A regenerative medicine startup led by a Mayo Clinic cardiologist is setting up shop in a downtown Rochesters Minnesota BioBusiness Center, according to newly filed city documents. The filing indicated Rion LLC, a Minnesota company registered to Dr. Atta Behfar of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, has signed a three-year lease for just over 2,000 square feet at the city-owned BioBusiness Center. The lease begins July 1. The nine-story BioBusiness Center opened in downtown Rochester in 2007 as a center for innovation in biotechnology, promoting the linkages between the researchers and practitioners at Mayo Clinic; instructors and students at the University of Minnesota Rochester, and the biotechnology business community. It houses the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator among other tenants. Behfar is an assistant medical professor and leads a laboratory at Mayo concentrating on applying regenerative medicine the practice of using stem cells to regenerate damaged or missing tissue to prevent and cure chronic heart conditions. Specifically, his group focuses on development and use of both stem cells and protein-based therapies to reverse injury caused by lack of blood flow to the heart. The business direction of Rion, meanwhile, appears to be specifically geared toward a cutting-edge development in the field of regenerative medicine the use of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in speeding and directing the growth of regenerating tissues in the heart and elsewhere in the body. EVs, long brushed off by researchers as mere debris in the bloodstream, are membrane-enclosed spheres that break off from the surfaces of nearly all living cells when disturbed. They transport lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, and have now been found to be important players in cell-to-cell communication, influencing the behavior and even the identity of cells. Their emerging role in regenerative medicine could potentially be huge. For instance, by bioengineering them to transport protein payloads from stem cells, they can be used to signal the bodys own cells to regenerate tissue instead of transplanting the stem cells themselves, thus eliminating the chance of host immune system rejection. A patent application filed last year by Rion, Behfar, Mayo Center for Regenerative Medicine Director Dr. Andre Terzic and two other local inventors is aimed at adapting the healing properties of a specific type of EV into a unique kind of product that could have wide applications. It focuses on EVs derived from blood platelets, which are well known to stop bleeding, promote the growth of new tissues and blood vessels, relieve inflammation and provide a host of other benefits. The patent describes a system of encapsulating platelet EVs derived from human or animal blood into a platelet honey and delivering it to target areas of the body, such as damaged tissues or organs. Its purported effect is to regenerate, repair and restore damaged tissue, with possible uses including treating heart disease; healing damaged bones or joints; wound treatment; and cosmetic skin applications. A brief business description provided by Rion to Rochester city officials stated the company is focused on the delivery of cutting edge regenerative technologies to patients at low cost and in off-the-shelf fashion. Building on initial research at Mayo Clinic, Rion LLC aims to develop and bring to practice products in the space of wound healing, orthopedics and cardiac disease. The statement also added the company is an enthusiastic backer of Rochesters efforts to develop a local biotech business cluster, and is seeking to participate in the realization of the Destination Medical Center initiative.

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Mayo-Connected Regenerative Medicine Startup Inks Downtown Rochester Lease - Twin Cities Business Magazine

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Mayo-Connected Regenerative Medicine Startup Inks Downtown Rochester Lease – Twin Cities Business Magazine | June 29th, 2017

We treated a 9-month old child affected by caudal regression syndrome (CRS) as we treat patients with spinal cord injuries. His spinal cord had been interrupted during fetal development at the L2-L3 level, therefore no innervation (sensitive or motor) existed beyond this level: flaccid paraplegia of inferior limbs and clubfoot, and neurogenic bladder and bowel. Moreover, there was sacral agenesis and right renal agenesis.

Treatment consisted in Growth Hormone (GH) administration plus two daily sessions of specific physiotherapy. GH treatment was given 5 days/week during 3-months followed by 15-days without GH administration; this protocol was repeated during 5 years, being GH doses periodically adjusted to the weight of the patient.

Changes observed in the child were assessed by carrying out the GMFM-88 test and evaluating sensitive and motor ASIA scores. GMFM-88 score at admission was 12.31%, while sensitive ASIA score was 168, and motor ASIA score was 50. Sensitive innervation began to appear quite earlier than motor innervation and reached the maximum ASIA score (224) two years after the treatment commenced. At this time a pelvic floor therapy was added (1 session/week) to rehabilitation. One year later the patient began to walk with crutches; then melatonin was given, at a daily dose of 50 mg (before going to bed) for counteracting the increased production of oxygen free radicals due to the physical effort induced by walking without the support of sacrum and the existence of hip luxation.

Five years after the treatment commenced the GMFM-88 test reached a score of 78.38% (maximum value: 100), while ASIA motor score was 84 (maximum value: 100). Full control of sphincters has been achieved.

To our knowledge this is the first case in which highly significant improvements have been obtained in this syndrome, until now considered to be irreversible. Most likely the early treatment with GH and rehabilitation was the factor responsable for the improvements observed. Since GH has been the only variable we introduced with regard to usual rehabilitation therapies, we think that the hormone induced the proliferation and differentiation of SC ependymal stem cells that led to the formation of a net of new specific nervous connections (perhaps arising from the last existing spinal nerve), although only a tractography may explain what was the origin of the new innervation, since the last MRI study performed when the child was 5-years old did not reveal any change in the vertebral columna and SC with regard to the first MRI study (7-days old). No adverse effects were observed during the treatent with GH and melatonin. Figure 1.3D reconstruction of a CT-SCAN. Age 4-years. It can be seen where the SC interrupted its development (hypoplastic L3), the existence of sacral agenesis, the articulation of iliac bones and the rotation of the left hip. Figure 2. 3-months after the treatment began. Note the abnormal position of the legs and feet. The child only could move his arms and trunk. Figure 3.1 year of treatment. Note the position of his feet. Sensitivity existed but he only could move by crawling with his arms and trunk.

Figure 4.After 2-years of treatment full sensitivity existed. In the image the child is signaling where he had been touched (his eyes were covered with a pillow.

Figure 5.4-years of treatment. The child is able to make plantar flexion (against resistence) and dorsiflexion (not showed) with both feet.

Figure 6.5-years of treatment. The child is able to get up from the floor and keep standing with arms outstretched.

Written By:Jess Devesa, MD, PhD,Scientific Direction, Medical Center Foltra, 15886 Teo, Spain

Read the Abstract

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Growth Hormone and Rehabilitation Promoted Distal Innervation in a Child Affected by Caudal Regression Syndrome ... - UroToday

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Growth Hormone and Rehabilitation Promoted Distal Innervation in a Child Affected by Caudal Regression Syndrome … – UroToday | June 28th, 2017

Expedition 52 explored the aging process in space today and measured the lighting conditions on the International Space Station. The crew is also getting spacesuits ready for an upcoming Russian spacewalk.

Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson swapped out stem cell samples today inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox for the Cardiac Stem Cells study. The experiment is researching spaceflights effect on accelerated aging and may provide a treatment for heart disease on Earth. Scientists are observing the stem cells in space to determine their role in cardiac biology and effectiveness in tissue regeneration.

Whitson also set up light meters to measure the intensity and color of new LED (light-emitting diode) light bulbs installed in the station. The data is being collected for the Lighting Effects study to determine how the new lights affect crew sleep, circadian rhythms and cognitive performance.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer checked out Russian Orlan spacesuits with Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin this morning. The spacesuit maintenance work is doing being done ahead of a Russian spacewalk planned for later this year.

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Aging and Heart Research Lead Station Science Today - Space Fellowship

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Aging and Heart Research Lead Station Science Today – Space Fellowship | June 28th, 2017

Hot air: Triona McCarthy on how to smeel good

Independent.ie

Want to smell good, look good, and feel fantastic? The scentsational Triona McCarthy shows us her weekly round-up of lotions and potions to keep you looking hawt!

http://www.independent.ie/life/hot-air-triona-mccarthy-on-how-to-smeel-good-35845624.html

http://www.independent.ie/incoming/article35592585.ece/c3491/AUTOCROP/h342/mg%20Trionna.jpg

Want to smell good, look good, and feel fantastic? The scentsational Triona McCarthy shows us her weekly round-up of lotions and potions to keep you looking hawt!

Created by an Irish female natural beauty entrepreneur, YourBeautyTonic has everything your skin needs to boost beauty. Its key ingredients, collagen and hyaluronic acid, are the building blocks of youthful skin, and it also contains vitamins and minerals.

YourBeautyTonic, above, costs 59.95 for 30 days' supply, and is available from independent health stores, selected pharmacies and online at yourtonic.com

WAX ON, WAX OFF...

I'm off to Inchydoney, in west Cork this weekend, so I'm waxed.

The gals at Brazilia are so profesh, and they make the waxing experience so easy, painless, and, actually, almost pleasurable.

I don't know if I'm quite ready to rock a teeny-weny little bikini like Emily Ratajkowski, above, but you never know!

Brazilia, 50 South William St, D2, tel: (01) 675-0000; 4 Sandyford Office Park, D18, tel: (01) 293-4858, or see brazilia.ie

LET US SPRAY

Image PREVENTION + Pure Mineral Sunscreen Spray 30+ SPF, below, 47.50, is so quick and effective. Before walking Maxi and Mini to Montessori in the morning, I cleanse and moisturise my face, and spray on this ultra-lightweight, anti-pollution, anti-aging, pure mineral sunscreen spray with superior UVA/UVB and infrared protection.

Infused with antioxidants and plant stem cells, it nourishes and hydrates my skin with organic ingredients, including jojoba and sweet almond oil - and, best of all, it's free of parabens and chemicals.

TRIONA'S TRICK

We have my kiddies, Maxi and Mini, to thank for this week's beauty trick. If, like me, you don't like your Beauty Blender sponge getting all grubby in the bottom of your make-up bag, simply pop it into an empty Kinder Egg container to protect it!

CULT PRODUCT

Inspired by Poppy Delevingne's wedding make-up, this Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette, above, 69, in Beauty Glow, is perfect for popping in your purse for on the go - goof-proof glam, as it has everything a gal needs to get gorgeous.

This is the fourth versh released, and definitely my fave, as the rose-gold and bronze tones are darker and more dramatic. I found the previous versions a bit too wishy-washy colour-wise, whereas this slays.

