Patients dealing with blood and immune disorders, especially those in the most advanced stages, often have no choice but to undergo bone marrow transplants. Ironically, even if the treatment can be life-saving, it would only work when the bone marrow cells of the recipients are completely eliminated using drugs and radiation. And this could cause serious negative side effects such as organ damage, cataracts, infertility, new cancers, and even death.

Thanks to the work of engineers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), that kind of bone marrow transplant may soon be rendered obsolete. Rather than using a live bone marrow from a compatible donor or from the patients themselves, a synthetic bone implant will instead be used and such will not require the use of drugs that can cause all those harmful side effects.

Bone marrow is the flexible tissue inside the bones that is responsible for producing red blood cells from stem cells. If, for some reason, the bone marrow fails to do its job, the result can either be severe anemia or an impaired immune system. Whichever of these conditions arise, the most effective treatment is typically a bone marrow transplant.

To reduce the undesirable side effects caused by traditional bone marrow transplants, the UCSD team of bioengineers led by Shyni Varghese have developed a synthetic bone implant with a practical marrow that can produce its own blood cells. The implant is divided into two sections, both of which are engineered from a hydrogel matrix. The exterior layer containing calcium phosphate minerals functions as a bone, while the interior layer contains donor stem cells for bone marrow growth. The exterior layer works together with the hosts cells to assist in bone building, merging the implant with the natural structure of the body.

According to the team, they have tested their engineered implant in mice, and the tests proved successful. Specifically, they implanted the synthetic bone under the skin of mice, some of which had functional bone marrow, and some of which had defective bone marrow due to radiation.

Within a four-week observation period, the implant developed bone-like structures that didnt only have blood vessels, but also marrow that actually produced red blood cells. And after six months, the synthetic implants and the bloodstream of the mice showed a mix of blood cells from both the donor and the host. This shows that the implants can function as natural bones, with the blood cells produced by the synthetic implant naturally circulating within the hosts bloodstream without being rejected.

As promising as those results are, however, there is no guarantee that the technique will be as effective in humans. Further study will be required before it can be accepted and approved by the FDA.

Theres also the matter of the treatment only being effective on patients with non-malignant bone marrow disorders. The implant cannot do anything to stop or prevent cancerous mutation from spreading, which means when it comes to cancer patients, undergoing radiation therapy will still be required to kill off their cancer cells, before a bone marrow transplant can work.

Nevertheless, this is still considered a step forward and an exciting development, particularly for individuals suffering from blood disorders. Not only will the treatment ease their pain and distress because theyll be free of their disease; it will also keep them from suffering negative side effects.

The research was recently published in the journal PNAS.

More here:
New Discovery Could Soon Replace The Painful Bone Marrow Transplant - Wall Street Pit

Neuralstem Cell Therapy:

Different regions of the brain and spinal cord house different, specialized cells. Neuralstem's technology enables the isolation and expansion of human neural stem cells from each of these regions of the developing central nervous system (CNS) in virtually unlimited numbers from a single donated tissue.

The goal of cell therapy is to replace and/or repair dead or diseased cells. Unlike other stem cell technologies, Neuralstem is growing regionally specific cells that are already suited to the task prescribed to them once transplanted into the CNS. In spinal cord indications, for instance, the company will be using human NSI-566 spinal cord stem cells only. Additionally, once inside the body, Neuralstem cells also do not become any cell other than that to which they are fated.

There are two primary ways that these cells can provide therapeutic effects. Create: The transplanted cells may help create new circuitry Express: The transplanted cells may express factors that protect existing cells

We believe that Neuralstem's cells do both.

In preclinical work conducted at major research centers across the U.S., Neuralstem cells integrated and made synaptic contact with the host. The cells also expressed one or more growth factors. These are special chemicals that the CNS uses to operate and thrive. Many of these growth factors are protective of cells. View published papers here: 1, 2, 3.

Neuralstems transplanted cells survive in patients and integrate into the host tissue, creating new circuitry and expressing growth factors. This dual function is important. In spinal cord injury, for instance, the company hopes to create circuitry that will help signals from the brain get to where they need to go. In many indications, the goal is to slow down or halt the degeneration of cells caused by disease, or by injury, by expressing neuroprotective growth factors into the system.

A vital component to the Neuralstem cell therapy platform is the delivery of the cells directly into the gray matter of the spinal cord, where they can protect and integrate with the patient's spinal cord neurons.

Neuralstem's proprietary Spinal Cord Delivery Platform and Floating Cannula were designed specifically by Neuralstem's ALS trial neurosurgeon, Nicholas M. Boulis, MD, for the world's first intraspinal delivery of stem cells. The safety of the device was first reported in data presented at the American Association of Neurologists' 2011 Annual Meeting, and its safety has since been repeatedly validated in the companys completed two ALS clinical studies, in a total of thirty patients, which met primary safety endpoints. In addition to ALS, NSI-566 is also in a Phase I trial in chronic spinal cord injury at UC San Diego School of Medicine. You can view this breakthrough medical device in surgery here.

The Spinal Cord Delivery Platform and Floating Cannula will be utilized to deliver Neuralstem cells in the spinal cord safely and effectively for myriad diseases and injuries. Expected to be the standard in the industry and research community for intraspinal procedures, Neuralstem is licensing the breakthrough cell therapy device to industry and academia.

Delivery of neural stem cells into the brain will be accomplished using well-established stereotactic injection procedures. NSI-566 is in clinical development to treat ischemic stroke utilizing one-time treatments of these intracerebral injections to safely transplant cells near the stroke lesions of ischemic stroke patients.

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Repairing and Replacing Damaged Cells - Neuralstem

This month is the annual ExplorAsian festival, which celebrates Asian heritage in Metro Vancouver. It features a large number of events from lectures to arts and entertainment.

One of the events held Saturday, May 13, at Metrotown in Burnaby is a little bit different. Held in partnership with Canadian Blood Services, its an outreach to the Asian community and those from multi-ethnic or biracial backgrounds to consider becoming a stem cell donor. Matching blood types is relatively easy matching stem cell and bone marrow donors to patients in need is quite hard, especially for those from diverse backgrounds. In fact the more diverse we become in B.C., the more critical our need for diverse donors.

I talked to the organizers of the Thanks Mom Give Life 2017 campaign this week.

You can find out more information about stem cell and blood donation at Canadian Blood Services.

For more information on craft beer, you can find The Growler here.

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Lotusland 17: BC's diverse population needs diverse stem cell donors - Delta-Optimist

Injured skin repairs itself with the help of stem cells, but how this process works isnt well understood. A new study proposes that differentiated skin cells turn back into stem cells to heal the wound.

The process is regulated by a protein called Gata6 made by sebaceous duct cells. In response to injury, these cells migrate out into the skin and de-differentiate into stem cells, which then give rise to replacement skin, according to researchers led by Fiona Watt of Kings College London.

The study was published in Nature Cell Biology. When placed online, the study, Wounding induces dedifferentiation of epidermal Gata6 cells and acquisition of stem cell properties, can be found at j.mp/skincells. Watt was senior author. Giacomo Donati, also of Kings College London, was senior author.

Our data not only demonstrate that the structural and functional complexity of the junctional zone is regulated by Gata6, but also reveal that dedifferentiation is a previously unrecognized property of post-mitotic, terminally differentiated cells that have lost contact with the basement membrane, the study stated.

This resolves the long-standing debate about the contribution of terminally differentiated cells to epidermal wound repair.

One of the most-anticipated results of stem cell research would be generation of replacement tissues for those lost by disease or injury. But the potential for immune rejection limits this potential. While immune-matching can be achieved through patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, this process takes time and is costly.

