A new study conducted at the University of Copenhagen challenges traditional knowledge of stem cell development. The study reveals that the destiny of intestinal cells is not predetermined, but instead determined by the cells’ surroundings. The findings may make it easier to manipulate stem cells for stem cell therapy. Results have just been published in […]
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New ways to generate stem cells more efficiently
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are among the most important tools in modern biomedical research, leading to new and promising possibilities in precision medicine. To create them requires transforming a cell of one type, such as skin, into something of a blank slate, so it has the potential to become virtually any other kind of […]
Messenger cells bring good news for bone healing
How do bones heal, and how could they heal better? The answer to these questions may lie in a newly discovered population of “messenger” cells, according to a recent USC Stem Cell study published in the journal eLife. “With nearly half a million patients in the U.S experiencing failed bone repair every year, stimulating these […]
New DNA ‘shredder’ technique goes beyond CRISPR’s scissors
In the last six years, a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has transformed genetic research, allowing scientists to snip and edit DNA strands at precise locations like a pair of tiny scissors. But sometimes, it takes more than scissors to do the job. Now, a collaborative international team has unveiled a new CRISPR-based tool that acts more […]
Labeling proteins with ubiquitin paves new road to cell regulation research
Human cells have a sophisticated regulatory system at their disposal: labeling proteins with the small molecule ubiquitin. In a first, a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has succeeded in marking proteins with ubiquitin in a targeted manner, in test tubes as well as in living cells. The procedure opens the door to […]
Removal of ‘zombie cells’ alleviates causes of diabetes in obese mice
Mayo Clinic researchers and their collaborators have shown that when senescent cells — also known as “zombie cells” — are removed from fat tissue in obese mice, severity of diabetes and a range of its causes or consequences decline or disappear. The findings appear in Aging Cell. Inflammation and dysfunction of fat tissue cause some […]
Human cells can also change jobs
Biology textbooks teach us that adult cell types remain fixed in the identity they have acquired upon differentiation. By inducing non-insulin-producing human pancreatic cells to modify their function to produce insulin in a sustainable way, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, show for the first time that the adaptive capacity of our cells […]
New therapy for aggressive blood cancer discovered
Researchers at the Vetmeduni Vienna and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research have identified a new therapeutic strategy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), the most common form of acute leukemia. They found that the activity of the mutated oncogenic protein C/EBPα is dependent on a functional epigenetic helper, the MLL1 histone methyltransferase complex. Laboratory […]
A better way to measure cell survival: New test rapidly evaluates the effect of drugs and potentially toxic compounds on cells
Measuring the toxic effects of chemical compounds on different types of cells is critical for developing cancer drugs, which must be able to kill their target cells. Analyzing cell survival is also an important task in fields such as environmental regulation, to test industrial and agricultural chemicals for possible harmful effects on healthy cells. MIT […]
When mucus can be key to treating colon and airway diseases
New research reveals how healthy cells in our bodies produce mucins — the main component of mucous, which protects our intestine and airway from pathogens, toxins and allergens. Scientists have already linked defects in mucins secretion to airway and colonic diseases, such as asthma or ulcerative colitis. Now, researchers at Malhotra’s laboratory in Barcelona, reveal […]