LOS ANGELES (KABC) --

Amanda Canale doesn't take time with her daughter and niece for granted. She's just happy to feel good.

"I've been in the hospital, and I've been sick my whole life," Amanda said.

Amanda was born with a rare blood disorder that required daily shots.

"Basically, I have no white blood cells," Amanda said. "I have no immune system at all."

At 23, she developed leukemia and was given two weeks to live. She desperately needed a bone marrow transplant, but family members weren't matches. Her doctor suggested an umbilical cord blood transplant.

"The cord was a perfect match and it was available, so it was the right solution for her," Edward Agura, MD, Medical Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, said.

Cord blood contains stem cells that regenerate. Mothers of newborns can save their child's own blood or donate it. More than 30,000 transplants have been performed worldwide. However, because the blood comes from a tiny newborn, there's not much of it.

"The cord blood is rare, precious and few, and yet is more potent in its ability to grow," Dr. Agura said.

Now, doctors at Baylor are treating patients by combining cord blood from multiple donors. They've found this increases the number of stem cells and provides faster recovery. Amanda's transfusion was from a baby whose mother donated six years earlier. The procedure completely cured her cancer and blood disorder.

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Cord blood infusion saves woman's life

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BOSTON (CBS) Behaylu Barry is on the mend at home in Stratham, New Hampshire, after 34 days at Boston Childrens Hospital.

Behaylu, 13, received a bone marrow transplant in an effort to rebuild his immune system, compromised by a rare blood disorder.

I didnt feel like I had anything at all until I started doing something, said Behaylu of his aplastic anemia, diagnosed in February.

The star athlete scored seven goals in a January soccer game but a week later, felt exhausted and out of breath. Nose bleeds and infected cuts led his parents to believe something was seriously wrong. When doctors told Midori and Aidan Barry that Behaylu would need a bone marrow transplant, it was terrifying to hear.

The reality is we havent had time to think about it. Youre a parent. You go into campaign mode, said Aidan. That campaign lead the Barrys back to a village in Ethiopia where they first met Behaylu in 2007. Then 6-years-old, his biological parents couldnt afford to care for Behaylu so they put him up for adoption. Though the Barrys had three grown children of their own, they brought Behaylu home and eventually began assisting his other siblings still in Africa.

We thought we were helping them. We never thought theyd help us, said Aidan of the familys quick response to the Barrys request for cheek swabs, in an attempt to find a bone marrow donor for Behaylu. Two of his five siblings were perfect matches. Rediat, 16, and Eden, 10, quickly came to the United States.

The trio had two weeks to reconnect, even attending a New England Revolution game when the team was gracious enough to donate box seats. Behaylus compromised immune system makes it dangerous for him to be exposed to crowds.

During the visit, doctors decided Rediat should be the bone marrow donor. The two brothers underwent the painful procedure in May. Behaylu also received chemotherapy. Now his body is building a new immune system with the help of stem cells from Rediat.

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NH Teen In Recovery After International Search For Bone Marrow Donor

Cambridge News Follow us on

Friday 13 Jun 2014 3:52 AM

Written byJORDAN DAY

Leukaemia survivor, Bill Evans, pictured with his family.

2 Images

A grandfather whose life was saved by an anonymous bone marrow donor is urging others to consider donating theirs.

It was in January 2008 that Bill Evans was diagnosed with Leukaemia, aged 62, at Addenbrookes Hospital.

But thanks to the blood cancer charity, Anthony Nolan, and a generous man who still to this day Bill does not know, the father-of-two and grandfather-of-four was able to fight the cancer.

Bill, now aged 69 and who lives in Ely, said: Last weekend I celebrated my five years post transplant. There are no words to express my gratitude.

Because of Anthony Nolan and the wonderful man who donated his stem cells to me, Ive been able to see my four lovely grandchildren growing up, my wife and I have celebrated our Ruby wedding anniversary and next year I will be 70.

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Leukaemia survivor Bill Evans urges more people to donate bone marrow

A deep dive analysis of erythropoietin market
Erythropoietin is a glycoprotein hormone produced in the kidney that stimulates the production of red blood cells by bone marrow stem cells. http://www.bigma...

