In cases of severe ocular trauma involving the cornea, wound healing occurs following intervention, but at the cost of opaque scar tissue formation and damaged vision. Recent research has shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) — which can differentiate into a variety of cells, including bone, cartilage, muscle and fat cells — are capable of returning clarity to scarred corneas; however, the mechanisms by which this happens remained a mystery — until now. In a study published online today in Stem Cell Reports, researchers from Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear have identified hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), secreted by MSCs, as the key factor responsible for promoting wound healing and reducing inflammation in preclinical models of corneal injury. Their findings suggest that HGF-based treatments may be effective in restoring vision in patients with severely scarred corneas.

A research team led by investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has generated functional human and mouse tissue-engineered liver from adult stem and progenitor cells. Tissue-engineered Liver (TELi) was found to contain normal structural components such as hepatocytes, bile ducts and blood vessels. The study has been published online in the journalStem Cells Translational Medicine.

When a person has a stroke, blood flow to the brain is interrupted, causing brain cells to die within minutes due to lack of oxygen. In some cases, this can result in paralysis, speech and language problems, vision problems, and memory loss. But in a new study, researchers have shown that stem cell therapy increases nerve cell production in mice with brain damage due to stroke.

A new study has determined the existence of at least four separate subtypes of human insulin producing beta cells that may be important in the understanding and treatment of diabetes. The findings are published online in Nature Communications.

An alternative to hip replacement surgery may be in sight. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reveal how it may be possible to use a patient’s own stem cells to grow new cartilage in the shape of a hip joint.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed therapeutic synthetic, light-curable, biomaterials for dental treatments that support native dental stem cells inside teeth to repair and regenerate dentin.

Satellite cells are stem cells found in skeletal muscles. While transplantation of such muscle stem cells can be a potent therapy for degenerative muscle diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, these cells tend to lose their transplantation efficiency when cultured in vitro. In the study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases, researchers have found that treating these stem cells with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) effectively maintains the undifferentiated state of the satellite cells and enhances their transplantation efficiency.

A phase II clinical trial in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, suggests that transplanting human stem cells into the spinal cord may be done safely.

Results of a recent clinical trial show that adding a second autologous stem cell transplant (which uses the patient’s own stem cells) to standard therapy improves outcomes for children with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that most commonly affects children age 5 or younger. Historically, less than half of children with high-risk neuroblastoma live five or more years after diagnosis.

Researchers have inadvertently found a way to make human muscle cells bearing genetic mutations from people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The finding should shed light on how subtle genetic differences among DMD patients produce symptoms with a wide range of severity and disability. The cells, they say, could also be used to test new therapies.