News & Commentaries

20 Dec 2019

Strong Change of Course for Muscle Research

STEMBOOK: Strong change of course for muscle research
Scientists have discovered a new subtype of muscle stem cells. These cells have the ability to build and regenerate new muscles, making them interesting targets for the development of gene therapies.

Berlin, Germany – Anyone who climbs the 285 steps to the viewing platform of Berlin’s Siegessäule, or Victory Column, will probably have quite a few sore muscles the next day. Out-of-the-ordinary activities such as climbing lots of steps or even normal exercise can put significant strain on muscles. Such activities cause tiny tears in the muscle fibers, which the body then repairs on its own.

11 Dec 2019

Immune Outposts Inside Kidney Tumors Predict Post-Surgery Outcomes

STEMBOOK: Immune Outposts Inside Kidney Tumors Predict Post-Surgery Outcomes
Arizona, GA, USA – The immune system establishes “forward operating bases”, or lymph node-like structures, inside the tumors of some patients with kidney and other urologic cancers, researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.

The immune system establishes “forward operating bases”, or lymph node-like structures, inside the tumors of some patients with kidney and other urologic cancers, researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.

6 Dec 2019

Lymphatic System Found To Play Key Role In Hair Regeneration

STEMBOOK: Lymphatic System Found To Play Key Role In Hair Regeneration

New York, NY, USA – Given the amount of wear and tear it’s subjected to on a daily basis, the skin has a phenomenal ability to replenish itself. Spread throughout it are small reservoirs of stem cells, nested within supportive microenvironments called niches, which keep a tight rein on this repair process. Too much tissue might cause problems like cancer, while too little might accelerate aging.

3 Dec 2019

Cellular Identity

STEMBOOK: Cellular Identity
A Freiburg research team deciphers how stem cells decide their identity

Freiburg, Germany – Several hundred different cell types of the adult human body are formed during embryonic development, starting from just a few identical stem cells. The differentiation potential of the cells is progressively restricted in the course of this process, causing changes in their morphology and functions. A research team headed by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Arnold and Jelena Tosic from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg has now succeeded in deciphering basic molecular control mechanisms by which stem cells decide which embryonic cell types to turn into. This is achieved at least partially through selective usage of the genes for each different cell type, despite the presence of the identical genetic information in every cell in the body. The scientists have published their findings in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

2 Dec 2019

New Technique Visually Depicts How Cancer Cells Grow and Spread in Colon Tissue

STEMBOOK: New Technique Visually Depicts How Cancer Cells Grow and Spread in Colon Tissue
Even before cancer is detectable, glow-in-the-dark cells show mutations driving malignancy

Durham, NX, USA – Duke Cancer Institute researchers have observed how stem cell mutations quietly arise and spread throughout a widening field of the colon until they eventually predominate and become a malignancy.

27 Nov 2019

Stem Cell Therapy Helps Broken Hearts Heal in Unexpected Way

STEMBOOK: Stem Cell Therapy Helps Broken Hearts Heal in Unexpected Way
Study in Nature Sheds New Light on Heart Attack Treatment Controversy

Cincinnati, OH, USA –Stem cell therapy helps hearts recover from a heart attack, although not for the biological reasons originally proposed two decades ago that today are the basis of ongoing clinical trials. This is the conclusion of a Nov. 27 study in Nature that shows an entirely different way that heart stem cells help the injured heart – not by replacing damaged or dead heart cells as initially proposed.

26 Nov 2019

Silencing Retroviruses to Awaken Cell Potential

STEMBOOK: Silencing Retroviruses to Awaken Cell Potential
Researchers led by a team from the University of Tsukuba identify a protein that suppresses retroviruses in the human genome, allowing the reprogramming of somatic cells to unlock their hidden potential

Tsukuba, Japan – Embryonic stem cells have the potential to differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Once differentiated though, the newly minted somatic cells live out the rest of their days as that specific cell type and never again have the capacity to differentiate. Or so the theory goes

26 Nov 2019

Cerebral Organoid Model Provides Clues About How to Prevent Virus-Induced Brain Cell Death

STEMBOOK: Cerebral Organoid Model Provides Clues About How to Prevent Virus-Induced Brain Cell Death

Bethesda, MD, USA –Scientists have determined that La Crosse virus (LACV), which can cause inflammation of the brain in children, affects brain cells differently depending on their developmental stage. Neurons—the primary brain cells of the central nervous system—evolve from neural stem cells and during development “commit” to becoming neurons. A new National Institutes of Health study shows that uncommitted neural stems cells generally survive LACV infection, while LACV often kills neurons. The study also shows that neurons infected by LACV can be rescued by interferon, a powerful antiviral protein. The study results appear in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.

Pages