As their name suggests, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are stem cells that are derived from embryos. If we wanted to be more scientific, we would say that ESCs are pluripotent stem cells derived from a blastocyst, an embryo in a very early stage (4-5 days of age).A blastocyst is consisted of 50-150 cells. ESCs measure approximately 14m in diameter.

The use of human embryonic stem cells is highly controversial, as their extraction requires the destruction of a human embryo, raising a great number of ethical issues. The main one is whether a blastocyst can be considered a living person or not. Check our article, Stem Cell Controversy for more info on this topic

Embryonic Stem cell propertiesThere are two important attributes that distinguish stem cells from any other typical cell:

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, having the capacity to differentiate and develop into almost all kinds of cells belonging to thethree primary germ layers:

As for self-renewal, ES cells have the capacity to replicate indefinitely. In other words they have the ability, under the proper conditions, to produce infinite numbers of daughter cells just from one or a few father cells.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Extraction And CultureFirst the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst is separated from the trophectoderm. Then the cells of the ICM are placed on aplastic laboratory culture dish that contains a nutrient broth called the "culture medium".Typically the inner surface of the dish is coated with what is called a "feeder layer", consisting of reprogrammed embryonic mouse skin cells that don't divide. These mouse cells lay in the bottom of the dish and act as a support for the hESCs. The feeder layer not only provides support, but it also releases all the needed nutrients for thehESCs to grow and replicate. Recently, scientists have devised new ways for culturing hESCs without the need of a mouse feeder cell, a really important advance as there is always the danger of viruses being transmitted from the mouse cells to the human embryonic stem cells.

It should be noted that the process described above isn't always successful, and many times the cells fail to replicate and/or survive. If on the other hand, the hESCs do manage to survive and multiply enough so that the dish is "full", they have to be removed and plated into several dishes. This replating and subculturing process can be done again and again for many months. This way we can get millions and millions of hESCs from the handful ones we had at the beginning.

At any stage of the process, a batch of hESCs can be frozen for future use or to be sent somewhere else for further culturing and experimentation.

How are human embryonic stem cells induced to differentiate ?There are various options for researchers to choose from, if they decide to differentiate the cultured cells.

The easiest one, is to simply allow the cells to replicate until the disc is "full". Once the disc is full, they start to clump together forming embryoid bodies(rounded collections of cells ). These embryoid bodies contain all kinds of cells including muscle, nerve, blood and heart cells. As said before, although this is easiest method to induce differentiation, it is the most inefficient and unpredictable as well.

In order to induce differentiation to a specific type of cell, researchers have to change the environment of the dish by employingone of the ways below:

Human Embryonic Stem Cells, potential usesMany researchers believe that studying hESCs is crucial for fully understanding the complex events happening during the fetal development. This knowledge would also include all the complex mechanisms that trigger undifferentiated stem cells to develop into tissues and organs. A deeper understanding of all these mechanisms would in return give scientists a deeper understanding of what sometimes goes wrong and as a result tumours,birth defects and other genetic conditions occur, thus helping them to come up with effective treatments.

Several new studies also address the fact that human embryonicstem cells can be used as models for human genetic disorders that currently have no reliable model system. Two examples are the Fragile-X syndromeandCystic fibrosis.

As of now, there has been only one human clinical trial ,involving embryonic stem cells, with the officialapproval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).The trial started on January 23, 2009, and involved the transplantation ofoligodendrocytes (a cell type of the brain and spinal cord) derived from human embryonic stem cells. During phase I of the trial, 8 to 10paraplegics with fresh spinal cord injuries (two weeks or less) were supposed to participate.

In August 2009,the trial wasput on hold, due to concerns made by the FDA, regarding a small number of microscopic cysts found in several treated rat models. InJuly 30, 2010 the hold was lifted and researchers enrolled the first patient and administered him with the stem cell therapy.

Read the original post:
Embryonic Stem Cells | Stem Cells Freak

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Embryonic Stem Cells | Stem Cells Freak | January 8th, 2018

To meet the industry needs and to benefit students and research scholars, Nitte University has set up the a centre for stem cell research at K S Hedge Medical Academy (Kshema).