By: Big Market Research

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A deep dive analysis of erythropoietin market - Video

More people in the capital have signed up to donate their stem cells than residents in any other part of Britain - d espite Londoners having an unfriendly reputation .

Blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan has mapped its bone marrow register for the first time, showing the proportion of people in each region who are signed up to the bone marrow register.

The charity said that more than 80,000 people in the capital are now signed up to the register - 0.97% of London's population.

A spokeswoman said that other "selfless hotspots" are the East Midlands, where 0.91% of the population has signed up, Scotland where 0.89% of people are on the register and in the south east where 0.87% of people have pledged to donate their stem cells.

Places with the lowest rates of sign-ups are the West Midlands and the south west, where just 0.66% and 0.65% of people, respectively, have signed up to the register.

The register was set up 40 years ago to help find lifesaving matches for people with blood cancer who desperately need a stem cell, or bone marrow, transplant.

Ann O'Leary, head of register development at Anthony Nolan, said: "Donating stem cells to save the life of a stranger is a remarkably selfless act so it's great to see so many Londoners challenging the city's stereotype and signing up to our register.

"Two thirds of patients will not find a matching donor from within their families; instead they turn to Anthony Nolan to find them an unrelated donor.

"Even though London has the highest proportion of donors of any region, it's still less than one per cent of the overall population of London, which shows us that we urgently need to recruit donors from all over the UK so we can give people with blood cancer the best possible hope of a cure."

Ms O'Leary added: "Mapping the register in this way will help us to target our efforts in order to grow the register and save more lives.

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UK & World

Ryan White, CTV Calgary Published Saturday, June 7, 2014 4:38PM MDT Last Updated Saturday, June 7, 2014 6:30PM MDT

Dozens of men stepped forward to offer their cheek cells for testing in the hope of assisting patients in need of stem cell or bone marrow transplants.

On Saturday, the Village Brewery offered beer tastings and tours to those who took part in the swab-a-thon.

The event was created by Steve Carpenter, the operator of a local micro-brewery, whose brother Al was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in November. Al, married and the father of two, was in desperate need of stem cell treatment and Canadian Blood Services was unable to locate a suitable match through its stem cell and bone marrow donor program.

Steve and his friends organized a swab-a-thon in the hopes of locating a suitable donor, and Jim Button, a childhood friend of Als and the owner of Village Brewery, offered the use of his brewery.

Miraculously, in the days before the swab-a-thon was to be held, a suitable stem cell match was located for Al and he underwent treatment in an Ottawa hospital. Doctors say Al is responding well to the treatment.

Despite the fact a donor had been located for his brother, Steve made the decision to continue with his plans for Saturdays event.

We are here to tell people it is a very easy program, said Steve. We really appreciate anybody coming out to sign up on registry, be it for my brother or any other people in need.

Mike Carron was the first volunteer to step up to register and offer up a saliva sample. He says he wanted to help the cause after stem cell treatment extended the life of a close family member.

I thought it would be good to pay it forward, explains Carron. I had an uncle who needed stem cell treatment three years ago and it gave him an extra three years.

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It takes a Village; local brewery hosts swab-a-thon

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Doug Schmid in the lab at Utah Cord Bank, Thursday, May 1, 2014. Utah Cord Bank is pushing to expand operations, giving parents more options for banking their babies' cord blood

In 2007, the University of Utah began collecting umbilical cord blood donations for the National Cord Blood Stem Cell bank.

Two years later, it expanded, adding Utahs major labor wards to its public banking effort giving more women in this most fertile of states the opportunity to save a life or contribute to research.

Treating disease with stem cells

Cell therapy

Cell therapies involve transplanting human cells to replace or repair damaged or diseased blood, tissue or organs. Bone marrow transplants of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cells are the most common.

How does it work?

Hematopoietic stem cells can form mature blood cells, such as red blood cells (which carry oxygen), platelets (to stop bleeding) and white blood cells (to fight infection). In addition to treating cancer and other blood diseases, they are being tested for use with autoimmune, genetic and a host of other disorders.

Why cord blood?

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Cord blood donations a rarity in fertile, charitable Utah

Human embryonic stem cells the bodys powerful master cells might be useful for treating multiple sclerosis, researchers reported Thursday.

A team has used cells taken from frozen human embryos and transformed them into a type of cell that scientists have hoped might help treat patients with MS, a debilitating nerve disease.

Mice with an induced version of MS that paralyzed them were able to walk freely after the treatment, the teams at Advanced Cell Technology and ImStem Biotechnology in Farmington, Connecticut, reported.

The cells appeared to travel to the damaged tissues in the mice, toning down the mistaken immune system response that strips the fatty protective layer off of nerve calls. Its that damage that causes symptoms ranging from tremors and loss of balance to blurry vision and paralysis.

These embryonic stem cells were carefully nurtured to make them form a type of immature cell called a mesenchymal stem cell. These cells worked better to treat the mice than naturally developed mesenchymal stem cells taken directly from bone marrow, the team wrote in the journal Stem Cell Reports, published by the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

The top mouse is paralyzed, while the mouse on the bottom was treated with human embryonic stem cells and is able to run around.

The company released a video to show the benefits. Untreated mice were suffering. They are paralyzed. They on their backs. They are dragging their limbs. They are in really sad shape, ACTs chief scientific officer, Dr. Bob Lanza, told NBC News.

Treated animals, they are walking and jumping around just like normal mice.

Lanza says human trials are many months away, but he thinks it will not be necessary to use controversial cloning technology to make perfectly matched human embryonic stem cells to treat patients.

We can use an off-the-shelf source and itll work for everyone, he said. So you can use them and not worry about rejection.

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Stem cells work on MS in mice

Human embryonic stem cells the bodys powerful master cells might be useful for treating multiple sclerosis, researchers reported Thursday.

A team has used cells taken from frozen human embryos and transformed them into a type of cell that scientists have hoped might help treat patients with MS, a debilitating nerve disease.

Mice with an induced version of MS that paralyzed them were able to walk freely after the treatment, the teams at Advanced Cell Technology and ImStem Biotechnology in Farmington, Connecticut, reported.

The cells appeared to travel to the damaged tissues in the mice, toning down the mistaken immune system response that strips the fatty protective layer off of nerve calls. Its that damage that causes symptoms ranging from tremors and loss of balance to blurry vision and paralysis.

These embryonic stem cells were carefully nurtured to make them form a type of immature cell called a mesenchymal stem cell. These cells worked better to treat the mice than naturally developed mesenchymal stem cells taken directly from bone marrow, the team wrote in the journal Stem Cell Reports, published by the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

The top mouse is paralyzed, while the mouse on the bottom was treated with human embryonic stem cells and is able to run around.

The company released a video to show the benefits. Untreated mice were suffering. They are paralyzed. They on their backs. They are dragging their limbs. They are in really sad shape, ACTs chief scientific officer, Dr. Bob Lanza, told NBC News.

Treated animals, they are walking and jumping around just like normal mice.

Lanza says human trials are many months away, but he thinks it will not be necessary to use controversial cloning technology to make perfectly matched human embryonic stem cells to treat patients.

We can use an off-the-shelf source and itll work for everyone, he said. So you can use them and not worry about rejection.

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Stem Cells Treat Multiple Sclerosis in Mice

A pre-clinical biotech startup that was awarded more than $1 million in state money last year said it has demonstrated that a certain type of abundant stem cells significantly reduce the severity of multiple sclerosis in mice.

Farmington's ImStem Biotechnology Inc., which is a member of UConn's technology incubator, said it worked with UConn Health Center scientists and Massachusetts company Advanced Cell Technology Inc. to determine that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human embryonic stem cells are more effective at treating MS in mice than MSCs from the bone marrow of adult donors.

In fact, the researchers said they found unexpectedly that the use of adult bone marrow stem cells to treat MS is highly variable and may carry a previously unrecognized risk of poor outcome.

The work is published in the June 5 online edition of Stem Cell Reports.

ImStem is seeking approvals and investment for Phase 1 clinical trials.

