Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) represents the second most frequent skin cancer with more than half million new patients affected every year in the world. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a population of cancer cells that have been described in many different cancers, including skin SCCs and that feed tumor growth, could be resistant to therapy thus being responsible for tumor relapse after therapy. However, still very little is known about the mechanisms that regulate CSCs functions.

In a new study published and making the cover of Cell Stem Cell, researchers led by Pr. Cdric Blanpain, MD/PhD, professor and WELBIO investigator at the IRIBHM, Universit libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, report the mechanisms regulating the different functions of Twist1 controlling skin tumour initiation, cancer stem cell function and tumor progression.

Benjamin Beck and colleagues used state of the art genetic mouse models to dissect, the functional role and molecular mechanisms by which Twist1 controls tumor initiation, cancer stem cell function and tumor progression. In collaboration with Dr Sandrine Rorive and Pr Isabelle Salmon from the department of Pathology at the Erasme Hospital, ULB and the group of Jean-Christophe Marine (VIB, KUL Leuven), they demonstrated that while Twist1 is not expressed in the normal skin, Twist1 deletion prevents skin cancer formation demonstrating the essential role of Twist1 during tumorigenesis. "It was really surprising to observe the essential role of Twist1 at the earliest step of tumor formation, as Twist1 was thought to stimulate tumor progression and metastasis" comments Benjamin Beck, the first author of this study.

The authors demonstrate that different levels of Twist1 are necessary for tumor initiation and progression. Low level of Twist1 is required for the initiation of benign tumors, while higher level of Twist1 is necessary for tumor progression. They also demonstrate that Twist1 is essential for tumor maintenance and the regulation of cancer stem cell function. The researchers also uncovered that the different functions of Twist1 are regulated by different molecular mechanisms, and identified a p53 independent role of Twist1 in regulating cancer stem cell functions.

In conclusion, this work shows that Twist1, a well-known regulator of tumor progression, is necessary for tumor initiation, regulation of cancer stem cell function and malignant progression. "It was really interesting to see that different levels of Twist1 are required to carry out these different tumor functions and that these different Twist1 functions are regulated by different molecular pathways. Given the diversity of cancers expressing Twist1, the identification of the different mechanisms controlled by Twist1 are likely to be relevant for other cancers" comments Cdric Blanpain, the last and corresponding author of this study.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Libre de Bruxelles, Universit. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

See the rest here:
Skin cancer: New mechanism involved in tumor initiation, growth and progression

Tampa, FL (PRWEB) January 06, 2015

One million Americans experience acute myocardial infarctions, commonly known as a heart attack, each year and of those, approximately 300,000 to 500,000 individuals develop heart failure. A heart attack occurs when blood stops flowing properly to a part of the heart and the heart muscle is injured and can die because it is not receiving enough oxygen.

Cryo-Cell International has agreed to provide the Center with cord blood collections that have previously been donated to Cryo-Cell International by parents and designated for research use to advance regenerative medicine. These cord blood collections will allow the Centers scientists to continue to investigate the mechanisms whereby stem cells can be beneficial in limiting damage from heart attacks. A team at the Center, led by researcher and cardiology specialist, Robert J. Henning, M.D., has demonstrated in research animals that stem cells obtained from human umbilical cord blood can release a large number of biologically active growth factors and anti-inflammatory chemicals that can limit the substantial heart inflammation, cell injury and cell destruction that occurs with acute heart attacks, significantly reducing the effects of heart attacks, even when administered up to 24 hours after the heart attack.

We are making good progress in our studies thanks to the cord blood stem cells contributed by Cryo-Cell International, reports Henning.

Cryo-Cell International and others have demonstrated that human umbilical cord blood stem cells can be preserved for more than 20 years without loss of cell viability or potency. Consequently, parents who have the foresight to use cord blood banking services upon their babys birth can potentially use these cord blood stem cells years later to provide a regenerative treatment for a family member if an acute heart attack occurs. The Centers scientists hope to bring umbilical cord blood stem cell therapy to the treatment of patients who have experienced heart attacks within the next five years.

Heart disease is still the number one leading cause of death in the United States. We feel very fortunate that we can provide a valuable and consistent source of cord blood banked stem cells to the Center for Cardiovascular Research, said David Portnoy, Chairman and Co-CEO of Cryo-Cell International.

About Cryo-Cell International

Founded in 1989, Cryo-Cell International, Inc. is the world's first and most highly accredited private cord blood bank. More than 500,000 parents from 87 countries trust Cryo-Cell International to preserve their family members' stem cells. Cryo-Cell International's mission is to provide clients with state-of-the-art stem cell cryopreservation services and support the advancement of regenerative medicine. Cryo-Cell International operates in a facility that is FDA registered, cGMP-/cGTP-compliant and is licensed in all states requiring licensure. In addition to earning AABB accreditation for cord blood banking, Cryo-Cell International is also the first U.S. (for private use only) cord blood bank to receive FACT accreditation for voluntarily adhering to the most stringent cord blood quality standards set by any internationally recognized, independent accrediting organization. Cryo-Cell International is ISO 9001:2008 certified by BSI, an internationally recognized, quality assessment organization. Cryo-Cell International is a publicly traded company, OTCQB: CCEL. For more information, please visit http://www.Cryo-Cell.com.

