WASHINGTON: Researchers have identified the early master cells that make up the human heart and said on Wednesday they could someday be used to make patches to fix damaged hearts.
Kenneth Chien of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital said his team is now looking for intermediate cells that are on their way to becoming beating heart muscle, the cells that line the arteries, and other heart cell types.
Chien’s team worked entirely with human cells and found the human heart develops differently from hearts in mice — a surprising finding.
In mice, the progenitor cells that Chien’s team found exist for just 48 hours. But a mouse develops from conception to birth in three weeks, while humans gestate for nine months.
And it turns out the human heart develops from patches of these early heart stem cells. Another surprise — these patches of stem cells tend to congregate in areas linked with congenital heart disease, including the heart valves and pumping chambers.
Chien said scientists may one day grow patches to fix areas damaged by heart attacks, or faulty valves.
It is another good news for Stem Cell reserch community. Soon you will see another spike in Stem Cell Stocks. Many of the Stem Cell stocks are beaten up, now will find fresh buyers.
Mexican salamanders who can regrow amputated legs are not pulling off quite as big a trick as scientists had first thought, which may help doctors trying to regenerate human limbs.
Researchers looking into how salamanders are able to regrow their damaged bodies have discovered that the “almost magical ability” is closer to human healing then earlier thought. They believe that one day they will be able to completely unlock the secret and apply it to humans, reprogramming the body so it can repair itself perfectly as if nothing had happened.
The amphibians are almost unique in that if they lose a limb, a small bump forms over the injury called a blastema. Within about three weeks this blastema transforms into a new, fully functioning replacement limb without any scarring.
At first it was thought that the ability was so alien to human healing that, outside of science fiction novels, it could never be transformed into a useful treatment for damaged human bodies.
But researchers at the University of Florida have found that it is not as remarkable as first thought and we could learn how to replicate it in people. “I think it’s more mammal-like than was ever expected,” said Malcolm Maden, author of the paper. “It gives you more hope for being able to someday regenerate individual tissues in people.”
Scientists studying the Axolotl salamander of Mexico had long thought the amphibious creature’s capabilities were down to so-called “pluripotent” cells, which had the ability to morph into whatever appendage, organ or tissue happens to be needed or due for a replacement, the Daily Telegraph reported.
But a paper in the journal Nature debunks that notion, discovering that the regenerative process is like a much more sophisticated version of healing in humans and other mammals.
They found that repairs were down to much more standard stem cells — like those in mammals —but with the ability to reorganise themselves in the correct order to rebuild the body. Standard mammal stem cells operate in the same way, albeit with far less dramatic results — they can heal wounds or knit bone together, but not regenerate a limb or rebuild a spinal cord.
The salamanders heal perfectly, without any scars whatsoever, another ability people would like to learn how to mimic, Maden said. He said the findings will help researchers “zero in” on why salamander cells are capable of such remarkable regeneration.
VICTORVILLE : Nobody like the visit of debt collector in this tough economic times. But this time a woman was lucky to have the debt collector visit her. Reprtedy the debt collector was visiting her to collect the missed car loan payment. A woman held captive since Sunday by an ex-boyfriend was set free Wednesday morning after a chance visit from a debt collector, officials said.
The victim’s boyfriend held her captive at her home in the 16800 block of Winona Street, near Second and Nisqualli avenues, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials. During the ordeal, the woman suffered numerous bruises, scratches an bite marks on her body.
A saleswoman from a local car dealer noticed the victim had not made her car payment and decided to stop by the woman’s home to pick it up, said Deputy Mark James.
When the captor, Miguel Rios, 28, of Barstow, allowed the victim to open the door, the saleswoman noticed the scratches on the victim’s body, James said.
The victim was able to communicate to the woman that she was being held against her will and that Rios had a gun.
The woman called police and they were able to get Rios into custody, James said.
Investigators found the victim inside the home and she was given medical treatment, according to James. Officials also found the gun.
Rios is a self-admitted gang member, according to sheriff’s authorities.
Rios was arrested for false imprisonment and was booked into Victor Valley Jail.
Los Angeles: Entertainer Michael Jackson is died after on Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest. According to Los Angeles fire official, paramedics arrived at Michael Jackson’s home after a 911 call.
Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, said he was told by brother Randy Jackson that Michael Jackson collapsed at his home in west Los Angeles, California, Thursday morning.
