Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have determined the first 3D structures of mammalian genomes from individual cells. For the first time, researchers from the University of Cambridge were able to determine the 3D structure of an active mouse genome in embryonic stem cells. Tim Stevens and his colleagues used a combination of imaging and measurements that reveal DNA interactionsto unravel how the DNA is folded together.This could lead tonew insights into the regulation of gene expression in health and disease. Every cell in our body contains the same DNA molecules and thusthe same set of genes. Still,our blood cells differ fundamentally from our skin cells. The basis for this isgene regulation, meaning that different cells will not express every gene encoded on our DNA but only a specific subset. An exciting new avenue for our understanding of gene regulation is the importance of the 3D DNA structure. Regulatory regions within our DNA play a major role in regulating gene expression, but arequirement is that the regions come into spatial contact with the associated genes. It is well known today, that the way the DNA is folded within the cell is tightlyregulated and determines the contact between different regulatory regions … Continue reading →

Cancer is currently one of the top killers worldwide, and the number of cancer cases is only expected to rise. Although there are a number of therapies available, most of them are toxic and cause serious side effects. New research examines the impact of the natural vitamin C on cancer cell growth. Cancer is the second leading cause of death and disease worldwide, accounting for almost 9 million deaths in 2015, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The global number of new cases of cancer are expected to grow by around 70 percent in the next 20 years. In the United States, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimate that almost 40 percent of U.S. men and women will have developed cancer at one point during their lives. There are various treatment options available for cancer, but they are not always effective; most of them are toxic, and they tend to have a variety of side effects. In some more aggressive cases, the cancer does not respond to treatment, and it is believed that cancer stem-like cells are the reason why the cancer comes back and metastasizes. New research, published in the journal Oncotarget, examines the effectiveness of three natural … Continue reading →

A little over 10 years ago, the first reprogramming of adult cells into undifferentiated stem cells was achieved. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the ability to become almost any cell type and can divide indefinitely, so share many features with embryonic stem cells. Such characteristics enable iPSCs to be used in several applications of regenerative medicine, particularly because they can be derived from an individual's own cells so tissue rejection problems are not encountered. They can also be programmed to develop into rare or inaccessible cell types, used to screen novel drugs, and studied to understand the cellular basis of disease or reprogramming. However, while the genetic factors responsible for reprogramming are well known, the mechanisms underlying the responses to induced gene expression changes are not as clear. Now, research led by the University of Tsukuba has solved the mystery surrounding one of the reprogramming factors, KLF4. The study was published in Stem Cell Reports. KLF4 together with other reprogramming transcription factors is used in the lab to force the expression of genes in somatic cells (adult non-germline cells) in the development of iPSCs. Somatic cells generate their energy in an oxygen-fueled process called oxidative phosphorylation, which takes … Continue reading →

Science Daily Targeting cancer stem cells improves treatment effectiveness, prevents metastasis Science Daily The researchers found that the cancer stem cells expressed the stem cell protein Bmi1 and had increased activator protein-1, known as AP-1, a transcription factor that controls the expression of multiple cancer-associated genes. Based on these new ... Clinical Trials Start for Stem Cell Alzheimer's Drug in USPharmaceutical Processing The intestine has a reservoir of stem cells that are resistant to ...Phys.Org Stem Cell Therapy Market to Witness Robust Expansion Throughout the Forecast Period by 2020Medgadget (blog) Science Times -Hindu Business Line all 12 news articles » The rest is here: Targeting cancer stem cells improves treatment effectiveness, prevents metastasis - Science Daily … Continue reading →

Posted March 10, 2017 Atlanta, GA Researchers working as part of the University of Georgias Regenerative Bioscience Center have developed a new way to identify and sort stem cells that may one day allow clinicians to restore vision to people with damaged corneas using the patients own eye tissue. They published their findings in Biophysical Journal. The cornea is a transparent layer of tissue covering the front of the eye, and its health is maintained by a group of cells called limbal stem cells. But when these cells are damaged by trauma or disease, the cornea loses its ability to self-repair. Damage to the limbus, which is where the clear part of the eye meets the white part of the eye, can cause the cornea to break down very rapidly, said James Lauderdale, an associate professor of cellular biology in UGAs Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and paper co-author. The only way to repair the cornea right now is do a limbal cell transplant from donated tissue. In their study, researchers used a new type of highly sensitive atomic force microscopy, or AFM, to analyze eye cell cultures. Created by Todd Sulchek, an associate professor in the George W. … Continue reading →