Immune-tolerant allogenic stem cells have been produced in a study reported Monday in Nature Biotechnology. These cells were produced by making them express minimally variant human leukocyte antigen class E molecules. Production of these molecules causes a self response that inhibits attack by NK natural killer cells.

When published, the study, HLA-E-expressing pluripotent stem cells escape allogeneic responses and lysis by NK cells, can be found online at j.mp/allogenic. David W Russell was senior author and Germn Gornalusse was first author. Both are of University of Washington, Seattle.

A study conducted in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy suggests that symptoms might be reduced by increasing the activity of synapses between sensory and motor neurons. It suggests there may be more than one path to improving or preserving muscle function in SMA patients.

SMA is caused by the deterioration and eventual death of spinal motor neurons. The only treatment shown to affect the underlying course of the disease, Spinraza, was researched by Ionis Pharmaceuticals in Carlsbad and brought to market in a partnership with Biogen.

The study was published Monday in Nature Neuroscience. George Z Mentis was the senior author and Emily V Fletcher was first author. Both are of Columbia University in New York. When placed online, the study, Reduced sensory synaptic excitation impairs motor neuron function via Kv2.1 in spinal muscular atrophy, can be found at j.mp/smanew.

Researchers treated the mice with kainate, which restored near-normal synaptic functioning and improved motor functioning. While the chemical induces seizures, the mice were given doses lower than the seizure threshold.

Because of kainates seizure-inducing potential, the researchers are looking for safer chemicals to stimulate the synaptic connections.

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020

Originally posted here:
Skin regeneration, universal donor stem cells and new SMA treatment approach - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Panaji: To ensure the number of emergency deaths due to cardiac-related problems are brought down, health minister Vishwajit Rane announced the signing of an MoU with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) India. The organization, he said, has a protocol to handle cardiac emergency cases where such cases will be dealt with at the point of contact through the GVK 108 service.

Doctors will be trained to operate within the protocol he said, adding that it will help increase the window period after a cardiac attack and give treatment to a patient. "The whole idea is to save lives and if the window period is extended it will help saving lives of patients," he said, adding that significant damage happens to a patient's heart if the heart problem is not addressed.

"The problem is all casualty cases are referred to medicine and not directly to cardiology." These, he said, should immediately be looked at by the cardiac team, he said, adding that a proposal has gone to the chief minister to add three more cardiac consultants to the cardiology wing so that 24 x7 services are made available for patients.

New fleet of 108 ambulance with trained personnel including motorcycle ambulances will be pressed into service by the end of June and first week of July, he said.

See the article here:
Govt signs MoU to curb cardiac deaths in state | Goa News - Times ... - Times of India

Cell potency is a cell's ability to differentiate into other cell types.[1][2] The more cell types a cell can differentiate into, the greater its potency. Potency is also described as the gene activation potential within a cell which like a continuum begins with totipotency to designate a cell with the most differentiation potential, pluripotency, multipotency, oligopotency and finally unipotency. Potency is taken from the Latin term "potens" which means "having power".

Totipotency is the ability of a single cell to divide and produce all of the differentiated cells in an organism. Spores and zygotes are examples of totipotent cells.[3] In the spectrum of cell potency, totipotency represents the cell with the greatest differentiation potential. Toti comes from the Latin totus which means "entirely".

It is possible for a fully differentiated cell to return to a state of totipotency.[4] This conversion to totipotency is complex, not fully understood and the subject of recent research. Research in 2011 has shown that cells may differentiate not into a fully totipotent cell, but instead into a "complex cellular variation" of totipotency.[5] Stem cells resembling totipotent blastomeres from 2-cell stage embryos can arise spontaneously in the embryonic stem cell cultures[6][7] and also can be induced to arise more frequently in vitro through down-regulation of the chromatin assembly activity of CAF-1.[8]

The human development model is one which can be used to describe how totipotent cells arise.[9] Human development begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg and the resulting fertilized egg creates a single totipotent cell, a zygote.[10] In the first hours after fertilization, this zygote divides into identical totipotent cells, which can later develop into any of the three germ layers of a human (endoderm, mesoderm, or ectoderm), into cells of the cytotrophoblast layer or syncytiotrophoblast layer of the placenta. After reaching a 16-cell stage, the totipotent cells of the morula differentiate into cells that will eventually become either the blastocyst's Inner cell mass or the outer trophoblasts. Approximately four days after fertilization and after several cycles of cell division, these totipotent cells begin to specialize. The inner cell mass, the source of embryonic stem cells, becomes pluripotent.

Research on Caenorhabditis elegans suggests that multiple mechanisms including RNA regulation may play a role in maintaining totipotency at different stages of development in some species.[11] Work with zebrafish and mammals suggest a further interplay between miRNA and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in determining development differences.[12]

In September 2013, a team from the Spanish national Cancer Research Centre was able for the first time to make adult cells from mice retreat to the characteristics of embryonic stem cells, thereby achieving totipotency.[13]

In cell biology, pluripotency (from the Latin plurimus, meaning very many, and potens, meaning having power)[14] refers to a stem cell that has the potential to differentiate into any of the three germ layers: endoderm (interior stomach lining, gastrointestinal tract, the lungs), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood, urogenital), or ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous system).[15] However, cell pluripotency is a continuum, ranging from the completely pluripotent cell that can form every cell of the embryo proper, e.g., embryonic stem cells and iPSCs (see below), to the incompletely or partially pluripotent cell that can form cells of all three germ layers but that may not exhibit all the characteristics of completely pluripotent cells.

Induced pluripotent stem cells, commonly abbreviated as iPS cells or iPSCs are a type of pluripotent stem cell artificially derived from a non-pluripotent cell, typically an adult somatic cell, by inducing a "forced" expression of certain genes and transcription factors.[16] These transcription factors play a key role in determining the state of these cells and also highlights the fact that these somatic cells do preserve the same genetic information as early embryonic cells.[17] The ability to induce cells into a pluripotent state was initially pioneered in 2006 using mouse fibroblasts and four transcription factors, Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc;[18] this technique, called reprogramming, earned Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012.[19] This was then followed in 2007 by the successful induction of human iPSCs derived from human dermal fibroblasts using methods similar to those used for the induction of mouse cells.[20] These induced cells exhibit similar traits to those of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) but do not require the use of embryos. Some of the similarities between ESCs and iPSCs include pluripotency, morphology, self-renewal ability, a trait that implies that they can divide and replicate indefinitely, and gene expression.[21]

Epigenetic factors are also thought to be involved in the actual reprogramming of somatic cells in order to induce pluripotency. It has been theorized that certain epigenetic factors might actually work to clear the original somatic epigenetic marks in order to acquire the new epigenetic marks that are part of achieving a pluripotent state. Chromatin is also reorganized in iPSCs and becomes like that found in ESCs in that it is less condensed and therefore more accessible. Euchromatin modifications are also common which is also consistent with the state of euchromatin found in ESCs.[21]

Due to their great similarity to ESCs, iPSCs have been of great interest to the medical and research community. iPSCs could potentially have the same therapeutic implications and applications as ESCs but without the controversial use of embryos in the process, a topic of great bioethical debate. In fact, the induced pluripotency of somatic cells into undifferentiated iPS cells was originally hailed as the end of the controversial use of embryonic stem cells. However, iPSCs were found to be potentially tumorigenic, and, despite advances,[16] were never approved for clinical stage research in the United States. Setbacks such as low replication rates and early senescence have also been encountered when making iPSCs,[22] hindering their use as ESCs replacements.

Additionally, it has been determined that the somatic expression of combined transcription factors can directly induce other defined somatic cell fates (transdifferentiation); researchers identified three neural-lineage-specific transcription factors that could directly convert mouse fibroblasts (skin cells) into fully functional neurons.[23] This result challenges the terminal nature of cellular differentiation and the integrity of lineage commitment; and implies that with the proper tools, all cells are totipotent and may form all kinds of tissue.

