Cloning And Stem Cell News, Research and Resources - October 2009 Archives

Regeneration can be achieved after chronic spinal cord injury (10/31/2009)

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that regeneration of central nervous system axons can be achieved in rats even when treatment delayed is more than a year after the original spinal cord injury. ...> Full Article

Placental precursor stem cells require testosterone-free environment to survive (10/30/2009)

Trophoblast stem cells, found in the layer of peripheral embryonic stem cells from which the placenta is formed, are thought to exhibit "immune privilege" that aids cell survivability and is potentially beneficial for cell and gene therapies. Survivability of TSCs has been thought to require the presence of ovarian hormones. This study, however, demonstrates that it is the absence of male hormones, rather than the presence of female hormones, that allows extended transplanted cell survivability. ...> Full Article

Gene therapy repairs injured human donor lungs for the first time (10/30/2009)

For the first time, scientists in the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University Health Network have successfully used gene therapy to repair injured human donor lungs, making them potentially suitable for transplantation into patients. This technique could significantly expand the number of donor lungs by using organs that are currently discarded, and improve outcomes after transplantation. It is estimated that the number of donor organs available for lung transplants could easily be doubled with this technique. ...> Full Article

Combinatorial therapy elicits spinal cord regeneration more than a year after injury (10/29/2009)

New research finds that adult neurons can still regenerate as long as 15 months after a spinal cord injury. The study, published by Cell Press in the October 29 issue of the journal Neuron, highlights the success of a strategy that targets multiple environmental and intrinsic obstacles known to limit nervous system plasticity and regeneration. ...> Full Article

Endocrine Society calls for expanded scope and funding for stem cell research (10/28/2009)

Stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of millions of Americans with debilitating and possibly fatal diseases. Current legislation and guidelines, however, continue to limit researchers' endeavors in unlocking the potential breakthroughs that stem cell research can provide. To address this concern, today the Endocrine Society issued a Position Statement calling for an increase in NIH funding for stem cell research as well as expanding the scope of funding to include promising yet neglected areas of stem cell research. ...> Full Article

1 shot of gene therapy and children with congenital blindness can now see (10/26/2009)

A study using gene therapy safely improved vision in five children and seven adults with Leber's congenital amaurosis. The greatest improvements occurred in the children, all of whom are now able to navigate a low-light obstacle course. ...> Full Article

Reprogramming a patient's eye cells may herald new treatments against degenerative disease (10/25/2009)

Scientists have overcome a key barrier to the clinical use of stem cells with a technique which transforms regular body cells into artificial stem cells without the need for introducing foreign genetic materials, which could be potentially harmful. The research, published in Stem Cells, suggests that cells taken from a patient's eye can be "reprogrammed" to replace or restore cells lost to degenerative diseases. ...> Full Article

Researchers find ways to encourage spinal cord regeneration after injury (10/24/2009)

Animal research is suggesting new ways to aid recovery after spinal cord injury. New studies demonstrate that diet affects recovery rate and show how to make stem cell therapies safer for spinal injury patients. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. ...> Full Article

The book of life can now literally be written on paper (10/23/2009)

An insight from the labs of Harvard chemist George Whitesides and cell biologist Don Ingber is likely to make a fundamental shift in how biologists grow and study cells -- and it's as cheap and simple as reaching for a paper towel. ...> Full Article

A master mechanism for regeneration? (10/22/2009)

Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts. Newts, for example, can lose a leg and grow a new one identical to the original. Zebrafish can regrow fins. ...> Full Article

Small mechanical forces have big impact on embryonic stem cells (10/21/2009)

Applying a small mechanical force to embryonic stem cells could be a new way of coaxing them into a specific direction of differentiation, researchers at the University of Illinois report. Applications for force-directed cell differentiation include therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine. ...> Full Article

Going out on a limb (10/20/2009)

Professor Meital Zilberman of Tel Aviv University has developed a biologically active "scaffold" made from soluble fibers which may help humans replace lost or missing bone. ...> Full Article

A major step in making better stem cells from adult tissue (10/19/2009)

A team led by scientists from the Scripps Research Institute has developed a method that dramatically improves the efficiency of creating stem cells from human adult tissue, without the use of embryonic cells. The research makes great strides in addressing a major practical challenge in the development of stem-cell-based medicine. ...> Full Article

