Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are thought to have great potential in the field of regenerative medicine, which has the aim of restoring damaged tissues. However, not much was known about in vivo plasticity of them—until now. Researchers have identified a subpopulation of MSCs that promote the healing of bone fractures and show an enhanced ability […]
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New blood: Lab-grown stem cells bode well for transplants, aging research
Hematopoietic stem cells—the precursors to blood cells—have been notoriously difficult to grow in a dish, a critical tool in basic research. Scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified the underlying issue and developed a method to keep cultured cells healthy. These findings, they say, are positive news for patients seeking […]
Stem cells derived from fat show promise as a treatment for mass radiation exposure
Nuclear power offers an efficient, reliable way to provide energy to large populations—as long as all goes well. Accidents involving nuclear reactors such as those that took place in 1986 at Chernobyl and at Fukushima Daiichi after the March 2011 tsunami raise major concerns about what happens if the worst occurs and large numbers of […]
Stem cell study illuminates the cause of a devastating inherited heart disorder
Scientists in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered the molecular causes of a congenital form of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), an often-fatal heart disorder. This inherited form of DCM—which affects at least several thousand people in the United States at any one time and often causes sudden death or progressive […]
FGF23 hormone from red blood cell precursors promotes hematopoietic stem cell mobilization
A Kobe University research group including graduate student Ishii Shinichi and Associate Professor Katayama Yoshio (both of the Department of Hematology, Graduate School of Medicine) have discovered that fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF23) produced by erythroblasts (cells that are the precursors of red blood cells) promotes the movement (mobilization) of hematopoietic stem cells into the peripheral […]
Embryonic stem cells have their own strategy for protecting chromosome ends
According to new research from CCR scientists, embryonic stem cells have a unique way of protecting their telomeres, the structures at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with every cell division. A research team led by Eros Lazzerini Denchi, Ph.D., an NIH Stadtman investigator in CCR’s Laboratory of Genomic Integrity, has found that rather than […]
Studies reveal mutations that boost blood stem cell growth and increase leukemia and heart disease risk
As people grow older, certain genetic mutations in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)—which give rise to blood and immune cells—can eventually cause cancer or predispose people to cardiovascular disease. Now, two teams of scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have each discovered a […]
Researchers probe ematopoietic stem cell post-transplantation complications
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a curative treatment for many children with both malignant and non-malignant conditions. Pericardial effusion—excess fluid around the heart—is a recognized complication following HSCT, but its incidence, risk factors and impact on mortality are not well defined. Carrie Kitko, MD, Justin Godown, MD, and colleagues used the Pediatric Health Information […]
Stem cells from placental amniotic membrane slow lung scarring in pulmonary fibrosis
In a study released today in Stem Cells Translational Medicine (SCTM), a team led by researchers at the Eugenia Menni Research Centre (CREM) in Brescia, Italy, show for the first time how stem cells collected from human amniotic membrane (one of the two fetal membranes forming the amniotic sac, which surrounds the fetus during pregnancy […]
Scientists show MRI predicts the efficacy of a stem cell therapy for brain injury
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Loma Linda University Health have demonstrated the promise of applying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the efficacy of using human neural stem cells to treat a brain injury—a first-ever “biomarker” for regenerative medicine that could help personalize stem cell treatments for neurological disorders and improve […]