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Press Releases from AlphaMed Press

July 28, 2020
Adult Stem Cells/Glaucoma Drug Combo Promotes Diabetic Wound Healing in Mice

Durham, NC (July 28, 2020) - A new study released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine shows promise of a major breakthrough in healing chronic foot ulcers resulting from diabetes. The study, by researchers at the University of California, Davis, is the first to demonstrate how a bioengineered scaffold made up of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) combined with timolol -- a drug commonly used to treat glaucoma -- improved healing and decreased inflammation in the wounds of diabetic mice by as much as 75 percent over the control groups.

July 23, 2020
New Platform Enables Long-Term Tracking of Stem Cell-Derived Tissues After Transplantation

Durham, NC (July 23, 2020) – A new platform reported on today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine will enable long-term tracking of cardiomyocytes produced from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) after implantation into the heart. This non-invasive strategy, created by the use of modern gene editing to insert a gene called sodium/iodide symporter (NIS), features superior safety and allows long-term non-invasive cell tracking, plus offers the potential for a broad variety of applications in the preclinical and clinical development of cardiac and other cell therapies, its creators say.

July 8, 2020
Adipose-derived stem cells considerably improve fat graft retention in breast augmentation

Durham, NC (July 8, 2020) - Results of a clinical trial released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine indicates that breast augmentation in patients treated with fat grafts enriched with autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) had significantly superior results compared to those treated with non-enriched grafts.

July 2, 2020
New platform gauges effects of plastic nanoparticles on human development and health

Durham, NC (July 2, 2020) - Plastic pollution is a critical environmental issue facing the world today, yet the impact of all the microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) that have seeped into the food and beverage supply on human health is an "undervalued avenue of research," according to the team behind a revealing new study released today in STEM CELLS. This study outlines the new platform researchers designed that allowed them to investigate the potentially harmful effects of MPs and NPs. The results show not only how these particles can impact a developing infant's health, but also may open novel ways to study this prevalent type of pollution and its contributions to the origin of various diseases.

June 18, 2020
Study sheds light on why retinal ganglion cells are vulnerable to glaucoma

Durham, NC (June 18, 2020) - Millions of sufferers of glaucoma might someday benefit from a study released today in STEM CELLS in which a "disease in a dish" stem cell model was used to examine the mechanism in glaucoma that causes retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to degenerate, resulting in loss of vision. The knowledge the study provides could result in new therapeutic approaches for this leading cause of blindness worldwide.

RGCs are a group of nerve cells located in the retina that send images to the brain and enable you to see. Glaucoma attacks these cells and, once they die, they are not replaced. However, why and how glaucoma causes the RGCs to degenerate is something of a mystery.

June 15, 2020
Magnetic guidance improves stem cells' ability to treat occupational lung disease

Durham, NC (June 15, 2020) - Results of a study released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM) may point the way to a cure for a serious lung disease called silicosis that affects millions of workers worldwide. Silicosis results from years of breathing in dust microparticles of silica by workers in professions such as construction and sand blasting. The particles can eventually lead to inflammation and scarring of the lung tissue, which in turn makes it difficult to breathe and can result in death.

There currently is no cure for silicosis and once the damage is done it cannot be reversed. Treatment is focused on relieving symptoms and slowing down the progression of the disease, while the medical world searches for a permanent solution.

June 8, 2020
Potential biomarker identified to screen quality of donor's stem cells before harvesting

Durham, NC (June 8, 2020) - A new study released today in STEM CELLS addresses a significant problem that has been confronting human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) therapy. While hundreds of clinical trials involving thousands of patients are under way to test hMSCs' ability to treat everything from heart disease to brain injury, there has been no way to determine prior to the donor undergoing a painful and expensive surgical harvesting of bone marrow whether or not it would be worth the effort. However, this new study, conducted by scientists at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, identifies a potential biomarker for prescreening donors for their MSCs' growth capacity and potency.

June 4, 2020
Intranasal Delivery of MSCs Provides Hope for Treating Alzheimer's Disease

Durham, NC (June 4, 2020) - In the search for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer much promise, thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties. The results from a new study done on mice, released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, strengthens this idea by showing for the first time that MSC-EVs delivered by way of the nasal passages reduce inflammation - believed to be a prime factor in Alzheimer's disease. They also trigger actions that guard the brain's neurons against further degenerative effects.

The study, led by Silvia Coco, Ph.D., at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, lays the foundation for future studies that might point the way to a cure for this devastating disease.

June 1, 2020
Study resolves controversy surrounding tumor suppressor gene's role in pluripotent ESCs

Durham, NC (June 1, 2020) - The gene p53 is extremely important in cell biology and, hence, the world of cell replacement therapy. Its role is to regulate the cell cycle and halt the formation of tumors, leading to its nickname the "tumor suppressor gene." However, previous efforts to determine whether p53 is behind programmed cellular death (apoptosis) induced by DNA damage in pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) produced conflicting results. Initial studies said that it was not; later studies concluded that it was.

A new study released today in STEM CELLS sorts through this maze of contradictions to finally determine that the multiple roles of p53 in cell cycle regulation and apoptosis are acquired during pluripotent stem cell differentiation.

May 27, 2020
Stem Cells From Placental Amniotic Membrane Slow Lung Scarring in Pulmonary Fibrosis

Durham, NC (May 26, 2020) - 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 and is generally discarded after a baby's birth) can slow the progression of scarring in pulmonary fibrosis. This pre-clinical study could lead to new treatments for this deadly disease.

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