Researchers at Charité’s NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence have successfully identified the mechanism behind rapid signal transmission. Their work, published in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience, shows that bridging by a specific protein is responsible for this high speed of transmission. The manner in which individual nerve cells communicate is fundamental to human brain function. Signal transmission occurs...
Post
What is Treacher Collins syndrome?
Treacher Collins syndrome is a rare medical condition caused by a genetic mutation. It affects the development of bones and other tissues of the face and results in abnormalities in the head, face, and ears. Other names for this syndrome are mandibulofacial dysostosis, Treacher Collins-Franceschetti syndrome, Franceschetti-Zwahlen-Klein syndrome, and zygoauromandibular dysplasia. Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS)...
Post
How a gene mutation could help to treat chronic pain
Scientists have discovered a rare genetic mutation in one family that causes low sensitivity to pain, a discovery that could lead to new treatment strategies for chronic pain, which is one of the most debilitating conditions in the United States. Researchers suggest that mimicking a specific gene mutation that causes pain insensitivity could be one...
Post
Reproducing higher-order embryonic kidney structures using pluripotent stem cells
[LEFT] The higher-order structure of the kidney reconstructed from mouse ES cells (low magnification, green: collecting tube, red: nephron progenitor cells). [RIGHT] The nephron connected to the tip of the collecting tube (high …more In the embryonic kidney, three types of precursor cells interact to form three-dimensional structures of the kidney: nephron progenitor cells, ureteric...
Post
Can Young Stem Cells Make Older People Stronger?
Small trials using younger donors and elderly recipients hint that mesenchymal stem cell transfers might reduce frailty. Can one grow old without growing frail? One company is banking on the idea that with the right treatment, the answer can be ‘yes’ for many more people. In clinical trials published in October in the Journals of Gerontology, Longeveron, the firm...
Post
Crowding in the skin
IMAGE: SKIN CELLS GROWING IN A PETRI DISH (GREEN: CYTOSKELETON, RED: CELL-CELL JUNCTION PROTEIN) Human skin is a remarkable organ serving as a barrier protecting us from pathogens, toxic substances and others. Our skin needs to constantly renew throughout our lifetime as well as change its size to perfectly fit and cover the body. To...
Post
Researchers track muscle stem cell dynamics in response to injury and aging
SBP’s Alessandra Sacco, Ph.D., investigates how muscle stem cells become activated to repair damage, paving the way for stem cell-based therapies for muscle wasting and muscular dystrophy. A new study led by researchers at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) describes the biology behind why muscle stem cells respond differently to aging or...
Post
Reproducing higher-order embryonic kidney structures using pluripotent stem cells
[LEFT] The higher-order structure of the kidney reconstructed from mouse ES cells (low magnification, green: collecting tube, red: nephron progenitor cells). [RIGHT] The nephron connected to the tip of the collecting tube (high magnification, green: collecting tube, red: distal convoluted tubule, blue: proximal convoluted tubule, pink: glomus). In the embryonic kidney, three types of precursor...
Post
Researchers create skeletal muscle from stem cells
Skeletal muscle cells isolated using the ERBB3 and NGFR surface markers (right) restore human dystrophin (green) after transplantation significantly greater than previous methods (left). UCLA scientists have developed a new strategy to efficiently isolate, mature and transplant skeletal muscle cells created from human pluripotent stem cells, which can produce all cell types of the body....
Post
New findings point to potential therapy for Parkinson’s Disease
Partial inhibition of the interaction between calcineurin and FKBP12, with low doses of the FDA-approved compound Tacrolimus, protect neurons against the toxic effects of a-synuclein, a protein critically implicated in Parkinson’s disease. A new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), sheds light on a mechanism underlying Parkinson’s disease and suggests that...