HuffPosts Small Business Spotlight is a series aimed at highlighting the small businesses that are making a positive difference while forging new and significant futures in commerce.

Your scalp is really just an extension of the skin on your face, so why dont we care for it in the same way? Studies have shown that theres a direct correlation between scalp health and hair health and retention.

Helen Reavey, a hair stylist and trichologist, set out to solve that problem and found a solution in creating Act+Acre, a sustainable hair care line that focuses on improving the condition of the scalp first so that healthy hair can follow.

Throughout her 20-year career in the hair industry, Reavey worked in salons and at fashion weeks across the globe, and began to notice a pattern in the hair she saw and styled. Scalps were red and raw from overstyling and product buildup on the scalp, accompanied by dead and damaged hair.

I said to myself that I wished I had something to send these girls home with to dissolve the product, calm down inflammation and just really deliver nutrients to the scalp, the skin and the hair follicle, Reavey told HuffPost.

Now, products like Act+Acres Scalp Detox and Scalp Renew do just that by breaking down excess sebum, dead skin cells and product buildup, making the way for more abundant and healthier hair growth. Among other treatments, theres also a Stem Cell Serum that nourishes the hair follicle and helps to extend the growth phase.

Reavey said that the connection between scalp health and hair health seemed to be widely overlooked within the beauty industry, noting that caring for the scalp really goes beyond just the immediate improvements you may see once you start to address some of the most common concerns like itching, flaking and lack of hair volume.

Its really about from five to seven years from now that the hair in that cycle will really start to show what you were doing to it five, seven years ago. Its like when we work to prevent lines, wrinkles or sun damage now because we dont want them to appear in another five to 10 years, she said.

For Reavey, the conception and subsequent launch of Act+Acre in 2019 was also about challenging the norms and processes of the larger corporations that came before her their systems of transparency (or lack thereof) with their consumers, their wasteful approach to production and product development, and the kinds of ingredients being used.

Act+Acre uses a cold process method to create all of their products, a patented system that involves a hyperbaric chamber, cold air and pressure to extract the most from ingredients at their highest concentrations, which is possible because they arent evaporated off in the process. It also uses 90% less energy than traditional and cheaper methods with heat.

The rest is here:
This Hair Care Line Gives You Luscious Locks By Improving Your Scalp Health - HuffPost

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on This Hair Care Line Gives You Luscious Locks By Improving Your Scalp Health – HuffPost | March 22nd, 2022

Chemotherapy is a standard treatment for many different types of cancer.

Chemicals in chemotherapy drugs stop cancer cells from growing and spreading. These chemicals can also damage healthy cells, especially ones that divide quickly. This includes cells in your skin, digestive tracts, and bone marrow.

Damage to these cells can cause side effects. One common side effect is chemotherapy-induced anemia.

Anemia means you dont have enough red blood cells to properly carry oxygen around your body. This condition develops when chemotherapy drugs damage the cells in your bone marrow that create red blood cells.

Anemia usually goes away once chemotherapy stops but can lead to potentially serious complications when it develops. In this article, we break down causes of chemotherapy-induced anemia, signs and symptoms, and potential complications.

More than 100 types of medications have been developed to treat cancer, according to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Different medications disrupt cancer growth in different ways, and all have potential side effects.

The chemicals in chemotherapy drugs mainly target cells that replicate quickly. Along with cancer cells, these drugs can damage healthy cells. A low red blood cell count caused by these medications is called chemotherapy-induced anemia.

The erythroid progenitor cell is particularly vulnerable to chemotherapy, according to 2018 research. These cells are found in your bone marrow and become red blood cells. If many of these cells are damaged, you can develop a low red blood cell count.

A low red blood cell count means your blood has less hemoglobin than average. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to all your bodily tissues.

Its estimated that 70 percent of people who receive chemotherapy develop anemia. Its most common in people with:

At least 50 to 60 percent of people with these cancers require at least one blood transfusion. A transfusion is a procedure where youre given donated blood through an IV.

Chemotherapy-induced anemia is also common in people with low hemoglobin levels prior to treatment and people receiving platinum-based chemotherapy medications, according to the American Cancer Society. These medications include:

According to 2019 research, signs and symptoms of chemotherapy-induced anemia can overlap with cancer symptoms. These symptoms often include:

Other signs and symptoms may include:

Research from 2020 suggests anemia can negatively affect the survival rate of people receiving treatment for cancer. Severe anemia may delay or reduce part of your chemotherapy treatment, which can lead to worsened results.

Treatment for anemia may include:

A blood transfusion involves receiving blood from a donor through an IV. Donated blood needs to match your blood type or your immune system may attack the foreign blood cells. Transfusions can help quickly reduce your symptoms by increasing the circulation of oxygen to your organs and tissues.

Transfusions are commonly performed when hemoglobin levels drop below 8.0 grams per deciliter (g/dL) of blood.

A medical professional can administer erythropoietin-stimulating agents as a shot under your skin. Theyre synthetic versions of the hormone erythropoietin produced by your kidneys. This hormone stimulates the production of red blood cells.

It usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for these drugs to have a significant effect, and about a third of people dont respond at all. Healthcare professionals usually only recommend them for people receiving palliative treatment to ease symptoms of anemia when cancer isnt considered curable, according to 2019 research.

Erythropoietin-stimulating agents can help increase your hemoglobin levels and reduce the need for blood transfusions, but theyre associated with serious health complications and an increased risk of death, according to 2009 research.

About 65 percent of your bodys iron is found in hemoglobin, a protein in your blood that carries oxygen to your bodys organs and tissues. Without enough iron, blood cells cant carry oxygen to cells throughout your body. Low iron levels can also lead to anemia.

Your doctor may give you a prescription for an iron supplement or tell you to eat more high iron foods, like:

Researchers are still investigating the potential benefits of iron supplementation for people receiving erythropoietin-stimulating agents. Research from 2017 suggests that it may help reduce the need for blood transfusions.

Your doctor may also give you a prescription for folic acid (vitamin B9) or vitamin B12. These vitamins are also necessary to produce red blood cells.

Chemotherapy-induced anemia often goes away once treatment ends and your body has time to repair itself. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, low blood cell counts typically begin to recover 2 to 4 weeks after chemotherapy ends.

In the meantime, you can do the following to manage your symptoms:

According to the American Cancer Society, anemia has been found to shorten the lifespan of people with cancer. It may delay cancer treatment, and sometimes the lack of oxygen to your cells can be life threatening.

If your tissues arent getting enough oxygen, your heart has to work harder to move blood through your body. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, increased stress on your heart can worsen already present heart problems or lead to conditions such as:

Breathing problems from anemia can make everyday tasks, like walking, difficult and impact your quality of life.

Anemia is a common side effect of chemotherapy. The chemicals in chemotherapy medications that destroy cancer cells can also damage healthy cells in your body. Anemia usually passes once chemotherapy stops.

Your cancer team can help you manage symptoms of anemia through medications, blood transfusions, and prescribing vitamins and minerals. Its important to communicate with your team about any new symptoms you develop so you can build the best treatment plan possible.

Follow this link:
Chemotherapy-induced Anemia: Symptoms, Treatment & More - Healthline

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Chemotherapy-induced Anemia: Symptoms, Treatment & More – Healthline | March 22nd, 2022

A mum who has lived with multiple sclerosis for over a decade says a 50,000 treatment unavailable on the NHS could be her last shot at living a life largely unhindered by the disease.

Jodie McQuillian, 32, was formally diagnosed with the chronic condition in 2015, a few years after the first signs appeared when she temporarily lost vision in her left eye.

Since then, she has undergone multiple treatments and bouts of physiotherapy in order to stave off relapses of the condition.

But the mum of one faces life in a wheelchair if she can't put a halt to the rampant flare-ups.

Multiple sclerosis, often known as MS, is a condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks nerves around the brain and spinal cord, affecting the body's ability to transmit signals properly.

Each time Jodie "relapses" - when her body launches a new attack on itself - she finds herself sapped of energy and often experiences issues with her sight and mobility.

It takes her months to recover from each flare-up, affecting the time she can spend with son Ethan, five, and her family.

And every time there's a relapse, a little bit of her doesn't come back.

Jodie, from Alloa, told the Record: "I've just had another relapse and everything I'm trying isn't really effective enough.

"Since I started my newest treatment my walking has gotten a lot worse.

"Every time you relapse you recover but it takes months and you get put on a high dose of steroids and that drains you of all your muscle.

"I'm always left a wee bit damaged from a relapse - and when I feel like I've sort of recovered they flare up again."

After experiencing a major flare-up when she gave birth to Ethan, Jodie began undergoing treatment for MS, trying every drug available on the NHS in a bid to reduce the risk of relapsing.

Despite trying Copaxone injections, Tecfidera tablets and Ocrevus infusions through a drip in her arm over the course of five years, the setbacks have continued and Jodie's outlook is bleak.

There is currently no cure for MS and while her condition is currently recurring intermittently, it is likely to become progressive later in life with little hope of recovery.

However, her last hope may lie in a new treatment known as haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or HSCT.

Did you know you can keep up to date with the latest news by signing up to our daily newsletter?

We send a morning and lunchtime newsletter covering the latest headlines every day.

We also send coronavirus updates at 5pm on weekdays, and a round up of the week's must-read stories on Sunday afternoons.

Signing up is simple, easy and free.

You can pop your email address into the sign up box above, hit Subscribe and we'll do the rest.

Alternatively, you can sign up and check out the rest of our newsletters here.

Backed by the MS Society, it is an intense chemotherapy procedure that aims to "reset" Jodie's immune system and stop it from attacking her brain and spinal cord using stem cells found in bone marrow.

The treatment was approved for use on the NHS in Scotland in 2019 but the criteria is so tight that even Jodie, with her frequent relapses, doesn't qualify for it.

Her only option has been to go private abroad - at a cost of 50,000 - and her sister Tricia has launched a GoFundMe page to crowdfund the costs of the operation.

Since publishing the page last week, over 13,000 has been donated by well-wishers, giving Jodie hope she can put a halt to her body's war against itself.

HSCT won't fix the damage done to nerves nerves in the last decade, and is not without its risks, with side-effects such as increased risk of developing cancer.

However, it should put a stop to further degeneration - and serves as Jodie's last hope to live a life relatively free of MS.

"Every relapse is like setting my body up from scratch, and it happens again and again," she added.

"If my MS becomes progressive there's not a lot of treatment available for that all.

"I know from my own research it's beneficial doing the treatment sooner rather than later - and I'm too young not to try it now.

"My next relapse will probably put me in a wheelchair. But you wouldn't look at me 90% of the time and think there's anything wrong.

"To be honest, I feel like this is the last hope. This is the most extreme treatment you can get - it's chemotherapy.

"There's not much else I can do after this but it can't wait.

"It won't be an easy fix, it's not a bounce back - but it will stop the progression, and that's the goal.

"I want to be able to live my life - that's all I ask."

Jodie's sister Tricia Moran, who spearheaded the fundraising appeal, said: "Watching Jodie go through that first episode...it was quite heartbreaking as a family to watch.

"We didn't get any answers for a long time and it really impacted on her confidence - we couldn't reassure her and felt quite helpless.

"As a family we've seen her struggle so much with her relapses and she's so aware of what she's lost.

"She can't just take Ethan to the toy shop on a whim - everything has to be planned.

"It's an understatement to say how overwhelmed we have been by the kindness of friends, family and complete strangers."

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .

Go here to see the original:
Scots mum with MS says 50k treatment abroad is 'last hope' of halting disease - Daily Record

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Scots mum with MS says 50k treatment abroad is ‘last hope’ of halting disease – Daily Record | January 18th, 2022

Spinal cord injuries can be devastating and there are currentlyfew options to reverse the effects, which can include paralysis, chronic pain and loss of bladder control.

But an international team of researchers, including the University of Torontos Molly Shoichet,hopes to change that.

Over the past few years, weve made a lot of progress in tissue engineering, drug delivery and regenerative medicine, says Shoichet, a University Professor in the department of chemical engineering and applied chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.

With this ambitious project, we bring world leading experts together to try to do something that no one else has been able to do: promote repair and regeneration in the injured spinal cord.

Shoichet is a co-principal investigator withMend the Gap, an international collaboration of more than 30 researchers, engineers, scientists, surgeons and social scientists from Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia. The collaboration this week received $24 million from Canadas New Frontiers in Research Fund to advance their work.

