Fibroblast News and Research

RSS

Fibroblasts are connective tissue cells which secrete an extracellular matrix rich in collagen and other macromolecules.

New low-cost microfluidic device brings single-cell technology to bedside

Single-cell analysis holds enormous potential to study how individual cells influence disease and respond to treatment, but the lack of cost-effective and user-friendly instrumentation remains challenging.

23 Feb 2018

Epigenetic changes due to normal aging process linked to cancer risk

Some scientists have hypothesized that tumor-promoting changes in cells during cancer development--particularly an epigenetic change involving DNA methylation--arise from rogue cells escaping a natural cell deterioration process called senescence.

22 Feb 2018

MGH researchers discover that macrophages contribute to untreatable type of heart failure

A team of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has discovered, for the first time, that the immune cells called macrophages contribute to a type of heart failure for which there currently is no effective treatment.

14 Feb 2018

Ribosomes found to be cause of somatic cell pluripotency

In 2012, a Japanese research group discovered that human skin cells acquire pluripotency when introduced to lactic acid bacteria. Now, the same group of researchers have found that the cause of somatic cell conversion into pluripotent stem cells is the ribosome, a protein synthesizing cellular organelle.

5 Feb 2018

New 3D printing technique allows researchers to replicate biological structures

A new 3D printing technique allows researchers to replicate biological structures, which could be used for tissue regeneration and replica organs.

10 Jan 2018

Reduced activity of transcription factor plays key role in triggering pulmonary fibrosis

To date, the molecular basis of pulmonary fibrosis has been poorly understood. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim have now shown that reduced activity of the transcription factor FoxO3 plays a key role in the development of the disease.

26 Dec 2017

Nanotextured surfaces kill bacteria without harming mammalian cells

By using an electrochemical etching process on a common stainless steel alloy, researchers have created a nanotextured surface that kills bacteria while not harming mammalian cells.

13 Dec 2017

Researchers discover how unusually long strands of RNA work in skin cells

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered how unusually long pieces of RNA work in skin cells.

7 Dec 2017

Researchers establish function of long RNA strands in skin development and disease

Researchers have found out how long pieces of RNA called “long non-coding RNAs” (LncRNAs) work in skin cells to modulate connective tissue proteins such as collagen, potentially laying the foundations for new skin repair therapies.

7 Dec 2017

Overcoming Challenges of Assays of Complex Cellular Models with Real-Time Live-Cell Analysis

There's a continued drive towards making in vitro assays ever more translational towards in vivo models and ultimately the clinic. This ties in with the resurgence of phenotypic screening and is a response to the perceived poor translation of the traditional simple cell-based assays, often developed to study just single protein targets.

From Sartorius 5 Dec 2017

Cancer drugs may offer new way to control high blood pressure

Drugs designed to halt cancer growth may offer a new way to control high blood pressure (hypertension), say Georgetown University Medical Center investigators.

20 Nov 2017

Study identifies molecular pathway critical to development of fibrosis

A study led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and University Health Network in Toronto has identified a molecular pathway that appears to be critical to the development of fibrosis - scarring and excessive tissue deposition that result from abnormal healing responses and can compromise the function of vital organs.

15 Nov 2017

Scientists find key that allows neural differentiation of microRNA-deficient pluripotent stem cells

The more than 200 different types of human cells have the same DNA but express different ensembles of genes. Each cell type was derived from embryonic stem cells, which are called pluripotent stem cells because they can differentiate to all those different cell fates.

15 Nov 2017

New method for acquiring viable cells from cryopreserved tissue could be used as model for RA research

A new method for acquiring viable cells from cryopreserved tissue samples could provide researchers with a model for collecting and analyzing samples from different study sites to conduct more centralized research, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Diego.

6 Nov 2017

New findings offer promising druggable target to root out metastatic pancreatic cancer

Cancer of the pancreas is a deadly disease, with a median survival time of less than six months. Only one in 20 people with pancreatic cancer survives five years past the diagnosis. The reason is the cancer's insidiousness; tumor cells hide deep inside the body, betraying no symptoms until late in the disease, when the cancer has almost invariably spread to other organs.

28 Oct 2017

Penn study sheds light on genetic cause of early hearing loss

From the moment a baby is born, they are put through a battery of screenings to test for all sorts of characteristics, which includes the sense of hearing.

26 Oct 2017

Researchers test way to stop or slow cardiac fibrosis after heart injury

Early research results suggest scientists might be on to a way to preserve heart function after heart attacks or for people with inherited heart defects called congenital cardiomyopathies.

28 Sep 2017

Researchers identify role of tumor-infiltrating B-cells in melanoma progression, resistance to therapy

In a multi-institutional collaborative study, scientists at The Wistar Institute and the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, have identified the role of tumor-infiltrating or tumor-associated B-cells ("TABs") in melanoma progression and resistance to targeted therapy.

20 Sep 2017

TSRI scientists find new approach to reprogram ordinary adult cells into IPSCs

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found a new approach to the "reprogramming" of ordinary adult cells into stem cells.

12 Sep 2017

Researchers reveal possible origin of cancer-associated fibroblasts

Researchers at Okayama University describe in Scientific Reports that cancer-associated fibroblasts — cells that play a key role in cancer progression — originate from cancer stem cells. Preventing cancer stem cells from transforming into cancer-associated fibroblast may be a promising approach towards cancer treatment.