Some of the possible medical and therapeutic uses for iPSCs derived from patients include their use in cell and tissue transplants without the risk of rejection that is commonly encountered. iPSCs can potentially replace animal models unsuitable as well as in-vitro models used for disease research.[24]

Recent findings with respect to epiblasts before and after implantation have produced proposals for classifying pluripotency into two distinct phases: "naive" and "primed".[25] The baseline stem cells commonly used in science that are referred as Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from a pre-implantation epiblast; such epiblast is able to generate the entire fetus, and one epiblast cell is able to contribute to all cell lineages if injected into another blastocyst. On the other hand, several marked differences can be observed between the pre- and post-implantation epiblasts, such as their difference in morphology, in which the epiblast after implantation changes its morphology into a cup-like shape called the "egg cylinder" as well as chromosomal alteration in which one of the X-chromosomes undergoes random inactivation in the early stage of the egg cylinder, known as X-inactivation.[26] During this development, the egg cylinder epiblast cells are systematically targeted by Fibroblast growth factors, Wnt signaling, and other inductive factors via the surrounding yolk sac and the trophoblast tissue,[27] such that they become instructively specific according to the spatial organization.[28] Another major difference that was observed, with respect to cell potency, is that post-implantation epiblast stem cells are unable to contribute to blastocyst chimeras,[29] which distinguishes them from other known pluripotent stem cells. Cell lines derived from such post-implantation epiblasts are referred to as epiblast-derived stem cells which were first derived in laboratory in 2007; it should be noted, despite their nomenclature, that both ESCs and EpiSCs are derived from epiblasts, just at difference phases of development, and that pluripotency is still intact in the post-implantation epiblast, as demonstrated by the conserved expression of Nanog, Fut4, and Oct-4 in EpiSCs,[30] until somitogenesis and can be reversed midway through induced expression of Oct-4.[31]

Multipotency describes progenitor cells which have the gene activation potential to differentiate into discrete cell types. For example, a multipotent blood stem cell is a hematopoietic celland this cell type can differentiate itself into several types of blood cell types like lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, etc., but cannot differentiate into brain cells, bone cells or other non-blood cell types.

New research related to multipotent cells suggests that multipotent cells may be capable of conversion into unrelated cell types. In another case, human umbilical cord blood stem cells were converted into human neurons.[32] Research is also focusing on converting multipotent cells into pluripotent cells.[33]

Multipotent cells are found in many, but not all human cell types. Multipotent cells have been found in cord blood,[34] adipose tissue,[35] cardiac cells,[36] bone marrow, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) which are found in the third molar.[37]

MSCs may prove to be a valuable source for stem cells from molars at 810 years of age, before adult dental calcification. MSCs can differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes.[38]

In biology, oligopotency is the ability of progenitor cells to differentiate into a few cell types. It is a degree of potency. Examples of oligopotent stem cells are the lymphoid or myeloid stem cells.[1] A lymphoid cell specifically, can give rise to various blood cells such as B and T cells, however, not to a different blood cell type like a red blood cell.[39] Examples of progenitor cells are vascular stem cells that have the capacity to become both endothelial or smooth muscle cells.

In cell biology, a unipotent cell is the concept that one stem cell has the capacity to differentiate into only one cell type. It is currently unclear if true unipotent stem cells exist. Hepatoblasts, which differentiate into hepatocytes (which constitute most of the liver) or cholangiocytes (epithelial cells of the bile duct), are bipotent.[40] A close synonym for unipotent cell is precursor cell.

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Cell potency - Wikipedia

A fascinating documentary that is making the rounds at film festivals like Tribeca and Cannes gives a rare view of a controversial treatment that more and more Americans are paying up to $50,000 to receive. Stem cell therapy is widely considered to be the next big hope in medicine, with researchers everywhere from Stanford to Johns Hopkins investigating the technologys potential to treat seemingly every ailment known to mankindAlzheimers, cancer, joint injuries, even basic signs of aging. The only hitch: With one tiny exception, it isnt legal in the United States.

We all know the stem cell revolution is occurring outside the U.S., says Brian Mehling, M.D., a Manhattan-based orthopedic surgeon who is certainly doing his part to foment the insurgency. A coproducer of the film, as well as its charismatic recurring subject, Mehling is bringing stem cell tourism into the spotlight and determined to lift the curtain on a medical field that remains mysterious to most. His Blue Horizon medical clinics, with locations in China and Slovakiaand three more set to open in Mexico, Israel, and Jamaicacater to American tourists looking to cutting-edge therapy for help when traditional medicine fails.

Stem cells are the undifferentiated cells that abound in newborns and have the ability to transform into blood, nerve, or muscle cells and aid the body in self-repair. Proselytizers like Mehling say they constitute the latest in holistic medicine, allowing the body to healwithout drugs, surgery, or side effects. At clinics such as Mehlings, doctors either inject the cells, which are generally obtained from umbilical cords during C-sections, into a patients spinal cord (much like an epidural), or administer them via IV drip. The process is alarmingly quick, and patients can typically check out of the facility by the end of the day. One of the few stem-cell therapies approved for use in the United States is one used to treat the blood disease known as beta thalassemia; in that instance, the treatment replaces damaged blood in the immune system and saves tens of thousands of lives each year. Few other stem cell applications, however, have been proven effective in the rigorous clinical trials the Food and Drug Administration requires before signing off on any treatment.

In fact, stem cell clinics remain completely unregulated, and there have been incidents of related troubles. In one recent report , Jim Gass, a resident of San Diego who traveled to stem cell clinics in Mexico, China, and Argentina to help recover from a stroke, later discovered a sizable tumor on his spinal columnand the cancerous cells belonged to somebody else. Troubling cases also emerged at a loosely regulated clinic in Sunrise, Florida where, earlier this spring, three women suffering macular degeneration reported further loss of vision after having stem cells, extracted from their belly fat via liposuction, injected into their eyes. Though, on the whole, reports of treatments at clinics gone awry remain relatively few.

In his film, Stem Cells: The Next Frontier , which is set to appear at Cannes Film Festival this month, Mehling offers a persuasive side of the story, with rapturous testimonials from patients, some of whom who have regained the ability to walk after their stem cell vacations. Added bonus: They come home with better skin, bigger sex drive, and (in the case of at least one balding patient) more hair.

However compelling, there is scant evidence that the injections actually make a difference, and most American doctors caution against buying into the hype. Stem cell researcher Jaime Imitola, M.D. and Ph.D, director of the progressive multiple sclerosis clinic research program at Ohio State University, says he is impressed by the evidence that stem cells can help with neurological disorders in animals. But the question is how can you translate it into clinical trials? We still dont know what were doing when we put stem cells in people.

David Scadden, a professor of medicine and stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard, and the director of Harvards Stem Cell Institute, says that stem cell tourism is a waste of money for the time being. A world-renowned expert in stem cell science, he remains optimistic about its future applications. Researchers are currently looking into reprogramming, for instance, which effectively converts a mature cell into a stem cell. You rewind its history so it forgets its a blood cell or a skin cell and it rewinds back in time and it can become any cell type, he says. Youd be able to test drugs on these cells, and it could be used to reverse Type 1 diabetes.

For now, though, he does not recommend experimenting with stem cells before we understand them well enough to properlyand safelyharness their benefits. People call me about it all the timethey say, I have this knee thats bugging me, Im going to one of these clinics, he says. His response? For the most part they dont do harm. But nobody Ive spoken with has come back to me and said, You Harvard docs have to get on this . . . . Not yet.

