A local stem cell study is changing the future of orthopedics.

A new study taking place at the Andrews Institute in Northwest Florida could shape the future of orthopedic surgery.

The goal of the study, spearheaded by Dr. Adam Anz and already eight years in the making, is to use stem cells to regrow cartilage.

If approved, it will be the first orthopedics study of its kind done in the United States and only the second in the entire world.

Stem cells are currently utilized most in cancer research and treatments, but Dr. Anz of the Andrews Institute wants to change that by putting regenerative medicine to the test, using stem cells to regrow knee cartilage.

The Andrews Institute already uses stem cells in certain therapies, but this new method could be a game changer.

"The bone marrow aspirate, which we're studying for knee arthritis and we can offer to patients, is the 1990's technology of stem cells," Dr. Anz said. "What we're studying is the modern way to harvest many more stem cells. That's the reason the FDA has said you need to bring this through our process before you just offer it to people."

Through a process called apheresis, stem cells are harvested from the patient with help from a synthetic hormone that promotes the body to generate more stem cells.

"Through this process we can collect millions of cells," Dr. Anz said. "Just 140 milliliters -- about a half of a coke can -- will have 140 million stem cells."

The stem cells will then be sorted, divided and injected into the patient's knee. Excess cells are stored in a nitrogen freezer at negative 181 degrees Celsius until the next round of injections, a process to be repeated over the next two years.

"If this study is successful, this will be the first approved in orthopedics in the United States," said Dr. Anz.

The study begins in May. Dr. Anz believes it will take about another five to seven years before the FDA can approve it for use in patients.

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Groundbreaking stem cell study kicks off in Northwest Florida - WEAR

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Groundbreaking stem cell study kicks off in Northwest Florida – WEAR | April 27th, 2017

This study aimed to explore the role of the transforming growth factor-/mitogen activated protein kinase (TGF-/MAPK) signaling pathway in the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on urinary control and interstitial cystitis in a rat model of urinary bladder transplantation.

A urinary bladder transplantation model was established using Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were assigned to normal (blank control), negative control (phosphate-buffered saline injection), BMSCs (BMSC injection), sp600125 (MAPK inhibitor injection), or protamine sulfate (protamine sulfate injection) groups. Immunohistochemistry, urodynamic testing, hematoxylin-eosin staining, Western blotting, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and MTT assay were used to assess BMSC growth, the kinetics of bladder urinary excretion, pathological changes in bladder tissue, bladder tissue ultrastructure, the expression of TGF-/MAPK signaling pathway-related proteins, levels of inflammatory cytokines, and the effects of antiproliferative factor on cell proliferation.

Compared with normal, negative control, BMSCs, and sp600125 groups, rats in the PS group exhibited decreased discharge volume, maximal micturition volume, contraction interval, and bladder capacity but increased residual urine volume, bladder pressure, bladder peak pressure, expression of TGF-/MAPK signaling pathway-related proteins, levels of inflammatory cytokines, and growth inhibition rate. Levels of inflammatory cytokines and the growth inhibition rate were positively correlated with the expression of TGF-/MAPK signaling pathway-related proteins.

Our findings demonstrate that the TGF-/MAPK signaling pathway mediates the beneficial effects of BMSCs on urinary control and interstitial cystitis.

American journal of translational research. 2017 Mar 15*** epublish ***

Ya Xiao, Ya-Jun Song, Bo Song, Chi-Bing Huang, Qing Ling, Xiao Yu

Urological Research Institute of PLA, The First Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical UniversityChongqing 400037, P. R. China; Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, The Third Military Medical UniversityChongqing 400037, P. R. China., Department of Urology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, The Third Military Medical University Chongqing 400037, P. R. China., Urological Research Institute of PLA, The First Affiliated Hospital, Third Military Medical University Chongqing 400037, P. R. China., Department of Urology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology Wuhan 430030, P. R. China.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28386345

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TGF-/MAPK signaling mediates the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on urinary control and interstitial ... - UroToday

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Cancerous cells in a skin tumor become locked in an abnormal state as a result of the activation of a gene-regulating element (green).

Like an image in a broken mirror, a tumor is a distorted likeness of a wound. Scientists have long seen parallels between the two, such as the formation of new blood vessels, which occurs as part of both wound healing and malignancy.

Research at The Rockefeller University offers new insights about what the two processes have in commonand how they differat the molecular level. The findings, described April 20 in Cell, may aid in the development of new therapies for cancer.

Losing identity

At the core of both malignancy and tissue mending are stem cells, which multiply to produce new tissue to fill the breach or enlarge the tumor. To see how stem cells behave in these scenarios, a team led by scientists in Elaine Fuchss lab compared two distinct types found within mouse skin.

One set of stem cells, at the base of the follicle, differentiates to form the hair shaft; while another set produces new skin cells. Under normal conditions, these two cell populations are physically distinct, producing only their respective tissue, nothing else.

But when Yejing Ge, a postdoc in the Fuchs lab, looked closely at gene activity in skin tumors, she found a remarkable convergence: The follicle stem cells expressed genes normally reserved for skin stem cells, and vice versa. Around wounds, the researchers documented the same blurring between the sets of stem cells.

Master switches

Two of the identity-related genes stood out. They code for so-called master regulators, molecules that play a dominant role in determining what type of tissue a stem cell will ultimately producein this case, hair follicle or skin. The researchers suspect that stress signals from the tissue surrounding the damage or malignancy kick off a cycle that feeds off itself by enabling the master regulators to make more of themselves.

Access to DNA is the key. To go to work, master regulators bind to certain regions of DNA and so initiate dramatic changes in gene expression. The researchers found evidence that stress signals open up new regions of DNA, making them more accessible to gene activation. By binding in these newly available spots, master regulators elevate the expression of identity-related genes, including the genes that encode the master regulators themselves.

Locked in

While wounds heal, cancer can grow indefinitely. The researchers discovered that while stress signals eventually wane in healing wounds, they can persist in cancerand with prolonged stress signaling, another region of DNA opens up to kick off a separate round of cancer-specific changes.

Tumors have been described as wounds that never heal, and now we have identified specific regulatory elements that, when activated, keep tumor cells locked into a blurred identity, Ge says.

The scientists hope this discovery could lead to precise treatments for cancer that cause less collateral damage than conventional chemotherapy. We are currently testing the specificity of these cancer regulatory elements in human cells for their possible use in therapies aimed at killing the tumor cells and leaving the healthy tissue cells unharmed, Fuchs says.

Elaine Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, head of the Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

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A mechanism shared by healing wounds and growing tumors - The Rockefeller University Newswire

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on A mechanism shared by healing wounds and growing tumors – The Rockefeller University Newswire | April 26th, 2017

One of the finalists in the Governors Business Plan Contest, Cellular Logistics, is making another run at the top prize as it pursues commercialization of its biomaterials.

Two years ago, the company submitted a plan and made it to the semifinal round before being eliminated.

That was premature, but a good experience to go through in terms of preparation for this year, where we have a much more clear path and stronger team, said Adam Bock, CFO for Cellular Logistics. Weve been here before, but its always exciting.

The company just finished up a family and friends funding round last quarter, which raised $400,000. Its still in its growth stages, according to Bock, who characterizes Cellular Logistics as a virtual company at this point.

We have our business and tech team who operate wherever we need to be -- no dedicated office or lab, Bock said. All work has been done at Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research.

He added the company will be prepared to transition into a commercial space in about six months, saying were right at that crossover point.

Eric Schmuck, Cellular Logistics chief science officer, invented the companys patented biomaterials and heads the studies currently being done to test them.

He initially had the idea as a grad student in the UW-Madison Department of Physiology, where he was working with materials on which to grow stem cells. He realized the material he was experimenting with had unique characteristics which could be applicable in other ways.

It was novel; no one had done anything like it, Schmuck said. WARF agreed to patent the idea in 2011. Weve been tinkering with it in UW ever since.

The company is in the preclinical phase, currently testing an injectable supportive extracellular matrix in the hearts of mice. While results for these tests will have to wait until they are complete, Schmuck says that for earlier iterations, tests have been extremely promising.

He has seen really good restoration of function, with earlier tests, including powerful reduction in cardiac dilation -- a good sign for heart health.

In fact, earlier tests suggest the companys biomaterials are able to reverse or inhibit progression to heart failure, Schmuck says. They would be used in humans to repair damaged cardiac muscles, for patients who have experienced recent heart attacks or heart failure.