The team takes its name from the fact that only a small gap, just a few centimetres long, is responsible for blocking the nerve impulses that normally flow through the spinal cord. Bridging that gap requires collaboration from some of the worlds top experts in a wide range of fields.

Shoichet is known internationally for her work on hydrogels biocompatible materials that can help facilitate tissue repair. Hydrogels can function as scaffolds, enhancing or augmenting natural processes that serve to repair damaged tissue.

Hydrogels can also serve as controlled-release mechanisms for drugs that aid healing, or to protect stem cells that are being injected into the body bykeeping them alive and healthy while they integrate into damaged tissues.

Another important line of research involves dealing with the glial scar that forms in the wake of a spinal cord injury. In the short term, this protective shield of cells and biochemicals prevents further injury in the damaged nerve, but in the long termit can serve as a barrier to nerve repair.

Shoichet and her team bring their expertise in hydrogels and local delivery strategies to deliver innovative biomolecules locally and directly to the injured spinal cord. For example, shere-engineered an enzymeto selectively degrade some of the biomolecules that make up the glial scar. This redesigned enzyme is both more stable and more active than the wild type.

By breaking through the glial scar with this new delivery strategy, the enzyme can enable other therapies from advanced drugs to stem cells to further promote tissue regeneration and repair.

The environment in the injured spinal cord is a very complicated place, says Shoichet. There are a whole range of natural processes at work some of which we want to enhance, others of which we need to find ways to circumvent. I am very excited to be part of this multidisciplinary team, which has the breadth and depth of expertise that we need to make a real difference when it comes to treating spinal cord injury.

Shoichet is the only person to be elected a fellow of all three of Canadas national academiesand is a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the Royal Society of London. She was the 2020 recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal, Canadas highest honour for science and engineering research. She is also a member of the Order of Ontario and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Read more from the original source:
Mending the gap: U of T's Molly Shoichet joins team developing new treatments for spinal cord injuries - News@UofT

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Mending the gap: U of T’s Molly Shoichet joins team developing new treatments for spinal cord injuries – News@UofT | January 18th, 2022

Cytokines TNF and IL-6 can cause severely damaging inflammatory effects as a result of stem cells attacking host cells of blood cancer patients

By BRANDON NGUYEN science@theaggie.org

Researchers at the UC Davis Medical Center recently discovered a novel treatment against graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a potentially lethal inflammatory condition that can arise following stem cell transplantation, which treats blood cancers and disorders. Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (allo-HSCT) to treat some blood cancers and disorders involves injecting a donors bone marrow stem cells, also known as graft, into blood cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Dr. William Murphy, a professor at the UC Davis School of Medicine under the Department of Dermatology and Internal Medicine and senior author of the study, further explained what GVHD is under the context of blood cancers.

If we take stem cells from another source, usually trying to match as much as we can from a related source such as a sibling, there seems to be an anti-tumor effect, Murphy said. This desired, beneficial effect from stem cell transplantation is called the graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect. But the graft-versus-host disease means those immune cells can also attack not just the cancer, but the recipient or patient, which occurs pretty often.

The medical dilemma Murphy and his team of researchers faced involved maximizing GVT effects while minimizing GVHD during stem cell treatment to help the patient effectively fight off the tumor. Logan Vick, a graduate student under Murphys lab at the UC Davis Medical Center and a co-author of the study, talked about the major findings that help minimize GVHD in allo-HSCT patients.

In graft-versus-host disease, something that can be picked up as a symptom is this release of cytokines, which are inflammatory proteins, Vick said. TNF and IL-6, which are two inflammatory cytokines, are often used as tools of the immune system to combat either viruses or different pathogens, but prolonged inflammation can have consequences. So by blocking these two cytokines, what we call a dual cytokine blockade, can help ameliorate GVHD.

The cytokines, TNF and IL-6, that Vick focuses on can cause a cytokine storm, which can occur during GVHD when donor immune stem cells attack the hosts healthy cells instead of the tumor and induce inflammation caused by cytokines. GVHD and the dangerous cytokine storm effect has been a problem for stem cell transplantation treatments, but Murphys team of researchers have just found a potential cure to GVHD while still maintaining the efficacy of the treatment.

Lam T. Khuat, a postdoctoral researcher at Murphys lab and the first author of the study, summarized the beneficial results from dual cytokine blockage.

Many treatments for GVHD involve suppressing the bodys immunity, which can inhibit beneficial GVT effects, Khuat said via email. For this reason, it was important to determine if blocking these cytokines impacted the GVT response. Fortunately, anti-tumor effects remained after the transplant and with the combined intervention.

Clinical methods have often employed single cytokine blockades; however, with the novel finding that dual cytokine blockades can minimize the proinflammatory responses induced by GVHD, the treatment can also be applied in other health conditions that require stem cell transplantation or reducing inflammatory side effects.

Normally, when you have an overactive immune system, whether its autoimmune disorders or GVHD or even in viral infections, the treatments sometimes blanket immunosuppression with steroids, Murphy said. Well, that works because they turn off the immune system, but in the case of cancer and viral infections, you want a working immune system. The beauty of using this double block, which can be applied in other clinical settings, is it doesnt suppress the immune system while preventing the inflammation and the damage.

Written by: Brandon Nguyen science@theaggie.org

Original post:
UC Davis researchers find dual cytokine blockage as a novel treatment against graft-versus-host disease in blood stem cell transplantations - The...

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on UC Davis researchers find dual cytokine blockage as a novel treatment against graft-versus-host disease in blood stem cell transplantations – The… | January 18th, 2022

Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Marketanalysis report gives a clear idea on various segments that are relied upon to observe the quickest business development amid the estimated forecast frame. This report indicates a professional and all-inclusive study of the market which concentrates on primary and secondary drivers, market share, competitor analysis, leading segments and geographical analysis. With the particular base year and the historic year, definite estimations and calculations are carried out in this business report. The globalBone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Marketreport displays a comprehensive study on production capacity, consumption, import, and export for all the major regions across the globe.

The report refers to standard research methodologies to offer entire and precise market analysis, statistical assessment and an upright industry projection. The Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) market report offers a profound study derived from various analytical tools that elaborate about forthcoming opportunities to facilitate strategic and tactical business decisions to improve profitability. The report provides such enlightenment of the Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) industry that helps to monitor the performance of the market is surrounded by the rapid evolvements and aggressive competitiveness.

Free Sample Includes:

Get Latest Free Exclusive Sample (350 Pages PDF) Report: To Know the Impact of COVID-19 on Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) MarketReport:https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-bone-marrow-derived-stem-cells-bmscs-market&KA

Bone marrow-derivedstem cells(BMSCS) market is expected to gain market growth in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. Data Bridge Market Research analyses the market to growing at a CAGR of 10.4% in the above-mentioned forecast period. Increasing awareness regarding the benefits associates with the preservation of bone marrow derived stem cells will boost the growth of the market.

Later on, the report assesses gross sales (volume & value), market share, market size, market growth rate based variety of applications.The Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) report also focuses on regional and provincial markets to analyze manufacturers, niche market segments, industry environment, raw material resources, and rivalry of the specific marketplace.

Key Players in Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Marketcovers the complete in-depth information, which in brief coversthere:

To Receive an Extensive List of Important Regions, Ask For TOC Here:https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-bone-marrow-derived-stem-cells-bmscs-market&KA

While performing in a specific industry it is highly essential to determine forthcoming possibilities, therefore the Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) market report covers all-inclusive evaluation based on upcoming business and investment opportunities, market restraining factors, business threats, challenges, regulatory alliance as well as industry environment. With the help of the proposed valuable insight reader could achieve its predetermined business goals.

Additionally, the report converse about lucrative businessstrategies implemented by key competitors, which might include recent acquisitions, partnerships, amalgamations, wind-ups, and product launches.It also offers a detailed explanation of the competitive landscape on a minute level that provides a wise acumen to a reader to be ahead of the curve.

Prominent Key Players Covered in the report:

CBR Systems, Inc, Cordlife Sciences India Pvt. Ltd., Cryo-Cell International, Inc.ESPERITE N.V., LifeCell International Pvt. Ltd., StemCyte India Therapeutics Pvt. Ltd, PerkinElmer Inc, Global Cord Blood Corporation., Smart Cells International Ltd., Vita 34 among other domestic and global players. (Customization Available)

Why choose us:

Table of Content:

Chapter 1: Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Overview, Product Overview, Market Segmentation, Market Overview of Regions, Market Dynamics, Limitations, Opportunities and Industry News and Policies.

Chapter 2: PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) Analysis of Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market.

Chapter 3: Value Analysis, Production, Growth Rate and Price Analysis by Type of Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS).

Chapter 4: Downstream Characteristics, Consumption and Market Share by Application of Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS).

Chapter 5: Production Volume, Price, Gross Margin, and Revenue ($) of Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) by Regions.

Chapter 6: Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Production, Consumption, Export, Market Trends and Competitive Landscape.

Chapter 7: Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Status and SWOT Analysis by Regions.

Chapter 8: Competitive Landscape, Product Introduction, Company Profiles, Market Distribution Status by Players of Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS).

Chapter 9: Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Analysis and Forecast by Type and Application.

Chapter 10: Market Analysis and Forecast by Regions.

Chapter 11: Industry Characteristics, Key Factors, New Entrants SWOT Analysis, Investment Feasibility Analysis.

Chapter 12: Market Conclusion.

Chapter 13: Appendix Such as Methodology and Data Resources of This Research.

If you have any customized requirements that need to be added, we will be happy to include them to enrich the final research study.

For Any Queryor Customization need to add in Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Report Kindly Follow this URL:https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-bone-marrow-derived-stem-cells-bmscs-market&KA

See the original post:
Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Size Is Expected To Generate Huge Revenue and Competitive Outlook Industrial IT - Industrial IT

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells (BMSCS) Market Size Is Expected To Generate Huge Revenue and Competitive Outlook Industrial IT – Industrial IT | January 18th, 2022

Over the past two years, the United States has seen more than 63 million Covid-19 cases, with some people infected more than once. More than 240 million people in the US have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. More than 60 million have received three.

While Covid-19 infections are never a good thing, these numbers still add up to a glimmer of good news: A large majority of Americans now have some immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Thats a big step toward defanging the disease.

When the human body is infected by the virus or encounters a fragment of the pathogen in a vaccine, our immune systems change in subtle but important ways. Across a huge swath of the population, these changes could eventually help transform Covid-19 from a world-stopping catastrophe into a mild annoyance.

Antibodies, proteins that attach to the virus, are a critical part of the immune response and are often the center of discussions about protection from Covid-19. But they rise during infection and decline naturally over time. Fortunately, antibodies are not the whole story when it comes to the immune system.

Other, longer-lasting tools against infection are hiding inside our bones. The immune system draws on stem cells living in bone marrow to produce an array of components that we dont hear as much about. They form many kinds of white blood cells that jump into action right away when they encounter a virus for the first time, and that essentially take notes to start planning for the next infection.

Its this immune system memory thats key to long-term protection against Covid-19. Whats reassuring is that as white blood cells get more practice against SARS-CoV-2, they seem to get better at containing the virus even when it evolves into new variants. That appears to be happening in the omicron wave of Covid-19.

Omicron is the most transmissible variant of the coronavirus known to date. It also appears to be better at dodging immune protection from Covid-19 vaccines. Cases have reached record levels in many parts of the United States, and hospitals are once again straining under the burden.

But the fraction of cases leading to hospitalizations and deaths appears to be far smaller compared to other variants. While there are more reports of breakthrough infections and reinfections with omicron, many previously exposed people report mild, cold-like symptoms.

One reason is that the virus itself appears to have mutated in a way that leads to fewer dangerous complications. Yet its also clear that widespread immunity is absorbing some of the worst effects of the disease, a hopeful trend that is likely to continue in 2022 and beyond.

The world is full of so many things that can make us sick viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, even mutated versions of our own cells. The threats are varied and unrelenting, but so too is our immune system. Its an orchestra of cells, proteins, organs, and pathways that all harmonize to keep invaders at bay. In simplified form, heres how.

When a pathogen like the coronavirus enters the body for the first time, it confronts the innate immune system, which provides generalized protection against all pathogens, but isnt always enough to prevent illness on its own. After an infection takes root, the immune system launches a more targeted response with whats known as the adaptive immune system.

Neutralizing antibodies form the pillar of the adaptive immune system. The virus is studded with spike proteins (giving it its namesake corona, meaning crown in Latin), which attach to human cells to begin the infection process. Y-shaped antibodies can attach to the spikes on the virus and prevent it from entering cells, thereby neutralizing the pathogen. The parts of a virus that can trigger an immune response are known as antigens.