About the University of South Florida Center for Cardiovascular Research

The University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicines Cardiovascular Services Research Unit has been in existence for almost 20 years and evaluates pharmacotherapeutic agents and the latest treatment and devices for cardiovascular disease.

Read more:
Cord Blood Banking Leader, Cryo-Cell International, Continues to Support the Advancement of Regenerative Medicine

SAN FRANCISCO -

Mike Hinshaw and Katie Jackson have been a couple since college, but they've known each other much longer.

"We've been together forever. I've actually known Mike since I was five years old," Jackson said.

A marriage and three kids later, they've been through good times and bad. The worst came nine years ago when Hinshaw found out he had Huntington's disease.

"My father had it. He died from it," Hinshaw explained.

Huntington's causes uncontrollable movements and mental decline. There's no cure.

"Unfortunately, it ends in death. It's a fatal disease," said Dr. Vicki Wheelock, neurologist, health sciences clinical professor of neurology and director of HDSA Center of Excellence at UC Davis.

Now, researchers are gearing up for a new trial in humans. Patients will have special bone marrow stem cells injected directly into their brains.

"We've engineered them to make a growth factor that's like a fertilizer for the neurons," said Dr. Jan Nolta, professor and director of the Institute for Regenerative Cures at UC Davis.

That growth factor, BDNF, restored healthy brain cells and reduced behavior deficits in mice. Researchers hope the stem cells will also be the answer to slowing the disease in humans.

Read the original:
Health Beat: Stem cells: A weapon for Huntington's?

12 hours ago

A powerful "genome editing" technology known as CRISPR has been used by researchers since 2012 to trim, disrupt, replace or add to sequences of an organism's DNA. Now, scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine have shown that the system also precisely and efficiently alters human stem cells.

In a recent online report on the work in Molecular Therapy, the Johns Hopkins team says the findings could streamline and speed efforts to modify and tailor human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) for use as treatments or in the development of model systems to study diseases and test drugs.

"Stem cell technology is quickly advancing, and we think that the days when we can use iPSCs for human therapy aren't that far away," says Zhaohui Ye, Ph.D., an instructor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "This is one of the first studies to detail the use of CRISPR in human iPSCs, showcasing its potential in these cells."

CRISPR originated from a microbial immune system that contains DNA segments known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. The engineered editing system makes use of an enzyme that nicks together DNA with a piece of small RNA that guides the tool to where researchers want to introduce cuts or other changes in the genome.

Previous research has shown that CRISPR can generate genomic changes or mutations through these interventions far more efficiently than other gene editing techniques, such as TALEN, short for transcription activator-like effector nuclease.

Despite CRISPR's advantages, a recent study suggested that it might also produce a large number of "off-target" effects in human cancer cell lines, specifically modification of genes that researchers didn't mean to change.

To see if this unwanted effect occurred in other human cell types, Ye; Linzhao Cheng, Ph.D., a professor of medicine and oncology in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and their colleagues pitted CRISPR against TALEN in human iPSCs, adult cells reprogrammed to act like embryonic stem cells. Human iPSCs have already shown enormous promise for treating and studying disease.

The researchers compared the ability of both genome editing systems to either cut out pieces of known genes in iPSCs or cut out a piece of these genes and replace it with another. As model genes, the researchers used JAK2, a gene that when mutated causes a bone marrow disorder known as polycythemia vera; SERPINA1, a gene that when mutated causes alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency, an inherited disorder that may cause lung and liver disease; and AAVS1, a gene that's been recently discovered to be a "safe harbor" in the human genome for inserting foreign genes.

Their comparison found that when simply cutting out portions of genes, the CRISPR system was significantly more efficient than TALEN in all three gene systems, inducing up to 100 times more cuts. However, when using these genome editing tools for replacing portions of the genes, such as the disease-causing mutations in JAK2 and SERPINA1 genes, CRISPR and TALEN showed about the same efficiency in patient-derived iPSCs, the researchers report.

See original here:
'CRISPR' science: Newer genome editing tool shows promise in engineering human stem cells

Seal Beach, Laguna Hills, and Lake Forest, California (PRWEB) January 05, 2015

The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center announces a series of free public seminars on the use of adult stem cells for various degenerative and inflammatory conditions. They will be provided by Dr. Thomas A. Gionis, Surgeon-in-Chief.

The seminars will be held on Sunday, January 11, 2015, at 2:30pm and 4:30pm at Marie Callenders Grill, 12489 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, CA 90740; Tuesday, January 13, 2015, at 2:00pm and 4:00pm at Pollys Pies, 23701 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653; Friday, January 16, 2015, at 1:30pm and 3:30pm at Marie Callenders Grill, 12489 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, CA 90740; Saturday, January 17, 2015, at 2:30pm and 4:30pm at Dennys Restaurant, 23515 El Toro Road, Lake Forest, CA 92630. Please RSVP at (949) 679-3889.

