Stem cell therapy | safety of stem cells
http://www.arthritistreatmentcenter.com So... are stem cells really safe? The answer next... Safety Of Autologous Adipose Tissue-derived Stem Cells With Platelet-rich plasma Into Human Articular...

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Stem Cells and Multiple Sclerosis
Dr Colin Andrews speaks about the optimistic results of treating MS (multiple sclerosis) with stem cell therapy and the ethical limitations within Australia.

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Stem Cells and Multiple Sclerosis - Video

Two experimental approaches are showing promise for the treatment of heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy: gene therapy and stem cell therapy. Both of these approaches have received a lot of publicity, and you may be wondering how close they are to routine clinical use.

The answer is that they are both in the very early stages of investigation, and a lot more work has to be done before they become widely available.

In animal experiments, several genes have been tried, including genes for sarcoplasmic reticulum (a membrane within muscle cells that helps to control calcium movement); for adrenaline receptors (receptors on cell membranes that allow cells to respond to adrenaline); and for adenylyl cyclase (a protein that helps to generate energy within cells).

While the animal testing of gene therapy has shown significant promise, it has not yet become advanced enough to proceed to clinical trials.

Based on such promising findings, early stem cell therapy has now been applied, in a few small studies, in carefully selected patients.

Early human studies suggest that the transplanted stem cells do not actually take over the work of the heart, but rather, they produce certain substances (including cytokines, growth factors, and others) that help the "native" heart cells to function more efficiently. They also appear to stimulate "native" stem cells already present in the heart to differentiate into functioning cardiac cells.

There has been only a very limited experience so far using stem cells in patients with heart failure. The small studies that have been done suggest that stem cells can modestly improve cardiac function in certain patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. This improvement is shown by an improvement in the ejection fraction.

Potential risks of stem cell therapy include the possibility of ventricular tachycardia, which apparently is seen in many patients after the injection of stem cells. Because of this problem, some investigators now require patients to receive implantable defibrillators prior to certain types of stem cell therapy for heart failure. Also, observations suggest that in patients who have stents for coronary artery disease, restenosis (blockage) may be more frequent after stem cell treatment.

In summary, stem cell therapy for heart failure is still in its early stages of investigation. Major questions remain regarding what types of cells are best to use, how they should be delivered, how likely it is that there will be a significant long-term benefit, and whether the long-term safety of the technique is acceptable. While stem cell therapy has shown promise, investigators are still quite a ways from being ready for a major clinical trial, let alone for routine usage.

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Gene Therapy and Stem Cell Therapy For Heart Failure

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION OVERVIEW

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT), also called hematopoietic stem cell transplant or hematopoietic cell transplant, is a type of treatment for cancer (and a few other conditions as well). A review of the normal function of the bone marrow will help in the understanding of bone marrow transplantation.

Bone marrow functionBone marrow is the soft, spongy area in the center of some of the larger bones of the body. The marrow produces all of the different cells that make up the blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells (of many different types), and platelets. All of these cells develop from a type of precursor cell found in the bone marrow, called a hematopoietic stem cell.

The body is able to direct hematopoietic stem cells to develop into the blood components needed at any given moment. This is a very active process, with the bone marrow producing millions of different cells every hour. Most of the stem cells stay in the marrow until they are transformed into the various blood components, which are then released into the blood stream. Small numbers of stem cells, however, can be found in the circulating blood, which allows them to be collected under certain circumstances. Various strategies can be employed to increase the number of hematopoietic stem cells in the blood prior to collection. (See 'Peripheral blood' below.)

Bone marrow transplantationSome of the most effective treatments for cancer, such as chemotherapy and radiation, are toxic to the bone marrow. In general, the higher the dose, the more toxic the effects on the bone marrow.

In bone marrow transplantation, you are given very high doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which is intended to more effectively kill cancer cells and unfortunately also destroy all the normal cells developing in the bone marrow, including the critical stem cells. After the treatment, you must have a healthy supply of stem cells reintroduced, or transplanted. The transplanted cells then reestablish the blood cell production process in the bone marrow. Reduced doses of radiation or chemotherapy that do not completely destroy the bone marrow may be used in some settings. (See 'Non-myeloablative transplant' below.)

The cells that will be transplanted can be taken from the bone marrow (called a bone marrow transplant), from the bloodstream (called a peripheral blood stem cell transplant, which requires that you take medication to boost the number of hematopoietic stem cells in the blood), or occasionally from blood obtained from the umbilical cord at the time of birth of a normal newborn (called an umbilical cord blood transplant).

