Page 1,938«..1020..1,9371,9381,9391,940..1,9501,960..»

Tumor suppressor also inhibits key property of stem cells, Stanford researchers say

Posted: November 14, 2014 at 12:41 am

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Nov-2014

Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center @sumedicine

A protein that plays a critical role in preventing the development of many types of human cancers has been shown also to inhibit a vital stem cell property called pluripotency, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Blocking expression of the protein, called retinoblastoma, in mouse cells allowed the researchers to more easily transform them into what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. Pluripotent is a term used to describe a cell that is similar to an embryonic stem cell and can become any tissue in the body.

The study provides a direct and unexpected molecular link between cancer and stem cell science through retinoblastoma, or Rb, one of the best known of a class of proteins called tumor suppressors. Although Rb has long been known to control the rate of cell division, the researchers found that it also directly binds and inhibits the expression of genes involved in pluripotency.

"We were very surprised to see that retinoblastoma directly connects control of the cell cycle with pluripotency," said Julien Sage, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of genetics. "This is a completely new idea as to how retinoblastoma functions. It physically prevents the reacquisition of stem cellness and pluripotency by inhibiting gene expression."

Marius Wernig, MD, associate professor of pathology, said, "The loss of Rb appears to directly change a cell's identity. Without the protein, the cell is much more developmentally fluid and is easier to reprogram into an iPS cell."

Wernig and Sage, both members of the Stanford Cancer Institute, share senior authorship of the study, which will be published online Nov. 13 in Cell Stem Cell. Postdoctoral scholar Michael Kareta, PhD, is the lead author.

Tumor Suppressor

Read more here:
Tumor suppressor also inhibits key property of stem cells, Stanford researchers say

Posted in Cell Medicine | Comments Off on Tumor suppressor also inhibits key property of stem cells, Stanford researchers say

UCLA Researchers Identify Unique Protein Key to the Development of Blood Stem Cells

Posted: November 14, 2014 at 12:41 am

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise Led by Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research member Dr. Hanna Mikkola, UCLA scientists have discovered a unique protein that is integral to the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during human development.

This discovery lays the groundwork for researchers to generate HSCs in the lab (in vitro) that better mirror those that develop in their natural environment (in vivo). This could lead to improved therapies for blood-related diseases and cancers by enabling the creation of patient-specific blood stem cells for transplantation.

The findings are reported online November 13, 2014, ahead of print in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The research community has long sought to harness the promise of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to overcome a significant roadblock in making cell-based therapies blood and immune diseases more broadly available, which has been hampered by the inability to generate and expand human HSCs in culture. HSCs are the blood forming cells that serve as the critical link between PSCs and fully differentiated cells of the blood system. The ability of HSCs to self-renew (replicate themselves) and differentiate to all blood cell types, is determined in part by the environment that the stem cell came from, called the niche.

In the five-year study, Mikkola and Drs. Sacha Prashad and Vincenzo Calvanese, members of Mikkolas lab and lead authors of the study, investigated a unique HSC surface protein called GPI-80. They found that it was produced by a specific subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic cells that were the only group that could self-renew and differentiate into various blood cell types. They also found that this subpopulation of hematopoietic cells was the sole population able to permanently integrate into and thrive within the blood system of a recipient mouse.

Mikkola and colleagues further discovered that GPI-80 identifies HSCs during multiple phases of human HSC development and migration. These include the early first trimester of fetal development when newly generated HSCs can be found in the placenta, and the second trimester when HSCs are actively replicating in the fetal liver and the fetal bone marrow.

We found that whatever HSC niche we investigated, we could use GPI-80 as the best determinant to find the stem cell as it was being generated or colonized different hematopoietic tissues, said Mikkola, associate professor of molecular, cell and development biology at UCLA and also a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Moreover, loss of GPI-80 caused the stem cells to differentiate. This essentially tells us that GPI-80 must be present to make HSCs. We now have a very unique marker for investigating how human hematopoietic cells develop, migrate and function.

