Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

The discovery of a new therapeutic target for certain kinds of myeloproliferative disease is, without doubt, good news. This is precisely the discovery made by the Stem Cell Physiopathology group at the CNIC (the Spanish National Cardiovascular Research Center), led by Dr. Simn Mndez-Ferrer. The team has shown that the microenvironment that controls hematopoietic stem cells can be targeted for the treatment of a set of disorders called myeloproliferative neoplasias, the most prominent of which are chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), and atypical chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The findings, published today in Nature, demonstrate that these myeloproliferative neoplasias only appear after damage to the microenvironment that sustains and controls the hematopoietic stem cells -- the cells that produce the cells of the blood and the immune system. Protecting this microenvironment, or niche, has thus emerged as a new route for the treatment of these diseases, for which there is currently no fully effective treatment. "In normal conditions, the microenvironment is able to control the proliferation, differentiation and migration of the hematopoietic stem cell. A specific genetic mutation in these cells results in inflammatory injury to the microenvironment and this control breaks down. What our work shows is … Continue reading →

Supported For Stem Cell Research By: chia mun hong … Continue reading →

Dr Bharat Chetal on Stem Cell Research Dr Bharat Chetal providing details on Stem Cell Research. By: StemadeBiotech … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 9-Jun-2014 Contact: Neha Okhandiar n.okhandiar@qmul.ac.uk 020-788-27927 Queen Mary, University of London Scientists from Queen Mary University of London have shown that stem cell behaviour can be modified by manipulating the nanoscale properties of the material they are grown on - improving the potential of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering as a result. Stem cells are special because they are essential to the normal function of our organs and tissues. Previous research shows stem cells grown on hard substrates go on to multiply but do not differentiate: a process by which the cells specialise to perform specific functions in the body. In contrast, stem cells grown on softer surfaces do go on to differentiate. In this new study, published in the journal Nano Letters, the researchers used tiny material patches known as nanopatches to alter the surface of the substrate and mimic the properties of a softer material. "By changing the surface properties like the shape of the substrate at the nanoscale level, we tricked the stem cells to behave differently," explains co-author Dr Julien Gautrot, from QMUL's School of Engineering and Materials Science and the Institute of Bioengineering. The team tested different sizes of nanopatches - from … Continue reading →

Stem Cells Cerebral Palsy: The Promise The Progress The possibility that stem cells could one day treat cerebral palsy (CP) and many other conditions has captured our imagination. But what is actually involved in treating CP and how close are... By: Cerebral Palsy Alliance … Continue reading →

Optic nerve atrophy and stem cell research This is a video to follow up on an article that I found on the Internet. This is about a treatment for optic nerve atrophy. It is still in its trial stages. By: Jules Procopio … Continue reading →

The four-day annual conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research ends Saturday after bringing about 3,300 scientists and business people from 55 countries to the Vancouver Convention Centre. A Friday morning panel discussion on commercializing stem-cell advances included Dr. Allen Eaves, the CEO and president of Stemcell Technologies, a Vancouver-based company that's the main sponsor of the event, which was held in Boston last year and is slated for Stockholm in 2015. The trajectory of Stemcell Technologies, now the biggest company in the field in Canada, helps illustrate the state of the emerging industry, its potential and its roadblocks. It started in the Terry Fox Lab Eaves first made a name for himself as a cancer specialist and research scientist pioneering bone marrow transplants with a team from the Terry Fox Laboratory at the BC Cancer Agency (the team included his wife, Dr. Connie Eaves, who is still an active researcher at the agency.) The procedure that is now standard treatment for leukemia can involve a transplant from a comparable donor or use stem cells derived from the patient's blood or marrow. New cells created from stem cells - the so-called master cells of the body, which can … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) No need to go that far. It turns out, the best kind of anti-aging treatment is inside one's own body, and the rich are taking advantage of it, exploring the latest research in new technologies, genome mapping and stem cell treatments. Among them is Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, a large investor of the Ellison Medical Foundation, which supports research exploring the biology that underlies aging and age-related diseases. And there's billionaire Peter Nygrd, who says he wants to live forever (or die trying), and has suggested he's found the keys to immortality in stem cell research. Some doctors agree that stem cells are a key part of chasing youth. "If you're a wealthy guy and haven't stored your stem cells, I think you're a total idiot," said Dr. Lionel Bissoon, a New York City physician who sees a number of stressed out, wealthy patients. Related: It's expensive being rich They usually come to him with similar problems: "Fatigue, belly fat, erectile dysfunction, tiring very quickly ... all very common with my patients from Wall Street," Bissoon said. The short-term solution to those ailments, he says, is testosterone replacement -- which is relatively affordable at a few hundred … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise DALLAS June 20, 2014 The Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UTSouthwestern (CRI) has identified a biomarker that enables researchers to accurately characterize the properties and function of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the body. MSCs are the focus of nearly 200 active clinical trials registered with the National Institutes of Health, targeting conditions such as bone fractures, cartilage injury, degenerative disc disease, and osteoarthritis. The finding, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell on June 19, significantly advances the field of MSC biology, and if the same biomarker identified in CRIs studies with mice works in humans, the outlook for clinical trials that use MSCs will be improved by the ability to better identify and characterize the relevant cells. There has been an increasing amount of clinical interest in MSCs, but advances have been slow because researchers to date have been unable to identify MSCs and study their normal physiological function in the body, said Dr. Sean Morrison, Director of the Childrens Research Institute, Professor of Pediatrics at UTSouthwestern Medical Center, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. We found that a protein known as leptin receptor can serve as a … Continue reading →

Cambridge News Follow us on Friday 20 Jun 2014 3:49 AM Written byADAM LUKE A Cambridgeshire-based charity has pledged 100 million for dementia research on a day when world health leaders gathered in London to discuss investment into the condition. Great Abingtons Alzheimers Research UK has devised a new five-year campaign called Defeat Dementia which aims to grow the research field and accelerate progress towards new treatments and preventions. The announcement coincides with a London summit, called the Global Dementia Legacy Event, hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron six months after a G8 summit in the city on the topic, when members set a target of finding a cure or treatment by 2025. The charitys campaign is the largest ever UK charity commitment to dementia research and will see 100 million spent on diagnosis, prevention and treatment initiatives relating to Alzheimers and other dementias. There will be a new 2 million stem cell research centre a collaboration between researchers at Cambridge Universitys Gurdon Institute and University College London (UCL) to understand the causes of Alzheimers and screen potential new treatments, along with a network of Drug Discovery Institutes housed in academic centres in the UK and beyond. A 20 million … Continue reading →