Cambridge, MA, USA – MIT biologists have discovered an unexpected effect of a ketogenic, or fat-rich, diet: They showed that high levels of ketone bodies, molecules produced by the breakdown of fat, help the intestine to maintain a large pool of adult stem cells, which are crucial for keeping the intestinal lining healthy.
Cleveland, OH USA A new international study co-led by Cleveland Clinic has identified a new drug target for treating glioblastoma. This target is part of a never-before defined cellular pathway found to contribute to the spread and proliferation of a dangerous subset of cancer cells, called glioma stem cells.
![[STEMBOOK]: Cambridge scientists reverse ageing process in rat brain stem cells](https://www.stembook.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/scf_news_files/2019.08.14%20Cambridge%20scientists%20reverse%20ageing%20process%20in%20rat%20brain%20stem%20cells.jpg?itok=zq44XDxG "Aged rat brain stem cells grown on a soft surface (right) show more healthy, vigorous growth than similar aged brain stem cells grown on a stiff surface (left). (Credit: Mikey Segel)"){kind=small}
Cambridge, UK – New research reveals how increasing brain stiffness as we age causes brain stem cell dysfunction, and demonstrates new ways to reverse older stem cells to a younger, healthier state. The results, published today in Nature, have far-reaching implications for how we understand the ageing process, and how we might develop much-needed treatments for age-related brain diseases.
![[STEMBOOK]: Bacteria made to mimic cells, form communities](https://www.stembook.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/scf_news_files/2019.08.12%20Bacteria%20made%20to%20mimic%20cells%2C%20form%20communities.jpg?itok=aYwaBuRN "Rice University postdoctoral researcher Sara Molinari and graduate student Shyam Bhakta illuminate a colony of E. coli bacteria. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow)")
Houston, TX, USA – Rice University scientists have found a way to engineer a new kind of cell differentiation in bacteria, inspired by a naturally occurring process in stem cells. They have created a genetic circuit able to produce genetically distinguished cells of Escherichia coli as the bacterium divides. By controlling this process, it is possible to create diverse communities of microbes that exhibit complex, non-native behaviors.
![[STEMBOOK]: Adding MS Drug to Targeted Cancer Therapy May Improve Glioblastoma Outcomes (Stemcells)](https://www.stembook.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/scf_news_files/2019.08.08%20Adding%20MS%20Drug%20to%20Targeted%20Cancer%20Therapy%20May%20Improve%20Glioblastoma%20Outcomes.png?itok=-zMPSd_t "In a patient-derived tumor model in mice, glioblastoma tumors (dark purple) shrink significantly when treated with both the MS drug teriflunomide and the targeted cancer drug BKM-120. (Credit: University of California - San Diego)"){kind=small}
San Diego, CA, USA – Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of brain cancer that infiltrates surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat with surgery. Even when chemotherapy and radiation successfully destroy the bulk of a patient’s glioblastoma cells, they may not affect the cancer stem cells. This small population of tumor cells have the capacity to grow and multiply indefinitely, and can lead to tumor recurrence.
Los Angeles, CA, USA – The prostates of older mice contain more luminal progenitor cells – cells capable of generating new prostate tissue – than the prostates of younger mice, UCLA researchers have discovered. The observation, published in Cell Reports, helps explain why, as people age, the prostate tends to grow, leading to an increased risk for prostate cancer and other conditions.
New York, NY, USA – Mount Sinai researchers have developed a way to use immunotherapy drugs against treatment-resistant non-Hodgkin's lymphomas for the first time by combining them with stem cell transplantation, an approach that also dramatically increased the success of the drugs in melanoma and lung cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery in August.
Clayton, Australia – Around 22,000 people will be diagnosed this year in the US with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the second most common type of leukemia diagnosed in adults and children, and the most aggressive of the leukemias. Less than one third of AML patients survive five years beyond diagnosis.
Phoenix, AZ, USA – This direct-to-consumer stem cell marketplace has come under increasing scrutiny, but relatively little is known about the clinics or how the treatments they offer align with the expertise of their practitioners. Investigators now offer a detailed characterization of nearly 170 stem cell businesses across Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, where about one-third of US stem cell clinics are located.
![[STEMBOOK]: Targeting a blood stem cell subset shows lasting, therapeutically relevant gene editing, STEMCELLS](https://www.stembook.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/scf_news_files/2019.07.31%20Targeting%20a%20blood%20stem%20cell%20subset%20shows%20lasting%2C%20therapeutically%20relevant%20gene%20editing_0.jpg?itok=rojVOKzf "This is a microscopy image of blood stem cells that will go through CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in a lab dish. (Credit: Kiem lab / Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)")
Seattle, WA, USA – In a paper published in the July 31 issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit long-lived blood stem cells to reverse the clinical symptoms observed with several blood disorders, including sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.
