http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. How can progenitor cells turn into tissues? At the Vienna University of technology, chemical substances have been developed which control the differentiation of progenitor cells into heart cells. The heart cells start beating in the petri dish—a discovery which could open the door to a new kind of regenerative medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-tissue-transplanting-hearts.html Medical research Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:58:18 EST news281620691 In the last few decades, sci­en­tists have come to attribute an immuno­log­ical expla­na­tion to many can­cers. It is now thought that tumors rise up rou­tinely in the body but that a healthy immune system blocks their devel­op­ment. Thus, for patients who do develop cancer, the immune system is par­tially to blame. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-inflammation.html Immunology Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:14:24 EST news281182443 Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have successfully generated human kidney cells from human embryonic stem cells in vitro. Specifically, they produced the renal cells under artificial conditions in the lab without using animals or organs. This has not been possible until now. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-unlimited-source-human-kidney-cells.html Medical research Thu, 21 Feb 2013 07:56:32 EST news280655784 One of the most common types of brain tumors in adults, glioblastoma multiforme, is one of the most devastating. Even with recent advances in surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, the aggressive and invasive tumors become resistant to treatment, and median survival of patients is only about 15 months. In a study published in Neuro-Oncology, researchers at Mayo Clinic identify an important association between the naturally occurring enzyme Kallikrein 6, also known as KLK6, and the malignant tumors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-enzyme-involved-deadly-brain-tumors.html Cancer Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:48:11 EST news277656484 (Medical Xpress)—A painstaking effort to create a biocompatible patch to heal infant hearts is paying off at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-biocompatible-patch-infants-birth-defects.html Medical research Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:48:19 EST news274531680 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers in China have developed a technique for reprogramming cells found in urine into neural progenitor cells that are capable of growing into neurons. In their paper published in Nature Methods, the team describes how they were able to reprogram kidney epithelial cells found in urine into neural progenitor cells that are suitable for use in studying neural diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-method-reprogramming-cells-urine-neural.html Medical research Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:30:03 EST news274347931 For more than 40 years, Bisphenol A, more commonly known as BPA, was used in everything from plastic baby bottles and the lining of metal food containers to dental sealants. When scientists began seeing a connection between BPA and abnormal sperm and egg development, it set off worldwide public health concerns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-scientists-toxicant-tool-links-abnormal.html Health Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:05:48 EST news274097128 The Caenorhabditis elegans, a small worm called a nematode, scurrying across a Petri dish has helped lead to discoveries about community-associated MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-combating-mrsa-community-associated-strain.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:52:19 EST news273865867 Researchers at the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) have successfully created a human heart cell model of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), an inherited heart muscle disorder which puts one at high risk of developing life-threatening arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. The NHCS research team discovered that key characteristics of the disease, such as abnormal "fatty changes" and altered distribution of proteins involved in cell-cell connections (called desmosomal proteins) are reproduced in the heart cells. This novel cellular model for studying the disease could help to improve understanding on how these mutations lead to arrhythmias and clinical manifestations of ARVC. The study, the first of its kind in the world, was published in the European Heart Journal, a top ranking international peer-reviewed journal, in July 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-world-human-heart-cell.html Medical research Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:50:01 EST news270378751 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers in Brussels, with assistance from U.S. colleagues, have succeeded in generating thyroid tissue using mice embryonic stem cells. A procedure involving grafting new tissue onto a disabled thyroid resulted in restored function for nine out of ten study mice, the team reports in their paper published in the journal Nature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-thyroid-tissue-mice-stem-cells.html Medical research Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:00:50 EST news269175635 A new video protocol in Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) details an assay to identify brain tumor initiating stem cells from primary brain tumors. Through flow cytometry, scientists separate stem cells from the rest of the tumor, allowing quick and efficient analysis of target cells. This approach has been effectively used to identify similar stem cells in leukemia patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-isolate-stem-cells-brain-tumors.html Medical research Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:22:40 EST news267798153 (Medical Xpress)—Although they're a common nuisance in the home, fruit flies have made great contributions to research in genetics and developmental biology. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher is again turning to this everyday pest to answer crucial questions about how neurons function at a cellular level—which may uncover the secrets of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-neurons-reveal-root-alzheimer-disease.html Medical research Mon, 24 Sep 2012 09:54:43 EST news267699162 (Medical Xpress) -- Controlling the amount of oxygen that stem cells are exposed to can significantly increase the effectiveness of a procedure meant to combat an often fatal form of muscular dystrophy, according to Purdue University research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-oxygen-boosts-stem-cell-survival.html Medical research Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:19:27 EST news264784748 Cancer cells and stem cells can now be cultivated in 3 dimensions to serve in various experiments to great advantage for researchers. This matrix, commercialized by the start-up QGel, which is based in the scientific park at Ecublens, offers the cells a similar environment to a living organism and is adaptable to the needs of the researcher. The new company received the Vigier Prize on Thursday, which comes with a cash sum of 100,000 francs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-dimension-cell-culture-video.html Medical research Mon, 25 Jun 2012 05:20:01 EST news259819642 Mice and monkeys don't develop diseases in the same way that humans do. Nevertheless, after medical researchers have studied human cells in a Petri dish, they have little choice but to move on to study mice and primates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-microvessels-d-bed-human-diseases.html Medical research Mon, 28 May 2012 15:00:06 EST news257414940 New research demonstrates that previous models used to examine cancer may not be complex enough to accurately mimic the true cancer environment. Using oral cancer cells in a three-dimensional model of lab-made tissue that mimics the lining of the oral cavity, the researchers found that the tissue surrounding cancer cells can epigenetically mediate, or temporarily trigger, the expression or suppression of a cell adhesion protein associated with the progression of cancer. These new findings support the notion that drugs that are currently being tested to treat many cancers need to be screened using more complex tissue-like systems, rather than by using conventional petri dish cultures that do not fully manifest features of many cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-lab-made-tissue-slack-petri-dishes.html Cancer Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:11:48 EST news245499079 Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia and now, in a major boost for drug development, scientists will be able to mimic its effects in a petri dish after identifying a new, reliable way of producing heart cells in the laboratory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-creation-heart-cells.html Medical research Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:29:00 EST news238753725 For the first time, scientists have cleanly corrected a human gene mutation in a patient's stem cells. The result, reported in Nature on Wednesday 12 October, brings the possibility of patient-specific therapies closer to becoming a reality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-therapy-methods-accurately-mutation.html Genetics Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:00:20 EST news237637269 For the first time, researchers have successfully injected cultured red blood cells (cRBCs) created from human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into a human donor, according to study results published today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). As the global need for blood continues to increase while the number of blood donors is decreasing, these study results provide hope that one day patients in need of a blood transfusion might become their own donors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-successfully-cultured-red-blood-cells.html Medical research Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:38:18 EST news234099468 The most common breast cancer uses the most efficient, powerful food delivery system known in human cells and blocking that system kills it, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-aims-starve-breast-cancer-cells.html Cancer Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:33:36 EST news233836392 Accidentally leaving a stainless-steel spatula in an overnight experiment has led to the discovery of a more efficient and environmentally friendly method of producing anti-addiction medications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-radical-solution-addiction.html Medical research Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:40:50 EST news232018791 (PhysOrg.com) -- Localized hyperthermia has been used occasionally with cancer drugs for some time, but until now, the reason it helps has been a mystery. In a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that the addition of heat inhibits homologous recombination so the cancer cells are unable to repair DNA damage caused by the cancer treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-cancer-drugs.html Cancer Tue, 10 May 2011 15:00:01 EST news224255592 (Medical Xpress) -- Could veterans of war, rape victims and other people who have seen horrific crimes someday have the traumatic memories that haunt them weakened in their brains? In a new study, UCLA life scientists report a discovery that may make the reduction of such memories a reality. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-traumatic-memories-erased.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:55:20 EST news223138485