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

'Firefly' stem cells may help repair damaged hearts

'Firefly' stem cells may help repair damaged hearts
2010-09-29
(Press-News.org) Stem cells that glow like fireflies could someday help doctors heal damaged hearts without cutting into patients' chests.

In his University of Central Florida lab, Steven Ebert engineered stem cells with the same enzyme that makes fireflies glow. The "firefly" stem cells glow brighter and brighter as they develop into healthy heart muscle, allowing doctors to track whether and where the stem cells are working.

Researchers are keenly interested in stem cells because they typically morph into the organs where they are transplanted. But why and how fast they do it is still a mystery. Now Ebert's cells give researchers the ability to see the cells in action with the use of a special camera lens that picks up the glow under a microscope.

"The question that we answered was, 'How do you follow these cells in the lab and find out where they're going?'" said Ebert, an associate professor in UCF's College of Medicine.

If doctors can figure out exactly how the cells repair and regenerate cardiac tissue, stem cell therapies could offer hope to more than 17.6 million Americans who suffer from coronary disease. The glow of the enzyme also means therapies would no longer require cutting into patients' chest cavities to monitor the healing.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association, is a featured cover story in this month's highly ranked Stem Cell and Development Journal. (http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/scd.2009.0308?prevSearch=allfield%253A%2528Ebert%2529&searchHistoryKey= )

Now that scientists can track the stem cells, Ebert said he hopes to use them in disease models to determine how they heal a damaged heart and what conditions are most suitable for the stems cells to thrive.



INFORMATION:

Ebert's team includes Ramana K. Kammili, David G. Taylor, Jixiang Xia, Kingsley Osuala and Kellie Thompson of UCF and Donald R. Menick of the Gazes Cardiac Research Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Ebert is an associate professor in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Medicine. He is also director of the Focused Individualized Research Experience (F.I.R.E.) module at the College of Medicine. He joined UCF in 2005 after holding various positions at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for several years. He has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Ohio State University, and he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular developmental neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

UCF Stands For Opportunity --The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 3rd largest in the nation with more than 56,000 students. UCF's first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region's economic development. UCF's culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
'Firefly' stem cells may help repair damaged hearts

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Individual mutations are very slow to promote tumor growth

2010-09-29
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 28, 2010 -- Individual cancer-causing mutations have a minute effect on tumor growth, increasing the rate of cell division by just 0.4 percent on average, according to new mathematical modeling by scientists at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and other institutions. Their research, appearing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reinforces that cancer is the culmination of many accumulated mutations. It also highlights the fundamental heterogeneity and randomness of many cancers, consistent with the observations ...

Rebels without applause: New study on peer victimization

2010-09-29
Montreal September 28, 2010 – Loners and antisocial kids who reject other children are often bullied at school – an accepted form of punishment from peers as they establish social order. Such peer victimization may be an extreme group response to control renegades, according to a new study from Concordia University published in the Journal of Early Adolescence. "For groups to survive, they need to keep their members under control," says author William M. Bukowski, a professor at the Concordia Department of Psychology and director of its Centre for Research in Human Development. ...

New study reveals that insecticides from genetically modified corn are present in adjacent streams

2010-09-29
A new study by University of Notre Dame ecologist Jennifer Tank and colleagues reveals that streams throughout the Midwest are receiving transgenic materials from corn crop byproducts, even six months after harvest. Transgenic maize (corn) has been genetically engineered to produce its own insecticide, a delta endotoxin from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). Bt endotoxins deter crop pests, such as the European corn borer. In a 2007 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), Tank and a group of researchers demonstrated that transgenic ...

Certain psychiatric disorders linked with risky sexual behavior in teens

2010-09-29
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – Although research has shown that teens with mental health disorders are more likely to engage in high risk sexual behaviors, like unprotected sex, a new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center suggests there is an additional risk associated with certain psychiatric diagnoses. According to researchers, teens who experience the manic phase of bipolar disorder – which is marked by dramatic mood swings from euphoria and elation to irritability – are more sexually active, have more sexual partners and are more likely to have a sexually ...

CWRU's e-SMART technologies may help young adults self-manage mental illness

2010-09-29
While many young adults will share the details of their daily lives with dozens – sometimes hundreds – of friends on Facebook, communicating with their health care providers about mental illness is another story. "Roughly one in every five young adults between 18 and 25 has a mental illness," says Melissa Pinto-Foltz, a postdoctoral scholar and instructor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. "Seventy percent of them don't receive treatment. Of those that do receive treatment, they have trouble managing the illness and often ...