The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, along with sister affiliates, the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center and the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, abide by investigational protocols using adult adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) which can be deployed to improve patients quality of life for a number of chronic, degenerative and inflammatory conditions and diseases. ADSCs are taken from the patients own adipose (fat) tissue (found within a cellular mixture called stromal vascular fraction (SVF)). ADSCs are exceptionally abundant in adipose tissue. The adipose tissue is obtained from the patient during a 15 minute mini-liposuction performed under local anesthesia in the doctors office. SVF is a protein-rich solution containing mononuclear cell lines (predominantly adult autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, and important Growth Factors that facilitate the stem cell process and promote their activity.

ADSCs are the body's natural healing cells - they are recruited by chemical signals emitted by damaged tissues to repair and regenerate the bodys injured cells. The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center only uses Adult Autologous Stem Cells from a persons own fat No embryonic stem cells are used. Current areas of study include: Emphysema, COPD, Asthma, Heart Failure, Parkinsons Disease, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohns Disease, and degenerative orthopedic joint conditions. For more information, or if someone thinks they may be a candidate for one of the adult stem cell protocols offered by the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, they may contact Dr. Gionis directly at (949) 679-3889, or see a complete list of the Centers study areas at: http://www.IrvineStemCellsUSA.com.

About the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center: The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, along with sister affiliates, the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center and the Manhattan Regenerative Medicine Medical Group, is an affiliate of the Cell Surgical Network (CSN); we are located in Irvine and Westlake, California. We provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. We utilize a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by a mini-liposuction on the same day. The investigational protocols utilized by the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center have been reviewed and approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board) which is registered with the U.S. Department of Health, Office of Human Research Protection; and the study is registered with Clinicaltrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). For more information, visit our websites: http://www.IrvineStemCellsUSA.com, http://www.MiamiStemCellsUSA.com or http://www.NYStemCellsUSA.com.

Read the rest here:
The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center Announces Adult Stem Cell Public Seminars in Orange County, California

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of stem cell therapy developerNeuralstem (CUR) rose 4.62% to $2.72 on higher-than-average volume in afternoon trading Wednesday in sympathy with peer companyBrainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) .

Brainstorm intends to release the final results from its Phase 2a trial of its stem cell therapy NurOwn on Monday. The company describes NurOwn as an "autologous, adult stem cell therapy technology" designed to treat ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

The company will host a conference call on Monday to discuss the results.

Exclusive Report: Jim Cramers Best Stocks for 2015

Jim Cramer and Stephanie Link reveal their investment tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.

Access the tool that DOMINATES the Russell 2000 and the S&P 500.

Jim Cramer's protg, David Peltier, uncovers low dollar stocks with extraordinary upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.

More:
One Reason Neuralstem (CUR) Stock is Rising Today

NEW DELHI: India may soon have an official database on stem cell donors and recipients. The health ministry is evaluating a proposal along with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to create a donor registry as part of the National Health Mission (NHM), a senior official told TOI.

The proposal suggests enrolling all district hospitals in the first phase to seek stem cell details from across the country. "Once a stem cell donor registry is in place, a willing donor can be contacted and one can coordinate easily. Also, this would enhance access to safe blood," the official said.

Stem cells, found in bone marrow, are like building blocks which can grow into any normal cell of the body such as red blood cells to carry oxygen, white blood cells to fight infection, or platelets to stop bleeding.

Apart from the donor registry, the ministry is also looking at creating facilities for human leucocyte antigen (HLA) typing. HLA-typing is a process conducted for matching donors and recipients of stem cell. HLA-typing is necessary to minimize rejection of stem cell transplant, experts say.

Once created, this would be the first government registry in the country. Till now, such registries have been run in the country by a few NGOs such as Bharat Stem Cells.

According to Bharat Stem Cells, there is usually 25% chance of a patient finding a matching donor within the family. The rest depend on unrelated voluntary stem cell donors.

Stem cell therapy has been shown to be effective in various blood disorders and in treatment of cancer. It is widely used in bone marrow transplantation. However, stem cell treatment remains expensive because of limited research as well as unavailability and lack of coordination between donors and recipients. Some private hospitals charge as much as Rs 1 lakh per session for stem cell therapy. On an average, stem cell treatment is estimated to cost around Rs 15-16 lakh.

According to the official, the idea behind including stem cell into NHM is to make it affordable by creating records and providing facilities.

Stay updated on the go with The Times of Indias mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.

More:
Stem cell registry will make cancer treatment cheaper

Scientists are now creating primordial germ cells (precursors to egg and sperm) with human stem cells and even skin cells. This new work,published inCelltoday, takes us beyond what was previously just done using stem cells.