Mikkolas team is actively exploring different stages of human HSC development and PSC differentiation based on the GPI-80 marker, and comparing how blood stem cells are being generated in vitro and in vivo. This paves the way for scientists to redirect PSCs into patient-specific HSCs for transplantation into the patient without the need to find a suitable donor.

Read more here:
UCLA Researchers Identify Unique Protein Key to the Development of Blood Stem Cells

Posted in Cell Medicine | Comments Off on UCLA Researchers Identify Unique Protein Key to the Development of Blood Stem Cells

Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells? – Video

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 7:40 pm


Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells?
Many varieties of cancer, including breast cancer, begin inside stem cells, Texas A M University researchers Weston Porter and Clinton Allred say. By underst...

By: Research @ Texas A M

More here:
Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells? - Video

Posted in Stem Cell Videos | Comments Off on Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells? – Video

Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary – Video

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 7:40 pm


Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary
Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary In each and every one of our organs and tissue, we have stem cells. These stem cells...

By: ScienceRound

Excerpt from:
Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary - Video

Posted in Stem Cell Videos | Comments Off on Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary – Video

Nathan Horton's Career Is Probably Done And He's Really Sad

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 5:53 pm

Blue Jackets winger Nathan Horton will probably never play another NHL game, stricken by a mysterious degenerative back injury that has made hockey impossible, and will probably require career-ending surgery if Horton hopes to live a pain-free life. It's a sad, shitty thing to happen to anyone, let alone a 29-year-old who was never not a very good hockey player when he was healthy.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has the story on Horton, and it's depressing for how quickly and inexorable the end of his career has advanced. It began last fall, Horton says, with some stiffness and discomfort and just got worse and worse, no matter what he did to try and fix it.

Stem cells. Epidurals. Acupuncture. Chiropractors. Massage therapy. So many MRIs.

"I've tried everything," Horton said. "I've seen so many doctors. So many people think they can fix me and they're so optimistic, and then I get optimistic, but then nothing changes. It's so frustrating."

Horton was the third overall pick by the Panthers in 2003, and put up 203 goals and 218 assists in 627 games with Florida, Boston, and Columbus. He lifted the Cup with the Bruins in 2011, and is in just the second year of a seven-year deal with the Blue Jackets. But he hasn't played since last April, when he suffered a groin injury caused by changing his stride to compensate for his back. His and the Blue Jackets' only option since then has been to wait, and to hope against probability that whatever's gone wrong with Horton's spine spontaneously repairs itself.

Barring that? Surgery, which would include implanting a titanium rod to fuse three or four of Horton's lumbar vertebrae. It'd fix the pain, and prevent Horton from playing top-level sports ever again. It's his choice, and but as he says, "at some point soon, we've got to make the call."

"I don't want to have surgery, because of what that means," Horton said, his voice breaking behind a smile. "I don't want to live with this pain, but I don't want to make that decision. It's hard for me to say that, at 29 years old, I'm done. I mean, really? Done at 29?"

[Columbus Dispatch]

Go here to read the rest:
Nathan Horton's Career Is Probably Done And He's Really Sad

Posted in Florida Stem Cells | Comments Off on Nathan Horton's Career Is Probably Done And He's Really Sad

Morgridge Scientists Find Way to 'Keep the Lights on' for Cell Self-Renewal

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 5:51 pm

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise One remarkable quality of pluripotent stem cells is they are immortal in the lab, able to divide and grow indefinitely under the right conditions. It turns out this ability also may exist further down the development path, with the workhorse progenitor cells responsible for creating specific tissues.

A team from the Morgridge Institute for Research regenerative biology group, led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and stem cell pioneer James Thomson, discovered a way to impose an immortal-like state on mouse progenitor cells responsible for producing blood and vascular tissue. By regulating a small number of genes, the cells became trapped in a self-renewing state and capable of producing functional endothelial, blood and smooth muscle cells.