Researchers confirm prenatal heart defects in spinal muscular atrophy cases

2010-09-29
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri researchers believe they have found a critical piece of the puzzle for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world. Nearly one in 6,000 births has SMA, and it is estimated that nearly one in 30 to 40 people have the trait that leads to SMA. In a new study in Human Molecular Genetics, Christian Lorson, professor in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology and the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, has found prenatal cardiac defects in mice with SMA. Lorson ...

Researcher gives 'F' to multiculturalism education

2010-09-29
Montreal September 28, 2010 – Multicultural education in classrooms has failed to produce a deeper understanding across cultures, according to a Concordia University researcher. Education professor Adeela Arshad-Ayaz blames teacher training for failing to address issues of diversity and equity. Her recent presentation at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, in Montreal, calls for an alternative approach. "The way we currently teach multiculturalism fails to bring divergent groups together," says Dr. Arshad-Ayaz. "Our present approach is alienating minority ...

Ultrafine air particles may increase firefighters' risk for heart disease

2010-09-29
CINCINNATI—Firefighters are exposed to potentially dangerous levels of ultrafine particulates at the time they are least likely to wear protective breathing equipment. Because of this, researchers believe firefighters may face an increased risk for heart disease from exposures during the fire suppression process. Coronary heart disease is the No. 1 killer of American firefighters, with many of these incidents taking place during or just after a firefighting incident. Researchers say exposure to these harmful ultrafine air particulates could predispose firefighters to ...

Genetic differences in sense of smell identified through asparagus urine odor

2010-09-29
PHILADELPHIA (September 28, 2010) – Scientists at the Monell Center have used a well-known example of individual differences to identify a genetic contribution to the sense of smell. Most people detect a distinct sulfurous odor in their urine shortly after eating asparagus. However, there are some who seemingly do not notice the unpleasant odor. Up until now, it has been unclear whether this is because these individuals do not produce the odor or because they cannot smell it. Addressing this mystery from several angles, scientists from the Monell Center first used ...

NIH scientists find more health benefits from starting HIV treatment early

2010-09-29
HIV-infected individuals who begin antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after acquiring the virus may have stronger immune responses to other pathogens than HIV-infected individuals who begin ART later, a new study from the National Institutes of Health has found. This finding suggests that early initiation of ART may prevent irreversible immune system damage and adds to the body of evidence showing significant health benefits from early ART. Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH, measured the quantity and qualities of B cells ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A toolkit for unraveling the links between intimate partner violence, trauma and substance misuse

Can everyday physical activity improve cognitive health in middle age?

Updated guidance reaffirms CPR with breaths essential for cardiac arrest following drowning

Study reveals medical boards rarely discipline physician misinformation

New treatment helps children with rare spinal condition regain ability to walk

'Grow Your Own' teacher prep pipeline at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette funded by US Department of Education

Lab-grown human immune system uncovers weakened response in cancer patients

More than 5 million Americans would be eligible for psychedelic therapy, study finds

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers find community health workers play critical role in coordinating asthma care across home, school and community

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling leads to better patient outcomes, new joint study says  

Animated movie characters with strabismus are more likely to be villains, study finds

How retailers change ordering strategy when a supplier starts its own direct channel

Young coral use metabolic tricks to resist bleaching

Protecting tax whistleblowers pays off

Bioluminescent proteins made from scratch enable non-invasive, multi-functional biological imaging

New study links air pollution with higher rates of head and neck cancer

LSU researchers excavate earliest ancient Maya salt works

Building a diverse wildland fire workforce to meet future challenges

MBARI researchers discover remarkable new swimming sea slug in the deep sea

Decentralized social media ‘increases citizen empowerment’, says Oxford study

Validating an electronic frailty index in a national health system

Combination approach shows promise for treating rare, aggressive cancers

Raise the roof: How to reduce badminton birdie drift

Ouch! Commonalties found in pain vocalizations and interjections across cultures

Income-related disparities in mortality among young adults with type 2 diabetes

Medical board discipline of physicians for spreading medical misinformation

First-ever randomized clinical trial uses telehealth for suicide prevention

DNA packaging directly affects how fast DNA is copied in cells

Scientists develop advanced catalyst for self-driven seawater splitting with enhanced chloride resistance

City of Hope researchers discover why taking a mushroom supplement slows or prevents prostate cancer from getting worse

[Press-News.org] 'Firefly' stem cells may help repair damaged hearts