Stem cells bred to kill cancer tumours
British researchers have developed what they call seek-and-destroy stem cells that hit tumours with a cancer-killing protein but spare healthy tissue. The technique is based on two previous studies: one showing that certain bone-marrow stem cells innately seek out cancers and another showing how these cells can make an anti-cancer protein. The University College London team, which hopes to begin human trials in two years, has so far used the stem cells to target lung, squamous, breast and cervical cancers in mice and cell cultures. Another advantage is that the stem cells aren't rejected by the body, so they can be made in batches, rather than having to be tailored for each patient, Reuters reports.
Bone-morrow jabs help heart patients
Dutch researchers have used bone-marrow injections to restore blood flow in the damaged hearts of patients suffering severe angina and for whom there was little hope of recovery. The results were so good - halving the amount of blockage, on average - that patients in the three-month Leiden University Medical Centre study who received placebos were subsequently given the bone-marrow injections. The researchers aren't sure exactly how the bone-marrow cells promote the creation of new blood vessels, healthday.com reports.
Green tea may stop spread of HIV
A chemical in green tea is so effective at blocking sexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that researchers from the University of Heidelberg say it should be used in vaginal creams to supplement antiretrovirals. The same team recently found that a protein in sperm actually helps HIV to infect cells, AFP reports. But they say a green tea polyphenol called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) neutralises this protein. Adding EGCG to topical creams would 'provide a simple and affordable prevention method' against HIV transmission.