In general, neutralizing antibodies keep you from getting infected in the first place, said Lewis Lanier, chair of the microbiology and immunology department at the University of California San Francisco.

Neutralizing antibodies are picky about the parts of the virus they recognize, known as epitopes. If those attachment points on the virus change, as they do in many coronavirus variants, antibodies can become less effective. In the months following an infection or immunization, the amount of these neutralizing antibodies declines as well. Thats expected. Making antibodies takes a lot of energy, so the body makes fewer of them after an infection is gone.

That decline may sound worrisome, but the immune system has other powerful tools in its shed. To start, there are non-neutralizing antibodies. These dont directly interfere with how the virus functions, but they can help the immune system detect infected cells and mark them for destruction. This is a crucial task because viruses cant make copies of themselves on their own: They need to commandeer a host cell to reproduce. Once a virus enters a cell, its not accessible to neutralizing antibodies, but non-neutralizing antibodies that learned to recognize infected cells can still raise the alarm.

The task of eliminating infected cells falls to a group of white blood cells known as cytotoxic T cells, sometimes called killer T cells. They arise from stem cells in bone marrow and cause infected cells to self-destruct, without messing with normal cells.

T cells, they cannot prevent infection, said Lanier. The only way a T cell can recognize you have an infection is after a cell has been infected.

Helper T cells are another important white blood cell variety. They spur the production of antibodies by a different group of white blood cells called B cells. B cells form in bone marrow and then migrate to lymph nodes or the spleen.

After an infection or a vaccination, some B cells and T cells stick around, becoming memory B cells and T cells. They sit idle, sometimes for decades, waiting to see if a pathogen returns. If it does, they can quickly reactivate.

This is why we a decline in neutralizing antibody counts isnt always a disaster. Even if concentrations of neutralizing antibodies dip so low that they can no longer prevent an infection, other parts of the immune system can spool up to make sure the virus doesnt do too much damage.

There is a window of time after virus gets into the body before it really starts manifesting disease in the person, said Deborah Fuller, a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. That window of time enables the immune system that has been vaccinated and has memory immune responses to recall very quickly and shut down the virus before it actually causes disease.

Some health officials now say that Covid-19 is so rampant that most people are likely to become infected at some point. Its hard to process whats actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get Covid, Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration told the Senate health committee on Tuesday. What we need to do is make sure the hospitals can still function, transportation, other essential services are not disrupted while this happens.

However, waves of infection can crest just as quickly as they form. Countries like the United Kingdom and South Africa experienced awful omicron spikes but subsequently saw precipitous drops in cases thereafter. Omicron cases also appear to be leveling off in some parts of the US, a sign that a decline may be ahead.

Whether these spikes in Covid-19 cases lead to severe health outcomes hinges on the teamwork of B cells, T cells, and antibodies, and how they hold up against any new mutations in the virus. Its an area of active research for scientists.

Vaccines and prior infection may not prevent you from being infected by the next waves of variants, but it may well keep you out of the hospital, Lanier said.

For the past two years, with recurring spikes in Covid-19 cases, neutralizing antibodies have taken center stage. Were really more concerned right now in the middle of the pandemic about the durability of that antibody because what were trying to do is prevent transmission, said Fuller. But that could change.

Neutralizing antibodies remain a key benchmark for vaccines: Scientists judge the success and timing of vaccines in part by measuring the number of antibodies they provoke in our blood, and how long the antibodies stick around. When the mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech were in development, they demonstrated that they could elicit a high level of neutralizing antibodies. Further clinical trials showed that this translated to more than 90 percent efficacy in preventing illness.

The next test is how well antibody production ramps back up if the same virus invades again. It can take up to two weeks to generate antibodies after being exposed to a virus for the first time, but production can ramp up much faster during a second infection.

At the same time, a virus is rarely the same when it comes back. Viruses mutate frequently as they reproduce, and RNA viruses like SARS-CoV-2 are especially prone to change. Versions of the virus with distinct groupings of mutations are categorized as variants, like omicron, delta, and alpha. Our immune systems are getting stronger and faster, but changes to the virus still have the potential to throw them for a loop.

Already, some companies are developing omicron-specific vaccines, but they may not hit the market for months. The reformulated shots may be too little, too late. In the meantime, we have to rely on the immunity we already have, including boosts to our antibody counts that come from booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

There is still much to learn about how all the elements of the immune system work together over time to hold off Covid-19, and some of the answers will only become evident with time. And the odd behavior of omicron is forcing researchers to rethink what theyve learned.

The good news is that many aspects of our immune system also appear to handle the latest variant well. From what Ive seen, the T cell responses are still working rather well against omicron, said Brianne Barker, a vaccine researcher at Drew University. I think that weve still got a bit of time in which immune protections will remain intact.

Immunity will continue building across the population and will blunt the sharp edges of the pandemic, even as the virus changes. Covid-19 is unlikely to go away entirely. As it circulates, it will continue to mutate and may cause sporadic outbreaks. But our immune systems are making progress.

As you expose the human body, even to the same antigen over and over again, our immune system evolves as well, Fuller said. What were starting to see in people with third immunizations is an antibody [response] that is broader.

Its a good sign that improvements in our immune system are likely to outpace changes in the virus. But the pandemic has also made it clear that there is nothing about its trajectory we can take for granted. While the cells within us may shield against infection, its still a good idea to limit transmission of the virus in any other way we can. The fewer people it infects, the fewer unpleasant surprises ahead.

Original post:
Covid-19 immunity: How antibodies, B cells, and T cells tackle omicron - Vox.com

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Covid-19 immunity: How antibodies, B cells, and T cells tackle omicron – Vox.com | January 18th, 2022

When Lily Whitmarsh was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2019, days after she turned 20, it came as a complete shock. My world came crashing down around me and I went into total meltdown, she says.

She had been a fit and healthy teenager, but in the run-up to her birthday began experiencing mysterious symptoms. I was constantly complaining that my legs ached and I was sometimes napping twice a day and still feeling exhausted, she recalls.

I looked extremely pale and was experiencing night sweats. I remember going out for a walk and having to stop halfway because I was so out of breath and felt dizzy.

Lily, now 21, from Gillingham in Dorset, noticed a slight pinprick rash on the bottoms of her legs and odd-looking bruises which she couldnt explain appearing randomly on her body. She went to her GP and was referred for blood tests.

Alarm bells rang when she was told her platelet count was extremely low and she was immediately sent to hospital.

After a bone marrow biopsy, Lily was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. To make matters more complicated, she had a rarer subtype called Philadelphia positive, in which the leukaemia cells grow more rapidly.

She underwent chemotherapy treatment and went on to have a bone marrow transplant during the coronavirus pandemic. With no immune system, Lily knew she was extremely vulnerable and spent a lot of time shielding and avoiding people.

By the time the country went into lockdown and she left hospital after her transplant, she had already spent months in almost total isolation, only able to see close friends and family and with precautions to stay germ-free.

After having my bone marrow transplant in March 2020, my immune system was extremely weak and I had to be very careful not to pick up any bugs as my body would struggle to fight them.

When Lily went into hospital, she was only allowed visitors for about a week before the first coronavirus lockdown. Luckily, she had her mum, Lucy Shaw, by her side and says that she couldnt have coped without her support, or that of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Every day, seven young people in the UK aged 13 to 24 hear the words you have cancer. Teenage Cancer Trust helps put them in the best possible place physically, mentally and emotionally for their cancer treatment and beyond through expert nurses and support teams.

Lily received support from the charitys youth support co-ordinator, Leonie, and says Leonie not only understood every aspect of a cancer diagnosis, but what it meant to be going through it as a young person.

Lily admits that being faced with a cancer diagnosis at such a young age, she had moments where she wondered: Why me? With so many young people being diagnosed with cancer every day now, I then had to think: why not me? I wasnt any different to anybody else before I got ill, so the denial soon wore off and I accepted my illness was a process and I just had to work through it.

Lily says that Leonie taught her to be strong and accept what was happening to her and feel more in control of her illness.

Lily says: The thing with cancer is, it literally doesnt care. It doesnt care about your gender, your age, your race; and in my case, it didnt care about my lifestyle either.

I just woke up one day with some dodgy cells and then, bam, youre told youve got it and it wont go away without gruelling treatment that puts your whole life on hold and makes you contemplate whether youre even going to survive.

A bone marrow donor was found for Lily using the Anthony Nolan bone marrow donor register. Three matches for her were found worldwide and all she knows about her donor is that he is a 39-year-old man from the UK.

After her transplant, the Covid-19 pandemic meant Lily had to isolate at home with her mother, sister and stepfather. She suffered severe exhaustion. I was like a newborn baby and was sleeping for 18 or 20 hours a day and my diet was bland, white food, she remembers. Having no immune system in a global pandemic isnt the ideal situation, but I felt safe knowing by not seeing people, I couldnt catch anything.

On 30 August, almost a year after her diagnosis, she celebrated her 21st birthday with an outdoor garden party and was finally able to see people, from a distance. It was a real milestone, she says.

However, in November 2020, just as Lily was making huge strides in her recovery, her mother received a diagnosis of breast cancer and had surgery that Christmas, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the new year.

My mum went through it all with me and then suddenly, our roles were reversed and I had to see her go through it all.

Between the two of us, we went through a lot that year, says Lily. But we got through it and came out the other side. My mum has finished all her treatment and is doing well.

The two women are now looking forward to a brighter 2022 and Lily says she is eternally grateful to the stranger who gave her her life back by donating his stem cells.

I count my lucky stars every day that my anonymous donor did what he did and donated his stem cells, says Lily.

Without him, I wouldnt have had another Christmas. What matters most now is spending time with my family and friends and to be able to finally start living again, not just surviving.

This random stranger did this wonderful and kind thing. He doesnt know me, but he has saved my life. Without him, I would be very poorly or not be here.

My treatment was harsh, it massively affected my life and will do for the next few years at least. But I have come so far and will forever be proud of myself for that.

See more here:
My mum helped me recover from leukaemia then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is how - iNews

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on My mum helped me recover from leukaemia then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is how – iNews | January 18th, 2022

Stem cells are the bodys raw materials. They are unspecialized cells that have ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types. They are critical for the development, growth, maintenance and repair of bones, muscles, blood, brain, nerves, skin and other organs. There are several sources of stem cells:

Embryonic Stem Cells: These stem cells come from embryos that are three to five days old. These are pluripotent stem cells and can be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissues and organsAdult Stem Cells: These stem cells are found in most adult tissues (bone marrow or fat) in small numbers. As compared to embryonic stem cells, they have more limited ability to give rise to various cells of the bodyInduced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Using genetic reprogramming, adult cells are transformed by scientists into stem cells that act similar to embryonic stem cellsPerinatal Stem Cells: These stem cells are found in amniotic fluid & umbilical cord blood. They have the ability to change into specialized cells

Factors Igniting Interest in Stem Cells

To Develop Understanding of How Diseases Occur: By observing how stem cells mature into cells in nerves, bones, heart muscles and other organs and tissues, researchers and healthcare professionals may better understand how diseases and conditions developHelp in Generating Healthy Cells to Replace Diseased Cells: Stem cells possess the potential to transform into specific cells that can be used to regenerate and repair diseased or damaged tissuesTo Test Safety and Effectiveness of New Drugs: Prior to using investigational drugs on people, researchers can use stem cells to test drugs for quality & safety

Transplantation of Blood Stem Cells Most Established Stem Cell Treatment

Currently, there are only limited stem cell therapies that have been thoroughly established as safe and effective treatment. The most well-established and widely used stem cell treatment is the transplantation of blood stem cells to treat diseases and conditions of the blood and immune system, or to restore the blood system after treatments for specific cancers.

Favorable investment environment, rising clinical trials for stem cell based-therapies, increasing demand for induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as an alternative to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and the rising demand for cell & gene therapies are some of the key factors driving the growth of the Stem Cell Therapy Market.

Get Customized Report on Stem Cell Therapy Market @ https://meditechinsights.com/stem-cell-therapy-market/

Other areas/indications where stem cell therapies are being used are:

For the treatment of knee cartilage defects in patients with Osteoarthritis (OA)For the treatment of Crohns fistulaFor regeneration of subcutaneous adipose tissueFor the treatment of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)For the treatment of acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) in children and adults, among others

Derivation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) requires destruction of human embryos. Ethical concerns related to embryonic stem cells is one the of key factors that is likely to hamper the growth of the Stem Cell Therapy Market. Increasing number of clinics offering unproven stem cell-based treatments is another ethical issue faced in the field of stem cell-based therapies.