Michael Jackson
Family members were told of the situation and were either at the hospital or en route, Oxman said. “I can only tell you that the family members are crying and I just have not been able to confirm anything, other than to hug them and tell them that I love them,” Oxman said.
Fire Capt. Steve Ruda told, a 911 call came in from a west Los Angeles residence at 12:21 p.m. Also Jackson was treated and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center. Asked specifics of the patient’s condition, he said he could not discuss them because of federal privacy laws.
The music icon from Gary, Indiana, is known as the “King of Pop.” Jackson had many No. 1 hits and his “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all time.
Jackson is the seventh of nine children in a well-known musical family. He has three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.
At the medical center, every entrance to the emergency room was blocked by security guards. Even hospital staffers were not permitted to enter. A few people stood inside the waiting area, some of them crying
A large crowd was also gathering outside the hospital, according to video footage.
Outside Jackson’s Bel Air home, police arrived on motorcycles. The road in front of the home was closed in an attempt to hold traffic back, but several people were gathered outside the home.
PETROPOLIS (Brazil): High in the cool hills of eastern Brazil, this tourist hot spot also known as the Imperial City is attracting worldwide attention thanks an innovative scheme to recycle human sewage.
It has fostered a relatively simple idea now gaining traction in other parts of Latin America, as nations struggle with the impact of burgeoning populations compounded by dwindling supplies of fuel and water. Here bio-digesters — specially designed organic enzymes and bacteria — are used to break down waste water and turn it into an alternative energy sources such as gas.
During three fermentation processes, the bio-digesters are unleashed on human effluent and as they break it down they produce a bio-gas , a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide, which can then be piped into homes for use in heating or cooking.
“In fact this is a greenhouse gas, which is harmful to the atmosphere when it is unleashed, but can be collected to be useful,” said Jorge Gaiofato, technical director at the Environmental Institute, the NGO behind the scheme. Today there are more than 80 such bio-digesting ponds in Petropolis, a town some 65km from Rio de Janeiro.
NORTH CAROLINA: Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have uncovered clues to the development of cancers in AIDS patients through a series of articles.
Dr Dirk Dittmer of UNC’s School of Medicine writes in a study paper published in the journal PLoS Pathogens in April that the Kaposi sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is not only present in every tumor cell, but that the cells also transcribe microRNAs (miRNA) from the virus.
MicroRNAs are small molecules that regulate gene expression. The research team, which also included clinicians from Beth Israel Hospital, the University of Miami and the Federal University in Bahia, Brazil, hypothesized that viruses can cause cancer through a mechanism where the viral genes take over the cell and induce cancerous growth through alteration of cell miRNA, since certain kinds of miRNA are responsible for putting the ‘brakes’ on uncontrolled cell growth.
Examining samples of tissue provided with the consent of Kaposi’s sarcoma patients, the researchers found that specific miRNA biomarkers accurately identify stages of tumour progression.
They found that certain miRNAs were lost as the tumours progressed, effectively accelerating the cancer’s growth. More aggressive tumour stages expressed higher levels of KSHV miRNA.
Another study published in the journal Blood on June 4 looked for the presence of tumour suppressor mRNAs in primary effusion lymphoma and Kaposi’s Sarcoma.
“We chose these two cancers because, while they are both associated with the same virus, they occur in very different types of cells,” Dittmer noted.
He and his colleagues observed that several miRNAs known to suppress tumour activity were significantly less active in both types of cancer.
“Micro RNAs are an exciting new class of cancer markers. Knowing which ones are present in a particular tumor will help us understand the biology and develop those micro RNAs as novel cancer therapy targets,” he said.
The researchers believe that finding the mechanisms through which viruses take over cellular systems, resulting in cancer, is a promising strategy for cancer prevention and treatment, since it is much more feasible to block viral infection or develop specific inhibitors of the viral genes than try to inhibit all of the genetic changes within a cancer.
WASHINGTON-USA: Researchers from Human Genome Research Centre at the University of Sao Paulo have claimed that discarded human fallopian tubes can be a rich source of stem cells for regenerative medicine.
It has previously been shown that mesenchymal stem cells obtained from umbilical cords, dental pulp and adipose tissue, which are all biological discards, are able to differentiate into muscle, fat, bone and cartilage cell lineages.
During the study, lead researcher Tatiana Jazedje set out to isolate and assess the differentiation potential of mesenchymal stem cells from discarded human fallopian tubes.