TRIONA'S TOP TIP

'Summer lovin' had me a blast,

Summer lovin' happened so fast'

I love a bit of Grease, but not on my head!

However, if like me, you have long hair and it's leaving you hot and bothered this summer, why not try a chic model-off-duty topknot.

Kate Moss pulls this look off so well, making it look stylish and hot, yet so nice and cool, as the hair's up and off your neck.

Best of all, a high bun has a cheekbone-lifting effect, so it's a win-win.

Slick your hair back with Shockwaves Ultra Strong Power Hold Gel, above, 2.50, which also helps fight frizzy fine hairs around your forehead, making you look hot in a good way!

If you're hitting the beach, make sure to layer this Philip Kingsley Sun Shield, below, 30, marksandspencer.ie, as hair can burn just like the skin when it's left unprotected.

This super-lightweight nourishing mist provides an invisible shield of protection over the hair. I always make sure I have it in my beach bag for myself and Will and the kids.

Best of all, it guards against colour fade from sun exposure, and diminishes damage and dryness caused by UV rays, chlorine and salt water.

'Summer days driftin' away, to uh-oh those summer nights'

Sunday Independent

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Hot air: Triona McCarthy on how to smeel good - Independent.ie

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Hot air: Triona McCarthy on how to smeel good – Independent.ie | June 25th, 2017

A quick glance at your calendar will reveal that we're now in 2017. 2017, you may recall, is the year when contraversial surgeon Sergio Canavero has promised to perform the world's first human head transplant.

But just how feasible is a human head transplant? Is it the stuff of science fiction, or does it have a basis in current scientific thinking? Read on for everything you need to know about 2017 most alarming scientific development.

The most recent news comes from the journal CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics, where Xiaping Ren from the Harbin Medical University claims to have successfully repaired severed spinal cords in rats using the same principals that Dr Canavero wants to use on humans before the year is out.

Nine rats were treated with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Eight were still alive a month after the operation, and by day 28 they had regained the ability to walk two were described as being "basically normal".

Canavero told Newsweek that this showed his critics were wrong: "Critics said the transected spinal cord is unrecoverable and thus a human head transplant is impossible...The scans show the reconstructed cord. No pain syndrome emerged over the duration of the study, again rebutting a critics worse than death remark."

Time will tell the team plans to move onto dogs next. It shoud be noted, however, that even if this is right and even if it is applicable to humans, this relates to repairing severed spinal cords not attaching a new head. If the research is accurate, it is indeed a point for Canavero and his proposed methods but we're a long way from it being anything close to the finished article.

A human head transplant is exactly what it sounds like taking one living head and putting it onto a new body.

But actually, thats a little misleading. In real terms, its a body transplant, as the head will be gaining a new body to control. However, as the term whole body transplant is already used to mean transferring the brain between bodies, calling it a head transplant makes it clear that the whole head is to be switched, brain included.

Until recently, a head transplant seemed totally implausible, but the Italian scientist Dr Sergio Canavero believes its possible, and intends to conduct the first surgery in 2017.

Canavero outlines the procedure in detail here, but these are the basics of the process. Remember: dont try this at home, kids.

The donor body and the head to be attached are first cooled down to 12-15C to ensure that the cells last longer than a few minutes without oxygen. The tissue around the neck is then cut, with the major blood vessels linked with tiny tubes. The spinal cord on each party is then severed cleanly with an extremely sharp blade.

"Post coma, Canavero believes the patient would immediately be able to move, feel their face and even speak with the same voice."

At this point, the head is ready to be moved, and the two ends of the spinal cord are fused using a chemical called polyethylene glycol, encouraging the cells to mesh. This chemical has been shown to prompt the growth of spinal cord nerves in animals, although Canavero suggests that introducing stem cells or olfactory ensheathing cells into the spinal cord could also be tried.

After the muscles and blood supply are successfully connected, the patient is kept in a coma for a month to limit movement of the newly fused neck, while electrodes stimulate the spinal cord to strengthen its new connections.

Following the coma, Canavero anticipates that the patient would immediately be able to move, feel their face and even speak with the same voice. He believes physiotherapy would allow the patient to walk within a year.

He explains his suggested methods in the TED talk below.

Sceptical would be a nice way of putting it. Horrified would, in most cases, be more accurate.

Dr Hunt Batjer has attracted headlines for being particularly blunt: I would not wish this on anyone. I would not allow anyone to do it to me as there are a lot of things worse than death.

Dr Jerry Silver witnessed the 1970s monkey head transplant experiment more on which later and describes the procedure as bad science, adding that just to do the experiments is unethical. This is a particular blow to Canavero, as he states that Silvers own work in reconnecting rats spinal cords should give hope to the human head transplant. Silver dismisses this: To sever a head and even contemplate the possibility of gluing axons back properly across the lesion to their neighbours is pure and utter fantasy in my opinion.

Dr Chad Gordon, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and neurological surgery at Johns Hopkins University, agrees that Canaveros claims are scientifically implausible. He told BuzzFeed: Theres no way hes going to hook up somebodys brain to someones spinal cord and have them be functional.

On the conservative side, were about 100 years away from being able to figure this out, he continued. If hes saying two, and hes promising a living, breathing, talking, moving human being? Hes lying.

Dr Paul Myers, associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota at Morris, puts it even more explicitly: This procedure will not work... Try it with monkeys first. But he cant: the result would be, at best, a shambling horror, an animal driven mad with pain and terror, crippled and whimpering, and a poor advertisement for his experiment. And most likely what hed have is a collection of corpses that suffered briefly before expiring.

Others wonder whether Canavero might simply be enjoying the limelight with a PR stunt, including Dr Arthur Caplan, director of ethics at the NYU Langone Medical Centre. Describing the doctor as nuts, he explained to CNN: Their bodies would end up being overwhelmed with different pathways and chemistry than theyre used to, and theyd go crazy.

"We'll probably see a head on a robot before we see it on [another] body," he told Live Science.

Dr John Adler of Stanford University's school of medicine is slightly more optimistic... but not much more. "Conceptually, much of this could work, but the most favourable outcome will be little more than a Christopher Reeve level of function," he told Newsweek.

Canavero is aware of this criticism, claiming that silently hes received a lot of support from the medical community. Of Dr Batjers comments that the surgery would be a fate worse than death, Canavero is scathing. Hes a vascular surgeon. A vascular surgeon of the brain, yes, but he knows nothing, he argued. How can you say such a thing? Its incredible.

"The world is moving, the critics are dwindling. Of course, there will always be critics. Science teaches us that when you propose something groundbreaking, you must be confronted by criticism. If no critics really step forward, you are saying nothing special," he told Medical News Today.

Dr Canavero also believes that the operation could essentially be used to revive the dead, if brains were suitably frozen and stored. In an interview with German magazine Ooom, Canavero said: "We will try to bring the first of the company's patients back to life, not in 100 years. As soon as the first human head transplant has taken place, i.e. no later than 2018, we will be able to attempt to reawaken the first frozen head.We are currently planning the world's first brain transplant, and I consider it realistic that we will be ready in three years at the latest."

No-one has ever attempted a human head transplant before, and attempts on animals have to put it charitably had limited success.

Image: from Motherboard, uploaded under fair use from a 1959 issue of Life

The photo above really does show a dog with two heads and its not a fake. This was the work of Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov, and for four days the hybrid of two dogs lived as normally as such a scientific horror could be expected to. Then they died.

Demikhov tried the experiment more than 24 times, but was unable to find a way of avoiding the dogs dying shortly after surgery. Although the results are horrifying to see, Demikhovs research did pave the way for human organ transplants.

"For four days this hybrid of two dogs lived as normally as such a scientific horror could be expected to. Then they died."

But back to the topic of head transplants. The first time a straight swap was successful, was by Dr Robert White, in an experiment on a rhesus monkey in 1970. I feel the need to qualify the word successful with quotation marks, because although the monkey did live, he didnt live very long. Eight days, to be exact, and as the spinal cord wasnt attached to its new body, the monkey was paralysed for its remaining days. However, it could indeed see, hear, smell and taste before the body rejected the foreign head.

According to Canavero in his paper on human head transplants, the monkey lived eight days and was, by all measures, normal, having suffered no complications. However, Dr Jerry Silver who worked in the same lab as Dr White has more haunting memories. He toldCBS: I remember that the head would wake up, the facial expressions looked like terrible pain and confusion and anxiety in the animal. The head will stay alive, but not very long. It was just awful. I dont think it should ever be done again.

More recently, Chinese doctor Xiaoping Ren claims to have conducted head transplants on more than 1,000 mice. The Wall Street Journal reports to have witnessed a mouse with a new head moving, breathing, looking around and drinking. But, crucially, none of these mice have lived longer than a few minutes.

Still, Dr Rens studies continue, and the latest reports are said to be promising, offering a possible answer to the risk of severe blood loss (or brain ischemia) during transplantation. The experimental method that we have described can allow for long-term survival, and thus assessment of transplant rejection and central nervous system recovery, bringing us one step closer to AHBR in man, the researchers wrote.

Ren himself has not ruled out taking part in the first human head transplant operation, according to the Daily Mail. "A human head transplant will be a new frontier in science. Some people say it is the last frontier in medicine. It is a very sensitive and very controversial subject but if we can translate it to clinical practice, we can save a lot of lives," he said.

"Many people say a head transplant is not ethical. But what is the essence of a person? A person is the brain not the body. The body is just an organ," he added.

In January 2016, Canavero told New Scientist that a head transplant had been successfully completed on a monkey in China, although details were sparse. "The monkey fully survived the procedure without any neurological injury of whatever kind," he said, although the article notes that the monkey only kept alive for 20 hours after the surgery for "ethical reasons," limiting its use as a comparison somewhat.

In September 2016, Canavero revealeda further trial of the head transplant on dogs.New Scientisthas seen video footage of a dog appearing to walk three weeks after its spinal cord was severed, with Canavero claiming that the outcome is the result of the same techniques he plans to use on Spiridonov next year.

However, speaking to a number of scientists for their view on the new evidence, New Scientistcould find few sceptics converted. "These papers do not support moving forward in humans," said Jerry Silver a neuroscientist at Cape Western Reserve University in Ohio.