The Nitte University Centre for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine (NUCSReM), has been established to further advance the understanding of stem cell biology and to facilitate clinical application of stem cells to treat patients with various ailments, says N Vinaya Hegde, chancellor, Nitte University.

Gianvito Martino, the head of the Neurosciences division at the Institute of San Raffaele in Milan in a speech at Multiple Sclerosis Week, which took place from May 23-31, warned against trips of hope to clinics that promise effective treatments using stem cells.

According to Martino, who coordinated a Consensus Conference on last Tuesday in London on the neurodegenerative disease, where the guidelines for pre-clinical studies and clinical treatments with stem cells were defined, hundreds of Italian patients each year go on these trips due to cures that are promised. In the best-case scenario, these patients return in the Read More

Scientists have claimed they would serve the worlds first test tube hamburger this October.

A team, led by Prof Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, says it has already grown artificial meat in the laboratory, and now aims to create a hamburger, identical to a real stuff, by generating strips of meat from stem cells.

The finished product is expected to cost nearly 220,000 pounds, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Prof Post said his team has successfully replicated the process with cow cells and calf serum, bringing the first artificial burger a step closer.

In October we are going to provide a Read More

Studies begun by Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists eight years ago have led to a report published today that may be amount to a major step in developing treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

The findings by Kevin Eggan, a professor in Harvards Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB), and colleagues also has produced functionally identical results in human motor neurons in a laboratory dish and in a mouse model of the disease, demonstrating that modeling the human disease with customized stem cells in the laboratory could relatively soon eliminate some Read More

Frank LaFerla, left, Mathew Blurton-Jones and colleagues found that neural stem cells could be a potential treatment for advanced Alzheimer's disease

UC Irvine scientists have shown for the first time that neural stem cells can rescue memory in mice with advanced Alzheimers disease, raising hopes of a potential treatment for the leading cause of elderly dementia that afflicts 5.3 million people in the U.S.

Mice genetically engineered to have Alzheimers performed markedly better on memory tests a month after mouse neural stem cells were injected into their brains. The stem cells secreted a protein that created more neural connections, improving Read More

More here:
"Latest Stem Cells News" - news from the world about stem ...

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on "Latest Stem Cells News" – news from the world about stem … | November 26th, 2017

Stem cells (magenta with green nuclei) encapsulated in nanogel (yellow) for heart repair. Credit: MolGraphics.com

Cardiac stem cell therapy is a promising treatment for damaged hearts. However, researchers are still working on two major issues with the therapy how to keep the stem cells in place and how to prevent rejection when the stem cells are not from the patients own body. A new approach from NC State researcher Ke Cheng and a team of international collaborators may solve both of these problems.

The heart is a powerful muscle. Thats great if youre running a marathon, but if youre trying to inject stem cells into the heart with the hopes that theyll stay put, its a problem. One of the major drawbacks of cardiac stem cell therapy is simply that the cells do not stick to the injured heart tissue.

Enter a thermosensitive nanogel that is liquid at room temperature but becomes a thick, sticky gel as it warms. Cheng, associate professor of molecular biomedical sciences at NC States College of Veterinary Medicine and associate professor in the NC State/UNC Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, partnered with chemical engineers from the University of Adelaide and cardiac specialists from the University of Zhengzhou and UNC-Chapel Hill to test the nanogel as a delivery mechanism for cardiac stem cells.

The nanogel, poly(N-isopropylacrylamine-co-acrylic acid), or P(NIPAM-AA) for short, had another property that made it appealing for use: in its thickened state it had porous openings large enough for a stem cells healing factors to escape, but not large enough for immune cells to enter. And it could be adjusted to slowly degrade over time, giving stem cells enough time to repair a damaged heart before dissolving away.

Autologous stem cells grown from a patients own cells are ideal to use in therapies, but that isnt always practical, Cheng says. For one thing, growing the cells takes time, which a patient may not have. For another, the heart cells themselves may be affected by disease, so stem cells taken from that source would not be useful.