One of the first events in the early development of both mice and men is the creation of primordial germ cells (PGCs). After an egg is fertilized by sperm, embryonic stem cells begin to differentiate into various basic cell types that make up the fetus. A small number of these stem cellsdevelop into primordial germ cells, which will go on to become egg or sperm. Germ cells are immortal in the sense that they provide an enduring link between all generations, carrying genetic information from one generation to the next,Cambridges Azim Suranisays in auniversity statement.

Researchers have now figured out how to reprogram cells to act like embryonic stem cells. These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have been used to develop humanretinasandintestines, for example, according to IFLScience. Researchers have also created iPS cells that could differentiate into primordial germ cells, but its only been successful in rodents.

Now, a team of researchers from the U.K. and Israel traced the genetic chain of events that directs a human stem cell to develop into a primordial germ cell. This stage in our development is called specification,and once PGCs become specified,they continue developing toward precursor sperm cells or ova pretty much on autopilot,Jacob Hanna from the Weizmann Institute of Sciencesays in anews release.

A master gene called SOX17 works to direct stem cells which in previous studies was found to direct stem cells into becoming lung, gut and pancreas cells. But the gene working as part of primordial germ cell specification is a new development.

The international team followed their discovery by actually making primordial germ cells in the lab. Using both embryonic stem cells and iPS cells (reprogrammed adult skin cells) from both males and females, the researchersmade sex cell precursors with up to 40 percent efficiency. When they compared the protein markers of their new, lab-grown PGCs with real PGCs collected from aborted fetuses,Nature reports, they were found to be very similar.

Get our daily newsletter or follow us.

Please enter your email below:

See the rest here:
Skin cells are being used to create artificial sperm and eggs

A group of scientists has created artificial human sperm and eggs using human embryonic stem cells and skin cells. While researchers have already previously accomplished this using rodents, this is the first time they were able to replicate the process with human cells.

Their final products were not actually working sperm and eggs, but rather germ cells that potentially could mature and become viable for fertility. The study's findings were published Wednesday in the journal Cell.

"Germ cells are 'immortal' in the sense that they provide an enduring link between all generations, carrying genetic information from one generation to the next," Azim Surani, PhD, professor of physiology and reproduction at the University of Cambridge, said in a press release.

16 Photos

Sperm wear hard hats and live for days? It's true, and that's just the beginning...

When an egg is fertilized by a sperm, it begins to divide into a group of cells called a blastocyst, which is the stage right before the embryo is formed. Some of the cells inside this blastocyst cluster will develop into a fetus, while others eventually become the placenta.

Some cells are set up to become stem cells, which will then have the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body. And some cells in the fetus become primordial germ cells and eventually evolve into the cells of either sperm or eggs, which will allow this offspring to pass their genes on to a future generation.

In the study, the researchers identified a single gene known as SOX17, which is directly responsible for ordering human stem cells to become the cells that will turn into sperm and eggs. The scientists say this discovery on its own is surprising, because this gene is not involved in the creation of primordial cells in rodents. In humans, the SOX17 gene is also involved in helping to develop cells of the lungs, gut and pancreas.

The scientists harvested these cells by culturing human embryonic stem cells for five days. They then showed that the same process could be replicated using adult skin cells.

This doesn't mean men and women will soon be donating skin cells rather than sperm and egg at fertility clinics. Eventually, however, the findings could open the door to more intensive research on human genetics and certain cancers, and could impact fertility treatments sometime in the future.

More:
Scientists create artificial human eggs and sperm

Cambridge researchers turned stem cells into precursors of egg and sperm Scientists believe the precursors could then grow into mature sex cells It means genetically-identical sex cells could be used in future IVF therapy

By Steph Cockroft for MailOnline

Published: 16:10 EST, 24 December 2014 | Updated: 10:51 EST, 25 December 2014

146 shares

142

View comments

Researchers have used skin cells to make primitive artificial sperm and eggs in a move that could transform fertility treatment.

Scientists in Cambridge made the sex cells by culturing human embryonic stem cells for five days under carefully-controlled conditions.

They then showed that the same process can convert adults' skin tissue into early-stage sperm and eggs.

Scientists have made primitive artificial sperm and eggs which could transform fertility treatment. Pictured: A single sperm being injected directly into an egg during IVF (file picture)

Read the original post:
Scientists use skin cells to make artificial primitive sperm and eggs

Sacramento, Calif. (PRWEB) December 22, 2014

Using modified human stem cells, a team of UC Davis scientists has developed an improved gene therapy strategy that in animal models shows promise as a functional cure for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. The achievement, which involves an improved technique to purify populations of HIV-resistant stem cells, opens the door for human clinical trials that were recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

We have devised a gene therapy strategy to generate an HIV-resistant immune system in patients, said Joseph Anderson, principal investigator of the study and assistant professor of internal medicine. We are now poised to evaluate the effectiveness of this therapy in human clinical trials.

Anderson and his colleagues modified human stem cells with genes that resist HIV infection and then transplanted a near-purified population of these cells into immunodeficient mice. The mice subsequently resisted HIV infection, maintaining signs of a healthy immune system.

