Boston-area scientists say they've discovered a method that dramatically multiplies blood stem cells.
The discovery at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., could result in improved bone marrow transplants and making them available to more patients, the Boston Globe reported Monday.
Bone marrow transplants save the lives of thousands of cancer patients each year, but many people are denied treatment because the stem cells, which give the transplants their regenerative power, are not available.
The new technique, discovered in mouse experiments, reportedly uses a cocktail of growth factors to multiply the stem cells as much as thirty fold.
''This is a very significant step forward," Dr. Guy Sauvageau, who was not involved in the Whitehead work, told the Globe. He is scientific director of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer in Montreal.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
NC State first university in nation to offer canine bone marrow transplants
Dogs suffering from lymphoma will be able to receive the same type of medical treatment as their human counterparts, as North Carolina State University becomes the first university in the nation to offer canine bone marrow transplants in a clinical setting.
Hearing restoration may be possible with cochlear repair after transplant of human cord blood cells
According to an Italian research team publishing their findings in the current issue of
Cell Transplantation (17:6), hearing loss due to cochlear damage may be repaired by transplantation of human umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) since they show that a small number migrated to the damaged cochlea and repaired sensory hair cells and neurons.
Researchers devise means to create blood by identifying earliest stem cells
Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered the earliest form of human blood stem cells and deciphered the mechanism by which these embryonic stem cells replicate and grow. They also found a surprising biological marker that pinpoints these stem cells, which serve as the progenitors for red blood cells and lymphocytes.
Face transplant patient can smile, blink again
(AP) -- Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. Two of the world's three teams that have done partial face transplants reported Friday that their techniques were surprisingly effective, though complications exist and more work is still needed.
Protein key to control, growth of blood cells
New research sheds light on the biological events by which stem cells in the bone marrow develop into the broad variety of cells that circulate in the blood. The findings may help improve the success of bone marrow transplants and may lead to better treatments for life-threatening blood diseases.
Cancer drug shows promise against graft vs. host disease
A new University of Michigan study in mice suggests that a drug recently approved to fight cancer tumors is also able to reduce the effects of graft-versus-host disease, a common and sometimes fatal complication for people who have had bone marrow transplants.
Small protein may have big role in making more bone and less fat
A small protein may have a big role in helping you make more bone and less fat, researchers say. "The pathways are parallel, and the idea is if you can somehow disrupt the fat production pathway, you will get more bone," says Dr. Xingming Shi, bone biologist at the Medical College of Georgia Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics.
Nerve cells derived from stem cells and transplanted into mice may lead to improved brain treatments
Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have, for the first time, genetically programmed embryonic stem (ES) cells to become nerve cells when transplanted into the brain, according to a study published today in
The Journal of Neuroscience. The research, an important step toward developing new treatments for stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions showed that mice afflicted by stroke showed tangible therapeutic improvement following transplantation of these cells. None of the mice formed tumors, which had been a major setback in prior attempts at stem cell transplantation.