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(PhysOrg.com) -- Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that an important class of stem cells known as "induced pluripotent stem cells," or iPSCs, derived from an individual's own cells, could face immune rejection problems if they are used in future stem cell therapies. http://phys.org/news224512231.html Biology Fri, 13 May 2011 14:30:01 EST news224512231 Human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells can generate any given cell type in the adult human body, which is why they are of interest to stem cell scientists working on finding therapies for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, burns, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other ailments. http://phys.org/news203080507.html Biology Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:30:01 EST news203080507 Female induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, reprogrammed from human skin cells into cells that have the embryonic-like potential to become any cell in the body, retain an inactive X chromosome, stem cell researchers at UCLA have found. http://phys.org/news202724223.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:17:41 EST news202724223 Stem cells might be thought of as trunks in the tree of life. All multi-cellular organisms have them, and they can turn into a dazzling variety other cells—kidney, brain, heart or skin, for example. One class, pluripotent stem cells, has the capacity to turn into virtually any cell type in the body, making them a focal point in the development of cell therapies, the conquering of age-old diseases or even regrowing defective body parts. http://phys.org/news202651278.html Biology Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:01:41 EST news202651278 (PhysOrg.com) -- Large scale, cost-effective stem cell factories able to keep up with demand for new therapies to treat a range of human illnesses are a step closer to reality, thanks to a scientific breakthrough involving researchers at The University of Nottingham. http://phys.org/news202577993.html Chemistry Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:40:01 EST news202577993 In a world first, Australian researchers have created induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from human skin without the use of viruses or genetic manipulation, an important step toward their eventual use in treating human disease. http://phys.org/news201779485.html Biology Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:51:49 EST news201779485 Human pluripotent stem cells, which can become any other kind of body cell, hold great potential to treat a wide range of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. However, scientists who work with such cells have had trouble growing large enough quantities to perform experiments -- in particular, to be used in human studies. Furthermore, most materials now used to grow human stem cells include cells or proteins that come from mice embryos, which help stimulate stem-cell growth but would likely cause an immune reaction if injected into a human patient. http://phys.org/news201528626.html Chemistry Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:00:02 EST news201528626 Australian scientists from the Monash Institute of Medical Research have "reprogrammed" adult mouse fat cells and neural cells to become stem cells that can differentiate into a variety of different cells (pluripotency). The cells, called "induced pluripotent stem cells" (iPS), are nearly identical to the naturally occurring pluripotent stems cells, such as embryonic stem cells, which are highly pluripotent, in short supply and their access restricted in the U.S. http://phys.org/news199376115.html Biology Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:50:01 EST news199376115 Scientists at the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center have described a population of cells that mark the very first stage of differentiation of human embryonic stem cells as they enter a developmental pathway that leads to production of blood, heart muscle, blood vessels and bone. http://phys.org/news198924171.html Biology Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:43:07 EST news198924171 Adult cells that have been reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) do not completely let go of their past, perhaps limiting their ability to function as a less controversial alternative to embryonic stem cells for basic research and cell replacement therapies, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, John Hopkins University and their colleagues. http://phys.org/news198771305.html Biology Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:50:03 EST news198771305 (PhysOrg.com) -- Investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Regenerative Medicine have confirmed that induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) retain some characteristics of the cells from which they were derived, something that could both assist and impede potential clinical and research uses. In their report that will be published in Nature Biotechnology and has received early online release, the researchers also describe finding that these cellular "memories" fade and disappear as cell lines are cultured through successive generations. http://phys.org/news198772872.html Biology Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:41:30 EST news198772872 Researchers are applying new stem cell technology to use skin samples to grow the brain cells thought to be responsible for the onset of Parkinson's disease, the UK National Stem Cell Network (UKNSCN) annual science meeting will hear today. http://phys.org/news198299962.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:19:41 EST news198299962 Cells from frozen human blood samples can be reprogrammed to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, according to Whitehead Institute researchers. These cells can be multiplied and used to study the genetic and molecular mechanisms of blood disorders and other diseases. http://phys.org/news197206807.html Biology Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:40:26 EST news197206807 Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have for the first time differentiated human stem cells to become heart cells with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle cells are abnormal. The discovery will allow scientists to learn how those heart cells become diseased and from there, they can begin developing drug therapies to stop the disease from occurring or progressing. The study is published in the June 9th issue of Nature. http://phys.org/news195306950.html Biology Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:00:08 EST news195306950 Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have a developed a new type of human pluripotent stem cell that can be manipulated more readily than currently available stem cells. As described in the June 4 Cell Stem Cell, these new cells could be used to create better cellular models of disease processes and eventually may permit repair of disease-associated gene mutations. http://phys.org/news195236700.html Biology Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:10:01 EST news195236700 In the last three years, a new