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Farmington startup treats MS in mice with stem cells

COLLEGE STATION - There are more than 18,000 people waiting for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant, something that could save their lives.

Despite the fact that there are 11-million people on the registry as available donors, only 40% of those in need will find a match.

That's because it's extremely difficult to match someone perfectly, and since it's done by DNA markers, the best chances come from someone in your same race and ethnicity group.

So while the odds are slim to begin with, the chance of finding a match for a minority is even smaller. Fewer minorities are signed up to be potential donors.

Lindsey Crawford, a local recruiter for the "Be the Match" foundation says, " African Americans make up about 10 percent of our registry, Hispanics about 6 percent and multi-racial only about 4 percent."

Most of the time, you won't have to actually donate bone marrow, it'll just be stem cells, which is a painless process similar to giving plasma. 20% of the time, actual bone marrow is needed, and that does require surgery, but you're given an anesthetic to ease the pain.

If you'd like to sign up to be a potential bone marrow or stem cell donor, you can visit http://www.bethematch.org.

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Critical Need for Bone Marrow Donors

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

5-Jun-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (June 5, 2014) Scientists in Taiwan have found that intravenous injections of stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous tooth pulp (SHED) have a protective effect against brain damage from heat stroke in mice. Their finding was safe and effective and so may be a candidate for successfully treating human patients by preventing the neurological damage caused by heat stroke.

The study is published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation and is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-CT1100Tseng.

"Heat stroke deaths are increasing worldwide and heat stroke-induced brain injury is the third largest cause of mortality after cardiovascular disease and traumatic brain injury," said study lead author Dr. Ying-Chu Lin of the Kaohsiung Medical University School of Dentistry, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. "Heat stroke is characterized by hyperthermia, systemic inflammatory response, multiple organ failure and brain dysfunction."

To investigate the beneficial and potentially therapeutic effects afforded by the protective activities of self-renewing stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth, the scientists transplanted SHED into mice that had suffered experimental heat stroke.

According to the research team, these cells have "significantly higher proliferation rates" than stem cells from bone marrow and have the added advantages of being easy to harvest and express several growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and they can promote the migration and differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs).

"We observed that the intravenous administration of SHED immediately post-heat stroke exhibited several therapeutic benefits," said Dr. Lin. "These included the inhibition of neurological deficits and a reduction in oxidative damage to the brain. We suspect that the protective effect of SHED may be related to a decreased inflammatory response, decreased oxidative stress and an increase in hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis activity following the heat stroke injury."

There are currently some drawbacks to the experimental therapy, said the researchers. First, there is a limited supply of SHED. Also, SHED transplantation has been associated with cancer and immune rejection.

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Future heat stroke treatment found in dental pulp stem cells

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

5-Jun-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (June 5, 2014) A study by a Korean team of neuroscientists has concluded that when mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs; multipotent structural stem cells capable of differentiation into a variety of cell types) are transplanted into the brains of mice modeled with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the cells stimulate neural cell growth and repair in the hippocampus, a key brain area damaged by AD. The finding could lead to improved AD therapies.

The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation and is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-CT1059Oh.

Neuroscientists know that Alzheimer's disease is caused by the presence of amyloid-B (AB) "plaques" and "tangles" in the brain's network of neurons. Recently, a protein signaling pathway called "Wnt" (Wingless-type mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) related integration site family) which plays a role in embryonic development as well as the development of some diseases, such as cancer, has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers speculate that an interruption in the Wnt pathway signaling process caused by the AB plaque buildup may have an impact on potential brain cell renewal processes, called neurogenesis. Evidence has indicated that the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD.

This study was carried out to determine if MSCs benefitted neurogenesis in the hippocampus by "modulating" the Wnt pathway in such a way that that the MSCs are able to differentiate into neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) that could help rebuild the affected areas of the brain.

"Recent studies have shown that MSCs express various proteins related to the Wnt pathway," said study co-author Dr. Phil Hyu Lee, Department of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea. "It has also been determined that MSCs derived from bone marrow produce biologically active Wnt proteins that may counteract the negative influence of AB on neuronic activity."