The findings are now online in a paper titled Safety and efficacy of a tCD25 pre-selective combination anti-HIV lentiviral vector in human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and will be published in the journal Stem Cells.

Using a viral vector, the researchers inserted three different genes that confer HIV resistance into the genome of human hematopoietic stem cells cells destined to develop into immune cells in the body. The vector also contains a gene which tags the surface of the HIV-resistant stem cells. This allows the gene-modified stem cells to be purified so that only the ones resistant to HIV infection are transplanted. The stem cells were then delivered into the animal models, with the genetically engineered human stem cells generating an HIV-resistant immune system in the mice.

The three HIV-resistant genes act on different aspects of HIV infection one prevents HIV from exposing its genetic material when inside a human cell; another prevents HIV from attaching to target cells; and the third eliminates the function of a viral protein critical for HIV gene expression. In combination, the genes protect against different HIV strains and provide defense against HIV as it mutates.

After exposure to HIV infection, the mice given the bioengineered cells avoided two important hallmarks of HIV infection: a drop in human CD4+ cell levels and a rise in HIV virus in the blood. CD4+ is a glycoprotein found on the surface of white blood cells, which are an important part of the normal immune system. CD4+ cells in patients with HIV infection are carefully monitored by physicians so that therapies can be adjusted to keep them at normal level: If levels are too low, patients become susceptible to opportunistic infections characteristic of AIDS. In the experiments, mice that received the genetically engineered stem cells and infected with two different strains of HIV were still able to maintain normal CD4+ levels. The mice also showed no evidence of HIV virus in their blood.

Although other HIV investigators had previously bioengineered stem cells to be resistant to HIV and conducted clinical trials in human patients, efforts were stymied by technical problems in developing a pure population of the modified cells to be transplanted into patients. During the process of genetic engineering, a significant percentage of stem cells remain unmodified, leading to poor resistance when the entire population of modified cells is transplanted into humans or animal models. In the current investigation, the UC Davis team introduced a handle onto the surface of the bioengineered cells so that the cells could be recognized and selected. This development achieved a population of HIV-resistant stem cells that was greater than 94 percent pure.

Developing a technique to purify the population of HIV-resistant stem cells is the most important breakthrough of this research, said Anderson, whose laboratory is based at the UC Davis Institute for Regenerative Cures. We now have a strategy that shows great promise for offering a functional cure for the disease.

Visit link:
New Technique for Bioengineering Stem Cells Shows Promise in HIV Resistance

Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 23, 2014

Earlier this year in a June 24 international conference presentation, Dr. James L. Sherley, director of the Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC (ASCTC) focused attention on an often overlooked and under appreciated unique property of adult tissue stem cells. His title Asymmetric Self-Renewal by Distributed Stem Cells: Misunderstood in the Past, Important for the Future, embodied the essence of his message to congress participants. He gave the address at the 4th World Congress on Cell Science and Stem Cell Research in Valencia, Spain.

The international congress was organized by the Omics Group as a part of its mission to foster the dissemination of leading discoveries and advances in life sciences research. Their posting this month of the slides from Dr. Sherley's June 24 keynote address now provides worldwide open access to life sciences investigators - stem cell biologists in particular - of the concepts that he emphasized.

In a 2008 publication [Breast Disease 29, 37-46, 2008], Sherley coined the new term distributed stem cells (DSCs) as a biology-based name for all natural tissue stem cells that are not embryonic in origin. Adult stem cells are included under the DSC heading. DSCs do not make every cell in the body. Their nature is to produce only a limited tissue-specific or organ-specific distribution of the total possible mature cell types. So, for example, liver DSCs make mature liver cells, but not mature cells found in other organs like the lungs.

Since 2001 and the start of "the stem cell debate," Sherley has insisted that only DSCs can be effective for developing new cellular therapies. In his keynote address, he explained to attendees why the counterparts of DSCs human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and more recently developed induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) could not.

Though many stem cell scientists recognize and acknowledge the genetic defects, incomplete differentiation, and tumor formation problems of hESCs and iPSCs - which their proponents suggest can be solved - few appreciate their greater problem, which cannot be solved. Unlike DSCs, hESCs and iPSCs lack the property of asymmetric self-renewal.

Sherleys main message is that asymmetric self-renewal, which is the gnomonic for DSCs the very property that defines DSCs is essential for effective cellular therapies. Asymmetric self-renewal means that DSCs can actively multiply with simultaneous reproduction of themselves and production of mature cells. This ability allows DSCs to replenish mature cells, which are continuously lost from tissues and organs, but not lose their genetic blueprint required for tissue and organ renewal and repair.

The asymmetric self-renewal of DSCs is a crucial consideration for all aspects of their study and use. Sherley argues that overlooking it is holding back progress in regenerative medicine. Asymmetric self-renewal is the factor that limits the production of DSCs; but it is so unique to them that it can also be used to identify DSCs, which are notorious for being elusive. The ASCTCs patented technologies for producing and counting DSCs for research and clinical development are grounded in the companys special research and bioengineering expertise for DSC asymmetric self-renewal.

