Stanford researchers home in on Huntington's disease treatment
...ich is important since mammalian brains are bad at regenerating neurons." Though these findings suggest that cystamine could someday offer hope to patients with Huntington's disease, the quest for other potentially better compounds will continue. "Before trying this with humans, we will search for...Next-generation biomaterials to help body heal itself
...erials that are slowly broken down and replaced by regenerating tissues appeared at the same time. However the authors state that survivability rates of skeletal prostheses and artificial heart valves show that a third to half of prostheses fail within 10-25 years, meaning that many patients require revision surg....... The findings also may lead to new strategies for regenerating cells that are lost in degenerative diseases. Conversely, it may one day be possible to destroy the immortal cells of cancer - which have figured out a way to keep their telomeres long - by manipulating them into an early retirement. "Aging and canc...Researchers identify compounds that might help in spinal cord repair
...ds that appear to overcome an important barrier to regenerating damaged nerves. Their findings could lead to new treatments for spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. Targeting a newly discovered mechanism that inhibits the growth of damaged nerves, the researchers found that th...Astrocytes play starring role in neural stem cell development
... factors produced by astrocytes may be critical in regenerating brain or spinal tissue that has been damaged by trauma or disease. The discovery that astrocytes are important for neuronal maturation, or neurogenesis, was reported in the May 2, 2002, issue of the journal Nature by Howard Hughes Medical Institute...Stanford explores new avenue for brain injury, paralysis research
...They know that these cells - called neurons - stop regenerating because a signal tells them to slow down during development. The problem is, scientists haven't known much about that signal. Now, a team of Stanford University Medical Center researchers have identified the mechanism and some key cells involv...USC scientists uncover secrets of feather formation
...e's 'grammar,' and learn to use it in repairing or regenerating tissues and organs, which we call tissue engineering."...Zebrafish may point the way to mending a broken heart
...t scientists who study regeneration focus on fully regenerating invertebrates including planarians, or flatworms, and the Hydra polyps, he said. In addition, the complex and poorly understood genomes of these organisms have proven difficult for scientists to manipulate in experiments. Researchers have studied o...... few adult organs capable in mammals of completely regenerating itself, the liver is also the only organ that regenerates from fully mature cells. Others, like blood, form new tissue from immature cells. The experiment showed that the liver grew back at a rate typical of young mice -- a discovery that led Costa ...Digital X-ray microtomography yields stunning views of limb regeneration
...ientists to observe microscopic changes inside the regenerating forelimbs without dissecting the tissue as it is done in conventional analyses. "Scientists previously thought that regeneration progressed in a continuous directional manner, from the amputation site to the farthest distal point," said Simon. Th...Tropical deforestation and global warming
...ained in tropical forests. The study assumes that regenerating forests on abandoned lands will re-absorb large amounts of atmospheric carbon. In fact, such forests are often re-cleared after a few years. The study also fails to consider the effects of important greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide, ...Experimental Biology 2003 meets in San Diego April 11-15
... (AAA) offers symposia on advances in repairing or regenerating dead or dying cells, such as those in cardiac and skeletal muscles; the myelin that sheathes nerves; and, through genetic manipulation of the body's own stem cells, the brain and nervous system. Other AAA scientists will report on topics ranging fro...Evidence shows the heart has stem cells able to regenerate muscle tissue lost to disease, wear
...tes, endothelial and smooth muscle vascular cells, regenerating a functional myocardium. Dr. Nadal-Ginard concludes that the presence of stem cells in the myocardium, either as a resident population of embryonic origin or as a blood-borne population that continuously seeds the tissue, points to a mechanism for th...Purification of signaling protein may boost tissue engineering
...y to restoring compromised immune systems and even regenerating tissues and organs damaged by disease or trauma. Even though such stem cells have been isolated, inducing them to proliferate for use in treatment has been only marginally successful. "It has always been predicted that the Wnt proteins could act as g...Carnegie Mellon develops new process for growing bone
...tutes of Health (NIH) to develop a new therapy for regenerating bone. Bone, often called the structural steel and reinforced concrete of the human body, supports the body the way a steel framework supports a skyscraper, and it protects its vital organs the way a cast-concrete roof protects' its building occupant......toring limited movement in animal experiments. But regenerating nerves and restoring complex motor behavior in humans are far more difficult, prompting researchers to explore alternatives to spinal cord rehabilitation. One promising approach involves circumventing neuronal damage by establishing connections bet...Emory scientists use enzymes to enhance regeneration of damaged peripheral nerves in mice
...t. Although peripheral nerve axons are capable of regenerating after such injuries, in humans this regeneration is modest at best and there currently is no effective clinical treatment. One reason peripheral nerves do not regenerate well is the presence of growth inhibitory substances, called proteoglycans, with...Growth hormone activates gene involved in healing damaged tissue
...s the only organ in the body capable of completely regenerating from mature cells. The scientists focused on the Foxm1b gene, which is involved in the entire life cycle of the mammalian cell -- its proliferation, maturation and death. The gene's activity is elevated in dividing cells in young mammals but diminish...Regenerative chemical turns muscle cells into stem cells
...urons in the brain are lost, may be ameliorated by regenerating neurons. Another example of a potential medical application is Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition in which pancreatic islet cells are destroyed by the body's immune system. Because stem cells have the power to differentiate into islet cells, st...Examining cardiac performance of tunas at the cellular level
...tine phosphate, 10 g/ml creatine kinase (as an ATP regenerating system) and 1.5 M Ca2+ sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2. The cuvette was placed in a spectro- fluorophotometer and the vesicles and media were allowed to equilibrate. Ca2+ uptake was stimulated by the addition of 1.5 mM MgATP. After the steady state ...