Stem Cells News and Research

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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.

Two-drug combination may alleviate radiation sickness in people

A combination of two drugs may alleviate radiation sickness in people who have been exposed to high levels of radiation, even when the therapy is given a day after the exposure occurred, according to a study led by scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston.

24 Nov 2011

Metformin prevents growth of breast cancer cells in human cultures

An inexpensive drug that treats Type-2 diabetes has been shown to prevent a number of natural and man-made chemicals from stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a newly published study by a Michigan State University researcher.

24 Nov 2011

Scientists identify MEGF10 defective gene responsible for muscle weakness

An international team of researchers from England and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin has presented new findings regarding the function of muscle stem cells, which are published in the current issue of the journal Nature Genetics.

23 Nov 2011

Neuralstem initiates spinal cord neural stem cell trial in ALS

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the first patient to receive stem cells in the cervical (upper back) region of the spine was treated on Friday in its ongoing trial to test the safety of its spinal cord neural stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

23 Nov 2011

Live cell encapsulation technology helps overcome obstacles facing applications of live stem cell usage

Nuvilex, Inc. announced today testing confirmed that through use of live cell encapsulation technology, two major obstacles facing the vast and broad applications of live stem cell use have been overcome.

23 Nov 2011

UCF researchers use stem cells to create nerve-muscle junctions

University of Central Florida researchers, for the first time, have used stem cells to grow neuromuscular junctions between human muscle cells and human spinal cord cells, the key connectors used by the brain to communicate and control muscles in the body.

23 Nov 2011

U-M ranks sixth among all medical schools in NIH funding

Research at the University of Michigan Medical School brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the state of Michigan in the last year - and could have a total economic impact of nearly $1.2 billion, new data show.

22 Nov 2011

MedUni Vienna researchers discover important regulators in development of stem cells

A team of researchers at the MedUni Vienna's Institute of Medical Genetics has discovered that two genes (TSC/Tuberin and PRAS40) are extremely important regulators in the development of stem cells: if these genes are switched off, the stem cells do not develop but instead die a programmed cell death.

21 Nov 2011

American high school students earn top honors for liver disease and brain injury research

The shortlist of contenders for the highest science honor awarded to American high school students narrowed tonight as the winners of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology Region 3 Finals were announced.

21 Nov 2011

Study examines how mice with genetic bone defects respond to infusions of BMMSC

A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's immune system in stem cell regeneration.

21 Nov 2011

Researchers discover more about function of muscle stem cells

An international team of researchers from Leeds, London and Berlin has discovered more about the function of muscle stem cells, thanks to next-generation DNA sequencing techniques.

20 Nov 2011

Cancer Research UK embarks on new initiative to unravel genetic secrets behind cancers

Unravelling the genetic secrets behind a range of cancers - from understanding how certain genes control cancer to determining how the disease evades treatment - is the aim of a new initiative from Cancer Research UK.

18 Nov 2011

AHA honors Gladstone scientist with Katz award for cardiovascular research

Li Qian, PhD, has won the Louis N. and Arnold M. Katz Basic Science Research Prize for Young Investigators from the American Heart Association (AHA), marking the first time in the prestigious award's history that a Gladstone Institutes researcher has been the recipient.

18 Nov 2011

Chloroquine-chemotherapy combination holds potential for metastatic breast cancer treatment

An anti-malaria drug used for more than 60 years is now being studied for use in breast cancer patients whose disease has not responded to traditional chemotherapy treatment.

18 Nov 2011

Stem cell therapy for heart failure: two studies two successes

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans leading to considerable risk of death, diminished quality of like and recurrent hospitalizations. Heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the rest of the body. The most common cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease, which narrows the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart.

17 Nov 2011

New 2-DG-ABT combination cancer therapy triggers apoptosis

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Kyushu University Medical School say a novel combination of a specific sugar molecule with a pair of cell-killing drugs prompts a wide variety of cancer cell types to kill themselves, a process called apoptosis or programmed cell death.

17 Nov 2011

Researchers identify potential marker for leukemic relapse

The development of simple tests to predict a leukemic relapse in young patients is a step closer thanks to researchers from the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center and the University of Montreal. Approximately 20 percent of young leukemia patients who are treated with stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood will experience leukemic relapse.

17 Nov 2011

Geron bows out of stem cell research

Geron Corp. is removing itself from the field it pioneered – stem cell research. Late Monday, the company said it would halt its study of a stem cell-based treatment for spinal cord injury, the first embryonic stem cell trial approved in the U.S.

16 Nov 2011

Human pluripotent stem cells rely heavily on glycolysis to drive their metabolic activities

Human pluripotent stem cells, which can develop into any cell type in the body, rely heavily on glycolysis, or sugar fermentation, to drive their metabolic activities.

16 Nov 2011

CDCs can increase healthy heart muscle cells in patients with ischemic heart disease

Healthy, new heart cells have been generated by animals with chronic ischemic heart disease after receiving stem cells derived from cardiac biopsies or "cardiospheres," according to research conducted at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

16 Nov 2011