Neural Stem Cells News and Research

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McLean Hospital lab explores use of stem cell therapy to treat epilepsy

McLean Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists have new evidence that stem cell transplantation could be a worthwhile strategy to help epileptics who do not respond to anti-seizure drugs.

7 Nov 2014

Scientists devise novel way to use stem cells in fight against brain cancer

Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have devised a new way to use stem cells in the fight against brain cancer. A team led by neuroscientist Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, who recently demonstrated the value of stem cells loaded with cancer-killing herpes viruses, now has a way to genetically engineer stem cells so that they can produce and secrete tumor-killing toxins.

27 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

Scientists receive BBSRC funding to study how neural stem cells differ from each other

A team of scientists led by a researcher from Plymouth University has received funding of more than £400,000 from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to investigate how neural stem cells differ from each other. The study's findings could hold the key to the future use of neural stem cells in treatments to eradicate neurological conditions such as dementia and brain tumours.

15 Oct 2014

New culture system confirms amyloid theory, can revolutionize drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease

An innovative laboratory culture system has succeeded, for the first time, in reproducing the full course of events underlying the development of Alzheimer's disease.

13 Oct 2014

New UCLA study reveals why people with autism experience neural stem cell overgrowth after birth

People with autism spectrum disorder often experience a period of accelerated brain growth after birth. No one knows why, or whether the change is linked to any specific behavioral changes.

10 Oct 2014

Researchers discover mechanism that leads to generation of new nerve cells after stroke

A previously unknown mechanism through which the brain produces new nerve cells after a stroke has been discovered at Lund University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The findings have been published in the journal SCIENCE.

10 Oct 2014

Clinical trial to investigate safety of neural stem cell transplantation in patients with spinal cord injuries

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have launched a clinical trial to investigate the safety of neural stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic spinal cord injuries.

12 Aug 2014

Novogen receives funding support to commence studies in muscular dystrophy

The Australian biotechnology company, Novogen Limited today announced receipt of funding from the FSHD Global Research Foundation as part of the Company’s efforts to find effective treatments for a range of musculo-degenerative diseases including facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD).

11 Aug 2014

Neurons derived from human iPSC and grafted into rats after spinal cord injury produce cells

Building upon previous research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veteran's Affairs San Diego Healthcare System report that neurons derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and grafted into rats after a spinal cord injury produced cells with tens of thousands of axons extending virtually the entire length of the animals' central nervous system.

8 Aug 2014

Induced immunorejection may eliminate tumors post-cell transplantation

Recent studies have shown that transplanting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (iPS-NSCs) can promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rodents and non-human primates. However, a serious drawback to the transplantation of iPS-NSCs is the potential for tumor growth, or tumorogenesis, post-transplantation.

7 Aug 2014

Neuralstem doses final patient with NSI-566 stem cells in Phase II trial

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the final patient was treated in its Phase II trial using NSI-566 spinal cord-derived neural stem cells in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).

4 Aug 2014

Post-doctoral fellows working on stem cell treatment for stroke

The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute, a joint venture between The University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has selected the winners of the Postdoc Initiative Pilot Program.

31 Jul 2014

Zhichan decoction promotes dopaminergic neurons following NSC transplantation in PD rats

There is an increasing interest in Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment by increasing dopamine content and reducing dopaminergic metabolites in the brain.

17 Jul 2014

First report of spinal cord mass arising from spinal cord cell transplantation

A spinal mass was identified in a young woman with complete spinal cord injury 8 years after she had undergone implantation of olfactory mucosal cells in the hopes of regaining sensory and motor function.

8 Jul 2014

MEF2 gene: A potential therapeutic target to protect neuronal loss in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

A new study by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) has identified a chemical "switch" that controls both the generation of new neurons from neural stem cells and the survival of existing nerve cells in the brain.

4 Jul 2014

Overlooked DNA shuffling drives deadly paediatric brain tumour

One of the deadliest forms of paediatric brain tumour, Group 3 medulloblastoma, is linked to a variety of large-scale DNA rearrangements which all have the same overall effect on specific genes located on different chromosomes.

23 Jun 2014

Duke researchers identify first piece of new brain-repair circuit

Duke researchers have found a new type of neuron in the adult brain that is capable of telling stem cells to make more new neurons. Though the experiments are in their early stages, the finding opens the tantalizing possibility that the brain may be able to repair itself from within.

3 Jun 2014

Transplantation of embryonic neural cells can alleviate epilepsy seizure activity in mice

New research from North Carolina State University pinpoints the areas of the cerebral cortex that are affected in mice with absence epilepsy and shows that transplanting embryonic neural cells into these areas can alleviate symptoms of the disease by reducing seizure activity.

30 May 2014

Mice study shows specific energy source responsible for performing complex cognitive functions

New research suggests that certain types of brain cells may be "picky eaters," seeming to prefer one specific energy source over others.

9 May 2014