New findings on the formation of body pigment (10/18/2009)

The skin's pigment cells can be formed from completely different cells than has hitherto been thought, a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet shows. The results, which are published in the journal Cell, also mean the discovery of a new kind of stem cell. ...> Full Article

'Spaghetti' scaffolding could help grow skin in labs (10/17/2009)

Scientists are developing new scaffolding technology which could be used to grow tissues such as skin, nerves and cartilage using 3D spaghetti-like structures. Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, the quarterly highlights magazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. ...> Full Article

Stem cells offer new hope for kidney disease patients (10/16/2009)

Several cell-based therapy approaches could provide new treatments for patients with Alport syndrome, reports an upcoming paper in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. "Our study opens up many considerations of how new therapies related to the use of stem cells can be devised for our kidney patients with chronic disease," comments Raghu Kalluri, M.D., Ph.D. ...> Full Article

Researchers discover mechanism that helps humans see in bright and low light (10/15/2009)

Ever wonder how your eyes adjust during a blackout? When we go from light to near total darkness, cells in the retina must quickly adjust. Vision scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an intricate process that allows the human eye to adapt to darkness very quickly. The same process also allows the eye to function in bright light. The discovery could contribute to better understanding of human diseases that affect the retina, including age-related macular degeneration. ...> Full Article

New strategy for mending broken hearts? (10/14/2009)

By mimicking the way embryonic stem cells develop into heart muscle in a lab, Duke University bioengineers believe they have taken an important first step toward growing a living "heart patch" to repair heart tissue damaged by disease. ...> Full Article

Strategy for mismatched stem cell transplants triggers protection against graft-vs.-host disease (10/13/2009)

A technique being tested in stem cell transplants from imperfectly matched donors has revealed an unforeseen response that can suppress graft-versus-host disease, report Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers. The previously unrecognized specificity of regulatory T cells helps explain why the patients treated with the new strategy -- known as "co-stimulatory blockade" -- have shown a low level of GVHD. The findings suggest that the technique might prove valuable in solid organ transplants, as well as in treating autoimmune disease. ...> Full Article

New York Governor recognizes stem cell research at Yeshiva University (10/13/2009)

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University hosted a roundtable discussion on stem cell research with New York Gov. David A. Paterson today. Allen M. Spiegel, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean of Einstein, and eight stem cell researchers discussed advances in medical therapies and treatments that Einstein scientists have been investigating since receiving more than $14 million in state funding for stem cell research. ...> Full Article

New approach for growing bone comes from preclinical research (10/12/2009)

The results from a new study at Duke suggest a targeted approach by which drugs may be able to fight osteoporosis and other degenerative bone diseases. Diane Gesty-Palmer, M.D., a Duke Assistant Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and her team have found a new mechanism of bone formation in mice that works without inducing the complementary bone breakdown. The work appears in the inaugural issue of Science Translational Medicine. ...> Full Article

NHLBI supports consortium exploring stem-cell-based tools and treatments (10/11/2009)

Two teams led by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers, also members of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, are among 18 groups receiving National Heart Lung and Blood Institute grants for the development of stem-cell based tools and treatments to understand and treat cardiovascular and blood disorders. The Progenitor Cell Biology Consortium will consist of nine research hubs, each involving multidiscplinary teams from two academic medical centers. ...> Full Article

Major improvements made in engineering heart repair patches from stem cells (10/11/2009)

Researchers have engineered more viable heart repair patches from mixed stem cells. The patches beat spontaneously, can be electronically paced and have pre-formed blood vessels that connect to a rodent's heart circulation. ...> Full Article

1 small step for neurons, 1 giant leap for nerve cell repair (10/10/2009)

The repair of damaged nerve cells is a major problem in medicine today. A new study by researchers at the Montreal NeurologicaI Institute and Hospital and McGill University, is a significant advance towards a solution for neuronal repair. ...> Full Article

Tendon, ligament repair in horses focus of research (10/10/2009)

One method to treat tendon and ligament injuries is to inject stem cells or progenitor cells taken from the patient. However, the cells' healing properties differ, depending on where within the body these cells are harvested. The Virginia Tech research will compare the capacity of different types of cells to repair damaged tendon. ...> Full Article

