Researchers Explore Promising Treatment for MRSA ‘Superbug’
Ithaca, NY, USA – A new Cornell study has found the antimicrobial properties of certain stem cell proteins could offer a potential treatment to reduce infection in skin wounds
News & Commentaries
Improving Biomaterials Design for Bone Regeneration
Urbana, IL, USA – Bone injuries in the face and skull—known as craniomaxillofacial defects—can be caused by sports injuries, vehicle accidents, or battlefield injuries. Repairing such defects is complicated because different types of cells need to interact with each other. In a new study, researchers are investigating the types of material used in reconstruction to see which one works best.
Lab-Grown Beating Heart Cells Identify Potential Drug to Prevent COVID-19-Related Heart Damage
Cambridge, UK – Cambridge scientists have grown beating heart cells in the lab and shown how they are vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In a study published in Communications Biology, they used this system to show that an experimental peptide drug called DX600 can prevent the virus entering the heart cells.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Researchers Discover Key Stem Cell Dormancy Mechanism Which Could Help Unlock Future Cancer Treatments
Toronto, Canada – Princess Margaret Cancer Centre researchers have made new findings which provide a broader understanding of how dormant hematopoietic stem cells are activated and could pave the way towards therapeutic treatments for a number of cancers.
Sensing “Junk” RNA After Chemotherapy Enhances Blood Regeneration
Hematopoietic stem cells take advantage of RNA from pathogenic remnants integrated in the genome to replenish the blood system
Freiburg, Germany – Chemotherapy kills cycling blood cells thus sending signals to hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in the bone marrow to produce more differentiated blood cells. Scientists from the MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg reveal that during hematopoietic regeneration, RNA expressed from a part of the genome considered as “junk DNA” is used by hematopoietic stem cells to get activated and proliferate. The study published in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology shows that these so-called transposable elements make RNA after chemotherapy and activate an immune receptor which induces inflammatory signals enhancing hematopoietic stem cell cycling and thus participating in the regeneration of the hematopoietic system.
An Isoform of Dicer Protects Mammalian Stem Cells Against Multiple RNA Viruses
>London, UK – Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found a vital mechanism, previously thought to have disappeared as mammals evolved, that helps protect mammalian stem cells from RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus. The scientists suggest this could one day be exploited in the development of new antiviral treatments.
Blood Stem Cells Make Brain Tumors More Aggressive
Essen, Germany – For the first time, scientists from the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site in Essen/Düsseldorf have discovered stem cells of the hematopoietic system in glioblastomas, the most aggressive form of brain tumor. These hematopoietic stem cells promote division of the cancer cells and at the same time suppress the immune response against the tumor. This surprising discovery might open up new possibilities for developing more effective immunotherapies against these malignant brain tumors.
Stem Cells Create Early Human Embryo Structure in Major Advance for Fertility Research
Exeter, UK – Exeter scientists have discovered a simple, efficient way to recreate the early structure of the human embryo from stem cells in the laboratory. The new approach unlocks new ways of studying human fertility and reproduction.
The First Comprehensive Single-Cell Atlas of Human Teeth
Zurich, Switzerland – Researchers at the University Zurich have mapped the first complete atlas of single cells that make up the human teeth. Their research shows that the composition of human dental pulp and periodontium vary greatly. Their findings open up new avenues for cell-based dental therapeutic approaches.
Salk Scientists Reveal How Brain Cells in Alzheimer’s Go Awry, Lose their Identity
New technique models brain cells in older patients more accurately than ever before
San Diego, CA, USA – Despite the prevalence of Alzheimer’s, there are still no treatments, in part because it has been challenging to study how the disease develops. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute have uncovered new insights into what goes awry during Alzheimer’s by growing neurons that resemble—more accurately than ever before—brain cells in older patients. And like patients themselves, the afflicted neurons appear to lose their cellular identity.