TYPES OF BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

There are two main types of bone marrow transplantation: autologous and allogeneic.

Autologous transplantIn autologous transplantation, your own hematopoietic stem cells are removed before the high dose chemotherapy or radiation is given, and they are then frozen for storage and later use. After your chemotherapy or radiation is complete, the harvested cells are thawed and returned to you.

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Bone marrow transplantation (stem cell transplantation)

Ever since Dolly the Sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists have been trying to do the same thing with human cells. Using the same technique, scientists say they've finally accomplished the feat with adult cells.

"What we show for the first time is that you can actually take skin cells, from a middle-aged 35-year-old male, but also from an elderly, 75-year-old male" and use the DNA to create tissue with cells of an exact match, said co-author of the study Robert Lanza.

The work was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Last year, the technique was successfully used with infant cells, but in order to create tissue in a lab that could treat adult diseases, such as Alzheimer's, scientists needed to know if the technique would work with adult cells.

"I'm happy to hear that our experiment was verified and shown to be genuine," said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a development biologist at Oregon Health and Science University, who led the 2013 study.

The work confirmed that starting with a quality human egg is key to the process. The researchers replaced the original DNA in an unfertilized egg with the donor DNA, and then cultured the cells in a lab dish. The stem cells, which were an exact match to the donor's DNA, can then be turned into various tissue types.

Even though full human cloning is a long way off, the report may raise an equal amount of concern and excitement.

"Certainly this kind of technology could be abused by some kind of rogue scientist," Paul Knoepfler of the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, told NPR.

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Adult Human Cells Cloned for First Time

Scientists have moved a step closer to the goal of creating stem cells perfectly matched to a patient's DNA in order to treat diseases, they announced on Thursday, creating patient-specific cell lines out of the skin cells of two adult men.

The advance, described online in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is the first time researchers have achieved "therapeutic cloning" of adults. Technically called somatic-cell nuclear transfer, therapeutic cloning means producing embryonic cells genetically identical to a donor, usually for the purpose of using those cells to treat disease.

But nuclear transfer is also the first step in reproductive cloning, or producing a genetic duplicate of someone - a technique that has sparked controversy since the 1997 announcement that it was used to create Dolly, the clone of a ewe. In 2005, the United Nations called on countries to ban it, and the United States prohibits the use of federal funds for either reproductive or therapeutic cloning.

The new study was funded by a foundation and the South Korean government.

If confirmed by other labs, it could prove significant because many illnesses that might one day be treated with stem cells, such as heart failure and vision loss, primarily affect adults. Patient-specific stem cells would have to be created from older cells, not infant or fetal ones. That now looks possible, though far from easy: Out of 39 tries, the scientists created stem cells only once for each donor.

Outside experts had different views of the study, which was led by Young Gie Chung of the Research Institute for Stem Cell Research at CHA Health Systems in Los Angeles.

Stem cell biologist George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute called it "an incremental advance" and "not earth-shattering."

Reproductive biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University, who developed the technique the CHA team adapted, was more positive. "The advance here is showing that (nuclear transfer) looks like it will work with people of all ages," he said in an interview.

A year ago, Mitalipov led the team that used nuclear transfer of fetal and infant DNA to produce stem cells, the first time that had been accomplished in humans of any age.

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In a cloning first, scientists create stem cells from ...

April 18, 2014

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

In a significant breakthrough a team of scientists from California and Seoul, South Korea have been able to create viable stem cells from an adult donor that perfectly match the donors DNA, according to a new report in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The development, referred to as therapeutic cloning, involves the production of embryonic cells for scientific purposes and many object to this type of research based on moral or religious grounds. Debate over this type of work was stoked in 1997 with the announcement that it was used to create the clone of a sheep, called Dolly. In 2005, the United Nations called for a ban on cloning and the United States government currently prohibits the use of federal dollars for cloning research.

The scientists behind the latest development, which was partially funded by the government of South Korea, acknowledged that if the embryos in their study were implanted in a uterus they could have developed into a fetus.

Without regulations in place, such embryos could also be used for human reproductive cloning, although this would be unsafe and grossly unethical, study author Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientist of Massachusetts-based biotech Advanced Cell Technology, told Reuters reporter Sharon Begley.

To produce viable stem cells from an adult donor, the researchers first inserted DNA from an adult skin cell into a donated ovum. The scientists then delivered an electric shock to fuse the genetic material to the ovum. Eventually, the ovum divides and multiplies becoming a viable embryo in five or six days. Pluripotent stem cells, which can become any type of cell in the body, are located on the interior of this embryo.

