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.

Scientists discover stem cell clue to lung cancer development

Cancer Research UK scientists have revealed that stem cells become 'activated' in severely damaged lungs and help to repair them, according to a study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences today (Monday).

26 May 2009

Recognition for pioneering stem cell research to mend broken bones

Funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) could lead to the development of new and better treatments for broken bones and other orthopaedic problems associated with ageing.

24 May 2009

Researchers discuss combined approach to maximize benefits and minimize risks of stem cell therapy

Once placed into a patient's body, stem cells intended to treat or cure a disease could end up wreaking havoc simply because they are no longer under the control of the clinician.

22 May 2009

Research suggests role of low vitamin D in cancer

In studying the preventive effects of vitamin D, researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, have proposed a new model of cancer development that hinges on a loss of cancer cells' ability to stick together. The model, dubbed DINOMIT, differs substantially from the current model of cancer development, which suggests genetic mutations as the earliest driving forces behind cancer.

22 May 2009

Novel method stimulates growth of new neurons in adult brain

University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons.

21 May 2009

ChemGenex’s Omacetaxine to be showcased in three oral oresentations at EHA

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that new data from two clinical studies and one pre-clinical study with omacetaxine will be presented at oral sessions during the forthcoming 14th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) in Berlin, Germany.

21 May 2009

People with Down syndrome may have more cancer-protective genes

Most cancers are rare in people with Down syndrome, whose overall cancer mortality is below 10 percent of that in the general population. Since they have an extra copy of chromosome 21, it's been proposed that people with Down syndrome may be getting an extra dose of one or more cancer-protective genes.

20 May 2009

Nanoparticles used to stimulate growth of new neurons in adult brain

University at Buffalo researchers have identified a new mechanism that plays a central role in adult brain stem cell development and prompts brain stem cells to differentiate into neurons.

20 May 2009

Genentech and Biogen Idec submit applications to FDA for Rituxan in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Genentech, Inc. and Biogen Idec today announced that the companies submitted two supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Rituxan (rituximab) plus standard chemotherapy for people with previously untreated or treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

20 May 2009

Adult stem cells from bone marrow can deliver cancer-killing proteins to tumors

Researchers in London have demonstrated the ability of adult stem cells from bone marrow (mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs) to deliver a cancer-killing protein to tumors.

19 May 2009

U.S. Patent Office upholds StemCells’ patents

StemCells, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has upheld the validity of the remaining two neural stem cell patents which were subjected to reexamination proceedings commenced by Neuralstem, Inc.

17 May 2009

New system to deliver siRNA into primary cells

In technology that promises to one day allow drug delivery to be tailored to an individual patient and a particular cancer tumor, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have developed an efficient system for delivering siRNA into primary cells.

17 May 2009

A relationship found between cancer stem cells and prognosis in primary breast cancer

Breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy prior to surgery had heightened levels of cancer-initiating stem cells in their bone marrow, and the level of such cells correlated to a tumor's lymph node involvement, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

15 May 2009

New therapy improves chances of living disease-free with neuroblastoma

A phase III study has shown that adding an antibody-based therapy that harnesses the body's immune system resulted in a 20 percent increase in the number of children living disease-free for at least two years with neuroblastoma.

15 May 2009

The end of the line for existing stem cell research?

Time is short for scientists to respond to the call for comments on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed guidelines for the use of human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines and their eligibility for federal funds. On May 26, the window to provide feedback will close, and the drafted rules leave the possibility that funding for almost all existing cell lines will disappear.

15 May 2009

aPKC enzyme tells stem cells which way to divide

Driving Miranda, a protein in fruit flies crucial to switch a stem cell's fate, is not as complex as biologists thought, according to University of Oregon biochemists. They've found that one enzyme (aPKC) stands alone and acts as a traffic cop that directs which roads daughter cells will take.

13 May 2009

Clues about how blood forms could yield new strategies for treating blood diseases

Biologists have long wondered why the embryonic heart begins beating so early, before the tissues actually need to be infused with blood.

13 May 2009

New tissue scaffold stimulates bone and cartilage growth

MIT engineers and colleagues have built a new tissue scaffold that can stimulate bone and cartilage growth when transplanted into the knees and other joints.

12 May 2009

Loss of stromal protein major new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer

Reporting online in the American Journal of Pathology, researchers from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have implicated the loss of a stromal protein called caveolin-1 as a major new prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer, predicting early disease recurrence, metastasis and breast cancer patient survival.

6 May 2009

Discovery of method to neutralize tumor growth in embryonic stem cell therapy

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered a method to potentially eliminate the tumor-risk factor in utilizing human embryonic stem cells. Their work paves the way for further progress in the promising field of stem cell therapy.

6 May 2009