technique for reprogramming adult cells has given scientists an easier and less controversial way to harness the power of embryonic-like stem cells to study human disease from its earliest beginnings in hopes of gleaning new insights into the root causes of disease and developing new therapies. http://phys.org/news192374088.html Biology Thu, 06 May 2010 14:15:08 EST news192374088 Scientists may be one step closer to being able to generate any type of cells and tissues from a patient's own cells. In a study that will appear in the journal Nature and is receiving early online release, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine (MGH-CRM) and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), describe finding that an important cluster of genes is inactivated in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that do not have the full development potential of embryonic stem cells. Generated from adult cells, iPSCs have many characteristics of embryonic stem cells but also have had significant limitations. http://phys.org/news191416342.html Medicine & Health Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:00:01 EST news191416342 A new technique for reprogramming human adult cells could greatly improve the safety and efficiency of producing patient-specific stem cells for use in a range of therapeutic applications to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissues. A description of this innovative strategy is published in the peer-reviewed journal Cellular Reprogramming, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://phys.org/news190561200.html Biology Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:00:01 EST news190561200 In a breakthrough that may help fill a critical need in stem cell research and patient care, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have demonstrated that skin cells found in human amniotic fluid can be efficiently "reprogrammed" to pluripotency, where they have characteristics similar to human embryonic stem cells that can develop into almost any type of cell in the human body. The study is online now and will appear in print in the next issue of the journal Cellular Reprogramming, to be published next month. http://phys.org/news187875000.html Biology Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:30:47 EST news187875000 The United States government's decision last year to lift restrictions on federally-funded stem cell research has helped the nation's stem-cell researchers concentrate on science, but limitations remain - even under the new policy, according to George Daley, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Children's Hospital Boston. http://phys.org/news185943456.html Biology Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:30:01 EST news185943456 (PhysOrg.com) -- The great promise of induced pluripotent stem cells is that the all-purpose cells seem capable of performing all the same tricks as embryonic stem cells, but without the controversy. http://phys.org/news185469446.html Biology Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:17:55 EST news185469446 In the 7 Feb. 2010 issue of the journal Nature, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), report that a genetic molecule, called Tbx3, which is crucial for many aspects of early developmental processes in mammals, significantly improves the quality of stem cells that have been reprogrammed from differentiated cells. http://phys.org/news184769952.html Biology Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:00:07 EST news184769952 Tiny circles of DNA are the key to a new and easier way to transform stem cells from human fat into induced pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Unlike other commonly used techniques, the method, which is based on standard molecular biology practices, does not use viruses to introduce genes into the cells or permanently alter a cell's genome. http://phys.org/news184769748.html Biology Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:00:06 EST news184769748 Scientists at The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) led an international effort to build a map that shows in detail how the human genome is modified during embryonic development. http://phys.org/news184423486.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:00:01 EST news184423486 In the new issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, Singapore scientists report the surprising discovery that a novel transcription factor, Nr5a2, can replace one of the classical reprogramming factors, Oct 4, to significantly increase the efficiency of reprogramming differentiated stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). http://phys.org/news183302858.html Biology Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:27:55 EST news183302858 In a significant step toward restoring healthy blood circulation to treat a variety of diseases, a team of scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College has developed a new technique and described a novel mechanism for turning human embryonic and pluripotent stem cells into plentiful, functional endothelial cells, which are critical to the formation of blood vessels. Endothelial cells form the interior "lining" of all blood vessels and are the main component of capillaries, the smallest and most abundant vessels. In the near future, the researchers believe, it will be possible to inject these cells into humans to heal damaged organs and tissues. http://phys.org/news183226123.html Biology Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:10:06 EST news183226123 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have now identified a molecule that helps stem cells know whether to self-renew to create more stem cells, or to differentiate into specialized, non-dividing adult skin cells. http://phys.org/news183144167.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:10:01 EST news183144167 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have discovered a protein required to quickly and efficiently reprogram human skin cells to express embryonic stem cell genes. http://phys.org/news180685131.html Biology Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:19:21 EST news180685131 A groundbreaking discovery two years ago that turned ordinary skin cells back into an embryonic or "pluripotent" state was hailed as the solution to the controversial ethical question that has plagued stem-cell science for the past decade. http://phys.org/news179673740.html Biology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:50:01 EST news179673740 Stem cell derived neurons may allow scientists to determine whether breakdowns in the transport of proteins, lipids and other materials within cells trigger the neuronal death and neurodegeneration that characterize Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the rarer but always fatal neurological disorder, Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC), according to a presentation that Lawrence B. Goldstein, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) will give at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 49th Annual Meeting, Dec. 5-9, 2009 in San Diego. http://phys.org/news179588338.html Biology Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:50:01 EST news179588338