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Yang Chai (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC)

Ostrow School study links growth factor glitch to tongue defects

New findings about how cell signaling directs tongue development may have big clinical applications for healing tongue defects, according to an Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study published in The Journal …

Compared with a normal zebrafish (top), this mutant (bottom) is a real bone head. (Image by Sandeep Paul and Seth Ruffins)

Winner of the August 2013 USC Stem Cell Image of the Month Contest

Dr. Andrew McMahon and the judges of the USC Stem Cell Image of the Month contest would like to congratulate our August 2013 winners, Dr. Seth Ruffins and Sandeep Paul, a postdoc …

Speakers at the first first Zilkha Mini­Symposium on Alzheimer’s Research at USC covered a variety of topics on the devastating disease. Pictured here (left to right) are Christian Pike, PhD, associate professor, USC Davis School of Gerontology; Hong-Wei Dong, MD, PhD, associate professor, department of neurology; Roberta Brinton, PhD, R. Pete Vanderveen Chair in Therapeutic Discovery & Development; Maria Carrillo, vice president, medical and scientific relations, Alzheimer’s Association; Russell Jacobs, PhD, member, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute; Arthur W. Toga, PhD, Provost Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Radiology and Engineering; director of the USC Institute for Neuroimaging and Informatics; Paul Thompson, PhD, professor of ophthalmology, neurology, psychiatry and the behavioral sciences, radiology and engineering; Helena Chui, MD, Raymond and Betty McCarron Chair in Neurology; Lon Schneider, MD, director, USC Alzheimer Disease Research and Clinical Center; Berislav Zlokovic, MD, PhD, director, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute; and Scott Fraser, PhD, Provost Professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. (Photo by Amy E. Hamaker)

First Zilkha Alzheimer’s Mini-Symposium examines vascular system connections

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and more than five million Americans live with the disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Conquering Alzheimer’s was the …

From left, Andrew P. McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, with Yong Chen’s son Gary and researcher Qi-Long Ying (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

Businessman invests in stem cell research at USC

Chinese businessman Yong Chen has pledged $1 million to USC stem cell researcher Qi-Long Ying to support his future “eureka moments.” “When I talked to Mr. Chen, I told him that groundbreaking …

Neural stem cells derived from self-renewing mouse embryonic stem cells (Image courtesy of Qi-Long Ying)

A special protein helps embryonic stem cells keep their options open

In the ongoing quest to understand how embryonic stem cells (ESCs) retain their ability to differentiate into virtually any kind of cell, USC faculty member Qi-Long Ying and a team of researchers …

From left, Gage Crump, Jay R. Lieberman and Francesca Mariani (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

USC announces winners of first Regenerative Medicine Initiative awards

Three newly assembled disease teams within USC Stem Cell will take the early steps this year that might lead to future stem-cell based therapies for certain forms of deafness, bone defects and …

Qi-Long Ying (Photo by Cristy Lytal)

A genetic catch-22 promotes and prevents liver cancer

Can the same gene prevent and promote cancer? When it comes to liver cancer, the gene that codes for P53, a protein found in humans and many other animals, involves this catch-22. …

Songtao Shi, DDS, PhD (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC)

Stem cells found in gum tissue can fight inflammatory disease

Stem cells found in mouth tissue can not only become other types of cells but can also relieve inflammatory disease, according to a new Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study in …

Stem Cell colloquium

2013 EiHS & CIRM STAR Colloquium and Poster Presentation

James Hur (right), a student from Harvard-Westlake School, describes his research on healing radiation wounds at the USC Early Investigator High School (EiHS) & USC CIRM Science, Technology and Research (STAR) Colloquium …

This embryonic mouse at day 10.5 has a special glow thanks to the fluorescent labeling of its neurofilaments, which are major structural element of neurons. The picture won the July 2013 Image of the Month contest at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Rengerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. (Image by Elisabeth Rutledge, PhD student in the lab of Andrew McMahon)

Winner of the July 2013 USC Stem Cell Image of the Month Contest

Dr. Andrew McMahon, Dr. Seth Ruffins and the judges of the USC Stem Cell Image of the Month contest would like to congratulate our July 2013 winner, Elisabeth Rutledge, a PhD student …

High school panelists Darren Harris, Philbert Mach and Chisom Onyea talk about researching stem cells at USC.

Forum kicks off USC’s summer high school programs in stem cell research

More than 20 local students are enjoying a summer of hands-on experience in stem research laboratories through the USC Early Investigator High School (EiHS) and the USC CIRM Science, Technology and Research …

MIcroscopy related to Alzheimer's disease

USC professor presents Alzheimer’s findings at international conference

USC School of Pharmacy Professor Roberta Diaz Brinton, holder of the R. Pete Vanderveen Chair in Therapeutic Discovery and Development, presented her work on Allopregnanolone and the phase 1 trial that will …

Wange Lu (Photo by Chris Shinn)

USC study sheds light on stem cell reprogramming

Researchers are learning how to turn regular cells into stem cells, a process called reprogramming. However, some of the mechanisms of the process remain unknown, such as why only a small proportion of the cells can be reprogrammed. Researchers have at least part of the answer: the structure of genes.

Norman Arnheim

Common genetic disease linked to father’s age

Scientists at USC have unlocked the mystery of why new cases of the genetic disease Noonan syndrome are so common—a mutation, which causes the disease, disproportionately increases a normal father’s production of …

Fanxin Long from Washington University School of Medicine

USC hosts mini-symposium on musculoskeletal development and repair

With its combination of bone, muscle, joints and more, the human musculoskeletal system is a complicated tangle of connections that can be difficult to repair. That was the challenge facing a panel …

Dr. Kinji Asahina (left) and Dr. Li (Photo courtesy of USC)

New study identifies the cellular origin of liver fibrosis

Fibrosis is the process of scar tissue formation. Liver fibrosis can be caused by injury to the liver, chronic viral infection and alcohol abuse. Advanced liver fibrosis can lead to cirrhosis, portal …

Scott Fraser, a world leader in using advanced technologies to capture biological processes (Photo by John Livzey)

Technology and science converge

What does a bacterial flange actually look like? Going way beyond the microscope, researchers from across several schools at USC and The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., gathered this month …

Songtao Shi, DDS, PhD (Photo courtesy of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC)

New method to treat chemo-related jaw bone necrosis

Over the last decade, osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) has emerged as a devastating and debilitating condition of cancer patients receiving high doses of antiresorptive chemotherapy (bisphosphonates and denosumab). ONJ currently has …

From left to right: Mr. K.V. Kumar, Dr. Andy McMahon, Sir John Gurdon and Mr. Jonathan Thomas (Photo courtesy of USC)

Interview with Sir John Gurdon

Sir John Gurdon, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist whose experiments in the field of cloning laid the foundation for modern stem cell research, visited the USC Health Sciences Campus on May 16. He …

Sir John Gurdon won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for laying the groundwork for stem cell research. (Photo courtesy of John Gurdon)

Nobel Laureate discusses history of cloning

Cells can be stubborn things. A skin cell resists changing into a liver cell, and a heart cell wants to remain a heart cell. But with the right kind of manipulation, they …