Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/stem_cell/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241455.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241455.phpIn a study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, in Dallas, Texas, researchers reported that early transplantation of human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells into the lateral ventricles of neonatal rats with birth-related brain damage is possible, and that the donor cells can survive and migrate in the recipient's brain...Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241353.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241353.phpReviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people...Breast Cancer Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241279.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241279.phpUniversity of Illinois researchers determined that an adult stem cell present in muscle is responsive to exercise, a discovery that may provide a link between exercise and muscle health. The findings could lead to new therapeutic techniques using these cells to rehabilitate injured muscle and prevent or restore muscle loss with age...Bones / Orthopedics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241280.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241280.phpA University of Minnesota-led research team has proposed a mechanism for the control of whether embryonic stem cells continue to proliferate and stay stem cells, or differentiate into adult cells like brain, liver or skin. The work has implications in two areas. In cancer treatment, it is desirable to inhibit cell proliferation...Stem Cell Research Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241283.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241283.phpResearchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital have turned stem cells from amniotic fluid into cells that form blood vessels. Their success offers hope that such stem cells may be used to grow tissue patches to repair infant hearts...Cardiovascular / Cardiology Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241248.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241248.phpA research team led by UC Davis Health System scientists has developed a novel technique to enhance bone growth by using a molecule which, when injected into the bloodstream, directs the body's stem cells to travel to the surface of bones...Bones / Orthopedics Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241249.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241249.phpRepeated, low-dose injections of mononuclear cells derived from human umbilical cord blood (MNC hUCB, tradename: U-CORD-CELL™) have been found effective in protecting motor neuron cells, delaying disease progression and increasing lifespan for mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, report University of South Florida ...Neurology / Neuroscience Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241215.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241215.phpThe February edition of Neurosurgery reports that animal experiments in brain-injured rats have shown that stem cells injected via the carotid artery travel directly to the brain, greatly enhancing functional recovery...Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241164.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241164.phpHepatitis C is a viral disease that leads to inflammation and organ failure. However, researchers are puzzled as to why some individuals are very susceptible to the disease, while others are not. Researchers believe they could find out how genetic variations produce these different responses by investigating liver cells from different individuals in the lab...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241102.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241102.phpHepatitis C, an infectious disease that can cause inflammation and organ failure, has different effects on different people. But no one is sure why some people are very susceptible to the infection, while others are resistant. Scientists believe that if they could study liver cells from different people in the lab, they could determine how genetic differences produce these varying responses...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240943.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240943.phpBypassing the stem cell stage, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California converted mouse skin cells directly into neural precursor cells, the cells that go on to form the three main types of cell in the brain and nervous system. They write about their findings in the 30 January early online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...Stem Cell Research Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240969.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240969.php Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding is an extension of a previous study by the same group showing that mouse and human skin cells can be directly converted into functional neurons...Stem Cell Research Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240837.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240837.phpHeart failure is a leading cause of death in Canada...Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240791.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240791.phpAvastin and Sutent, two cancer drugs, do not lead to longer survival in breast cancer patients, probably because they encourage an increase in the number cancer stem cells in breast tumors, according to a study carried out on mice by researchers from the Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (early edition)...Breast Cancer Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240779.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240779.phpLed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, scientists have, for the first time, created stem cell-derived, in vitro models of sporadic and hereditary Alzheimer's disease (AD), using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with the much-dreaded neurodegenerative disorder...Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240769.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240769.phpScientists with the new Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified the environment in which blood-forming stem cells survive and thrive within the body, an important step toward increasing the safety and effectiveness of bone-marrow transplantation. Institute investigators led by Dr...Blood / Hematology Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240744.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240744.phpCytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CYTX) has announced the publication of previously reported six-month outcomes from APOLLO, the Company's European clinical trial evaluating adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells (ADRCs) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (heart attack or AMI), as Research Correspondence in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology...Heart Disease Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240726.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240726.phpInduced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are a promising avenue for cell replacement therapy in neurologic diseases. For example, mouse and human iPSCs have been used to generate dopaminergic (DA) neurons that improve symptoms in rat Parkinson's disease models...Parkinson's Disease Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240716.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240716.phpHuman stem cells capable of giving rise to any fetal or adult cell type are known as pluripotent stem cells. It is hoped that such cells, the most well known being human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), can be used to generate cell populations with therapeutic utility. In this context, neural derivatives of hESCs are being tested in clinical trials...Stem Cell Research Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240609.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240609.phpA team of researchers at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures has developed a technique for using stem cells to deliver therapy that specifically targets the genetic abnormality found in Huntington's disease, a hereditary brain disorder that causes progressive uncontrolled movements, dementia and death...Huntingtons Disease Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240650.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240650.phpThe first published results of trials using cells derived from human embryonic stem cells appear to show they have passed an initial safety hurdle...Stem Cell Research Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240582.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240582.phpFruit flies don't have noses, but a huge part of their brains is dedicated to processing smells. Flies probably rely on the sense of smell more than any other sense for essential activities such as finding mates and avoiding danger. UW-Madison researchers have discovered that a gene called distal-less is critical to the fly's ability to receive, process and respond to smells...Genetics Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240542.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240542.php A collaboration between a cancer biologist from the University of Milano and 2 physicists has shown that cell senescence occurs spontaneously in melanoma cells, but does not stop their growth Since cancer cells grow indefinitely, it is commonly believed that senescence could act as a barrier against tumor growth and potentially be used as a way to treat cancer...Melanoma / Skin Cancer Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240444.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240444.phpFor the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases...Stem Cell Research Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240309.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240309.phpA research collaboration between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston has developed "smart" injectable nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to selectively deliver drugs to the cells of the pancreas...Diabetes