Chris Kamel
Posts by: Chris
Skip the iPS middle man: Direct conversion of skin fibroblasts to blood progenitors
Though methods to convert adult cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells continue to improve, transition from the lab bench to the clinic can be a trickier proposition. Due to imperfect efficiency, each manipulation — conversion of adult cell to iPS cell to cell lineage of choice — decreases the yield of the cells of […]
The tell-tale heart: Firefly genes for stem cell tracking
As mentioned in a previous post, in order to fully understand what’s happening when stem cells are used for in clinical or in vivo research, we need some way to track them, preferably in a non-invasive manner. This can be done with either reporter genes or some sort of traceable label, and would allow researchers […]
RNA-induction: A new method for iPS cell production
The reprogramming of differentiated adult cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is accomplished by the expression of a small number of key genes. This is typically done by introducing DNA either by transfection or with viral vectors. Current methods, unfortunately, are not very efficient and run the risk of mutagenesis as a result of […]
Enhancing cancer stem cell drugs
When cells are subject certain types of mild stress, it activates a protein called NF-κB and downstream pathways that can lead to future stress resistance in a process called pre-conditioning. This is useful for preparing cells for transplant into harsh environments. But there are other situations where you don’t want these same survival proteins active […]
Ghosts of stem cells past
One of the coolest breakthroughs of the last five years is the ability to reprogram adult, differentiated cells into pluripotent cells, effectively allowing us to change one cell type into virtually any other. Reprogramming is achieved by expression of a set of genes that yield induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), which have many of […]
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