The company will be seeking approval from the FDA eventually, Schmuck said, adding that human trials could be undertaken in two or three years.

Bock says winning the contest would be spectacular, and that taking part is a lot of fun. The top 12, or Diligent Dozen, will be announced in late May, with the end of the contest coming in early June.

--By Alex Moe WisBusiness.com

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Cellular Logistics pursuing commercialization, top spot in Governor's Business Plan Contest - Wisbusiness.com

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Cellular Logistics pursuing commercialization, top spot in Governor’s Business Plan Contest – Wisbusiness.com | April 24th, 2017

BROCKPORT When Chris Cella laced up his boxing gloves last Saturday night in preparation for his war within the squared circle, he was fighting for more than his undefeated fight record.

In front of the sellout crowd in Huntington, W.V., he made quick work of his opponent, working his body hard and knocking him out two minutes into the first round.

After his hand was raised cementing the victory the ring announcer handed Cella the microphone.

It was then that he shared his motivation for the win.

This fight tonight was for a special friend, a little girl named Shea. Shes the toughest warrior of all. This win is for you Shea, said Cella.

The week before the fight, Shea and her parents came out to Cellas gym, BC Boxing, where they wished him luck for his upcoming fight.

I first met Shea when she was five and her aunt brought her to the gym to train. When she came to wish me luck she stole my heart. Her beautiful smile and contagious laugh filled the gym with so much love. Shes been more of an inspiration to me that she will ever know. Shes a fighter and warrior in every sense of the word, and it felt great to get the win in her honor, Cella said.

Shea has been unable to make it to the gym for almost a year now.

Now 8 years old, Shea was diagnosed in August with AML leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow with excess immature white blood cells, weeks before she was to start second grade at DuBois Central Catholic School.

Since her diagnosis, Sheas journey toward being cancer-free hasnt been an easy one.

Shes had adverse reactions to her appendix and gallbladder from the chemotherapy treatments and both had to be removed.

She also had a stem cell transplant this January and struggled with with graft versus host disease of the stomach and skin, which occurs when donor bone marrow or stem cells attack the recipient.

+3

+2

I know that seems like a lot of bad, but Shea had a positive outlook on this whole experience and is nothing but smiles, Sheas mother Misty McKinney said. We are hoping with in a month or two we can come home for good.

Shea cant wait to come home and have a huge pool party and get back to boxing.

Shea said she felt very special and happy, when Cella dedicated his fight to her. The boxing community at the gym has had the familys back since her diagnosis, even taking up collections of toys and gift cards at Christmastime in an attempt to give the girl a holiday she wouldnt forget.

Shea is one of the biggest inspirations Ive ever met, Cella said. She fights so hard every day, it makes my fight seem meaningless.

To keep up to date on Sheas journey and ways you can help, friend Pray for Shea on Facebook.

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Fight For Shea: Brockport man dedicates bout to DuBois girl with leukemia - The Courier-Express

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This week: Biomedical engineering division, University of Minnesota

Three-dimensional or 3D printing technology, which has been around for almost three decades, routinely makes headlines. Not surprising, given that the so-called Fabbers, or personal manufacturing machines3D printers come under this categorynow not only make jewellery and toothbrushes, but also football boots, racing-car parts, custom-designed cakes, guns, human organs, houses and plane parts.

3D printing can be used to save lives too. Consider this. During a heart attack, the muscle cells of the heart do not get enough blood. Hence, they die. Our bodies cant replace these dead cells, so the body leaves a scar tissue in that area of the heart. This puts the person at risk of heart failure in the future.

A team of biomedical engineering researchers, led by the University of Minnesota (Umn.edu), has created a laser 3D-bioprinted patch to address the issue and help heal the scarred heart tissue after a heart attack. Three-dimensional bioprinting is the process of creating cell patterns in a confined space using 3D printing technologies.

The researchers successfully used this technique to incorporate stem cells (cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity) derived from adult human heart cells in a dish in the lab.

When the cell patch was placed on a mouse following a simulated heart attack, the researchers saw significant increase in functional capacity after just four weeks. Since the patch was made from stem cells and structural proteins (that do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the bodys tissues and organs) belonging to the heart, it became part of the heart and was absorbed into the body, requiring no further surgeries.

The discovery, which is a major step forward in treating patients with tissue damage after a heart attack, was published on 14 April in Circulation Research, the journal published by the American Heart Association. The researchers have filed a patent for it.

The scientists insist that this research is different from previous ones in that the patch is modelled after a digital, 3D scan of the structural proteins of the heart tissue. The digital model is made into a physical structure by 3D printing, further integrating cardiac cell types derived from stem cells. Only with 3D printing of this type, explain the researchers, can we achieve the 1 micron resolution needed to mimic structures of native heart tissue.

The scientists say they are already beginning the next step to develop a larger patch that they will test on a pig heart, which is similar in size to a human heart. Of course, the real success will be known only when human trials take place.

3D printing belongs to a class of techniques known as additive manufacturing, or building objects layer by layer. The most common household 3D-printing process involves a print head, which allows for any material to be extruded or squirted through a nozzle. There are several additive processes, including selective laser sintering, direct metal-laser sintering, fused deposition modelling, stereolithography and laminated-object manufacturing. All of them differ in the way layers are deposited to create the 3D objects.

Meanwhile, the concept of 4D printing, which allows materials to self-assemble into 3D structures, and was initially proposed by Skylar Tibbits of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in April 2013, is also showing promise.

Lab Watch is the Lounge guide to emerging tech from around the world .

First Published: Fri, Apr 21 2017. 02 57 PM IST

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A 3D-printed patch for a 'broken' heart - Livemint

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Technology Networks

Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells Technology Networks Salk scientists and collaborators have shed light on a longstanding question about what leads to variation in stem cells by comparing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from identical twins. Even iPSCs made from the cells of twins, they ... and more »

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Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells - Technology Networks

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Science Daily

Study overturns seminal research about the developing nervous system Science Daily New research by scientists at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA overturns a long-standing paradigm about how axons -- thread-like projections that connect cells in the nervous system -- grow during ... and more »

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Study overturns seminal research about the developing nervous system - Science Daily

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Technology Networks

3D-printed Patch Can Help Mend a 'Broken' Heart Technology Networks The digital model is made into a physical structure by 3D printing with proteins native to the heart and further integrating cardiac cell types derived from stem cells. Only with 3D printing of this type can we achieve one micron resolution needed to ...

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3D-printed Patch Can Help Mend a 'Broken' Heart - Technology Networks

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Joseph Baucum , jbaucum@pnj.com Published 4:06 p.m. CT April 16, 2017 | Updated 26 minutes ago

Andrews Institute is conducting new stem cell research that could impact the FDA approval of certain treatments. Joseph Baucumjbaucum@pnj.com

Dr. Andrew Anz, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze is working on cutting-edge stem cell research for cartilage therapy.(Photo: Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com)Buy Photo

By the time most reach age 55, Adam Anz estimatesas much as 30 percent of the population will incur some form of knee degeneration, a problem that equals pain and in many cases, surgery.

Its a problem that were all going to face at some point in our lives, said Anz, orthopaedic surgeon at Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine.

But in May, a new study will begin at Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze that could play a game-changing role in evolving the range of medicine available for treating knee injuries. In the process, the research may also help drive down patients costs.

Anz will help spearhead a study next month into increasing the amount of stem cells doctors are able to harvest from bone marrow transplants with the goal of utilizing those cells to regrow cartilage in knees. Cartilage, a tough and flexible material, is essential to the knee, because it acts as a cushion between the bones in the joint. Damaged cartilage can often necessitate knee replacement.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:Andrews Institute expands prep athletics care in region

In the study, Anz said researchers will attempt to increase the amount of stem cells in participants bone marrow, which would then empty from the marrow into their bloodstream. Researchers would collect the blood, separate the stem cells from it and inject the cells into patients knees. Doctors would then monitor if the marrow cells transform into cartilage cells and spark regeneration.

Its about determining how can we obtain those cells in efficient quantities and put those cells in the right place at the right time to help with healing patients injuries, Anz said.

Because the Food & Drug Administration has not approved the vast majority of stem cell-based remedies, not all treatments involving the cells are available for patients, including the cartilage procedure. For the treatments that are offered, health insurance providers do not cover them without the FDAs consent. Patients who choose to undergo them must pay out-of-pocket prices.

The study at Andrews Institute could push a stem cell cartilage treatment closer to FDA approval and by extension, availability and affordability. The research is an official FDA study. It is led by Khay Yong Saw, a Malaysian physicianwho has already demonstrated conceptual proof of the treatment in an animal study in 2006. He completed a randomized control trial in 2012. This study is the next step in proving the safety and efficacy of the procedure to gain federal endorsement.

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ADDITIONAL CONTENT:Elite athletes just piece of Andrews Institute

Anz, optimistic about the studys potential, emphasized more research must be conducted into the effectiveness of stem cell treatments those already available and those still in the testing phase.

Its important to be excited about technologies, but its also important to be honest with the patients that more must be done to show these treatments are effective, said Anz, who estimated the cartilage study to require two years for participant enrollment and another two years before researchers can observe outcomes.

But some who have undergone stem cell treatments advocate for the procedures federal approval. Jody Falvey, a retired Pensacola resident, had a stem cell procedure conducted at Andrews Institute on her knee in the fall of 2012.

Falvey, 67, tore the medial and lateral meniscus in her knee during a family visit to South Florida while brewing coffee in the morning. The sensation, she said, felt like a knife slicing through her joint.

Following a consultation with Anz, who described an available stem cell treatment known as bone marrow aspirate concentrate, Falvey chose to have the procedure done. The treatment utilized cells from her own body to repair the knee. The process, from procedure to recovery, spanned about two years.

Falvey said her knee does not feel like it ever underwent surgery. The fact that it helped prevent her from having to undergo a knee replacement made the operation even better.

I did not want metal in my body, she said. This was just one of the greatest alternatives I had heard of. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

Andrews Institute expands prep athletics care in region

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Andrews Institute to study stem cells' impact on knee - Pensacola News Journal

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WASHINGTON D.C: Scientists have developed a revolutionary 3D-bioprinted patch that could one day be used to repair damage to the human heart.

The patch can help heal scarred heart tissue after a heart attack. The discovery is a major step forward in treating patients with tissue damage after a heart attack.

The researchers from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Alabama-Birmingham used laser-based 3D-bioprinting techniques to incorporate stem cells derived from adult human heart cells on a matrix that began to grow and beat synchronously in a dish in the lab.

When the cell patch was placed on a mouse following a simulated heart attack, the researchers saw significant increase in functional capacity after just four weeks. Since the patch was made from cells and structural proteins native to the heart, it became part of the heart and absorbed into the body, requiring no further surgeries.

"This is a significant step forward in treating the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S.," said researcher Brenda Ogle. "We feel that we could scale this up to repair hearts of larger animals and possibly even humans within the next several years."

Ogle said that this research is different from previous research in that the patch is modelled after a digital, three-dimensional scan of the structural proteins of native heart tissue. The digital model is made into a physical structure by 3D printing with proteins native to the heart and further integrating cardiac cell types derived from stem cells. Only with 3D printing of this type can we achieve one micron resolution needed to mimic structures of native heart tissue.

"We were quite surprised by how well it worked given the complexity of the heart," Ogle noted. "We were encouraged to see that the cells had aligned in the scaffold and showed a continuous wave of electrical signal that moved across the patch."

Ogle said they are already beginning the next step to develop a larger patch that they would test on a pig heart, which is similar in size to a human heart.

The research study is published in Circulation Research, a journal published by the American Heart Association.

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Breakthrough in cardiac health: 3D-printed patch can help mend a 'broken' heart - Economic Times

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Breakthrough in cardiac health: 3D-printed patch can help mend a ‘broken’ heart – Economic Times | April 15th, 2017

Science Daily

'Neuron-reading' nanowires could accelerate development of drugs for neurological diseases Science Daily "We envision that this nanowire technology could be used on stem-cell-derived brain models to identify the most effective drugs for neurological diseases," said Anne Bang, director of cell biology at the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics at ... and more »

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'Neuron-reading' nanowires could accelerate development of drugs for neurological diseases - Science Daily

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Written by AZoNanoApr 11 2017

Iowa State University researchers, left to right, Metin Uz, Suprem Das, Surya Mallapragada and Jonathan Claussen are developing technologies to promote nerve regrowth. The monitor shows mesenchymal stem cells (the white) aligned along graphene circuits (the black). CREDIT: Photo by Christopher Gannon.

Scientists searching for the means to regenerate nerves might find it difficult to acquire the important tools needed for research. One such example is Schwann cells that form sheaths enclosing axons, which are tail-like portions of nerve cells that convey electrical impulses. In addition to promoting regeneration of the axons, the Schwann cells discharge substances, boosting the health of nerve cells.

To put it differently, the Schwann cells prove to be helpful to researchers working towards the regeneration of nerve cells, particularly peripheral nerve cells located outside the spinal cord and brain. However, the count of Schwann cells is too low to be of any use.

Scientists have been using noncontroversial, readily available mesenchymal stem cells that is, bone marrow stromal stem cells with the ability to form cartilage, bone, and fat cells by differentiating them into Schwann cells by means of a chemical process. Unfortunately, this process is costly and laborious.

The Iowa State University research team have been looking for a better way to transform the stem cells into Schwann-like cells, and have created a nanotechnology that employs inkjet printers for printing multi-layer graphene circuits. It also employs lasers to treat and enhance conductivity and the surface structure of the circuits.

The mesenchymal stem cells have been found to adhere and grow in a better manner on the rough, raised, and 3-D nanostructures of the treated circuit. When small doses of electricity of about 100 mV were applied for 10 minutes per day, for a time period of 15 days, the stem cells transformed into Schwann-like cells.

This discovery has made it to the front cover of Advanced Healthcare Materials, a scientific journal. The lead author of the study is Jonathan Claussen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University and an associate of the U.S. Department of Energys Ames Laboratory. The first authors of the study are Suprem Das, a postdoctoral research associate in mechanical engineering and an associate of the Ames Laboratory, and Metin Uz, a postdoctoral research associate in chemical and biological engineering.

The research has been funded by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, and Iowa States College of Engineering, including the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The research has also been supported by The Carol Vohs Johnson Chair in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Surya Mallapragada. She is a co-author of the study, an Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering, as well as an associate of the Ames Laboratory.

This technology could lead to a better way to differentiate stem cells. There is huge potential here.

Metin Uz

When compared to the standard chemical process with the ability of differentiating only 75% of the stem cells into Schwann-like cells, the highly effective electrical stimulation carried out in the new technique can differentiate 85%. In addition, the electrically differentiated cells generated a nerve growth factor of 80 ng/mm when compared with 55 ng/mm in the case of the chemically treated cells.

The research team believes the outcome might result in changes in the ways nerve injuries are cured inside the body.

These results help pave the way for in vivo peripheral nerve regeneration, where the flexible graphene electrodes could conform to the injury site and provide intimate electrical stimulation for nerve cell regrowth.

The research team

Various benefits of using electrical stimulation for transforming stem cells into Schwann-like cells are reported in the paper:

A graphene inkjet printing process, created in Claussens research lab, is an important part of making the process work. Flexible, inexpensive, and wearable electronics can be produced through the process by making appropriate use of the benefits of wonder-material graphene, namely high stability, high strength, biocompatibility, and higher electrical and heat conductivity.

The research team confronted one major challenge after printing the graphene electronic circuits, the circuits mandated further treatment to enhance the electrical conductivity, normally done using chemicals or high temperatures. Both of these methods can damage the flexible printing surfaces which include paper or plastic films.

Claussen and his colleagues overcame the challenge by developing a computer-controlled laser technology with the ability to selectively irradiate inkjet-printed graphene oxide. This step eliminates ink binders and converts the graphene oxide to graphene by physically connecting millions of tiny graphene flakes together. This improves the electrical conductivity by over a thousand times.

The cooperation between Claussens team of nanoengineers (who developed printed graphene technologies), and Mallapragadas team of chemical engineers (who investigated nerve regeneration), started as a consequence of informal conversations on campus.

This resulted in experimental efforts to grow stem cells on printed graphene and then to perform electrical stimulation experiments.

We knew this would be a really good platform for electrical stimulation. But we didnt know it would differentiate these cells.

Suprem Das

Since the process has been successful in differentiating the stem cells, the scientists believe that there may be further prospective applications to consider. For instance, in future, the technology could be applied to develop absorbable or dissolvable nerve regeneration materials. These could be surgically positioned inside a patients body without the need for subsequent surgery to remove the materials.

