Cells in Medical News

UF scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells

GAINESVILLE, Fla. University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people. The success in repairing a damaged layer of retinal cells in mic...

Human cells secrete cancer-killing protein, UK study finds

Human cells are able to secrete a cancer-killing protein, scientists at the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center have found. Researchers led by Vivek Rangnekar, UK professor of radiation medicine, have determined that the tumor-suppressor protein Par-4, initially thought to be active o...

Bone from blood: Circulating cells form bone outside the normal skeleton, Penn study finds

PHILADELPHIA The accepted dogma has been that bone-forming cells, derived from the body's connective tissue, are the only cells able to form the skeleton. However, new research shows that specialized cells in the blood share a common origin with white blood cells derived from the bone marrow and t...

Leukemia cells evade immune system by mimicking normal cells, Stanford studies show

STANFORD, Calif. Human leukemia stem cells escape detection by co-opting a protective molecular badge used by normal blood stem cells to migrate safely within the body, according to a pair of studies by researchers at Stanford University Medical School. "We call it the 'Don't eat me signal,'" ...

Stripping leukemia-initiating cells of their 'invisibility cloak'

Two new studies reveal a way to increase the body's appetite for gobbling up the cancer stem cells responsible for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a form of cancer with a particularly poor survival rate. The key is targeting a protein on the surface of those cells that sends a "don't eat me" signal ...

Scientists Use Non-Embryonic Stem Cells to Create Healthy Mice

Achievement shows how 'plastic' these cells can be, experts say THURSDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- The mouse may be named "Tiny," but what it represents in the world of science is anything but that. According to Chinese researchers, the birth of Tiny (and Tiny's brethren) marks a...

Molecule Helps Leukemia Cells Hide From Immune System

Discovery might lead to new strategies to fight the disease, researchers say THURSDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Leukemia stem cells cleverly cloak themselves to avoid detection by a person's immune system, according to a pair of studies by researchers at Stanford University Medical ...

Scientists Use Adult Stem Cells to Create Healthy Mice

Achievement shows how 'plastic' these non-embryonic cells can be, experts say THURSDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- The mouse may be named "Tiny," but what it represents in the world of science is anything but that. According to Chinese researchers, the birth of Tiny (and Tiny's bre...

Stem Cells Used for 'Biological Pacemaker'

In experiments with mice, researchers corrected electrical problems of the heart WEDNESDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) -- Stem cells from a type of human fat tissue may one day be able to reverse the electrical problems in the heart that pacemakers now correct, Japanese scientists repo...

Key Protein Might Shield Brain Cells

Discovery could spur new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases, researchers say WEDNESDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- A protein that can protect brain cells from dying has been identified by U.S. researchers, who said their finding may lead to new drugs to protect against Alzheimer's d...

Rare Cells Linked to Pediatric Cancers

Discovery could pave the way for future targeted treatment,,,, WEDNESDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- Certain types of circulating blood cells appear to be important predictors of the spread of cancer in children, say French researchers. They measured levels of circulating endotheli...

DNA-damaged cells communicate with neighbors to let them know they're in trouble

When cells experiencing DNA damage fail to repair themselves, they send a signal to their neighbors letting them know they're in trouble. The discovery, which shows that a process dubbed the DDR (DNA Damage Response) also controls communication from cell to cell, has implications for both cancer a...

UCLA scientists identify how immune cells may help predict Alzheimer's risk

What if you could test your risk for Alzheimer's disease much like your cholesterol levels through a simple blood test? UCLA scientists have discovered a way to measure the amount of amyloid beta that is being absorbed by immune cells in the blood. Amyloid beta forms the plaques considered th...

Genes Linked to Cholesterol in Cells Are Identified

Discovery could lead to new treatment targets, researchers say,, TUESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty genes that play major roles in controlling cholesterol within cells have been identified by German researchers, who said that some of the genes may play a role in heart disease r...

Ready for relapse: Molecule helps breast cancer cells to survive in the bone marrow

Patients who survive an initial diagnosis of breast cancer often succumb to the disease years later when the cancer shows up in a different part of the body. Now, scientists have identified key signals that support the long term survival of breast cancer cells after they have spread to the bone ma...

Microscopic 'beads' could help create 'designer' immune cells that ignore transplanted organs

AUGUSTA, Ga. The future of organ transplantation could include microscopic beads that create "designer" immune cells to help patients tolerate their new organ, Medical College of Georgia researchers say. "It's absolutely natural," says Dr. Anatolij Horuzsko, reproductive immunologist at the MC...

STEM CELLS Promotes Miodrag Stojkovic to Editor

DURHAM, N.C., and CRAIGAVON, Northern Ireland, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- AlphaMed Press, co-publisher of the journal STEM CELLS(R), the first journal in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine, has promoted Miodrag Stojkovic to Editor. Professor Miodrag Stojkovic is Deputy Director of...

Stemedica Discovers Significant Breakthrough in the Use of Stem Cells and Stem Cell Factors for the Treatment of Retinal Degeneration

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc., a leader in the manufacturing and development of clinical grade allogeneic adult stem cell technology, has discovered a significant breakthrough in the use of human stem cells and stem cell factors for the potential treatment of degenerations of the retina and r...

First Human Receives Cardiac Stem Cells in Clinical Trial to Heal Damage Caused By Heart Attacks

Heart Attack Patient Receives His Own Heart Stem Cells as Part of Medical Study to Determine Safety of New Technique to Repair Injured Heart Muscle LOS ANGELES, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Doctors at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute announced today the completion of the first procedure in w...

Immune cells ameliorate hypertension-induced cardiac damage in mice

Researchers in Berlin, Germany have found that a specific type of immune cell, the regulatory T lymphocyte (Treg) plays an important role in hypertension-induced cardiac damage. The injected Treg that they harvested from donor mice into recipient mice were infused with angiotensin II, a blood pres...