Thats why were working on allogeneic stem cell therapies, but whenever you introduce cells from an outside source into the body, the immune system will attack them. The nanogel delivery method keeps the cells in place, protects them from the bodys immune response, and allows the regenerative factors released by the stem cells to reach the heart.

Cheng and his collaborators tested the nanogel delivery system in mice and pigs with hearts damaged by a heart attack. Without the nanogel, only about one percent of injected stem cells stayed in the heart. With the gel, up to 15 percent of the stem cells stayed put. They also found that in both animal models heart function improved three to four weeks after treatment. Mice showed a greater improvement than pigs, but in both models heart function was maintained and did not decrease.

We are pleased with these results, Cheng says. The nanogel is a safe, cost-effective way to deliver the cells directly to the affected area, and the large animal (pig) data is promising, which may lead to a human clinical trial in the future.

Chengs work appears in the journal ACS Nano, and was supported by the NIH and by NC States Chancellors Faculty Excellence Program and Chancellors Innovation Fund.

Continued here:
Stuck on You: Nanogel Capsule Helps Cardiac Stem Cells ...

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stuck on You: Nanogel Capsule Helps Cardiac Stem Cells … | October 28th, 2017

New Jersey's Premier Heart Transplant Program

The Barnabas Health Heart Failure and Transplant program is the most experienced and comprehensive center in New Jersey. It has been at the forefront of highly specialized care for more than twenty years. Our cardiac surgeons and heart specialists' expertise has made RWJBarnabas Health a regional and national training center for physicians, nurses and emergency services technicians.

Dr. Joseph Clemente, host of MHC-TV, interviews Mark J. Zucker, M.D., J.D., Director, Heart Failure Treatment and Transplant Program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. They discuss getting a heart transplant, other treatments such as the Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), and about stem cell research ongoing today.

Learn about CardioMEMS, a new treatment for heart failure

Barnabas Health Heart Centers Earn Recognition from American Heart Association in Heart Failure Treatment

The Barnabas Health Heart Centers provide progressive heart failure management that optimizes the patient's transition to home and empowers them to improve their heart health. Advanced practice nurses contact patients within days of discharge and facilitate daily medical monitoring, education, and counseling. Patient-centered programs bring together all the medical resources necessary to combat heart failure and the reduction in hospital readmission rates has been significant. Heart failure clinics are based at all Barnabas Health hospitals.

Clinical trials provide patients with access for breakthrough medications, devices, and therapies, while being continually monitored and evaluated. Our participation in new cardiac stem cell research for patients with refractory angina and chronic myocardial ischemia may someday help the heart heal itself. Improved technology has made positive outcomes with ECMO more likely both at our center and nationally, and has resulted in increased referrals for this critical care.

The Newark Beth Israel Medical Center heart transplant program is one of the top ten heart transplant centers in the United States with survival rates that consistently meet or exceed national benchmarks. The center is at the forefront of improving the quality of life for transplant candidates and recipients, as well as increasing access to transplant. Our unique work in establishing successful protocols for discontinuing steroid medications for immunosuppression is improving the medical management and survival rates for transplant recipients worldwide. Noninvasive gene expression testing offers an alternative technique for assessing immunosuppression and predicting rejection. The center is also part of groundbreaking research that is exploring innovating methods for preserving donor organs for transplant.

Implantable VADs are placed for myocardial recovery, bridge to transplant, and destination therapy. Because the VAD program is totally integrated with heart failure and transplant services, patients are thoroughly and continually evaluated for all treatment options. The heart transplant center's experience has made it a principal site for clinical research trials of the latest generation of mechanical assist devices and a regional VAD transplantation training site. With virtually all FDA-approved and investigational implantable devices available, patients receive the device that meets their individual needs.

[top ]

Continued here:
Heart Failure and Transplant Program New Jersey

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Heart Failure and Transplant Program New Jersey | October 23rd, 2017

Nov. 14, 2011 -- The first use of heart stem cells in humans looks like a major breakthrough for people suffering heart failure after heart attacks.