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Innovative Process for Differentiating Stem Cells into Schwann-Like Cells - AZoNano

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Science Daily

Turning skin cells into blood vessel cells while keeping them young Science Daily Other methods reprogram a cell so that it directly assumes a new identity, bypassing the stem-cell state. In the last few years, scientists have begun to explore another method, a middle way, that can turn back the clock on skin cells so that they lose ...

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Turning skin cells into blood vessel cells while keeping them young - Science Daily

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KEWANEE -- Miss You Can Do It believes she can do it again.

Abbey Curran, diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, founded the annual Miss You Can Do It pageant in 2004 for girls and young women with special needs.

She now facesa different type of challenge; searching for a bone-marrow match for her dad, Mike Curran, of Kewanee. Mr. Currant was diagnosed with leukemia and is receiving inpatient chemotherapy at the OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Ms. Currant is working with the Be the Match Registry seeking a bone-marrow match for her father. She also is planning two "drives" to find a match -- the first, 4-8 p.m. April 9 at Raelyns Pub & Eatery, 217 N. State St., Geneseo, and a secondm 2-7 p.m. April 15 at Cernos Bar & Grill, 213 W. 3rd St., Kewanee. Both will offer free refreshments.

Ms. Curran said the "Be the Match Registry is run by the National Marrow Donor Program to help facilitate bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants. The group coordinates national and international medical facilities in marrow transplantation.

Joining me in this effort -- by coming to the drive, helping to save lives -- is easy to do, Ms. Curran said. It will not cost participants a single penny. But all participants will get free food, cake and beer. All that is required for this first step in the process involves a cheek swab and filling out a bit of paperwork.

Participants must be 18 to 60 years old, in good health and willing to donate to any person, Ms. Curran said.The actual marrow donation usually happens through an automated process; in some cases it involves minor surgery under anesthesia at no cost to the donor.

Out of six siblings and myself, my father hasnt found a bone-marrow match, she said. I look at this as another challenge -- another impossible that I need to make possible.

When Ms. Curran learned neither she nor any of her fathers relatives were a bone marrow transplant match, she decided to not only help her father but others desperate to find bone-marrow matches. Determination is a natural trait for Ms. Curran.

My life has been full of challenges and I have taken pride in making the impossible possible, the unrealistic realistic, and I plan to do the same in finding a bone-marrow match for my Dad, she said. "I will find a match and I hope I get hundreds of people to attend these upcoming 'Be the Match events. I am preparing for them.

"I grew up the 'hog farmers daughter from Henry County, she said. I was also born with cerebral palsy. I have always had big dreams and set out to make the impossible possible.

"When I was told I couldnt and shouldnt be the Henry County Fair Queen, I made history by being the first and only woman with a disability to ever make it to Miss USA, as I won Miss Iowa USA in 2008.

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Bone Marrow Stem Cells Comments Off on Daughter seeks bone marrow match for her dad – Quad-Cities Online | April 9th, 2017

Suspended from a tree in the wilds of Tennessee, the remains of his hang-glider entangled in the branches above, his lower left leg pulverised and his chest badly bruised from his dramatic fall into the forest canopy, Alan Mackay-Sim felt hyper-alert from the electricity of adrenalin, the clarity of shock. Only the wind was audible, softly rustling the branches around him as he sucked in the forest air, perfumed with poplar and sweet-gum.

Knowing that the adrenalin coursing through his veins would soon give way to an agonising and possibly debilitating pain, the 28-year-old used these precious minutes to assess his predicament, to figure it out coolly like a man of science.

A broken leg, no doubt shattered in multiple places. Possibly hours before his fellow hang-gliding friends would be able to locate him; if they didn't reach him by nightfall, he could be dangling here until the next morning. Unfastening his harness and climbing down to the ground five metres below was not an option, at least, not without incurring further injury. To prevent blood from pooling and to save his leg, he quickly concluded, he'd have to carefully oh-so carefully free the hang-glider's stirrup bar and one of the ropes from his harness, create a splint for his injured left leg, secure it to his right leg and hoist up both limbs while hanging there like a gammy fruit bat.

Mackay-Sim had only arrived in the US a few weeks before, a post-doctoral researcher from the University of Sydney eager to extend his studies into the olfactory system specifically, what the nose tells the brain at the University of Philadelphia. But on that blustery October day back in 1979, when a freak wind gust whooshing around Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga sent a promising young Australian scientist nosediving into the forest, before a rescue team found himhanging in the tree just before sunset, both legs securely elevated, Mackay-Sim was set to gain some useful insights that would become valuable to him in his later life. Insights that would be peculiarly relevant to his work as a pioneering stem cell researcher specialising in the treatment of spinal cord injuries.

So badly broken was his leg that Mackay-Sim spent more than six months in a wheelchair, and many more months afterwards receiving intensive physiotherapy.

"It gave me some insight into what life's like in a wheelchair, and it stayed with me," says Mackay-Sim, settling into a chair in his office at the Institute for Drug Discovery at Griffith University, just down the corridor from the laboratory where he spent years toiling over petri dishes of nasal stem cells, in his life's mission to treat spinal injuries, hereditary spastic paraplegia and diseases like Parkinson's.

A photo of the late actor Christopher Reeve is pinned on a noticeboard behind him. "I met Christopher in 2003 when he came out for a conference; he was interested in our clinical trials," Mackay-Sim says, looking at the photo. "Then in the following year I spent some time at his home in New York, and we talked a lot about spinal cord injury repair, and his own personal story."

As Mackay-Sim explains, the higher up the spinal cord an injury is, the more severe the effects. "As we know, Christopher fell off a horse and became a full paraplegic on a respirator, but in fact he suffered only a small injury; the problem was that the bleed went straight into his spinal cord. It only takes a very small injury to stop transmission; you can have large injuries to the chest and not suffer long-term repercussions but here, in the neck, a small event can change your life."

Back in the late 1980s, after he started at Griffith University, Mackay-Sim became interested in a set of extraordinary busy-bee cells in the human nose called olfactory ensheathing cells nerve cells that regenerate every single day to recreate our sense of smell. If these wonder cells are continually regenerating, he kept asking himself, could they not be transplanted to another part of the body where cells don't regenerate, like the spinal cord?

Years of scientific slog followed until 2002, when Mackay-Sim was the first researcher in the world to remove cells from the nose of a patient paralysed in a car accident, grow them in a cell culture and then, with the help of surgeons at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, implant them in the same patient's spinal cord. "By the time Christopher died in 2006, we'd transferred stem cells from the nose into three patients and shown it was safe to do so," he says. "One of the patients recovered some sensation above the injury, which was hopeful, but one person does not make real scientific evidence."

For Mackay-Sim, the importance of scientific breakthroughs in the treatment of life-threatening illnesses is deeply personal. In 2014, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of leukaemia. As a result of the illness, which breaks down bones in an advanced form of osteoporosis, and the punishing series of treatments that followed his diagnosis, involving radiation, chemotherapy and stem cell therapy (albeit a very different form from the one the scientist was researching), Mackay-Sim lost nine centimetres in height and shed more than 15 kilograms of body weight. "I became extremely sick from the chemotherapy just prior to the bone marrow transplant," the 65-year-old recalls. "It was the worst experience of my life."

There was also the initial shock of the diagnosis, and grief for the loss of his health after a highly active life, from football and rowing in his teens to distance cycling, scuba diving and hang-gliding, which he took up while atuniversity. "Both my parents lived into their 80s and 90s and I'd been cycling up to 200 kilometres a week for decades, so I wasn't anticipating something like this."

Still, as a scientist he couldn't help but observe the trajectory of his illness with stricken fascination. "I had some good conversations with my oncologist," he smiles. "As a biologist examining my own biology, it did demystify lots of things. One minute I was a grieving patient, the next an interested scientist."

Above all, Mackay-Sim refuses to sentimentalise his battle with the illness and asks that I don't embroider it in this story by turning it into some kind of triumph of personal will power over disease. "My survival is determined by the vagaries of the particular cancer I've got," he says matter-of-factly. "Some people have nasty genetic diseases that mean they die earlier. For the moment, I feel very healthy."

Surely his extreme fitness at least helped him to survive the ravages of chemo? "I think being fit and active all my life has given me a higher quality of life after treatment," he acknowledges. "But one doctor put it to me that I probably would have sought out treatment earlier if I wasn't so fit, because I dismissed the symptoms as simple back pain from the cycling. It took two years after the chemo and radiation for the pain to go away. 2016 was a year of normality for me my back became stable enough for me to get on a road bike again."

The diagnosis added poignancy to the evening in Canberra in late January when Mackay-Sim, out of 3000- plus nominations, was crowned Australian of the Year. Sitting alongside him were his American-born wife of nearly 34 years, Lisa Peine, a retired primary school teacher, their 28-year-old daughter Matilda, a trainee psychiatrist, and 25-year-old son Callum, an engineer.

Mackay-Sim with wife Lisa Peine in North Queensland in 1983. Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mackay-Sim

Perhaps no Australian of the Year is better placed to recognise just how precious a year can be, and more determined to seize the moment to put science and innovation at the top of the national conversation. A former Queenslander of the Year, Mackay-Sim sees science as vital to our future national wellbeing, especially after the recent wake-up call in international school education rankings, which placed Australia behind Kazakhstan and Slovenia in maths and science.

Mackay-Sim agrees unequivocally with Michelle Simmons, professor of quantum physics at the University of NSW, who drew headlines recently when she declared that the "feminised" nature of Australia's high school physics curriculum (emphasising the sociology of science with essays and theory instead of rigorous lab experiments and mathematical problem-solving) had been an unmitigated failure. Introduced in the 1980s, the approach had resulted in a long, slow decline in standards.

"Scientific understanding comes from learning the processes; it can be hard work but is absolutely essential," Mackay-Sim insists. "The key to a good science education in schools is to get well-trained teachers." (Mackay-Sim has been deeply encouraged by some of the science teachers he's met since winning the award.)

The choice of Mackay-Sim the first scientist honoured as Australian of the Year since immunologist Ian Frazer in 2006 was met with near-universal applause by Australia's scientific community, who no doubt feel dispirited in this post-truth world of climate-change denial, cuts to the CSIRO and the growing view by government agencies that basic research isn't worth it.

"We need to invest in young scientists," Mackay-Sim declared in his acceptance speech, adding that the discovery of new medical treatments can reduce the strain on health budgets. "More than 10,000 Australians live with a spinal cord injury a new person is added to this tally every day." But politicians need to take a long-term view of the benefits of basic research, he tells me, "a view much longer than the political horizon".

The announcement also gave the image of the Australian of the Year awards a much-needed polish. The 2016 winner, Lieutenant-General David Morrison, drew criticism for charging up to $15,000 a pop forpublic speaking engagements, as well as grandstanding about sexism in the military despite his own handling of the army's "Jedi Council" sex scandal, in which demeaning sex videos of women were distributed among a group of soldiers. (It was revealed that Morrison's office knew of the scandal 11 months prior to the former Chief of Army releasing a now-famous condemnation on YouTube of those involved.)

Will Mackay-Sim accept speakers' fees? "I knew nothing about speakers' fees when I accepted the award," he says crisply. "I'm not pursuing money after all, I've spent my life doing public research."

Although he hasn't received any fees to date, Mackay-Sim insists that if they are offered, the funds will be donated to the Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Research Foundation, his charity of choice.

Mackay-Sim only had a day or so to bask in the glow of being named Australian of the Year before there was a claim his scientific achievements had beenoverstated in the application. A Polish scientist, Professor Pawel Tabakow, after being approached by an Australian journalist in Europe, declared that Mackay-Sim had nothing to do with the world-first surgery using olfactory stem cells that enabled a Polish paraplegic, Darek Fidyka, to walk again. "It is not our business who should be Australian of the Year," Tabakow told The Weekend Australian. "But it is our business when his work is being linked to the surgery of Fidyka. He has no link whatsoever."

The scientific hullaballoo arose from the submission to the Australia Day Council (ADC), which states that Mackay-Sim's research "helped play a central role in proving the safety of science that was a precursor to Dr Tabokow in Poland undertaking the first successful restoration of mobility in a quadriplegic man".

Although Mackay-Sim didn't write the submission to the ADC, doesn't know who did, and never claimed to be involved in Tabokow's work, an artificial straight line was drawn between the two scientists, especially when the word "precursor" was dropped from condensed versions of the ADC's quote in multiple news stories (we'll examine the fallout from the controversy a little later).

Padding amiably about his large, multi-room laboratory, past refrigerator-sized storage cabinets containing cell cultures, past white-coated scientists peering into microscopes, Mackay-Sim seems to be in his element, with every second person saying "Hi", "Hello", or "How are you?" If stem cells are indeedthe microscopic building blocks of the world, this is the tiny universe the scientist feels most comfortable in. But it's a laboratory that now has to hum along without him Mackay-Sim retired late last year, his duties now limited to popping into the university once a week as an emeritus professor.

Later in the day, Professor George D. Mellick, head of Clinical Neurosciences at Griffith, tells me that Mackay-Sim has always set aside time to mentor younger scientists, and to explain sometimes hideously complicated science to a lay audience, but would be the last person to crow about his own scientific achievements.

"One of the things that isn't highlighted very much about Alan's work is his research into Parkinson's. We've been able to learn a lot about Parkinson's by studying cells from people with the disease, and the information coming out of this research will hopefully lead to better treatments."

Back in his office, Mackay-Sim gives me a quick rundown, 101-style, on the human nose. No, the human sense of smell doesn't necessarily decline with age, unless illness or disease set in, and it is astonishingly adept at distinguishing hundreds of thousands of different odours. Yes, women do have a superior sense of smell to men, but the difference is surprisingly only slight. Yes, the first symptom of Parkinson's, before the typical tremors set in, is a reduced sense of smell, as it is with those sufferers who will go on to develop dementia. And yes paws down dogs do have a vastly more powerful sense of smell than humans, although it's impossible to quantify by exactly how much (Mackay-Sim has been known to hide from his spoodle Henry, to measure how long it takes for the dog to find him).

As he relays all this, Mackay-Sim's eyes twinkle and a smile lights up his face: it's easy to see how he'd be the perfect academic for Griffith to call on to schmooze a government minister or potential philanthropist and secure desperately sought-after funding. I ask him about his trademark moustache, which he's had since the early 1990s, when he shaved off a beard. "My wife wouldn't recognise me without it," he jokes. "She says that a small mammal could roost beneath my mouth."

Mackay-Sim, whose double-barrelled surname comes from his paternal grandfather, grew up in middle-class Roseville, on Sydney's leafy North Shore, the third of four brothers. His mother Lois was a nurse during World War II and later a full-time mum while his father Malcolm ran a hardware importing and distributing business, Macsim Distributors (now Macsim Fasteners, owned by Alan's eldest brother, Fraser). At North Sydney Boys' High he was "the opposite of a shit-stirrer. I was vice captain, head of the cadets, played football, was in the rowing team, had a shot at athletics, sang in the choir I did it all."

With wife, Lisa Peine, in Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2007. Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mackay-Sim

After graduating with honours in science from Macquarie University, Mackay-Sim picked up tutoring work in the department of physiology at the University of Sydney, where he completed a PhD on the brain's visual system. Two academic stints in the US followed, first at the University of Pennsylvania from 1979 until 1981, followed by two years at the University of Wyoming, during which time he met his wife Lisa, then living in northern Colorado.

The pair married in 1984, by which time Mackay-Sim had been offered a research role in the department of physiology at the University of Adelaide. He started at Griffith University in 1987, where his research concentrated on the biology of nasal cells.

At the height of the heated moral debate over the use of embryonic stem cells whether the therapeutic potential of stem cells could justify destroying human embryos to extract them Mackay-Sim met Pope Benedict XVI at a Vatican conference in 2005. The Pope congratulated him on his exclusive use of adult stem cells.

"I wasn't avoiding embryonic stem cells for religious reasons," Mackay-Sim explains. "It just so happenedthat I was working with adult stem cells at the time and the conference was looking at alternatives to using embryonic stem cells. But it was a scientific conference and I was impressed with its calibre; the only difference was that men in purple robes were sitting at the back asking questions."

Later in the same trip, Mackay-Sim was invited, along with a host of others, to the Apostolic Palace at Castel Gandolfo the Vatican summer palace. "You feel the history of the Roman Catholic Church, with the Pope coming in with his cardinals and the Swiss Guards," he says. "I'm not a believer, but it was a very powerful experience."

In 2006, the debate over embryonic stem cells virtually vanished when scientist Shinya Yamanaka from Japan's Kyoto University stunned the world by proving that stem cells needn't come from human embryos adult cells can be reprogrammed to act like stem cells, to be returned to an embryo-like state (Yamanaka's discovery won him the Nobel Prize in 2012). "Yamanaka worked out how to genetically engineer any cells so that they had the properties of embryonic stem cells," says Mackay-Sim, who nonetheless continued to focus on adult stem cells only.

Mackay-Sim accomplished his own world first in 2002 when, with the assistance of doctors at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, he transplanted olfactory stem cells into the spinal cord of a man crippled in a car accident. The procedure was repeated with two other paraplegic patients at the same hospital and the study wrapped up in 2007.

While the procedures didn't result in any of the patients regaining useful movement in their legs, the results of Mackay-Sim's clinical trials, published in 2005 and 2008, paved the way for further development of olfactory stem cell transplantation.

One researcher who followed Mackay-Sim's trials closely was Geoffrey Raisman from University College London, who visited the Australian team shortly after the first operation in Brisbane to study their work. Raisman later led the British team who worked with Polish surgeon Tabakow on Darek Fidyka in 2012.

Tabakow deployed 100 separate micro-injections of olfactory sheathing cells above and below Fidyka's spinal injury, with the hope these cells would provide a skeleton for nerve fibres to grow and reconnect. A former volunteer firefighter, Fidyka had become paralysed in 2010 after a severe knife attack by the jealous ex-husband of his girlfriend. The repeated stab wounds to Fidyka's back severed his spinal cord, paralysing from the waistdown. (Fidyka's attacker, a fellow firefighter, committed suicide shortly afterwards.)

There's no doubt Tabakow's work was a major advance on Mackay-Sim's research. Tabakow's strategy was to extract ensheathing cells specifically from the olfactory bulbs in Fidyka's nose, grow them in a culture, while also extracting nerve cells from his ankle in a multi-pronged attempt at spinal cord reconstruction. After a series of operations, Fidyka can walk with the assistance of a frame, has regained some bladder control and sexual function, and can ride a tricycle.

Raisman described their new stem cell procedure as "more impressive than man walking on the moon", but it will have be tested on other paraplegics, including those with more severe injuries than Fidyka's, such as car accident victims who have had more of their spinal cord damaged, before it can be declared a reliable method of restoring mobility. As impressive as Tabakow's achievement is, it has still only worked on one patient.

Nobody, however, disputes Mackay-Sim's immense contribution to stem cell transplantation; his work is unimpeachable. If nothing else, he was at the forefront of the science showing that restoring the ability to walk to paraplegics is no longer science fiction. "What I've always said is that we did the first phase of clinicaltrials with olfactory stem cells, and the aim of those trials was to show they were safe," says Mackay-Sim. "That was the first important step."

Mackay-Sim wrote to Tabakow shortly after the controversy blew up, explaining that he didn't write the submission to the Australia Day Council, and was in no way claiming credit for Fidyka's remarkable recovery. "He wrote back a very nice email," says Mackay-Sim. "I believe I've given credit to other scientists in every interview I've given to journalists. I feel comfortable in my behaviour and ethics."

With Prime Minister Turnbull in January this year. Photo: Elesa Kurtz

Mackay-Sim can remember the day when he felt something was wrong terribly wrong. He'd been suffering back pain for months, but dismissed it as old age, or strain from bending over on his bicycle on long rides, and stocked up his pantry with painkillers. "I was in Colorado with Lisa visiting her family, and the pain became so bad I couldn't walk very far. I found the pain eased when I got on my bicycle. I flew home a week before she did; the plane trip back was absolute hell."

What followed was a swift diagnostic journey from his GP to specialists at Brisbane's Wesley Hospital, resulting in a devastating diagnosis. "They suspected something cancerous quite quickly. I didn't realise how ill I was; by this stage, my kidneys weren't coping at all with the antibodies released from my white blood cells, which were going berserk trying to fight the disease. I was at risk of kidney failure and my bones were becoming very fragile. I started therapy almost immediately, in June 2014. Then began the cycles of chemotherapy and stem cell treatment in December."

Since the beginning of last year, however, Mackay-Sim's health has dramatically improved, and even though he's retired to his beachside home in Currimundi on the Sunshine Coast, he is still active in university affairs. He concedes that his health may prevent him from being as active as Rosie Batty, perhaps our most vigorous Australian of the Year to date. But he's already spoken at functions in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, and will be attending the national March for Science on April 22, which coincides with Earth Day. He moves with the speed and fluidity of a man 10 or 15 years younger.

"I feel very healthy, very energised at the moment," says Mackay-Sim, who is planning a bicycle ride in Italy's Dolomites in July with a couple of mates. (Last year he and his wife went on the Great Victorian Bike Ride, a seven-day ride averaging 85 kilometres a day.)

"I do need to be selective with the number of invitations around Australian of the Year," he concedes, "but I'll do everything I can. After all, what more exciting time could you have to talk about science?"

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Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim on the advantage of being 'an interested scientist' - The Age

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Australian of the Year Alan Mackay-Sim on the advantage of being ‘an interested scientist’ – The Age | April 8th, 2017

For about half a decade, its been something of an open secret in baseball that playerspitchers especiallyregularly undergo stem-cell therapy to stave off surgeries and lost playing time. Its a cutting-edge medical procedure, done by everyone from high-school standouts to major-league all-stars. Its rarely discussed by players, or by their coaches, parents, doctors, or employers.

So when the Los Angeles Angels went public in 2016 with the news that first Andrew Heaney and then Garrett Richards were undergoing stem-cell therapy for torn ulnar collateral ligaments (UCLs), it was both anticlimactic and a revelation. For the first time, baseball pitchers and their employers were openly admitting trying this novel procedure that, while fairly well-proven anecdotally, has yet to be validated by any well-designed scientific study.

By now, that so-called Tommy John surgery for a torn or damaged UCL has become a rite of passage for the top-flight professional baseball pitcher is a cliche of sports punditry. Every young arm that can fold and then unfold itself into tortuous patterns that facilitate throwing baseballs at 95 miles per hour or faster is bound for the knife, once those upper body contortions inevitably tears the tissue on the inside of their elbows connecting their upper and lower arms, the UCL.

The first Tommy John surgery (or more properly, UCL reconstruction) was performed in 1974 by the orthopedic surgeon Frank Jobe, then the team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers, on the eponymous pitcher. It was a great success; Tommy John came back to pitch 14 more years in the pros, racking up 164 wins with four different teams.

TJ surgery is fairly straightforward: the connective tissue that makes up the UCL is either replaced with a tendon taken from elsewhere in the patients own body or from the donated tissue of a cadaver.

Nevertheless through the mid-1970s and into the 80s, TJ was something of a rarity; just a handful of baseball players underwent that particular knife. In the 1990s the numbers started to tick up, and then in the 2000s, they exploded. From 1995 to 2005, there was an average of 28 TJ surgeries per year across all levels of pro baseball; from 2005 to 2015, there was an average of 84 TJ surgeries per year.

Then something strange happened. In 2016, the total number of TJ surgeries performed dropped to 90, from 127 the year before, a 30% decline. Only one other year in Tommy John history, 2008, saw such a precipitous drop from the previous year. By 2009, TJ numbers were back to 2007 levels; obviously it remains to be seen whether 2017 will look more like 2015 or more like last year. But the data suggest that if TJ surgery numbers are in fact starting to trend downward, it might have something to do with the rise of stem-cell therapy.

What makes stem cells unique is that they are whats called undifferentiated; they can become other specialized cells depending on the bodys need at the time. There are two types of human stem cells, embryonic and adult. Embryonic stem cells come from a very early-stage embryo; these are what you likely think of when you hear the term stem cellstheyre at the center of one of most exciting fields of medical science research today. Embryonic stem cells are now used or are being studied for a shockingly wide range of applications, from Alzheimers and autism to vision impairment and infertility. However, thanks to the religious right-driven opposition to the harvesting, study, and use of embryonic stem cells, theyve been mired in controversy in the US.

On the other hand, the use of adult stem cellswhich can be harvested from bone marrow, fat, or blood of any person of any age (the name is a bit misleading)is widely accepted by both the medical community and politicians. They have less range, so to speak, than embryonic stem cells; they are primarily to repair and replace damaged tissue in the area they are found. That makes them just about perfect for repairing a torn UCL.

