Stem Cells News and Research

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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.

CIRM approves $5.2 million for research on life-long treatment for rare childhood disease

Cystinosis is a rare disease that usually strikes children before they are two years old and can lead to end stage kidney failure before their tenth birthday.

22 Sep 2016

Duke, Wisconsin and UAB researchers create bioengineered patches to treat heart failure

The heart cannot regenerate muscle tissue after a heart attack has killed part of the muscle wall, and that dead tissue can strain surrounding muscle, leading to a lethal heart enlargement.

22 Sep 2016

Three-dimensional heart patches may soon move closer to clinical application

The promise of stem cells to treat cardiovascular disease may soon be a step closer to clinical application as scientists from three institutions seek to perfect and test three-dimensional "heart patches" in a large animal model — the last big hurdle before trials in human patients.

21 Sep 2016

New mobile health app may help manage hydroxyurea treatments in sickle cell patients

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a 6-year, $4.4 million grant to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and collaborators to improve the use of prescribed medication by sickle cell patients.

21 Sep 2016

Lund University stem cell researcher awarded Fernström prize for study on repairing damaged brain

Is it possible to convert a patient’s own skin cells into functioning nerve cells? Or insert healthy genes to reprogram the cells of a damaged brain? Stem cell researcher Malin Parmar at Lund University in Sweden is studying these types of issues, in close collaboration with clinical researchers.

21 Sep 2016

NIHR HSRIC experts identify innovative and promising treatments for corneal disorders

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Horizon Scanning Research and Intelligence Centre (HSRIC), working with Fight for Sight, has identified 130 new and emerging technologies and procedures for treating corneal disorders.

21 Sep 2016

De-bookmarking could be key to better reprogramming of fibroblasts into iPS cells

In reading, a bookmark tells where you stopped. Cells use bookmarks too, specific proteins that help the cell remember what collection of genes needs to be turned on again after the brief halt of gene expression during cell division.

20 Sep 2016

Human pluripotent stem cells may revolutionize drug discovery in heart disease

Coaxing stem cells from patients to become heart cells may help clinicians personalize drug treatments and prevent heart-related toxicity.

20 Sep 2016

Improving muscle health could enhance response to insulin in Type 1 diabetes patients

Loss of physical strength due to muscle deterioration is a complication for people living with Type 1 diabetes that's often overlooked. New research from McMaster University shows it shouldn't be.

20 Sep 2016

Enzyme deficiency in Krabbe's disease may point to new mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease

A new article suggests that an enzyme deficiency seen in the lysosomal storage disorder Krabbe's disease may point to new mechanisms underlying certain late-onset neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

19 Sep 2016

Researchers find switch that helps restore damaged axons

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into "repair" mode, a form that restores damaged axons.

16 Sep 2016

Study shows retinoic acid could prevent postsurgical lymphedema

A study conducted at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California showed that 9-cis retinoic acid (alitretinoin) could significantly prevent postsurgical lymphedema.

16 Sep 2016

Fat stem cells can lower risk of diabetes in healthy obese individuals

Obesity is responsible for the deaths of over three million people a year worldwide due to its associated diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

16 Sep 2016

New study provides most comprehensive picture to date of head and neck cancer stem cells

Cancer stem cells resist therapy and are a major cause of relapse, long after the bulk of a tumor has been killed.

15 Sep 2016

Research findings hold promise for new therapies using proliferating cells to treat patients with FECD

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear have, for the first time, identified rapidly proliferating cells (known as "neural crest-derived progenitor cells") in the corneal endothelium of specimens from normal corneas and from corneas with Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD), a condition in which the cells responsible for keeping the cornea clear die prematurely — often leading to blindness.

14 Sep 2016

Real-time MRI guidance could help target and deliver stem cell therapies

Working with animals, a team of scientists reports it has delivered stem cells to the brain with unprecedented precision by threading a catheter through an artery and infusing the cells under real-time MRI guidance.

14 Sep 2016

Clinical trial assesses efficacy of experimental treatment in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury

Physicians at Rush University Medical Center became the first in Illinois to inject AST-OPC1 (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells), an experimental treatment, into the damaged cervical spine of a recently paralyzed man as part of a multicenter clinical trial.

14 Sep 2016

Stiff, hypoxic regions of tumors trigger cancer progression

When Hippocrates first described cancer around 400 B.C., he referred to the disease's telltale tumors as "karkinos" -- the Greek word for crab.

13 Sep 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

Inhibition of RANK signaling pathway could be potential new therapy in breast cancer

Researchers at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Bellvitge, led by Dr. Eva Gonzalez-Suarez, have shown that pharmacological and genetic inhibition of signaling pathway RANK / RANKL leads to a significant reduction in recurrences and metastases in breast cancer in a mouse animal model.

13 Sep 2016

Stem Cells News and Research

Further Reading

CIRM approves $5.2 million for research on life-long treatment for rare childhood disease

Duke, Wisconsin and UAB researchers create bioengineered patches to treat heart failure

Three-dimensional heart patches may soon move closer to clinical application

New mobile health app may help manage hydroxyurea treatments in sickle cell patients

Lund University stem cell researcher awarded Fernström prize for study on repairing damaged brain

NIHR HSRIC experts identify innovative and promising treatments for corneal disorders

De-bookmarking could be key to better reprogramming of fibroblasts into iPS cells

Human pluripotent stem cells may revolutionize drug discovery in heart disease

Improving muscle health could enhance response to insulin in Type 1 diabetes patients

Enzyme deficiency in Krabbe's disease may point to new mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease

Researchers find switch that helps restore damaged axons

Study shows retinoic acid could prevent postsurgical lymphedema

Fat stem cells can lower risk of diabetes in healthy obese individuals

New study provides most comprehensive picture to date of head and neck cancer stem cells

Research findings hold promise for new therapies using proliferating cells to treat patients with FECD

Real-time MRI guidance could help target and deliver stem cell therapies

Clinical trial assesses efficacy of experimental treatment in individuals with cervical spinal cord injury

Stiff, hypoxic regions of tumors trigger cancer progression

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

Inhibition of RANK signaling pathway could be potential new therapy in breast cancer

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