Cell replacement therapy offers a novel and powerful medical technology. A type of embryonic stem cell, called a neural crest stem cell, that persists into adulthood in hair follicles was recently discovered by Maya Sieber-Blum, Ph.D., of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milos Grim, MD Ph.D., of Charles University Prague, and their collaborators.

The discovery – reported recently in Developmental Dynamics, a journal of the American Association of Anatomists published by John W

A new drug candidate previously shown to reduce harmful side effects of the autoimmune disease lupus also may be useful in treating psoriasis.

In a study published online Dec. 3 in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, scientists from the University of Michigan report that a compound called benzodiazepine-423 (Bz-423)—a chemical cousin of the anti-anxiety drugs Valiumâ and Xanaxâ—suppresses cell growth in a model of psoriasis. In psoriasis, cells multiply

Scientists use fluorescence to track ultrafine particles taken up by white blood cells

In some of the first work documenting the uptake of carbon nanotubes by living cells, a team of chemists and life scientists from Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the Texas Heart Institute have selectively detected low concentrations of nanotubes in laboratory cell cultures.

The research appears in the Dec. 8 issue of the Journal of the Ame

Some researchers have doubts that mammoths lived in the cold climate zones. Recently, Russian scientists have received strong evidence of woolly mammoths’ frost-resistance – they possessed sebaceous glands. The trip to visit mammoths was paid by the International Scientific and Technical Center, and the researchers’ search for sebaceous glands was supported by the Federal Target Scientific and Technical Program entitled “Investigations and Developments for Science and Engineering Priority Guid

In a project that will likely be watched by football players, runners and other athletes, researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School say they are developing an injectable gel that could speed repair of torn cartilage, a common sports injury, and may help injured athletes return to competition sooner. The technique uses the patient’s own cartilage-producing cells and has the potential to be more effective and less invasive than conventional cartilage repair techniques, which may include extens

Despite the common belief in the oncology community that cancer research and treatment have focused on breast tumors that are estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center maintains that clinicians have made “enormous strides” in treating patients with tumors that are ER-negative.

In a presentation at the annual meeting of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Donald Berry, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the Depart

Because up to 75 percent of breast cancer patients have an abnormality in a specific cell signaling pathway, drugs that target different molecules along that pathway may be especially effective for treating the disease, says a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

A clearer picture is now emerging about the importance of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathway to breast cancer development, says Gordon Mills, M.D., Ph.D., a professor and c

New find may be future target for medications to relieve common skin condition

Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center simultaneously have resolved a controversy over the cause of psoriasis and developed the first mouse model that fully mimics the human disorder. What’s more, the scientists have demonstrated they can block the signals that lead to psoriasis in their mouse model with a topical skin treatment that can prevent new outbreaks as well as tr

Every year, millions of people try to look younger by taking injections of Botox, a prescription drug that gets rid of facial wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing muscles in the forehead. Although best known as a cosmetic procedure, Botox injections also have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat uncontrolled blinking (blepharospasm), lazy eye (strabismus), involuntary muscle contractions in the neck (cervical dystonia) and acute underarm sweating (severe primary axillar

Identifying asymptomatic people with genital herpes infection through targeted screening of high-risk groups may prevent disease transmission. However, widespread screening of pregnant women is unlikely to reduce the occurrence of herpes in newborns, according to an article in the January 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infects more than one-fifth of the United States population, but about 90 percent of those peop

Six months of treatment with celecoxib (Celebrex) in women at risk of developing breast cancer results in the reduction of estrogen receptor expression in breast cells, a research team at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found.

The surprising insight – that celecoxib may regulate a cell’s use of estrogen – could help explain the drug’s observed anticancer properties, says the study’s lead author, Banu Arun, M.D., associate professor in the Department of B

Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have presented preliminary results of a clinical trial in which women received a two-week shorter course of radiation therapy than the current standard following a lumpectomy. The study was presented today at the annual Charles A. Coltman Jr. San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Radiation therapy daily for six or seven weeks after a lumpectomy is the standard course of treatment for many women with breast cancer who have had breast-sparing sur

Immunitor USA Inc., announces that its licensed vaccine candidate V-1 Immunitor (V1) has shown promising results in Phase II, placebo-controlled, clinical trial involving 47 HIV-infected individuals (http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/12/emw186195.htm)

The study was published in the special December issue of the Journal of Clinical Virology – the official journal of The Pan American Society for Clinical Virology and The European Society for Clinical Virology. The abstract o

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to start a fitness regimen, you might want to seek professional help. A study by McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology has found that people who are new to an exercise activity perform better when their goals are set by a fitness professional rather than by themselves.

In a study at McMaster University, exercisers were asked to perform a grip-strength task. After their first attempt, half of the participants set their own goal for the s

Transplant recipients have 96 percent survival rate after first year

Transplant researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute have dramatically improved intestinal transplant graft survival, and reduced rejection and infection rates by successfully using a novel immunosuppression minimization protocol, thus improving patients’ overall quality of life and avoiding the use of several anti-rejection drugs, which can cause serious in

Travellers and night shift workers should save their money and look elsewhere for help to fall asleep.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released information today about research on melatonin supplements. The research was conducted at the University of Alberta for the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine. U of A researchers did a comprehensive review of all studies on the use of melatonin supplements to treat sleep disorders. Some of the h