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Muscles and Skeleton News
Skeletal staining of the lower face of a zebrafish, with cartilage in blue, and bones and teeth in red. (Image by Pengfei Xu/Crump Lab); featured image for A Fox code for the face

A Fox code for the face

In the developing face, how do stem cells know whether to become cartilage, bones or teeth? To begin to answer this question, scientists from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump …

USC Trustee Daniel Epstein and his wife, Phyllis, give $10 million via their family foundation to support sports medicine research and treatment at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. (Photo courtesy of Daniel and Phyllis Epstein); featured image for Epstein family gift enhances sports medicine research and care at USC

Epstein family gift enhances sports medicine research and care at USC

Researchers and clinicians at the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery will advance their pioneering work on treatments and techniques to prevent and heal sports-related injuries thanks to a new …

Engineered mouse cells (Image courtesy of Leonardo Morsut); featured image for Synthetic “tissues” build themselves

Synthetic “tissues” build themselves

How do complex biological structures—an eye, a hand, a brain—emerge from a single fertilized egg? This is the fundamental question of developmental biology, and a mystery still being grappled with by scientists …

A developing metacarpal joint with skeletal stem cells (green) and mature cartilage cells (red). (Image courtesy of the Evseenko Lab); featured image for Denis Evseenko receives $4 million for arthritis research

Denis Evseenko receives $4 million for arthritis research

Denis Evseenko, a stem cell researcher at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has been awarded two grants totaling more than $4 million to support osteoarthritis research. A $3.4 million R01 …

Kella Vangsness (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for USC’s Kella Vangsness paints stem cells as superheroes

USC’s Kella Vangsness paints stem cells as superheroes

With captions by Kella Vangsness “As an artist and scientist, I cannot help but imagine stem cells as ‘superheroes’ fighting against ‘villains’ of disease,” said Kella Vangsness, who is graduating from USC …

From left, Priya Kumar and Mila Scheinberg (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Countdown to Commencement: Mila Scheinberg is an athlete, artist and future orthopedic surgeon

Countdown to Commencement: Mila Scheinberg is an athlete, artist and future orthopedic surgeon

At first glance, Mila Scheinberg’s passions seem unrelated: she has always been interested in medicine, loves to exercise and won many awards for her paintings in high school. However, in the masterpiece …

Kidney (Image by Lori O'Brien/Andy McMahon Lab, illustration by Mira Nameth)

Growing hope: New organs? Not yet, but stem cell research is getting closer

If you lose a limb, it’s lost for life. If you damage a kidney, you won’t grow a new one. And if you have a heart attack, the scars are there to …

Tubular networks developing in a mammalian kidney (Image by Tracy Tran/Andy McMahon Lab); featured image for Growing hope: What are stem cells, and how does USC use them?

Growing hope: What are stem cells, and how does USC use them?

Stem cell therapies have accelerated at a promising pace, but how do they work? And what are stem cells?

A new gel technology pioneered by Janet Moradian-Oldak and her team may eventually reach an elusive goal: filling without drilling.; featured image for Ostrow researcher makes strides in gel to regrow tooth enamel

Ostrow researcher makes strides in gel to regrow tooth enamel

Around the globe, dental cavities are the leading source of disability and pain: they affect 35 percent of the world’s population, with an economic impact in the hundreds of billions of dollars. …

From left, stem cell researchers Andres Matias Lebensohn, Maxwell Z. Wilson, Seth Shipman, Pulin Li and Yejing Ge (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for At USC’s Junior Faculty Mini-Symposium, stem cell scientists build to understand

At USC’s Junior Faculty Mini-Symposium, stem cell scientists build to understand

When physicist Richard Feynman died in 1988, he left a message scrawled across his chalkboard: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” Twenty years later, scientists in a very different field …

Joint cartilage (Image by Nancy Liu); featured image for Small molecule could make a big difference for arthritis patients

Small molecule could make a big difference for arthritis patients

Will there come a time when a patient with arthritis can forgo joint replacement surgery in favor of a shot? USC Stem Cell scientist Denis Evseenko has reason to be optimistic. In …

Motor nerve cells (Image courtesy of the Ichida Lab); featured image for The toxic relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia

The toxic relationship between ALS and frontotemporal dementia

ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two neurodegenerative diseases with a toxic relationship, according to a new USC Stem Cell study published in Nature Medicine.

Valter Longo (Photo by John Skalicky); featured image for What to know about fasting, aging, the “longevity diet” and when you should eat

What to know about fasting, aging, the “longevity diet” and when you should eat

Biochemist Valter Longo has devoted decades to discovering connections between nutrition and successful aging. He runs the Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which aims to extend healthy …

Bérénice Benayoun (Photo courtesy of the USC Davis School of Gerontology); featured image for Bérénice Benayoun studies possibility of rejuvenating genes

Bérénice Benayoun studies possibility of rejuvenating genes

Bérénice Benayoun, assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, explores the role of epigenetics—the ways that genes turn “off” or “on”—in the …

Green labels skeletal stem cells in the embryonic zebrafish head, and magenta labels the early-forming cartilaginous facial skeleton. (Video by Lindsey Barske/Crump Lab); featured image for USC Stem Cell scientists chew on the mysteries of jaw development

USC Stem Cell scientists chew on the mysteries of jaw development

Scientists in the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Gage Crump have revealed how key genes guide the development of the jaw in zebrafish. These findings may offer clues for understanding craniofacial anomalies …

Malcolm Snead (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC); featured image for USC professor Malcolm Snead elected to AIMBE College of Fellows

USC professor Malcolm Snead elected to AIMBE College of Fellows

Malcolm Snead, a professor at the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC and a principal investigator with USC Stem Cell, has been elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering …

Abigail Zamora; featured image for Broad Clinical Research Fellows use stem cells to build bone and combat cancer

Broad Clinical Research Fellows use stem cells to build bone and combat cancer

This year’s Broad Clinical Research Fellows will apply stem cell-based approaches to two prevalent problems: non-healing bone injuries, which affect 5 million Americans each year; and neuroblastoma, which is the most common …

Embryonic stem cells (Image/courtesy of Qi-Long Ying); featured image for Subtle cues can dictate the fate of stem cells

Subtle cues can dictate the fate of stem cells

If you’ve seen one GSK3 molecule, do not assume that you have seen them all. A new study in Developmental Cell reveals important differences in two similar forms of GSK3, which, in …

Mouse rib cage stained to show cartilage (blue) and bone (red) (Image by Francesca Mariani); featured image for Mariani Lab reveals rules for making ribs

Mariani Lab reveals rules for making ribs

Scientists from the USC Stem Cell lab of Francesca Mariani recently shared a recipe for ribs, and it doesn’t even require barbecue sauce.

From left, Gio Suh and Lauren Ekman (Photo by Cristy Lytal); featured image for Countdown to Commencement: Gio Suh builds muscles without exercising

Countdown to Commencement: Gio Suh builds muscles without exercising

“I’ve always wanted to be in a textbook and impact the world,” said Gio Suh, who is graduating in December 2017 from the master of science program in stem cell biology and …