Neural Stem Cells News and Research

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CIRM announces funding for UCI researchers to develop new treatment for Huntington’s disease

Following a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Independent Citizens Oversight Committee meeting held last week, University of California, Irvine researchers learned they will receive $6 million in funding to support the continued development of a promising new treatment for Huntington's disease

5 Feb 2019

UTHealth enrolls first U.S. patient in novel stem cell trial to treat stroke disability

The first U.S. patient to participate in a global study of a stem cell therapy injected directly into the brain to treat stroke disability was enrolled in the clinical trial this week at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

28 Jan 2019

Researchers discover how body initiates repair mechanisms that limits damage to myelin sheath

Diseases such as multiple sclerosis are characterized by damage to the 'myelin sheath', a protective covering wrapped around nerve cells akin to insulation around an electrical wire.

22 Jan 2019

Behavioral experiments confirm that additional neurons improve brain function

Most neurons in the human brain are generated from neural stem cells during embryonic development. After birth, a small reservoir of stem cells remains in the brain that keeps on producing new neurons throughout life.

18 Jan 2019

Salk researchers reveal clues into early development of ASD

Autism spectrum disorder is a relatively common developmental disorder of communication and behavior that affects about 1 in 59 children in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite its prevalence, it is still unclear what causes the disease and what are the best ways to treat it.

7 Jan 2019

Study provides new insight into generation of new neurons in adulthood

Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, in collaboration with research groups in Finland, Canada, and Slovenia, have discovered a novel and unexpected function of nestin, the best known marker of neural stem cells.

3 Jan 2019

Study investigates why mammals' sense of smell deteriorates in old age

As mammals age, their sense of smell deteriorates. In a study published in the journal 'Cell Reports', an interdisciplinary research team at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University Medical Centre Mainz investigated why this is the case.

19 Dec 2018

New EU-funded project provides insight into how the brain develops

The human brain is comprised of billions of different types of cells. These cells are then organized into sophisticated networks, each of which determines a specific function of the brain. But how do the neurons, or nerve cells that form these networks, find the right network? And what happens when they don’t?

6 Dec 2018

Study uses novel approach to investigate genetic origins of mental illnesses

A study in Biological Psychiatry has established a new analytical method for investigating the complex genetic origins of mental illnesses using brain cells that are grown in a dish from human embryonic stem cells.

16 Oct 2018

Study unravels how cancer stem cells use normal genes in abnormal ways

CDK1 is a "normal" protein - its presence drives cells through the cycle of replication. And MHC Class I molecules are "normal" as well - they present bits of proteins on the surfaces of cells for examination by the immune system.

15 Oct 2018

Study reveals new therapeutic target for pediatric tumor-associated intractable epilepsy

Pediatric brain tumors are characterized by frequent complications due to intractable epilepsy compared to adult brain tumors. However, the genetic cause of refractory epilepsy in pediatric brain tumors has not been elucidated yet, and it is difficult to treat patients because the tumors do not respond to existing antiepileptic drugs and debilitate children's development.

19 Sep 2018

Zika virus vaccine shows promise for treatment of fatal glioblastoma

An international team of researchers has successfully deployed a Zika virus vaccine to target and kill human glioblastoma brain cancer stem cells, which had been transplanted into mice.

18 Sep 2018

Researchers unravel how Zika virus manipulates the human immune system

Macrophages are immune cells that are supposed to protect the body from infection by viruses and bacteria. Yet Zika virus preferentially infects these cells. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have now unraveled how the virus shuts down the genes that make macrophages function as immune cells.

11 Sep 2018

Study identifies intrinsic cell properties that influence fate of neural stem cells

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine have identified intrinsic cell properties that influence the fate of neural stem cells, affecting what type of brain cell they will form: neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes.

7 Sep 2018

Researchers discover how a protein complex safeguards against certain brain tumors

Researchers have discovered how a molecule can help prevent certain types of brain tumors by recognizing and 'disarming' harmful proteins that cause them.

5 Sep 2018

Research reveals noise-canceling mechanisms in developmental biology

Noise is usually considered a nuisance, for example when preventing us from clearly hearing what someone is saying. The general concept of noise applies more broadly. In biology, the physical differences between organisms of the same type, for example two humans, originate from so-called developmental noise -- ultimately stemming from probabilistic collisions between reacting molecules and environmental conditions in cells during the early stages of the organism's growth.

4 Sep 2018

Single neuron in fruit fly triggers new behavior and also suppresses antagonistic behavior

In the fruit fly, a single pair of brain neurons command backward locomotion in both larvae and adults, researchers report.

23 Aug 2018

Neural stem cells are the key to tail regeneration

Cut off a salamander's tail and, in a few weeks, a near-perfect replacement grows. Do the same to a lizard and a new tail will regrow, but it won't be the same as the original. By comparing tail regeneration between the two animals, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that stem cells in the spinal cord are the ultimate limiting factor.

14 Aug 2018

Alzheimer’s-in-a-dish model made better with microfluidic system

Researchers from Massachusetts have used a microfluidic device to incorporate neuroinflammation into the Alzheimer's-in-a-dish model for drug discovery.

31 Jul 2018

Targeting mossy cells may offer new strategy for treating brain disorders

A small population of brain cells deep in a memory-making region of the brain controls the production of new neurons and may have a role in common brain disorders, according to a study from scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

27 Jul 2018