Stem Cells News and Research

RSS

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.

Finding medical applications for unused inventions: an interview with Gabriel Mecklenburg, Co-Founder of Marblar

Marblar is gamifying the process of technology transfer. We post technology on our platform in the form of a challenge, and the Marblar community then competes to uncover new problems these technologies could solve – thereby discovering new market applications for these technologies.

31 Jan 2013

UIC to determine whether exercise can shorten recovery time for stem cell transplant patients

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing have received a four-year grant to determine whether exercise can shorten recovery time for patients who undergo high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation.

From Danaher 31 Jan 2013

Existing cardiomyocytes contribute to formation of new heart cells after attack

Injecting specialized cardiac stem cells into a patient's heart rebuilds healthy tissue after a heart attack, but where do the new cells come from and how are they transformed into functional muscle?

31 Jan 2013

Biomaterials as neural stem cell niches can help repair damage in the CNS

Despite recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of nerve injury, tissue-engineering solutions for repairing damage in the central nervous system (CNS) remain elusive, owing to the crucial and complex role played by the neural stem cell (NSC) niche. This zone, in which stem cells are retained after embryonic development for the production of new cells, exerts a tight control over many crucial tasks such as growth promotion and the recreation of essential biochemical and physical cues for neural cell differentiation.

30 Jan 2013

Androgens could constitute an efficient treatment against multiple sclerosis

Testosterone and its derivatives could constitute an efficient treatment against myelin diseases such as multiple sclerosis, reveals a study by researchers from the Laboratoire d'Imagerie et de Neurosciences Cognitives, in collaboration in particular with the "Neuroprotection et Neurorégénération: Molécules Neuroactives de Petite Taille" unit.

30 Jan 2013

ALDH1 expression predicts outcome in node-negative rectal cancer

Expression of the cancer stem cell marker aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 is an independent predictor for poor prognosis in node-negative rectal cancer, researchers say.

30 Jan 2013

Tributyltin exposure may cause ‘transgenerational obesity’

Research shows that offspring of mice exposed to low doses of the chemical tributyltin, used in paints, plastics, and other consumer products, have greater than normal body fat, liver fat, and fat-specific gene expression.

30 Jan 2013

Non-coding RNA essential for normal embryonic cardiogenesis

Many different tissues and organs form from pluripotent stem cells during embryonic development. To date it had been known that these processes are controlled by transcription factors for specific tissues. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, in collaboration with colleagues at MIT and the Broad Institute in Boston, have now been able to demonstrate that RNA molecules, which do not act as templates for protein synthesis, participate in these processes as well.

30 Jan 2013

FDA allows IND application for ImmunoCellular’s ICT-140 to treat ovarian cancer

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed the investigational new drug (IND) application for ICT-140, paving the way for conducting a clinical trial.

30 Jan 2013

Scientists discover four processes by which gastric cancer is formed

Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) headed a study that discovered four processes by which gastric cancer is formed. This is extremely important since gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, claiming almost 750,000 lives annually, 60% of which are Asians.

29 Jan 2013

Reprogramming eye cells that enable night vision may one day treat retinitis pigmentosa

Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

29 Jan 2013

DRCRF announces recipients of Nov. 2012 Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 15 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

29 Jan 2013

Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats

Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Treatment with stem cells improved the amount of brain and nerve repair and the ability of the animals to complete behavioural tasks.

29 Jan 2013

Researchers unveil first maturation-based ‘disease in a dish’ model for ARVD/C

Most patients with an inherited heart condition known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) don't know they have a problem until they're in their early 20s. The lack of symptoms at younger ages makes it very difficult for researchers to study how ARVD/C evolves or to develop treatments. A new stem cell-based technology created by 2012 Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., helps solve this problem.

29 Jan 2013

Skin cells transformed into heart cells for research into cardiomyopathy

...

28 Jan 2013

Millennium, Seattle Genetics commence ADCETRIS plus chemotherapy phase III trial in MTCL

Seattle Genetics, Inc. and Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502), today announced the initiation of a global phase III clinical trial evaluating ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin) in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed CD30-positive mature T-cell lymphoma (MTCL) patients, including patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) and other types of peripheral T-cell lymphomas.

28 Jan 2013

Results from Amgen’s Neulasta plus bevacizumab Phase 3 trial on colorectal cancer

Amgen announced today results from Pegfilgrastim and Anti-VEGF Evaluation Study (PAVES), a Phase 3 trial which evaluated Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) in 845 patients receiving FOLFOX or FOLFIRI and bevacizumab for the first-line treatment of locally-advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.

28 Jan 2013

Periodontal health influences stem cell transplant success

Periodontal infection can increase the risk for developing bacteremia during the neutropenic phase of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, research suggests.

25 Jan 2013

Researchers study innovative stem cell drug for treating localized cartilage damage

Rush University Medical Center is conducting the nation's first clinical study of an innovative stem cell drug, Cartistem, to repair knee cartilage damaged by aging, trauma or degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis.

25 Jan 2013

New study may help treat patients with multiple myeloma

A study led by Robert G. Hawley, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department of anatomy and regenerative biology at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), may help predict which patients with multiple myeloma will respond better to certain treatments.

25 Jan 2013