New Cell Type Identified in Cancer Development
Scientists have discovered a new type of cell that appears to play a role in the development of cancer – a highly volatile, precancerous stem cell that can either remain benign or become malignant, depending upon environmental cues. The finding may help define the role of cancer stem cells in the growth and recurrence of the disease as well as offer new options for cancer prevention, detection and treatment.
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Fountain Of Youth: Molecular Switch Holds Key To Reserve Supply Of Muscle Stem Cells
After injury, even adult muscles can heal very well because they have a reserve supply of muscle stem cells, called satellite cells, which they can utilize for repair. Until now, it was unclear how this supply of satellite and muscle progenitor cells, out of which both muscle cells as well as satellite cells develop, keeps itself “fresh”.
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Chemical Cues Turn Embryonic Stem Cells into Cerebellar Neurons
For the first time, a study in mice by Rockefeller University scientists shows that embryonic stem cells implanted in the brain appear to develop into fully differentiated granule neurons, the most plentiful neuron in the cerebellum.
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Scientists to ‘Grow’ Bone in the Laboratory
Damaged bones could one day be repaired using bone tissue grown in the laboratory, thanks to technology being developed through a new £310,000 grant to the University of Bath.
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Study Questions ‘Cancer Stem Cell’ Hypothesis in Breast Cancer
A Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study challenges the hypothesis that “cancer stem cells” – a small number of self-renewing cells within a tumor – are responsible for breast cancer progression and recurrence, and that wiping out these cells alone could cure the disease.
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First Direct Electric Link Between Neurons And Light-sensitive Nanoparticle Films Created
The world’s first direct electrical link between nerve cells and photovoltaic nanoparticle films has been achieved by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the University of Michigan. The development opens the door to applying the unique properties of nanoparticles to a wide variety of light-stimulated nerve-signaling devices, including the possible development of a nanoparticle-based artificial retina.
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Gene Therapy for Blindness Clears Hurdle in Mice
University of Florida researchers have used an experimental therapy in mice to shut down a gene that plays a crucial role in a leading cause of inherited blindness.
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Vanderbilt Performs State’s First Stem Cell Heart Regeneration Therapy
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the first in the state to perform a novel therapy that uses bone marrow stem cells to stimulate regeneration of the heart muscle after a heart attack.
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Enzo Therapeutics Treats First Patient in Phase I/II Study of Antisense Gene Therapy for HIV-1 Infections
The study is enrolling HIV-1 infected subjects with compromised CD4+ cell counts, to determine whether the procedure will create sufficient HIV-1 resistant CD4+ cells to defer disease progression to AIDS. Enrollment is continuing under a modified protocol designed to increase the proportion of engineered stem cells that engraft in the patient’s bone marrow.
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Study Compares Stem Cell Transplants for Myeloma
Younger patients diagnosed with the blood cancer myeloma survived longer if they received a stem cell transplant from themselves that was followed by one from a matched sibling – rather than receiving two transplants from themselves.
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University of Wisconsin Launches Study Testing Adult Stem Cells for Heart Damage Repair
This trial is the first human Phase II adult stem cell therapy study in the U.S. Its goal is to investigate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of blood-derived selected stem cells to improve symptoms and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI), a severe form of coronary artery disease.
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Cancer Cell Therapy Trial Exceeds Expectations
Prima BioMed said the phase IIa trial of 21 patients with late stage ovarian cancer showed four had a positive clinical response or stabilisation of the disease, meeting its target of a 15 per cent success rate.
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ABSTRACTS, REVIEWS AND SPECIAL REPORTS
Precancerous Stem Cells Have the Potential for both Benign and Malignant Differentiation
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in hematopoietic and solid tumors. However, their precursors – namely, precancerous stem cells (pCSCs) – have not been characterized. Here the researchers experimentally define the pCSCs that have the potential for both benign and malignant differentiation, depending on environmental cues.
Abstract
Stem Cells Act Through Multiple Mechanisms to Benefit Mice with Neurodegenerative Metabolic Disease
Intracranial transplantation of neural stem cells (NSCs) delayed disease onset, preserved motor function, reduced pathology and prolonged survival in a mouse model of Sandhoff disease, a lethal gangliosidosis.
Abstract