March 9, 2017 Targeting cancer stem cells may be a more effective way to overcome cancer resistance and prevent the spread of squamous cell carcinomathe most common head and neck cancer and the second-most common skin cancer, according to a new study by cancer researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is a highly invasive form of cancer and frequently spreads to the cervical lymph nodes. Currently, cisplatin is the standard therapeutic drug used for people with HNSCC. Yet, more than 50 percent of people who take cisplatin demonstrate resistance to the drug, and they experience a recurrence of the cancer. The five-year survival rates remain sorely low and researchers still don't understand the underlying mechanisms behind head and neck squamous carcinoma. Therefore, said UCLA cancer biologist Dr. Cun-Yu Wang, who led the study, there's an urgent need to understand why people with this type of cancer are resistant to therapy and to develop new approaches for treating it. Wang's research is published online today in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell. Cancer stem cells are known to be responsible for tumor formation and development; they also self-renew and tend to be unresponsive to … Continue reading →

An adult stem cell center established by the Kansas Legislature in 2013 is almost ready for its first clinical trial. Buddhadeb Dawn, executive director of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, told legislators Tuesday that the trial will focus on treating graft-versus-host disease and will begin after final approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Our goal was to do this (trial) in January, but we got delayed because of different things, Dawn said during a hearing of the House Health and Human Services Committee. So we are now hoping to start it perhaps in summer. Based at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, the stem cell center has analyzed trials done elsewhere and hosted a clinical trial sponsored by a biotech company that uses modified stem cells from bone marrow to treat stroke. But the graft-versus-host disease trial would be the first homegrown one. Graft-versus-host disease is a potential complication when a patient receives a transplant of tissue, like an organ or bone marrow, from another person. The disease occurs when transplanted tissue fights the patients natural immune system, potentially damaging the liver, skin or other areas. Its a rare illness, with about 20,000 cases … Continue reading →

March 8, 2017 Credit: University of Tsukuba University of Tsukuba-led researchers explored the function of the reprogramming factor KLF4 in production of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). KLF4 was shown to bind upstream of the Tcl1 target gene, which controls a metabolic change in energy generation during the acquisition of cellular pluripotency. This helps explain how cells turn back the developmental clock from adult to stem cell, and could be harnessed to improve efficiency or limit genetic damage during iPSC generation. A little over 10 years ago, the first reprogramming of adult cells into undifferentiated stem cells was achieved. These induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the ability to become almost any cell type and can divide indefinitely, so share many features with embryonic stem cells. Such characteristics enable iPSCs to be used in several applications of regenerative medicine, particularly because they can be derived from an individual's own cells so tissue rejection problems are not encountered. They can also be programmed to develop into rare or inaccessible cell types, used to screen novel drugs, and studied to understand the cellular basis of disease or reprogramming. However, while the genetic factors responsible for reprogramming are well known, the mechanisms underlying … Continue reading →

An adult stem cell center established by the Kansas Legislature in 2013 is almost ready for its first clinical trial. Buddhadeb Dawn, executive director of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, told legislators Tuesday that the trial will focus on treating graft-versus-host disease and will begin after final approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Our goal was to do this (trial) in January, but we got delayed because of different things, Dawn said during a hearing of the House Health and Human Services Committee. So we are now hoping to start it perhaps in summer. Based at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, the stem cell center has analyzed trials done elsewhere and hosted a clinical trial sponsored by a biotech company that uses modified stem cells from bone marrow to treat stroke. But the graft-versus-host disease trial would be the first homegrown one. Download the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center annual update to legislators. Graft-versus-host disease is a potential complication when a patient receives a transplant of tissue, like an organ or bone marrow, from another person. The disease occurs when transplanted tissue fights the patients natural immune system, potentially damaging the liver, skin … Continue reading →

DUARTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Some type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients can be cured from the disease, at least for a number of years, with a stem cell transplant those were the results of a clinical trial monitored by City of Hopes Bart Roep, Ph.D., the Chan Soon-Shiong Shapiro Distinguished Chair in Diabetes and professor/founding chair, Department of Diabetes Immunology. The results were published recently in the journal, Frontiers in Immunology. This means we can cure type 1 diabetes, be it with a risky therapy although one that is also very successful in cancer, and one for which City of Hope is a world-renowned expert, with more than 13,000 patients having received similar treatment for blood cancers, said Roep, director of The Wanek Family Project for Type 1 Diabetes, which aims to find a cure for T1D in six years. We now understand stem cell transplants can succeed in treating diabetes for some, but not in others, and we can predict either outcome before the therapy is administered by reading the immune signature of the patient with a novel nanotechnology that I developed. An international team of researchers, including Roep, conducted the trial in Brazil. It showed that autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation … Continue reading →