Last year, a team of Oregon scientists reported on their success in combining genetic material from fetal and infant cells with DNA-extracted eggs. The team was able to develop their eggs into approximately 150-cell embryos.

The Oregon team said a major aspect of their success was allowing the engineered eggs to sit for 30 minutes before hitting them with the charge of electricity that like Dr. Frankensteins monster set the eggs on the path to becoming alive.

In the new study, the researchers waited two hours before triggering the egg, which Lanza said allowed them to succeed.

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Stem Cells Created From Adult Cells

Stem cells in bone marrow need to produce hydrogen sulfide in order to properly multiply and form bone tissue, according to a new study from the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the Ostrow School of Dentistry.

Professor Songtao Shi, principal investigator on the project, said the presence of hydrogen sulfide produced by the cells governs the flow of calcium ions. The essential ions activate a chain of cellular signals that results in osteogenesis, or the creation of new bone tissue, and keeps the breakdown of old bone tissue at a proper level.

Conversely, having a hydrogen sulfide deficiency disrupted bone homeostasis and resulted in a condition similar to osteoporosis -- weakened, brittle bones -- in experimental mice. In humans, osteoporosis can cause serious problems such as bone fractures, mobility limitations and spinal problems; more than 52 million Americans have or are at risk for the disease.

However, Shi and his team demonstrated that the mice's condition could be rescued by administering small molecules that release hydrogen sulfide inside the body. The results indicate that a similar treatment may have potential to help human patients, Shi said.

"These results demonstrate hydrogen sulfide regulates bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and restoring hydrogen sulfide levels via non-toxic donors may provide treatments for diseases such as osteoporosis, which can arise from hydrogen sulfide deficiencies," Shi said.

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The above story is based on materials provided by University of Southern California. The original article was written by Beth Newcomb. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Proper stem cell function requires hydrogen sulfide

Scientists have replicated one of the most significant accomplishments in stem cell research by creating human embryos that were clones of two men.

The lab-engineered embryos were harvested within days and used to create lines of infinitely reproducing embryonic stem cells, which are capable of growing into any type of human tissue.

The work, reported Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell, comes 11 months after researchers in Oregon said they had produced the world's first human embryo clones and used them to make stem cells. Their study, published in Cell, aroused skepticism after critics pointed out multiple errors and duplicated images.

In addition, the entire effort to clone human embryos and then dismantle them in the name of science troubles some people on moral grounds.

The scientists in Oregon and the authors of the new report acknowledged that the clones they created could develop into babies if implanted in surrogate wombs. But like others in the field, they have said reproductive cloning would be unethical and irresponsible.

The process used to create cloned embryos is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, or SCNT. It involves removing the nucleus from an egg cell and replacing it with a nucleus from a cell of the person to be cloned. The same method was used to create Dolly the sheep in 1996, along with numerous animals from other species.

Human cloning was a particular challenge, in part because scientists had trouble getting enough donor eggs to carry out their experiments. Some scientists said SCNT in humans would be impossible.

Dr. Robert Lanza, the chief scientific officer for Advanced Cell Technology Inc. in Marlborough, Mass., has been working on SCNT off and on for about 15 years. He and his colleagues finally achieved success with a modified version of the recipe used by the Oregon team and skin cells donated by two men who were 35 and 75.

After swapping out the nucleus in the egg cell, both groups used caffeine to delay the onset of cell division a technique that has been called "the Starbucks effect." But instead of waiting 30 minutes to prompt cell division, as was done in the Oregon experiment, Lanza and his team waited two hours.

It remains unclear exactly how the egg causes the cells in previously mature tissues in this case, skin to transform into a more versatile, pluripotent state.

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Results are a leap for embryonic stem cells

Two Central Pennsylvania dogs are receiving a regenerative therapy for arthritis thats unprecedented for this area and less expensive than standard surgery. Stem Cell therapy is a way to repair damaged tissue and treat injury. When dealing with dogs, veterinarians say its the future of treatments and its becoming less costly.

Gunny is a 7-year-old German Shepard. He underwent the revolutionary stem cell therapy at the Palmyra Animal Clinic. Vets say the stem cell therapy is a way to combat Gunnys arthritis in his hips. Doctors collected fatty tissue from his shoulder, processed the stem cells in the lab and injected the cells back into his hips. This happens all in one day for around $1500. Prior to this, surgery could cost around $3,000.