Stem cells have a bright future for the therapeutic world by promising stem cell therapy. We hope to see new horizon of therapeutics in the form of bone marrow transplant, skin replacement, organ development, and replacement of lost tissue such as hairs, tooth, retina and cochlear cells.

CEO, South Korea Based Stem Cell Therapy Provider

Future Outlook of Stem Cell Therapy Market

Stem cell therapy could be the medical innovation of the century. It has emerged as a promising new approach in almost every medicine specialty. Despite an enormous amount of research being undertaken, there are still limited safe and effective treatments available to patients. This is partially because complex diseases which are currently incurable require complex treatments and a personalized approach.

However, the future growth prospects of stem cell therapy market looks promising as there are several ongoing and completed clinical trials involving stem cells which are showcasing positive outcomes.

In clinical studies and treatment attempts, stem cell therapies have been tested with the following indications:

Macular DegenerationNeurological ConditionsDiabetesGraft-versus-host disease (GvHD)Cirrhosis of the Liver, among others

Stem cell therapies are increasingly being seen as the transformative step in treating conditions with unmet needs. This, coupled with growing investment in the sector and an increasing number of stem cell donors is expected to drive the global Stem Cell Therapy market forward in the coming years.

Sources: Medi-Tech Insights Analysis, Interviews, Company Websites

For Detailed Insights on Stem Cell Therapy Market, Contact Us @ https://meditechinsights.com/contact-us/

About Us:

Medi-Tech Insights is a healthcare-focused business research & insights firm. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, blue-chip investors & hyper-growth start-ups. We have successfully completed 100+ projects in Digital Health, Healthcare IT, Medical Technology, Medical Devices & Pharma Services in the areas of market assessments, due diligence, competitive intelligence, market sizing and forecasting, pricing analysis & go-to-market strategy. Our methodology includes rigorous secondary research combined with deep-dive interviews with industry leading CXO, VPs and key demand/supply side decision-makers.

Contact Us:

Ruta HaldeAssociate, Medi-Tech Insights+32 498 86 80 79info@meditechinsights.com

The rest is here:
Global Stem Cell Therapy Market valued at USD 200 million is set to witness a healthy growth of 17% in the upcoming years : Medi-Tech Insights -...

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Global Stem Cell Therapy Market valued at USD 200 million is set to witness a healthy growth of 17% in the upcoming years : Medi-Tech Insights -… | January 18th, 2022

News Release

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Use of patient-derived stem cells will enable high-throughput drug screening for potential therapeutics.

Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI) have developed the first patient-derived stem cell model for studying eye conditions related to oculocutaneous albinism (OCA). The models development is described in the January issue of the journal Stem Cell Reports. NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

This disease-in-a-dish system will help us understand how the absence of pigment in albinism leads to abnormal development of the retina, optic nerve fibers, and other eye structures crucial for central vision, said Aman George, Ph.D., a staff scientist in the NEI Ophthalmic Genetics and Visual Function Branch, and the lead author of the report.

OCA is a set of genetic conditions that affects pigmentation in the eye, skin, and hair due to mutation in the genes crucial to melanin pigment production. In the eye, pigment is present in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and aids vision by preventing the scattering of light. The RPE is located right next to the eyes light-sensing photoreceptors and provides them nourishment and support. People with OCA lack pigmented RPE and have an underdeveloped fovea, an area within the retina that is crucial for central vision. The optic nerve carries visual signals to the brain.

People with OCA have misrouted optic nerve fibers. Scientists think that RPE plays a role in forming these structures and want to understand how lack of pigment affects their development.

Animals used to study albinism are less than ideal because they lack foveae, said Brian P. Brooks, M.D., Ph.D., NEI clinical director and chief of the Ophthalmic Genetics and Visual Function Branch. A human stem cell model that mimics the disease is an important step forward in understanding albinism and testing potential therapies to treat it.

To make the model, researchers reprogrammed skin cells from individuals without OCA and people with the two most common types of OCA (OCA1A and OCA2) into pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The iPSCs were then differentiated to RPE cells. The RPE cells from OCA patients were identical to RPE cells from unaffected individuals but displayed significantly reduced pigmentation.

The researchers will use the model to study how lack of pigmentation affects RPE physiology and function. In theory, if fovea development is dependent on RPE pigmentation, and pigmentation can be somehow improved, vision defects associated with abnormal fovea development could be at least partially resolved, according to Brooks.

Treating albinism at a very young age, perhaps even prenatally, when the eyes structures are forming, would have the greatest chance of rescuing vision, said Brooks. In adults, benefits might be limited to improvements in photosensitivity, for example, but children may see more dramatic effects.

The team is now exploring how to use their model for high-throughput screening of potential OCA therapies.

NEI leads the federal governments research on the visual system and eye diseases. NEI supports basic and clinical science programs to develop sight-saving treatments and address special needs of people with vision loss. For more information, visit https://www.nei.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIHTurning Discovery Into Health

Aman George, Ruchi Sharma, Tyler Pfister, Mones Abu-Asab, Nathan Hotaling, Devika Bose, Charles DeYoung, Justin Chang, David R. Adams, Tiziana Cogliati, Kapil Bharti, Brian P. Brooks. In Vitro Disease Modeling of Oculocutaneous Albinism Type I and II Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium (2022). doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.11.01.https://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/fulltext/S2213-6711(21)00597-X.

###

Read more here:
NIH researchers develop first stem cell model of albinism to study related eye conditions - National Institutes of Health

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on NIH researchers develop first stem cell model of albinism to study related eye conditions – National Institutes of Health | January 18th, 2022

Genome Editing Market: Snapshot

Genome editing tools have come a long way from the mid-twentieth century. In 1970s and 1980s, gene targeting was done using largely homologous combination, but was only possible in mice. Since then, the expanding science of genetic analysis and manipulation extended to all types of cells and organisms. Advent of new tools helped scientists achieve targeted DNA double-strand break (DSB) in the chromosome, and is a key pivot on which revenue generation in the genome editing market prospered. New directions for programmable genome editing emerged in the decades of the twenty-first century, expanding the arena.

Request Brochure of Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=46494

Cutting-edge platforms at various points in time continue to enrich genome editing market. Various classes of nucleases emerged, most notable of which is CRISPR-Cas. Research labs around the world have extensively used the platforms in making DSBs at any target of choice. Aside from this, agricultural sciences and medical sectors make substantial use of zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) in genome editing. Strides made in stem cell therapies, particularly in rectifying an aberrant mutation, have boosted the growth of the genome editing market. Genetic diseases such as muscular dystrophy and sickle cell disease present an incredible revenue prospect in the genome editing market. Ongoing research on novel vectors and non-vector approaches are expected to bolster the outlook of the market.

Request for Analysis of COVID-19 Impact on Genome Editing Market

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=46494

Genomic editing refers to the strategies and techniques implemented for the modification of target genetic information of any living organism. Genome editing involves gene modification at specific areas through recombinant technology, which increases precision in insertion and decreases cell toxicity. Current advancement in genome editing is based on programmable nucleases. The genome editing market is presently witnessing significant growth due to increase in R&D expenditure, rise in government funding for genomic research, technological advancements, and growth in production of genetically modified crops. Companies have made significant investments in R&D in the past few years to develop cutting-edge technologies, such as, CRISPR and TALEN. For instance, Thermo Fisher Scientific is investing significantly in the development of its CRISPR technology for providing better efficiency and accuracy in research and also to fulfil the unmet demands in research and therapeutics. Cas9 protein and FokI protein have been combined to form a dimeric CRISPR/Cas9 RNA-guided FokI nucleases system, which is expected to have wide range of genome editing applications.

Pre book Genome Editing Market Report at

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/checkout.php?rep_id=46494&ltype=S

The genome editing market is growing rapidly due to its application in a large number of areas, such as mutation, therapeutics, and agriculture biotechnology. Genome editing techniques offer large opportunities in crop improvement. However, the real potential of homologous recombination for crop improvement in targeted gene replacement therapy is yet to be realized. Homologous recombination is expected to be used as an effective methodology for crop improvement, which is not possible through transgene addition. Rise in the number of diseases and applications is likely to expand the scope of genome editing in the near future. It includes understanding the role of specific genes and processes of organ specific stem cells, such as, neural stem cells and spermatogonial stem cells. Genome editing has a significant scope to treat genetically affected cells, variety of cancers, and agents of infectious diseases such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc. However, genetic alteration of human germline for medicinal purpose has been debated for years. Ethical issues, comprising concern for animal welfare, can arise at all stages of generation and life span of genetically engineered animal.

Read More Information: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/genome-editing-market.html

The global genome editing market can be segmented based on technology, application, end-user, and geography. In terms of technology, the genome editing market can be categorized into CRISPR, TALEN, ZFN, and other technologies. Bioinformatics has eased the process of data analysis through various technological applications. On the basis of application, the global genome editing market can be classified cell-line engineering, animal genome engineering, plant genome engineering, and others. Based on end-user, the genome editing market can be segmented into pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies and academic and clinical research organizations. In terms of region, the global genome editing market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is projected to continue its dominance in the global genome editing market owing to high government funding for research on genetic modification in the region. Asia Pacific is a rapidly growing genome editing market due to rise in investments by key players in the region. Rise in drug discovery and development activities, coupled with increasing government initiatives toward funding small and start-up companies in the biotechnology and life sciences industry, is a major factor expected to drive the genome editing market in North America during the forecast period. Players should invest in the emerging economies and the countries of Asia-Pacific like China, South Korea, Australia, India and Singapore in which the genome editing market is expected to grow at rapid pace in future, due to growing funding in research.

Key players operating in the global genome editing market are CRISPR Therapeutics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, GenScript Corporation, Merck KgaA, Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Horizon Discovery Group, Integrated DNA Technologies, New England Biolabs, OriGene Technologies, Lonza Group, and Editas Medicine.

Browse More Trending Reports by Transparency Market Research:

North America Direct to Consumer Laboratory Testing Market :

The widespread diagnostic and serological testing is emerging as one of the key measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The increased load on healthcare systems, social distancing, and convenience needs of individuals is anticipated to boost the growth of the North America direct-to-consumer laboratory testing market.

Topical Antibiotics Market :

Topical antibiotics have emerged as a popular drug class for the treatment and management of a range of medical conditions. Among different indications such as the skin, eye, and Bromhidrosis, the use of topical antibiotics to fight bacterial skin infection has witnessed consistent growth over the past few decades a trend that is expected to continue over the upcoming years. Research and development activities around the world are likely to fuel the growth of the global topical antibiotics market, as new topical antibiotics continue to enter the market. While the growing popularity of antiseptics could potentially hinder market growth, the growing awareness pertaining to the benefits of topical antibiotics is anticipated to boost the demand.

About Us

Transparency Market Research is a next-generation market intelligence provider, offering fact-based solutions to business leaders, consultants, and strategy professionals.

Our reports are single-point solutions for businesses to grow, evolve, and mature. Our real-time data collection methods along with ability to track more than one million high growth niche products are aligned with your aims. The detailed and proprietary statistical models used by our analysts offer insights for making right decision in the shortest span of time. For organizations that require specific but comprehensive information we offer customized solutions through ad hoc reports. These requests are delivered with the perfect combination of right sense of fact-oriented problem solving methodologies and leveraging existing data repositories.

TMR believes that unison of solutions for clients-specific problems with right methodology of research is the key to help enterprises reach right decision.

Contact

Mr. Rohit BhiseyTransparency Market Research

State Tower,

90 State Street,

Suite 700,

Albany NY - 12207

United States

USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453

Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com

Website: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Read more:
Genome Editing Market: Rise in drug discovery and development activities to drive the market - BioSpace

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Genome Editing Market: Rise in drug discovery and development activities to drive the market – BioSpace | January 18th, 2022

This article was originally published here

Am J Transl Res. 2021 Dec 15;13(12):13261-13272. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a serious complication of diabetes and the main cause of nontraumatic lower limb amputations, resulting in a serious economic burden on society. The main causes of DFUs include peripheral neuropathy, foot deformity, chronic inflammation, and peripheral artery disease. There are many clinical approaches for the treatment of DFUs, but they are all aimed at addressing a single aetiological factor. Stem cells (SCs), which express many cytokines and a variety of nerve growth factors and modulate immunological function in the wound, may accelerate DFU healing by promoting angiogenesis, cell proliferation, and nerve growth and regulating the inflammatory response. However, the survival time of SCs without scaffold support in the wound is short. Multifunctional gel wound dressings play a critical role in skin wound healing due to their ability to maintain SC survival for a long time, provide moisture and prevent electrolyte and water loss in DFUs. Among the many methods for clinical treatment of DFUs, the most successful one is therapy with gel dressings loaded with SCs. To accelerate DFU healing, gel wound dressings loaded with SCs are needed to promote the survival and migration of SCs and increase wound contraction. This review summarizes the research advancements regarding multifunctional gel wound dressings and SCs in the treatment of DFU to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of this combinational therapeutic strategy.