Read more:
Stem Cell Tourism Is the Controversial Subject of a New Cannes Documentary - Vogue.com

Lab-engineered bone (the outer layer) with functional bone marrow (the inner layer). Image: Varghese Lab at UC San Diego

Thanks to advances in medicine, bone marrow transplants are no longer the last resorts they once were. Every year, thousands of marrow transplants are performed, a common treatment for ailments from bone marrow disease to leukemia. But because they first require a patient undergo radiation to kill off any existing bone marrow stem cells, marrow transplants remain incredibly hard on a patient.

Now, engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a synthetic bone implant with functional marrow able to produce its own blood cells. So far, researchers revealed in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesthis week, they have successfully tested the engineered bone tissues in mice. But one day, those biomimetic bone tissues could provide new bone marrow for human patients in need of transplants, too.

The implant does away with the need for radiation by giving donor cells their own space in the body to grow. Inside the implant, there is no threat of those cells being overtaken by the bodys native stem cells.

In mice, the researchers implanted the synthetic bone tissues with functional marrow under the skin. After six months, those donor cells were still alive and had begun supplying the mice with new blood cells.

The implants were designed to replicate the long bones in the body, with an outer bone compartment containing calcium phosphate minerals to build bone cells, and an inner area for donor stem cells that produce blood cells.

When implanted, they grew into bone tissues with working blood vessel network and functional bone marrow that supplied the body new blood cells. After 24 weeks, researchers found a mix of host and donor blood cells was still circulating in the bloodstream of the mice.

A treatment based on this technology would only work for patients with non-malignant bone marrow diseases, like aplastic anemia, a condition where the body cant make enough platelets and blood cells. Thats because while the technique can replenish types of cells that are lacking, it cant doing anything to fight off cells that have mutated and are spreading. Cancer patients would still need need to undergo radiation therapy to have their cancerous cells wiped out.

Much more research is needed, of course, before these implants are ready to make their way into human patients. But whats exciting here is that the synthetic bone tissues were not only functional, they allowed donor marrow to grow and survive for many weeks in the presence of host cells, and for the products of that marrow to make their way into the bodys circulatory system. Pretty neat.

Originally posted here:
This Synthetic Bone Implant Could Replace Painful Marrow Transplants - Gizmodo

A molecular switch has been identified that converts skin cells into cells found in blood vessels, raising hopes of aiding heart disease sufferers.

This technique boosts levels of an enzyme that keeps cells young and could also potentially help cells avoid ageing as they are grown in the lab. Although this technique has been used before, this is the first time it has been understood by scientists.

Some techniques to convert mature skin cells into pluripotent stem cells use a cocktail of chemicals to ensure they turn into designated cell types. Other methods modify cells, skippingthe stem cell state completely. Recently, researchers have been exploring rewinding skin cells so they lose some of their mature cell identity.

Dr Jalees Rehman, who led the study at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said: They dont revert all the way back to a pluripotent stem cell, but instead turn into intermediate progenitor cells. Even though they only differentiate into a few different cell types, progenitor cells can be grown in large quantities, making them suitable for regenerative therapies.

Rehmans research group discovered that progenitor cells could be converted into blood vessel endothelial cells or erythrocytes depending on the level of a gene transcription factor called SOX17. When SOX17 levels were increased, progenitor cells were five times as likely to become endothelial cells. When this process was reversed, fewer endothelial cells but more erythrocytes were produced.

Dr Rehman said: It makes a lot of sense that SOX17 is involved because it is abundant in developing embryos when blood vessels are forming. When human progenitor cells were embedded into a gel implanted into mice, the cells formed functional human blood vessels. Mice that were suffering from heart damage formed functional human blood vessels in their hearts even interlinking with existing murine vessels to improve heart function.

During the course of the research, the scientists observed increased levels of telomerase the anti-ageing enzyme responsible for telomeres on the ends of chromosome in progenitor cells. The increase in telomerase we see in the progenitor cells could be an added benefit of using this partial de-differentiation technique for the production of new blood vessels for patients with cardiac disease, especially for older patients, said Dr Rehman. The process of converting and expanding these cells in the lab could make them age even further and impair their long-term function. But if the cells have elevated levels of telomerase, the cells are at lower risk of premature ageing.

Increased levels of telomerase are also observed in cancer cells, enabling cell division to occur at avery high rate. However, the scientists didnt observe any tumour formation during their research and their next steps will involve further research over a longer time period in larger animals. The study was published in Circulation.

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Protein enables scientists to convert skin to blood vessels - Lab News

The kidney is made up of about a million tiny units that filter blood, rid the body of undesired waste products while holding back blood cells and valuable proteins, and control the bodys fluid content. Key to each of these units is a structure known the glomerulus, in which podocyte cells wrap themselves tightly around a tuft of capillaries separated only by a thin membrane composed of extracellular matrix, and leave slits between them to build an actual filtration barrier. Podocytes are the target of many congenital or acquired kidney diseases, and they are often harmed by drugs.

To build an in vitro model of the human glomerulus to probe deeper into its function and vulnerabilities to disease and drug toxicities, researchers have been attempting to engineer human stem cells that in theory can give rise to any mature cell type so that they form into functional podocytes. These cell culture efforts, however, so far have failed to produce populations of mature podocytes pure enough as to be useful for modeling glomerular filtration.

A team led by Donald Ingber, Professor of Bioengineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and Founding Director of Harvards Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering, now reports a solution to this challenge in Nature Biomedical Engineering, which enables the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells into mature podocytes with more than 90 percent efficiency.

Linking the differentiation process with organ-on-a-chip technology pioneered by his team, the researchers went on to engineer the first in vitro model of the human glomerulus, demonstrating effective and selective filtration of blood proteins and podocyte toxicity induced by a chemotherapy drug in vitro.

Ingber is also theJudah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biologyat Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Childrens Hospital.

The development of a functional human kidney glomerulus chip opens up an entirely new experimental path to investigate kidney biology, carry out highly personalized modeling of kidney diseases and drug toxicities, and the stem cell-derived kidney podocytes we developed could even offer a new injectable cell therapy approach for regenerative medicine in patients with life-threatening glomerulopathies in the future, said Ingber.

Ingbers team has engineered multiple organs-on-chips that accurately mimic human tissue and organ-level physiology. These platforms are currently being evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a tool to more effectively study the effects of potential chemical and biological hazards found in foods, cosmetics or dietary supplementsthan existing culture systems or animal models. In 2013, his team developed an organ-on-a-chip microfluidic culture device that modeled the human kidneys proximal tubule, which is anatomically connected to the glomerulus and salvages ions from urinary fluid.

Now, with the teams newly engineered human kidney glomerulus-on-a-chip, researchers also can get in vitro access to the kidneys core filtration mechanisms that are critical for drug clearance and pharmacokinetics, in addition to studying human podocytes at work.

To generate almost pure populations of human podocytes in cell culture, Samira Musah, the studys first author and HMS Deans Postdoctoral Fellow who is working with Ingber at the Wyss Institute, leveraged pieces of the stem cell biologists arsenal, and merged them with snippets taken from Ingbers past research on how cells in the body respond to adhesive factors and physical forces in their tissue environments.

Our method not only uses soluble factors that guide kidney development in the embryo but, by growing and differentiating stem cells on extracellular matrix components that are also contained in the membrane separating the glomerular blood and urinary systems, we more closely mimic the natural environment in which podocytes are induced and mature, said Musah. We even succeeded in inducing much of this differentiation process within a channel of the microfluidic chip, whereby applying cyclical motions that mimic the rhythmic deformations living glomeruli experience due to pressure pulses generated by each heartbeat, we achieve even greater maturation efficiencies.