The first pro baseball player known to have undergone stem-cell therapy for a UCL weakness was Bartolo Colonand he was basically forced into talking about it. Following a long run of success culminating with a Cy Young Award season in 2005, Colon had four frustrating years racked with injury and ended up unsigned after 2009. He took a year off to recuperate and in spring of 2011, he was back, signed with the New York Yankees and feeling good. Serge Kovaleski, an investigative reporter with the New York Times, started digging into how Colon had made his comeback, and uncovered the name of Joseph Purita, an orthopedic surgeon and stem-cell therapy pioneer.

As Purita tells it, there was nothing illegal or nefarious about the work hed done on Colon; there was just never a plan to broadcast it, either. Then, he recalls, the Times called me up and said were going to write a story whether or not. So, Purita offered details. In April 2010, he told the paper, a team of Dominican doctors used stem-cell therapy to help repair Colons ligament damage and torn rotator cuff.

Colons recovery was a resounding success. Hes been an all-star twice, is the current active leader in major league wins, and, at age 44, is signed to a $12.5 million contract to be the Atlanta Braves number two starter for the 2017 season.

I cant give names but there are some professionalsBut instead of thrusting stem-cell therapy into the mainstream, the Colon incident forced it to stay underground. The treatment was not well understood at that point, and the circumstancesthat it was done offshore, that it was unearthed by investigative reporting, and that, in 2012, Colon was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone useclouded public opinion on it. Many were convinced Colon had gotten performance-enhancing drugs in the Dominican Republic. Purita denies this vociferously, and MLB inquiries back him up.

The upshot is that every doctor I spoke to who studies and performs stem-cell therapy for torn-ligament repair says some version of the same thing: I cant give names but there are some professionals who have come in for treatment, says Joshua Dines, an orthopedic surgeon at New Yorks Hospital for Special Surgery, and an assistant team physician for the New York Mets.

Purita says that since Colon, hes worked with some players that had team approvaland some just come on their own, but none wanted to go public about the procedure.

If use of your arm is mostly limited to spreadsheet jockeying and lifting forkfuls of pasta or salad from plate to maw, TJ is no big dealin that case, youre ready to go back to work in six weeks. But if you throw a ball at top speed past another pro athlete for a living, youre going to be out of commission for 18 months or more as you regain strength in your money arm.

And money is the (post) operative word. In 2016 alone, MLB teams lost nearly $60 million in player value because they had to fulfill dozens of contracts of players recovering from Tommy John. Thats nearly enough to field an entire pro teamdefinitely enough to roster a top-of-league pitching staff. And that $60 million doesnt come close to accounting for the losses suffered by players who had to undergo the knife during the last year of a contract, and found themselves released by their previous teams with no new offers on the table while they recovered.

There was never going to be a way to prevent the need for Tommy John surgeries. Baseball players throw far too hard, with far more breaking pitches, starting at far too young an age, to realistically stop UCLs from tearing (though all sports medicine experts do now warn coaches and parents to keep kids and teens at low pitch counts). The alternative was always going to be something that could cure ligament tearsbut better than TJ surgery, with a faster recovery time.

Everything weve seen in the past decade or so suggests stem-cell therapy is exactly that. At this point, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are common first-line defenses against UCL injuries. The procedure entails harvesting PRP from the player and injecting it into the injured part of the body. PRP is dense with proteins specialized for injury repair.

You can think of these injections as a precursor to stem-cell therapy; both are considered biologic treatments and entail wielding the bodys own weapons against injury. Many of the doctors now doing stem-cell therapy started off with PRP procedures. When baseball players have a torn ligament, they typically try PRP first. If that fails, its Tommy John time.

Everyone in the field says that at this point PRP is last decades technologyExcept, everyone in the field says that at this point PRP is last decades technology, more than ready to be replaced by stem-cell therapy, which does much the same thing but better. Adult stem cells essentially are there for the very purpose of tissue repair. Why not take them from a part of the body thats all good, and send them to a region where reinforcements are desperately needed?

Dines says that in his own practice, hes been able to cut down the need for Tommy John surgery by about a third, thanks to his reliance on stem-cell therapy. He doesnt believe that the procedure will lower the number of players that have to have TJ, but it will limit the number of overall TJ surgeriesbecause at this point, many pitchers have to get the surgery twice in their career. Dines says stem-cell therapy can get 15- or 16-year-old pitchers through their first partial tear. They may still need to get a full TJ surgery by age 24, but avoiding that first one is still a huge victory. (A growing number of middle-age first-time TJ patients could also explain the overall drop in Tommy John surgeries.)

Purita is even more optimistic. While most orthopedic surgeons say that, right now, stem-cell therapy is effective on partial, but not full, ligament tears, Purita is confident his version can handle any UCL. He sent Quartz a photo showing a patientan MLB pitcher who wishes to remain anonymous, Purita sayswho had a full UCL tear in November 2011 and, after receiving stem-cell therapy at Puritas clinic, made a full recovery by February 2013.

You never say something replaces something else entirely, Purita says. Stem-cell therapy is not going to replace every case [of Tommy John], but it could probably replace the majority of cases.

Talk to anyone who knows the field and theyll rattle off the same reasons why stem-cell therapy for UCL tears isnt already the standard of care: One reason is that, relative to the population, the number of UCL tear patients is extremely small, which means theres only a tiny pool from which to draw potential study participants. Two, a trial for a new medical treatment is typically only considered well-designed if the subjects are blindthat is, they dont know if they are getting the real treatment or a placebo. But what kind of team or player is going to risk a million-dollar arm on a properly designed study where theres a 50% chance that the injury gets a placebo?

Thats not to say that this is some sort of back-alley procedure. Its performed by some of the most prestigious orthopedic surgeons and medical research centers in the US, and the US Food and Drug Administration approves its use: US doctors are allowed to harvest a persons stem cells and use those cells to treat that same person, as long as you dont manipulate (e.g. genetically modify) the cells.

Someone making $20 million a year is not going to do something he hasnt checked out wellThe lack of literature on the procedure hasnt exactly inspired the confidence of players and teams to go public with their decision to pursue it; nor does the fact that the procedure for years had, as Dines puts it, a bad rap[it] would get lumped in with things that were illegal. There was this specter of cheating. But Dines, and others, say thats changing.

The needle is moving towards this being a valid way of treating things, says Purita. People are starting to recognize that someone making [or risking] $20 million a year is not going to do something he hasnt checked out well.

Amadeus Mason, a sports medicine and biologics expert at Emory University, compares stem-cell therapy today to Tommy John in the 1980s. It was, Okay, were going to try this and see, says Mason, who trained with orthopedic surgeon James Andrews. (Andrews is the Michael Jordan of ligament repairhes saved the arms and careers of some of the greatest pitchers in major league baseball history.) There wasnt a big fanfare going in when players started with Tommy John surgeries, Mason says, but when players came back to pitch [there] was. Same thing here.

Mason thinks stem-cell therapy hasnt quite reached the inflection point, but it is near. Here, too, he sees a comparison with Tommy John: It took a while for them to perfect the procedure so that more and more doctors could do the surgery and reproduce the results well.

Right now, Mason says, there is a relatively small handful of doctors who can do stem-cell therapy for UCL tears, but that list is growing rapidly. For example, the annual conference of the Orthobiologic Institutea professional organization for regenerative medicine researchers and practitionersstarted in 2009 with 20 or so doctors; last years event had nearly 1,000.

Some players can throw faster after they have the surgeryThe Angels didnt want to talk to me about why they decided to go public with Heaney and Richards stem-cell therapies. Perhaps thats because Heaneys, on May 2, 2016, was unsuccessful. The 25-year-old former first-round draft pick underwent Tommy John surgery in July of that year after failing to regain strength in his left arm. Hell miss the entire 2017 season, setting back a promising young career.

Richards had his stem-cell procedure just 14 days after Heaney. So far, it seems to have worked. He didnt return to pitch in 2016, but in spring training this year, he was throwing nearly 100 miles per hour. Probably the Angels best starting pitcher, Richards will take the mound on April 5, and all eyes will be on his right throwing armand on his face, to see if it is registering any pain.

If Richards stays healthy this yearand next year, and the year after thathe could become something like the 21st-century Tommy John. Every team will have a stem-cell therapy expert on its medical staff, or at least one on speed dial. Careers will be saved, and so will millions of dollars.