PMID:35035674 | PMC:PMC8748097

Read the original:
The role of gel wound dressings loaded with stem cells in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers - DocWire News

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on The role of gel wound dressings loaded with stem cells in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers – DocWire News | January 18th, 2022

Editors note: This article has been updated to remove incorrect information provided by the University of Alberta.

Researchers at the University of Alberta say they have reached a milestone in the efforts to get people with diabetes off injected insulin for good.

A recent first-in-humans clinical trial is reporting early signs that pancreatic cells grown from stem cells can be safely implanted, and in some cases, begin to produce insulin.

The trial saw 17 adults with Type 1 diabetes at six centres in Canada, the United States and Europe receive implants of pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic endoderm cells.

Each patient received implants of several small permeable devices filled with millions of cells each. The cells were derived from stem cells then chemically transformed into stem cells programmed to become islet cells.

Story continues below advertisement

Of the 17 patients who received implants, U of A researchers said 35 per cent showed signs in their blood of insulin production after meals within six months of the implant. On top of that, 63 per cent had evidence of insulin production inside the implant devices when they were removed after a year.

This is a very positive finding, said James Shapiro, professor of surgery, medicine and surgical oncology in the University of Albertas Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

Its not the endgame, but its a big milestone along the road to success, demonstrating that stem cell-derived islet therapies are safe and can begin to show some signal of efficacy in patients in the clinic.

Trending Stories

Story continues below advertisement

Shapiro also led the team that developed the Edmonton Protocol in the 1990s, which developed a way to transplant donated islet cells, reducing their need for insulin. However, the U of A says patients continue to need anti-rejection drugs which can have side effects such as an increased risk of cancer and kidney damage. The number of donated islet cells is also limited.

Shapiro said the main goal of this phase of the trial was to ensure safety, but added at least one patient who had 10 devices implanted was able to significantly reduce her insulin dose, which indicates the potential effectiveness of the treatment.

Were seeing some improvement in the patients blood sugar, but these cells are being transplanted right now in only very small quantities, so were not expecting big changes in insulin requirement, Shapiro said.

Story continues below advertisement

But we can see in about 65 per cent of devices that we take out from under the skin that there are human insulin-producing cells surviving, and in about a third of patients they have measurable insulin levels in the bloodstream. So its a really good first start with this treatment, Im very excited about it.

The ultimate goal of the new research is to develop an unlimited supply of islet cells that can be safely transplanted without the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Weve seen a lot of advances in the last 100 years since the Canadian discovery of insulin, Shapiro said. The race isnt over yet, but were on our last laps and I really do believe that we can cross that ribbon.

Cell-based therapies have the promise to deliver something far better than insulin therapy.

Again, were not expecting to be curing diabetes in the first wave of this, were trying to do safety testing for first patients. And we see that really is helping mankind in the future of diabetes rather than any particular one patient at this point, but it will change as we move forward.

The next step will try to determine how many stem cell-derived pancreatic cells are needed for transplant to optimize insulin production in patients with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Read the original post:
University of Alberta study shows positive signs to get patients with diabetes off injected insulin - Global News

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on University of Alberta study shows positive signs to get patients with diabetes off injected insulin – Global News | January 18th, 2022

Last Friday, January 7, David Bennett went into the operating room at the University of Maryland Medical Center for a surgical procedure never performed before on a human. The 57-year-old Maryland resident had been hospitalized and bedridden for months due to a life-threatening arrhythmia. His heart was failing him and he needed a new one.

Bennetts condition left him unresponsive to treatments and ineligible for the transplant list or an artificial heart pump. The physician-scientists at the Baltimore medical center, however, had anotheralbeit riskyoption: transplant a heart from a genetically-modified pig.

It was either die or do this transplant, Bennett had told surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center a day before the operation. I want to live. I know its a shot in the dark, but its my last choice.

On Monday, the team reported that they completed the eight-hour procedure, making Bennett the first human to successfully receive a pigs heart. Its working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we dont know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before, Bartley Griffith, M.D., physician and director of the cardiac transplant program at the University of Maryland Medical Center who led the transplant team, told the New York Times.

While its only been five days since the operation, the surgeons say that Bennetts new pig heart was, so far, functioning as expected and his body wasnt rejecting the organ. They are still monitoring his condition closely.

I think its extremely exciting, says Robert Montgomery, M.D., transplant surgeon and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, who was not involved in Bennetts operation. The results of the procedure were also personally meaningful for Montgomery, who received a heart transplant in 2018 due to a genetic disease that may also impact members of his family in the future. Its still in the early days, but still the heart seems to be functioning. And that in and of itself is an extraordinary thing.

[Related: Surgeons transplanted a pig kidney into a person, and it worked like normal]

Pig heart transplant operations are still not officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but the agency granted emergency authorization for the surgery on December 31. The experimental procedure comes at a time of growing need for organ transplants. More than 100,000 people in the United States are on the list to receive one, while around 17 die each day waiting, according to the latest data from the federal governments organdonor.gov. The desperate demand far exceeds the number of human organ donors.

There arent enough organs, period, Montgomery says, who was part of the team that successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney in a human in 2021. Of an estimated 800,000 patients on dialysis whove developed end-stage kidney disease, only 90,000 are on the list for a human organ transplant, he points out. Pig organ transplants give another potential way to to fill that gap between the supply and the demand.

The field of research and the techniques behind animal to human organ transplants has come a long way to reach this momentfrom myth and pseudoscience to sophisticated medical application. Xenotransplantation, or grafting and transplanting of organs and tissues between two species, has a long history, says Montgomery, who has been involved in this field for more than 30 years.

It has really been considered since the dawn of transplantation, he says. People were thinking about the use of animal organs for over a hundred years.

Throughout the 19th century, chickens, rats, dogs, frogs, and other animals were used for skin grafts. Researchers continued to encounter incompatibility issues between humans and animal organs and tissues. This was because many animal species have a cell membrane sugar called galactose-1,3-galactose, commonly referred to as alpha-gal. That sugar is also on the surface of bacteria, explains Montgomery. Humans are exposed to these bacteria from birth in the GI tract, which triggers the immune system to make antibodies against alpha-gal to prevent those bacteria from entering the blood. People have a huge reserve of these antibodies just circulating in our blood all the time, Montgomery says, and those antibodies will attack animal organs because they recognize alpha-gal as a target.

Around the 1960s, surgeons began to look towards closer relatives to humans: primates. Primates are obviously much closer to humans on the evolutionary scale, and so you dont have that immediate incompatibility with alpha-gal in some of the primates, Montgomery says. A surgeon at Tulane University in New Orleans transplanted chimpanzee kidneys into patients, one of whom survived for nine months. Most famously in 1984, Baby Fae, a newborn infant with an underdeveloped heart, received a baboon heart, but her body rejected it after 20 days.

By the 1990s, the public perception towards primates as organ donors had soured. Theyre much more scarce on the planet, says Montgomery. I was at a xenotransplant meeting in the 1990s and Jane Goodall was the keynote speaker At the end of that, it was really clear to all of us that primates were not going to be the organ donors we were going to use. Concerns over zoonosis, or the transmission of disease from animal to human host, were also rising, likely because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Montgomery adds.

[Related: Lab-grown pig lungs are great news for the future of organ transplantation]

The scientific stage was set for swine. Pigs became prime donor candidates because of their abundance, large litters, ease of breeding, rapid growth, and generally similar organ size to humans.

Plus, most people have a much different relationship with the animal as a longtime food staple, says Montgomery, though he expects ethical concerns to continue to rise as the field progresses, such as whether or not animals should be genetically modified for transplants.

But there were two big hurdles the research field had to jump over before pigs could be a viable option: the issues with alpha-gal and the potential cross transmission of viruses, particularly the porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) discovered in 1997. Now, researchers have been able to genetically edit out the alpha-gal target from the pig genome. Today, people have undergone pig skin graft treatments for burns, have pig heart valves, or received pig cells, like those that help produce insulin, and have not experienced any diseases.

The genetic modification, particularly now with CRISPR, has become pretty easy, Montgomery says. Almost 200 people have received pig cells, pig stem cells, pig tissue, and skin grafts without exposure to zoonoses, he says.

The genetically modified pigs used for organ donation are bred, studied, and cared for in extremely clean facilities, and theyre surveilled for potential pathogens. Its almost like an operating room, says Montgomery. They are very humanely treated.

Up until now, most experimental transplant procedures have been done between pigs and other animals. Taking it into a living human, thats the leap, Montgomery says about the University of Maryland Medical Centers transplant. The genie is out of the bottle. Now, we really need to understand what this is going to look like in humans, and start to work on optimizing the outcomes. But time is of the essence, lets move ahead boldly.

Go here to read the rest:
The first successful pig heart transplant into a human was a century in the making - Popular Science

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on The first successful pig heart transplant into a human was a century in the making – Popular Science | January 18th, 2022

In many ways, the human body is like any other machine in that it requires constant refueling and maintenance to keep functioning. Much of this happens without our intervention beyond us selecting what to eat that day. There are however times when due to an accident, physical illness or aging the automatic repair mechanisms of our body become overwhelmed, fail to do their task correctly, or outright fall short in repairing damage.

Most of us know that lizards can regrow tails, some starfish regenerate into as many new starfish as the pieces which they were chopped into, and axolotl can regenerate limbs and even parts of their brain. Yet humans too have an amazing regenerating ability, although for us it is mostly contained within the liver, which can regenerate even when three-quarters are removed.

In the field of regenerative medicine, the goal is to either induce regeneration in damaged tissues, or to replace damaged organs and tissues with externally grown ones, using the patients own genetic material. This could offer us a future in which replacement organs are always available at demand, and many types of injuries are no longer permanent, including paralysis.

Our level of understanding of human physiology and that of animals in general has massively expanded since the beginning of the 20th century when technology allowed us to examine the microscopic world in more detail than ever before. Although empirical medical science saw its beginnings as early as the Sumerian civilization of the 3rd millennium BCE, our generalized understanding of the processes and components that underlie the bodys functioning are significantly more recent.

DNA was first isolated in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher, but its structure was not described until 1953. This discovery laid the foundations for the field of molecular biology, which seeks to understand the molecular basis for biological activity. In a sense this moment can be seen as transformative as for example the transition from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics, in that it changed the focus from macroscopic observations to a more fundamental understanding of these observations.

This allowed us to massively increase our understanding of how exactly the body responds to damage, and the molecular basis for regenerative processes, as well as why humans are normally not able to regrow damaged limbs. Eventually in 1999 the term regenerative medicine was coined by William A. Haseltine, who wrote an article in 2001 on what he envisions the term to include. This would be the addressing of not only injuries and trauma from accidents and disease, but also aging-related conditions, which would address the looming demographic crisis as the average age of the worlds populations keeps increasing.

The state of the art in regenerative medicine back in 2015 was covered by Angelo S. Mao et al. (2015). This covers regenerative methods involving either externally grown tissues and organs, or the stimulating of innate regenerative capabilities. Their paper includes the biomedical discipline of tissue engineering due to the broad overlap with the field of regenerative medicine. Despite the very significant time and monetary requirement to bring a regenerative medicine product to market, Mao et al. list the FDA-approved products at that time:

While these were not miracle products by any stretch of the imagination, they do prove the effectiveness of these approaches, displaying similar or better effectiveness as existing products. While getting cells to the affected area where they can induce repair is part of the strategy, another essential part involves the extracellular matrix (ECM). These are essential structures of many tissues and organs in the body which provide not only support, but also play a role in growth and regeneration.

ECM is however non-cellular, and as such is seen as a medical device. They play a role in e.g. the healing of skin to prevent scar tissue formation, but also in the scaffolding of that other tantalizing aspect of regenerative medicine: growing entire replacement organs and body parts in- or outside of the patients body using their own cells. As an example, Mase Jr, et al. (2010) report on a 19-year old US Marine who had part of his right thigh muscle destroyed by an explosion. Four months after an ECM extracted from porcine (pig) intestinal submucossa was implanted in the area, gradual regrowth of muscle tissue was detected.

