Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Cellular Renovation Why build something from the ground up when one can just renovate an already existing structure? Essentially, thats what researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis had in mind when they developed a method for transforming adult human skin cells into motor neurons in a lab. They published their work in the journal Cell Stem Cell. In this study, we only used skin cells from healthy adults ranging in age from early 20s to late 60s, senior author Andrew S. Yoo said in a press release. Our research revealed how small RNA molecules can work with other cell signals called transcription factors to generate specific types of neurons, in this case motor neurons. In the future, we would like to study skin cells from patients with disorders of motor neurons. Our conversion process should model late-onset aspects of the disease using neurons derived from patients with the condition. They did this by exposing skin cells in a lab to certain molecular signals usually found at high levels in the human brain. They focused on two short snippets of RNA: microRNAs (mRNAs) called miR-9 and miR-124, which are involved in repurposing the genetic instructions … Continue reading →

Professor Che Connon and Dr Stephen Swioklo of Atelerix, a spin-out from Newcastle University, is offering the transformative hydrogel technology for the storage and transport of viable cells including stem cells and cell-based assays at ambient temperatures. Credit: Newcastle University Atelerix, a spin-out from Newcastle University, UK is offering the transformative hydrogel technology for the storage and transport of viable cells including stem cells and cell-based assays at ambient temperatures. This overcomes the barriers presented by the current need for cryo-shipping as it is simple, cell-friendly and offers immediate access to stem cell therapy. This opens up the market for the supply of cells and assays in a ready-to-use format, allowing suppliers to increase the range of assays available to consumers and to scale up their businesses. The breakthrough, patented invention, provides dramatic improvements to an everyday process in a rapidly growing market. Scientific founder, Professor Che Connon of Newcastle University, has been working on the underpinning technology for five years. He said: "Encapsulating cells in the alginate hydrogel is a simple, low cost system capable of preserving the viability and functionality of cells at temperatures between 4 and 21C for extended periods of time. "Used as a method of … Continue reading →

In developing fetuses, infection by the Zika virus can result in devastating neurological damage, most notably microcephaly and other brain malformations. In a new study, published today in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report the virus specifically targets and kills brain cancer stem cells. The findings suggest the lethal power of the virus notorious for causing infected babies to be born with under-sized, misshapen heads could be directed at malignant cells in adult brains. Doing so might potentially improve survival rates for patients diagnosed with glioblastomas, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, with a median survival rate of just over 14 months after diagnosis. The Zika virus specifically targets neuroprogenitor cells in fetal and adult brains. Our research shows it also selectively targets and kills cancer stem cells, which tend to be resistant to standard treatments and a big reason why glioblastomas recur after surgery and result in shorter patient survival rates, said Jeremy Rich, MD, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Rich is co-senior author of the study with Michael S. Diamond, … Continue reading →

Italian Minister for Education, University, and Research Valeria Fedeli AP Photo/Luca Bruno By Marta PaterliniSep. 7, 2017 , 4:50 PM Plagued by budget cuts and attacks on science, Italian scientists have had little to cheer about recently. But on Sunday, they received a welcome surprise when Valeria Fedeli, the minister for education, university, and research, announced that Italy will put an extra 400 million into its main basic science fund, the Research Projects of National Interest (PRIN). The money, to be spent over 3 years, will more than quadruple PRINs annual funding. The biggest part of the increase, 250 million, will come out of unused reserves at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), a government-funded private foundation in Genoa that has recently come under criticism. This is the largest investment in competitive funds for basic research of the last 20 years, says Elena Cattaneo, a stem cell biologist at the University of Milan and a senator for life in the Italian Parliament who had lobbied for the shift to basic science. PRIN funding has been going up and down since 2002, according to a group of academics calling itselfReturn On Academic ReSearch (ROARS), but overall has been modest. The latest … Continue reading →

Adult stem cells can be extracted from human fat. Patrick T. Fallon /The Washington Post/Getty Images hide caption Adult stem cells can be extracted from human fat. The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on "unscrupulous" clinics selling unproven and potentially dangerous treatments involving stem cells. Hundreds of clinics around the country have started selling stem cell therapies that supposedly use stem cells but have not been approved as safe and effective by the FDA, according to the agency. "There are a small number of unscrupulous actors who have seized on the clinical promise of regenerative medicine, while exploiting the uncertainty, in order to make deceptive, and sometimes corrupt assurances to patients based on unproven and, in some cases, dangerously dubious products," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement Monday. The FDA has taken action against clinics in California and Florida. The agency sent a warning letter to the US Stem Cell Clinic of Sunrise, Fla., and its chief scientific officer, Kristin Comella, for "marketing stem cell products without FDA approval and significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice requirements." The clinic is one of many around the country that claim to use stem cells derived from a … Continue reading →