It's early -- results are in for only the first 16 patients -- but the results already are drawing praise from experts not easily impressed by first reports.

"This is a groundbreaking study of extreme importance," Joshua Hare, MD, director of the University of Miami's Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, tells WebMD via email. Hare was not involved in the study.

"The reported benefits are of an unexpected magnitude," writes Gerd Heusch, MD, PhD, chair of the Institute of Pathophysiology at the University of Essen, Germany, in an editorial in the Nov. 14 online issue of The Lancet.

Study researcher John H. Loughran, MD, of the University of Louisville, Ky., could barely contain his excitement in an interview with WebMD.

"The improvement we have seen in patients is quite encouraging," he says. "Michael Jones, our first patient, could barely walk 30 feet [before treatment]. I saw him this morning. He says he plays basketball with his granddaughter, works on his farm, and gets on the treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week. It is stories like that that makes these results really encouraging."

The breakthrough comes just as researchers were becoming discouraged by studies in which bone-marrow stem cells failed to heal damaged hearts.

Instead of getting stem cells from the bone marrow, the new technique harvests stem cells taken from the patients' own hearts during bypass surgery. Just 1 gram of heart tissue -- about 3.5 hundredths of an ounce -- is taken.

Using a technique invented by Brigham & Women's Hospital researchers Piero Anversa, MD, and colleagues, heart stem cells are taken from the tissue and grown in the lab. These adult stem cells already are committed to becoming heart cells, but they can transform into any of the three different kinds of heart tissues.

It's the first time tissue-specific stem cells, other than bone-marrow cells, have been tested in humans, Hare says.

In the study, about a million of the cells were infused into each patient's heart with a catheter. Calculations suggest that each of these infused cells could generate 4 trillion new heart cells.

The study was designed to show whether the technique was safe. It was: No harmful effects have been seen. But to the researchers' surprise, the relatively small number of cells infused into patients had a major effect.

Of the 14 patients analyzed so far, heart function improved dramatically. And in the eight patients seen one year after treatment, improvement appears to have continued. Moreover, the scars on patients hearts -- areas of dead tissue killed during their heart attacks -- are healing.

And patients aren't just doing better on measures of heart function. Like Michael Jones, they report vastly improved quality of life and ability to perform daily tasks.

"Now this is an open-label trial, so patients know they are treated. This means we have to take what they say with a grain of salt," Loughran says. "But we see these patients not only are feeling better but doing more."

The only downside of this early success is that the ongoing study already has enrolled all 20 of the patients who will be treated. The experimental treatment simply will not be available to other patients in the near future. A larger, phase II study is planned.

"All the patients that call in to us, and there are quite a few interested, we encourage them to maintain close contact with their doctors," Loughran says. "Lifestyle changes and medical management are the most important things for them right now. We will be working very hard to get new trials under way."

The findings were reported at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions meeting in Orlando, Fla., and in the Nov. 14 online edition of The Lancet.

SOURCES:

John H. Loughran, MD, fellow in cardiovascular medicine, University of Louisville, Ky.

Joshua Hare, MD, director, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, University of Miami.

Bolli, R. The Lancet, published online Nov. 14, 2011.

Heusch, G. The Lancet, published online Nov. 14, 2011.

Traverse, J.H. Journal of the American Medical Association, published online Nov. 14, 2011.

Hare, J. Journal of the American Medical Association, published online Nov. 14, 2011.

See original here:
Stem Cells Repair Heart in First-Ever Study - webmd.com

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cells Repair Heart in First-Ever Study – webmd.com | October 13th, 2017

Stem cells are found in the early embryo, the foetus, amniotic fluid, the placenta and umbilical cord blood. After birth and for the rest of life, stem cells continue to reside in many sites of the body, including skin, hair follicles, bone marrow and blood, brain and spinal cord, the lining of the nose, gut, lung, joint fluid, muscle, fat, and menstrual blood, to name a few.In the growing body, stem cells are responsible for generating new tissues, and once growth is complete, stem cells are responsible for repair and regeneration of damaged and ageing tissues. The question that intrigues medical researchers is whether you can harness the regenerative potential of stem cells and be able to grow new cells for treatments to replace diseased or damaged tissue in the body.

