Skip to: What are tumorspheres? Tumorsphere formation assay Technical notes on tumorsphere cultivation What are the types of cancer stem cell (CSC) tumorspheres? Tumorspheres for screening anti-CSC drugs What is the future of tumorspheres? What are tumorspheres? Numerous studies have pointed out that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in cancer progression, metastasis, […]
Superparamagnetism in Biomedicine
Superparamagnetism occurs in ferromagnetic nanoparticles, where in the absence of a magnetic field their total average magnetism in any direction (magnetization) appears to be zero. Once in the presence of an external magnetic field they become magnetized, with their magnetic moments aligning with the field. Nanoparticles made from iron oxide are among the most studied […]
Elusive link between seizures, cell signaling protein ID’d in zebrafish
For the brain to learn, retain memories, process sensory information, and coordinate body movements, its groups of nerve cells must generate coordinated electrical signals. Disorder in synchronous firing can impair these processes and, in extreme cases, lead to seizures and epilepsy. Synchrony between neighboring neurons depends on the protein connexin 36, an essential element of […]
Stem cell therapy corrects skull, brain function in mouse model of childhood disorder
Using stem cells to regenerate parts of the skull, scientists corrected skull shape and reversed learning and memory deficits in young mice with craniosynostosis, a condition estimated to affect 1 in every 2,500 infants born in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The only current therapy is complex surgery […]
Big data powers design of ‘smart’ cell therapies for cancer
Finding medicines that can kill cancer cells while leaving normal tissue unscathed is a Holy Grail of oncology research. In two new papers, scientists at UC San Francisco and Princeton University present complementary strategies to crack this problem with “smart” cell therapies—living medicines that remain inert unless triggered by combinations of proteins that only ever […]
Immune cell responses in COVID-19 patients far from optimal
Melbourne researchers have discovered that killer T cells, key immune cells in fighting viral infections, are present at much lower levels in people with COVID-19, compared to influenza or glandular fever. Publishing their findings today in PNAS, the team from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) looked at 22 COVID-19 samples […]
Research shows stimulating tuft cell production reverses intestinal inflammation
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have, for the first time, been able to trigger the specific immune system response required to reverse the course of small intestinal inflammation by inducing production of tuft cells, very rare epithelial cells that sense and respond to parasites. The breakthrough has the potential to provide Crohn’s disease and inflammatory bowel […]
Coronavirus-related children’s diseases linked to blood cell changes
A newly described disease occurring in children and linked to COVID-19 has significant changes in white blood cells—a discovery that may allow doctors to better assess their young patients’ condition and predict their resistance to current treatments, a new study reveals. Pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (PIMS-TS) is a new disease […]
Premature epigenomic aging acts like a ‘sleeper cell’ that is awakened by Western-style diet
The epigenome is sometimes referred to as the “software” or “operating system” of the genome. It comprises small chemical modifications to DNA and the proteins that make up our chromosomes, and controls the activity of all the genes within the genome. During early life, as our organs develop, the epigenome guides and changes along with […]
Researchers identify a moving target in small cell lung tumors
Lung cancers account for approximately 25 percent of all cancer deaths. Even among those who do not smoke, 1 in 15 men and 1 in 17 women are expected to develop lung cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Lung cancer has confounded scientists who strive to develop better therapies for this […]