Asymmetric self-renewal may even play a role in the efficient production of iPSCs. At the end of his address, Sherley announced the approval of a new ASCTC patent. The patent covers the invention of a method to make iPSCs from DSCs that were produced by regulating their asymmetric self-renewal (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office No. 8,759,098).

The ASCTC anticipates that despite the new technologys origin in DSC research, it will advance human disease research based on iPSCs. Although iPSCs are not suitable for cell therapy applications, they are uniquely able to provide disease research models for hard to obtain cell types found in patients (e.g., brain cells from autism patients, cardiac cells from heart disease patients).

Excerpt from:
Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLCs Director Sherley's Address on Whats Holding Back Regenerative Medicine ...

(New York City) A new test may reveal which patients will respond to treatment for graft versus host disease (GVHD), an often life-threatening complication of stem cell transplants (SCT) used to treat leukemia and other blood disorders, according to a study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online today in the journal Lancet Haematology and in print in the January issue.

Patients with fatal blood cancers like leukemia often require allogenic stem cell SCT to survive. Donor stem cells are transplanted to a recipient, but not without the risk of developing GVHD, a life-threatening complication and major cause of death after SCT. The disease, which can be mild to severe, occurs when the transplanted donor cells (known as the graft) attack the patient (referred to as the host). Symptom severity, however, does not accurately define how patients will respond to treatment and patients are often treated alike with high-dose steroids. Although SCT cures cancer in 50 percent of the patients, 25 percent die from relapsed cancer and there remaining go into remission but later succumb to effects of GVHD.

"High dose steroids is the only proven treatment for GVHD," said James L. M. Ferrara, MD, DSc, Ward-Coleman Chair in Cancer Medicine Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director of Hematologic Malignancies Translational Research Center at Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai. "Those with low-risk GVHD are often over-treated and face significant side-effects from treatment. Patients with high risk GVHD are undertreated and the GVHD progresses, often with fatal consequences. Our goal is to provide the right treatment for each patient. We hope to identify those patients at higher risk and design an aggressive intervention while tailoring a less-aggressive approach for those with low-risk."

Dr. Ferrara, along with a multi-center team of researchers, developed and tested this new scoring system using almost 500 patient blood samples with newly diagnosed GVHD in varying grades from two different centers. They used three validated biomarkers TNFR1, ST2 and Reg3 to create an algorithm that calculated the probability of non-relapse mortality (usually caused by GVHD) that provided three distinct risk scores to predict the patient's response to GVHD treatment.

The acid test was to evaluate the algorithm in a validation set of 300 additional patients from twenty different SCT centers throughout the US. The algorithm worked perfectly, and the cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality significantly increased as the GVHD score increased, and so the response rate to primary GVHD treatment decreased.

"This new scoring system will help identify patient who may not respond to standard treatments, and may require an experimental and more aggressive approach," said Dr. Ferrara. "And it will also help guide treatment for patients with lower-risk GVHD who may be over-treated. This will allow us to personalize treatment at the onset of the disease. Future algorithms will prove increasingly useful to develop precision medicine for all SCT patients."

In order to capitalize on this discovery, Dr. Ferrara has created the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) which consists of a group of ten SCT centers in the US and Europe who will collaborate to use this new scoring system to test new treatments for acute GVHD. Dr. Ferrara and colleagues have also written a protocol to treat high-risk GVHD that has been approved by the FDA.

###

Co-collaborators included University of Michigan, University of Regensburg, and the Blood and Marrow Clinical Trials Network.

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, the American Cancer Society, and the Judith Devries Fund.

Visit link:
Test predicts response to treatment for complication of leukemia stem cell treatment

The potential of SCs to replace dead or damaged cells in any tissue of the body heralds the advent of a new field of medicine that is delivering cures for diseases now thought to be untreatable

Stem cell therapy represents a promising avenue for the treatment of disorders like

Q1: What are stem cells? Answer: Stem cells are class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types .They have the unique properties of self renewal and differentiation. Differentiation property of stem cells help them to form another type of cell with more specialized function such as brain cell, red blood cell or muscle cell and also the entire organ. During the foetal development, cells divide, migrate, specialize and form the organ. After birth, stem cells are also present in bone marrow which can be used to treat various diseases.

Q2: Which disorders can be treated using Stem Cells? Answer: Currently stem cells are being used successfully to treat various (disorders) diseases like Cerebral palsy, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic brain injury, Paralysis, Brain Stroke Osteoarthritis, Autism etc. Apart from this, stem cells can be used to treat liver disorders and Diabetes.

Q3: How is Stem Cell Therapy carried out? Answer: Stem Cell therapy is a very simple and painless process.Mesenchymal stem cells are injected directly into the synivial fluid in the knee. The whole process is carried out very carefully under sterile conditions.

Go here to read the rest:
Stem Cell Therapy in Pune | Stem Cell Treatment | Inamdar ...

