In BriefResearchers from UCLA have found a way to successfully reactivate stem cells in dormant hair follicles to promote hair growth in mice. Through this research, they've developed two drugs that could help millions of people worldwide treat conditions that lead to abnormal hair growth and retention. Researchers have already explored ways to use stem cells totreat everything from diabetes toaging, and now, ateam from UCLAthinks they could potentially offer some relief for people suffering from baldness. During their study, which has beenpublished in Nature, the researchers noticedthat stem cells found in hair follicles undergo a different metabolic process than normal skin cells. After turning glucose into a molecule known as pyruvate, these hair follicle cells then do one of two things: send the pyruvateto the cells mitochondria to be used as energy or convert it into another metabolite known as lactate. Based on these findings, the researchers decided to see if inactive hair follicles behaved differently depending on the path of the pyruvate. To that end, the UCLA team compared mice that had been genetically engineered so that they wouldnt produce lactate with mice that had been engineered to produce more lactate than normal. Obstructing lactate production stopped the … Continue reading →

Ball-and-stick model of the L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) molecule, C6H8O6, as found in the crystal structure. Credit: public domain Vitamin C may "tell" faulty stem cells in the bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers. This is the finding of a study led by researchers from Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health, and published online August 17 in the journal Cell. Certain genetic changes are known to reduce the ability of an enzyme called TET2 to encourage stem cells to become mature blood cells, which eventually die, in many patients with certain kinds of leukemia, say the authors. The new study found that vitamin C activated TET2 function in mice engineered to be deficient in the enzyme. "We're excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies," says corresponding study author Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center. Changes in the genetic code (mutations) that reduce TET2 function are found in 10 percent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), … Continue reading →

BOSTON In his offices at Boston Childrens Hospital, Leonard Zon is busily developing cutting-edge stem cell therapies surrounded by fellow researchers, lab equipment and 300,000 striped, transparent zebrafish. Zons lab and the zebrafish are the results of an initiative begun nearly a decade ago to make Massachusetts one of the countrys premier life sciences incubators. That 2008 initiative, signed by former Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, committed Massachusetts to spending $1 billion over 10 years to jump-start the life sciences sector attracting the best minds, research facilities and the venture capital funding. By most yardsticks, Patricks gamble has paid off. Massachusetts, and the greater Boston area in particular, are now seen as a top life sciences hub. For Zon, and other life sciences leaders, the support has been transformative. In 2013, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which is charged with distributing the state funds, awarded a $4 million grant to Childrens Hospital to help establish the Childrens Center for Cell Therapy. Some of the money went toward replacing the original aquaculture facilities at Zons lab with state-of-the-art systems. Zon said the changes helped him pursue stem cell therapies taking tissues grown from stem cells aimed at thwarting specific diseases and transplanting … Continue reading →