“Latest Stem Cells News”

Baldness is an undesirable condition that afflicts both men and women, many of which have family members with significant hair loss. According to Health Day News, a new study of stem cells in mice shows promise for future treatments for people who battle hair loss.

The study was conducted on the fatty skin layers of mice by researchers at Yale University. Specifically, adipose precursor cells were found to spur new hair growth in mice, according to Health Day News.

Stem cells are present in hair follicles, which help generate hair growth. Health Day News explains that these cells are still present in people with baldness, but the follicles no longer receive signals to grow new hair. At the same time, hair loss causes a decrease in natural fat cells within the scalp.

“If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormant stem cells at the base of the hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again,” said senior study author Valerie Horsley, as quoted by Health Day News.

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A team at Keio University has used stem cells to cure mice whose hind legs were paralyzed due to spinal cord damage, the researchers reported Wednesday at a Tokyo symposium.
The team transplanted neural stem cells grown from human iPS cells.

Team leader Hideyuki Okano, a physiology professor at Keio, said it is the first time in the world in which the curative effects of “induced pluripotent stem cells,” or iPS cells, have been confirmed.
Currently, there is no effective treatment for spinal nerve damage and treatment using iPS cells gives hope of a cure.

“It is valuable that treatment using human iPS cells has proved effective. We want to apply (the results) in a clinical setting as soon as possible,” Okano said.
The team generated neural stem cells, which will grow into nerve cells, from human iPS cells produced with a technique developed by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University.

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