Category Archives: Cell Medicine

Drivers beware: The brain can't multitask as well as you might think. In every issue of WebMD the Magazine, we ask experts to answer readers' questions about a wide range of topics, including questions about what's true and not true in the field of medicine. For our July/August 2012 issue, we interviewed a University of Utah researcher about the danger of using a phone behind the wheel. Q: I've read that driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as driving drunk. Is that true? EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a fairly new, nontraditional type of psychotherapy. It's growing in popularity, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD often occurs after experiences such as military combat, physical assault, rape, or car accidents. Although research continues, EMDR remains controversial among some health care professionals. At first glance, EMDR appears to approach psychological issues in an unusual way. It does not rely on... Read the EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing article > > A: Many people can't imagine not chatting on the phone while driving. But the stories you've heard are TRUE. Cell phone use impairs driving just as much … Continue reading →

Drivers beware: The brain can't multitask as well as you might think. In every issue of WebMD the Magazine, we ask experts to answer readers' questions about a wide range of topics, including questions about what's true and not true in the field of medicine. For our July/August 2012 issue, we interviewed a University of Utah researcher about the danger of using a phone behind the wheel. Q: I've read that driving while talking on a cell phone is as bad as driving drunk. Is that true? EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a fairly new, nontraditional type of psychotherapy. It's growing in popularity, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD often occurs after experiences such as military combat, physical assault, rape, or car accidents. Although research continues, EMDR remains controversial among some health care professionals. At first glance, EMDR appears to approach psychological issues in an unusual way. It does not rely on... Read the EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing article > > A: Many people can't imagine not chatting on the phone while driving. But the stories you've heard are TRUE. Cell phone use impairs driving just as much … Continue reading →

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the second patient in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardts macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The surgery was performed on Friday, June 29 at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, the same site as the first patient treatment in January, by a team of surgeons led by Professor James Bainbridge, consultant surgeon at Moorfields and Chair of Retinal Studies at University College London. The procedure was successfully performed without any complications. ACT and Moorfields Eye Hospital recently received clearance from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to treat the final two patients in the first cohort of this clinical trial. We are very pleased to continue our forward momentum with both our U.S. trials and our European trial, commented Gary Rabin, chairman and CEO. It was less than a month ago that we received DSMB approval to treat the second and third patients in our E.U. trial, and it is very gratifying to have already completed dosing of the second. It is a pleasure to be … Continue reading →

--Study shows vast majority of cells close to death after toxin exposure can survive and thrive Newswise The vast majority of cells that appear to be on a one-way track to death after exposure to toxins can bounce back completely after those toxins are removed, Johns Hopkins scientists report in a new study. The finding, published in the June 15 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, is not only a testament to the indomitable cellular spirit, but could also offer some practical insight on how to save dying tissues after heart attacks or strokes as well as prevent cancer in cells transiently exposed to toxins. For decades, researchers have known that cells undergo a type of programmed death called apoptosis, says study leader Denise Montell, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Apoptosis can be both positive and negative, she adds. For example, cell death is absolutely necessary to sculpt fingers from paddle-shaped hands during development and to kill off rogue cells that could be the start of cancerous tumors. However, it also kills cells in excess after traumatic events such as a heart attack or stroke, or in … Continue reading →