An important research area here is the development of synthetic ECM-like scaffolding, as this would make the process faster, easier and more versatile. Synthetic scaffolding makes the process of growing larger structures in vitro significantly easier as well, which is what is required to enable growing organs such as kidneys, hearts and so on. These organs would then ideally be grown from induced pluropotent stem cells (iPS), which are a patients own cells that are reverted back to an earlier state of specialization.

It should come as little surprise that as a field which brings together virtually every field that touches upon (human) biology in some fashion, regenerative medicine is not an easy one. While its one thing to study a working system, its a whole different level to get one to grow from scratch. This is why as great as it would be to have an essentially infinite supply of replacement organs by simply growing new ones from iPS cells, the complexity of a functional organ makes this currently beyond our reach.

Essentially the rule is that the less complicated the organ or tissue is, the easier it is to grow it in vitro. Ideally it would just consist out of a single type of cell, and happy develop in some growth medium without the need for an ECM. Attractive targets here are for example the cornea, where the number of people on a waiting list for a corneal transplant outnumber donor corneas significantly.

In a review by Mobaraki et al. (2019), the numerous currently approved corneal replacements as well as new methods being studied are considered. Even though artificial corneas have been in use for years, they suffer from a variety of issues, including biocompatibility issues and others that prevent long-term function. Use of donor corneas comes with shortages as the primary concern. Current regenerative research focuses on the stem cells found in the limbus zone (limbal stem cells, LSC). These seem promising for repairing ocular surface defects, which has been studied since 1977.

LSCs play a role in the regular regenerative abilities of the cornea, and provide a starting point for either growing a replacement cornea, or to repair a damaged cornea, along with the addition of an ECM as necessary. This can be done in combination with the inhibiting of the local immune response, which promotes natural wound healing. Even so, there is still a lot more research that needs to be performed before viable treatments for either repairing the cornea in situ, or growing a replacement in vitro can be approved the FDA or national equivalent.

A similar scenario can be seen with the development of artificial skin, where fortunately due to the large availability of skin on a patients body grafts (autografts) are usually possible. Even so, the application of engineered skin substitutes (ESS) would seem to be superior. This approach does not require the removal of skin (epidermis) elsewhere, and limits the amount of scar formation. It involves placing a collagen-based ECM on the wound, which is optionally seeded with keritanocytes (skin precursor cells), which accelerates wound closure.

Here the scaffolding proved to be essential in the regeneration of the skin, as reported by Tzeranis et al. (2015). This supports the evidence from other studies that show the cell adhesion to the ECM to be essential in cell regulation and development. With recent changes, it would seem that both the formation of hair follicles and nerve innervation may be solved problems.

It will likely still be a long time before we can have something like a replacement heart grown from a patients own iPS cells. Recent research has focused mostly on decellularization (leaving only the ECM) of an existing heart, and repopulating it with native cells (e.g. Glvez-Montn et al., 2012). By for example creating a synthetic scaffold and populating it with cells derived from a patients iPS cells, a viable treatment could be devised.

Possibly easier to translate into a standard treatment is the regrowth of nerves in the spinal cord after trauma, with a recent article by lvarez et al, (2021) (press release) covering recent advances in the use of artificial scaffolds that promotes nerve regeneration, reduces scarring and promotes blood vessel formation. This offers hope that one day spinal cord injures may be fully repairable.

If we were to return to the body as a machine comparison, then the human body is less of a car or piece of heavy machinery, and more of a glued-together gadget with complex circuitry and components inside. With this jump in complexity comes the need for a deeper level of understanding, and increasingly more advanced tools so that repairs can be made efficiently and with good outcomes.

Even so, regenerative medicine is already saving the lives of for example burn victims today, and improving the lives of countless others. As further advances in research continue to translate into treatments, we should see a gradual change from youll have to learn to live with that, to a more optimistic give it some time to grow back, as in the case of an injured veteran, or the victim of an accident.

Go here to see the original:
Regenerative Medicine: The Promise Of Undoing The Ravages Of Time - Hackaday

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Regenerative Medicine: The Promise Of Undoing The Ravages Of Time – Hackaday | January 18th, 2022

On January 7, a 57-year-old male patient received a genetically-modified pig heart transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). The surgery was a world-first and deemed the patients only chance for survival after he was declared unsuitable for a human donor transplant or an artificial heart pump. On January 10, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) published a news release stating that the patient was doing well, and is being carefully monitored over the next days and weeks to determine whether the transplant provides lifesaving benefits.

Dr. Bartley P. Griffith the surgeon responsible for transplanting the porcine heart into the patient and a professor in transplant surgery at UMSOM said, We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future. Dr. Griffith leads the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program at UMSOM alongside Dr. Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, professor of surgery at UMSOM.

The operation at the UMMC is an example of xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation refers to any procedure involving the transplantation, infusion or implantation of cells, tissue or organs from a nonhuman, animal source into a human.

While the surgery was the first-of-its-kind, the concept of xenotransplantation is not novel. Chris Denning, professor of stem cell biology at the University of Nottingham told the UK Science Media Centre, Only in the late 1990s did the technologies become available and have steadily been improved ever since. Various academic and industrial teams have worked in this area for over 20 years, so it is not surprising that this has now been tested.

In the 20th century, non-human primates (NHP) were explored as potentially suitable donors for xenotransplantation due to the genetic similarities between primates and humans. However, concerns such as ethical issues, transmission of infection across species and breeding difficulties halted this research. Consequently, pigs are now considered to be the most appropriate candidate species for xenotransplantation.

"Pigs are considered for several reasons, Denning said. The size and anatomy of the pig heart is roughly the same as a humans, though there are considerable differences:

He added that, despite public perception, it is also relatively easy to keep pigs in a sterile condition.

Despite these advantages, transplanting a porcine heart into a human is considerably more challenging than transplanting a human heart. There are genetic differences between pigs and humans, which can lead to immunological rejection of the organ. Pigs have a gene that produces a molecule called (1,3)galactosyl transferase, which humans do not. This triggers an immediate and aggressive immune response, called hyperacute rejection, said Denning, ultimately causing the body to reject the organ.

The xenotransplantation conducted at UMMC involved a pig that had reportedly received 10 genetic modifications in total. Its unclear at this stage exactly what genes were modified, however the news release from UMSOM states three genes responsible for rapid antibody-mediated rejection of pig organs by humans were knocked out in the pig, and six human genes responsible for immune acceptance were inserted. An additional gene was also knocked out to stop excessive growth of the heart tissue.

Knockout means that an organism has been genetically altered such that it lacks either a single base, a whole gene or several genes. Often, genetic knockouts are utilized in laboratory research to understand how certain genes function, by monitoring changes in the organism when the gene is not expressed.

The porcine heart was provided by Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics. You might recall Revivicor as the spin-out company of PPL Therapeutics, the UK-based biotech firm behind the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep. In December 2021, Revivicor also supplied New York University Langone Health with a kidney from a genetically-modified pig for an investigational procedure in a deceased human donor. The donor remained on ventilator support, and was closely monitored throughout the procedure and a subsequent observation period, during which the researchers said there were no signs of rejection.

According to the UMSOM news release, it received a $15.7 million research grant to evaluate Revivicor genetically-modified pig UHearts in baboon studies. Mohiuddin and colleagues reportedly applied for permission to conduct human clinical trials of the porcine heart from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but were rejected. Under normal circumstances, IMPs must be evaluated in animal studies prior to human clinical trials this is standard protocol.

However, in the instance of the 57-year-old patient, an exception was made. The FDA granted emergency authorization for the procedure under its expanded access provision. This allows for an individual to access an investigational medicinal product (IMP) outside of clinical trials when there is no alternative therapy option available.

Will it be successful? asked Denning. The fact that the human patient is alive after a few days indicates that immediate hyperacute rejection has been avoided, which is the first hurdle. Only time will tell whether there are issues with chronic rejection, caused by e.g., incompatibility of major and minor histocompatibility complexes. Continuous monitoring will be needed to monitor transmission of potential pathogens, such as porcine endogenous retroviruses or hybrid porcine/human endogenous retroviruses.

Should the patient survive and the xenotransplant prove successful, it will likely raise a lot of questions as to how regulatory bodies move forward. Individual emergency authorization procedures do not generate sufficient data for the widespread implementation of xenotransplantation clinical trials are crucial for demonstrating efficacy.

However, there are logistical hurdles associated with even trialing the procedure. Seventeen people die every day waiting for an organ transplant, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration. There is a severe shortage of organs, and a steep decline in donation has been observed during the COVID-19 global pandemic. While a proposed advantage of xenotransplants is that they could provide on-demand organs, the procedure and its unknowns make it a very high-risk surgery. How does a clinician, or regulatory body, decide that a patient has waited long enough for a human organ that they qualify for inclusion in a trial?

Furthermore, if xenotransplant clinical trials support widespread adoption of xenotransplant procedures, how do we regulate a system whereby organs are widely available? Policies on patient selection and organ allocation currently exist in healthcare systems across the world. Navigating changes to these policies will require global conversations across different regulatory bodies.

Finally, a hurdle that Denning said could be the biggest of them all is: What do the general public think? Is it acceptable to harvest organs from animals? One thing that is for sure, is the outcomes of this [patient] will be watched closely by many, Denning concluded.

Read this article:
What the World's First Pig to Human Heart Transplant Could Mean for the Future of Transplants - Technology Networks

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on What the World’s First Pig to Human Heart Transplant Could Mean for the Future of Transplants – Technology Networks | January 18th, 2022

Report Oceanpresents a new report onglobalcell therapy processing marketsize, share, growth, industry trends, and forecast 2030, covering various industry elements and growth trends helpful for predicting the markets future.

The global cell therapy processing market was valued at $1,695 million in 2018, and is projected to reach $12,062 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 27.80% from 2019 to 2026.

Request Sample PDF of the Report https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

In order to produce a holistic assessment of the market, a variety of factors is considered, including demographics, business cycles, and microeconomic factors specific to the market under study. Global cell therapy processing market report 2021 also contains a comprehensive business analysis of the state of the business, which analyzes innovative ways for business growth and describes critical factors such as prime manufacturers, production value, key regions, and growth rate.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that US healthcare expenditures grew by 4.6% to US$ 3.8 trillion in 2019, or US$ 11,582 per person, and accounted for 17.7% of GDP. Also, the federal government accounted for 29.0% of the total health expenditures, followed by households (28.4%). State and local governments accounted for 16.1% of total health care expenditures, while other private revenues accounted for 7.5%.

Get our Request sample copy of the report:https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

This study aims to define market sizes and forecast the values for different segments and countries in the coming eight years. The study aims to include qualitative and quantitative perspectives about the industry within the regions and countries covered in the report. The report also outlines the significant factors, such as driving factors and challenges, that will determine the markets future growth.

Cell therapy is the administration of living cells to replace a missing cell type or to offer a continuous source of a necessary factor to achieve a truly meaningful therapeutic outcome. There are different forms of cell therapy, ranging from transplantation of cells derived from an individual patient or from another donor. The manufacturing process of cell therapy requires the use of different products such as cell lines and instruments. These cell therapies are used for the treatment of various diseases such as cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders.

Get a Request Sample PDF of the Report https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

Increase in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, rise in the demand for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, increase in the R&D for the advancement in the research associated with cell therapy, increase in the potential of cell therapies in the treatment of diseases associated with lungs using stem cell therapies, and rise in understanding of the role of stem cells in inducing development of functional lung cells from both embryonic stem cells (ESCs) & induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are the key factors that fuel the growth of the cell therapy processing market.

Moreover, increase in a number of clinical studies relating to the development of cell therapy processing, rise in adoption of regenerative drug, introduction of novel technologies for cell therapy processing, increase in government investments for cell-based research, increase in number of GMP-certified production facilities, large number of oncology-oriented cell-based therapy clinical trials, and rise in the development of allogeneic cell therapy are other factors that augment the growth of the market. However, high-costs associated with the cell therapies, and bottlenecks experienced by manufacturers during commercialization of cell therapies are expected to hinder the growth of the market.

Request a free sample copy in PDF or view the report summary@https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

The cell therapy processing market is segmented into offering type, application, and region. By type, the market is categorized into products, services, and software. The application covered in the segment include cardiovascular devices, bone repair, neurological disorders, skeletal muscle repair, cancer, and others. On the basis of region, the market is analyzed across North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, and rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, India, and rest of Asia-Pacific), and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, and Africa).

KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERS The study provides an in-depth analysis of the market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. It offers a quantitative analysis from 2018 to 2026, which is expected to enable the stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities. A comprehensive analysis of all the geographical regions is provided to determine the existing opportunities. The profiles and growth strategies of the key players are thoroughly analyzed to understand the competitive outlook of the global market.

LIST OF KEY PLAYERS PROFILED IN THE REPORT Cell Therapies Pty Ltd Invitrx Inc. Lonza Ltd Merck & Co., Inc. (FloDesign Sonics) NantWorks, LLC Neurogeneration, Inc. Novartis AG Plasticell Ltd. Regeneus Ltd StemGenex, Inc.

LIST OF OTHER PLAYERS IN THE VALUE CHAIN (These players are not profiled in the report. The same will be included on request.) Beckman Coulter, Inc. Stemcell Technologies MiltenyiBiotec GmbH

Request To Download Sample of This Strategic Report:-https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

KEY MARKET SEGMENTSBy Offering Type Products Services Software

By Application Cardiovascular Devices Bone Repair Neurological Disorders Skeletal Muscle Repair Cancer Others

By Region North Americao U.S.o Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo UKo Italyo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia-Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Rest of Asia-Pacific LAMEAo Latin Americao Middle Easto Africa

Download Free Sample Report, SPECIAL OFFER (Avail an Up-to 2% discount on this report- https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

What are the aspects of this report that relate to regional analysis?

The reports geographical regions include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of market trends, including information on usage and consumption at the regional level.

Reports on the market include the growth rates of each region, which includes their countries, over the coming years.

How are the key players in the market assessed?

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leading competitors in the market.

The report includes information about the key vendors in the market.

The report provides a complete overview of each company, including its profile, revenue generation, cost of goods, and products manufactured.

The report presents the facts and figures about market competitors, alongside the viewpoints of leading market players.

A market report includes details on recent market developments, mergers, and acquisitions involving the key players mentioned.

Following are the questions answered by the Market report:

What are the goals of the report?

This market report shows the projected market size for the cell therapy processing market at the end of the forecast period. The report also examines the historical and current market sizes.

On the basis of various indicators, the charts present the year-over-year growth (%) and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the given forecast period.

The report includes an overview of the market, its geographical scope, its segmentation, and the financial performance of key players.

The report examines the current state of the industry and the potential growth opportunities in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, and Africa.

The research report includes various factors contributing to the markets growth.

The report analyzes the growth rate, market size, and market valuation for the forecast period.

For More Information or Query or Customization Before Buying, Visit @https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

What factors are taken into consideration when assessing the key market players?

The report analyzes companies across the globe in detail.

The report provides an overview of major vendors in the market, including key players.

Reports include information about each manufacturer, such as profiles, revenue, product pricing, and other pertinent information about the manufactured products.

This report includes a comparison of market competitors and a discussion of the standpoints of the major players.

Market reports provide information regarding recent developments, mergers, and acquisitions involving key players.

What are the key findings of the report?

This report provides comprehensive information on factors expected to influence the market growth and market share in the future.

The report offers the current state of the market and future prospects for various geographical regions.

This report provides both qualitative and quantitative information about the competitive landscape of the market.

Combined with Porters Five Forces analysis, it serves as SWOT analysis and competitive landscape analysis.

It provides an in-depth analysis of the market, highlighting its growth rates and opportunities for growth.

Access full Report Description, TOC, Table of Figure, Chart, etc. @https://reportocean.com/industry-verticals/sample-request?report_id=AMR714

Browse some more reports:

Veterinary Point of Care Blood Gas Analyzers Market

Orthodontics Market

Disposable medical gloves Market

Brain Health Supplements Market

Digital Wound Measurement Devices Market

Oral Proteins and Peptides Market

Hernia Repair Devices and Consumables Market

Disposable Gloves Market

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Market

Gene Therapy Market

Medical Computer Carts Market

Dental Chair Market

Medical Simulation Market

Clinical Trial Management (CTM) Market

Sinus Dilation Devices Market

Ventricular Assist Devices Market

About Report Ocean:We are the best market research reports provider in the industry. Report Ocean believes in providing quality reports to clients to meet the top line and bottom line goals which will boost your market share in todays competitive environment. Report Ocean is a one-stop solution for individuals, organizations, and industries that are looking for innovative market research reports.

Get in Touch with Us:Report Ocean:Email:sales@reportocean.comAddress: 500 N Michigan Ave, Suite 600, Chicago, Illinois 60611 UNITED STATESTel:+1 888 212 3539 (US TOLL FREE)Website:https://www.reportocean.com/

Here is the original post:
Cell Therapy Processing Market CAGR of 27.80% Share, Scope, Stake, Trends, Industry Size, Sales & Revenue, Growth, Opportunities and Demand with...

IPS Cell Therapy Comments Off on Cell Therapy Processing Market CAGR of 27.80% Share, Scope, Stake, Trends, Industry Size, Sales & Revenue, Growth, Opportunities and Demand with… | January 3rd, 2022

Definition

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the tight bundle of cells and nerves that sends and receives signals from the brain to and from the rest of the body. SCI can be caused by direct injury to the spinal cord itself or from damage to the tissue and bones (vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord. This damage can result in temporary or permanent changes in sensation, movement, strength, and body functions below the site of injury. Some injuries that cause little or no cell death may allow for an almost complete recovery while those that occur higher on the spinal cord and are more serious can cause paralysis in most of the body. Motor vehicle accidents and catastrophic falls are the most common causes of SCI in the United States.

An incomplete injury means the spinal cord is still able to trasnmit some messages to and from the brain to the rest of the body. A complete injury means there is no nerve communication and motor function (voluntary movement) below the site where the trauma occurred.

A spinal cord injury can cause one or more symptoms including:

Definition

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the tight bundle of cells and nerves that sends and receives signals from the brain to and from the rest of the body. SCI can be caused by direct injury to the spinal cord itself or from damage to the tissue and bones (vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord. This damage can result in temporary or permanent changes in sensation, movement, strength, and body functions below the site of injury. Some injuries that cause little or no cell death may allow for an almost complete recovery while those that occur higher on the spinal cord and are more serious can cause paralysis in most of the body. Motor vehicle accidents and catastrophic falls are the most common causes of SCI in the United States.

An incomplete injury means the spinal cord is still able to trasnmit some messages to and from the brain to the rest of the body. A complete injury means there is no nerve communication and motor function (voluntary movement) below the site where the trauma occurred.

A spinal cord injury can cause one or more symptoms including:

Treatment

Immediate treatment at the accident scene includes putting the person on a backboard with a special collar around the neck to prevent further damage to the spinal cord. Treatment at a trauma center may include realigning the spine and surgery to remove any bone fragments or other objects that might press on the spinal column.

Rehabilitative care may include breathing assistance using a machine that produces forced air, treatment for any respiratory or circulatory problems, pain medications, and learning new ways to address bladder and bowel problems. A rehabilitation team will assess the individual's needs and create a rehabilitation program that combines plysical and other therapies with skill-building activities, training, and counseling to aid recovery and provide social and emotional support, as well as to increase independence and quality of life.

Treatment

Immediate treatment at the accident scene includes putting the person on a backboard with a special collar around the neck to prevent further damage to the spinal cord. Treatment at a trauma center may include realigning the spine and surgery to remove any bone fragments or other objects that might press on the spinal column.

Rehabilitative care may include breathing assistance using a machine that produces forced air, treatment for any respiratory or circulatory problems, pain medications, and learning new ways to address bladder and bowel problems. A rehabilitation team will assess the individual's needs and create a rehabilitation program that combines plysical and other therapies with skill-building activities, training, and counseling to aid recovery and provide social and emotional support, as well as to increase independence and quality of life.

Definition

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the tight bundle of cells and nerves that sends and receives signals from the brain to and from the rest of the body. SCI can be caused by direct injury to the spinal cord itself or from damage to the tissue and bones (vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord. This damage can result in temporary or permanent changes in sensation, movement, strength, and body functions below the site of injury. Some injuries that cause little or no cell death may allow for an almost complete recovery while those that occur higher on the spinal cord and are more serious can cause paralysis in most of the body. Motor vehicle accidents and catastrophic falls are the most common causes of SCI in the United States.

An incomplete injury means the spinal cord is still able to trasnmit some messages to and from the brain to the rest of the body. A complete injury means there is no nerve communication and motor function (voluntary movement) below the site where the trauma occurred.

A spinal cord injury can cause one or more symptoms including:

Treatment

Immediate treatment at the accident scene includes putting the person on a backboard with a special collar around the neck to prevent further damage to the spinal cord. Treatment at a trauma center may include realigning the spine and surgery to remove any bone fragments or other objects that might press on the spinal column.

Rehabilitative care may include breathing assistance using a machine that produces forced air, treatment for any respiratory or circulatory problems, pain medications, and learning new ways to address bladder and bowel problems. A rehabilitation team will assess the individual's needs and create a rehabilitation program that combines plysical and other therapies with skill-building activities, training, and counseling to aid recovery and provide social and emotional support, as well as to increase independence and quality of life.

Prognosis

Retention of movement depends on the type of injury and where it occurs along the spine. Loss of nerve function occurs below the level of injury. An injury higher on the spinal cord can cause paralysis in most of the body and affect all limbs (called tetraplegia or quadriplegia). A lower injury to the spinal cord may cause paralysis affecting the legs and lower body (called paraplegia).

People who survive a spinal cord injury will most likely have medical complications such as chronic pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction, along with an increased susceptibility to respiratory and heart problems. Successful recovery depends upon how well these chronic conditions are handled day to day.

x

Prognosis

Retention of movement depends on the type of injury and where it occurs along the spine. Loss of nerve function occurs below the level of injury. An injury higher on the spinal cord can cause paralysis in most of the body and affect all limbs (called tetraplegia or quadriplegia). A lower injury to the spinal cord may cause paralysis affecting the legs and lower body (called paraplegia).

People who survive a spinal cord injury will most likely have medical complications such as chronic pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction, along with an increased susceptibility to respiratory and heart problems. Successful recovery depends upon how well these chronic conditions are handled day to day.

Prognosis

Retention of movement depends on the type of injury and where it occurs along the spine. Loss of nerve function occurs below the level of injury. An injury higher on the spinal cord can cause paralysis in most of the body and affect all limbs (called tetraplegia or quadriplegia). A lower injury to the spinal cord may cause paralysis affecting the legs and lower body (called paraplegia).

People who survive a spinal cord injury will most likely have medical complications such as chronic pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction, along with an increased susceptibility to respiratory and heart problems. Successful recovery depends upon how well these chronic conditions are handled day to day.

Definition

A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the tight bundle of cells and nerves that sends and receives signals from the brain to and from the rest of the body. SCI can be caused by direct injury to the spinal cord itself or from damage to the tissue and bones (vertebrae) that surround the spinal cord. This damage can result in temporary or permanent changes in sensation, movement, strength, and body functions below the site of injury. Some injuries that cause little or no cell death may allow for an almost complete recovery while those that occur higher on the spinal cord and are more serious can cause paralysis in most of the body. Motor vehicle accidents and catastrophic falls are the most common causes of SCI in the United States.

An incomplete injury means the spinal cord is still able to trasnmit some messages to and from the brain to the rest of the body. A complete injury means there is no nerve communication and motor function (voluntary movement) below the site where the trauma occurred.

A spinal cord injury can cause one or more symptoms including:

Treatment

Immediate treatment at the accident scene includes putting the person on a backboard with a special collar around the neck to prevent further damage to the spinal cord. Treatment at a trauma center may include realigning the spine and surgery to remove any bone fragments or other objects that might press on the spinal column.

Rehabilitative care may include breathing assistance using a machine that produces forced air, treatment for any respiratory or circulatory problems, pain medications, and learning new ways to address bladder and bowel problems. A rehabilitation team will assess the individual's needs and create a rehabilitation program that combines plysical and other therapies with skill-building activities, training, and counseling to aid recovery and provide social and emotional support, as well as to increase independence and quality of life.

Prognosis

Retention of movement depends on the type of injury and where it occurs along the spine. Loss of nerve function occurs below the level of injury. An injury higher on the spinal cord can cause paralysis in most of the body and affect all limbs (called tetraplegia or quadriplegia). A lower injury to the spinal cord may cause paralysis affecting the legs and lower body (called paraplegia).

