PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Out of body experience for stem cells may lead to more successful transplants

2011-08-06
(Press-News.org) New research finds that growing blood stem cells in the laboratory for about a week may help to overcome one of the most difficult roadblocks to successful transplantation, immune rejection. The study, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, may lead to more promising therapeutic strategies for transplanting blood stem cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are cells that can give rise to all of the different types of blood cells. Transplantation of HSCs has been used to treat leukemia, lymphoma, and other types of cancer, as well as some autoimmune diseases. However, there is a significant risk that the transplanted cells will fail to be incorporated into the host, or that the new cells will be rejected by the immune system and the patient will develop life-threatening "graft-versus-host" disease. Although scientists have identified some causes of transplant failure, many questions remain unanswered. "The resolution of these questions will promote the understanding of the immunology of blood-forming stem cells and other stem cells and greatly improve the practice of transplantation," explains senior study author, Dr. Cheng Cheng Zhang from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Zhang and colleagues had previously shown that they could successfully grow isolated mouse and human HSCs in the laboratory for transplantation and that there was a change in many of the proteins expressed on the surface of the cells. The researchers wondered whether this 'out of body experience' might change the functional properties of the cells as well and make them better suited for transplantation. They were specifically interested in clinically relevant "allogeneic" transplants, transplants between individuals who are genetically different, including siblings and unrelated donor/recipient pairs. Dr. Zhang's group transplanted freshly isolated HSCs or HSCs that were grown in the lab into mice and discovered that the HSCs that spent about a week growing in the lab were less likely to be rejected and more likely to be successfully incorporated into the recipient's blood.

The researchers went on to look at the mechanism that underlies this effect, and found that the lab-grown HSCs started to produce a specific immune system inhibitor on their surface that contributed to the improved transplantation efficiency. "This work should shed new light on understanding the immunology of HSCs and other stem cells and may lead to development of novel strategies for successful allogeneic transplantation of human patients," concludes Dr. Zhang. "If donor human HSCs can be expanded in culture and engraft non-matched or low-matched patients without graft-versus-host disease, this strategy will possibly lead to an ultimate solution to problems in allogeneic transplantation."

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hormone reduces risk of heart failure from chemotherapy

2011-08-06
Recent studies have shown that the heart contains cardiac stem cells that can contribute to regeneration and healing during disease and aging. However, little is known about the molecules and pathways that regulate these cells. Now, a new study utilizing a heart failure model is providing insight into one way to coax the cardiac stem cells into repairing the damaged heart. The research, published by Cell Press in the August 2011 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, finds that low doses of erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone best known for controlling the production of red blood ...

Mutation linked with the absence of fingerprints

2011-08-06
Scientists have identified a mutation that might underlie an extremely rare condition, called "adermatoglyphia," which causes people to be born without any fingerprints. The research, published by Cell Press online August 4th in The American Journal of Human Genetics, not only provides valuable insight into the genetic basis of adermatoglyphia and of typical fingerprint formation but also underscores the usefulness of rare genetic mutations as a tool for investigating unknown aspects of our biology. Human skin has ridges called dermatoglyphs that are present on the fingers, ...

Novel DNA-sensing pathway in immune response to malaria

2011-08-06
Until very recently, it was unclear why infection with malaria causes fever and, under severe circumstances, an infectious death. Although the parasite has an abundance of potentially toxic molecules, no one knew which ones were responsible for the inflammatory syndrome associated with disease. Now, a new study identifies a novel DNA-sensing mechanism that plays a role in the innate immune response to the parasite that causes malaria. The findings, published online August 4th by Cell Press in the journal Immunity, provide new insight into how the immune system detects ...

East Africa's climate under the spell of El Niño since the last Ice Age

East Africas climate under the spell of El Niño since the last Ice Age
2011-08-06
Floods and droughts in East Africa are often unleashed by far-away events in the tropical Pacific—the warm (El Niño) or cool (La Niña) phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A catastrophic drought is currently wreaking havoc in wide regions of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia, affecting food security and putting millions of people in urgent need of assistance. Scientists have attributed the severe drying to La Niña conditions that prevailed from June 2010 to May 2011 in the Pacific. The waxing and waning of rainfall in eastern tropical Africa in unison ...