"The dog is a case report, and you cant learn very much from a single animal without controls. They claim they cut the cervical cord 90 per cent but theres no evidence of that in the paper, just some crude pictures," added Silver.

In May 2017, Canavero claimed success with another animal model: rats. Canavero and his team of Chinese surgeons claimed they were able to transplant the head of a donor rat onto the back of a larger one, creating a two-headed animal. The creature's donor head was allegedly able to blink and respond after the operation, although it only lived for 36 hours, which may not inspire confidence even with rodents' reduced lifespans.

You could say so, though Canavero doesn't see it quite like that. In fact, controversially he sees it more as a failure of other types of medicine, telling Medical News Today, "It will be about curing incurable neurological disorders for which other treatments have failed big time, so gene therapy,stem cells- they all just came to nothing. We have failed despite billions of dollars being poured into this sort of research."

"So actually, head transplant or body transplant, whatever your angle is, is actually a failure of medicine. It is not a brilliant success, a brilliant advancement to medical science. When you just haven't tackled biology, you don't know how to treat genes, you don't really understand, and you really need to resort to a body transplant, it means that you've failed. So this must not be construed as a success of medical research," he added.

See original here:
Human head transplant: Chinese researchers claim success with rats - Alphr

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Human head transplant: Chinese researchers claim success with rats – Alphr | June 22nd, 2017

"Being named a Red Herring Top 100 winner is an incredible honor," said StemoniX CEO Ping Yeh. "We truly believe in the importance of what we're doing and in making medicine more effective and safer for everyone. This award is affirming not only for us, but also for our investors, who continue to make it possible for us to pursue our mission of making sure medicine works the first time. Our commitment to improving our technology, and our work with some of the country's top producers of therapeutic cures, will ensure we achieve our vision."

StemoniX was born out of Yeh's own medical battle. 5 years ago, he survived a frightening bout with cancer. During treatment, his only option to beat the disease was a drug that may have destroyed his heart. There was no way for doctors to test the effectiveness of that treatment or Ping's survival rate ahead of time. Convinced there had to be a better way to test medication, he poured his life savings into starting StemoniX. In only three years, the company has made scientific breakthroughs that may forever alter how people are treated.

"Every year, Red Herring North America Top 100 selects an amazing group of disruptive companies. But a few carry an exceptional weight because they will change the world. StemoniX is one of them," said Red Herring chairman Alex Vieux. "Ping Yeh and his team are receiving continued and increased market validation for their technology. StemoniX will revolutionize drug discovery research and has pioneered a novel approach. Hence the jury was enthused at the opportunity to recognize StemoniX among the Top 100 Red Herring North America 2017."

StemoniX is on a mission to accelerate the discovery of new medicines. The company develops and scalably manufactures human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiac and neuronal platforms for drug discovery and development. Their human models enable scientists to quickly and economically conduct research with improved outcomes in a simplified workflow. StemoniX microHeart products, which come in high-density plate formats, provide researchers with structurally aligned human iPSC-derived cardiac cells that exhibit accelerated features of maturity resembling heart tissue.

StemoniX microBrain products will launch later this year, containing physiologically relevant human iPSC-derived neural microtissue in high-density plates with biology, activity and functional maturity that mimic brain tissue.

StemoniX also offers Discovery as a Service. The company has the ability to develop custom-iPSC-based disease models, test compounds with its in-house screening capabilities and operationalize their customers' human iPS cells at large scale for high throughput screening.

Following StemoniX's Top 100 win, they are invited to present at the Top 100 Global event in November that will encompass the best-in-show from the Top 100 Europe, North America and Asia.

About StemoniX: StemoniX is transforming how medicine is discovered. By using skin or blood to create functioning microHearts and microBrains, StemoniX is making it possible to test medication on humans without that medication ever entering their bodies. This method of drug testing will speed up the search for new cures and enable the ability to test drug effectiveness on an individual person, so medicine works correctly the first time. Learn more at stemonix.com.

Media Contact: Ryan Gordon Phone Number: 612-440-7836 Email: ryan.gordon@stemonix.com Website: stemonix.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stemonix-wins-red-herring-top-100-award-300477971.html

SOURCE StemoniX, Inc.

http://stemonix.com

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StemoniX Wins Red Herring Top 100 Award - PR Newswire (press release)

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on StemoniX Wins Red Herring Top 100 Award – PR Newswire (press release) | June 22nd, 2017

Here we have compiled a list of several clinics offering stem cell treatments. Please note that the "conditions treated" refers to the conditions that THEY claim to treat. Most, if not all, stem cell treatments (except hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) aren't FDA approved, meaning that they haven't been clincally tested for safety or efficacy. Please be aware that receiving an unapproved medical treatment isrisky and may cause serious complications and possibly death.

It was only a few years ago when Europe's most popular stem cell clinic (XCell-center) was forced to close after one of the treatments caused the death of a boy. In the past, we have also covered the case of a woman that had serious adverse effects following an unapproved cosmetic stem cell treatment(facelift).

We have not included clinics offering hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, as this treatment is medically approved and offered virtually in any country that has an above the average hospital.

The stem cell clinics are categorised by alphabetical order. We are not paid by any of them and we have listed them for your ease. We have probably missed a few ones, feel free to leave a comment and we will add them asap.

Stem cell clinics list

Beijing Puhua International Hospital

Conditions Treated:Diabetes, Epilepsy, Stroke, Ataxia, Spinal Cord Injuries, Parkinson's Disease, Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Batten's Disease

Interview of a patient treated in Beijing Puhua International Hospital. The video is from the hospital's official youtube channel, so it may be biased

Elises International

Conditions Treated: No info available at their website

Advertisement video ofElises International

EmCell

Conditions Treated:ALS, Alzheimer's,Anemia, Cancer, Eye Diseases, Diabetes, Liver Diseases, Multiple Sclerosis Parkinson, and other

Location:Ukraine

EmCell Advertisement

Global Stem Cells

Conditions Treated:Type 2 Diabetes, Hepatitis C, Osteoarthritis, joint pain, hair regrowth, cosmetic anti-aging, ulcerative colitis, heart disease

Location:Bangkok Thailand

MD Stem Cells

New Zealand Stem Cell Clinic

Stem Cell Institute

Video of a patient treated in theStem Cell Institute. The video is taken from the clinic's official youtube channell,so it may be biased.

Okyanos Heart Institute

Conditions Treated:Cardiac conditions

Okyanos Promotinal Video

Stemedix, Inc

Conditions Treated:Multiple sclerosis, COPD, ALS, Alzheimers Disease, Parkinsons, Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and other

Location:Florida, United States

StemGenex

Conditions Treated: Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer, Parkinson, Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and other

Location:San Diego, California.

Stem Cells Thailand

Conditions Treated:Alzheimer, Autism, Diabetes, Erectile Dysfunction, Face lift, Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis and other

Regennex

Conditions Treated: Regennex mainly offers treatments for bone and cartilage regeneration in all major joints like knee, ankle, hip, back, shoulder etc

Dr. Centeno, founder of the clinic, talking about Regenexx

The rest is here:
Stem Cell Clinics List | Stem Cells Freak

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cell Clinics List | Stem Cells Freak | June 21st, 2017

In a new study, researchers have uncovered a molecular explanation for the stress-relieving effects of such practices.

Study leader Ivana Buric, of the Centre for Psychology at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues found that mind-body interventions (MBIs) "reverse" changes in DNA that cause stress.

For their study, the researchers looked at whether MBIs influence gene expression, the process by which genes create proteins and other molecules that affect cellular function.

From their analysis, the researchers found that people who practice MBIs experience reduced production of a molecule called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), which is known to regulate gene expression.

The researchers explain that stressful events trigger activity in the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is responsible for the "fight-or-flight" response.

This SNS activity leads to the production of NF-kB, which produces molecules called cytokines that promote cellular inflammation. If this molecular reaction is persistent, it can lead to serious physical and mental health problems, such as depression and cancer.

The study suggests that MBIs, however, lower the production of NF-kB and cytokines. This not only helps to alleviate stress, but it also helps to stave off the associated health conditions.

"Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business," says Buric.

"These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed. Put simply, MBIs cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our well-being."

The team says that future studies should explore how the molecular effects of MBIs on stress compare with other interventions, such as exercise and diet.

"But this is an important foundation to build on to help future researchers explore the benefits of increasingly popular mind-body activities," Buric concludes.

Separately, a new study has found that the treatment can be more harmful than helpful if cardiac stem cells are involved.

Researchers found that using patients' own cardiac stem cells to repair damaged heart tissue may not only be ineffective, but that the stem cells may also develop inflammatory properties that cause further heart damage.

Study leader Prof Jonathan Leor, of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Aviv University in Israel, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the journal Circulation.

Prof Leor and colleagues came to their findings by isolating stem cells derived from the cardiac tissue of mice that had left ventricular dysfunction caused by a heart attack.

The team then injected the stem cells back into the hearts of the mice and assessed how they affected heart remodelling and function, compared with a saline solution.

Instead of repairing the rodents' damaged heart tissue, the researchers found that the transplanted stem cells developed inflammatory properties, which may increase heart damage."We found that, contrary to popular belief, tissue stem cells derived from sick hearts do not contribute to heart healing after injury," explained Prof Leor.

"Furthermore, we found that these cells are affected by the inflammatory environment and develop inflammatory properties. The affected stem cells may even exacerbate damage to the already diseased heart muscle."

An increasing number of end-stage heart failure patients are turning to stem cell therapy as a "last resort," but the researchers believe that the treatment should be approached with caution.

"Our findings suggest that stem cells, like any drug, can have adverse effects. We concluded that stem cells used in cardiac therapy should be drawn from healthy donors or be better genetically engineered for the patient."

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Hyderabad team grows miniature eyes using stem cells The Hindu The iPS cells are produced by genetically manipulating human skin cells to produce embryonic-like stem cells that are capable of forming any cell types of the body. Small portions of the corneal tissue were separated from the miniature eyes and used ...

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Hyderabad team grows miniature eyes using stem cells - The Hindu

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Hyderabad team grows miniature eyes using stem cells – The Hindu | June 19th, 2017

islamabad - New research finds evidence of a link between use of certain hair products, such as dyes and relaxers, and raised risk of breast cancer in women.

In their study report, the researchers explain that there is conflicting evidence on whether use of hair products, some of which contain cancer-causing chemicals, or carcinogens, can raise the risk of breast cancer in women.

Some of the evidence comes from animal testing, and some of it comes from studies in defined human populations. However, research in human populations has tended to focus on hair dyes, with mixed results.

The researchers investigated links between raised risk of breast cancer and use of hair products, with particular focus on the use of hair dyes, use of products for relaxing or straightening hair, and use of creams containing cholesterol or placenta for deep conditioning of hair.

When they analysed the data, the researchers found some significant links between raised risk for breast cancer and use of hair dyes and chemical relaxers, or straighteners, and that the patterns of risk differed between white women and black women.

For example, for black women, they found that use of dark shades of hair dye was linked to an overall higher risk of breast cancer, and an even higher risk of estrogen positive breast cancer.

For white women, the analysis found that use of relaxers, or straighteners, either alone or together with hair dyes, was linked to raised risk of breast cancer.

Among white women, there was also a raised risk of estrogen positive breast cancer with use of dark hair dyes and raised risk of estrogen negative breast cancer with use of relaxers.

The authors conclude that these findings support the idea of a relationship between use of certain hair products and a raised risk of breast cancer. They suggest: Further examination of hair products as important exposures contributing to breast cancer carcinogenesis are necessary.

Meanwhile, a new study, however, finds that the treatment could be more harmful than helpful if cardiac stem cells are involved.

Researchers found that using patients own cardiac stem cells to repair damaged heart tissue may not only be ineffective, but that the stem cells may also develop inflammatory properties that cause further heart damage.

Prof. Leor and colleagues came to their findings by isolating stem cells derived from the cardiac tissue of mice that had left ventricular dysfunction caused by a heart attack.

The team then injected the stem cells back into the hearts of the mice and assessed how they affected heart remodeling and function, compared with a saline solution.

Instead of repairing the rodents damaged heart tissue, the researchers found that the transplanted stem cells developed inflammatory properties, which may increase heart damage.

We found that, contrary to popular belief, tissue stem cells derived from sick hearts do not contribute to heart healing after injury, explains Prof Leor.

Furthermore, we found that these cells are affected by the inflammatory environment and develop inflammatory properties. The affected stem cells may even exacerbate damage to the already diseased heart muscle.

An increasing number of end-stage heart failure patients are turning to stem cell therapy as a last resort, but the researchers believe that the treatment should be approached with caution.

[...] our findings suggest that stem cells, like any drug, can have adverse effects. We concluded that stem cells used in cardiac therapy should be drawn from healthy donors or be better genetically engineered for the patient.

While the findings may come as a blow for many heart failure patients, the study did uncover some information that could help to improve autologous stem cell therapy.

By studying stem cells derived from the heart tissue of mouse models and humans with heart disease, the team was able to identify the gene that causes the stem cells to develop inflammatory properties.

Furthermore, the researchers found that deleting this gene, called TLR4, can shift the stem cells back to a reparative state, a discovery that the team believes could be used to transform autologous stem cell therapy for patients with heart failure.

Our findings determine the potential negative effects of inflammation on stem cell function as theyre currently used, says Prof. Leor. The use of autologous stem cells from patients with heart disease should be modified.

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Hair dyes, relaxers tied to raised breast cancer risk - The Nation

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Hair dyes, relaxers tied to raised breast cancer risk – The Nation | June 18th, 2017

Asian American Donor Program encourages minorities and mixed heritage to join national registry

Oakland Lisa Marie Evangelista, a 31-year-old Filipina woman who lives in Sacramento, is in a literal fight for her life. Lisa is a speech language pathologist and works at the U.C. Davis Medical Center.

On Dec. 27, 2016, she was diagnosed with Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia, a rare and aggressive blood cancer. She needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. Lisas sister is a 5/10 or half match. However, doctors prefer Lisa find a 10/10-donor match. To find a perfect match, Lisa needs a stranger to step forward and help save her life.

Lisa has partnered with the Asian American Donor Program to find a donor similar to her genetic makeup. A bone marrow transplant, which is needed soon, is Lisas only hope for her long-term survival. A committed 10/10 marrow-matching donor must be located to have a successful transplant. Since Lisa is of Filipino, a matching donor will also need to be of Filipino or Asian descent.

More about Lisa

Lisa learned about her diagnosis just nine months after her father died of a blood cancer. Family and friends note how she brings laughter, joy, warmth, and kindness to each day. Lisa is a speech-language pathologist and board certified specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders. Her clinical interests include the evaluation and treatment of dysphagia resulting from radiation and chemotherapy treatments to the head and neck. She works directly with patients diagnosed with throat cancer. Lisa has lectured at the regional and national levels on pulmonary health and ethical considerations in dysphagia management. Lisa is described by her colleagues as a brilliant clinician and scientific thinker who is devoted to helping her patients. Lisas hobbies include traveling, hiking, and dancing.

Lisa grew up in Laguna Hills in Orange County, California. She attended Laguna Hills High School. From California State University, FresnoLisa received abachelors degree in 2007 and a masters degree in 2009. Lisa received her clinical science doctorate in medical speech-language pathology from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA in 2014.

Whats the solution?

Minorities are more likely to die of leukemia and other blood cancers because there is a shortage of ethnic and mixed-ethnic donors on the Be The Match national registry. It is vital to expand and build a more diverse registry so everyone has an equal opportunity to survive blood cancers.

Encouraging more people of ethnically diverse backgrounds and those of mixed heritage to be committed and join the Registry, potentially saving a life. Each of us can Be TheOne to Save a Life!

The Asian American Donor Program (AADP,www.aadp.org) is a 27-year-old nonprofit organization, based in Alameda, CA, that works to educate community members about the shortage of ethnic marrow donors and the importance of joining the Be The Match national registry. It is the oldest nonprofit of its kind in the country. AADP staffis dedicated to increasing the availability of potential stem cell donors for patients with life threatening diseases curable by a blood stem cell or marrow transplant.AADP is an official recruitment center for Be The Match.

There is a shortage of committed non-Caucasians on the Be The Match national registry, says Carol Gillespie, the AADP executive director. We need everyone of mixed race ancestry to step forward and join the Registry.When a marrow match is not readily available, patients have to wait longer than is ideal to find a match.Once a match has been found, their disease may have progressed to the point that they are no longer eligible for a transplant.

Shortage of ethnic/multi-ethnic donors

Approximately every three minutes one person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer. An estimated combined total of 172,910 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2017. New cases of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma are expected to account for 10.2 percent of the estimated 1,688,780 new cancer cases diagnosed in the U.S. in 2017. (From:http://www.lls.org/http%3A/llsorg.prod.acquia-sites.com/facts-and-statistics/facts-and-statistics-overview/facts-and-statistics)

Of the approximately 816,000 Asians on the Be the Match registry, .5 percent are Filipinos, while Filipino Americans constitute 19.7 percent of Asian Americans (Source: 2010 Census). The Be The Match registry recruits hundreds of thousands of donors each year through an extensive network of more than 155 local and regional Community Engagement Representatives and organizations. You only need to join the Be The Match registry once.

Finding a marrow/stem cell match can be like finding a needle in a haystack, says Gillespie. Multi-racial patients face the worst odds. Those diagnosed with a blood disease need a marrow/stem cell transplant as soon as possible. Building the Registry with committed donors is what patients need. You could potentially match anyone in the world, this is truly a global effort.

Marrow/stem cell matches are very different than blood type matches. Just as we inherit our eyes, hair, and skin color, we inherit our marrow and stem cell tissue type.

For thousands of severely ill blood cancer patients, there is a cure, Gillespie says. You could be the cure. Those whose marrow/stem cells are not a match for a patient in need now may be a match for someone else down the road, anywhere in the world. I encourage multi-ethnic individuals to commit to registering. It is simple to register just a swab of the inside of your cheek.

How you can commit to help

Find a registration drive in your area. Go tohttp://www.aadp.org/drive/.

Register on line here:https://join.bethematch.org/lisa.

You must be 18 to 44 years old and meet general health requirements

Fill out a consent form and do a cheek swab.

Be committed. Be ready to donate to any patient in need.

Contact friends/family and encourage them to go to a registration drive or register online.

Set up a drive in your area or for more information, call AADP at 1-800-593-6667 or visit our websitehttp://www.aadp.org.

Volunteer to help at registration drives.

Please take a few minutes of your time to learn more about how you can help save a life and register as a marrow donor.

Upcoming registration drive

Soy and Tofu Festival, Saturday, June 17 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Open to the public at Saint Marys Cathedral,1111 Gough St., San Francisco, CA 94109.

Malayan SF Outdoor Festival, Philippine Independence Day, Sunday, June 18 from noon to 8 p.m. at Union Square, 333 Post St., San Francisco, 94102.

More about the Asian American Donor Program (AADP)

The Asian American Donor Program (AADP), with its offices in the San Francisco Bay Area,is dedicated to increasing the availability of potential stem cell donors for patients with life threatening diseases curable by a blood stem cell or marrow transplant.

AADP is a community-based nonprofit for social benefit (5013) organization and specializes in conducting outreach and donor registration drives in and with diverse communities. AADP is an official recruitment center of the Be TheMatchregistry.

To learn more about scheduled upcoming marrow drives, visithttp://www.aadp.org/drive/.

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Filipina urgently needs bone marrow donor - Asianjournal.com

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Across Utah County, there are people waiting for donations, whether it is a needed organ, bone marrow or blood that will save their lives. Others have given these life-saving donations to complete strangers. Gift of Life highlights those involved in the medical donation process.

They found a perfect match for Robyn Marchant on a bone marrow registry. Robyn, a Santaquin mom with leukemia, needed a stem cell transplant if she wanted to live.

But they were never able to get ahold of the match.

That was hard, Robyn said, sitting on a couch in the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, next to a window that doesnt open and wearing a paisley headscarf. That was in March, at the beginning of my search.

