Cell Production News and Research

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Stemedica Cell Technologies completes master bank of mesenchymal bone marrow-derived stem cells

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a world leader in adult stem cell manufacturing and research, announced today that it has completed its proprietary master bank of mesenchymal bone marrow-derived stem cells.

14 Sep 2010

IMF and CHPF join to promote awareness of myeloma in China

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, today announced plans to sign a cooperative agreement with the Chinese Health Promotion Foundation (CHPF), an agency that operates under the Chinese Ministry of Health, to promote awareness of myeloma in China and to encourage measures to prevent and combat the disease.

9 Sep 2010

Micro-RNAs programmed cells can lead to malignant growth

Cancer becomes life threatening when tumor cells start leaving their primary site. They travel through the lymph and blood streams to other tissues where they grow into metastases. This transition to malignancy is associated with characteristic changes in the cancer cells. The activity of several genes is reprogrammed and, thus, the production of proteins anchoring cells to a tissue is reduced. On the other hand, the amount of surface markers which make a cancer cell mobile increases.

9 Sep 2010

Advanced Cell Technology updates transdifferentiation plans to enhance regenerative medicine

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. provides an update today on its plans to utilize its transdifferentiation platform to enhance regenerative medicine.

31 Aug 2010

RXR-alpha protein helps to protect pigment cells from invasive melanoma: Research

New research on how skin cancer begins has identified adjacent cancer cells that scientists are calling "co-conspirators" in the genesis of melanoma, in findings that could someday hold the key to predicting, preventing and stopping this hard-to-treat cancer before it spreads.

31 Aug 2010

Increase in regeneration of nerve cells can alleviate or prevent memory loss

Production of new nerve cells in the human brain is linked to learning and memory, according to a new study from the University of Florida. The research is the first to show such a link in humans. The findings, published online and in an upcoming print issue of the journal Brain, provide clues about processes involved in age- and health-related memory loss and reveal potential cellular targets for drug therapy.

27 Aug 2010

Scientists develop new synthetic material to grow stem cells

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments - in particular, to be used in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient.

23 Aug 2010

NSF awards Georgia Institute of Technology $3 million for stem cell bio-manufacturing research program

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $3 million to the Georgia Institute of Technology to fund a unique research program on stem cell bio-manufacturing. The program is specifically focused on developing engineering methods for stem cell production, in order to meet the anticipated demand for stem cells. The award comes through the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program, which supports innovation in graduate education in fields that cross academic disciplines and have broad societal impact.

17 Aug 2010

New T cell engineering approach can improve success rate of immune-cell therapies

Clinical trials using patients' own immune cells to target tumors have yielded promising results. However, this approach usually works only if the patients also receive large doses of drugs designed to help immune cells multiply rapidly, and those drugs have life-threatening side effects. Now a team of MIT engineers has devised a way to deliver the necessary drugs by smuggling them on the backs of the cells sent in to fight the tumor. That way, the drugs reach only their intended targets, greatly reducing the risk to the patient.

16 Aug 2010

Study offers clues to potential treatments for preserving, restoring insulin-producing cells

In type 1 diabetes, the body relentlessly attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. But a study by Joslin Diabetes Center scientists now has firmly established that some of these cells endure for many decades in a small group of people with the disease—offering clues to potential treatments for preserving and even restoring the crucial cell population.

12 Aug 2010

Carfilzomib could become new option for patients with relapsed myeloma, IMF says

The International Myeloma Foundation, the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, today said promising data suggest a new drug called carfilzomib could become an important new option for patients whose myeloma stops responding to other therapies.

4 Aug 2010

miRagen Therapeutics develop MicroRNA based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease

miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by developing innovative microRNA-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced today the publication of data demonstrating the essential role of microRNA-451 (miR-451) in the regulation of erythropoiesis, the process of red blood cell production in the body.

3 Aug 2010

microRNA protects red blood cells from oxidant stress: Study

Pediatric researchers have discovered a new biological pathway in which small segments of RNA, called microRNA, help protect red blood cells from injury caused by chemicals called free radicals. The microRNA seems to have only a modest role when red blood cells experience normal conditions, but steps into action when the cells are threatened by oxidant stress.

2 Aug 2010

Researchers create artificial RNA inhibitor to block excess blood cells formation

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered a key step in the creation of new red blood cells in an animal study.They found that a tiny fragment of ribonucleic acid (RNA), a chemical cousin of DNA, prompts stem cells to mature into red blood cells. The researchers also created an artificial RNA inhibitor to block this process.

2 Aug 2010

Human insulin-producing beta cell replication sustained with single stimulatory molecule: Study

With a single stimulatory molecule, human insulin-producing beta cell replication can be sustained for at least four weeks in a mouse model of diabetes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists discover three human antibodies that neutralize HIV

Scientists have discovered three previously unknown human antibodies that neutralize HIV, two of which target a broad range of HIV strains. The findings, reported online July 8 in two Science papers, add a level of encouragement to the AIDS vaccine research field.

14 Jul 2010

Role of enzyme GSTP1-1 in progression of cancer, other diseases associated with increased cell proliferation

Telik, Inc. today announced the publication of a review in the journal, Cell Death and Differentiation: Glutathione transferases as mediators of signaling pathways involved in cell proliferation and cell death; http://www.nature.com/cdd/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/cdd201080a.html. This review describes recent advances in the understanding of the important role that the enzyme GSTP1-1 plays in the progression of cancer and other diseases associated with increased cell proliferation.

13 Jul 2010

Researchers report how mature red blood cells form

We take our blood for granted, but its creation requires a complicated series of steps, starting with the formation of blood stem cells during early embryonic development, followed by progressive differentiation into the progenitors of red cells, white cells and platelets, and ultimately the full set of blood cells.

9 Jul 2010

Transplanted beta cells protect themselves by adapting to their new homes

For transplanted beta cells, life is tough. Not only are the insulin-producing cells in a stranger's body, tucked into the liver rather than the pancreas, they are a bit short on oxygen and blood, and they are often exposed to raised levels of glucose.

3 Jul 2010

Research shows promising targeted therapies for type 2 diabetes patients

Named for the furballs whose astonishing fecundity made them stars in early Star Trek episodes, the tribbles protein, first identified in fruit flies, aids in regulating many cell processes in humans. Joslin Diabetes Center researchers now have identified mechanisms triggered by a variant of the tribbles gene that cause trouble in insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells—and that offer a promising target for therapies for people with type 2 diabetes, even if they don't carry that gene variant.

2 Jul 2010