Dr. Calvin Clements of the Palmyra Animal Clinic says, Injected in a damaged joint or ligament, these cells will take on that characteristic and differentiate into the cartilage or tissue were dealing with and help to regenerate it.

Dr. Clements says results are noticeable in about a month. On average, animals improve 85%.

For more information, contact the Palmyra Animal Clinic at 717-838-5451.

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Stem Cell therapy on animals may be medicine of the future

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At the Trinity Stem Cell Institute our medical team is among the most renowned in the world for their research and development of stem cell therapy for back ...

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April 14, 2014

Image Caption: University of Michigan researchers have found that mechanical forces in the environment of human embryonic stem cells influences how they differentiate, or morph into the body's different cell types. To arrive at the findings, they cultured the stem cells on ultrafine carpets made of microscopic posts of a key ingredient in Silly Putty. Credit: Ye Tao, Rose Anderson, Yubing Sun, and Jianping Fu

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

An ingredient found in Silly Putty could help scientists more efficiently turn human embryonic stem cells into fully functional specialized cells, according to research published online Sunday in the journal Nature Materials.

In the study, researchers from the University of Michigan report how they were able to coax stem cells to turn into working spinal cord cells by growing them on a soft, extremely fine carpet in which the threads were created from polydimethylsiloxane, one component of the popular childrens toy.

According to the authors, the paper is the first to directly link physical signals to human embryonic stem cell differentiation, which is the process by which source cells morph into one of the bodys 200-plus other types of cells that go on to become muscles, bones, nerves or organs.

Furthermore, their research increases the possibility that scientists will be able to uncover a more efficient way to guide differentiation in stem cells, potentially resulting in new treatment options for Alzheimers disease, ALS, Huntingtons disease or similar conditions, assistant professor of mechanical engineering Jianping Fu and his colleagues explained in a statement.

This is extremely exciting, said Fu. To realize promising clinical applications of human embryonic stem cells, we need a better culture system that can reliably produce more target cells that function well. Our approach is a big step in that direction, by using synthetic microengineered surfaces to control mechanical environmental signals.

He and his University of Michigan colleagues designed a specially engineered growth system in which polydimethylsiloxane served as the threads, and they discovered that by varying the height of the posts, they were able to alter the stiffness of the surface upon which the cells were grown.

Shorter posts were more rigid, while the taller ones were softer. On the taller ones, the stem cells that were grown morphed into nerve cells more often and more quickly than they did on the shorter ones. After a period of three weeks and two days, colonies of spinal cord cells that grew on the softer micropost carpets were four times more pure and 10 times larger than those growing on rigid ones, the study authors noted.

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Silly Putty Ingredient Could Help Stem Cells Become Motor Neurons

14/04/2014 - 13:40:33Back to World Home

Red blood cells grown in a laboratory are to be tested in patients for the first time by pioneering scientists.

The first volunteers are expected to be treated by late 2016. If successful, the trial could pave the way to the wide-scale use of artificial blood derived from stem cells.

Blood cells freshly made in the laboratory are likely to have a longer life span than those taken from donors, which typically last no more than 120 days.

They would also be free from infectious agents such as viruses or the rogue prion proteins that cause Creuzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

Professor Marc Turner, medical director at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS), who is leading the 5m project at the University of Edinburgh, said: Producing a cellular therapy which is of the scale, quality and safety required for human clinical trials is a very significant challenge. But if we can achieve success with this first-in-man clinical study it will be an important step forward to enable populations all over the world to benefit from blood transfusions.

These developments will also provide information of value to other researchers working on the development of cellular therapies.

The pilot study will involve no more than about three patients, who may be healthy volunteers or individuals suffering from a red blood cell disorder such as thalassaemia.

They will receive a small, five millilitre dose of laboratory-made blood to see how it behaves and survives in their bodies.

The blood cells will be created from ordinary donated skin cells called fibroblasts which are genetically reprogrammed into a stem cell-like state.

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Scientists to test artificial blood in humans

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For more than 40 years government officials have grappled with how to regulate and fund the controversial research

Despite its promise, stem cell research in the U.S. has been stymied, time and again, by bioethical landmines. The explosive debate revolves around the fact that, until recently, the only way to get pluripotent stem cells was to extract them from human embryos left over from in-vitro fertilizationa process that destroyed the five-day-old embryo. The ongoing debate about when life begins has led many to oppose stem cell research on the grounds that it is immoral to destroy something that could eventually grow into a person. On the other hand, promoters argue that the potential to help millions of people with stem cell therapies outweighs the sanctity of cells that are not viable outside the womb and that often go unused. Arguments on both sides are based on personal beliefs that may never be reconciled, so the debate hinges on whether the federal government should fund research that many citizens find morally objectionable. The following box chronicles stem cell research regulation in the U.S.