There were two 9/10 matches on the Be The Match bone marrow registry. Doctors preferred her brothers blood work, and they decided to do the transplant with his half match. Its their best option, even if it isnt ideal.

But a lack of a match didnt stop Robyns family from hosting six drives, including ones in Provo and Spanish Fork, and adding more than 1,200 names to the bone marrow registry. They suspect theres more who have registered to Be the Match because of her, but havent used Robyns name as the promo code to link it to her name.

They might not be able to help my daughter, but I am praying there is somebody in the country who is doing the same thing to help my girl, said Shelly Bills, Robyns mother who has organized registration drives.

If Robyns transplant doesnt take, shell need another one.

And even if she doesnt need another donor from the registry, theyre hoping the names theyve added will save someone elses life.

Theres a lot of people who have never heard of the Be the Match Registry, which in all honesty we have never heard about until this happened, and now our whole town down in Santaquin knows about it, said Kevin, Robyns husband.

Diagnosis

Robyn, mom to 9-year-old Kassidy, 6-year-old Korbin, 4-year-old McKinley and 1-year-old McKellan, is a busy woman who served as a former Relief Society president for her ward in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She started to feel really tired at the end of January and brushed it off as being worn out from having a baby. Things started to get worse to the point where shed feel like she was going to pass out when she climbed up the stairs.

It was originally thought to be anemia, but that treatment wasnt changing anything. Then her spleen started to ache.

Kevin, a pharmacist, told Robyns doctor he suspected his wife had leukemia.

Nobody expects a 31-year-old mom of four kids to get cancer, Robyn said. We were all just so overwhelmed.

She didnt ask for percentages, and only knew she wasnt going to live without a stem cell transplant.

As the oldest, Kassidy started to piece things together. The kids, who knew a neighborhood child who died after being diagnosed with cancer, were devastated.

Our kids immediately associate cancer with death, which made it hard, Kevin said.

According to Be the Match, 70 percent of patients who need a bone marrow transplant dont have a fully matched donor in their family, and 14,000 patients a year will need a transplant for someone outside their family.

For Robyn, it wasnt supposed to be hard to find someone.

The doctors at the beginning said we wont have trouble finding you a match, Robyn said. Youre Caucasian, female, of western descent, theres tons of people out there. Well find you a match. But apparently Im one in a million because we just couldnt find one.

Finding a match

Bills woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks after Robyns diagnosis knowing she had to do something.

Even though they dont plan to hold another registration drive for a while, Bills is still handing out registration kits, and a friend started the hashtag #SwabbinForRobyn.

My mind keeps saying people are so willing, they just dont know, they dont know there is something they can do to save a life, Bills said.

Shes also encouraging people already on the registry to update their contact information so another family doesnt have the same experience theyve had.

Signing up for the registry is quick process that requires a cheek swab to add a donors tissue type to the registry. Once signed up, they will remain on the registry until they are 61 or request to be removed.

Registration can be done online at Join.BeTheMatch.org. To link the registration to Robyns name, use the promo code Robyn.

Potential donors have to be between the ages of 18 and 44 and willing to donate to any patient in need.

If a match is made, there are two ways to donate. One way is through a peripheral blood stem cell donation, a nonsurgical outpatient procedure. The other is a marrow donation, a surgical, outpatient procedure that is performed in an operating room.

Only a small percentage of people on the registry will ever be called to be a match.

As she showed up to a registration drive held in a Brigham Young University LDS stake (against advice to stay away because of her compromised immune system), Robyn was touched to see hundreds of people sign up for the registry.

She didnt know a single one of them.

These kids didnt have a clue who I was, but they were willing to do something, Robyn said.

Whats next

Robyn received her brothers transplant at the end of May. Since then, shes had side effects like diarrhea, mouth sores down her throat, insomnia and nausea.

Shell be in the hospital for a couple more weeks. After that, if the transplant isnt rejected, shell have to be constantly monitored by an adult for 100 days. If all goes well, that should be it.

Her hospital room is filled with pictures of her family and has a large window that looks out to the mountain. But for now, shes not supposed to leave the unit.

Lots of pokes and prods and illnesses, I can handle that, Robyn said. But being away from my kids is hard.

She video chats with her kids at least twice a day and reads to them from the Harry Potter books before bedtime.

Shes learning to cross-stitch. Her current project, a quote from Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, reminds them that happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

Kevin is getting help taking care of the kids from family. On weekends, they make the drive up to Salt Lake City to visit Robyn.

For now, theyre focusing on staying positive.

We are trading 2017 so we can have the rest of our lives with her, Kevin said.

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Gift of Life: Santaquin mom searching for a bone marrow match adds 1200 names to registry - Daily Herald

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Updated June 09, 2017 10:59:15

Leukaemia patient Jake Cooper, 14, is desperately searching for the cure to his cancer, but his hopes of a life-saving fix now rest with strangers, not scientists.

Jake has chronic myeloid leukaemia and as his condition progresses will need a bone marrow transplant.

So why, when there are 29 million accessible donors on worldwide bone marrow registries, do so many patients, including Jake, struggle to find a match?

The answer is ethnicity, where your cultural background can turn your chance of survival into a desperate needle-in-a-haystack search.

Bone marrow transplants, sometimes called stem cell transplants, can be used to treat patients with cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

But first a suitable donor needs to be found and that in itself can be a months or years-long process, one that usually starts with a patient's siblings, Red Cross bone marrow donor centre operations manager Paul Berghofer said.

"There's a one-in-four chance that [any one] sibling will be a match," he said.

While those odds aren't bad, and obviously improve if you're from a big family, they don't always deliver a match.

Then, the search broadens to the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry and beyond that, to a global registry, but for many patients these offer little hope.

While donors of north-west European backgrounds are over-represented on the registries, other ethnic groups are desperately under-represented.

"The chance of finding you a matched donor who is not related to you is best with people of a similar ethnic background," Mr Berghofer said.

The process wasn't drawn out but there were a bunch of general health check-ups, the initial typing and there was a discussion about the process involved.

I was told I could stop anytime up until a point of no return, I think a week or two before the transplant. You can't pull out in the last week because the [recipient] will almost certainly die.

Part of the workup is self-administering a course of an artificial hormone for five days into the flesh of my stomach. By day four or five, everything ached - like growing pains or shin splints.

The procedure itself was sitting in a chair, sticking my arms out by my side and local anaesthetic [being injected] in the crook of both elbows. To prevent damaging blood and increase the flows, they use big needles, they were ridiculous. That's why you have the anaesthetic!

Then I just lay in a chair and listened to music for four hours.

The process wasn't painful or bad, just uncomfortable and a little bit cold.

I don't regret it at all, I'd definitely do it again - it helped someone and it might be their only chance.

For Jake, whose dad is Samoan and German, and his mum Australian and British, his "incredibly rare" DNA means, despite monthly checks of the global registry, there is no bone marrow match available to tackle the "monster" in his body.

"The condition is bad enough but if it came to him [urgently] needing the transplant, I'd have to say to him, 'there's nothing I can do, we don't have a match'," his mum Renee Cooper said.

Complicating Jake's search is the fact Samoa does not have its own bone marrow registry, meaning thousands of potential matches are missed.

"It drives me crazy, there's not a day I don't think about it that someone is out there [possibly] with the cure," she said.

"The most frustrating part is I could be walking past them in a shopping centre and not even know."

Ms Cooper started Jake's Quest for a Cure on Facebook, a page she hoped would be shared to spread Jake's search around the world.

She said a lack of awareness of the registry and misinformation about the donation process were hurting patients' chances of a cure.

"There are no advertisements on bone marrow, there's no education around it in schools the way there is with organ donation," she said.

"People hear bone marrow and they think, 'oh my God, they're cutting my bones out'. People just have no idea at all."

Mr Berghofer said in 80 per cent of cases, the donation process was done as a peripheral blood stem cell collection which was not dissimilar to donating blood.

"The donor gets a needle in one arm, the blood goes through the apheresis machine and filters off blood stem cells and returns the rest of the blood back into their other arm," he said.

Pamela Bousejean, founder of Ur the Cure, an organisation striving to boost ethnic diversity on bone marrow registries, said potential donors were "slipping through our fingers everyday".

"People don't even know the bone marrow registry exists and how easy it is to donate stem cells if you're called up. You're saving a life doing something so simple," she said.

Ms Bousejean launched her campaign for a more representative registry after her own search for a donor, when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010.

After chemotherapy and radiation treatments failed, she was told her "last chance" was to have a stem cell transplant.

"But they also told me it was going to be difficult to find me a match because of my Lebanese background," she said.

"That was really hard to hear."

For the next six months while his sister waited for a life-saving match, Ms Bousejean's brother took matters into his own hands, launching a social media campaign to find a donor.

"You're stuck in this limbo state," Ms Bousejean said.

"You know the cure to my cancer is out there in someone else's body."

In many ways, the campaign was successful raising awareness of the need for ethnic diversity on the Australian and international bone marrow registries but it didn't deliver the adult match she had been hoping for.

Instead, a "plan b" treatment in the form of a cord-blood donation gave the marketing professional her cure and she went into remission in 2012.

Now, she is on a mission to improve education programs targeted at ethnic and Indigenous communities and boost opportunities to recruit ethnically diverse bone marrow donors.

"We can make some small changes that would make a big difference," she said.

Topics: blood, diseases-and-disorders, leukaemia, perth-6000, australia

First posted June 09, 2017 06:00:36

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June 6, 2017 Drs. Carlos Isales, Meghan McGee-Lawrence, William D. Hill and Mark Hamrick. Credit: Phil Jones

With age, the form and function of our bones and muscles drop off, putting us as increased risk for frailty and falls.

Now researchers at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are dissecting just what happens to the stem cells that make the tissues, which help keep us upright, with an eye on improving our healthspan.

Osteoporosis already is a major public health problem affecting about 44 million Americans and costing billions annually. The world's older population is growing at an unprecedented rate with 8.5 percent of the worldwide population - 617 million people - age 65 and older, a proportion estimated to reach 17 percent by 2050, according to the National Institute on Aging.

