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UCLA professors Huan Meng, Melissa Spencer and April Pyle pictured in a lab.
Skeletal muscle cells isolated using the ERBB3 and NGFR surface markers (right) restore human dystrophin (green) after transplantation significantly greater than previous methods (left).
Illustration of mice adapting to their custom-designed space habitat on board the International Space Station
The new protocol turned 90 percent of human pluripotent stem cells into somite cells in just four days; those somite cells then generated (left to right) cartilage, bone and muscle cells.
Nanoparticles (green) injected intravenously into mice are capable of entering muscle (outlined in grey) from blood vessels (red).
From left: April Pyle, Courtney Young and Melissa Spencer
Top row: Double fluorescent bone labeling images of mouse spine, demonstrating greater bone formation with NELL-1 treatment (top right) in comparison to control. Bottom: Computer-simulated images compare bone strength in a mouse spine treated with NELL-1 (bottom right) in comparison to control; red indicates areas at risk for fracture.
The UCLA NELL-1 research team, left to right: Kang Ting, Chia Soo, Ben Wu and Jin Hee Kwak