This treatment will only be allowed under carefully defined conditions, however, so that the outcomes can be carefully monitored to see if the treatment works and doesnt have any unexpected side-effects.

Stem cells can act as a repair system for the body.

Limbal stem cells are located in the eye at the border between the cornea the clear front part of the eye - and the sclera the white of the eye.

Physical or chemical burns can cause loss of these stem cells, resulting in limbal stem cell deficiency, LSCD, a condition that is estimated to affect about 3.3 out of 100,000 people in the European Union and around 650 people in Britain.

Symptoms include pain, sensitivity to light, inflammation, excessive blood vessel growth, clouding of the cornea, and eventually blindness.

In LSCD the limbal stem cells become so diminished that they eyes can no longer make new cells to repair damage.

The new treatment takes a small sample of the patients healthy cornea, removes the stem cells and grows them until there are sufficient numbers to put back into the eye. The cells themselves then repair the damage.

Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has successfully treated around 20 people with Holocar so far in trials.

Prof Chris Mason, from University College London, told the BBC: "This move would enable far more people to access it, you could now prescribe this."

The EMA decision to approve Holoclar will now be sent to the European Commission for market authorization. It will then be up to Nice to decide whether to approve the therapy for use on the NHS.

See more here:
First stem-cell therapy approved for medical use in Europe

Pre and Post Stem Cell Therapy
Russell Scott was a top cyclist for the 7-11 team. He was diagnosed with MS in 1991. After every traditional FDA approved drug he decided to try stem cell therapy. He has been on a steady...

By: Teresa Scott

Read the rest here:
Pre and Post Stem Cell Therapy - Video

TIME Health medicine This New Kind of Stem Cell May Revolutionize How We Treat Diseases Scientists have created a new type of stem cell that could speed treatments for diseases and make them safer

Ever since Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka found a way to treat skin cells with four genes and reprogram them back to their embryonic state, scientists have been buzzing over the promise of stem cell therapies. Stem cells can be coaxed to become any of the bodys cell types, so they could potentially replace diseased or missing cells in conditions such as diabetes or Alzheimers. And Yamanakas method also meant that these cells could be made from patients themselves, so they wouldnt trigger dangerous immune rejections.

Now scientists led by Dr. Andras Nagy at Mount Sinai Hospital Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto report an exciting new advance that could push stem cells even closer to the clinic. In a series of papers in the journals Nature and Nature Communications, the group describes a new class of stem cell, which they called F class, that they generated in the lab.

The F class cells, says Nagy, have a few advantages over the Yamanaka-generated induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. While the iPS cells are created by using viruses to introduce four genes that reprogram the cells, Nagys team relied on a technique they developed several years ago using transposonssmall pieces of DNA that can insert themselves into different parts of a genome. Unlike viruses, these transposons can be popped out of the genome if theyre no longer needed, and they dont carry the potential risk of viral infection.

MORE: Stem-Cell Research: The Quest Resumes

Nagys team found that the transposons were much more reliable vehicles for delivering the reprogramming genes exactly where they were needed to efficiently turn the clock back on the skin cells. Whats more, they could use the common antibiotic doxycycline to turn the four genes on and off; adding doxycycline to the cell culture would trigger the transposons to activate, thus turning on the genes, while removing the antibiotic would turn them off.

In this way, says Nagy, he was able to pump up the efficiency of the reprogramming process. Using the Yamanaka method, it was hit-or-miss whether the viruses would find their proper place in a cells genome, and more uncertainty over how effectively it could direct the cell to activate the four reprogramming genes. F class cells are much more similar [in the culture dish], like monozygotic twins while iPS cells are more like brothers and sisters, he says.

That consistency is a potential advantage of the transposon method, since any stem cell-based treatment would require a robust population of stem cells which can then be treated with the proper compounds to develop into insulin-making pancreatic cells to treat diabetes, or new nerve cells to replace dying ones in Alzheimers, or fresh heart muscle to substitute for scarred tissue after a heart attack.

MORE: Stem Cell Miracle? New Therapies May Cure Chronic Conditions like Alzheimers

Nagys team also described, with the most detail to date, exactly how mature cells like skin cells perform the ultimate molecular feat and become forever young again when exposed to the four genes. They analyzed the changes in the cells DNA, the proteins they made, and more. Its similar to high definition TV, he says. We see things much better with much more detail. We expect that having that high resolution characterization will allow us to better understand what is happening during this process at the molecular level. And obviously that better understanding is going to affect what we can do with these cells to make them better, safer and more efficient in cell-based treatments in the future.

See the original post:
This New Kind of Stem Cell May Revolutionize How We Treat Diseases

Nik Spencer/Nature

Eggs and sperm do it when they combine to make an embryo. John Gurdon did it in the 1960s, when he used intestinal cells from tadpoles to generate genetically identical frogs. Ian Wilmut did it too, when he used an adult mammalian cell to make Dolly the sheep in 1996. Reprogramming reverting differentiated cells back to an embryonic state, with the extraordinary ability to create all the cells in the body has been going on for a very long time.