The complete microfluidic system closely resembles a living, three-dimensional cross-section of the human glomerular wall. It consists of an optically clear, flexible, polymeric material the size of a computer memory chip in which two closely opposed microchannels are separated by a porous, extracellular matrix-coated membrane that corresponds to the kidneys glomerular basement membrane. In one of the membrane-facing channels, the researchers grow glomerular endothelial cells to mimic the blood microvessel compartment of glomeruli. The iPS cells are cultured on the opposite side of the membrane in the other channel that represents the glomerulus urinary compartment, where they are induced to form a layer of mature podocytes that extend long cellular processes through the pores in the membrane and contact the underlying endothelial cells. In addition, the devices channels are rhythmically stretched and relaxed at a rate of one heart beat per second by applying cyclic suction to hollow chambers placed on either side of the cell-lined microchannels to mimic physiological deformations of the glomerular wall.

This in vitro system allows us to effectively recapitulate the filtration of small substances contained in blood into the urinary compartment while retaining large proteins in the blood compartment just like in our bodies, and we can visualize and monitor the damage inflicted by drugs that cause breakdown of the filtration barrier in the kidney, said Musah.

The study was also co-authored by Wyss Institute Core Faculty member George Church, who also is Professor of Genetics at HMS and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and who served as a co-mentor of Musah with Ingber. Other authors include Akiko Mammoto and Tadanori Mammoto, who at the time of the study were Instructors in the Vascular Biology Program and Department of Surgery at Boston Childrens Hospital, as well as Thomas Ferrante, Sauveur Jeanty, Kristen Roberts, Seyoon Chung, Richard Novak, Miles Ingram, Tohid Fatanat-Didar, Sandeep Koshy, and James Weaver.

Funding for the study was provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Musah was supported by a HMS Deans Postdoctoral Fellowship, Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, UNCF-Merck Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an NIH/NIDDK Nephrology Training Grant.

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Engineering human stem cells to model the kidney's filtration barrier on a chip - Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Home | Macau | Science | UM researchers develop new technology for stem cell storage

UM researchers have developed a new technology for cell storage and transport

The University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) has developed a technology that enables the storage of stem cells at room temperature for at least seven days without the loss of viability or biological activities. According to a statement issued by UM, this new technology does not rely on the traditional cryopreservation method which requires costly equipment and tedious cryopreservation procedures, thus enabling cell storage and transport under ambient conditions.

Under professor Ren-He Xus supervision, doctoral student Jiang Bin and postdoctoral researcher Yan Li, both from the FHS, engaged in the research study titled Spheroidal Formation Preserves Human Stem Cells for Prolonged Environment under Ambient Conditions for Facile Storage and Transportation. Together with the participation of Chris Wong Koon Ho, an assistant professor at the FHS, they successfully developed the new technology. The related paper has been published in Biomaterials, a renowned international journal in the field of biological materials.

The study found that preparing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) to form spheroids with the hanging-drop or other methods, can reduce the cell metabolism and increase cell viability. Stored in a sealed vessel filled with regular culture medium, under ambient conditions without oxygen supply, the viability of hMSC in spheroids remained over 90 percent even after 11 days. This method is also applicable to higher pluripotent human embryonic stem cells.

Stem cells are found in various locations of the body such as bone marrow, blood, brain, spinal cord, skin, and corneal limbus. They are responsible for regenerating and repairing damaged tissues and organs in the body. Transplantation of stem cells can restore damaged tissues and organs to their original functions. For this reason, stem cells have significant clinical value. However, they require strict culturing and storage conditions. Extended exposure (over 24 to 48 hours) to unfavorable temperature, humidity, or levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide will cause the cells to gradually lose their functions and viability.

Currently, long-distance cell transport mainly relies on the costly method of cryopreservation. For short-distance transport, cells can be prepared in suspension or adherent culture, but the number of cells that can be transported via this method is limited. Moreover, cell viability decreases dramatically after transport for 48 hours under ambient conditions.

The UM claims that the new technology developed by its researchers can overcome the above limitations. With this technology, a sufficient dose of stem cells that are being transported can be used in patients without the need to freeze stem cells before transport and to thaw, revive, and proliferate the transported stem cells, a statement from the institution reads.

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Science | UM researchers develop new technology for stem cell storage - Macau Daily Times

Most of the Gulfs thalassemia sufferers can now be cured of the debilitating blood disease through a safe and effective bone marrow transplant procedure performed in the US, said one of the worlds leading pediatric hematologists, ahead of International Thalassemia Day on May 8.

Thalassemia is a genetic blood disease, common across the wider Middle East and South Asia, in which victims are not able to make enough hemoglobin a necessary component in healthy red blood cells, carrying oxygen to all parts of the body and, thus, suffer from severe anemia and eventual organ failure, and, ultimately, premature death.

The condition is typically treated with life-long, cost-prohibitive supportive care, with most thalassemia sufferers dying before the age of 40. However, the latest advances in bone marrow transplantation significantly reduce both treatment time and cost, giving Gulf thalassemia patients and their families new hope, said a statement.

With thalassemia, we want to treat the underlying disease, not just the symptoms, and this approach requires bone marrow transplantation, said Dr Rabi Hanna, pediatric oncologist at US-based Cleveland Clinic.

Now, finding a matching bone marrow donor is much easier, as we only require a haplo-donor half-match, meaning every patient can find a donor (father, mother or half-sibling), as opposed to only 25 per cent, which has been the case for the last 25 years, added Dr Hanna. Bone marrow transplantation is the process by which a compatible donor, typically a matching sibling, has his or her stem cells transplanted into the thalassemia patients bloodstream via a tube called a central venous catheter. The stem cells travel through the blood into the bone marrow, thus enabling the growth of healthy, oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

The leading US hospital also believes it can work far more effectively with Gulf-based physicians to reduce the standard one-year treatment timeline for transplantation patients, as well as the associated costs and familial inconveniences associated with patient relocation. Some patients may only need to spend as few as three months in the US, it said.

The Dubai Thalassemia Center at the Dubai Health Authority will be one of several healthcare providers in the region to consider the new curative treatment option for its patients.

One such patient, 14-year-old UAE national was seen and treated by Dr Hanna at Cleveland Clinic last year and has benefited from a successful novel reduced intensity Haplo bone marrow transplant in November of 2016.

My life is now completely normal, and I expect to live into old age. I even have high energy levels, enabling me to experience activity for the first time in my life, said the patient.

I no longer require regular blood transfusions, and I can attend school without missing classes and other activities, she said. TradeArabia News Service

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New 'cure' for thalassemia sufferers - Trade Arabia

MedicalResearch.com (blog)

Three Distinct Cardiac Stem Cell Populations Isolated from a Single Human Heart Biopsy MedicalResearch.com (blog) Response: In the field of cardiovascular research there is ongoing debate regarding the optimal cell population(s) to use for the treatment of patients with heart failure. A major reason being, the lack of understanding of the actions and synergism ...

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Three Distinct Cardiac Stem Cell Populations Isolated from a Single Human Heart Biopsy - MedicalResearch.com (blog)

May 5, 2017

Lack of vitamin A in the body has a detrimental effect on the hematopoietic system in the bone marrow. The deficiency causes a loss of important blood stem cells, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute of Stem Cell Research and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM) now report in the latest issue of the journal Cell. These findings will open up new prospects in cancer therapy.

Many specialized cells, such as in the skin, gut or blood, have a lifespan of only a few days. Therefore, steady replenishment of these cells is indispensable. They arise from so-called "adult" stem cells that divide continuously. In addition, there is a group of very special stem cells in the bone marrow that were first discovered in 2008 by a research team led by Andreas Trumpp, who is a division head at the DKFZ and director of HI-STEM. These cells remain in a kind of dormancy most of the time and only become active in an emergency such as bacterial or viral infections, heavy blood loss, or in the wake of chemotherapy. Once their work is done, the body sends its most potent stem cells back to sleep. The scientists assume that this protects them from dangerous mutations that may lead to leukemia.