"After age 65 you start losing about 1 percent of both muscle and bone per year," said Dr. Carlos Isales, endocrinologist, Regents' professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the MCG Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine.

"Daily exercise decreases the slope of that decline. But what we are focusing on is trying to see if we can flatten the curve even further," said Isales, principal investigator on a new $9.3 million Program Project grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Time seems to alter the dynamic between the mesenchymal stem cells making bone and muscle and the amino acids that fuel them. The MCG scientists also have evidence it changes the signals stem cells send each other.

The bottom line: Our stem cell population gets reduced and the cells we have become less efficient at making bone and muscle, often opting for the easier task of making fat instead, Isales said.

The team, which includes principal investigators bone biologist Dr. Mark Hamrick, stem cell researcher Dr. William D. Hill and biomedical engineer Dr. Meghan McGee-Lawrence, wants to keep stem cells focused on making bone and muscle.

"We are looking at stem cells as a group and what is happening to them as we age," Hill noted. "This includes a loss of direction so they aren't as functional as they were before. The other thing we are looking at is their survival and their numbers."

"We are trying to figure out why the changes are happening and if we can target those cells to make them want to make bone again," McGee-Lawrence said.

Much as the function of bone and muscle is interwoven, so is their health and the factors that promote their loss or survival also are similar, said Hamrick.

A major culprit in their breakdown appears to be the metabolite kynurenine, a byproduct of the essential amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is among the nine amino acids our body can't make and we must consume in foods like turkey and soybeans so we can perform essentials like making protein. The researchers also think the fuel sends signals to cells, ones that aging stem cells apparently don't get.

The unhealthy metabolite is the result of a natural action called oxidation, which occurs anytime cells use oxygen. Particularly with age, the free radicals produced by oxidation can also damage cells. Kynurenine results when the enzyme, indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase, or IDO, which a variety of tissues make to help moderate an immune response, oxidizes tryptophan. Over time, kynurenine piles up and appears to alter the dynamic of bone and muscle formation.

Again, somewhat ironically, the many functions of essential amino acids include working as antioxidants, so the researchers are putting together nutrient cocktails - minus tryptophan and with reduced protein content - that they hope can reverse age-related damage. Isales notes that they may find that other amino acids produce similar problems as tryptophan in the aged environment.

So they also are taking more direct approaches like whether an IDO inhibitor - which is already in clinical trials as a cancer fighter - can reverse changes and get stem cells to regain more youthful function.

In an effort to begin to see if what they have seen in laboratory mice holds up in humans, they are trying both approaches in human stem cells retrieved during the process of a knee or hip replacement by colleagues in the MCG Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

They have laboratory evidence that in mice at least, high kynurenine levels impact the ability of cells in the bone marrow to make bone-forming cells called osteoblasts. In fact, even relatively young mice fed kynurenine experience bone loss, an increase in bone destruction by cells called osteoclasts and increased fat in their bone marrow. Conversely, mice with IDO knocked out maintain strong bone mass.

"You can make an old mouse young and you can make a young mouse old," Hill noted.

The team also has evidence that part of how age-related increases in kynurenine does damage is by altering microRNAs - small but powerful pieces of RNA that can control expression of hundreds of genes at the same time - as well as vesicles called exosomes that are hauling the microRNAs around. Stem cells secrete exosomes as one way to communicate, and apparently aging stem cells don't communicate well with each other.

"Exosomes are one mechanism of crosstalk between cells and also between different organs," said Hamrick. "Your liver is producing exosomes, fat produces exosomes, they will hit other organs and they carry, in some cases, positive messages and in some cases bad messages," said Hamrick, who is leading this project to restore positive messaging.

They have laboratory evidence that aging alters at least two microRNAs, miR-141 and miR-183, which prompts cells to make bone-eating instead of bone-forming cells. Again, they have shown that even young stem cells exposed to older exosomes will assume this bone-reducing stance. But they also have some evidence that some of the dietary interventions Isales is looking at could reverse the ill effects.

The team recently reported in the journal Tissue Engineering that exosomes from old and younger mice were similar in size and number and both had a lot of miRNAs. But aged exosomes had significantly and specifically more mi183, an miRNA already associated with cancer. In this case, high mi183 appears to decrease cell proliferation and the ability of immature cells to become bone cells and to support the general deterioration that comes with age, called senescence. Age-related increases of reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress help increase mi183 levels and these undesirable results. When researchers treat mesenchymal stem cells from young animals with exosomes from old mice, is suppresses formation of muscle-making genes; giving mi183 directly to bone and muscle producing cells makes them start acting old. Now they want to know more about how aging changes the secretion and cargo of exosomes by mesynchymal stem cells and how that in turn contributes to bone and muscle loss.

A third project, led by Hill, will focus on the cargo, the miRNAs, to learn more about exactly how they impact bone formation and turnover. "We think that the amino acids are controlling the expression of specific sets of microRNA," Hill said. That means they may want to target and even eliminate key or critical microRNAs, which could obviously affect expression of numerous genes as a result.

They also are exploring aging's impact on stromal cell derived factor 1, or SDF-1, which is critical to helping keep stem cells in the bone marrow and focused on making bone. Age-related changes appear to make SDF-1 instead encourage stem cells to wander. The researchers note that while these cells do often need to leave the bone marrow, to say help heal an injury, these age-related travels are random and often cells don't find their way back. A consistent goal is identifying intervention targets.

"The idea is if we can change the environment and change how they are signaling to themselves and to other cells, we can modify the stem cell directly that way," Hill said.

They are looking upstream as well for earlier points of intervention, including what is happening to histone deacetylase-3, or HDAC3. They have evidence that HDAC3, another pervasive regulator in the body that can turn gene expression up or down, is important in stem cells' age-related propensity to make fat instead of bone.

At least one reason is that reduced HDAC3 means less bone, which literally makes more room for fat, said McGee-Lawrence, who is leading these studies. Her previous studies have shown that when HDAC3 is deleted from the skeleton, bones are weaker, much like what occurs with aging.

Now they have evidence that mice treated with kynurenine, for example, have suppressed HDAC3 expression in the bone. They want to know more about just how HDAC3 gets suppressed as we age and exactly what that does to bone formation and fat storage besides just making room. The new grant is allowing them to put the pieces together better, looking further at just what suppresses HDAC3 and what suppression does to bone versus fat formation. The bottom line again is identifying early points of intervention and potentially nutrients to intervene.

"Something in the microenvironment of the bone is causing the cells, instead of wanting to make bone, they are storing a lot of fat," McGee-Lawrence said. "Some of these epigenetic factors, like HDAC3, some of the environmental factors like changes in the amino acids are causing the cells to dysfunction. We are hoping to figure out what that signal is and how to reverse it and to make those cells want to start making bone again."

Identical twin studies have shown that environmental factors definitely play a role, since the bone/muscle health of these twins often is not identical even though their genes are, Isales said. Rather than changing the genes themselves, environmental factors appear to have changed their expression: which ones are turned or on off. These epigenetic changes include factors from diet to stress to sleep patterns to age.

There are 20 amino acids, which are essential to protein production and a variety of other functions from giving cells structure to helping organs functions. Kyrurenine also is associated with the degeneration of our brain and immune system as we age. Mesynchymal stem cells also produce blood, cartilage and fat cells.

Isales also is vice chair of clinical and translational research in the MCG Department of Orthopaedics and a faculty member in the MCG Department of Medicine. Hamrick, Hill and McGee-Lawrence are all faculty members in the MCG Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy. Other scientists helping support three core laboratories for the interrelated studies include the Administrative Core with Biostatistics, Maribeth Johnson and Dr. Jie Chen, MCG Department of Biostatics and Epidemiology; the Bone Biology Core, Dr. Mohammed Elsalanty, Department of Oral Biology, Dental College of Georgia at AU; and the Bone Stem Cell Core, Dr. Xingming Shi, MCG Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine.

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Major research initiative explores how our bones and muscles age, new ways to block their decline - Medical Xpress

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Major research initiative explores how our bones and muscles age, new ways to block their decline – Medical Xpress | June 7th, 2017

Shares of Shire (SHPG) were down $3.22 or 1.85% in early trading Wednesday to $170.88 after the company said it would transfer its U.S. investigational new drug application for for Graft-Versus-Host Disease candidate Alpha-1 Antitrypsin to Kamada (KMDA) . The treatment is aimed at addressing complications fromstem cell or bone marrow transplants.

Kamada is developing the drug in Europe. Kamada shares were down nearly 7% to $7.64.

Calithera Biosciences (CALA) was up to $16.10, a spike of 70 cents or 4.55%, after the FDA designated the company's lead product candidate, CB-839, in combination with Novartis' AFINITOR for Fast Track review for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in patients who have received at least two prior lines of therapy.

Shares of Synergy Pharmaceutical (SGYP) rose 4.5% to $4.15 after the FDA accepted for review its supplemental New Drug Application for TRULANCE a candidate to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. The FDA approved TRULANCE to treat chronic idiopathic constipation in January.

Over at Real Money, Bret Jensen looks at 4 Undervalued Biotech Stocks.

Also, Jim Cramer and the AAP team offer up stocks that will allow you to play it safe amid crazy politics.

In terms of volume, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Sanofi (SNY) were among the most actively traded stocks midmorning but were both only down less than a percent.

Exact Sciences (EXAS) was trading at twice its daily volume and saw its shares fall about 6.6%, or $2.40, in early trading Wednesday to $34.19 apiece.

The Madison, Wisc.-basedmolecular diagnostics company said after markets closed on Tuesday that its underwriters, includingJefferies LLC, BofA Merrill Lynch and Robert W. Baird & Co. hadacuired7 million shares of commons stock with an option to buy about 1 million more.

