Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

In BriefResearchers from UCLA have found a way to successfully reactivate stem cells in dormant hair follicles to promote hair growth in mice. Through this research, they've developed two drugs that could help millions of people worldwide treat conditions that lead to abnormal hair growth and retention. Researchers have already explored ways to use stem cells totreat everything from diabetes toaging, and now, ateam from UCLAthinks they could potentially offer some relief for people suffering from baldness. During their study, which has beenpublished in Nature, the researchers noticedthat stem cells found in hair follicles undergo a different metabolic process than normal skin cells. After turning glucose into a molecule known as pyruvate, these hair follicle cells then do one of two things: send the pyruvateto the cells mitochondria to be used as energy or convert it into another metabolite known as lactate. Based on these findings, the researchers decided to see if inactive hair follicles behaved differently depending on the path of the pyruvate. To that end, the UCLA team compared mice that had been genetically engineered so that they wouldnt produce lactate with mice that had been engineered to produce more lactate than normal. Obstructing lactate production stopped the … Continue reading →

Ball-and-stick model of the L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) molecule, C6H8O6, as found in the crystal structure. Credit: public domain Vitamin C may "tell" faulty stem cells in the bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, and published online August 17 in the journal Cell. Certain genetic changes are known to reduce the ability of an enzyme called TET2 to encourage stem cells to become mature blood cells, which eventually die, in many patients with certain kinds of leukemia, say the authors. The new study found that vitamin C activated TET2 function in mice engineered to be deficient in the enzyme. "We're excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies," says corresponding study author Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center. Changes in the genetic code (mutations) that reduce TET2 function are found in 10 percent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), … Continue reading →

BOSTON In his offices at Boston Childrens Hospital, Leonard Zon is busily developing cutting-edge stem cell therapies surrounded by fellow researchers, lab equipment and 300,000 striped, transparent zebrafish. Zons lab and the zebrafish are the results of an initiative begun nearly a decade ago to make Massachusetts one of the countrys premier life sciences incubators. That 2008 initiative, signed by former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, committed Massachusetts to spending $1 billion over 10 years to jump-start the life sciences sector attracting the best minds, research facilities and the venture capital funding. By most yardsticks, Patricks gamble has paid off. Massachusetts, and the greater Boston area in particular, are now seen as a top life sciences hub. For Zon, and other life sciences leaders, the support has been transformative. In 2013, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which is charged with distributing the state funds, awarded a $4 million grant to Childrens Hospital to help establish the Childrens Center for Cell Therapy. Some of the money went toward replacing the original aquaculture facilities at Zons lab with state-of-the-art systems. Zon said the changes helped him pursue stem cell therapies taking tissues grown from stem cells aimed at thwarting specific diseases and transplanting … Continue reading →

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats' fur fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened. The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion. "It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing "the systemic rejuvenating effects," he said, "it's kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth." "We've been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now," Marbn said. Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells. "They're progenitor cells from the heart itself," Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely. Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that … Continue reading →

UCLA researchers have discovered a new way to activate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow. The research, led by scientists Heather Christofk and William Lowry, may lead to new drugs that could promote hair growth for people with baldness or alopecia, which is hair loss associated with such factors as hormonal imbalance, stress, aging or chemotherapy treatment. The research was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology. Hair follicle stem cells are long-lived cells in the hair follicle; they are present in the skin and produce hair throughout a persons lifetime. They are quiescent, meaning they are normally inactive, but they quickly activate during a new hair cycle, which is when new hair growth occurs. The quiescence of hair follicle stem cells is regulated by many factors. In certain cases they fail to activate, which is what causes hair loss. In this study, Christofk and Lowry, of Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, found that hair follicle stem cell metabolism is different from other cells of the skin. Cellular metabolism involves the breakdown of the nutrients needed for cells to divide, make energy and respond to their … Continue reading →

