Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have succeeded in transforming skin cells directly into oligodendrocyte precursor cells, the cells that wrap nerve cells in the insulating myelin sheaths that help nerve signals propagate.
The current research was done in mice and rats. If the approach also works with human cells, it could eventually lead to cell therapies for diseases like inherited leukodystrophies — disorders of the brain’s white matter — and multiple sclerosis, as well as spinal cord injuries. The study was published online April 14 inNature Biotechnology.
This is a preview of Researchers turn skin cells directly into the cells that insulate neurons.
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For the first time, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have identified a human lung stem cell that is self-renewing and capable of forming and integrating multiple biological structures of the lung including bronchioles, alveoli and pulmonary vessels. This research is published in the May 12, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“This research describes, for the first time, a true human lung stem cell. The discovery of this stem cell has the potential to offer those who suffer from chronic lung diseases a totally novel treatment option by regenerating or repairing damaged areas of the lung,” said Piero Anversa, MD, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and corresponding author.
This is a preview of Tissue Engineering Breakthrough:First Human Lung Stem cell Discovered.
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About the idea
The idea of creating an “Indian” Bone Marrow registry was because of the lack of donor availability for Indians for a successful stem cell therapy.
Lack of good medically eligible donors is the need for many doctors and hospitals to do a transplant on needy adults and children.
The promoters of Cell Source have been in the stem cell industry since its growth in India and have a deep understanding on market demands, regulations, and ethics for leading the industry in the right direction.
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Promotor: Maurilio Sampaolesi
Description: Testing drugs for the effect on heart muscle contraction in a high-throughput fashion has been hampered so far because human cardiomyocytes are hard to culture. Current methods either use single cells or animal experiments. The aim of this project is to create contractile cardiac tissue by tissue-engineering. Induced pluripotent stem cells will be used to create cardiomyocytes, since these provide a renewable source. Next, these cardiomyocytes can be tissue-engineered in bio-artifial cardiac muscle. Use of such cardiac muscle will open the path to a new way of measuring contractile force and rhythm. This approach opens the path towards a novel platform for (patient-specific) drug screening and can provide insights in cardiac development and function.
Research techniques will encompass (stem) cell culture, tissue engineering, Q-PCR, immunohistochemistry, image analysis and a flavor of biological data intelligence.
