Skin Cells News and Research

RSS

Protein that causes juvenile Batten disease also plays a key role in normal cell function

The aberrant protein that causes juvenile Batten disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of childhood, also plays a key role in normal cell function, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.

16 Sep 2004

Hair growing stem cells may one day provide treatments for human hair conditions

Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at The Rockefeller University have isolated stem cells from the skin of a mouse, and showed, for the first time, that an individual stem cell can renew itself in the laboratory and then be used in grafts to produce skin, hair and oil glands.

5 Sep 2004

Bone marrow produces cells that permanently heal wounds

Bone marrow produces cells that not only help fight infection but also permanently heal wounds, according to research at the University of Washington. Previously, researchers had not known that bone marrow contributed to the development of new skin in wounds.

5 Sep 2004

New link between a specific protein and its role in determining how cancerous cells divide

Biology researchers at Rutgers-Newark have identified a new link between a specific protein and its role in determining how cancerous cells divide, spread and form new tumors in other parts of the human body.

18 Aug 2004

Cell biologists may have discovered a new effective therapy for psoriasis

About two million Germans suffer from psoriasis (from the Greek psora meaning ‘itching, scratching’). In this incurable disease the regeneration of the epidermis is speeded up enormously: whereas it normally renews itself in just under four weeks, this period is cut to four to seven days in psoriasis patients.

16 Aug 2004

New approach to cancer vaccines may eradicate skin cancer tumors

Mayo Clinic and British researchers have developed a new approach to cancer vaccines that purposely kills healthy skin cells to target the immune system against tumors. The new approach has eradicated skin cancer tumors in mice.

2 Aug 2004

Effects of Huntington's disease mutation more complex than originally thought

Competing theories about why brain cells die in Huntington's disease may not be competitors after all, according to a report published July 21, 2004, in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology.

22 Jul 2004

Possibility of generating nerve cells from an individual’s own skin cells

Results of an experimental study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET highlight how adult skin cells can be made into precursor nerve cells, with potential implications for the future treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

8 Jul 2004

Protein called Rac controls a number of biological processes and is directly implicated in several human diseases

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have described the regulatory mechanism of an important human protein called Rac that controls a number of biological processes and is directly implicated in several human diseases.

2 Jul 2004

Revolutionary self healing bandage that uses the patient's own cells

A revolutionary type of 'self healing' bandage that uses the patient's own cells is being developed. The technique has already been tried successfully on patients with diabetic ulcers and in the long-term could offer a more effective, quicker and cost efficient way of treating many types of slow-healing wounds such as pressure ulcers.

24 May 2004

FDA approves new drug Enbrel for psoriasis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the biologic drug etanercept (brand name Enbrel) to treat chronic, moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults.

1 May 2004

Gene therapy may delay Alzheimer progression

Results from a preliminary eight-patient study of gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease are positive enough to justify a larger clinical trial, Mark H. Tuszynski, M.D., Ph.D., reported April 27 at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Tuszynski says that a larger trial is being planned at a major medical center in Chicago.

30 Apr 2004

Results look promising in Alzheimer’s gene therapy trial

Surgical placement of genetically modified tissue directly into the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, an experimental approach to delaying brain cell loss associated with the disease, leads to increased metabolic activity in the brain, with cells apparently responding to the insertion of growth factor-producing grafts

28 Apr 2004

Protein kinase complex influences the outer layer of skin to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull

Continuing studies about an important regulatory protein kinase complex called I-kappa-B kinase (or IKK) have now shown that a subunit of IKK – IKK alpha – influences the outer layer of skin in developing mice to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull.

7 Apr 2004