Embryonic Stem Cells News and Research

RSS

New stem cell differentiation study could help scientists better understand genetic basis of CVD

The fate of an embryonic stem cell, which has the potential to become any type of body cell, is determined by a complex interaction of genes, proteins that bind DNA, and molecules that modify those genes and proteins.

15 Sep 2012

Researchers turn skin cells into embryonic Sertoli-like cells

Using a stepwise trans-differentiation process, Whitehead Institute researchers have turned skin cells into embryonic Sertoli-like cells.

7 Sep 2012

LIN28 protein can bind directly to thousands of messenger RNAs

A study led by researchers at the UC San Diego Stem Cell Research program and funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) looks at an important RNA binding protein called LIN28, which is implicated in pluripotency and reprogramming as well as in cancer and other diseases.

6 Sep 2012

Converting blood cells to a stem cell state: an interview with Elias Zambidis, M.D., Ph.D.

The primitive stem cell state we created is called an “induced pluripotent stem cell” (iPSC). iPSC are a new, unique, and artificially-created type of stem cell that were first described in 2006 by a Japanese scientist named Shinya Yamanaka.

4 Sep 2012

Appeals Court upholds federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research

Family Research Council (FRC) expressed disappointment in today's Appeals Court ruling that upholds the Obama administration's efforts to use taxpayer funds for human embryonic stem cell research.

27 Aug 2012

Scientists develop reliable method to convert adult blood cells into iPSCs

Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a reliable method to turn the clock back on blood cells, restoring them to a primitive stem cell state from which they can then develop into any other type of cell in the body.

24 Aug 2012

Blood cells returned to stem cell state by Johns Hopkins researchers

22 Aug 2012

Study on sea lamprey may indicate how potentially deleterious genes can be controlled

Research on a unique vertebrate called the sea lamprey shows that more than a thousand genes are shed during its early development.

22 Aug 2012

Mof protein plays a key role in epigenetics of stem cells

How do stem cells preserve their ability to become any type of cell in the body? And how do they "decide" to give up that magical state and start specializing? If researchers could answer these questions, our ability to harness stem cells to treat disease could explode. Now, a University of Michigan Medical School team has published a key discovery that could help that goal become reality.

22 Aug 2012

Researchers make major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts

Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts. Grafts of human cardiac muscle cells, grown from embryonic stem cells, coupled electrically and contracted synchronously with host muscle following transplantation in guinea pig hearts.

6 Aug 2012

New role for oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell self-renewal

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Manchester, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a new role for an oncogenic signaling pathway in embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and in reprogramming adult cells into an ESC-state, which will aid in the development of future cancer therapies.

3 Aug 2012

Parkinson’s disease treatment: an interview with Ted Dawson

Parkinson’s disease is a disorder which usually affects people in their 60’s and older. It is caused by the loss of dopamine neurons in the brain leading to rigidity, slowness of movement, tremor, problems with balance and so forth.

31 Jul 2012

Tenth patient treated in ACT's hESC derived RPE cell trial for SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the final patient in the first patient cohort in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardt's macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).

30 Jul 2012

ACT receives Australian patent for human retinal pigment epithelial cells

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that it has been issued a patent in Australia, patent number 2005325753, "Improved modalities for the treatment of degenerative diseases of the retina."

28 Jul 2012

Researchers decipher function of β-catenin in generating blood tissue stem cells

Researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) have deciphered the function executed by a protein called β-catenin in generating blood tissue stem cells.

26 Jul 2012

NIH grants aim at creating 3-D tissue chips to help identify drug safety signals

Seventeen National Institutes of Health grants are aimed at creating 3-D chips with living cells and tissues that accurately model the structure and function of human organs such as the lung, liver and heart. Once developed, these tissue chips will be tested with compounds known to be safe or toxic in humans to help identify the most reliable drug safety signals - ultimately advancing research to help predict the safety of potential drugs in a faster, more cost-effective way.

25 Jul 2012

Scientists demonstrate link between cancer and faulty differentiation of stem cells

Stem cells hold great promise for the medicine of the future, but they can also be a cause of disease. When these self-renewing, unspecialized cells fail to differentiate into diverse cell types, they can start dividing uncontrollably, leading to cancer. Already several decades ago, Weizmann Institute scientists were among the first to demonstrate the link between cancer and the faulty differentiation of stem cells. Now a new Weizmann Institute-led study, published in Molecular Cell, reveals a potential molecular mechanism behind this link.

24 Jul 2012

Placenta-derived endothelial colony-forming cells are more vasculogenic: Study

A study comparing whether endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) derived from human placenta or those derived from human umbilical cord blood are more proliferative and better for forming new blood vessels has found that ECFCs derived from human placenta are more vasculogenic.

20 Jul 2012

New research sheds light on pluripotency

New research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sheds light on pluripotency-the ability of embryonic stem cells to renew themselves indefinitely and to differentiate into all types of mature cells.

19 Jul 2012

Scientists discover new way to convert cord blood cells into iNC

For more than 20 years, doctors have been using cells from blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after childbirth to treat a variety of illnesses, from cancer and immune disorders to blood and metabolic diseases.

17 Jul 2012