University of Missouri researchers have previously shown that a genetic pre-disposition to be more or less motivated to exercise exists. In a new study, Frank Booth, a professor in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, has found a potential link between the genetic pre-disposition for high levels of exercise motivation and the speed at which mental maturation occurs. For his study, Booth selectively bred rats that exhibited traits of either extreme activity or extreme laziness. Booth then put the rats in cages with running wheels and measured how much each rat willingly ran on their wheels during a six-day period. He then bred the top 26 runners with each other and bred the 26 rats that ran the least with each other. They repeated this process through 10 generations and found that the line of running rats chose to run 10 times more than the line of "lazy" rats. Booth studied the brains of the rats and found much higher levels of neural maturation in the brains of the active rats than in the brains of the lazy rats. "We looked at the part of the brain known as the 'grand central station,' or the hub where the brain is … Continue reading →

Gunny is taken to the recovery room at Palmyra Animal Clinc by lab techs Kyle Kolva, left and Debbie Miller. Watching is Dr. Richard Hann who performed the stem cell procedure. Earl Brightbill-Lebanon Daily News Dr. Calvin Clements, owner of the Palmyra Animal Clinic, 920 E. Main St., said he had been offering stem cell therapy in his clinics for about seven years. "It's been available commercially for about seven to 10 years," he said. "There was a several day turnaround, multiple anesthesia, and it was considerable expense." Clements said the stem cell process is used for joint disease in animals now but the use of stem cells is expanding. "Now, we're using it for degenerative joint disease, joint damage, cartilege damage, ligament injuries ... there's tons of those (injuries) in animals," he said. On Wednesday, Clements and his associate Dr. Richard Hann used the new process for the first time in their office with two dogs, Gunny, a 7-year-old German Shepherd and Hudson, an 8-year-old Toy Fox Terrier. Trey Smith, lab director for MediVet America, said the company has provided stem cell therapy for several years, but until recently, veterinary clinics had to send an animal's stem cells to … Continue reading →

ReNeuron Group Quote more Price: 3.08 Chg: 0.10 Chg %: 3.19% Date: 16:52 AIM-listed ReNeuron has signed a deal with the Welsh government to lease a landmark building at Pencoed Technology Park, near Cardiff in South Wales. The stem cell therapy company explained that it will build a new state-of-the-art facility at Pencoed, to which it will relocate the business next year. The move will unite various elements of the firm's business activities in a single location, which it said would provide operational synergies to aid therapeutic candidates as they move through clinical development to future market approval. ReNeuron said it expects the move will create up to another 70 jobs at the site in the next two years. Michael Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, said: "We are delighted to have signed an agreement to lease this landmark building in South Wales, which marks a further significant step in ReNeuron's business development strategy. When complete, we believe the building will house the UK's most advanced commercial cell therapy manufacturing facility and we are delighted to continue to work with the Welsh government to bring this important project to fruition. See original here: ReNeuron leases building for relocation of business … Continue reading →

By Estel Grace Masangkay A team of investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has identified four transcription factors characterizing the small proportion of glioblastoma cells behind the aggressiveness and treatment resistance of the brain tumor. The teams findings suggest a novel approach to treating glioblastoma stem cells. The researchers identified a combination of four transcription factors (POU3F2, SOX2, SALL2 and OLIG2) able to reprogram differentiated tumor cells back into glioblastoma stem cells in vitro as well as in an animal model. The team confirmed that the four factors and their corresponding regulatory elements were active in from 2 to 7 percent of human glioblastoma cells, which also expressed a known stem cell marker. Dr. Mario Suv of the MGH Department of Pathology and Center for Cancer Research, and co-lead author, said, We have identified a code of molecular switches that control a very aggressive subpopulation of brain cancer cells, so-called glioblastoma stem cells. Understanding what drives these aggressive cells will give us insights into alternative ways of eliminating them and potentially changing the course of this very deadly tumor. Findings show that inhibition of a crucial regulatory protein complexs action involving a known target gene of one of the … Continue reading →