You are here
Science Daily RSS
Body: Researchers have combined embryonic cells and liver cells in a new cell culture test. This combination lets them detect adverse effects that new medications may have on embryos early on in the drug development process.
Body: Researchers find that 'waves' of Hes1 and Ascl1 gene expression control the quiescent and active state of adult neural stem cells. Hes1 expression promotes quiescence and suppresses Ascl1, and knocking out Hes1 increases Ascl1 expression and subsequent adult neural stem cell activation.
Body: Recent work highlights a better way to grow smooth muscle cells, one of the two cellular building blocks of arteries, from pluripotent stem cells. This research is part of an effort to create artery banks -- similar to blood banks common today -- with readily-available material to replace diseased arteries during surgery.
Body: Researchers have developed a stem cell based model in order to study the resilience and vulnerability of neurons in the neurodegenerative disease ALS. The results can aid in the identification of new genetic targets for treatments protecting sensitive neurons.
Body: Our hair, skin and eyes are colored by a pigment called melanin, which is produced by pigment cells called melanocytes. Scientists have used stem cell technology to successfully create melanocyte precursor cells. These cells can be used in research on melanoma and other pigment cell-related illnesses.
Body: Researchers used single-cell sequencing to identify a protein expressed uniquely by insulin-producing beta cells created from stem cells in the laboratory. By targeting the protein and adding a physical enrichment method, the purity of beta cells improved from 30 to 80%. Improved control over the beta cell production process will allow researchers to refine cell therapy for patients with type 1 diabetes.
Body: Scientists report that adult cells reprogrammed to become primitive stem cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), make tiny 'cargo packets' able to deliver potentially restorative or repairing proteins, antibodies or other therapies to aged cells. They say the human iPSCs they studied produced much more of the packets, formally known as extracellular vesicles, than other kinds of adult stem cells commonly used for this purpose in research.
Body: Neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) affect millions of people worldwide and occur when parts of the nervous system lose function over time. Researchers have discovered that a type of skin-related stem cell could be used to help regenerate myelin sheaths, a vital part of the nervous system linked to neurodegenerative disorders.
Body: How do bones heal, and how could they heal better? The answer to these questions may lie in a newly discovered population of 'messenger' cells, according to a recent study.
Body: Researchers have found a way to transform skin cells into the three major stem cell types that comprise early-stage embryos. The work (in mouse cells) has significant implications for modeling embryonic disease and placental dysfunctions, as well as paving the way to create whole embryos from skin cells.
2023 AlphaMed Press ©