To find out more about how stem cells are used in research and in the development of new treatments download a copy of The Australian Stem Cell Handbook or visit Stem Cell Clinical Trials to find out more about the latest clinical research using stem cells.

Stem cells can be divided into two broad groups:tissue specific stem cells(also known as adult stem cells) andpluripotent stem cells(including embryonic stem cells and iPS cells).

To learn more about the different types of stem cells visit our frequently asked questions page.

Read the original post:
About Stem Cells

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on About Stem Cells | September 30th, 2017

High levels of stem cell factor (SCF) are associated with reduced risk of mortality and cardiovascular events, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in theJournal of Internal Medicine.

(HealthDay News) -- High levels of stem cell factor (SCF) are associated with reduced risk of mortality and cardiovascular events, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in theJournal of Internal Medicine.

Harry Bjrkbacka, Ph.D., from Lund University in Sweden, and colleagues examined the correlation between circulating levels of SCF and risk for development of cardiovascular events and death. SCF was analyzed from plasma from 4,742 participants in the Malm Diet and Cancer Study; participants were followed for a mean of 19.2 years.

The researchers found that participants with high baseline levels of SCF had lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and reduced risk of heart failure, stroke, and myocardial infarction. There was a correlation for smoking, diabetes, and high alcohol consumption with lower levels of SCF. After adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, the highest versus the lowest SCF quartile remained independently associated with lower risk of cardiovascular (hazard ratio, 0.59; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.43 to 0.81) and all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.57 to 0.81) and with lower risk of heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.5; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.31 to 0.8) and stroke (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.47 to 0.92) but not myocardial infarction (hazard ratio, 0.96; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.72 to 1.27).

"The findings provide clinical support for a protective role of SCF in maintaining cardiovascular integrity," the authors write.

The possibilities that stem cell therapies present in the prevention, regeneration, and treatment of many health conditions seem to be still untouched. If course, stem cell research is still ongoing and no one is complete stem cell expert yet, but maybe thats a good approach to take. I am not so sure I would be comfortable in this modern area of easily accessible information with a physician that still doesnt consider his or her self a student. Whether your doctor is 65 or 38 I hope they are still open to learning, stated Dr. Ronald Klatz, President of the A4M.

Read the original:
Stem Cell Factor Tied to Reduced Risk of Cardiac Events, Death - Anti Aging News

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cell Factor Tied to Reduced Risk of Cardiac Events, Death – Anti Aging News | September 8th, 2017

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Repairing a damaged heart has become much more than opening clogged arteries in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Pepin Heart Hospital in Tampa.

Dr. Charles Lambert and his team are injecting stem cells directly into specific areas in the walls of damaged hearts.

"We know where viable tissue is, what part of the heart is contracting and has live cells there," he explains.

Finding that living tissue begins with creating a color-coded map of the heart identifying areas where blood flow is maximized.

"We go back after mapping with a needle that comes out of the catheter and we do roughly twenty injections in viable tissue area," Lambert says.

It's all part of an experimental clinical trial Shiela Allen hopes will help her failing heart recover. Less than two hours after welcoming her youngest grandchild into this world, her grandson drove her to the emergency room.

"I couldn't breathe," she recalled.

Sheila was shocked when doctors told her that her heart was pumping at less than half of what it should.

"Now that I look back, I can figure out I had all the symptoms but I was just putting it off because I'm busy, I'm old, I'm a little bit overweight," she admits.

Like many women, Sheila ignored warning signs like fatigue, coughing and shortness of breath - especially when lying down.

"The coughing was odd to me because I was not congested, I could not lay flat in bed so I was propped up on four or five pillows," she says.

Similar to a balloon filled with too much water, the cardiac muscle is overstretched, thin, and weak. So weak, it can only pump a fraction of the blood inside its chambers to the rest of the body. That causes fluid to back up into the lungs and other parts of the body like the legs.

For about a decade, cardiologists have tried using stem cells to strengthen the muscle with mixed results. This study is hoping a new twist, will make it more successful.

