About 100,000 Americans have sickle cell disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition, which can cause a lifetime of pain, health complications and expenses, affects one in 365 Black babies born in the U.S. and one in 16,300 Hispanic babies. Until recently, the only treatment options have been intensive […]
When we tear a muscle, stem cells within it repair the problem. Also when we age and become frail we lose much of our muscle and our stem cells don’t seem to be able to work as well as we age. These muscle stem cells are invisible engines that drive the tissue’s growth and repair […]
Organoids have now been created from stem cells to secrete the proteins that form dental enamel, the substance that protects teeth from damage and decay. A multi-disciplinary team of scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle led this effort. Enamel is made during tooth formation by specialized cells called ameloblasts. When tooth formation is […]
A team led by researchers from Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, reports the results of a phase I trial of a revolutionary stem cell treatment called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC), which was found to be safe and well-tolerated over the short term in four patients with significant […]
In the ongoing search for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, a burgeoning branch of medicine is bringing new hope. Stem cell therapies are already being used to treat various cancers and disorders of the blood and immune system. In the study, publishing this month in Cell Reports, the researchers demonstrate that transplanting hematopoietic stem and […]
Research from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago found that direct injection of neonatal mesenchymal stem cells, derived from heart tissue discarded during surgery, reduces intestinal inflammation and promotes wound healing in a mouse model of Crohn’s disease-like ileitis, an illness marked by chronic intestinal inflammation and progressive tissue damage. The study, […]
Scientists have made key discoveries in support of a new stem cell-based therapy for Parkinson’s disease. The approach, called an autologous therapy, uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), made from a patient’s own skin or blood cells, to replace the neurons in the brain that are lost in Parkinson’s. In a new study, the researchers […]
Older people with hypothyroidism, also called underactive thyroid, may be at increased risk of developing dementia, according to a new study. Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland doesn’t make enough thyroid hormones. “In some cases, thyroid disorders have been associated with dementia symptoms that can be reversible with treatment,” said study author Chien-Hsiang Weng, MD, […]
In a new study, researchers have successfully induced human stem cells to create artificial tendon-like tissue that mimics tendon properties and offers significantly improved tendon reconstruction in a mouse tendon-rupture model. Tendons are tissues that connect muscles to bones and are important for movement and locomotion. Human induced pluripotent stem cells, or hiPSCs, are special […]
Young babies and newborn mice can naturally heal damage to the bones that form the top of the skull, but this ability is lost in adults. In a new study researchers developed a novel approach that promoted bone regeneration in mice without implantation of bone tissue or biomaterials. The technique uses a device similar to […]