induced pluripotent stem cells tagged posts

A stained cross section of the new muscle fibers. The red cells are muscle cells, the green areas are receptors for neuronal input, and the blue patches are cell nuclei. Credit: Image courtesy of Duke University

First functioning human muscle grown from induced pluripotent stem cells holds promise for cellular therapies, drug discovery and studying rare diseases. The advance builds on work published in 2015 when researchers at Duke University grew the first functioning human muscle tissue from cells obtained from muscle biopsies...

Eye doctors use a variety of tests to catch signs of glaucoma. Early detection and prompt treatment can prevent vision loss, but the condition is chronic and must be monitored for life. Credit: Steven E. Smith

Treatment would use cells from patient’s skin. An infusion of stem cells could help restore proper drainage for fluid-clogged eyes at risk for glaucoma. That’s the upshot of a study led by a Veterans Affairs and University of Iowa team. Researchers led by Dr. Markus Kuehn injected stem cells into the eyes of mice with glaucoma. The influx of cells regenerated the tiny, delicate trabecular meshwork, which serves as a drain for the eyes to avoid fluid buildup. When fluid accumulates in the eye, the increase in pressure could lead to glaucoma...

Heart cells are shown. Blue indicates nuclei. Credit: Yoshida Laboratory, CiRA, Kyoto University

Cell therapies for heart ailments involve transplanting over a billion heart cells to the patient’s heart. Many of these cells fail to engraft, however, compromising the benefits. One reason for the poor engraftment is that normally the heart cell population is a mixture of cells with different maturation. Researchers have now identified an ideal maturation stage that enhances engraftment and may reduce the number of cells required for therapy.

Under the direction of Sr Lecturer Yoshinori Yoshida, Dr Funakoshi took induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells that were reprogrammed from skin cells and made them into heart cells...