Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells Technologies

A subset of the stem cells in hair follicles have the potential to regenerate the coating that insulates neurons in mice, reports Thomas Hornyak of the VA Maryland Health Care System and the University of Maryland School of Medicine and colleagues, in a new study published 24th April in PLOS Genetics. The study offers a new direction for finding therapeutic options for certain neurodegenerative diseases.

Currently approved treatments for acute ischemic stroke, a leading cause of death associated with persistent disability [1], suffer from a narrow treatment time‐window and benefit to only a small patient subset [2].

Researchers in Germany have created transparent human organs using a new technology that could pave the way to print three-dimensional body parts such as kidneys for transplants.

Using a novel patient-specific stem cell-based therapy, researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) prevented blindness in animal models of geographic atrophy, the advanced "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a leading cause of vision loss among people age 65 and older. The protocols established by the animal study, published January 16 in Science Translational Medicine, set the stage for a first-in-human clinical trial testing the therapy in people with geographic atrophy, for which there is currently no treatment.

Kite, a Gilead company (CA, USA), have announced plans for a new 20-acre state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in MD, USA to expand their manufacturing capability.

A novel investigation into the impacts of neuronal mutations on autism-related characteristics in humans has been described in the open-access journal eLife.

Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona (UBNeuro) have identified a potential therapeutic strategy to treat Alzheimers, according to a study published in Journal of Neuroscience.

NYSCF CEO Susan Solomon says the team hopes that the technique, called Segmental Additive Tissue Engineering (SATE), may one day improve the lives of millions of people suffering from bone injury due to trauma, cancer, osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, and other devastating conditions

The increasing prevalence of diabetes has resulted in a global epidemic1. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and amputation of lower limbs.

Stem cells collected from the patients own bone marrow holds great interest as a potential therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee (KOA) because of their ability to regenerate the damaged cartilage. The results were released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine (SCTM).