People who survive a spinal cord injury will most likely have medical complications such as chronic pain and bladder and bowel dysfunction, along with an increased susceptibility to respiratory and heart problems. Successful recovery depends upon how well these chronic conditions are handled day to day.

What research is being done?

Scientists at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and those at other institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct and fund research to better understand SCI and how to treat it.

Current research on SCI focuses on advancing our understanding of four key principles of spinal cord repair:

Basic spinal cord function research studies how the normal spinal cord develops, processes sensory information, controls movement, and generates rhythmic patterns (like walking and breathing). Research on injury mechanisms focuses on what causes immediate harm and on the cascade of helpful and harmful bodily reactions that protect from or contribute to damage in the hours and days following a spinal cord injury. Neural engineering strategies also offer ways to restore communication and independence.

Information from the National Library of Medicines MedlinePlusSpinal Cord Injuries

Patient Organizations

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

636 Morris Turnpike

Suite 3A

Short Hills

NJ

Short Hills, NJ 07078

Tel: 973-379-2690; 800-225-0292

Miami Project to Cure Paralysis

1095 NW 14th Terrace

Lois Pope LIFE Center

Miami

FL

Miami, FL 33136

Tel: 305-243-6001; 800-STANDUP (782-6387)

National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)

Administration for Community Living

330 C St., NW

Washington

DC

Washington, DC 20201

Tel: 202-401-4634; 202-245-7316 (TTY)

National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC)

8400 Corporate Drive

Suite 500

Landover

MD

Landover, MD 20785

Tel: 301-459-5900; 800-346-2742; 301-459-5984 (TTY)

National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center

1717 6th Avenue South

Birmingham

AL

Birmingham, AL 35232

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)

801 18th Street, NW

Washington

DC

Washington, DC 20006-3517

Tel: 800-424-8200

United Spinal Association

120-34 Queens Boulevard, #320

Kew Gardens

NY

Kew Gardens, NY 11415

Tel: 718-803-3782; 800-962-9629

Publications

Spasticity information sheet compiled by NINDS, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Myoclonus fact sheet compiled by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

Patient Organizations

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Read the original post:
Spinal Cord Injury Information Page | National Institute ...

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Spinal Cord Injury Information Page | National Institute … | January 3rd, 2022

After the therapy performs its function, the materials biodegrade into nutrients for the cells within 12 weeks and then completely disappear from the body without noticeable side effects.This is the first study in which researchers controlled the collective motion of molecules through changes in chemical structure to increase a therapeutics efficacy.

Samuel I. Stupp

Our research aims to find a therapy that can prevent individuals from becoming paralyzed after major trauma or disease, said NorthwesternsSamuel I. Stupp, who led the study. For decades, this has remained a major challenge for scientists because our bodys central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, does not have any significant capacity to repair itself after injury or after the onset of a degenerative disease. We are going straight to the FDA to start the process of getting this new therapy approved for use in human patients, who currently have very few treatment options.

Stupp is Board of Trustees Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern, where he is founding director of theSimpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology(SQI) and its affiliated research center, theCenter for Regenerative Nanomedicine. He has appointments in theMcCormick School of Engineering,Weinberg College of Arts and SciencesandFeinberg School of Medicine.

According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, nearly 300,000 people are currently living with a spinal cord injury in the United States. Life for these patients can be extraordinarily difficult. Less than 3% of people with complete injury ever recover basic physical functions. And approximately 30% are re-hospitalized at least once during any given year after the initial injury, costing millions of dollars in average lifetime health care costs per patient. Life expectancy for people with spinal cord injuries is significantly lower than people without spinal cord injuries and has not improved since the 1980s.

I wanted to make a difference on the outcomes of spinal cord injury and to tackle this problem, given the tremendous impact it could have on the lives of patients.

Currently, there are no therapeutics that trigger spinal cord regeneration, said Stupp, an expert in regenerative medicine. I wanted to make a difference on the outcomes of spinal cord injury and to tackle this problem, given the tremendous impact it could have on the lives of patients. Also, new science to address spinal cord injury could have impact on strategies for neurodegenerative diseases and stroke.

A new injectable therapy forms nanofibers with two different bioactive signals (green and orange) that communicate with cells to initiate repair of the injured spinal cord. Illustration by Mark Seniw

The secret behind Stupps new breakthrough therapeutic is tuning the motion of molecules, so they can find and properly engage constantly moving cellular receptors. Injected as a liquid, the therapy immediately gels into a complex network of nanofibers that mimic the extracellular matrix of the spinal cord. By matching the matrixs structure, mimicking the motion of biological molecules and incorporating signals for receptors, the synthetic materials are able to communicate with cells.

Receptors in neurons and other cells constantly move around, Stupp said. The key innovation in our research, which has never been done before, is to control the collective motion of more than 100,000 molecules within our nanofibers. By making the molecules move, dance or even leap temporarily out of these structures, known as supramolecular polymers, they are able to connect more effectively with receptors.

100,000molecules move within the nanofibers

Stupp and his team found that fine-tuning the molecules motion within the nanofiber network to make them more agile resulted in greater therapeutic efficacy in paralyzed mice. They also confirmed that formulations of their therapy with enhanced molecular motion performed better during in vitro tests with human cells, indicating increased bioactivity and cellular signaling.

Given that cells themselves and their receptors are in constant motion, you can imagine that molecules moving more rapidly would encounter these receptors more often, Stupp said. If the molecules are sluggish and not as social, they may never come into contact with the cells.

Once connected to the receptors, the moving molecules trigger two cascading signals, both of which are critical to spinal cord repair. One signal prompts the long tails of neurons in the spinal cord, called axons, to regenerate. Similar to electrical cables, axons send signals between the brain and the rest of the body. Severing or damaging axons can result in the loss of feeling in the body or even paralysis. Repairing axons, on the other hand, increases communication between the body and brain.

Zaida lvarez

The second signal helps neurons survive after injury because it causes other cell types to proliferate, promoting the regrowth of lost blood vessels that feed neurons and critical cells for tissue repair. The therapy also induces myelin to rebuild around axons and reduces glial scarring, which acts as a physical barrier that prevents the spinal cord from healing.

The signals used in the study mimic the natural proteins that are needed to induce the desired biological responses. However, proteins have extremely short half-lives and are expensive to produce, said Zaida lvarez, the studys first author. Our synthetic signals are short, modified peptides that when bonded together by the thousands will survive for weeks to deliver bioactivity. The end result is a therapy that is less expensive to produce and lasts much longer.

A former research assistant professor in Stupps laboratory,lvarez is now a visiting scholar at SQI and a researcher at theInstitute for Bioengineering of Catalonain Spain.

While the new therapy could be used to prevent paralysis after major trauma (automobile accidents, falls, sports accidents and gunshot wounds) as well as from diseases, Stupp believes the underlying discovery that supramolecular motion is a key factor in bioactivity can be applied to other therapies and targets.

The central nervous system tissues we have successfully regenerated in the injured spinal cord are similar to those in the brain affected by stroke and neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease, Stupp said. Beyond that, our fundamental discovery about controlling the motion of molecular assemblies to enhance cell signaling could be applied universally across biomedical targets.

View post:
Dancing molecules successfully repair severe spinal cord ...

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Dancing molecules successfully repair severe spinal cord … | January 3rd, 2022

Whether a deadly disease like cancer and Alzheimers or a lifelong affliction like diabetes, eczema, or arthritis, 2021 has been a year of breakthroughs and advancements.

Beyond COVID-19 and the developments of the mRNA vaccines created to halt the pandemic, medical researchers around the world continued to focus on the long-entrenched problems that have plagued our health for centuries.

Here are some of the top Health stories from 2021:

Routinely polled as one of the most-feared diseases, Alzheimers researchers have hailed several achievements this year.

One fascinating focus has been on prevention, or what contributes to the disease.

A neuroscientist who authored a book called The First Survivors of Alzheimers is not so much focused on drugs as he is focused on brain prevention and is achieving results never before seen in the history of Alzheimers treatment. (Read more)

The findings of a drug that seemed to restore normal cognition in a variety of cases ranging from traumatic brain injury, to noise-related hearing loss, to neurodegenerative disease seem to suggest, its creators write, that age-related cognitive loss may be down to a physiological blockage rather than permanent damage. (Read More)

As seen many times before, sometimes the best new cure is an old drug. Four drugstwo non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, along with two anti-hypertensives, proved effective at reversing Alzheimers disease and neutralizing symptoms in mice suffering from various stages of the illness. (Read More)

As long as theres lifeforms, there will be cancer, but that doesnt mean we cant learn how to treat it, strike at the root cause, and hopefully turn at least some forms of it from one of the major killers to a minor inconvenience.

With 12,000 Britons diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year, the results of a phase III trial that saw complete eradication in some patients, and side-effect-free life extension in others, has the country excited. (Read More)

Discovering an RNA molecule that regulates a key driver in the growth of prostate cancer cells is noteworthy because prostate cancer is one of the most common in men around the world, and because most drugs work for a short period of time before the cancer becomes resistant to it. (Read More)

Despite the gradual awareness of the harmful effects of sugar and bread on the body, chronic diabetes and juvenile diabetes continues to be a major problem in our society.

It turns out that all it takes for this potential cure to rid a patient of a debilitating autoimmune disease is a small piece of adult skin no larger than a housefly. With FDA trials underway, hundreds of thousands of Type-1 diabetics have a chance at a potential cure. (Read More)

Nearly 500 million diabetics around the world need to mildly stab themselves in order to ensure they are in no danger of going into shock. An Australian med-tech company has a new solution. (Read More)

Afflicting a quarter of all Americans, and the leading cause of workplace disability resulting in $303 billion in lost productivity, arthritis took a step towards a cure in 2021.

An alternative to highly addictive painkillers is offering those who undergo knee replacements a large measure of safe relief. Many arthritis patients have knees and hips replaced in the hope of regaining some measure of mobility later in life, but the resulting pain and stiffness can sometimes only be treated with opioids. (Read More)

Osteoarthritis is the most common form, and it affects 8.5 million people. Nasal cells come from a special class of adaptive tissues produced in the brain and spinal cord that can be used to relieve chronic inflammation in the knee and lay the groundwork for a therapeutic treatment that spares patients of surgery and prosthesis. (Read More)

It would seem silly to write a list such as this without addressing the elephant in the room, but as the pandemic petered on through 2021, breakthroughs continued to be made.

One of Americas most favorite medicines was found, unsurprisingly to some doctors, to have as strong an effect as vaccines in some cases at mitigating the severe symptoms of COVID-19. (Read More)

Along with an Israeli nasal spray that prevented infection in 99% of patients, another was found in trials at the University of Oxford which killed 99% of the virus in the nasal passage. (Read More)

Some demonstrations of prosthetic internal organs have shocked the world in 2021, providing a glimpse of a sci-fi future for human anatomy.

A bio-tech implant that allowed a 78-year old blind man to see his family again actually binds with the inside of the eye-socket in a way that had never been done before. (Read More)

The worlds first legit prototype for an artificial kidney was successfully tested when the blood filter and bio reactor components were demonstrated to work together, offering hope to free kidney disease patients from dialysis machines and transplant lists. (Read More)

Ticks, as awful as they are, have their place in the Web of Life. Researchers have identified a soil microbe that eliminates Lyme Disease but essentially nothing else, not even the ticks, opening the door to ecosystem wide treatment against Lyme Disease. (Read More)

Stem cells prepared with the patients own bone marrow were used to repair damaged spinal cords and restore mobility and motor functions in more than half of a Yale scientists trial. (Read More)

An incurable autoimmune disorder that results in progressive motor function loss and neurodegeneration, an MS breakthrough was achieved using the same mRNA vaccines that worked so well originally to stop the COVID pandemic. (Read More)

A monoclonal antibody that reduces the amount of inflammatory molecules that cause a hormonal dysregulation leading to eczema was a treatment generated by this totally surprise finding. (Read More)

Habit Cough the name for a cough without a cause has been cured through a YouTube video relying mostly on the power of suggestion. While this may seem a little sketchy, many people with habit cough have no underlying respiratory condition of any kind, and therefore an ounce of suggestion may beat a cure. (Read More)

SHARE the Inspiring Healing News From 2021 on Social Media

Follow this link:
Best 2021 Medical Breakthroughs And Treatments to Beat Cancer, Alzheimer's, Diabetes & More - Good News Network

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Best 2021 Medical Breakthroughs And Treatments to Beat Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes & More – Good News Network | January 3rd, 2022