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.

Leukemia cells rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and evade cell death

Leukemia cells, like most cancers, are addicted to glucose to generate their energy, but new research shows for the first time that these cells also rely on fatty acid metabolism to grow and to evade cell death.

28 Jan 2010

Adipose tissue, a promising new source of HSPCs

Bone marrow is a leading source of adult stem cells, which are increasingly used for research and therapeutic interventions, but extracting the cells is an arduous and often painful process. Now, researchers have found evidence that fat tissue, known as adipose tissue, may be a promising new source of valuable and easy-to-obtain regenerative cells called hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), according to astudy prepublished online in Blood, the official journal of the American Society of Hematology.

28 Jan 2010

UC-CCHMC partnership receives $3.75M NIAMS grant for musculoskeletal soft tissue repair research

An award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) will aid a partnership between the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) in finding new ways to use adult stem cells to speed repair of musculoskeletal soft tissue injuries.

28 Jan 2010

CSCs elimination could hold the key to fight ovarian cancer

Eliminating cancer stem cells (CSCs) within a tumor could hold the key to successful treatments for ovarian cancer, which has been notoriously difficult to detect and treat, according to new findings published this week in the journal Oncogene by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

28 Jan 2010

NIH to perform exploratory studies on ImmuneRegen BioSciences' Homspera

ImmuneRegen BioSciences Inc.®, a wholly owned subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings Inc. (OTCBB: IRBS), today announced the execution of an agreement with the National Institute of Health (NIH) / National Cancer Institute (NCI) to commence studies utilizing ImmuneRegen's Homspera.

28 Jan 2010

Tissue Genesis, AMS to develop adipose-derived regenerative cells for treating pelvic health disorders

Tissue Genesis, Inc., an emerging leader in advanced tissue engineering and cell therapy solutions, and American Medical Systems Holdings, Inc. announced today they have signed an agreement for the research and development of adipose (fat)–derived regenerative cells for use in treating pelvic health disorders.

27 Jan 2010

Blood system offers a potential therapeutic avenue for age-related stem cell dysfunction

As you age, your blood ages. Deep in your bone marrow, blood stem cells keep churning out your blood cells, but the mix of blood cell types goes awry, making you more prone to disease.

27 Jan 2010

International Stem Cell joins StockProfile.com

International Stem Cell Corporation, announced today that it has expanded its market awareness program by joining www.StockProfile.com, a customized web-based platform showcasing emerging growth stocks.

27 Jan 2010

Geron collaborates to explore hESC-based product for Alzheimer’s disease

Geron Corporation today announced that it has entered into a collaboration jointly funded by Geron and a University of California Discovery Research and Training Grant to investigate the therapeutic potential of its human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based product, GRNOPC1, for Alzheimer’s disease. The company is currently developing GRNOPC1 for the potential treatment of spinal cord injury.

27 Jan 2010

Burnham renamed to honor T. Denny Sanford's support

Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) announced today that philanthropist T. Denny Sanford has pledged $50 million to support and further expand and accelerate the Institute's leading-edge medical research. To honor Sanford, Burnham, has been renamed the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. This is the second gift Sanford has made to Burnham. In 2007, he directed $20 million through Sanford Health to create the Sanford Children's Health Research Center at Burnham.

27 Jan 2010

Dr. Shinya Yamanaka to receive the 2010 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology

The scientist who reprogrammed adult cells into embryonic-like stem cells has been chosen to receive the 2010 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology.

27 Jan 2010

Osiris Therapeutics completes enrollment in Prochymal MSC therapy Phase II trial for type 1 diabetes

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has achieved a $750,000 milestone payment from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) for completing enrollment in a Phase II clinical trial evaluating Prochymal, an adult mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy, as a treatment for patients recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. The milestone is the fourth in a series of payments resulting from JDRF’s partnership with Osiris for the development of a therapy for type 1 diabetes.

27 Jan 2010

Findings may point toward potential therapies for type 2 diabetes

In people who put on a lot of weight, or whose bodies start developing the inability to use insulin effectively that leads toward type 2 diabetes, the pancreas typically ramps up its supply of insulin-generating "beta" cells, at least partly by replication of the existing cells.

27 Jan 2010

Texas to invest $4.5 mn in cancer research at UT Health Science Center

Texas plans to invest $3 billion in cancer research over the next 10 years and six scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are among the first to receive grants.The researchers, whose grants total $4.5 million, are working to protect girls from cervical cancer, to interrupt tumor growth at the molecular level and to develop a new approach for the treatment of colon cancer, among other cutting-edge projects.

27 Jan 2010

Promising results in mice could prevent fatal iron buildup in humans

A new study shows that a protein found in blood alleviates anemia, a condition in which the body's tissues don't get enough oxygen from the blood. In this animal study, injections of the protein, known as transferrin, also protected against potentially fatal iron overload in mice with thalassemia, a type of inherited anemia that affects millions of people worldwide.

27 Jan 2010

Findings may yield novel therapeutic strategies for late-stage breast cancer

Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have determined how the TGFβ-Smad signaling pathway, which is over activated in late-stage cancers, is responsible for the "epigenetic memory" that maintains unique patterns of regulatory DNA hypermethylation causing silencing of critical genes that facilitate breast cancer progression.

25 Jan 2010

Island Labs receives NHP approval for Stemcelex

Island Labs, a leader in natural dermatological products, has become the first company in Health Canada's history to receive Natural Health Product (NHP) approval.

23 Jan 2010

HTDS evaluates business proposal ahead of dividend distribution

Hard to Treat Diseases (HTDS; http://www.htdsmedical.com/) subsidiary Slavica Bio Chem recently announced entry into the stem cell bank development. An unsolicited business proposal is currently being evaluated by the company from an obstetrician type medical company. This company is engaged in a treatment for pre-term labor and induction of labor. These symptoms affect millions of people worldwide.

23 Jan 2010

California Heart Center joins Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation

The California Heart Center, the cardiology group that developed the nation's largest heart transplant program, has joined the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation.

22 Jan 2010

hESC "reporter" line to measure endothelial cell production and activity

New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF)-Druckenmiller Fellow, Daylon James, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medial College, is lead author on a study defining conditions for generating a plentiful supply of endothelial (vessel lining) cells that are suitable for therapeutic use. Dr. James and his colleagues created a human embryonic stem cell (hESC) "reporter" line that can be used to measure endothelial cell production and activity.

22 Jan 2010