Enhanced stem cells promote tissue regeneration (10/9/2009)

MIT engineers have boosted stem cells' ability to regenerate vascular tissue (such as blood vessels) by equipping them with genes that produce extra growth factors (naturally occurring compounds that stimulate tissue growth). In a study in mice, the researchers found that the stem cells successfully generated blood vessels near the site of an injury, allowing damaged tissue to survive. ...> Full Article

Liver cells grown from patients' skin cells (10/9/2009)

Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have successfully produced liver cells from patients' skin cells opening the possibility of treating a wide range of diseases that affect liver function. The study was led by Stephen A. Duncan, D. Phil., Marcus Professor in Human and Molecular Genetics, and professor of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy, , along with postdoctoral fellow Karim Si-Tayeb, Ph.D., and graduate student Ms. Fallon Noto. ...> Full Article

Study uses sophisticated genetic engineering to improve insulin-producing beta cells (10/9/2009)

A study to be published today in the leading international journal Cell Metabolism describes how a research group led by Dr. Robert Screaton, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Apoptotic Signaling at the University of Ottawa, used sophisticated genetic engineering to remove or "knock out" the Lkb1 gene from beta cells of laboratory mice. The result was an increase in both the size and number of beta cells, as well as greater amounts of insulin stored and released by the cells. ...> Full Article

Scientists show how hematopoietic stem cell development is regulated (10/8/2009)

During cell division, whether hematopoietic stem cells will develop into new stem cells or differentiate into other blood cells depends on a chemical process called DNA methylation. This has been demonstrated researchers from the Max Delbrueck Center, Germany, in cooperation with researchers from Lund University, Sweden and the University of Oxford, England. Furthermore, the researchers showed that DNA methylation also plays a crucial role for cancer stem cells. ...> Full Article

And the beat goes on: Scientists jump-start the heart by gene transfer (10/7/2009)

Scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota show in a research report published online in the FASEB Journal that gene therapy may be used to improve an ailing heart's ability to contract properly. In addition to showing gene therapy's potential for reversing the course of heart failure, it also offers a tantalizing glimpse of a day when "closed heart surgery" via gene therapy is as commonly prescribed as today's cocktail of drugs. ...> Full Article

It's in the bank: Human cord blood reprogrammed into embryonic-like stem cells (10/6/2009)

Human umbilical cord blood cells may be far more versatile than previous research has indicated. Two independent studies, published by Cell Press in the Oct. 2 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, report that they have successfully reprogrammed human umbilical cord blood cells into cells with properties similar to human embryonic stem cells. ...> Full Article

Umbilical cord blood as a readily available source for off-the-shelf, patient-specific stem cells (10/5/2009)

Umbilical cord blood cells can successfully be reprogrammed to function like embryonic stem cells, setting the basis for the creation of a comprehensive bank of tissue-matched, cord blood-derived induced pluripotent stem cells for off-the-shelf applications, report researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona, Spain. ...> Full Article

Cardiac stem cell trial seeks to treat some heart attack patients (10/4/2009)

Researchers at UCSF Medical Center have begun enrollment for an early-stage clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of an adult stem cell therapy for patients who have just experienced their first acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack. The trial is part of a multi-center national study. ...> Full Article

Telltale moss (10/3/2009)

Mother Nature gives clues for improving stem cell techniques, Tel Aviv University researchers discover ...> Full Article

Stem cell success points to way to regenerate parathyroid glands (10/2/2009)

An early laboratory success is taking University of Michigan researchers a step closer to parathyroid gland transplants that could one day prevent a currently untreatable form of bone loss associated with thyroid surgery. ...> Full Article

Retinal rescue: Cells derived from human embryonic stem cells reverse retinal degeneration (10/2/2009)

A new study reports that transplanted pigment-containing visual cells derived from human embryonic stem cells successfully preserved structure and function of the specialized light-sensitive lining of the eye (known as the retina) in an animal model of retinal degeneration. ...> Full Article

Scientists discover clues to what makes human muscle age (10/1/2009)

A study led by UC Berkeley researchers has identified critical biochemical pathways linked to the aging of human muscle. By manipulating these pathways, the researchers were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself. The findings provide promising new targets for stemming the debilitating muscle atrophy that accompanies human aging. ...> Full Article