In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, researchers led by Profs. Dai Jianwu and Zhao Yannan from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have demonstrated the remarkable role of early developmental spinal cord extracellular matrix (ECM) in promoting neuronal axon growth and functional maturation, as well as enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and spinal cord organoids in rat spinal cord injury (SCI).
For adult mammals, SCI is a devastating blow due to the multiple factors that inhibit regeneration within spinal cord tissues along with the weak regenerative capacity of neurons, ultimately leading to functional loss after injury.
Pulmonary diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. For many progressive lung diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a key issue is a low supply of new stem cells to repair and reverse damage. These cells are responsible for regenerating and increasing the growth of healthy tissue—without them, lung function decreases and a range of severe illnesses can take hold.
But a team of scientists at Scripps Research and its drug discovery arm, the Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines, has now developed a lung-targeted, druglike small molecule to stimulate the growth of lung stem cells. These new findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provide a biological proof of concept for activating one of the body's regenerative pathways and restoring damaged lung tissue.
This approach could transform the treatment of severe pulmonary diseases, notably as CMR316—Calibr-Skaggs' similar therapy for treating IPF—is set to enter a phase 1 clinical trial this summer.
In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, researchers found that intravenous therapies made from virus-specific T-cells (VST) can effectively treat immunocompromised pediatric patients, far surpassing the current standard of care, according to new research published in Nature Communications.
More than 60% of patients in the phase 2 clinical trial led by investigators from Children's National Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute responded to the innovative VST therapy.
This new treatment uses blood from healthy donors to manufacture a highly specialized immune therapy that, when given to immune-compromised patients, prompts their immune system to fight off potentially life-threatening viruses, including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr, and adenovirus. Without this therapy, estimates suggest that less than 30% of patients would recover using standard protocols.
Autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) are disorders of the immune system associated in this case with demyelination of the central nervous system (CNS). The term demyelination describes damage to the layer covering nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord.
Recently, medical researchers have been exploring the potential of treating these diseases by transplanting autologous hematopoietic cells or blood stem cells (i.e., immature cells found in the peripheral blood and bone marrow of patients). While this possible treatment has been the focus of various studies, its effects and cellular underpinnings remain poorly understood.
Thistle extract accelerates nerve regeneration by up to 29%
By Paul McClure
April 22, 2024
Nature has again proven effective in treating health conditions, this time nerve injury. According to a new study, a compound found in the blessed thistle plant accelerates the regeneration of damaged nerves, restoring motor function and touch sensation.
Damaged nerve fibers (axons) in the peripheral nervous system can regenerate themselves, but complete functional recovery often doesn’t occur. That’s because the Schwann cells responsible for regeneration stop providing support after about three months. If the restoration of nerve function, called reinnervation, hasn’t happened in that time, the axonal injury often results in lifelong incomplete recovery and can lead to nerve or neuropathic pain.
In a study published in Cell Stem Cell, USC scientists report significant progress in cultivating nephron progenitor cells (NPCs), the cells destined to form the kidney's filtration system, the nephrons. NPCs hold immense promise for understanding kidney development, modeling diseases, and discovering new treatments.
"By enhancing our capability to grow NPCs from human stem cells, we create a new avenue for understanding and combating congenital kidney diseases and cancer," said corresponding and lead author Zhongwei Li, an assistant professor of medicine, and stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
In the study Li Lab postdocs Biao Huang and Zipeng Zeng and their collaborators improved the chemical cocktail for generating and growing NPCs in the laboratory.
This improved cocktail enables the sustained growth of both mouse and human NPCs in a simple 2-dimensional format. This marks a major improvement over the previous 3-dimensional system, which was not only more cumbersome, but also limited the ability to perform genome editing on the cells.
The cocktail also enables the expansion of induced NPCs (iNPCs) from human pluripotent stem cells. These iNPCs closely resemble native human NPCs. With this approach, iNPCs can be generated from any individual starting with a simple blood or skin biopsy. This approach will facilitate the creation of patient-specific kidney disease models and enhance efforts to identify nephron targeted drugs.