The mechanisms that activate these special stem cells or make them go back to sleep after their work is done have remained elusive until now. The scientists have now identified retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite, as a crucial factor in this process. If this substance is absent, active stem cells are unable to return to a dormant state and mature into specialized blood cells instead. This means that they are lost as a reservoir. This was shown in studies with specially bred mice whose dormant stem cells are green fluorescent. "If we feed these mice on a vitamin A deficient diet for some time, this leads to a loss of the stem cells," said Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid, who is the first author of the publication. "Thus, we can prove for the first time that vitamin A has a direct impact on blood stem cells."

This finding not only enhances our understanding of the development of blood cells, it also sheds new light on prior studies that demonstrate that vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system. "This shows how vitally important it is to have a sufficient intake of vitamin A from a balanced diet," Cabezas-Wallscheid emphasized. The body cannot produce its own vitamin A.

The scientists also have hopes for new prospects in cancer treatment. There is evidence that cancer cells, like healthy stem cells, also rest in a state of dormancy. When dormant, their metabolism is almost completely shut downand this makes them resistant to chemotherapy. "Once we understand in detail how vitamin A or retinoic acid, respectively, sends normal and malignant stem cells into dormancy, we can try to turn the tables," explained Trumpp. "If we could make cancer cells temporarily enter an active state, we could thus make them vulnerable to modern therapies."

In addition, in collaboration with colleagues from the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, the team performed genome-wide analyses of single cells and discovered that the transition from dormant to active stem cells and then on to progenitor cells is a continuous one and follows a different path for each individual cell. So far, scientists had assumed that specific cell types develop step by step in a defined pattern. This finding revolutionizes the previous concept of how cell differentiation in the body takes place.

Explore further: Vitamins and aminoacids regulate stem cell biology

More information: Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid et al, Vitamin A-Retinoic Acid Signaling Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Cell Dormancy, Cell (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.04.018

Journal reference: Cell

Provided by: German Cancer Research Center

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Vitamin A deficiency is detrimental to blood stem cells - Phys.Org

Space | Publishing | Funding | Conservation | Politics | Policy | People | Trend watch | Coming up

Cassini catches new views of Saturn NASAs Cassini spacecraft plunged between Saturn and its rings on 26 April, beginning the final stages of its 20-year mission. At its closest, Cassini whizzed just 300 kilometres from the innermost visible edge of Saturns rings and 3,000kilometres above the top of the planets clouds. The images sent back include this close-up shot of Saturns surface. The spacecraft is exploring this never-before-visited region of the Solar System on its way to a final plunge into Saturns atmosphere in September.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Inst.

Physics for all Particle physicists will soon be able to publish open-access papers in three journals of the American Physical Society (APS), including Physical Review Letters, free of charge. The deal, announced on 27April, was struck between the APS and CERN, the European particle-physics laboratory in Switzerland. From January 2018, high-energy physics research done anywhere in the world will be able to be published open-access in the journals, and at no direct cost. Publication fees will be covered by the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3), an international partnership set up in 2012 that is funded in large part by libraries. CERNs Large Hadron Collider already had an open-access agreement with the APS.

Cash boost BioRxiv, a free online archive for draft versions of biology research papers, is to receive a windfall from the philanthropic Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), founded by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his physician wife Priscilla Chan. On 26April, the initiative announced a multi-year funding package the terms of which have not been disclosed for expanding the popular preprint server, which posted its 10,000th manuscript last month. The new money will pay for staff and technology development at bioRxiv, says John Inglis, the executive director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press and co-founder of the 3-year-old site.

Poor protection A cross-party group of UK politicians has rebuked the countrys government over its ocean-protection record. In a report released on 25April, the Environmental Audit Committee says marine protected areas around the coasts of the British Isles are not managed properly and that vulnerable sites and species are not suitably protected. The committee says it is also shocked and disappointed that the government will not be creating reference sites to help gauge the success of the network of protected areas. Only 50marine conservation zones have been created in British waters, whereas 127 were recommended in 2011.

Legal concerns Hungarys revised higher-education law is incompatible with internal market freedoms and the right of academic freedom in the European Union (EU), the European Commission said on 26 April. The contentious law, which was passed by the Hungarian parliament on 4 April, bars international universities from operating in Hungary unless they have a campus in their home country. The commission sent Budapest a letter of formal notice, outlining legal concerns, to which the Hungarian government has one month to respond. Speaking in the European Parliament on 26 April, Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orbn rejected accusations that the law would specifically target the Central European University in Budapest.

Eric Vidal/Reuters

Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orbn.

UK research reform On 27April, the British parliament approved a controversial package of reforms to the organization of UK research and universities. Nine research-funding agencies, including Britains seven research councils, will now be merged into a new body, called UK Research and Innovation. The organization will oversee annual spending of more than 6billion (US$7.8 billion). Parliaments unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, had forced the government into a number of compromises in the reform, including safeguards for institutional autonomy and the independence of research funding from political interference.

Stem-cell payout Allegations of fraud at a US stem-cell laboratory have led to an order for Partners HealthCare System and Brigham and Womens Hospital (BWH) of Boston, Massachusetts, to pay US$10million to the government. The settlement, announced by the US Department of Justice on 27April, came in response to charges that the laboratory of former BWH researcher Piero Anversa used manipulated and falsified data about his research involving cardiac stem cells in applications for federal research funds. Anversa and a colleague sued the hospital in 2014, charging that its investigation of the allegations had damaged their careers. That lawsuit was dismissed.

Offshore drilling President Donald Trump has asked the US Department of the Interior to reopen Arctic federal waters for oil and gas drilling. On 28April, Trump signed an executive order to lift restrictions on offshore mineral exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. The controls had been imposed by Barack Obamas administration in response to environmental concerns. The order also asks for a review of the five-year plan to sell oil and gas leases in parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean areas that the previous administration had closed to offshore exploration and development.

Fishy results Swedens Central Ethical Review Board has ruled that two researchers at Uppsala University have been guilty of scientific dishonesty in relation to a study published last year in Science (O. M. Lnnstedt and P. Eklv Science 352, 12131216; 2016). The board says that the paper by Oona Lnnstedt and Peter Eklv on the claimed harmful impact of microplastics on certain fish larvae should be withdrawn. Uppsala University says it will consider this report alongside an earlier report conducted by the university itself, which found no misconduct.

Leadership row Cell biologist Mary Beckerle has been invited to return to her position as head of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, housed at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City but mainly funded by billionaire Jon Huntsman. Last month, Vivian Lee, dean of the universitys school of medicine and senior vice-president for health sciences, fired Beckerle for undisclosed reasons. In response, institute staff raised protests and Huntsman threatened to revoke a planned donation. Following Beckerles reinstatement on 25 April, Huntsman released a statement pledging US$120million to the institute. On 28 April, Vivian Lee resigned from her leadership positions.

Preventive arrest Stem-cell maverick Davide Vannoni was arrested in Turin, Italy, on 26April after police phone taps indicated that he was seeking new foreign locations to continue his outlawed therapy, according to news reports. Vannoni had been sentenced to jail for conspiracy and fraud for administering unproven stem-cell therapy in Italy to people with incurable diseases through his Stamina Foundation. The sentence was suspended in March last year in a plea bargainon the condition that he cease offering the treatment. Vannoni continued treating people in the Republic of Georgia until the government there banned him in December.

