Progenitor Cells News and Research

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Progenitor cells responsible for generation and maintenance of Merkel cells

Researchers have identified a population of "progenitor" cells in the skin that are solely responsible for the generation and maintenance of touch-sensing Merkel cells. The study appears in The Journal of Cell Biology.

27 Jan 2015

$New device holds promise for improving the delivery of stem cell therapy for non-healing fractures$

New device holds promise for improving the delivery of stem cell therapy for non-healing fractures

A new device that can rapidly concentrate and extract young cells from irrigation fluid used during orthopaedic surgery holds promise for improving the delivery of stem cell therapy in cases of non-healing fractures. UC Davis surgeons plan to launch a "proof-of-concept" clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of the device in the coming months.

16 Jan 2015

CHLA scientists grow tissue-engineered small intestine from human cells

A new study by researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles has shown that tissue-engineered small intestine grown from human cells replicates key aspects of a functioning human intestine. The tissue-engineered small intestine they developed contains important elements of the mucosal lining and support structures, including the ability to absorb sugars, and even tiny or ultra-structural components like cellular connections.

9 Jan 2015

Scientists demonstrate technique for editing genome in sperm-producing adult stem cells

Scientists at Indiana University and colleagues at Stanford and the University of Texas have demonstrated a technique for "editing" the genome in sperm-producing adult stem cells, a result with powerful potential for basic research and for gene therapy.

16 Dec 2014

New MIT study implicates RNA-binding proteins in regulation of cancer

A new study from MIT implicates a family of RNA-binding proteins in the regulation of cancer, particularly in a subtype of breast cancer. These proteins, known as Musashi proteins, can force cells into a state associated with increased proliferation.

16 Dec 2014

BWH researchers identify cells responsible for fibrosis

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital have identified what they believe to be the cells responsible for fibrosis, the buildup of scar tissue. Fibrotic diseases, such as chronic kidney disease and failure, lung disease, heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver, are estimated to be responsible for up to 45 percent of deaths in the developed world.

2 Dec 2014

Promethera Biosciences completes €25.33 million ($31.4 million) Series C fundraising

Promethera Biosciences, a Belgian biotechnology company developing Promethera HepaStem, a cell-based therapy for the treatment of in-born errors of metabolism and acquired liver diseases, today announces the completion of its Series C fundraising round. The company has raised €25.33 million ($31.4 million), including €20.33 million in capital.

26 Nov 2014

Esophageal tissue can be grown in vivo from human and mouse cells, say researchers

In a first step toward future human therapies, researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have shown that esophageal tissue can be grown in vivo from both human and mouse cells. The study has been published online in the journal Tissue Engineering, Part A.

20 Oct 2014

SynGen announces relocation of corporate headquarters

SynGen, Inc., a company focused on the development and commercialization of instrument systems that harvest stem and progenitor cells from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, peripheral blood, and cell culture, announced today that it has moved its corporate headquarters to a new location in Sacramento, California. The headquarter’s new address is 100 Howe Avenue, Suite 185N, Sacramento, CA 95825-8219. All other contact information, including phone numbers, remains the same.

17 Oct 2014

Cell transplantation treatment may benefit people with spinal cord injury

Two studies recently published in Cell Transplantation reveal that cell transplantation may be an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI), a major cause of disability and paralysis with no current restorative therapies.

16 Oct 2014

Researchers discover new kind of stem cell that may hold clues to origins of liver cancer

A Mount Sinai-led research team has discovered a new kind of stem cell that can become either a liver cell or a cell that lines liver blood vessels, according to a study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports. The existence of such a cell type contradicts current theory on how organs arise from cell layers in the embryo, and may hold clues to origins of, and future treatment for, liver cancer.

15 Oct 2014

Four UCLA researchers receive NIH Director's New Innovator Award

Four scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received a National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award that will forward revolutionary stem cell and neuro-science in medicine.

12 Oct 2014

SynGen announces securement of additional financing from San Francisco-based life sciences venture capital firm

SynGen, Inc., a company that focuses on the development and commercialization of instrument systems that harvest stem and progenitor cells from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, peripheral blood, and cell culture, announced today that it has secured additional financing from Bay City Capital, LLC, a San Francisco-based life sciences venture capital firm.

6 Oct 2014

New research on barcoding tool that tracks origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma

A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Children's Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells.

6 Oct 2014

UW-Madison and Morgridge researchers are creating tissue chip technology to screen neural toxins

A multidisciplinary team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research is creating a faster, more affordable way to screen for neural toxins, helping flag chemicals that may harm human development.

24 Sep 2014

New finding could accelerate research to regenerate damaged tissue

Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have found a way to boost dramatically the efficiency of the process for turning adult cells into so-called pluripotent stem cells by combining three well-known compounds, including vitamin C.

19 Sep 2014

Scientists apply iPS cell technology to Huntington's disease transgenic monkey model

Creating induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells allows researchers to establish "disease in a dish" models of conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to diabetes.

8 Sep 2014

Asterias receives clearance from FDA to initiate Phase 1/2a clinical trial of AST-OPC1

Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc. has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to initiate a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of its product, AST-OPC1, in patients with complete cervical spinal cord injury.

27 Aug 2014

Zebrafish and virus help scientists map the living brain

A virus and a zebrafish are helping scientists map the living brain. "You can kinda draw a diagram and see how cells within it are connected in a functioning brain," said Dr. Albert Pan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

26 Aug 2014

Repurposing anti-depressant medication to target new pathway may help combat medulloblastoma

An international research team reports in Nature Medicine a novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma, and suggests repurposing an anti-depressant medication to target the new pathway may help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children.