1970s

The Supreme Court legalizes abortion in 1973. The ensuing debate on the ethics of experimenting on fetal tissue prompts Congress to issue a moratorium on federal funding for research on human embryos the following year.

1990s

In 1995 President Clinton lifts the ban on funding for study of stem cells left over from in-vitro fertilization, but leaves other restrictions in place. In response, Congress passes the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, prohibiting funding for all research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death, regardless of the source of the embryo.

2000s

President George W. Bush announces that federal funding will be made available for research on the approximately 60 existing embryonic stem cell lines, but not new ones. Congress twice votes to loosen the restrictions on funding for research using embryonic stem cells left over from in-vitro fertilization but President Bush vetoes the legislation both times.

In 2009, early in his first term, President Barack Obama removes the ban on federal funding for new stem cell lines but signs an omnibus bill preserving the Dickey-Wicker Amendment. The move retains restrictions against federal funding for the direct creation of new stem cell lines, but opens up funding for research on newly created lines developed with private or state money.

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Washington, Apr 9 : In a bold attempt to make body parts using stem cells, scientists in a north London hospital are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in the laboratory.

It is among several labs around the world, including in the US, that are working on the futuristic idea of growing custom-made organs in the lab, Fox News reported.

While only a handful of patients have received the British lab-made organs so far- including tear ducts, blood vessels and windpipes - researchers hope they will soon be able to transplant more types of body parts into patients, including what would be the world's first nose made partly from stem cells.

Alexander Seifalian at University College London, the scientist leading the effort said that it's like making a cake and they just use a different kind of oven.

During a recent visit to his lab, Seifalian showed off a sophisticated machine used to make molds from a polymer material for various organs.

Last year, he and his team made a nose for a British man who lost his to cancer. Scientists added a salt and sugar solution to the mold of the nose to mimic the somewhat sponge-like texture of the real thing. Stem cells were taken from the patient's fat and grown in the lab for two weeks before being used to cover the nose scaffold. Later, the nose was implanted into the man's forearm so that skin would grow to cover it.

--ANI (Posted on 10-04-2014)

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Scientists growing human body parts in lab using stem cells

An internal investigation has found compromised data in a stem cell study led by prominent Brigham and Womens Hospital researchers, and the paper has been retracted. The authors claimed they had found evidence that the heart can regenerate at a rapid rate, contrary to years of belief that heart muscle cells cells turnover very slowly.

The paper, published in 2012 in the journal Circulation, was retracted Tuesday by the journals publisher, the American Heart Association.

This retraction is highly significant. In my 30 years in cardiovascular science I cannot recall a paper of similar prominence being retracted from Circulation, Dr. Charles Murry, co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington, wrote in an e-mail. This appears to settle the controversy about the rate of cell replacement in the human heart, i.e. it turns over every 60 years, not every 6 months.

The retraction comes in the wake of a major scandal that has unfolded over the last few months as a Japanese research institution found evidence of fabrication in a major stem cell paper led by a different Brigham scientist.

The journals retraction notice, first reported by the blog Retraction Watch, does not specify which researchers are at fault, but the paper involved several high-profile scientists including Dr. Piero Anversa, a cardiologist whose research has often raised questions from other scientists, and Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, chief of medicine at the Brigham.

According to the retraction notice, an ongoing institutional review by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital has determined that the data are sufficiently compromised that a retraction is warranted.

A Brigham and Womens Hospital spokeswoman said a statement was forthcoming. Anversa and Loscalzo did not immediately reply to e-mails.

Dr. Jonas Frisn, a professor of stem cell research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, published a study in 2009 showing a very low rate of renewal of human heart muscle cellsaround 1 percent of cells turned over per year. That low rate was replicated in other laboratories.

But in 2012, Anversas laboratory used the same techniquemeasuring an isotope of carbon found in the nucleus of cellsto detect a much higher rate of heart muscle cell renewal, as much as 23 percent per year. The laboratory also found that the rate of renewal increased with age, contrary to what other scientists expected and found. Frisen said he and his colleagues read the paper extremely carefully, but could not make sense of it.

It wasnt possible from what they had written to understand exactly what they had done and how they had treated the data, Frisen said. He began corresponding with the authors, asking detailed questions about their methodology. He said there were some minor mistakes that appeared accidental, such as using the wrong units, and some things that may have stemmed from their unfamiliarity with using the technique. For example, he said the Brigham team didnt appear to have controlled for contamination.

