Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have used magnets to guide cardiac stem cells to damaged areas of animal hearts. In a press release, senior author Eduardo Marban said:"Stem cell therapies show great promise as a treatment for heart injuries, but 24 hours after infusion, we found that less than 10 percent of the stem cells … Continue reading Magnets draw stem cells to heart damage
Small DNA changes, life or death consequences
Two recent papers by CIRM grantees highlight the importance of understanding basic stem cell biology while developing new cures. Both have to do with chemical modifications to the DNA – called epigenetics. One of the two papers shows that an epigenetic change in DNA, called methylation, changes dramatically as human embryonic stem cells mature into … Continue reading Small DNA changes, life or death consequences
Virus-free Technique Yields Pluripotent Stem Cells
Stem cells in fat hold intrigue for scientists because most of us have excess to spare, and the cells seem to be quite versatile. Now a team at Stanford has found a way to transform them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells without using potentially dangerous viruses to carry the reprogramming genes into the cells.This … Continue reading Virus-free Technique Yields Pluripotent Stem Cells
Visual Function Rescued in Rats Using Cells derived from iPS Cells
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have created excitement and head scratching ever since they were first created a little over two years ago. The excitement arises from their creation through reprogramming adult cells by manipulating their gene function, which does not require a human embryo and could potentially give a patient personalized replacement cells. But … Continue reading Visual Function Rescued in Rats Using Cells derived from iPS Cells
Engineered human stem cells destroy HIV infected cells
A group at the University of California, Los Angeles AIDS Institute has manipulated human blood-forming stem cells to fight HIV infected cells. The technique could conceivably be used to help the body fight any number of viral infections, the authors say.The researchers started with blood-forming stem cells normally found in the bone marrow. These cells … Continue reading Engineered human stem cells destroy HIV infected cells
400th CIRM-funded paper clarifies link between gene variant and Alzheimer’s
The 400th paper published with CIRM funding also marks the five-year anniversary of the first CIRM board meeting (the actual date was December 17, 2004). The paper, by researchers at the Gladstone Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, illustrates how far the field has come in the five years since the organization’s inception, … Continue reading 400th CIRM-funded paper clarifies link between gene variant and Alzheimer’s
Lever found for switch to re-grow your tail—if you’re a fish
Embryonic stem cells stand poised to grow into various tissues, but are held in check by chemical switches that keep the necessary genes turned off. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that genes responsible for limb regeneration – in this case the snipped tail of a zebrafish – are held in a … Continue reading Lever found for switch to re-grow your tail—if you’re a fish
Embryonic stem cells repair radiation damage in mice
Radiation can effectively destroy brain tumor cells – but at a cost. While killing the tumor cells the treatment also damages normal cells in portions of the brain involved in learning and memory, leaving people with varying levels of impairment. New work by researchers at the University of California, Irvine suggests that human embryonic stem … Continue reading Embryonic stem cells repair radiation damage in mice
Longevity gene regulates neural stem cells in mice
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found that a gene long-known to regulate the lifespan of tiny roundworms also plays a role in regulating neural stem cells in mice. Variations of the gene family, called FoxO, help roundworms live to an unusually ripe old age in the lab, and mutations in the … Continue reading Longevity gene regulates neural stem cells in mice
Old muscle stem cells experimentally returned to youth
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have found molecular pathways that human muscle stem cells rely on to repair damaged muscle. These pathways are active in younger people but less active in older people, explaining why muscles repair more slowly with age. The group found that younger volunteers had double the number of regenerative … Continue reading Old muscle stem cells experimentally returned to youth
The Stem Cellar 