Scientists have discovered a new way to stimulate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow, opening the door to the development of new drugs for those with baldness or alopecia. UCLA researchers have revealed a new way to activate stem cells within hair follicles that stimulate hair growth. The hope is this discovery will lead the way to the development of drugs that allow bald individuals and those with alopecia to once again grow hair. The research was led by scientists William Lowry and Heather Christofk of UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. The details of theirfindings were recently published in Nature Cell Biology. About Hair Follicle Stem Cells Hair follicle stem cells are best described simply as older cells within hair follicles that are present in human skin. They generate hair across an individual's lifetime. These cells are quiescent, meaning they are typically dormant yet they can activate quite rapidly in a new hair cycle when the growth of new hair occurs. The hair follicle stem cells' quiescence is regulated by an array of factors. In some instances, they do not activate and hair loss occurs. Study Details … Continue reading →

New drugs promoting hair growth may soon be on the market, as researchers from UCLA have developed a new way to activate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow. Hair follicle stem cells are long-lived cells in the hair follicle that are present in the skin and produce hair throughout a persons lifetime. The stem cells are normally inactive, but can quickly activate during a new hair cycle when growth occurs. The researchers discovered that the hair follicle stem cell metabolism is different from other cells of the skin. The metabolism uses enzymes that alter nutrients to produce metabolites, and as hair follicle stem cells consume glucose from the bloodstream, they process the glucose to eventually produce a metabolite called pyruvate. The cells then can either send pyruvate to their mitochondriathe part of the cell that creates energy or they can convert pyruvate into another metabolite called lactate. Our observations about hair follicle stem cell metabolism prompted us to examine whether genetically diminishing the entry of pyruvate into the mitochondria would force hair follicle stem cells to make more lactate, and if that would activate the cells and grow hair more quickly, Heather Christofk, a scientist … Continue reading →

News by DAVID JENSEN posted 08.14.2017 Californias $3 billion stem cell research agency, which is facing its financial demise in a few short years, has formed a team of its directors to tackle transition planning and examine possible alternatives, including ones that would extend its life. The first meeting of the group of directors is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 18.Jonathan Thomas, chairman of the governing board of theCalifornia Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM), as the agency is formally known, said earlier this summer: The legislature has asked that we put together and start thinking about a transition plan, which can contemplate a variety of factors.In response to a question last week, a spokesman for the agency,Kevin McCormack, said that a notice with more details would be posted 10 days prior to the meeting. At a meeting in June, Thomas laid out the need for the transition team. He said all options are on the table including asking the legislature for cash or to place a measure on the ballot for more bond funding. The agencys only real source of money is state bonds, authorized by voters in 2004. It has roughly $600 million left. The agency has projected it will run … Continue reading →

Hundreds of South Korean scientists expressed outrage Wednesday after a controversial figure accused of covering up a notorious stem cell research fraud was appointed as the country's top technology official. Park Ki-Young was appointed to head a newly-created science centre, putting her in charge of allocating government subsidies and budgets for research projects. But a decade ago Park was a key figure in a scandal involving the fabrication of research by prominent stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-Suk. "Her name is far from innovation. The name is rather a nightmare to science and technology workers," a group of 240 young scientists said in a statement. It called on President Moon Jae-In to scrap the appointment, announced earlier this week, accusing Park of remaining "unrepentant" despite being "at the centre" of the scandal surrounding Hwang. The scientist was lauded as the "pride of Korea" after claiming to have derived stem cell lines from cloned human embryosa world firstin two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005. But his research was later found to be fraudulent and riddled with ethical lapses. Park played a key role in supporting Hwang and his research projects with generous government subsidies when she served … Continue reading →

See more of the story The clinics offer futuristic-sounding treatments for everything from eye problems to osteoarthritis. Listed on a government website, they present the opportunity to participate in clinical trials to test the potential of one of the most promising tools in medicine the bodys own stem cells. Its an attractive pitch for many patients, even though some of the clinics charge $6,000 and up to participate. Now, with a national debate raging over the future of one of the hottest frontiers in 21st-century medicine, a University of Minnesota bioethicist has taken center stage in questioning whether many of these services are legitimate. You have these businesses that dont have meaningful clinical research going on, the Us Leigh Turner said in an interview. There is a risk for fraud, in that people may be charged thousands of dollars to get an intervention that has no chance of working. Turner has emerged as a major critic of the clinics, some of which he says have flawed procedures that allow bias to distort the results of treatment studies. He also says allowing clinics to list studies can imply government approval, lending false legitimacy to marketing pitches. My concern is that you … Continue reading →