The finding, to be published in the December 9, 2014 issue of Stem Cell Reports, points to a potential new approach to developing cells in the lab environment for use in drug screening, therapies and as a basic research tool.

The biggest takeaway for me is the ability to arrest development of these cells, says David Vereide, a Morgridge fellow in regenerative biology and lead author on the paper. Normally, these cells are ephemeral and get used up while differentiating into specific cell types, but we found a way to interrupt that.

During development, blood and vascular cells are thought to originate from a progenitor cell known as a hemangioblast. This research project identified and imposed six transcription factors on the cells that allowed hemangioblasts to keep proliferating over multiple generations. Transcription factors are proteins that regulate which genes get turned on or off in a genome.

In this case, the transcription factors act to keep the lights on in these cellular factories that kept them dividing and expanding, he says.

One exciting element of this research, Vereide says, is it could greatly improve the efficiency of creating cell types that have research and therapeutic value.

Progenitor cells, the sons and daughters of stem cells that give rise to specific tissue, are usually the end steps in producing the key building-block cells for the body brain, vasculature, bone, etc.

The rest is here:
Morgridge Scientists Find Way to 'Keep the Lights on' for Cell Self-Renewal

Posted in Wisconsin Stem Cells | Comments Off on Morgridge Scientists Find Way to 'Keep the Lights on' for Cell Self-Renewal

Lung regeneration mechanism discovered

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 6:49 am

A research team led by Jackson Laboratory Professors Frank McKeon, Ph.D., and Wa Xian, Ph.D., reports on the role of certain lung stem cells in regenerating lungs damaged by disease.

The work, published Nov. 12 in the journal Nature, sheds light on the inner workings of the still-emerging concept of lung regeneration and points to potential therapeutic strategies that harness these lung stem cells.

"The idea that the lung can regenerate has been slow to take hold in the biomedical research community," McKeon says, "in part because of the steady decline that is seen in patients with severe lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (known as COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis."

Nevertheless, he notes, there are examples in humans that point to the existence of a robust system for lung regeneration. "Some survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, for example, are able to recover near-normal lung function following significant destruction of lung tissue."

Mice appear to share this capacity. Mice infected with the H1N1 influenza virus show progressive inflammation in the lung followed by outright loss of important lung cell types. Yet over several weeks, the lungs recover, revealing no signs of the previous lung injury.

Using this mouse model system, McKeon and his colleagues had previously identified a type of adult lung stem cell known as p63+/Krt5+ in the distal airways. When grown in culture, these lung stem cells formed alveolar-like structures, similar to the alveoli found within the lung. (Alveoli are the tiny, specialized air sacs that form at the ends of the smallest airways, where gas exchange occurs in the lung.) Following infection with H1N1, these same cells migrated to sites of inflammation in the lung and assembled into pod-like structures that resemble alveoli, both visually and molecularly.

In the new paper, the research team reports that the p63+/Krt5+ lung stem cells proliferate upon damage to the lung caused by H1N1 infection. Following such damage, the cells go on to contribute to developing alveoli near sites of lung inflammation.

To test whether these cells are required for lung regeneration, the researchers developed a novel system that leverages genetic tools to selectively remove these cells from the mouse lung. Mice lacking the p63+/Krt5+ lung stem cells cannot recover normally from H1N1 infection, and exhibit scarring of the lung and impaired oxygen exchange--demonstrating their key role in regenerating lung tissue.

The research team also showed that when individual lung stem cells are isolated and subsequently transplanted into a damaged lung, they readily contribute to the formation of new alveoli, underscoring their capacity for regeneration.

In the U.S. about 200,000 people have ARDS, a disease with a death rate of 40 percent, and there are 12 million patients with COPD. "These patients have few therapeutic options today," Xian says. "We hope that our research could lead to new ways to help them."

