http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurons in the adult brain, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study in mice suggests that the gene may play an important role in maintaining cognitive function during aging. http://www.physorg.com/news176651173.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:34 EST news176651173 In populating the growing brain, neural stem cells must strike a delicate balance between two key processes - proliferation, in which the cells multiply to provide plenty of starting materials - and differentiation, in which those materials evolve into functioning neurons. http://www.physorg.com/news173881709.html Medicine & Health Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:29:12 EST news173881709 A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla have developed a safe strategy for reprogramming cells to a pluripotent state without use of viral vectors or genomic insertions. Their studies reveal that these induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are very similar to human embryonic stem cells, yet maintain a "transcriptional signature." In essence, these cells retain some memory of the donor cells they once were. http://www.physorg.com/news172490604.html Biology Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:04:44 EST news172490604 A new study finds substantial improvement in a mouse model of a rare, hereditary neurodegenerative disease after transplantation of normal human neural stem cells. The research findings, published by Cell Press in the September 4th issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, show that the transplanted cells provided a critical enzyme that was missing in the brains of the experimental mice and represent an important step toward what may be a successful therapeutic approach for a currently untreatable and devastating disease. http://www.physorg.com/news171203128.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:25:56 EST news171203128 An injectable biomaterial gel may help brain tissue grow at the site of a traumatic brain injury, according to findings by a Clemson University bioengineer. http://www.physorg.com/news171131636.html Biology Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:00:02 EST news171131636 The effects of amphetamines on gene expression in zebrafish have been uncovered. This new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, provides clues to the genetics that underlie susceptibility to addiction by describing the nad zebrafish mutant, which does not feel the rewarding effects of the drugs. http://www.physorg.com/news168245721.html Biology Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:10:01 EST news168245721 (PhysOrg.com) -- UC Irvine scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimer's disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the U.S. http://www.physorg.com/news167330309.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:00:01 EST news167330309 Neural stem cells represent the cellular backup of our brain. These cells are capable of self-renewal to form new stem cells or differentiate into neurons, astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. Astrocytes have supportive functions in the environment of neurons, while oligodendrocytes form the myelin layer around axons in order to accelerate neuronal signal transmission. But how does a neural stem cell "know" which way it is supposed to develop? http://www.physorg.com/news165577024.html Chemistry Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:37:33 EST news165577024 (PhysOrg.com) -- UQ neuroscientists have, for the first time, been able to demonstrate that moderate exercise significantly increases the number of neural stem cells in the ageing brain. http://www.physorg.com/news165079079.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:18:43 EST news165079079 In the fruit fly's developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor. http://www.physorg.com/news164892108.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:22:47 EST news164892108 Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, USA, report in the journal Development the successful generation from human embryonic stem cells of a type of cell that can make myelin, a finding that opens up new possibilities for both basic and clinical research. http://www.physorg.com/news158475622.html Biology Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:00:51 EST news158475622 Cells isolated from the eye that many scientists believed were retinal stem cells are, in fact, normal adult cells, investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found. If retinal stem cells could be obtained, they might provide the basis for treatments to restore sight to millions of people with blindness caused by retinal degeneration. Stem cells are immature cells capable of producing large numbers of adult cells, such as retinal cells. Researchers believe that stem cells offer the promise of regenerating tissue in organs such as the eye, brain and heart, damaged by trauma or disease. http://www.physorg.com/news157653130.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:32:44 EST news157653130 An enzyme researchers have studied for years because of its potential connections to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, appears to have yet another major role to play: helping create and maintain the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news156058874.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:41:48 EST news156058874 Effective stem cell treatment for strokes has taken a significant step forward today as scientists reveal how they have replaced stroke-damaged brain tissue in rats. http://www.physorg.com/news155814407.html Biology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:47:10 EST news155814407 A team of researchers at Keio University has succeeded in improving spinal cord damage in mice by transplanting into them neural stem cells produced with human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, they said. http://www.physorg.com/news153063228.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:34:05 EST news153063228 Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells. http://www.physorg.com/news149776804.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:40:04 EST news149776804 A new study confirms that exercise can reverse the age-related decline in the production of neural stem cells in the hippocampus of the mouse brain, and suggests that this happens because exercise restores a brain chemical which promotes the production and maturation of new stem cells. http://www.physorg.com/news146219732.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:35:32 EST news146219732 Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel mechanism in the regulation and differentiation of neural stem cells. http://www.physorg.com/news145539812.html Biology Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:43:32 EST news145539812 (PhysOrg.com) -- Yale University scientists today reported evidence suggesting that the tiny cilia found on brain cells of mammals, thought to be vestiges of a primeval past, actually play a critical role in relaying molecular signals that spur creation of neurons in an area of the brain involved in mood, learning and memory. The findings are published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. http://www.physorg.com/news137776131.html Biology Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:08:51 EST news137776131 In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism. The study demonstrated that mice lacking the myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) protein in neural stem cells had smaller brains, fewer nerve cells and showed behaviors similar to those seen in humans with a form of autism known as Rett Syndrome. http://www.physorg.com/news134065076.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:17:56 EST news134065076 In recent years, stem cell researchers have become very adept at manipulating the fate of adult stem cells cultured in the lab. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies achieved the same feat with adult neural stem cells still in place in the brain. They successfully coaxed mouse brain stem cells bound to join the neuronal network to differentiate into support cells instead. http://www.physorg.com/news134040701.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:31:41 EST news134040701