News & Commentaries

Los Angeles, CA, USA – Scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have discovered that squamous cell skin cancers do not require increased glucose to power their development and growth, contrary to a long-held belief about cancer metabolism.

Baltimore, MA, USA – In experiments in rats and human cells, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have added to evidence that a cellular protein signal that drives both bone and fat formation in selected stem cells can be manipulated to favor bone building. If harnessed in humans, they say, the protein – known as WISP-1 – could help fractures heal faster, speed surgical recovery and possibly prevent bone loss due to aging, injury and disorders.

San Diego, CA, USA – Writing in the January 3 issue of Cancer Cell, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that detection of “copy editing” by a stem cell enzyme called ADAR1, which is active in more than 20 tumor types, may provide a kind of molecular radar for early detection of malignancies and represent a new therapeutic target for preventing cancer cell resistance to chemotherapy and radiation.

Helsinki, Finland – Researchers at the University of Helsinki, Finland have described mechanisms linking chronic cellular stress to the poor development of the insulin-producing cells.