Pig Stem Cells Created

Organ transplants and other revolutionary uses predicted for humans, study says WEDNESDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- Using cells from pig ears and bone marrow, researchers in China generated a type of stem cell capable of developing into any type of cell in the body. This is the fi...

Cancer cells need normal, nonmutated genes to survive

BOSTON, Mass. (May 28, 2009) Corrupt lifestyles and vices go hand in hand; each feeds the other. But even the worst miscreant needs customary societal amenities to get by. It's the same with cancer cells. While they rely on vices in the form of genetic mutations to wreak havoc, they must sustain ...

Immunologists identify biochemical signals that help immune cells remember how to fight infection

DALLAS May 28, 2009 Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins. In their initial response, these immune cells, known as cytotoxi...

Stem Cells May Offer New Way to Treat Blocked Arteries

Injections into heart restore blood flow in small study TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Injecting bone marrow cells into the heart's muscular wall restored blood flow to hearts with blocked arteries for which conventional treatments had proven ineffective, Dutch physicians have rep...

Women with previous abnormal cervical cells at higher risk for recurrence and invasive cancer

New research from the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research has found that women who have been treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (abnormal cervical cell growth), are at higher risk for a recurrence of the disease or invasive cervical cancer. The large, population-based st...

Boost Natural Killer Cells to Prevent Swine Flu

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthy immune systems increase protection from viruses, including the H1N1 swine flu. Herbal and nutritional supplements can dramatically increase protection from swine flu by increasing levels of Natural Killer Cells, which destroy viruses, without a...

Menstrual Blood Stem Cells May Significantly Increase Yield of Cord Blood Stem Cells

Cryo-Cell Presents Study at International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT) Demonstrating Potential to Expand Cord Blood Stem Cells for Possible Utilization in Transplantation OLDSMAR, Fla., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cryo-Cell International, Inc. announced results of a new study show...

Weizmann Institute scientists show white blood cells move like millipedes

How do white blood cells immune system 'soldiers' get to the site of infection or injury? To do so, they must crawl swiftly along the lining of the blood vessel gripping it tightly to avoid being swept away in the blood flow all the while searching for temporary 'road signs' made of special ad...

Where tumor cells boldly go: Weill Cornell cancer biologists shed light on the metastatic niche

NEW YORK (May 1, 2009) -- Traditionally, cancer biologists have embraced a simple and direct model of the disease process: The tumor -- the "seed" -- was seen as bearing total responsibility for the spread of cancer to distant tissues -- the "soil" in which the seed embedded itself, grew, and repr...

Natural Killer Cells May Help Protect Against New Strains of Influenza Virus

*Swine Flu Outbreak Highlights Influenza Virus Research at Drexel University* PHILADELPHIA, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Research conducted at Drexel University has demonstrated the importance of natural killer, or NK, cells in controlling primary influenza virus infection. These findings may hel...

Fat-Derived Stem Cells Might Treat MS

Small study suggests they inhibit runaway immune system response SUNDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Stem cells taken from the fat tissue of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may help treat the disease, suggests a preliminary study that included three patients. The successful use...

How cells change gears: New insights published in Nature Genetics

Bioinformatics researchers from UC San Diego just moved closer to unlocking the mystery of how human cells switch from "proliferation mode" to "specialization mode." This computational biology work from the Jacobs School of Engineering's bioengineering department could lead to new ideas for curbin...

Study Finds Blood Cells Can Be Reprogrammed to Act as Embryonic Stem Cells

WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a recent study, U.S. researchers have reprogrammed cells found in circulating blood into cells that are molecularly and functionally indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells, a revolutionary achievement that provides a readily accessible source...

Human stem cells promote healing of diabetic ulcers

Treatment of chronic wounds is a continuing clinical problem and socio-economic burden with diabetic foot ulcers alone costing the NHS 300 million a year. Scientists in Bristol have found that human foetal stem cells can effectively be used to treat back leg ischaemic ulcers in a model of type 1 ...

USC researchers develop new drug to target tumor cells and blood vessels

Researchers at the University of Southern California have identified a new drug compound that appears to target tumor cells and surrounding blood vessels without the negative side effects typically associated with Cox-2 inhibitors. The compound 2.5-dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC) appears to have a s...

Transplanted liver cells function in older animals but do not proliferate as much as in younger ones

When things go right, transplanted healthy liver cells transplanted by infusion or injection will find their way to the liver, integrate into the damaged tissue, start proliferating, and take over the liver's work of helping with digestion and removing waste products and worn-out cells from the bl...

A new method for bone-marrow-derived liver stem cells isolation and proliferation

Great interest has been aroused in the identification and isolation of liver stem cells from bone marrow cells. Several subsets of bone marrow cells have been found to have the potential to differentiate into hepatocytes, however, sorting based on immunological methods is difficult because of the ...

Stem Cells Buy Freedom From Insulin for Type 1 Diabetics

In small study, most of patients got temporary reprieve from daily injections TUESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- A particular type of stem cell transplantation using the patient's own cells led to short-term freedom from insulin injections in 20 of 23 patients newly diagnosed with ...

Stem Cells Spur New Eggs in Ovaries of Adult Mice

Study upsets notion that females only receive finite number of eggs from birth SUNDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers in China have demonstrated that female ovaries may be capable of producing new eggs in adulthood and subsequently producing offspring. That runs counter to...

Stem Cells Repair Damaged Corneas in Mice

Procedure may someday replace transplants in people, experts say FRIDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- Stem cells injected into the eyes of mice with defective corneas returned the corneas to a more normal appearance, a new study has found. Researchers hope the procedure might one d...