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Biotech Movers: Shire Falls on Stem Cell Program Transfer; Calithera, Synergy Up on FDA Approvals - TheStreet.com

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Biotech Movers: Shire Falls on Stem Cell Program Transfer; Calithera, Synergy Up on FDA Approvals – TheStreet.com | June 7th, 2017

The Sun

Bioquark aims to bring brain-dead people back to life next year - Metro Metro It sounds like the plot of a horror movie - but a new trial aims to regenerate the brains of brain-dead people, by injecting them with stem cells. A U.S.... Controversial Study Wants To Resurrect Brain-Dead People ...IFLScience US Firm Tries 'Reawakening The Dead' With Stem Cells [VIDEO]The Daily Caller Company working on a way to reverse deathNEWS10 ABC The Sun -Daily Mail -Stck Nws US all 11 news articles »

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Bioquark aims to bring brain-dead people back to life next year - Metro - Metro

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Bioquark aims to bring brain-dead people back to life next year – Metro – Metro | June 6th, 2017

Activating stem cells Wnt signaling pathways can drive cardiac progenitor cells to become epicardium instead of myocardium cells.

A process using human stem cells can generate epicardium cells that cover the external surface of a human heart, according to a multidisciplinary team of researchers.

In 2012, we discovered that if we treated human stem cells with chemicals that sequentially activate and inhibit the Wnt signaling pathway, they become myocardium muscle cells, says Xiaojun Lance Lian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering and biology, who is leading the study at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). Myocardium, the middle of the hearts three layers, is the thick, muscular part that contracts to drive blood through the body. The Wnt signaling pathway is a group of signal transduction pathways made of proteins that pass signals into a cell using cell-surface receptors.

We needed to provide the cardiac progenitor cells with additional information in order for them to generate into epicardium cells, but prior to this study, we didnt know what that information was, Lian says. Now, we know that if we activate the cells Wnt signaling pathway again, we can re-drive these cardiac progenitor cells to become epicardium cells, instead of myocardium cells.

Lance Lian/Penn State

The groups results bring researchers one step closer to regenerating an entire heart wall. Through morphological assessment and functional assay, the researchers found that the generated epicardium cells were similar to epicardium cells in living humans and those grown in the laboratory.

The last piece is turning cardiac progenitor cells to endocardium cells (the hearts inner layer), and we are making progress on that, Lian says.

The groups method of generating epicardium cells could be useful in clinical applications, for patients who suffer a heart attack.

Heart attacks occur due to blockage of blood vessels, Lian says. This blockage stops nutrients and oxygen from reaching the heart muscle, and muscle cells die. These muscle cells cannot regenerate themselves, so there is permanent damage, which can cause additional problems. These epicardium cells could be transplanted to the patient and potentially repair the damaged region.

In addition to generating the epicardium cells, researchers can keep them proliferating in the lab after treating them with a cell-signaling pathway Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF) inhibitor.

After 50 days, our cells did not show any signs of decreased proliferation. However, the proliferation of the control cells without the TGF Beta inhibitor started to plateau after the tenth day, Lian says.

Pennsylvania State University http://www.psu.edu

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Stem cells regenerate external layer of a human heart - Today's Medical Developments

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cells regenerate external layer of a human heart – Today’s Medical Developments | June 6th, 2017

RenovaCare is developing breakthrough technologies to address Americas $45 billion wound and burn treatment market. Our flagship CellMist System makes use of a patients own stem cells, which are sprayed onto wounds using our novel SkinGun device.

For patients suffering severe burns and other wounds, the prospect of a quick-healing, gentle spray containing their own stem cells will be a promising alternative to conventional skin graft surgery, which can be painful, prone to complications, and slow-to-heal. Based on preliminary case studies, CellMist System patients can be treated within 90 minutes of arriving in an emergency room; a patients stem cells are isolated, processed, and sprayed on to wound sites for rapid healing.

Preliminary investigational use in Europe and the United States indicate the potential efficacy and safety of RenovaCares technologies. Clinical observations point to the potential for regeneration of new skin in as little as four days, rather than the many weeks of painful and risky recovery required by traditional skin graft techniques. These technologies are the result of nearly a decade of ongoing research and development dedicated to finding the most effective way to access the regenerative properties of a patients own skin stem cells, and the most efficient way to deliver these potent cells to heal moderate to severe skin wounds. We believe that RenovaCares CellMist System and SkinGun spray device are the worlds most advanced technologies of their kind.

This device system requires further clinical evaluation and data collection prior to submission of a premarketing application to the US FDA. At this time it is an investigational system and is not available for general use or sales in the United States.

The CellMist System RenovaCares CellMist System is comprised of two components:

Wikipedia indicates that so far the skin gun treatment has been used exclusively with second degree burns, though there is strong evidence that the treatment will be successful in treating a variety of skin wounds and skin disorders. Patients with infected wounds or with delay in wound healing are suitable for cell grafting treatment. Third-degree burns, however, completely deprive victims of both their epidermis and dermis skin levels, which exposes the tissue surrounding the muscles. The skin gun has not progressed to the point where it can be used for such advanced wounds, and these patients must seek more traditional treatment methods. The skin gun is generally not used for burn victims with anything less than a second-degree burn either. First degree-burns still maintain portions of the epidermis and can readily heal on their own, thus they do not need this expensive technology.

Currently, the skin guns applications have not been extended to include the regeneration of skin lost due to other injuries or skin diseases. It is also limited in that it is only effective immediately following the burn incident.

The average healing time for patients with second degree burns is three to four weeks. This is reduced to a matter of days with skin gun treatment

Traditional skin grafting can be risky, in that chances for infection are relatively high. The skin gun alleviates this concern because the increased speed in which the wound heals directly correlates to the decreased time the wound can be vulnerable to infection. Because of the rapid re-epithelialization associated with skin gun treatment, harmful side effects that can result from an open wound are significantly reduced. Applying the skin cells is quick and doesnt harm the patient because only a thin layer of the patients healthy skin is extracted from the body into the aqueous spray. The electronic spray distributes the skin cells uniformly without damaging the skin cells, and patients feel as if they are sprayed with salt water.

Because the skin cells are actually the patients own cells, the skin that is regenerated looks more natural than skin grown from traditional methods. During recovery, the skin cells grow into fully functional layers of the skin, including the dermis, epidermis, and blood vessels.[17] The regenerated skin leaves little scarring. The basic idea of optimizing regenerative healing techniques to damaged biological structures demonstrated by the skin gun in the future may also be applied to engineering reconstruction of vital organs, such as the heart and kidneys.

There are major limitations: the method will not work on deep burns that go through bone and muscle, specifically below the dermis. As of 2011, only several dozen patients have been treated; it remains an experimental, not a proven, method. As of 2011, the skin gun was still in its prototyping stage, since it has only treated a dozen patients in Germany and the US, compared to over 50,000 treated with Dermagraft bioengineered skin substitute. There is thus a lack of published peer reviewed clinical evidence, and no knowledge of long-term stability of the newly generated skin

Skingun Procedure

There is a seven page review of the skingun at the International Journal of Pharmacometrics and Integrated Biosciences (IJPIB)

Skingun Procedure Initially stamp-sized healthy skin of the injured patient is taken and stem cells were collected from it. Then they are harvested by using suitable enzymes. The prepared cell suspension is injected into sterile syringe and inserted into the gun. This gun helps in uniform spreading of the cells on wound. These cells will migrate, multiple, and differentiate forming a new tissue. The complete process occurs with in 2 hr. Full regeneration of skin occurs in 2 weeks and complete formation of texture tools 2-3 months

Stage 1

The CellMist Solution is a liquid suspension containing a patients own regenerative skin stem cells. A small sample (as little as a square inch) of the patients skin is quickly processed to liberate the stem cells from surrounding tissue. The resulting product is referred to as the CellMist Solution. The CellMist Solution is placed in the SkinGun for spray application onto the patients wound.

The CellMist Solution, containing the patients stem cells, is transferred to the SkinGun. The SkinGun sprays the cells onto wound sites to begin healing. Unlike conventional aerosol and pump systems, our next-generation fluid sprayer does not expose fragile cells to strong forces that can tear them apart. Instead our SkinGun gently delivers the CellMist Solution directly to the wound site using a positive-pressure air stream.

SOURCES RenovaCare, Wikipedia, International Journal of Pharmacometrics and Integrated Biosciences (IJPIB)

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Stem cells delivered via Skin gun can reduce second degree ...

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cells delivered via Skin gun can reduce second degree … | June 6th, 2017

As a third grade teacher at Ottawa Elementary School, Kelly Gianotti teaches students many important life lessons along with reading and math.

The most important lesson she has instructed was taught by example: how to save the life of a blood cancer patient.

Gianotti donated her stem cells in 2013 to help save the life of a blood cancer patient. The patient was in need of a bone marrow stem cell transplant and had no donor match in her family.

I had seen a flier at a local gym for a high school student who was looking for a match. That intrigued me. I went online to register, Gianotti said.

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A year later Gianotti learned she was a potential match, but not for the high school patient. She went through more testing and did the outpatient donation procedure.

Gianotti later found out her donation assisted MaryAnn Hastings, who lived near Boston, Mass. The two chatted via e-mail and were able to meet in 2016, when Gianotti traveled to Boston.

The lady I donated for died last February of a different type of cancer. I wanted to honor her and spread the word, Gianotti said, adding that Hastings family indicated she was able to give Hastings three extra years of life with her donation.

The donation experience motivated Gianotti to host the first DKMS bone marrow registration drive through Chippewa Valley Schools district. DKMS is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer and blood disorders, according to its website.

The goal of the drive is to help register potential donors. It will be held Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Cheyenne Elementary School in Macomb Township. Gianotti said she hopes to register between 100 and 200 potential donors.

Requirements to join the bone marrow registry are that the donor be in good health and between the ages of 18 and 55. The process involves filling out a form, understanding the donation methods and swabbing the inside of each cheek for 30 seconds with a cotton swab. Donors swab their cheeks in a circular motion.

There is no cost to register, although donations are accepted. The donations assist DKMS in covering the $65 registration processing fee.

According to DKMS, 70 percent of people suffering from blood-related illnesses rely on donors other than their families.

If selected as a match for a patient, there are two different methods of donation, according to the DKMS website.

According to the DKMS website, a donation method used in about 25 percent of cases is a one or two hour surgical procedure performed under anesthesia to collect marrow cells from the back of the pelvic bone using a syringe.

To obtain more information about the drive or to make a monetary donation, visit fb.com/cvsgetsswabbed. Those who want to join the bone marrow registry but are unable to attend the June 6 drive can register at dkms.org.

