Skin Cells News and Research

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KU Leuven researchers unravel how cell division timer works

Human cells use a timer to divide: each cell gets at least 30 minutes to divide its genetic material between the nuclei of two daughter cells.

9 Nov 2017

Study finds role of body clock in wound healing

A new study conducted at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology, UK, has found how wound healing is regulated by the body clock in such a way that injuries that occured at daytime heal nearly 60% faster than that at night.

9 Nov 2017

First-of-its-kind nonsynthetic, decellularized graft one step closer to clinical trials

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created a new lab-grown blood vessel replacement that is composed completely of biological materials, but surprisingly doesn't contain any living cells at implantation. The vessel, that could be used as an "off the shelf" graft for kidney dialysis patients, performed well in a recent study with nonhuman primates.

1 Nov 2017

Study demonstrates beneficial effects of calorie-restricted diet in mice

Caloric restriction diets have been associated with various health benefits, but their effects on the skin have not been previously demonstrated. Research conducted at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil shows that controlling calories helps mice live longer, although it reduces the reserves of fat in adipose tissue needed to keep the body warm.

30 Oct 2017

Cloth skullcaps found to be effective at minimizing airborne contamination in the OR

One of the first studies testing the effectiveness of different operating room (OR) head coverings in preventing airborne contamination has found that surgeon's caps that expose small amounts of the ears and hair are not inferior to the bouffant-style, disposable scrub hats that cover those features.

26 Oct 2017

Scientists get one step closer to reversing retinal degenerative diseases

Degenerative disorders affecting the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), such as age-related macular degeneration and autosomal recessive bestrophinopathy, can ultimately lead to blindness. Some of these life-changing disorders are the result of mutations in a single gene, called BEST1.

25 Oct 2017

Scientists find new way to produce brain cells from single iPSC

Li Gan, PhD, wants to find treatments to help patients with Alzheimer's disease. Like most researchers, she's hit a few major roadblocks.

10 Oct 2017

New insights into rare-among-rare genetic bone disorder

I have been writing about conditions that cause out-of-place bone formation for over 10 years – since the discovery of the gene in 2006 for the rare bone disorder, FOP (fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive). But it was while interviewing geneticist Eileen Shore, PhD last spring about another bone disorder, progressive osseous heteroplasia, or POH, that it really hit me how much more rare POH is compared to FOP.

10 Oct 2017

“Chemical surgery” on embryos to free them of a gene causing thalassemia

A team of Chinese researchers have for the first time “mended” defective embryos using chemical surgery to free them of a faulty gene that leads to beta thalassemia. Until now this defect was found to be incorrigible caused due to a single misspelling in the DNA code. Beta thalassemia is a dreaded blood disorder wherein the child is unable to make healthy blood needing blood transfusions on a regular basis. The study was published this week in the journal Protein and Cell.

2 Oct 2017

Revolutionary skin treatment offers hope to acid attack victims, burns patients

The horrific increase in the number of acid attacks in the UK has given medical research trust RAFT even more reason to back its latest next generation artificial skin called Smart Matrix which was specially invented to help burns victims.

30 Sep 2017

Study identifies slowly proliferating and highly invasive melanoma cells

A study conducted at The Wistar Institute has led to the identification of a slowly proliferating and highly invasive melanoma cell subpopulation, characterized by production of a protein associated with invasive behavior. The research was published in the journal Oncogene.

21 Sep 2017

Study reveals how cells from patients with developmental disease differ from healthy cells

By reprogramming skin cells into nerve cells, researchers at Karolinska Institutet are creating cell models of the human brain. In a new study published in Molecular Psychiatry the researchers describe how cells from patients with the severe developmental disease lissencephaly differ from healthy cells.

19 Sep 2017

Research shows how bacteria inactivate common drug used to treat cancers

To the reasons that chemotherapy sometimes does not work, we can now add one more: bacteria. In a study published today in Science, researchers describe findings that certain bacteria can be found inside human pancreatic tumors.

18 Sep 2017

Old lab technique helps researchers better understand circular DNA

A 50-year-old lab technique is helping researchers better understand circular DNA, a lesser-known and poorly understood cousin of the linear version commonly associated with life's genetic blueprint.

12 Sep 2017

Scientists directly convert skin cells from healthy adults into motor neurons

Scientists working to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases have been stymied by the inability to grow human motor neurons in the lab. Motor neurons drive muscle contractions, and their damage underlies devastating diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy, both of which ultimately lead to paralysis and early death.

7 Sep 2017

New human stem cell model could pave way for macular degeneration research

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in older adults, but scientists have long struggled to study and replicate key elements of the disease in the lab.

7 Sep 2017

Study links psoriasis severity to increased risk of death

The more the surface area of the body is covered by psoriasis, the greater the risk of death for the patient suffering from the condition, according to a new analysis by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

29 Aug 2017

New research suggests cell immortalization as more complicated process than originally thought

A mutation that helps make cells immortal is critical to the development of a tumor, but new research at the University of California, Berkeley suggests that becoming immortal is a more complicated process than originally thought.

18 Aug 2017

USC scientists obtain molecular 'how to' guide for growing hair

How does the skin develop follicles and eventually sprout hair? A USC-led study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), addresses this question using insights gleaned from organoids, 3D assemblies of cells possessing rudimentary skin structure and function--including the ability to grow hair.

11 Aug 2017