Cellular Biology News and Research

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Neuronal reprogramming may help treat neurodegenerative diseases

A new finding by Harvard stem cell biologists turns one of the basics of neurobiology on its head - demonstrating that it is possible to turn one type of already differentiated neuron into another within the brain.

22 Jan 2013

NSU to host conference on neuro immune conditions

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) will be hosting a conference on Saturday, Jan. 26 about the upcoming opening of the NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine's Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine.

19 Jan 2013

Calcium receptor – potential drug target for sleeping sickness

While its common name may make it sound almost whimsical, sleeping sickness, or African trypanosomiasis, is in reality a potentially fatal parasitic infection that has ravaged populations in sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and it continues to infect thousands of people every year.

19 Jan 2013

Miscarriage and molecular signals: an interview with Prof Brosens and Prof Quenby

Miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous loss of pregnancy before the baby reaches viability. Besides the physical trauma, miscarriage causes considerable anxiety, stress, and depression.

17 Jan 2013

Aggressive breast cancer’s metastasis molecular switch identified

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have discovered the molecular switch that allows aggressive triple negative breast cancer cells to grow the amoeba-like protrusions they need to crawl away from a primary tumor and metastasize throughout the body. Their findings, published in Cancer Cell, suggest a novel approach for developing agents to treat cancer once it has spread.

15 Jan 2013

Reviewing the latest methods for characterizing biomaterials

Biomaterials and medical devices must be rigorously tested in the laboratory before they may be implanted into test subjects. By ensuring that these test methods are both quick and efficient, an increased number of materials can be tested and working implants can be produced more rapidly. The development of such tests is therefore essential to biomedical advancement, and Characterization of biomaterials reviews the latest methods for defining properties and characterizing materials. Characterization of biomaterials discusses a wide array of techniques and various unique approaches to the problems faced in characterizing biomaterials, whilst also providing information on standards and methods for assessing the safety and biocompatibility of biomaterials.

14 Jan 2013

New rat model simulates traumatic or surgical muscle tissue loss in humans

Penetrating soft tissue injuries that may be caused by bullet wounds or motor vehicle accidents, or exposure to explosive devices in military settings, can cause muscle loss resulting in functional disability and cosmetic deformity. Efforts underway to develop tissue engineering solutions to repair and replace damaged and lost muscle will benefit greatly from the availability of robust animal models to test these innovative therapeutic strategies.

4 Jan 2013

Novel approach to sort out good or bad mutations associated with lymphoma

As anyone familiar with the X-Men knows, mutants can be either very good or very bad - or somewhere in between. The same appears true within cancer cells, which may harbor hundreds of mutations that set them apart from other cells in the body; the scientific challenge has been to figure out which mutations are culprits and which are innocent bystanders.

28 Dec 2012

Harvard scientists shed new light on olfactory feedback mechanism

More than a century after it was first identified, Harvard scientists are shedding new light on a little-understood neural feedback mechanism that may play a key role in how the olfactory system works in the brain.

19 Dec 2012

Boston College professor to research into new drugs that can prevent onset of toxoplasmosis

The American Cancer Society has awarded a four-year, $720,000 grant to Boston College Associate Professor of Biology Marc-Jan Gubbels for research into potential new drugs that can prevent the onset of toxoplasmosis in cancer patients with weakened immune systems.

10 Dec 2012

New method can generate stable human mesenchymal stem cells for bone engineering

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) can develop into bone cells and are useful for tissue engineering and regeneration. However, when grown in the laboratory they quickly lose their ability to continue dividing and they die.

5 Dec 2012

Microscope system designed to acquire very low-light bioluminescence images introduced in North America by Olympus America

A benchtop commercial microscope system designed to acquire very low-light bioluminescence images has now been introduced in North America by Olympus America. The LV200 stand-alone microscope system is already being used to capture images of living cells and tissues by researchers in Europe and Japan.

From Evident Corporation - Life Sciences 29 Nov 2012

Electrophysiology: an interview with Dr Kaylene Young

Bioelectricity is an essential part of our make-up. All cells in our body communicate by electrical activity. If an electrical charge is applied to one of our muscles it will interpret that electrical activity as a signal telling it to contract.

21 Nov 2012

Certain mutated cells continue DNA replication process even after drug treatment

Certain mutated cells keep trying to replicate their DNA - with disastrous results - even after medications rob them of the raw materials to do so, according to new research from USC.

21 Nov 2012

New understanding of how noise can break critical tip link protein structure in inner ear cells

Researchers have mapped the precise 3-D atomic structure of a thin protein filament critical for cells in the inner ear and calculated the force necessary to pull it apart.

8 Nov 2012

Sperm viability assessed in a number of UK fertility laboratories by using Linkam’s warm stages

With precise temperature control, Linkam warm stages are vital for sperm motility testing, supporting fertility evaluations in clinical and research settings.

From Linkam Scientific Instruments 7 Nov 2012

Vitamin D deficiency: an interview with Kellie Bilinski

We know that vitamin D is important in keeping bones strong. In the last 30-40 years it has also been realized that vitamin D has a lot of other roles in the body. Vitamin D essentially has a role in any cell in the body that has a vitamin D receptor.

5 Nov 2012

Researchers identify genes that control regeneration of the intestine in planarian flatworms

Researchers report in the journal Developmental Cell that they have identified genes that control growth and regeneration of the intestine in the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea.

26 Oct 2012

mTor molecule plays a significant role in myeloid differentiation

University of Illinois cell and developmental Biology professor Fei Wang and colleagues have created a new technique to study how myeloids, a type of blood stem cell, become the white blood cells important for immune system defense against infections and tissue damage.

26 Oct 2012

Breast cancer spread dependent on both environment and genetic changes

A new study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that the lethal spread of breast cancer is as dependent on a tumor’s protein-rich environment as on genetic changes inside tumor cells.

23 Oct 2012