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Study by prominent Brigham scientists retracted due to compromised data

Brenda Goodman HealthDay Reporter Posted: Monday, April 7, 2014, 4:00 PM

MONDAY, April 7, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- In an early test, researchers report they've safely injected stem cells into the brains of 18 patients who had suffered strokes. And two of the patients showed significant improvement.

All the patients saw some improvement in weakness or paralysis within six months of their procedures. Although three people developed complications related to the surgery, they all recovered. There were no adverse reactions to the transplanted stem cells themselves, the study authors said.

What's more, the researchers said, two patients experienced dramatic recoveries almost immediately after the treatments.

Those patients, who were both women, started to regain the ability to talk and walk the morning after their operations. In both cases, they were more than two years past their strokes, a point where doctors wouldn't have expected further recovery.

The results have encouraged researchers to plan larger and longer tests of the procedure, which uses stem cells cultured from donated bone marrow.

An expert who was not involved in the research called it a promising first step.

"It's a small, early human study. It takes multiple steps to get to something clinically useful, and this is a nice, early step," said Dr. Steven Cramer, clinical director of the Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine.

The findings were to be presented Monday at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting, in San Francisco. The results of studies presented at meetings are considered preliminary until they've been published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

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Stem Cells Show Promise for Stroke Recovery

Professor Alexander Seifalian poses for photographs with a synthetic polymer nose at his research facility in the Royal Free Hospital in London, Monday, March 31, 2014. In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in the laboratory in a bold attempt to make body parts using stem cells. AP

In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in the laboratory in a bold attempt to make body parts using stem cells.

It is among several labs around the world, including in the U.S., that are working on the futuristic idea of growing custom-made organs in the lab.

5 Photos

In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in attempt to make body parts using stem cells

"It's like making a cake," said Alexander Seifalian at University College London, the scientist leading the effort. "We just use a different kind of oven."

During a recent visit to his lab, Seifalian showed off a sophisticated machine used to make molds from a polymer material for various organs.

Last year, he and his team made a nose for a British man who lost his to cancer. Scientists added a salt and sugar solution to the mold of the nose to mimic the somewhat sponge-like texture of the real thing. Stem cells were taken from the patient's fat and grown in the lab for two weeks before being used to cover the nose scaffold. Later, the nose was implanted into the man's forearm so that skin would grow to cover it.

Seifalian said he and his team are waiting for approval from regulatory authorities to transfer the nose onto the patient's face but couldn't say when that might happen

The potential applications of lab-made organs appear so promising even the city of London is getting involved: Seifalian's work is being showcased on Tuesday as Mayor Boris Johnson announces a new initiative to attract investment to Britain's health and science sectors so spin-off companies can spur commercial development of the pioneering research.

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Ears, noses grown from stem cells in lab dishes

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A Calgary blood and marrow transplant doctor says hes looking forward to the establishment of a national cord blood bank, which will provide stem cells for procedures at two city hospitals once its fully up and running later this year.

The National Cord Blood Bank, run by Canadian Blood Services, is set to become the first public cord blood bank in the country, with hospitals in Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver and Brampton designated as collection sites.

Dr. Victor Lewis, a pediatric oncologist at the Alberta Childrens Hospital, said the stem cells collected from cord blood can make a huge difference for patients by increasing the inventory doctors can search to find donors.

Theres a good chance we may find donors for Canadian children in the Canadian cord bank, he said, noting cord blood stem cells are biologically younger and considered more flexible for treatment options compared to adult cells.

Umbilical cord blood is a sought-after source for stem cells since the match doesnt have to be as precise for the young cells, compared with bone marrow sources, said Heidi Elmaoazzen, director of the national public cord blood bank.

Until the first phase of the project opened in Ottawa last year, umbilical cords were considered medical waste, said Elmaoazzen, speaking to a Calgary Herald editorial board meeting.

The national centre will now cryopreserve the material collected from the four donor hospitals and store it indefinitely for use treating diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma.

In Calgary, it will allow physicians to perform stem cell transplants at the Alberta Childrens Hospital and Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

The agency has raised about $7.8 million of its $12.5-million fundraising goal for the project, said campaign co-chair Dale Sheard.

The rest of the funds for the $48-million blood bank are set to come from provincial and territorial governments, apart from Quebec.

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Calgary childrens hospital eager for access to national cord blood bank