Physicist fired Physicist Etienne Klein has been sacked as president of the Institute for Advanced Studies for Science and Technology (IHEST) in Paris following a series of allegations of plagiarism in his articles and books for the general public. Kleins dismissal was announced in the French governments official journal on 28April. He is replaced by Antoine Petit, head of INRIA, Frances national computer-science agency.

The Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. A report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme finds that the region was warmer between 2011 and 2014 than at any time since records began around 1900. The rapid warming is hastening the melting of glaciers and sea ice, and boosting sea-level rise. The extent of snow cover across the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia each June has halved compared with observations before 2000, the report finds.

Source: Snow, Water, Ice, and Permafrost in the Arctic

818 May Details of the Paris climate agreement are negotiated at a United Nations climate-change conference in Bonn, Germany.

89 May Scientists discuss trends in genome editing at a CRISPR congress in London.

913 May The annual Biology of Genomes meeting takes place in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

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Arctic drilling, controversial reforms and new views of Saturn - Nature.com

Anna-Lena Ahlstrm, Royal Court, Sweden

Princess Christina of Sweden, the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustafs four older sisters, has successfully undergone a stem cell transplant.

Swedish newspaper Expressen first reported the news with a confirmation from the Swedish Royal Courts Director of Information and Press Department,Margareta Thorgren. She explained to them, The stem cell operation is completed. Princess Christina is well under the circumstances.

The Princess will remain at home during her recuperation. After such operations, the immune system is considerably weakened, and as a result, doctors commonly advise patients stay isolated while they heal.

It was just last month that the Court made the announcement of the pending transplant, which can be stressful on the body,saying, Princess Christina, Mrs Magnuson has, since October, been treated for blood cancer with regular chemotherapy. The treatment has gone well. But the Princesss blood cancer cannot be cured with this treatment because it occurred in bone marrow stem cells that are resistant to chemotherapy.

In consultation with the family and doctors, the Princess has decided to undergo a stem cell transplant.

She was diagnosed with chronicleukaemia in October of last year. At the time, the Swedish Royal Court said that she was feeling relatively good. It was stated that the73-year-old would scale back her royal duties during her treatmentbut would fulfil her commitments when her health allowed.They also asked that she be able to undergo her chemotherapy in peace.

In 2010, Christina announced that she had undergone treatment for breast cancer including three surgeries and had beaten the disease. After defeating breast cancer, Christina devoted much of her time to bringing attention to cancer issues.

The Princess was born on 3 August 1943 at Haga Palace in Solna, Sweden. She married Tord Magnuson in 1974 at the Royal Chapel in Stockholm Palace. They have three sons: Gustaf, Oscar, and Victor.

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Princess Christina successful stem cell transplant - Royal Central

Thursday, May 4, 2017 11:31 AM UTC

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CROMWELL, Conn., May 04, 2017 -- Cellaria, LLC, a scientific innovator that develops revolutionary new patient-specific models for challenging diseases, and Biological Industries USA (BI-USA), a subsidiary of Biological Industries (Israel), today announced a new sales and marketing agreement to promote custom stem cell services. The partnership combines BI-USAs strength in stem cell culture media and manufacturing with Cellarias comprehensive Stem Cell Services program, which includes industry leading RNA reprogramming and custom differentiation services. Together, the companies will offer one of the industrys most innovative and comprehensive stem cell service offerings available to biotechnology companies and academic institutions.

As part of the agreement, Cellaria will distribute BI-USAs stem cell media offering, including its NutriStem hPSC Medium, a cGMP xeno-free media specifically designed for human pluripotent stem cell culture. Cellaria will also incorporate the product into its stem cell services. BI-USA will market Cellaria's customized stem cell services, establishing an integrated, single source solution for iPS cell line derivation, culture maintenance, banking, characterization and differentiation services.

BI is one of the most respected names in life sciences today, said David Deems, chief executive officer at Cellaria. The companys strong market presence and innovative media products will enhance our stem cell and RNA reprogramming service offerings and significantly increase the availability and appeal of our combined offerings.

This is an important partnership for us, added Tanya Potcova, chief executive officer of BI-USA. In combination, our teams bring a wealth of stem cell experience but also share a common goal of creating higher quality, more consistent research outcomes for researchers in the life sciences field. We are pleased to be working with the team at Cellaria to put the best possible tools and support in the hands of our present and future customers.

Please visit Cellaria and BI at the International Society of Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting in Boston, MA June 14-17, 2017 at booth# 407.

About Cellaria Cellaria creates high quality, next generation in vitro disease models that reflect the unique nature of a patients biology. All models begin with tissue from a patient, capturing clinically relevant details that inform model characterization. For cancer, Cellarias cell models exhibit molecular and phenotypic characteristics that are highly concordant to the patient. For RNA-mediated iPS cell line derivation and stem cell services, Cellarias cell models enable interrogation of patient and disease-specific mechanisms of action. Cellarias innovative products and services help lead the research community to more personalized therapeutics, revolutionizing and accelerating the search for a cure. For more information, visitwww.cellariabio.com.

About Biological Industries Biological Industries (BI) is one of the worlds leading and trusted suppliers to the life sciences industry, with over 35 years experience in cell culture media development and cGMP manufacturing. BIs products range from classical cell culture media to supplements and reagents for stem cell research and potential cell therapy applications, to serum-free, xeno-free media. BI is committed to a Culture of Excellence through advanced manufacturing and quality-control systems, regulatory expertise, in-depth market knowledge, and extensive technical customer-support, training, and R&D capabilities.

Biological Industries USA (BI-USA) is the US commercialization arm of BI, with facilities in Cromwell, Connecticut. Members of the BI-USA team share a history and expertise of innovation and success in the development of leading-edge technologies in stem cell research, cellular reprogramming, and regenerative medicine. For more information, visit http://www.bioind.com or connect onLinkedIn,Twitter, andFacebook.

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Cellaria and Biological Industries USA Partner on Stem Cell Media and Research - EconoTimes

Remember stem cells? They were one of the biggest scientific controversies during the early years of George W. Bushs presidency.

At the time, scientists had realized thatembryonic stem cells had the incredible capacity to transform into virtually any cell in the human body and so could potentially lead to new treatments or cures for a multitude of illnesses. On the other hand, extracting these stem cells required destroying human embryos, an action opposed by some pro-life individuals.

EMBRYONIC stem-cell THERAPIES ARE GETTING TESTED IN ACTUAL PATIENTS

The stem-cell debate got really heated. But then ... it just sort of fizzled out from public view. So whatever happened to stem cells?

A couple of things helped lessen the controversy. By the late 2000s, researchers discovered other ways to createcells similar to embryonic stem cells without destroying human embryos, a promising advance that helped defuse the culture-war aspect. Then, in 2009, Obama somewhat loosened the Bush-era restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research and thecompromise seemed to quiet both sides down a fair amount.

So, lately, scientists have been patiently continuing their stem-cell research in a less noisy atmosphere. And that work has actually led to a few advances like restoring some sight in 10 patients with vision diseases. But the stem-cell controversy is far from dead. Researchers still might need cells from embryos to create certain treatments. If it turns out that non-embryonic stem cells aren't good enough, that could re-ignite the culture wars. So here's a guide to the debate:

Shinya Yamanaka (right) receiving flowers from Sweden's ambassador to Japan in 2012, after it was announced that Yamanaka won a Nobel Prize in medicine. (Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images)

Embryonic stem cells attracted scientific attention because they have the potential to grow into virtually any cell in the human body say, insulin-producing cells for people with diabetes, brain cells for people with Parkinsons, or even wholenew organs to replace faulty ones.