The authors report that MSC treatment of AD in cellular and animal models significantly increased hippocampal neurogenesis and enhanced neuronal differentiation of NPCs.

"Our data suggest that the modulation of adult neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation to repair the damaged AD brain using MSCs could have a significant impact on future strategies for AD treatment," the researchers concluded.

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Stem cells found to play restorative role when affecting brain signaling process

A NEW method of helping bone marrow stem cells "mature" is pushing science closer to being able to treat brain injuries by creating specific cells capable of repairing damaged areas.

By modifying the surface of these cells and ensuring the proper environment, these otherwise easy-to-obtain marrow cells could drive brain regeneration.

Although this is only a small step forward, the hope is that these techniques could one day help treat those who have suffered brain damage, including those resulting from a stroke.

Nationally, there are 420,000 Australians living with the effects of stroke in Australia.

There are about 50,000 new and recurrent strokes each year, about 29,000 of those in Queensland and New South Wales.

National Stroke Foundation spokeswoman Professor Richard Linley said the research had the potential to help stroke patients, but was clearly in the very early stages of development.

Queensland University of Technology researcher Rachel Okolicsanyi said while the capability of these marrow stem cells has been understood for some time, this research into influencing how they mature could create techniques to convert them into brain or neural cells.

Ms Okolicsanyi, with supervisors Dr Larisa Haupt and Professor Lyn Griffiths , will now attempt to nail down a technique that will deliver routine results.

Ms Okolicsanyi's work was published in the journal Developmental Biology.

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New stem cell methods may help brain injuries

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

3-Jun-2014

Contact: Sandra Hutchinson s3.hutchinson@qut.edu.au 61-731-389-449 Queensland University of Technology

A QUT scientist is hoping to unlock the potential of stem cells as a way of repairing neural damage to the brain.

Rachel Okolicsanyi, from the Genomics Research Centre at QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said unlike other cells in the body which were able to divide and replicate, once most types of brain cells died, the damage was deemed irreversible.

Ms Okolicsanyi is manipulating adult stem cells from bone marrow to produce a population of cells that can be used to treat brain damage.

"My research is a step in proving that stem cells taken from the bone marrow can be manipulated into neural cells, or precursor cells that have the potential to replace, repair or treat brain damage," she said.

Ms Okolicsanyi's research has been published in Developmental Biology journal, and outlines the potential stem cells have for brain damage repair.

"What I am looking at is whether or not stem cells from the bone marrow have the potential to differentiate or mature into neural cells," she said.

"Neural cells are those cells from the brain that make everything from the structure of the brain itself, to all the connections that make movement, voice, hearing and sight possible."

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Unlocking the potential of stem cells to repair brain damage

GOLTRY, Okla. Armed with stem cells, a Goltry area woman will be heading to Milwaukee next week to join in her brothers cancer fight.

Jeni Sumner was the only match among family members tested to donate stem cells to her younger brother, Ed Dee.

To me, Ive been given a gift. I know everybodys congratulating me and saying its a wonderful thing, and not taking it away from that, but I think Ive been given just a tremendous gift, Sumner said.

Along with helping her brother, Sumner is trying to encourage others to join the bone marrow donor registry.

I think a lot of people are afraid to join because they might get called, because they dont know what its like to be a donor, she said. I want more people to become aware of what its actually like to be a donor.

Sumner set up a Facebook page It Doesnt Hurt - To Save a Life to chronicle everything she will go through, as a donor, during the procedure.

Its an unknown for me, but its nothing compared to what my brothers going through, she said. I know the feeling that I got when I got the call from the doctor saying that I was his donor. The relief and the joy that I felt that our family doesnt have to look anymore. If anything happens, were covered because we have a donor, we have a match. The feeling that I got was incredible, she said.

Dee, of Milwaukee, Wis., was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia last year. Sumner said he went into remission last October.

Unfortunately, the cancer came back. This type of leukemia is a very dangerous and aggressive form. He, every couple of weeks, would go in for a blood test and this March he was informed that his leukemia had come back, she said. His doctors feel that a stem cell transplant would be the best for him, at this time.

