patient-reported outcome measure for clinical and research use, researchers developed a reliable and sensitive measuring system for cGVHD. On a scale of zero to 10, the new tool rates the severity of symptoms common to patients with the disease and to what extent those symptoms interfere with their daily life. The MDASI-cGVHD is one of 11 MDASI tools for symptom management used by clinicians at M. D. Anderson.
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new assessment tool to measure the severity of symptoms that can complicate stem cell transplantation. The tool assesses symptoms resulting from chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), and was presented with supporting research at the 2010 Bone and Marrow Transplant Tandem Meeting.
Using the existing M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory, or core MDASI, a systematic, patient-reported outcome measure for clinical and research use, researchers developed a reliable and sensitive measuring system for cGVHD. On a scale of zero to 10, the new tool rates the severity of symptoms common to patients with the disease and to what extent those symptoms interfere with their daily life. The MDASI-cGVHD is one of 11 MDASI tools for symptom management used by clinicians at M. D. Anderson.
Predicting the Fate of Stem Cells. New method decodes cell movements, accurately predicts how cells will divide
Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a new method for predicting — with up to 99 percent accuracy — the fate of stem cells. Using advanced computer vision technology to detect subtle cell movements that are impossible to discern with the human eye, Professor Badri Roysam and his former student Andrew Cohen ‘89 can successfully forecast how a stem cell will split and what key characteristics the daughter cells will exhibit.
By allowing the isolation of cells with specific capabilities, this discovery could one day lead to effective methods for growing stem cells on a large scale for therapeutic use. Results of the study, titled “Computational prediction of neural progenitor cell fates,” were published recently in the journal Nature Methods.
Date: March 1, 2010
Summary:
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered a new method for predicting — with up to 99 percent accuracy — the fate of stem cells. Using advanced computer vision technology to detect subtle cell movements that are impossible to discern with the human eye, Professor Badri Roysam and his former student Andrew Cohen ‘89 can successfully forecast how a stem cell will split and what key characteristics the daughter cells will exhibit.
By allowing the isolation of cells with specific capabilities, this discovery could one day lead to effective methods for growing stem cells on a large scale for therapeutic use. Results of the study, titled “Computational prediction of neural progenitor cell fates,” were published recently in the journal Nature Methods.
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