News & Commentaries

Cambridge, MA, USA – Functional B-1 cells derived from mouse embryonic stem cells are capable of long-term engraftment and secrete natural antibodies after transplantation in mice, researchers report February 7 in the journal Stem Cell Reports. Scientists are interested in B-1 cells generated from pluripotent stem cells because they could be tested as a therapeutic for a broad range of immunological disorders.

Vienna, Austria – Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are still difficult to treat. A team from Vetmeduni Vienna and the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences/Medical University of Vienna has discovered a new therapeutic approach that could fundamentally change this situation, as evidenced by a study that was published recently in the academic journal Blood.

Heidelberg, Germany – Stem cells are true "Jacks-of-all-trades" of our bodies, as they can turn into the many different cell types of all organs. This allows the tissues such as muscle or even brain to renew and to heal after injury. This amazing "multipotency" makes stem cells in the adult body key tools for the future of regenerative medicine. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now publish in the journal Nature how brain stem cells make the decision to transform into new nerve cells.

Ottawa, ON, Canada – Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have discovered a new way to treat the loss of muscle function caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy in animal models of the disease. As reported in Cell Stem Cell, the team restored muscle stem cell function that is impaired in Duchenne muscular dystophy, resulting in efficient regeneration of the muscle and preventing the progressive loss of muscle strength characteristic of the disease.