Scientific interest in reprogramming rocketed after 2006, when scientists showed that adult mouse cells could be reprogrammed by the introduction of just four genes, creating what they called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells1. The method was simple enough for almost any lab to attempt, and now it accounts for more than a thousand papers per year. The hope is that pluripotent cells could be used to repair damaged or diseased tissue something that moved closer to reality this year, when retinal cells derived from iPS cells were transplanted into a woman with eye disease, marking the first time that reprogrammed cells were transplanted into humans (see Nature http://doi.org/xhz; 2004).

There is just one hitch. No one, not even the dozen or so groups of scientists who intensively study reprogramming, knows how it happens. They understand that differentiated cells go in, and pluripotent cells come out the other end, but what happens in between is one of biology's impenetrable black boxes. We're throwing everything we've got at it, says molecular biologist Knut Woltjen of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University in Japan. It's still a really confusing process. It's very complicated, what we're doing.

Kerri Smith talks to researcher Andras Nagy and reporter David Cyranoski about reprogramming cells.

You may need a more recent browser or to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Plugin.

One of the problems, stem-cell biologists say, is that their starting population contains a mix of cells, each in a slightly different molecular state. And the process for making iPS cells is currently inefficient and variable: only a tiny fraction end up fully reprogrammed and even these may differ from one another in subtle but important ways. What is more, the path to reprogramming may vary depending on the conditions under which cells are being grown, and from one lab to the next. This makes it difficult to compare experimental results, and it raises safety concerns should a mix of poorly characterized cells be used in the clinic.

But new techniques are starting to clarify the picture. By carrying out meticulous analyses of single cells and amassing reams of detailed molecular data, biologists are identifying a number of essential events that take place en route to a reprogrammed state. This week, the biggest such project an international collaboration audaciously called Project Grandiose unveiled its results26. The scientists involved used a battery of tests to take fine-scale snapshots of every stage of reprogramming and in the process, revealed an alternative state of pluripotency. It was the first high-resolution analysis of change in cell state over time, says Andras Nagy, a stem-cell biologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, who led the project. I'm not shy about saying grandiose.

I'm not shy about saying grandiose.

But there is more to do if scientists want to control the process well enough to generate therapeutic cells with ease. Yes, we can make iPS cells and yes we can differentiate them, but I think we feel that we do not control them enough says Jacob Hanna, a stem-cell biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Controlling cell behaviour at will is very cool. And the way to do it is to understand their molecular biology with great detail.

Read more from the original source:
Stem cells: The black box of reprogramming

Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) December 11, 2014

R3 Stem Cell is proud to welcome Dr. George Graf as a Featured Regenerative Medicine Doctor in the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills area. Dr. Graf is a first rate pain management doctor, who offers several types of stem cell procedures and platelet rich plasma therapy for all types of spinal conditions such as neck and back pain, arthritis, disc degeneration and more. Those interested should call (844) GET-STEM for more information and scheduling.

R3 Stem Cell is a nationwide provider of regenerative medicine products and education for both doctors and patients. The company only works with the top doctors and practices in the field of stem cell therapy. Dr. Graf is Double Board Certified and is very highly regarded by his peers and patients.

The conditions Dr. Graf treats include degenerative disc disease, spinal arthritis, scoliosis, neuropathy, failed back surgery syndrome and more. Regenerative medicine offers the potential to not only bring pain relief, but also help repair and regenerate damaged tissue.

Along with Dr. Graf being a regenerative medicine expert in the LA and Beverly Hills area, R3 also works with Dr. Raj. Dr. Raj is a Double Board Certified orthopedic specialist, who offers regenerative medicine procedures for rotator cuffs, hip and knee arthritis, sports injuries and much more. Between Dr. Graf and Dr. Raj, the whole body is covered for treatments.

All of the treatment options are outpatient and very low risk. Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy involves a person's own blood, which is immediately processed and injected into the problem area. Bone marrow derived stem cell therapy involves an aspiration from one's iliac crest, with the material being processed to concentrate stem cells and then inject into the problem area. Additionally, amniotic stem cells are offered, with the fluid being obtained from a consenting donor undergoing a scheduled C-section. The fluid is processed at an FDA regulated lab and no fetal tissue is involved whatsoever.

To date, several small studies have shown excellent benefit with regenerative medicine procedures. This has been extremely encouraging, and allowed stem cell therapy to exponentially increase in popularity nationwide. R3 Stem Cell is at the forefront in regenerative medicine, teaming with the top doctors such as Drs. Raj and Graf to help patients achieve pain relief and avoid surgery.

Call (844) GET-STEM today for more information and scheduling with a top stem cell doctor today.

Read the original:
R3 Stem Cell Welcomes Beverly Hills Pain Specialists Dr. George Graf as a Featured Regenerative Medicine Doctor

Asymmetrex
Technologies For Stem Cell Medicine.

By: Asymmetrex

The rest is here:
Asymmetrex - Video