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Chippewa Valley Schools hosts bone marrow registration drive - The Macomb Daily

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Chippewa Valley Schools hosts bone marrow registration drive – The Macomb Daily | June 5th, 2017

Tissue-specific stem cells

Tissue-specific stem cells, which are sometimes referred to as adult or somatic stem cells, are already somewhat specialized and can produce some or all of the mature cell types found within the particular tissue or organ in which they reside. Because of their ability to generate multiple, organ-specific, cell types, they are described as multipotent. For example, stem cells found

Stem cells are the foundation cells for every organ and tissue in our bodies. The highly specialized cells that make up these tissues originally came from an initial pool of stem cells formed shortly after fertilization. Throughout our lives, we continue to rely on stem cells to replace injured tissues and cells that are lost every day, such as those in our skin, hair, blood and the lining of our gut. Stem cells have two key properties: 1) the ability to self-renew, dividing in a way that makes copies of themselves, and 2) the ability to differentiate, giving rise to the mature types of cells that make up our organs and tissues.

Tissue-specific stem cells Tissue-specific stem cells, which are sometimes referred to as adult or somatic stem cells, are already somewhat specialized and can produce some or all of the mature cell types found within the particular tissue or organ in which they reside. Because of their ability to generate multiple, organ-specific, cell types, they are described as multipotent. For example, stem cells found within the adult brain are capable of making neurons and two types of glial cells, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Tissue-specific stem cells have been found in several organs that need to continuously replenish themselves, such as the blood, skin and gut and have even been found in other, less regenerative, organs such as the brain. These types of stem cells represent a very small population and are often buried deep within a given tissue, making them difficult to identify, isolate and grow in a laboratory setting. Neuron Dr. Gerry Shaw, EnCor Biotechnology Inc. Astrocyte Abcam Inc. Oligodendrocyte Dhaunchak and Nave (2007). Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:17813-8 http://www.isscr.org Embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells have been derived from a variety of species, including humans, and are described as pluripotent, meaning that they can generate all the different types of cells in the body. Embryonic stem cells can be obtained from the blastocyst, a very early stage of development that consists of a mostly hollow ball of approximately 150-200 cells and is barely visible to the naked eye. At this stage, there are no organs, not even blood, just an inner cell mass from which embryonic stem cells can be obtained. Human embryonic stem cells are derived primarily from blastocysts that were created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for assisted reproduction but were no longer needed. The fertilized egg and the cells that immediately arise in the first few divisions are totipotent. This means that, under the right conditions, they can generate a viable embryo (including support tissues such as the placenta). Within a matter of days, however, these cells transition to become pluripotent. None of the currently studied embryonic stem cell lines are alone capable of generating a viable embryo (i.e., they are pluripotent, not totipotent). Why are embryonic stem cells so valuable? Unlike tissue-specific (adult) stem cells, embryonic stem cells have the potential to generate every cell type found in the body. Just as importantly, these cells can, under the right conditions, be grown and expanded indefinitely in this unspecialized or undifferentiated state. These cells help researchers learn about early human developmental processes that are otherwise inaccessible, study diseases and establish strategies that could ultimately lead to therapies designed to replace or restore damaged tissues. Induced pluripotent stem cells One of the hottest topics in stem cell research today is the study of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). These are adult cells (e.g., skin cells) that are engineered, or reprogrammed, to become pluripotent, i.e., behave like an embryonic stem cell. While these iPS cells share many of the same characteristics of embryonic stem cells, including the ability to give rise to all the cell types in the body, it is important to understand that they are not identical. The original iPS cells were produced by using viruses to insert extra copies of three to four genes known to be important in embryonic stem cells into the specialized cell. It is not yet completely understood how these three to four reprogramming genes are able to induce pluripotency; this question is the focus of ongoing research. In addition, recent studies have focused on alternative ways of reprogramming cells using methods that are safer for use in clinical settings. Disease- or patient-specific pluripotent stem cells One of the major advantages of iPS cells, and one of the reasons that researchers are very interested in studying them, is that they are a very good way to make pluripotent stem cell lines that are specific to a disease or even to an individual patient. Disease-specific stem cells are powerful tools for studying the cause of a particular disease and then for testing drugs or discovering other approaches to treat or cure that disease. The development of patientspecific stem cells is also very attractive for cell therapy, as these cell lines are from the patient themselves and may minimize some of the serious complications of rejection and immunosuppression that can occur following transplants from unrelated donors. Moving stem cells into the clinic Clinical translation is the process used to turn scientific knowledge into real world medical treatments. Researchers take what they have learned about how a tissue usually works and what goes wrong in a particular disease or injury and use this information to develop new ways to diagnose, stop or fix what goes wrong. Before being marketed or adopted as standard of care, most treatments are tested through clinical trials. Sometimes, in attempting new surgical techniques or where the disease or condition is rare and does not have a large enough group of people to form a clinical trial, certain treatments might be tried on one or two people, a form of testing sometimes referred to as innovative medicine. For more information on how science becomes medicine, please visit http://www.closerlookatstemcells.org. Current therapies Blood stem cells are currently the most frequently used stem cells for therapy. For more than 50 years, doctors have been using bone marrow transplants to transfer blood stem cells to patients, and more advanced techniques for collecting blood stem cells are now being used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and several inherited blood disorders. Umbilical cord blood, like bone marrow, is often collected as a source of blood stem cells and in certain cases is being used as an alternative to bone marrow transplantation. Additionally, some bone, skin and corneal diseases or injuries can be treated by grafting tissues that are derived from or maintained by stem cells. These therapies have also been shown to be safe and effective. Potential therapies Other stem cell treatments, while promising, are still at very early experimental stages. For example, the mesenchymal stem cell, found throughout the body including in the bone marrow, can be directed to become bone, cartilage, fat and possibly even muscle. In certain experimental models, these cells also have some ability to modify immune functions. These abilities have created considerable interest in developing ways of using mesenchymal stem cells to treat a range of musculoskeletal abnormalities, cardiac disease and some immune abnormalities such as graft-versus-host disease following bone marrow transplant. Remaining challenges Despite the successes we have seen so far, there are several major challenges that must be addressed before stem cells can be used as cell therapies to treat a wider range of diseases. First, we need to identify an abundant source of stem cells. Identifying, isolating and growing the right kind of stem cell, particularly in the case of rare adult stem cells, are painstaking and difficult processes. Pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells, can be grown indefinitely in the lab and have the advantage of having the potential to become any cell in the body, but these processes are again very complex and must be tightly controlled. iPS cells, while promising, are also limited by these concerns. In both cases, considerable work remains to be done to ensure that these cells can be isolated and used safely and routinely. Second, as with organ transplants, it is very important to have a close match between the donor tissue and the recipient; the more closely the tissue matches the recipient, the lower the risk of rejection. Being able to avoid the lifelong use of immunosuppressants would also be preferable. The discovery of iPS cells has opened the door to developing patient-specific pluripotent stem cell lines that can later be developed into a needed cell type without the problems of rejection and immunosuppression that occur from transplants from unrelated donors. Third, a system for delivering the cells to the right part of the body must be developed. Once in the right location, the new cells must then be encouraged to integrate and function together with the bodys other cells. http://www.isscr.org Glossary Blastocyst A very early embryo that has the shape of a ball and consists of approximately 150-200 cells. It contains the inner cell mass, from which embryonic stem cells are derived, and an outer layer of cells called the trophoblast that forms the placenta. Cell line Cells that can be maintained and grown in a dish outside of the body. Clinical translation The process of using scientific knowledge to design, develop and apply new ways to diagnose, stop or fix what goes wrong in a particular disease or injury. Differentiation The process of development with an increase in the level of organization or complexity of a cell or tissue, accompanied by a more specialized function. Embryo The early developing organism; this term denotes the period of development between the fertilized egg and the fetal stage. Embryonic stem cell Cells derived from very early in development, usually the inner cell mass of a developing blastocyst. These cells are self-renewing (can replicate themselves) and pluripotent (can form all cell types found in the body). Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell Induced pluripotent cells (iPS cells) are stem cells that were engineered (induced) from non-pluripotent cells to become pluripotent. In other words, a cell with a specialized function (for example, a skin cell) that has been reprogrammed to an unspecialized state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell. Innovative medicine Treatments that are performed on a small number of people and are designed to test a novel technique or treat a rare disease. These are done outside of a typical clinical trial framework. In vitro fertilization A procedure in which an egg cell and sperm cells are brought together in a dish to fertilize the egg. The fertilized egg will start dividing and, after several divisions, forms the embryo that can be implanted into the womb of a woman and give rise to pregnancy. Mesenchymal stem cells Mesenchymal stem cells were originally discovered in the bone marrow, but have since been found throughout the body and can give rise to a large number of connective tissue types such as bone, cartilage and fat. Multipotent stem cells Stem cells that can give rise to several different types of specialized cells, but in contrast to a pluripotent stem cell, are restricted to a certain organ or tissue types. For example, blood stem cells are multipotent cells that can produce all the different cell types that make up the blood but not the cells of other organs such as the liver or brain. Pluripotent stem cells Stem cells that can become all the cell types that are found in an implanted embryo, fetus or developed organism. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells. Self-renewal The process by which a cell divides to generate another cell that has the same potential. Stem cells Cells that have both the capacity to self-renew (make more stem cells by cell division) and to differentiate into mature, specialized cells. Tissue-specific stem cells (also known as adult or somatic stem cells) Stem cells found in different tissues of the body that can give rise to some or all of the mature cell types found within the particular tissue or organ from which they came, i.e., blood stem cells can give rise to all the cells that make up the blood, but not the cells of organs such as the liver or brain. Totipotent stem cells Stem cells that, under the right conditions, are wholly capable of generating a viable embryo (including the placenta) and, for humans, exist until about four days after fertilization, prior to the blastocyst stage from which embryonic stem cells are derived.

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What Are Stem Cells - Checkbiotech.org (press release)

IPS Cell Therapy Comments Off on What Are Stem Cells – Checkbiotech.org (press release) | June 4th, 2017