Neurons  | Cerebral Palsy
Medical College of Georgia
Researchers started an FDA-approved clinical trial this month; they hope to discover whether an infusion of stem cells from umbilical cord blood can help children with cerebral palsy. Reasearchers hope to improve the motor skills, neurological development, and the overall quality of life for these children. Visit the Georgia Stem Cell Initiative
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| Parkinson's Disease
At the recent XVIII World Congress on Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders of the World Federation of Neurology, held in Miami Beach, Florida, researchers announced that eight Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients were treated with their own bone marrow stem cells and were discharged the next morning. None of the patients had complications. Conference information |
Europe: Improving Skin Treatments
A team of Dutch and Swedish researchers has found the "mother" of skin cells in hair follicles. These stem cells are the source of all types of skin cells. The discovery could dramatically improve the results of treatment of wounds and burns. Read the full article |
What Is a Stem Cell?
Every cell in the human body has its origins in the union of sperm and egg--all 200 different cells come from a pool of stem cells in the original embryo. At various stages of early development, these stem cells differentiate--they develop into the specialized cells for skin, blood, nerves, and so on. In the last few decades, scientists have made great progress in learning how these stem cells become specific cells in the body. Many predict that their research will radically alter the treatment of disease and the quality of life for aging adults.
Epithelial cells shown here form the surfaces and linings of the body. The tissues formed from these cells self-renew throughout adult life because of the presence of stem cells.  | Two different types of stem cells--embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells--are used in scientific research. Both types of stem cells differ from other kinds of cells in the body. All stem cells have three general properties:
- They can divide and renew themselves. Unlike blood cells or muscle cells, for example, that can't replicate, stem cells can keep producing stem cells by dividing into two identical "daughter" cells.
- They are unspecialized. Stem cells do not have tissues that allow them to perform a specific function, such as convey chemical messages to other cells (nerve cells do this).
- They can give rise to specialized cell types. As cells differentiate, they go through several stages and become more specialized each time. Stem cells are the start to this process.
Many leading edge scientists believe that stem cells are keys to unlocking diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer (among many others); restoring tissue and muscle function after injuries; and assisting in rejuvenating older adults.
Next month: What are adult stem cells?
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This image shows the green fluorescent signal from telomeres, at the tips of chromosomes shown here in blue. From the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.  | Reversing Aging
Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute are studying a rare, inherited premature aging disorder called dyskeratosis congenita and learning about human aging.
Dr. George Q. Daley and his colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston report successfully reactivating the enzyme telomerase, which maintains the telomeres, in patients with dyskeratosis congenita. Telomeres are the tips of chromosomes that must be maintained to prevent a cell from "aging" and enabling it to divide and make copies of itself.
Researchers took skin cells from three patients with dyskeratosis congenita and reprogrammed them to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These kinds of cells are adult stem cells that can be "reprogrammed" to create other cells. Their goal was to understand the disease at the cellular level--and also to see if the process of genetic reprogramming would actually affect the disease.
It worked. Even though the patients had a genetic defect, the telomeres were once again able to elongate, and the cells were able to replicate indefinitely--just as healthy iPS cells can.
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