David Blair, QuadCap Wealth Management, and Bond Ladders III

2011-08-06
Why Use a Ladder? It's a Strategy for All Interest Rate Environments. Since a bond ladder enables you to reinvest your assets periodically over time, your portfolio will be less affected by interest rate volatility. This concept is similar to dollar cost averaging in stocks. As bonds come due, you are able to reinvest your principal into bonds of intermediate or longer term maturities, where the yields are higher.We started QuadCap Wealth Management, LLC to focus on a highly personalized comprehensive counseling program that is driven by dedicated personal service. ...

Genetic 'signature' discovered in plaque, possible key to future treatment

2011-08-06
Italian researchers may have identified a genetic "signature" for dangerous plaque that leads to stroke. Reporting from their study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers said a pattern of five microscopic bits of genetic material called microRNAs (miRNAs) — a genetic "signature" — were present only in the plaque from patients who had experienced a stroke. This is the first report to suggest that miRNAs may provide an important clue about which plaque in artery walls is the most dangerous. Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, ...

Large variations in Arctic sea ice

Large variations in Arctic sea ice
2011-08-06
For the last 10,000 years, summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been far from constant. For several thousand years, there was much less sea ice in The Arctic Ocean – probably less than half of current amounts. This is indicated by new findings by the Danish National Research Foundation for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen. The results of the study will be published in the journal Science. Sea ice comes and goes without leaving a record. For this reason, our knowledge about its variations and extent was limited before we had satellite surveillance or observations ...

Screening effort turns up multiple potential anti-malaria compounds

2011-08-06
Researchers at the NIH Chemical Genomics Center, administered by NHGRI, used robotic, ultra-high-throughput screening technology to test more than 2,800 chemical compounds for activity against 61 genetically diverse strains of lab-grown malaria parasites. They found 32 compounds that were highly effective at killing at least 45 of the 61 strains. Ten of these compounds had not previously been reported to have anti-malarial action, and seven were more active at lower concentrations than artemisinin, a widely used malaria drug. All the screened compounds are already registered ...

David Blair, QuadCap Wealth Management, and Bond Ladders II

2011-08-06
Another advantage of using the ladder strategy is that you can customize your ladder to suit your individual investment objectives, such as meeting future funding needs or fulfilling specific income requirements. Investment selection will also take into account such things as your tax liabilities, quality considerations and anticipated future changes in your financial situation. Ladders are typically built using a variety of the following types of fixed income securities: U.S. Treasury and government agency securities, tax-exempt municipal bonds, corporate bonds, zero-coupon ...

Innate cells shown to form immunological 'memory' and protect against viral infection

2011-08-06
Researchers have demonstrated that cells of the innate immune system are capable of "memory", and of mounting rapid protection to an otherwise lethal dose of live vaccinia virus. The study, published in the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens on August 4th, challenges previous thought that only B cells and T cells can store memory to ward off future infection. The finding, by researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and Hebrew University and Duke University, has potentially significant consequences for the design of future vaccines, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

Montana State geologist’s Antarctic research focuses on accumulations of rare earth elements

Groundbreaking cancer therapy clinical trial with US Department of Energy’s accelerator-produced actinium-225 set to begin this summer

Tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be avoided each year if cholesterol-lowering drugs were used according to guidelines

Leading cancer and metabolic disease expert Michael Karin joins Sanford Burnham Prebys

Low-intensity brain stimulation may restore neuron health in Alzheimer's disease

Four-day school week may not be best for students, review finds

Using music to explore the dynamics of emotions

How the brain supports social processing as people age

Túngara frog tadpoles that grew up in the city developed faster but ended up being smaller

Where there’s fire, there’s smoke

[Press-News.org] Out of body experience for stem cells may lead to more successful transplants