Stem cell discovery could aid research into new treatments

Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

2013-05-02

(Press-News.org) Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled.

The study, which focuses on the process by which these cells renew and increase in number, could help research to find new treatments.

Researchers have found that a protein, which switches on genes to allow embryonic stem cells to self-renew, works better when the natural occurring level of the protein is reduced.

It was previously thought that once levels of this protein – called Oct 4 – were reduced the numbers of new stem cells being produced would also fall.

The finding will inform stem cell research, which is looking to find treatments for conditions including Parkinson's, motor neurone, liver and heart disease.

During embryonic development, cells that have the capacity to become any cell type in the body – called pluripotent stem cells – can either renew themselves by multiplying in number or differentiate to become cells found in different parts of the body, for instance skin or liver.

This need for pluripotent cells to increase in number is important so that there is a sufficient supply of them to be differentiated into other cell types.

Scientists at the Medical Research Council Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh found that when there were lower levels of Oct 4, the protein bound much more tightly to key parts of DNA in cells.

The strong attraction of Oct 4 to these sections of DNA enabled the efficient switching on of key genes that caused pluripotent stem cells to renew.

The findings could help to improve the way in which stem cells are cultured in the laboratory, providing a better understanding of the processes needed for cells to divide and multiply or to generate different cell types.

The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, was funded by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Human Frontier Science Programme

Professor Ian Chambers, of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University, who led the study, said: "What we found was a complete surprise, as we thought that when levels of this key protein were reduced the numbers of pluripotent stem cells being generated would also fall. Instead, it appears that when the levels of Oct 4 are lower, the balance is tipped in favour of self-renewal over stem cell differentiation." ### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

More effective, cheaper concrete manufactured with ash from olive residue biomass

2013-05-02

University of Granada researchers have successfully manufactured self-compacting concrete using ash from the combustion of olive pruning residue pellets. Due to its plasticity and cohesion, this type of concrete needs no compaction when used in construction and has many advantages over conventional concrete, resulting in considerable savings of time and money. In an article published in "Construction and Building Materials", the researchers present preliminary results on the use of fly ash, produced in domestic boiler combustion of biomass olive residue pellets, as a ...

Is the humble fig more than just a fruit?

2013-05-02

Figs and fig trees are familiar to a wide cross-section of human society, both as a common food and for their spiritual importance. What is less well understood is the global nature of this association between figs and humans, which is maintained across species, continents and societies. This relationship is explored by David Wilson of Ecology and Heritage Partners and Anna Wilson from the University of Melbourne in Australia in a paper published in the Springer journal Human Ecology. Using examples from around the world, the authors show that figs are a vital resource ...

On-site asbestos detector offers promise of better workplace safety

2013-05-02

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2013—Asbestos was once called a miracle material because of its toughness and fire-resistant properties. It was used as insulation, incorporated into cement and even woven into firemen's protective clothing. Over time, however, scientists pinned the cause of lung cancers such as mesothelioma on asbestos fiber inhalation. Asbestos was banned in the many industrialized countries in the 1980s, but the threat lingers on in the ceilings, walls and floors of old buildings and homes. Now a team of researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. ...

Unethical advertising at launch of antidepressants

2013-05-02

The new feature of the antidepressant drugs of the 1990s was that they had milder side-effects than their predecessors. Combined with aggressive marketing, this meant that annual sales in Sweden increased from just under EUR 18 million to over EUR 100 million in the space of just a few years. Most countries have an established system for self-regulation of pharmaceuticals advertising. Sweden has been held up internationally as a good example. The Swedish pharmaceutical industry's trade organisation appoints an information examiner to monitor the marketing to ensure it ...

Study uncovers mechanism for how grapes reduce heart failure associated with hypertension

2013-05-02

A study appearing in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry¹ demonstrates that grapes are able to reduce heart failure associated with chronic high blood pressure (hypertension) by increasing the activity of several genes responsible for antioxidant defense in the heart tissue. Grapes are a known natural source of antioxidants and other polyphenols, which researchers believe to be responsible for the beneficial effects observed with grape consumption. This study, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and conducted at the University of Michigan ...

3D simulation shows how form of complex organs evolves by natural selection

2013-05-02

Researchers at the Institute of Biotechnology at the Helsinki University and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have developed the first three-dimensional simulation of the evolution of morphology by integrating the mechanisms of genetic regulation that take place during embryo development. The study, published in Nature, highlights the real complexity of the genetic interactions that lead to adult organisms' phenotypes (physical forms), helps to explain how natural selection influences body form and leads towards much more realistic virtual experiments on evolution. "Right ...

Summit fire in Southern California

2013-05-02

According to the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, "A fast-moving, wind-driven brush fire in Riverside County was 40 percent contained as of early Thursday morning, CAL Fire officials said. The Summit Fire broke out around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday near North San Gorgonio Road and Summit Drive in Banning. Crews fought the nearly 3,000-acre fire overnight and were aided by diminished winds that allowed them to lay containment lines around the blaze." Over 400 firefighters have been involved in trying to quell the blaze since it began yesterday and several communities have been ...

Focus on STD, not cancer prevention, to promote HPV vaccine use

2013-05-02

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The HPV vaccine can prevent both cervical cancer and a nasty sexually transmitted disease in women. But emphasizing the STD prevention will persuade more young women to get the vaccine, a new study suggests. These results go against the conventional wisdom that scaring women about the possibility of cancer is the best way to get them vaccinated. The failure of that cancer-threat message may be one reason that fewer than 20 percent of adolescent girls in the United States have received the HPV vaccine, said Janice Krieger, lead author of the study and ...

NIH study uses Botox to find new wrinkle in brain communication

2013-05-02

National Institutes of Health researchers used the popular anti-wrinkle agent Botox to discover a new and important role for a group of molecules that nerve cells use to quickly send messages. This novel role for the molecules, called SNARES, may be a missing piece that scientists have been searching for to fully understand how brain cells communicate under normal and disease conditions. "The results were very surprising," said Ling-Gang Wu, Ph.D., a scientist at NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. "Like many scientists we thought SNAREs were ...

Fires in West Africa

2013-05-02

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected hundreds of fires burning in the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola on May 01, 2013. The fires are outlined in red. Most of the fires burn in grass or cropland. The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that ...

Proactively screening diabetics for heart disease does not improve long-term mortality rates or reduce future cardiac events, new study finds

Innovative risk score accurately calculates which kidney transplant candidates are also at risk for heart attack or stroke, new study finds

[Press-News.org] Stem cell discovery could aid research into new treatments
Scientists have made a fundamental discovery about how the properties of embryonic stem cells are controlled

Stem cell discovery could aid research into new treatments

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: