News archive май 2007

Rats paralyzed due to loss of blood flow to the spine returned to near normal ambulatory function six weeks after receiving grafts of human spinal stem cells (hSSCs), researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine report.

In a fundamental discovery that someday may help cure type 1 diabetes by allowing people to grow their own insulin-producing cells for a damaged or defective pancreas, medical researchers here have reported that they have engineered adult stem cells derived from human umbilical cord blood to produce insulin.

Bone marrow stem cells attracted to the site of a cancerous growth frequently take on the outward appearance of the malignant cells around them, University of Florida researchers report in a paper to be published in the August issue of Stem Cells.

Japanese scientists have discovered how pluripotency -- the ability of stem cells to differentiate into other cell types -- is regulated.

Magnetic stimulation can be used for conditions such as depression

Pluristem Life Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:PLRS - News; DAX:PJT), a bio-therapeutics Company dedicated to the commercialization of products for a variety of malignant, degenerative and auto-immune indications, announced today it has purchased patents for its innovative stem cell production technology from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Weizmann) for approximately $2 million.

Now, a Florida State University engineering professor is looking to develop new technologies that could replace bone mass lost to the disease, as well as treat traumatic bone injuries such as those suffered in automobile accidents or combat

In a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial, researchers from three Mayor Hospitals in Madrid, Spain and led by La Paz University Hospital, evaluated the efficacy and safety of expanded adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells Cx401 in 49 adult patients with complex perianal fistula

A township medical spa that specializes in skin care and anti-aging programs is now collecting and storing adult stem cells through a new procedure used in only two other clinics nationwide.

Women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) treated using muscle-derived stem cell injections to strengthen their sphincter muscles experience long-term improvements in their condition, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

Researchers at Cryo-Cell International Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CCEL), one of the world's largest cord blood banks, have isolated a new type of adult stem cell with potential for treating a broad range of diseases in the future.

Human embryonic stem cells can be transformed into the pancreatic cells that produce insulin, offering the potential to treat diabetes, Geron Corp. said on Thursday.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that hair follicles in adult mice regenerate by re-awakening genes once active only in developing embryos.

Stem Cell Pharma, Inc (SCPI) plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claiming Orphan Drug status for its amniotic stem cell implant (the SCPI Implant) in the treatment of ALS.

Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston have discovered that a complex protein signaling network implicated in some cancers also promotes heart formation

Scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have identified a key mechanism for successfully transplanting tissue into the adult central nervous system.

When a cell divides, normally the result is two identical daughter cells. In some cases however, cell division leads to two cells with different properties.

This is the impressive result of a study carried out by a group of researchers coordinated by Dr. Maria Grazia De Simoni of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy in cooperation with the Istituto Neurologico Besta (Milan) and the University of Lausanne.

Despite the limitations on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, two companies recently said they are close to entering clinical trials with the versatile cells.

Adult bone marrow stem cells may help cure certain genetic eye diseases, according to University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

A new study examines the use of tissue-engineered scaffolding made of cartilage cells, which have a limited ability to heal naturally, to replace defective cartilage tissue.

The first clinical trial of embryonic stem cells is on track to start early next year on patients with spinal cord injury. Geron, the California-based biotechnology company, will carry out the study on accident victims in six trauma centres across the US.

New, scalable population of hemangioblast cells halves the death rate following heart attack and repairs ischemic limbs and damaged vasculature.

Amorcyte, Inc. (Amorcyte), a privately funded biotechnology company developing cell therapy products to treat cardiovascular disease, announced today the completion of the second of four dose cohorts in its phase I clinical trial.

Professor Mohamed Al-Rubeai, currently a UCD Professor of Biochemical Engineering and principal investigator with the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology and UCD Conway Institute has developed an economical tissue engineering approach which could offer new possibilities for restoring damaged or lost knee cartilage tissue.

Surgeons are using stem cells to fix broken bones that won't mend on their own.

Cancer researchers led by Dr. John Dick at Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) have developed a method to convert normal human blood cells into "human" leukemia stem cells. The converted cells, when transplanted into special mice that permit the growth of human cells, can replicate the entire disease process from the very moment it begins.

Researchers are now able to study stem cells from the brains of adult mice and their neurogenesis in long-term cell cultures.

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASTM), a regenerative medicine company, today announced that it has initiated its U.S. Phase IIb prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blind, multi-center clinical trial to treat patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease

In work that has implications for those with severe burns, researchers have demonstrated in mice a new way to encourage skin regeneration.

Hopkins researchers have identified a backup supply of stem cells that can repair the most severe damage to the nerves responsible for our sense of smell.