But for many people, there was one huge ethical problem: creating them required destroying an embryo. That's why, in 2001,George W. Bush decided to limit federal funding of research to a list of 60 pre-existing embryonic stem-cell lines (so as to discourage the destruction of any more embryos). Many scientists viewed the rules as too strict. Hence the controversy.

Obama SOMEWHAT relaxed Bushs restrictions on embryonic stem cells

But then in 2007, Japanese scientistShinya Yamanaka and his colleagues managed to coax cells from adult humans into embryo-like flexibility. In other words, they were able to create cells that seemed to resemble embryonic stem cells but that didn't require destroying an embryo. (These new cells were named induced pluripotent stem cells, IPSCs.) Other researchers began finding that adult stem cells have similar, but more limited, properties, too.

Meanwhile, the politics shifted. In 2009, Barack Obama came into office and signed anexecutive order that somewhat relaxed Bushs restrictions on embryonic stem cells. Under the new rules, the federal government would fund work on new stem-cell lines, but only if they had been made from leftover embryos from fertility clinics andwith non-federal money. That compromise seemed tohelp thecontroversy settledown.

A figure of visual ability after an embryonic-stem-cell-derived treatment (red line) in patients with macular degeneration over the course of 360 days. (Schwartz et al., The Lancet, October 15, 2014)

While the controversy has calmed down, stem-cell research is taking off and scientists are making advances with both embryonic and non-embryonic cells.

Much of the initial research on stem-cell therapies has focused on eye treatments. (That's because stem-cell therapies can be unpredictable and have sometimes lead to tumors in previous experiments. A tumor in an eye would be relatively easier to deal with and remove than tumors hidden deeper inside the body.)

In October 2014, researchers from the company Advanced Cell Technology (now called Ocata Therapeutics)showed that they had created new retina cells from embryonic stem cells for 18 patients who were going blind. Afterward, 10 of them had improved eyesight. Another group of researchers in Japan is trying to do the same thing with non-embryonic cells (those aforementioned IPSCs).

10 PEOPLE WHO WERE GOING BLIND HAD Improved eyesight AFTER EMBRYONIC STEM-CELL THERAPY

Other embryonic stem-cell research has focused on developing cells that can help treat spinal-cord injuries. A company called Geron startedsafety tests in such patients in 2010.

Although a few groups are continuing to work on embryonic stem cells, many are now focusing on non-embryonic stem cells like IPSCs because they're less contentious. "Everyone jumped very, very quickly on the IPS[C] bandwagon because it was eligible for federal funding, and then also any of the controversy [regarding embryos] was dropped," says Susan Solomon, CEO of the nonprofit New York Stem Cell Foundation.

But Solomon also thinks researchers have moved away from embryonic stem cells too quickly. "We felt that it was way too early to do that," she adds. Her organization still studies embryonic stem cells, among others in part because they may be able to do things that non-embryonic stem cells can't. It's just too early to tell.

It's important to note that despite all the overhype over the years, stem-cell science has been moving at the same slow pace as most scientific fields. There are still no FDA-approved treatments that use either embryonic stem cells or IPSCs. And that means that controversy over whether embryonic stem cells are needed for science and medicine is still unresolved.

(Shutterstock)

That said, the fight over stem cells hasn't gone away forever. And there's likely to be more conflict in the future.

Even after the Obama administration relaxed the rules on funding stem-cell research, there are still plenty of hurdles. For example, federal funding is currently prohibited for research on embryonic stem-cell lines made through a technique calledSCNT or cloning, which requires creating embryos in the lab.

This technique could one day prove useful because it can turn a person's own cells into a customized embryonic stem-cell line and would therefore stop people's immune systems from rejecting stem-cell treatments.

In 2013 and 2014, two groups published the firstdemonstrations of this technique with human cells. But all such research in the US must be done with private funds.

On top of all of this, some states directly ban some or all stem-cell research within their borders no matter who's paying for it:

Note: Minnesota has a vague law on the books that's currently interpreted to mean that embryonic stem-cell research is ok. Missouri's law is a bit self-conflicting. For more details, check out The Hinxton Group's site, which includes quotations from the relevant regulations themselves.

"We went from more of a legislative vacuum to our current patchwork quilt, with legislation enacted in all of the jurisdictions where interest groups had enough clout to get the job done," Alan Regenberg, Director of Outreach and Research Support at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, told me in an email.

Several things could bring the stem-cell fight back. For example, a clinical trial could come out with some really impressive results on some sort of stem-cell treatment renewing the debate over whether regulations should be loosened. Conversely, a social conservative could run for president and bring up the ethical issues on the campaign trail. And no matter who lands in the White House in 2016, its reasonable to expect some major changes in federal policy and fast. Both George W. Bush and Barack Obama implemented their rules within the first year in office.

In 2013, Obama's stem-cell policy survived Supreme Court case Sherley v. Sebelius.

A piece on the first embryonic stem-cellmedical trials in people, by Sarah Boseley at the Guardian

Update: Clarified the current interpretation of Minnesota's stem cell laws and changed the map to match.

Go here to read the rest:
Stem cells were one of the biggest controversies of 2001. Where are they now? - Vox

An artist's impression of a reprogrammed stem cell.

Ella Marushchenko

In a curious confluence of the information technology industrys favourite word and scientists weakness for punning acronyms, researchers in St Louis, Missouri, in the US, have created what have been dubbed SMART cells.

SMART, in this case, stands for Stem cells Modified for Autonomous Regenerative Therapy, and their creation by a team based jointly at the Washington University School of Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children promises a novel treatment for arthritis and other chronic conditions.

The team, led by Washington Universitys Farshid Guilak, reasoned that much of the pain and discomfort endured by arthritis suffers arises from inflammation caused by damaged cartilage. Reducing that inflammation, therefore, is an important therapeutic outcome.

To test this the team used mice. First, they harvested skin cells from tails, then turned them into stem cells. Next, using CRISPR gene-editing technology they excised a gene associated with inducing inflammation and replaced it with one that dampens it.

The resulting cells were then induced to grow into cartilage cells in cultures. The tissue thus produced was found to be free of inflammation.

In a clever move perhaps making the stem cells doubly smart Guilak and his colleagues further modified the stem cells so that they would light up when experiencing inflammation, making them easy to spot.

The research is published in in the journal Stem Cell Reports, and includes the news that research has now commenced using live mice.

Should the SMART cells eventually be found to be a viable avenue for human treatment, the results promise to be both more effective and better focused than existing arthritis drugs.

Pharmacological approaches to arthritis treatment mainly target the inflammation-promoting molecule called tumor necrosis factor alpha. The problem, however, is that they all do so on a system-wide basis, weakening the immune system and making patients more liable to infection.

We want to use our gene-editing technology as a way to deliver targeted therapy in response to localised inflammation in a joint, as opposed to current drug therapies that can interfere with the inflammatory response through the entire body, says Guilak.

Study co-author Jonathan Brunger says the most pleasing aspect of the teams CRISPR-based approach is that it effectively highjacks the inflammatory pathway and turns it into a protective mechanism.

The ability to build living tissues from smart stem cells that precisely respond to their environment opens up exciting possibilities for investigation in regenerative medicine, he adds.

Link:
SMART cells to fight arthritis - Cosmos

Science Daily

Stem cells edited to fight arthritis: Goal is vaccine that targets ... Science Daily Using CRISPR technology, a team of researchers rewired stem cells' genetic circuits to produce an anti-inflammatory arthritis drug when the cells encounter ... Fighting arthritis: Researchers edit stem cells to fight inflammationKasmir Monitor CRISPR-SMART Cells Regenerate Cartilage, Secrete Anti-Arthritis DrugGenetic Engineering & Biotechnology News all 6 news articles »

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Stem cells edited to fight arthritis: Goal is vaccine that targets ... - Science Daily