Neural Stem Cells News and Research

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Post brain injury: New nerve cells originate from neural stem cells

Most cells in the human brain are not nerve cells, but supporting cells (glial cells).

12 Mar 2008

Human stem cells aid stroke recovery in rats

Neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells helped repair stroke-related damage in the brains of rats and led to improvements in their physical abilities, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

20 Feb 2008

Neurogenesis plays an important role in the acquisition and storage of spatial memory

Boosted by physical and mental exercise, neural stem cells continue to sprout new neurons throughout life, but the exact function of these newcomers has been the topic of much debate.

4 Feb 2008

Stem cell research aims to tackle Parkinson's disease

Scientists in Sweden are developing new ways to grow brain cells in the laboratory that could one day be used to treat patients with Parkinson's disease, an international conference of biologists organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF) was told last week.

21 Jan 2008

Effects of space radiation on astronauts

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) scientists recently led a team of researchers to study potential effects of space radiation on astronauts. The results of their study are revealing and will provide the foundation for ensuring the safety of crew members participating in long distance space travel.

12 Dec 2007

Replacing dopamine cells in Parkinson's - new source of cells found

Parkinson disease (PD) is caused by the progressive degeneration of brain cells known as dopamine (DA) cells.

4 Dec 2007

Brain stem-cell therapies more complicated than thought

An MIT research team's latest finding suggests that stem cell therapies for the brain could be much more complicated than previously thought.

27 Nov 2007

Neurofibromatosis 1 gene drives pivotal decision in early brain development

A gene linked to pediatric brain tumors is an essential driver of early brain development, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

14 Nov 2007

Carnegie Mellon researchers to develop new stem cell-based drug delivery therapy

Carnegie Mellon University's Stefan F. Zappe is using adult neural stem cells to develop a new stem cell-based drug delivery therapy that may ultimately help treat a variety of inherited genetic disorders like Hunter syndrome.

5 Nov 2007

Neural stem cells may help to restore memory after brain damage

In the study, mice with brain injuries experienced enhanced memory -- similar to the level found in healthy mice -- up to three months after receiving a stem cell treatment. Scientists believe the stem cells secreted proteins called neurotrophins that protected vulnerable cells from death and rescued memory.

31 Oct 2007

New brain cells listen before they talk

Newly created neurons in adults rely on signals from distant brain regions to regulate their maturation and survival before they can communicate with existing neighboring cells - a finding that has important implications for the use of adult neural stem cells to replace brain cells lost by trauma or neurodegeneration, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in The Journal of Neuroscience.

31 Oct 2007

Researchers reveal repressor protein blocks neural stem cell development

A protein known to repress gene transcription at the molecular level in a variety of processes also blocks embryonic neural stem cells from differentiating into neurons, according to a study by University of California, San Diego and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers published online October 10 in Nature.

10 Oct 2007

N-cofilin molecule protects from neuronal disorders

Many neuronal disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia and lissencephaly – a form of mental retardation - result from abnormal migration of nerve cells during the development of the brain.

17 Sep 2007

New Rensselaer tools speed stem cell research

Engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed tools to help solve two of the main problems slowing the progress of stem cell research - how to quickly test stem cell response to different drugs or genes, and how to create a large supply of healthy, viable stem cells to study from only a few available cells.

13 Sep 2007

Schizophrenia-linked gene keeps new adult brain cells under control

The study reveals that the gene, known as Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), directs the incorporation of new neurons into the adult brain and keeps the process under control. The gene's newly discovered roles might help to explain why schizophrenia's symptoms generally arise in adolescence or early adulthood, the researchers suggested.

10 Sep 2007

Scientists discover how HIV/AIDS disrupts the normal replication of stem cells in the adult brain

A prominent problem in AIDS is a form of dementia that robs one's ability to concentrate and perform normal movements.

17 Aug 2007

Scientists produce functioning neurons from human embryonic stem cells

Scientists with the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine at UCLA were able to produce from human embryonic stem cells a highly pure, large quantity of functioning neurons that will allow them to create models of and study diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, prefrontal dementia and schizophrenia.

8 Aug 2007

Neural stem cells for Parkinson's disease

A University of South Florida neuroscientist reports that the cutting-edge research study of human stem cells in primates with Parkinson's disease is compelling on several fronts , particularly how the transplanted cells did their job of easing disease symptoms.

11 Jul 2007

Top brain experts say alcohol does not destroy brain cells

At an international neural stem cell conference in Australia, ninety of the world's top scientists in neural stem cell and brain development research, from 11 different countries were brought together last month by the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI).

11 Jul 2007