http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The most common cause of failure after glaucoma surgery is scarring at the surgical site, so researchers are actively looking for ways to minimize or prevent scar formation. Previous work had suggested that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) activates fibrosis, whereas VEGF inhibition results in reduced scar formation and better surgical results. In a series of studies using a rabbit model of glaucoma surgery, investigators have determined that VEGF probably exerts its effects through induction of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, which may open up a new target for therapies to improve glaucoma surgical outcomes. This study is published in the June 2013 issue of The American Journal of Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-biochemical-mechanism-underlying-fibrosis-glaucoma.html Ophthalmology Fri, 17 May 2013 12:20:02 EST news288009239 The field of cell therapy, which aims to form new cells in the body in order to cure disease, has taken another important step in the development towards new treatments. A new report from researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that it is possible to re-programme other cells to become nerve cells, directly in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-nerve-cellsdirectly-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:53:18 EST news283499582 Repression of a single protein in ordinary fibroblasts is sufficient to directly convert the cells – abundantly found in connective tissues – into functional neurons. The findings, which could have far-reaching implications for the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, will be published online in advance of the January 17 issue of the journal Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-protein-prompts-fibroblasts-neurons.html Medical research Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:00:01 EST news277027120 For the first time, a defective protein that plays a specific role in degrading intermediate filaments (IF), one of three classes of filaments that form the structure of nerve cells, has been discovered by an international team of researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-rare-lethal-childhood-disease-tracked.html Medical research Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:00:07 EST news274961015 Unraveling the mechanism that ovarian cancer cells use to change normal cells around them into cells that promote tumor growth has identified several new targets for treatment of this deadly disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-micrornas-cells-cancer.html Cancer Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:00:01 EST news272714077 Two studies published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:7), now freely available on-line, investigate the role of oxygen in cell transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-oxygen-impact-factor-transplantation.html Medical research Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:18:52 EST news272207920 The treatment, which consists of skin cells (keratinocytes and fibroblasts) suspended in a mixture of different types of proteins associated with blood clotting, was tested on a group of 228 patients suffering from venous leg ulcers, the most common type of leg ulcer. All patients who took part in the trial were also treated with compression bandages, the most common treatment currently available for leg ulcers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-spray-on-skin-revolutionize-treatment-venous.html Medical research Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:30:02 EST news263132028 A research team in the Netherlands has found that cells from burn eschar, the non-viable tissue remaining after burn injury and normally removed to prevent infection, can be a source of mesenchymal cells that may be used for tissue engineering. Their study compared the efficacy of those cells to adipose (fat)-derived stem cells and dermal fibroblasts in conforming to multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) criteria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cells-derived-debrided-tissue.html Medical research Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:42:42 EST news261240145 Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown the ability to turn scar tissue that forms after a heart attack into heart muscle cells using a new process that eliminates the need for stem cell transplant. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scar-tissue-heart-muscle-stem.html Cardiology Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:00:02 EST news254665952 (HealthDay) -- Cells that normally form scar tissue after a heart attack can be reprogrammed into functional heart cells in mice, according to an experimental study published online April 18 in Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-fibroblasts-reprogrammed-functioning-heart-cells.html Medical research Mon, 23 Apr 2012 06:40:02 EST news254374839 A US study presented today at The International Liver CongressTM 2012 demonstrates that the entire HCV lifecycle can be recapitulated in murine cells, implying that HCV permissive mouse models could soon be developed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-recapitulation-entire-hepatitis-virus-life.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:54:34 EST news254037268 The latest research developments to reprogram scar tissue resulting from myocardial infarction (MI) into viable heart muscle cells, were presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2012 meeting, held 30 March to 1 April at the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College in London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scar-tissue-hearts.html Cardiology Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:35:46 EST news252502521 Fibroblasts, cells that play a role in the structural framework of tissues, play an apparent role in melanoma tumor growth. Fibroblasts also contribute to melanoma drug resistance and may also facilitate the "flare" response when a tumor's metabolism is enhanced following a patient being removed from a targeted therapy, said researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-fibroblasts-contribute-melanoma-tumor-growth.html Cancer Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:50:09 EST news244986594 The pigmented cells called melanocytes aren't just for making freckles and tans. Melanocytes absorb ultraviolet light, protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun. They also are the cells that go haywire in melanoma, as well as in more common conditions as vitiligo and albinism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-lab-made-skin-cells-aid-transplantation.html Medical research Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:45:55 EST news238855546 (Medical Xpress) -- Fully mature liver cells from laboratory mice have been transformed directly into functional neurons by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The switch was accomplished with the introduction of just three genes and did not require the cells to first enter a pluripotent state. It is the first time that cells have been shown to leapfrog from one fundamentally different tissue type to another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-scientists-liver-cells-neurons-technique.html Medical research Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:54:14 EST news237189231 A new study in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease shows for the first time the effects of α-Synuclein (α-syn) gene multiplication on mitochondrial function and susceptibility to oxidative stress in human tissue. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been frequently implicated in the neurodegenerative process that underlies Parkinson's disease, but the basis for this has not been fully understood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-link-mitochondrial-dysfunction-alpha-synuclein-multiplication.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:00:01 EST news237129377 Taking a leukemia chemotherapy drug may help breast cancer patients who don't respond to tamoxifen overcome resistance to the widely-used drug, new research from the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-leukemia-drug-reverses-tamoxifen-resistance-breast.html Cancer Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:30:06 EST news231417656 (Medical Xpress) -- In a new report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers reveal a new miniature artificial human liver that can be implanted into mice to better enable testing of new drugs and how humans will metabolize them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-mice-human-livers-pharmaceutical-accurate.html Medical research Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:50:01 EST news229668175 A team of American and Chinese scientists studying the role of stem cells in repairing damaged retina tissue have found that pigs represent an effective proxy species to research treatments for humans. The study, published in STEM CELLS, demonstrates how stem cells can be isolated and transplanted between pigs, overcoming a key barrier to the research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-pig-stem-cell-transplants-key.html Medical research Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:24:19 EST news221883844