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.

A new clinical trial shows how an intensive procedure that completely wipes out the immune system and regenerates a new one with the help of blood stem cells can significantly reduce inflammation in patients with early, aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and lead to lasting recovery. The trial involved 24 participants who were followed for up to 13 years and is the first to show a complete, long-term suppression of inflammation in patients with MS.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have come up with a way to create a “home away from home” for stem cells in the form of artificial muscle fibers. They’ve also identified the particular “soup” of molecules and nutrients necessary to keep the cells in their most potent, regenerative state.

Stempeutics Research, a group company of Manipal Education & Medical Group and a joint venture with Cipla Group, announced that the Drugs Controller General (India) has granted limited approval for manufacturing and marketing of Stempeutics’ stem cell-based biological product Stempeucel® for the treatment of Buerger’s disease.