Following the return of the cancer, Dee went through five days of rigorous chemotherapy to put him back into remission. He recently finished a lower dose session of chemo, Sumner said.

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Using stem cells, woman joins brothers cancer fight

Scientists Grow Human Cartlilage Using Stem Cells

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Scientists Grow Human Cartlilage Using Stem Cells - Video

A Littlestown resident went through a five-day procedure to give bone marrow stem cells to a man living in France

By Adam Michael

amichael@GameTimePA.com

@goodoletwonames on Twitter

John Sibirtzeff will never meet the man who used his stem cells to heal. He'll never know exactly what his affliction was, and he's OK with that.

A month ago, Sibirtzeff spent five days in Washington D.C. donating bone marrow stem cells that would be used to heal a 69-year-old man living in France.

"I'll never know who the recipient was," he said. "I'll never know if he was American or French, military or non."

When Sibirtzeff, of Littlestown, was in Navy boot camp in 2007, he opted into the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program. Naval doctors drew a vial of his blood and stored it after identifying his type. In 2011, Sibirtzeff finished his tour of duty, but his name remained on the donor list.

This past January, the program contacted Sibirtzeff requesting that he return for testing, as he was a potential match for a 69-year-old man living in France.

According to the program's website, salutetolife.org, 70 percent of patients are unable to find a match within their families. Sibirtzeff's receiver was among them.

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Everyday Hero: Littlestown man donates bone marrow stem cells to stranger

Perched on the end of the scientists green glove, the tiny oblong-shaped object looks like a small jewel. It is in fact artificially-grown human cartilage, developed from human stem cells in the laboratory for the first time.

Cartilage, which protects the bone ends in joints, does not have blood vessels or nerves and does not heal over time if damaged.

Scientists at Columbia University in New York took cells from adult bone marrow and developed them into cartilage as robust as the natural human tissue.

We do have technology. We do understand underlying principles. But we are not ready to go into patients. There is a lot of pre-clinical work that will need to be done to make this happen, said Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, who led the study.

Until now, scientists have made cartilage from young animal cells but the resulting tissue was often weak.

In the new study stem cells were condensed via a process that imitates how the body produces the tissue naturally.

The research team now plans to test the cartilage grown from stem cells to examine its long-term effects.

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Columbia University team grows human cartilage from stem cells

As a new therapeutic approach, Janus kinases are currently in the limelight of cancer research. The focus of interest is the protein JAK2. By inhibiting this protein one tries to cure chronic bone marrow diseases, such as myelofibrosis and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Loss of JAK2 is advantageous for leukemia cells

Scientists working with Veronika Sexl at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology may initiate a transformation of thought in regard of JAK2 inhibition. To simulate the human disease as accurately as possible, the scientists used a mouse leukemia model. In an experiment, mice received blood cancer cells as well as healthy hematopoietic stem cells in which JAK2 had been removed. "In mice, the absence of JAK2 accelerated the course of leukemia drastically," the scientists concluded.

The loss of JAK2 caused healthy hematopoietic stem cells to disappear in mice. "Leukemic cells, on the other hand, remained entirely unaffected; they do not need JAK2. This led to an imbalance in which the number of leukemia cells was very predominant, and eventually caused the acceleration of leukemia," says Eva Grundschober, one of the lead authors.

"The oncogene BCR-ABL, which was present in mice with leukemia, does not appear to require JAK2 for its activity. However, JAK2 is essential for healthy cells," explains Andrea Hlbl-Kovacic, the other lead author.

JAK2 is important for survival of hematopoietic stem cells

A closer investigation of healthy stem cells supports this hypothesis. In the absence of JAK2, healthy stem cells cannot survive and reproduce blood cells. As the next step, the following question will be raised in Sexl's laboratory: how does JAK2 mediate its life-sustaining effect on healthy stem cells? What portions of the JAK2 protein are required for this purpose and are these affected by current therapies?

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Veterinrmedizinische Universitt Wien. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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One cell's meat is another cell's poison: How the loss of a cell protein favors cancer cells while harming healthy cells