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UVA scientists were surprised to discover that the heart's inner lining forms from the same stem cells, known as "precursor cells," that turn into blood. That means a single type of stem cell turns into both our blood and a portion of the organ that will pump it. The researchers determined that a particular gene, S1P1, is vital for the proper formation of the heart. Without it, the heart tissue produced by the precursor cells develops a sponginess that compromises the heart's ability to contract tightly and pump blood efficiently. In people, that is known as ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy, a dangerous condition that often leads to early death. "Many patients who suffer from untreatable chronic diseases , including heart and kidney diseases, are in waiting lists for limited organ transplantation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand what happens to the cells during disease and how can they be repaired," said researcher Yan Hu, PhD...

Engineered bone with purposeful marrow. Credit score: Varghese lab, UC San Diego Engineers on the College of California San Diego have developed biomimetic bone tissues that might in the future present new bone marrow for sufferers needing transplants. Bone marrow transplants are used to deal with sufferers with bone marrow illness. Earlier than a transplant, a affected person is first given doses of radiation, generally together with medicine, to kill off any current stem cells within the affected person's bone marrow. This pre-treatment is supposed to enhance success of the transplant by clearing up area within the marrow, permitting donor cells to outlive and develop with out competitors from the affected person's personal cells. However this therapy usually comes with dangerous negative effects, resembling nausea, fatigue, lack of fertility and others. To deal with these points, a crew led by bioengineering pr...

UZH researchers display on German shepherds remedy with the physique's personal stem cells are effectively tolerated. Credit score: Vetsuisse School, College of Zurich It's the "shock absorber" between the vertebrae of the backbone, cushioning each step, bend and soar: the intervertebral disc. If the fibrocartilage tissue within the backbone degenerates over time, an intervertebral disc can "slip" -- pinching the medulla or nerves. The results embrace intense ache and even paralysis. Not solely folks, but additionally canines are sometimes vulnerable to this illness. Since intervertebral discs themselves can not regenerate, the affected disc materials is eliminated in an operation that may be carried out on each folks and animals. The stress on the nerves and medulla disappears, however the degeneration of the disc stays. Nice hope has thus been positioned on stem cell remedy as practiced by ...

The findings shed light on the mechanisms that underpin brain cancer progression and could eventually reveal targets for the development of much-needed therapies, researchers say. Scientists conducted lab tests on tumour cells from patients with glioblastoma, a rare but aggressive type of brain cancer. Previous studies have found that glioblastoma cells share similarities with normal brain stem cells, which give rise to the many different cell types in the brain during development. The team identified two molecules that are produced at high levels by the cells -- called FOXG1 and SOX2. Similar levels of these molecules are found in brain stem cells and are a defining feature of these cells. The researchers found that SOX2 drives glioblastoma cells to keep dividing, a hallmark of cancer. FOXG1 stops the cells from responding to other signals that would usually point them towards becoming specialised, the team found. Both FOXG1 and SOX2 work by controlling when key target...

With collaborative partners from King's College London, the European Bioinformatics Institute, the University of Dundee and the University of Cambridge, the study also investigates in unprecedented detail the extensive variation between stem cells from different healthy people. Technological advancements have made it possible to take an adult cell and use specific growth conditions to turn back the clock -- returning it to an early embryonic state. This results in an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC), which can develop into any type of cell in the body. These iPSCs have huge scientific potential for studying the development and the impact of diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's, and heart disease. However, the process of creating an iPSC is long and complicated and few laboratories have the facilities to characterise their cells in a way that makes them useful for other scientists to use. The Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Initiative (HipSci) project used st...

MIT researchers have discovered that lung tumors corresponding to this one include stem-cell-like cells that drive tumor aggression. On this picture, these cells are tagged with a inexperienced fluorescent protein. Credit score: Tuomas Tammela Lung adenocarcinoma, an aggressive type of most cancers that accounts for about 40 p.c of U.S. lung most cancers instances, is believed to come up from benign tumors generally known as adenomas. MIT biologists have now recognized a serious swap that happens as adenomas transition to adenocarcinomas in a mouse mannequin of lung most cancers. They've additionally found that blocking this swap prevents the tumors from turning into extra aggressive. Medicine that intervene with this swap might thus be helpful in treating early-stage lung cancers, the researchers say. "Understanding the molecular pathways that get activated as a tumor transitions from a benign state to a malignant one has vital implications for therapy . The...