Original post:
Lung regeneration mechanism discovered

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on Lung regeneration mechanism discovered

Jackson Laboratory researchers discover lung regeneration mechanism

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 6:49 am

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

12-Nov-2014

Contact: Joyce Peterson joyce.peterson@jax.org 207-288-6058 Jackson Laboratory @jacksonlab

A research team led by Jackson Laboratory Professors Frank McKeon, Ph.D., and Wa Xian, Ph.D., reports on the role of certain lung stem cells in regenerating lungs damaged by disease.

The work, published Nov. 12 in the journal Nature, sheds light on the inner workings of the still-emerging concept of lung regeneration and points to potential therapeutic strategies that harness these lung stem cells.

"The idea that the lung can regenerate has been slow to take hold in the biomedical research community," McKeon says, "in part because of the steady decline that is seen in patients with severe lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (known as COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis."

Nevertheless, he notes, there are examples in humans that point to the existence of a robust system for lung regeneration. "Some survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, for example, are able to recover near-normal lung function following significant destruction of lung tissue."

Mice appear to share this capacity. Mice infected with the H1N1 influenza virus show progressive inflammation in the lung followed by outright loss of important lung cell types. Yet over several weeks, the lungs recover, revealing no signs of the previous lung injury.

Using this mouse model system, McKeon and his colleagues had previously identified a type of adult lung stem cell known as p63+/Krt5+ in the distal airways. When grown in culture, these lung stem cells formed alveolar-like structures, similar to the alveoli found within the lung. (Alveoli are the tiny, specialized air sacs that form at the ends of the smallest airways, where gas exchange occurs in the lung.) Following infection with H1N1, these same cells migrated to sites of inflammation in the lung and assembled into pod-like structures that resemble alveoli, both visually and molecularly.

In the new paper, the research team reports that the p63+/Krt5+ lung stem cells proliferate upon damage to the lung caused by H1N1 infection. Following such damage, the cells go on to contribute to developing alveoli near sites of lung inflammation.

Read the original here:
Jackson Laboratory researchers discover lung regeneration mechanism

Posted in Stem Cells | Comments Off on Jackson Laboratory researchers discover lung regeneration mechanism

Elsevier Publishes Four New Books in Microbiology Portfolio

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 6:49 am

Books Provide Essential Information for Researchers and Students in Molecular Microbiology, Microbiology, Infectious Disease, Immunology, Genetics, Virology and Biochemistry

WALTHAM, MA--(Marketwired - November 13, 2014) - Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the publication of four new microbiology books. These include the second edition of the three-volume reference book Molecular Medical Microbiology edited by Drs. Yi-Wei Tang, Max Sussman, Ian Poxton, Dongyou Liu and Joseph Schwartzman. It is the first book to synthesize the many new developments in both molecular and clinical research into a single comprehensive resource.

Written by an international panel of authors who are experts in their respective disciplines, the new edition of Molecular Medical Microbiology presents a timely discussion of individual pathogenic bacteria in a system-oriented approach. Chapters include cutting-edge information and clinical overviews for each major bacterial group, in addition to the latest updates on vaccine development, molecular technology and diagnostic technology. Lead editor Dr. Tang is the Chief of the Clinical Microbiology Service at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He is an Editor for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, an Associate Editor for Elsevier's Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, and a Fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology and of the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Also among the new titles is the second edition of Molecular Biology of B Cells, edited by a prize-winning team that includes Prof. Dr. Michael Reth, who was awarded in 2014 the prestigious Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for investigations in medicine. Dr. Reth was honored for his outstanding achievements in the field of antibody research. He demonstrated how the immune system's B cells are activated and induced to produce antibodies, thereby helping to decode the molecular bases of Paul Ehrlich's famous side-chain theory. He is currently a professor for molecular immunology at the Institute of Biology III of the University of Freiburg and scientific director of the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS, Centre for Biological Signalling Studies.

