#activin-a

Possible Cure for “Stone Man” Syndrome Found

Courtesy of Penn Medicine

Researchers working with mice may have found new hopefor patients suffering from a rare, untreatable disorder that turns muscle tissue into bone. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or “stone man” syndrome, is a genetic disorder that is caused by mutations on a particular gene responsible for bone and muscle growth. This gene is ACVR1 and when functioning correctly,…

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Differentiated into Intestinal Cells

Even the liver is the main organize when it comes to the metabolization of drugs, the small intestine also plays an important role in all aspects of drug metabolism. Unfortunately, no laboratory system exists at present that serves as a standardized system for evaluating the way drugs interact with the small intestine.

A new study by Tamihide Matsubara and his colleagues from Nagoya City…

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Make Lungs

Since my father died of disseminated lung cancer (squamous cell carcinoma), this report has particular meaning to me.

When a person dies, their lungs can be harvested and stripped of their cells. This leaves a so-called “lung scaffold” that can then be used to build new lungs by means of tissue engineering techniques. Lung scaffolds consist of a protein called collagen, and sugar-rich proteins…