But wider use of stem-cell therapy also will force the MLB to confront an interesting potential side effect of the procedure. Some players can throw faster after they have the surgery, says Purita. By definition, its making the performance better. Right now, major league baseball does not include stem-cell therapy in its list of banned performance enhancers (pdf). But what happens when a baseball player, perhaps a fringe pitching prospect in the low minors, feels some elbow pain one day and gets an MRI, and is diagnosed with nothingbut decides to get stem-cell therapy anyway, since it could give him an extra four miles per hour on his fastball?

The MLB will have a decision to make: To accept potential competitive imbalances to save young arms, or to seek to preserve a level playing field (or even just the fiction of one) at the cost of some of the games best players. The question is all but inevitable.

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Stem-cell therapy is poised to disrupt the Tommy John epidemic in baseball - Quartz

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Newswise Launched in 2014 with the initial phase I study, this first-in-human clinical trial is evaluating the safety of neural stem cell transplantation in patients with chronic spinal cord injuries. The trial is a collaboration between researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine, the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health and Neuralstem, a Maryland-based biotechnology company.

The trial has been expanded to add four more qualifying participants with chronic cervical injuries involving C5-C7 vertebrae. Due to the intensive follow-up schedule, participants should consider their geographical distance from San Diego. Living within a 500-mile radius of San Diego is recommended. The primary objective is to determine the safety and toxicity of treatment, which involves a surgical intervention with six stem cell injections and a follow-up period of 60 months. Researchers will be using a line of human stem cells approved by the FDA for human trials in patients with chronic traumatic spinal injuries. The stem cells have previously been tested for safety in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The ultimate goal is development of an effective treatment for paralyzing spinal cord injuries, said Joseph Ciacci, MD, principal investigator and neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health. The immediate goal is to determine whether injecting these neural stem cells into the spines of patients with injuries is safe.

For more information on the trial or participation, contact Ciaccis research office at nksidhu@ucsd.edu or 619-471-3698.

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First-in-Human Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Spinal Injury Expands - Newswise (press release)

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Albany, NY (SBWIRE) 04/04/2017 Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Overview

Also called regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy encourages the reparative response of damaged, diseased, or dysfunctional tissue via the use of stem cells and their derivatives. Replacing the practice of organ transplantations, stem cell therapies have eliminated the dependence on availability of donors. Bone marrow transplant is perhaps the most commonly employed stem cell therapy.

Osteoarthritis, cerebral palsy, heart failure, multiple sclerosis and even hearing loss could be treated using stem cell therapies. Doctors have successfully performed stem cell transplants that significantly aid patients fight cancers such as leukemia and other blood-related diseases.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Key Trends

The key factors influencing the growth of the global stem cell therapy market are increasing funds in the development of new stem lines, the advent of advanced genomic procedures used in stem cell analysis, and greater emphasis on human embryonic stem cells. As the traditional organ transplantations are associated with limitations such as infection, rejection, and immunosuppression along with high reliance on organ donors, the demand for stem cell therapy is likely to soar. The growing deployment of stem cells in the treatment of wounds and damaged skin, scarring, and grafts is another prominent catalyst of the market.

On the contrary, inadequate infrastructural facilities coupled with ethical issues related to embryonic stem cells might impede the growth of the market. However, the ongoing research for the manipulation of stem cells from cord blood cells, bone marrow, and skin for the treatment of ailments including cardiovascular and diabetes will open up new doors for the advancement of the market.

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Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Market Potential

A number of new studies, research projects, and development of novel therapies have come forth in the global market for stem cell therapy. Several of these treatments are in the pipeline, while many others have received approvals by regulatory bodies.

In March 2017, Belgian biotech company TiGenix announced that its cardiac stem cell therapy, AlloCSC-01 has successfully reached its phase I/II with positive results. Subsequently, it has been approved by the U.S. FDA. If this therapy is well- received by the market, nearly 1.9 million AMI patients could be treated through this stem cell therapy.

Another significant development is the granting of a patent to Israel-based Kadimastem Ltd. for its novel stem-cell based technology to be used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other similar conditions of the nervous system. The companys technology used for producing supporting cells in the central nervous system, taken from human stem cells such as myelin-producing cells is also covered in the patent.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Regional Outlook

The global market for stem cell therapy can be segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. North America emerged as the leading regional market, triggered by the rising incidence of chronic health conditions and government support. Europe also displays significant growth potential, as the benefits of this therapy are increasingly acknowledged.

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Asia Pacific is slated for maximum growth, thanks to the massive patient pool, bulk of investments in stem cell therapy projects, and the increasing recognition of growth opportunities in countries such as China, Japan, and India by the leading market players.

Global Stem Cell Therapy Market: Competitive Analysis

Several firms are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, and partnerships, apart from product development with a view to attain a strong foothold in the global market for stem cell therapy.

Some of the major companies operating in the global market for stem cell therapy are RTI Surgical, Inc., MEDIPOST Co., Ltd., Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., Pharmicell Co., Ltd., Anterogen Co., Ltd., JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Holostem Terapie Avanzate S.r.l.

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Stem Cell Therapy Market Detailed Study Analysis and Forecast by 2025 - MilTech

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cell Therapy Market Detailed Study Analysis and Forecast by 2025 – MilTech | April 4th, 2017

Early efforts to harness the potential of stem cells for treating disease were largely focused on regeneration and the ability to repair tissues in the body through cell therapies. However, as technologies have advanced, the focus is shifting to using stem cells in drug discovery applications, such as compound screening, toxicity testing, target identification, and disease modelling. Professor Christine Mummery, from the University of Leiden tells us more and explains why stem cells are particularly suited to these applications.

Why use stem cells?

What is it that makes stem cells such an attractive option for drug discovery studies? One of the main reasons is that they make a much better model of human disease and drug reactions than animal models. As Professor Christine Mummery explains, many commonly used animal models such as mice do not accurately reflect some of the workings of cells and processes in the human body, having different immune systems and characteristics, such as heart rate, for example. This can result in problems with drugs falling down in clinical trials after showing promising results in earlier animal studies.

Using more relevant models provides not only financial savings by highlighting issues earlier in the drug discovery pipeline, but also helps efforts to reduce the number of animals used in research.

Stem cells in toxicity testing

A vital part of determining a drugs safety is assessing its cardiac toxicity. This refers to the side effects a drug can have on the functioning of the heart, such as causing arrhythmias and sudden death. As well as ensuring the safety of a drug, however, there is also a need to not unduly constrain drug development. Improvements in assay design and the implementation of the Comprehensive in Vitro Proarrhythmia Assays (CiPA) are helping to find a balance in this area.

Professor Christine Mummery tells us more about the problem of cardiotoxicity and how stem cell models and CiPA can help.

Stem cells can also play a role in testing the systemic toxicity of drugs. As Dr Glyn Stacey from NIBSC explains, pluripotent stem cell lines are increasingly being used to develop new assays that enable earlier identification of drugs that can have chronic effects on the body.

Endogenous activation of stem cells A novel and promising area of currently developing research is the ability to drive regeneration endogenously using small molecules. As Professor Angela Russell from the University of Oxford describes in the following video, we might not need to rely on using stem cells themselves, but rather small molecule therapeutics that can promote repair in damaged tissues. Circumventing the need for cells could have huge benefits for both the patient and drug developers.

What are some of the hurdles?

Stem cells certainly provide numerous opportunities to accelerate the drug discovery field, but challenges do remain.

A fundamental issue faced by all researchers in this field is ensuring the quality of the cells used. As Dr Glyn Stacey explains, a good level of quality control needs to be maintained throughout, to ensure that cells have not been contaminated or mixed up with another cell line.

Understanding signalling pathways and knowing which growth factors to add to push cells to develop into progenitor cells can also present challenges to researchers developing stem cell based screening assays. Producing sufficient numbers of relevant cell types to conduct a screen is another problem commonly faced.

The final hurdle is translation to the clinic, which relies on proving the safety of a treatment, and ensuring that it does not give rise to secondary conditions. In the case of Professor Angela Russells work, this involves taking careful steps to select compounds that act through correct pathways that wont increase the risk of cancer developing.

What does the future hold?

The roles that stem cells play in the drug discovery process are likely to continue to increase, as developments in technology enable the creation of a wider range of cells and assays. A move towards using cells with greater maturity and models that incorporate a combination of different cell types, enabling the study of interactions between cells is on the horizon. These combinations of cells will teach us a lot about drug discovery and disease, says Professor Christine Mummery.

All interviews from Stem Cells in Drug Discovery 2017 can be found here.

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Stem Cells in Drug Discovery - Technology Networks

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