Neural Stem Cells News and Research

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How does the brain control appetite?

Energy balance between energy intake and expenditure in our bodies is important for maintaining energy homeostasis to keep our bodies functioning properly. The appetite determines how much we eat, the energy intake, by communication between the brain and body.

4 Jan 2017

Study improves molecular understanding of the brain in people with epilepsy

Neural stem cells have been found in epileptic brain tissue—outside the regions of the brain where they normally reside. In a group of patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy, over half had stem cells where healthy individuals do not have them, according to a study from Sahlgrenska Academy.

15 Dec 2016

Researchers pinpoint mechanism underlying astrocyte-mediated recovery of brain tissue after injury

A Kobe University research team has pinpointed the mechanism underlying astrocyte-mediated restoration of brain tissue after an injury. This could lead to new treatments that encourage regeneration by limiting damage to neurons incurred by reduced blood supply or trauma.

15 Dec 2016

Ancient Japanese art inspires groundbreaking technique to create ‘artificial brains’

The ancient Japanese art of flower arranging was the inspiration for a groundbreaking technique to create tiny "artificial brains" that could be used to develop personalized cancer treatments.

6 Dec 2016

Research identifies presence of neuron-producing stem cells in meninges

A multidisciplinary research, conceived by Dr. Francesco Bifari, Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Italy and Dr. Ilaria Decimo University of Verona, Italy, found that meninges - the protective membranes that enclose the brain - contain of a pool of neural stem cells.

24 Nov 2016

MEMOIR can help read history and ‘family trees’ of cells

Researchers have developed a new method for reading the history and "family trees" of cells.

22 Nov 2016

Researchers discover genetic alterations in autism gene that reduces brain activity

Scientists at McMaster University's Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute in collaboration with Sick Children's Hospital have discovered genetic alterations in the gene DIXDC1 in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

8 Nov 2016

Neurodevelopmental chick model may help study microcephaly effects of Zika virus

A newly published study from researchers working in collaboration with the Regenerative Bioscience Center at the University of Georgia demonstrates fetal death and brain damage in early chick embryos similar to microcephaly--a rare birth defect linked to the Zika virus, now alarming health experts worldwide.

20 Oct 2016

Neu5Gc common in red meat increases risk of tumor formation

Neu5Gc, a non-human sialic acid sugar molecule common in red meat that increases the risk of tumor formation in humans, is also prevalent in pig organs, with concentrations increasing as the organs are cooked, a study by researchers from the UC Davis School of Medicine and Xiamen University School of Medicine has found.

19 Oct 2016

Modulating immune response may help the brain to better cope with neurodegeneration

Study suggests zebrafish might teach us how to tackle Alzheimer's disease: Patients with Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases progressively loose neurons yet cannot build new ones.

19 Oct 2016

San Antonio scientists aim to develop effective method for stem cell delivery to the brain

A national science publication has featured the work of San Antonio scientists aiming to develop a more effective method for delivering neural stem cells to the brain in an effort to move forward stem cell therapies to treat neurological disorders.

18 Oct 2016

Researchers develop novel technique to generate hiNSCs for multiple tissue engineering applications

Tufts University researchers have discovered a new technique for generating rapidly-differentiating human neural stem cells for use in a variety of tissue engineering applications, including a three-dimensional model of the human brain, according to a paper published today in Stem Cell Reports

13 Sep 2016

Researchers explore molecular mechanisms through which lead exposure may affect neural stem cells

Researchers have identified a potential molecular mechanism through which lead, a pervasive environmental toxin, may harm neural stem cells and neurodevelopment in children.

26 Aug 2016

Researchers unravel mechanism by which hippocampal stem cells regulate their own fate

To date, it has been assumed that the differentiation of stem cells depends on the environment they are embedded in.

18 Aug 2016

USC researchers discover two Zika proteins potentially responsible for microcephaly

USC researchers have tracked down two Zika proteins potentially responsible for thousands of microcephaly cases in Brazil and elsewhere — taking one small step toward preventing Zika-infected mothers from birthing babies with abnormally small heads.

11 Aug 2016

Scientists use new non-invasive PET scanning method to monitor hippocampal neurogenesis

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technology in Japan have used a new non-invasive PET scanning technique to obtain images of neuron proliferation in the subventricular zone and subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus is known to be particularly affected by depression.

3 Aug 2016

Scientists develop model using transformed stem cells to accelerate screening of drugs for rare cancers

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say they have developed a system that uses transformed human stem cells to speed up screening of existing drugs that might work against rare brain and other cancers.

2 Aug 2016

Choroid plexus signals in the brain control stem cell behavior

Prof. Fiona Doetsch's research team at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has discovered that the choroid plexus, a largely ignored structure in the brain that produces the cerebrospinal fluid, is an important regulator of adult neural stem cells.

22 Jul 2016

New technique may help replace brain cells, restore memory

Although brains—even adult brains—are far more malleable than we used to think, they are eventually subject to age-related illnesses, like dementia, and loss of cognitive function.

15 Jun 2016

Transplantation of hpNSCs into non-human primates modeled with PD promotes behavioral recovery

A multi-center team of researchers in the U.S. testing the potential of cell therapy for treating Parkinson's disease (PD) has found that grafting human parthenogenetic stem cell-derived neural stem cells (hpNSCs) into non-human primates modeled with PD promoted behavioral recovery, increased dopamine concentrations in the brain, and induced the expression of beneficial genes and pathways when compared to control animals not transplanted with stem cells.

9 Jun 2016