The new microbiology books, published under the Academic Press imprint, are:

The books are available on the Elsevier Store and on ScienceDirect, Elsevier's full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters from over 2,200 peer-reviewed journals and more than 25,000 book titles.

Notes for EditorsReview copies of the books are available to credentialed journalists upon request. Contact Michelle McMahon at m.mcmahon.1@elsevier.com or +1 781 663 2268.

About ElsevierElsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier providesweb-based, digital solutions -- among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence, and ClinicalKey -- and publishes over 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are (EURONEXT AMSTERDAM: REN), (LSE: REL), (NYSE: RUK) and (NYSE: ENL).

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2014/11/11/11G026101/Images/Molecular_Medical_Microbiology_3_Volume_Set_hi-res-260307004772.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2014/11/11/11G026101/Images/Molecular_Biology_of_B_Cells_hi-res-152730709526.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2014/11/11/11G026101/Images/Interleukins_in_Cancer_Biology_Ch2_Fig1_Anticancer-648448058101.jpg

Excerpt from:
Elsevier Publishes Four New Books in Microbiology Portfolio

Posted in Molecular Genetics | Comments Off on Elsevier Publishes Four New Books in Microbiology Portfolio

Researchers Discover Breakthrough Stem Cell Treatment For Parkinson's Disease

Posted: November 13, 2014 at 6:45 am

By C. Rajan, contributing writer

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have made a major breakthrough in Parkinson's disease treatment by developing stem cell-derived brain cells that can replace the cells lost due to the disease, thus paving the way for the first stem cell transplant treatment for Parkinsons patients.

Parkinson's disease, which affects about 10 million people worldwide, is a degenerative nervous system condition which causes tremors, muscle weakness, stiffness, and loss in mobility. Parkinson's is caused by loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter that is required for regulating movement and emotions.

In this study, for the first time ever, the researchers were able to convert human embryonic stem cells into dopamine producing neurons, which behaved like native dopamine cells lost in the disease.

The study was led by Malin Parmar, associate professor in Lund's Department of Medicine, and conducted at both Lund University and at MIRCen in Paris as part of the EU networks NeuroStemCell and NeuroStemcellRepair.

According to Medical News Today, the researchers produced rat models of Parkinson's disease by destroying the dopamine cells in one part of the rat's brain, and then they transplanted the new dopamine producing stem cell neurons. These next generation dopamine neurons were found to survive long term, restore the lost dopamine, and form long distance connections to the correct parts of the brain when transplanted into rats. Most excitingly, these transplanted stem cells reversed the damage from the disease.

As the new dopamine neurons have the same properties and functions of native cells lost in Parkinson's disease and can be produced in unlimited quantities from stem cell lines, this treatment shows promise in moving into clinical applications as stem cell transplants for Parkinsons.

"This study shows that we can now produce fully functioning dopamine neurons from stem cells. These cells have the same ability as the brains normal dopamine cells to not only reach but also to connect to their target area over longer distances. This has been our goal for some time, and the next step is to produce the same cells under the necessary regulations for human use. Our hope is that they are ready for clinical studies in about three years", says Malin Parmar.

Human embryonic stem cells (ESC) are powerful treatment options due to their ability to change into any cell type in the body. However, it is difficult to get them to change into the desired cell types, and research efforts are also hampered due to the ethical concerns associated with embryonic stem cells.

The study is published in the journal,Cell Stem Cell, titled Human ESC-Derived Dopamine Neurons Show Similar Preclinical Efficacy and Potency to Fetal Neurons when Grafted in a Rat Model of Parkinsons Disease.

See the original post:
Researchers Discover Breakthrough Stem Cell Treatment For Parkinson's Disease

Posted in Cell Medicine | Comments Off on Researchers Discover Breakthrough Stem Cell Treatment For Parkinson's Disease

Page 1,938«..1020..1,9371,9381,9391,940..1,9501,960..»