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Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue- or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.
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Discovery raises hope for severe forms of human epilepsy

Discovery raises hope for severe forms of human epilepsy

Epilepsy that does not respond to drugs can be halted in adult mice by transplanting a specific type of cell into the brain, UC San Francisco researchers have discovered, raising hope that a similar treatment might work in severe forms of human epilepsy. [More]
DVS Sciences announces introduction of new products for single cell analysis

DVS Sciences announces introduction of new products for single cell analysis

DVS Sciences, Inc., a privately held innovator of novel multi-parameter single-cell analyzers and reagents for biological research, today announced the introduction of the new CyTOF 2 Mass Cytometer and new MaxPar Panel Kits designed specifically for simultaneous high-parameter single cell analysis. [More]
Researchers issue statement regarding use of unproven stem cell therapies

Researchers issue statement regarding use of unproven stem cell therapies

An international group of leading stem cell researchers has issued a statement that specifies concerns about the development and use of unproven stem cell therapies. [More]

Study: Stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells, form electrical couplings

Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue. [More]
Study reveals how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

Study reveals how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled. [More]
Mesp1 gene plays a key role in the development of heart, blood and skeletal muscle

Mesp1 gene plays a key role in the development of heart, blood and skeletal muscle

New research out of the Lillehei Heart Institute at the University of Minnesota shows that by turning on just a single gene, Mesp1, different cell types including the heart, blood and muscle can be created from stem cells. [More]
Newly discovered ‘master regulator’ gene may help develop novel treatment for drug-resistant tumors

Newly discovered ‘master regulator’ gene may help develop novel treatment for drug-resistant tumors

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites. The researchers hope that this so-called "master regulator" gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumors resistant to current drugs. [More]

CHOP research offers insights into epilepsy, schizophrenia, other neuropsych disorders

Medical researchers have manipulated human stem cells into producing types of brain cells known to play important roles in neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism. [More]
Scientists study repeating patterns in nature to better understand role of immune system in cancer

Scientists study repeating patterns in nature to better understand role of immune system in cancer

Can the patterns in tree branches or the meandering bends in a river provide clues that could lead to better cancer therapies? According to a new study from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, these self-similar, repeating patterns in nature known as fractals help scientists better understand how the immune system is organized and may one day be used to help improve stem cell transplant outcomes in leukemia patients by predicting the probability of transplant complications. [More]

Research findings pave the way for developing better treatments for AML

A team of researchers led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified virtually all of the major mutations that drive acute myeloid leukemia, a fast-growing blood cancer in adults that often is difficult to treat. [More]
New range of Aptamer Protein Precipitation Kits announced by AMSBIO

New range of Aptamer Protein Precipitation Kits announced by AMSBIO

AMSBIO has announced a new range of Aptamer Protein Precipitation Kits that bind with unmatched high specificity and affinity to target molecules. [More]
Student researchers get new view of the dynamics of cancer cells as they metastasize

Student researchers get new view of the dynamics of cancer cells as they metastasize

A team of student researchers and their professors from 20 laboratories around the country have gotten a new view of cancer cells. The work could shed light on the transforming physical properties of these cells as they metastasize, said Jack R. Staunton, a Ph.D. candidate at Arizona State University in the lab of Prof. Robert Ros, and the lead author of a paper reporting on the topic. [More]

Study confirms that mesenchymal stem cells may help treat cancer

Injection of human stem cells into mice with tumors slowed down tumor growth, finds research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. [More]
Bucksbaum Institute of Clinical Excellence conducts second annual symposium on April 26

Bucksbaum Institute of Clinical Excellence conducts second annual symposium on April 26

Jerome Lowenstein, MD, founder and director of the Program for Humanistic Aspects of Medical Education at New York University, will be the keynote speaker at the Bucksbaum Institute of Clinical Excellence's second annual symposium on Friday, April 26. [More]
Neuralstem gets approval from FDA for dosing cohort patients in NSI-189 Phase Ib in MDD treatment

Neuralstem gets approval from FDA for dosing cohort patients in NSI-189 Phase Ib in MDD treatment

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin dosing the third and final cohort of patients in its ongoing Phase Ib to test the safety of NSI-189 in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). [More]

Researchers identify key regulator that controls expansion and folding of brain during fetal development

During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process. [More]

Stem cell transplant regimen to treat neuroblastoma in children appears to be more toxic in US

The stem cell transplant regimen that was commonly used in the United States to treat advanced neuroblastoma in children appears to be more toxic than the equally effective regimen employed in Europe and Egypt, according to a new study to be presented at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology in Miami April 24-27. [More]

Astrocytes more effective in promoting recovery after brain injury

The production of a certain kind of brain cell that had been considered an impediment to healing may actually be needed to staunch bleeding and promote repair after a stroke or head trauma, researchers at Duke Medicine report. [More]

Promising development for women with triple-negative breast cancer

Tamoxifen is a time-honored breast cancer drug used to treat millions of women with early-stage and less-aggressive disease, and now a University of Rochester Medical Center team has shown how to exploit tamoxifen's secondary activities so that it might work on more aggressive breast cancer. [More]

Study: Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants return to hospital within six months

Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within six months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. [More]