Representative imageBy Priyanka V Gupta New Delhi: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will soon release the final document on guidelines for stem cell research, the draft of which was available on the ICMR and the DBT (Department of Biotechnology) websites for public reviews till July 31 this year. The guidelines are expected to help in curbing the unethical practices in regenerative medicine. The information was shared by Dr Geeta Jotwani, deputy director general, ICMR, at a recent event where MoU was signed between ABLE (Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprise) and FIRM (Forum for Innovative Regenerative Medicine) for industry research collaborations. Dr Jotwani said, On the directives of DCGI (Drug Controller General of India), ICMR has been framing the guidelines for stem cell research and therapy since 2001. Unfortunately, there is no therapy available other than bone marrow transplantation, for which also no standard of care has been laid out. In that direction, we have been making periodic efforts by releasing the guideline documents in 2002, 2007, 2013 and now the updated documentation for 2017 is under finalization. ICMR has been proactively working towards educating the stakeholders about the ethical practices in stem cell research and therapy, for which a … Continue reading →

Bone marrow contains hematopoetic stem cells, the precursors to every blood cell type. These cells spring into action following bone marrow transplants, bone marrow injury and during systemic infection, creating new blood cells, including immune cells, in a process known as hematopoiesis. A new study led by University of Pennsylvania and Technical University of Dresden scientists has identified an important regulator of this process, a protein called Del-1. Targeting it, the researchers noted, could be an effective way to improve stem cell transplants for both donors and recipients. There may also be ways to modulate levels of Del-1 in patients with certain blood cancers to enhance immune cell production. The findings are reported this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Because the hematopoetic stem cell niche is so important for the creation of bone marrow and blood cells and because Del-1 is a soluble protein and is easily manipulated, one can see that it could be a target in many potential applications, said George Hajishengallis, the Thomas W. Evans Centennial Professor in the Department of Microbiology in Penns School of Dental Medicine and a senior author on the work. I think that Del-1 represents a major regulator of the … Continue reading →

More than one-and-a-half years after implantation, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center report that human neural stem cells (NSCs) grafted into spinal cord injuries in laboratory rats displayed continued growth and maturity, with functional recovery beginning one year after grafting. The findings are published in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The NSCs retained an intrinsic human rate of maturation despite being placed in a traumatic rodent environment, said Paul Lu, PhD, associate professor of neurosciences and lead author of the study. Thats a finding of great importance in planning for human clinical trials. Neural stem cells differentiate into neurons and glia or support cells. Researchers like Lu and colleague, Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, professor of neuroscience and director of the UC San Diego Translational Neuroscience Institute, have explored their potential as a sort of patch and remedy for spinal cord injuries, implanting NSCs derived from induced pluripotent stem cells into animal models of spinal cord injuries to repair damage. In previously published animal studies, Lu and Tuszynski have shown NSCs can survive implantation and make new connections, even beginning to restore limited physical function, … Continue reading →

Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern researchers have discovered that stem cells absorb unusually high levels of vitamin C, which reportedly regulate function and suppress the development of leukemia. While research currently shows people with lower levels of vitamin C are at increased risk for cancer, this study indicated why vitamin C is inherently important for the blood-forming system by routinely measuring metabolite levels in stem cell populations. The techniques used in the study led researchers to find that every type of blood-forming cell in the bone marrow had distinct metabolic signaturestaking up and using nutrients in their own individual way. To further understand vitamin Cs importance in stem cell function, researchers tested mice that lacked the enzyme used to synthesize vitamin C in order to see its effects when added. According to the research, scientists controlled the vitamin C intake on mice so that they could only obtain the supplement exclusively through their diet, like humans do. They tested mice absorbing vitamin C levels seen in 5 percent of healthy humans. To the researchers surprise, the depletion of vitamin C meant the stem cells gained function, but also increased the mices chances of leukemia. Dr. Michalis Agathocleous, … Continue reading →

T he roots of hair loss run deep: Its linked to hormonal balance, immune response, stem cell signaling, and now, according to new research from University of California, Los Angeles metabolism. The study, published inNature Cell Biology, finds that the metabolism in the stem cells embedded in hair follicles is different from surrounding cells. When they tinkered with that metabolic pathway in mice, they could either halt hair growth or make it proliferate. The UCLA researchers are now testing out a duo of drugs to try and prompt that hair to grow. This is a STAT Plus article and is only available to STAT Plus subscribers.To read the full story, subscribe to STAT Plus or log in to your account.Good news: your first 30 days are on us. Biotech Correspondent Meghana covers biotech and writes The Readout newsletter. View post: A new clue to hair loss: A misbehaving enzyme in follicle stem cells - STAT … Continue reading →