stem cell – Page 2 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

New Findings in Breast Cancer

By Guest PostApril 20, 2012Health, Sciencebasal like cell, berkeley lab, breast cancer, breast tumor, gcnt1, glycans, glycoprotein gene, invasive tumor, jiyoung kim, lobules, luminal cells, malignant, milk ducts, milk mucin, mina bissell, mm, mm glycan, new findings, ole william petersen, petersen bissell collaboration, protein cd271, rene villadsen, stem cell, sugar molecule, tumorigenic, university of copenhagen

Results from Berkeley Lab and University of Copenhagen Collaboration Contradict Current Views on Cancer Stem Cells

New findings in breast cancer research by an international team of scientists contradict the prevailing belief that only basal-like cells with stem cell qualities can form invasive tumors. Research led by Ole William Petersen at the University of Copenhagen (CU) and Mina Bissell of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and has shown that luminal-like cells with no detectable stem cell qualities can generate larger tumors than their basal-like counterparts. This may hold important implications for the diagnosis and the treatment of breast cancer as well as future personalized cancer medicine.

“It is fashionable to think of breast cancer as a disease that can be treated if cancer stem cells are killed off, but we are reporting a sub-population of cancer cells that have no obvious stem cell properties and yet can be tumorigenic and highly aggressive,” Bissell says. “The existence of these additional sub-populations of tumorigenic cells tells us that the entire tumor needs to be eradicated, not just one sub-population of basal-like cells.” (more…)

Insulin, Nutrition Prevent Blood Stem Cell Differentiation in The Fruit Fly

By Guest PostMarch 14, 2012Scienceamino acids, blood stem cells, brain, chemical markers, chronic inflammation, confocal microscope, diabetes, drosophila, fruit fly, human pancreas, insulin, ji won shim, mammalian blood, metabolic dysfunction, metabolic stresses, myeloid cell accumulation, nutrition, stem cell, stemness, utpal banerjee

UCLA stem cell researchers have shown that insulin and nutrition prevent blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, a finding that has implications for studying inflammatory response and blood development in response to dietary changes in humans.

Keeping blood stem cells, or progenitor cells, from differentiating into blood cells is important as blood stem cells are needed to create the blood supply for the adult fruit fly. (more…)

UCLA Scientists ID Cell, Signaling Pathway That Regulate Blood Stem Cells in Placenta

By Guest PostMarch 2, 2012Scienceakanksha chhabra, blood cells, blood stem cells, bone marrow, cell, cytokine, epo, erythropoietin, hanna mikkola, kim irwin, mother and fetus, mouse models, pdgf b, placenta, post natal life, protein molecule, red blood cell, safe zone, stem cell, trophoblasts, ucla, undifferentiated state

UCLA stem-cell researchers have identified a certain type of cell and a signaling pathway in the placental niche that play a key role in stopping blood stem cells from differentiating into mature blood cells in the placenta. Preventing this premature differentiation is critical to ensuring a proper blood supply for an individual’s lifetime.

The placental niche is considered a stem cell “safe zone,” which supports the creation and expansion of blood stem cells without promoting their differentiation into mature cells. This allows for the establishment of a pool of precursor cells that will later provide blood cells for fetal and post-natal life, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Hanna Mikkola, an associate professor of molecular cell and developmental biology at UCLA and a researcher at UCLA’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. (more…)

Radiation Generates Cancer Stem Cells From Less Aggressive Breast Cancer Cells

By Guest PostFebruary 19, 2012Healthbreast cancer, cancer cell, chemotherapy, dna damage, frank pajonk, ibcsc, induced pluripotent stem cells, ips, kim irwin, oncologist, radiation therapy, radiation treatment, regenerative medicine, stem cell, tumor, tumor recurrence

Breast cancer stem cells, thought to be the sole source of tumor recurrence, are known to be resistant to radiation therapy and don’t respond well to chemotherapy.

Now, researchers with the UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center report for the first time that radiation treatment, despite killing half of all tumor cells during every treatment, transforms other cancer cells into treatment-resistant breast cancer stem cells. (more…)

Scientists Use Animal-Free Reagents to Create Clinical-Grade Neurons from Skin Cells

By Guest PostDecember 11, 2011Scienceanimal based reagents, clinical grade cells, clinical use, derivation and differentiation techniques, embryonic stem cells, gmp, good manufacturing practices, human skin cells, human use, humans, induced pluripotent stem, ips, kim irwin, mouse feeder cells, neural precursor cells, neurons, pluripotent stem cells, process, protocols, saravanan karumbayaram, stem cell, ucla, william lowry

Using a specially designed facility, UCLA stem cell scientists have taken human skin cells, reprogrammed them into cells with the same unlimited property as embryonic stem cells, and then differentiated them into neurons while completely avoiding the use of animal-based reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process.

Generally, stem cells are grown using mouse “feeder” cells, which help the stem cells flourish and grow. But such animal-based products can lead to unwanted variations and contamination, and the cells must be thoroughly tested before they can be deemed safe for use in humans. (more…)

Body Rebuilding: Scientists Regenerate Muscle in Mice

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2011Sciencebiopolymer microthreads, blood clot, cellthera, clinical therapy, cloning, fibrin microthreads, george pins, human muscle cells, implanted cells, leg muscle, mammalian skeletal muscles, mouse, muscle repair, muscle trauma, raymond page, stem cell, threads, tissue restoration, worcester polytechnic institute, wound, wpi

*New Study Uses Reprogrammed Human Cells and Bioengineered Microthreads*

A team of scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and CellThera, a private company located in WPI’s Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center, have regenerated functional muscle tissue in mice, opening the door for a new clinical therapy to treat people who suffer major muscle trauma.

The team used a novel protocol to coax mature human muscle cells into a stem cell-like state and grew those reprogrammed cells on biopolymer microthreads. The threads were placed in a wound created by surgically removing a large section of leg muscle from a mouse. Over time, the threads and cells restored near-normal function to the muscle, as reported in the paper “Restoration of Skeletal Muscle Defects with Adult Human Cells Delivered on Fibrin Microthreads”, published in the current issue of the journal Tissue Engineering. Surprisingly, the microthreads, which were used simply as a scaffold to support the reprogrammed human cells, actually seemed to accelerate the regeneration process by recruiting progenitor mouse muscle cells, suggesting that they alone could become a therapeutic tool for treating major muscle trauma. (more…)

Tag Archives: stem cell