The fallopian tubes were obtained from hysterectomy and other gynecological procedures from fertile women between 35-53 years who had not undergone hormonal treatment for at least three months prior to surgery.
The Brazilian team found that human fallopian tube are abundant in mesenchymal stem cells which have the potential of becoming a variety of cell types.
The cells’ chromosome complement showed no abnormalities, suggesting chromosomal stability.
“In addition to providing an additional potential source for regenerative medicine, these findings might contribute to reproductive science as a whole,” said Jazedje.
“Moreover, the use of human tissue fragments that are usually discarded in surgical procedures does not pose ethical problems,” Jazedje added. (ANI)
The study appears in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of Translational Medicine.
The tattooist who gave a teenage girl 56 stars on her face when she claims she only asked for three has said he will help pay for their removal.
‘I think he didn’t understand what I wanted. He spoke only fractured English and French. ‘But I explicitly said in my native tongue, French, and also in a little bit of English when he looked confused, that I wanted three little stars only near my left eye.’
Toumaintz, who runs the tattoo parlour called The Tattoo Box in Courtrai, said Kimberley was awake and actually looked in the mirror several times during the procedure to see how it was going.
He said she knew ‘exactly what she wanted’. ‘The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit.
‘They are saying things now like I doped her or hypnotised her. What rubbish!
kimberley Vlaminck with 56 tattoos on her face
Rouslan Toumaniantz said today that Kimberley Vlaminck ‘absolutely’ agreed she wanted 56 stars tattooed on the left side of her face.
But now the 18-year-old is suing Toumaniantz, claiming she had asked him for only three stars - and had fallen asleep during the procedure, waking up to a nightmare in her Belgian hometown of Courtrai.
Toumaniantz - himself covered from head to foot in tattoos and piercings - said he would help pay for half of the treatment to remove the tattoos.
‘I maintain that she absolutely agreed that I tattoo those 56 stars on the left side of her face,’ he told newspaper La Derniere Heure.
‘A witness, a woman who was present, has already been questioned by police, and she confirms it.
Rouslan Toumaniantz
‘But be that as it may: Kimberley is unhappy and it is not my wish to have an unsatisfied client. There is a way to remove the tattoos with the help of a laser. I accept to pay for half the cost.’
WASHINGTON: Scientists have found that a protein abundant in embryonic stem cells plays a major role in cancer, which they claim offers a possible new target for drug development.
A team at the Stem Cell Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, led by scientist Srinivas Viswanathan, has discovered that LIN28 protein can transform cells to a cancerous state, and that it is abundant in a variety of advanced human cancers like liver cancer and ovarian cancer.
According to them, LIN28 and a related protein, LIN28B, may be involved in some 15% of human cancers. By blocking or suppressing LIN28, it might be possible to revive the let-7 family’s natural tumour-suppressing action.
“Linking this protein to advanced cancer is a very exciting new result. It gives us a new target to attack, especially in the most resistant and hard-to-treat cases,” team member George Daley said.
LIN28, which is abundant in embryonic stem cells and prevents them from differentiating into specific cell types, was originally discovered to influence embryonic development in worms some 25 years ago.
Development, stem cell generation and carcinogenesis are known to be closely related, but until last year’s study connected LIN28 to let-7, it hadn’t been clear how. “LIN28 is a fascinating protein that acts in stem cells and cancers, and is teaching us that cancer is often a disease of stem cells,” Daley said.
The findings are published in the latest edition of the ‘Nature Genetics’ journal.
MELBOURNE: In what is claimed to a world- first breakthrough, scientists claim to have used stem cells cultured on contact lens to restore sight in the sufferers of blinding corneal disease.
A team at the University of New South Wales harvested stem cells from patients’ own eyes to rehabilitate the damaged cornea. The stem cells were cultured on a common therapeutic contact lens which was then placed onto the damaged cornea for 10 days, during which the cells were able to re-colonise the damaged eye surface.
While the novel procedure was used to rehabilitate damaged corneas, the researchers say it offers hope to people with a range of blinding eye conditions and could have applications in other organs, the ‘Transplantation’ journal reported in its latest edition.
In fact, the trial was conducted on three patients — two with extensive corneal damage resulting from multiple surgeries to remove ocular melanomas, and one with the genetic eye condition aniridia. Other causes of cornea damage can include chemical or thermal burns, bacterial infection and chemotherapy.