--Study shows vast majority of cells close to death after toxin exposure can survive and thrive Newswise The vast majority of cells that appear to be on a one-way track to death after exposure to toxins can bounce back completely after those toxins are removed, Johns Hopkins scientists report in a new study. The finding, published in the June 15 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, is not only a testament to the indomitable cellular spirit, but could also offer some practical insight on how to save dying tissues after heart attacks or strokes as well as prevent cancer in cells transiently exposed to toxins. For decades, researchers have known that cells undergo a type of programmed death called apoptosis, says study leader Denise Montell, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Apoptosis can be both positive and negative, she adds. For example, cell death is absolutely necessary to sculpt fingers from paddle-shaped hands during development and to kill off rogue cells that could be the start of cancerous tumors. However, it also kills cells in excess after traumatic events such as a heart attack or stroke, or in … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) The vast majority of cells that appear to be on a one-way track to death after exposure to toxins can bounce back completely after those toxins are removed, Johns Hopkins scientists report in a new study. The finding, published in the June 15 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, is not only a testament to the indomitable cellular spirit, but could also offer some practical insight on how to save dying tissues after heart attacks or strokes as well as prevent cancer in cells transiently exposed to toxins. For decades, researchers have known that cells undergo a type of programmed death called apoptosis, says study leader Denise Montell, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Apoptosis can be both positive and negative, she adds. For example, cell death is absolutely necessary to sculpt fingers from paddle-shaped hands during development and to kill off rogue cells that could be the start of cancerous tumors. However, it also kills cells in excess after traumatic events such as a heart attack or stroke, or in degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. When apoptosis was first described long ago, Montell … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) The vast majority of cells that appear to be on a one-way track to death after exposure to toxins can bounce back completely after those toxins are removed, Johns Hopkins scientists report in a new study. The finding, published in the June 15 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell, is not only a testament to the indomitable cellular spirit, but could also offer some practical insight on how to save dying tissues after heart attacks or strokes as well as prevent cancer in cells transiently exposed to toxins. For decades, researchers have known that cells undergo a type of programmed death called apoptosis, says study leader Denise Montell, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Apoptosis can be both positive and negative, she adds. For example, cell death is absolutely necessary to sculpt fingers from paddle-shaped hands during development and to kill off rogue cells that could be the start of cancerous tumors. However, it also kills cells in excess after traumatic events such as a heart attack or stroke, or in degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. When apoptosis was first described long ago, Montell … Continue reading →

NOTCH1 Signaling Promotes T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Initiating Cell Regeneration Newswise Research suggests that patients with leukemia sometimes relapse because standard chemotherapy fails to kill the self-renewing leukemia initiating cells, often referred to as cancer stem cells. In such cancers, the cells lie dormant for a time, only to later begin cloning, resulting in a return and metastasis of the disease. One such type of cancer is called pediatric T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or T-ALL, often found in children, who have few treatment options beyond chemotherapy. A team of researchers led by Catriona H. M. Jamieson, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Director of Stem Cell Research at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center studied these cells in mouse models that had been transplanted with human leukemia cells. They discovered that the leukemia initiating cells which clone, or replicate, themselves most robustly activate the NOTCH1 pathway, usually in the context of a mutation. Earlier studies showed that as many as half of patients with T-ALL have mutations in the NOTCH1 pathway an evolutionarily conserved developmental pathway used during differentiation of many cell and tissue types. The new study shows … Continue reading →

Neuroscientist Mona Thiruchelvam, formerly at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, agrees to retract two studies based on fake cell count data. A former assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey (UMDNJ) committed research misconduct by fabricating data, according to an investigation by the university and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity (ORI). The ORI, which announced its findings on Thursday (June 28), determined that Mona Thiruchelvam falsified cell count data published in two papers in 2009 in Environmental Health Perspectives and Journal of Biological Chemistry, both of which she has agreed to retract. Thiruchelvam fabricated stereological cell count data in two studies on how pesticides influence neuronal mechanisms involved in Parkinsons disease (PD). The studies reported the results of 13 new experiments that supposedly counted nigrostriatal neurons in the brains of mice and rats, but an investigation spearheaded by the UMDNJ determined those counts were never taken. The nigrostriatal pathway is a major dopamine circuit in the brain, and loss of neurons in this area is one of the main features of Parkinsons disease. The papers slated for retraction investigate the neurological response to the combined pesticides paraquat … Continue reading →

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Baldwin County doctor that treated former Alabama football players with adult stem cells also has treated at least two people diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. One of the ALS patients, former NFL football player and college coach Frank Orgel, recently underwent a new stem cell reprogramming technique performed by Dr. Jason R. Williams at Precision StemCell in Gulf Shores. Before the injections, Orgels health had declined. He could not move his left arm or leg. He couldnt walk or stand on his own, he said. Within a few days of having the stem cell treatment, Orgels constant muscle twitching diminished, said Bob Hubbard, director of stem cell therapy at the practice. Within weeks, he was able to walk in a pool of water and stand unassisted. I think its helped me, said Orgel, who was a defensive coordinator at Auburn under former head coach Pat Dye. Im walking in the pool and I used to drag my feet. Now my left leg is picking up. ALS is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in … Continue reading →