Along with using the heart map to direct the injections, the stem cells are also different. Instead of taking them from the patient, syringes like these are filled with stem cells from donors.

"These trial cells are taken from healthy volunteers that are actually medical students, not here in town, but actually up in the northeast," he explains.

Another key difference in the study is the product's maker, Mesoblast. It is allowing people like Sheila, who have heart failure from unknown causes, to also enter the study. The clinical trial using the younger cells is now in 50 centers across the world.

"They're preserved so when we randomize a patient we take it off the shelf, treat it, warm it, the cells are perfectly alive and healthy and then administer it to the patients," Lambert says.

Side effects in earlier studies included a drop in blood pressure, bleeding, and fluid accumulation around the heart.

"It was basically like I was having another heart catheterization," Sheila says her side effects were minimal. "Three days after the procedure I was on a plane going on a trip."

She's not sure if she got a placebo or the actual cells, but as she completes her cardiac rehabilitation therapy, she says she is feeling better, "I've had a little more energy I dont know if it's related to that."

Energy allowing her to spend time with her family, and watch her youngest grandchild grow.

See the rest here:
Damaged hearts being repaired with stem cells - FOX 13 News, Tampa Bay

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Damaged hearts being repaired with stem cells – FOX 13 News, Tampa Bay | September 1st, 2017

Scientists around the world are researching ways to reverse the aging process. There have been a few scientific breakthroughs in the last years, such as a March 2013, Science report. The report discussed how a team of scientists at the University of New South Wales had successfully reversed the aging process in mice with a NAD+ booster, NMN that stimulated the natural repair processes in cells (1).

In August 2017, a different technique was reported. According to ScienceDaily. its being touted as a possible fountain of youth. The ability to rejuvenate the heart and even reverse aging is the claim of a recent study (2).

The European Heart Journal published the study where researchers injected cardiac stem cells taken from the hearts of newborn lab rats into the hearts of old rats (22 months old, which is considered old for a rat lifespan). The result was a reversal in their aging hearts. The paper claims that the old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections.

In fact, the researchers noticed a 20% increase in the old rats exercising ability. Certainly, the scientists anticipated that this treatment would improve the old rats hearts, what they didnt expect were other benefits, such as the rat fur (shaved away for the surgery) growing back faster than normal.

In addition, the scientists noticed that the rats telomeres had changed. Instead shrinking, the common effect of aging, the telomers in the treated rats actually lengthened. This was an astounding side-effect of the cardiac stem cell injections.

Telomeres are repetitive nucleotide sequences that are found along the ends of chromosomes and become like protective caps. They prevent the ends of the chromosomes from deteriorating, as well as fusing with other chromosomes. Unfortunately, this protection begins to wear away with age and the length of the telomeres shorten as the body ages (3).To discover that the rats telomeres grew longer along with other systemic rejuvenating effects, the primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute Dr Eduardo Marbn proclaimed that it was like discovering, an unexpected fountain of youth.

Dr Marbns team completed the worlds first cardiac stem cell infusion in 2009. Dr Marbn developed the process of growing cardiac-derived stem cells when he was at John Hopkins University. Hes continued his research at Cedars-Sinai.

Conducting research in various heart-related cell therapy for more than 12 years, some of that research included using cardiosphere-derived cells.

According to Life Map Discovery, Cardiosphere-derived cells are isolated from atrial or ventricular biopsy specimens of patients undergoing heart surgery. The tissues are processed and cultured until a fibroblast-like cell layer forms. In this process, some cells migrate to this layer and techs can use them to further isolate and culture to create cardiospheres (4).

A March 2012 publication by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) discussed the injection of cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) into infarcted mouse hearts. The injections resulted in superior improvement of cardiac function. (5)

According to Dr Marbn, Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions.

In the teams latest study, they used a specific type of stem cells taken from the newborn rats. Instead of stem cells, anther group received a placebo treatment consisting of saline injections. Each group was then compare to a group of four-month-old rats.

ScienceDaily reported that Dr Marbn stated that the cardiac stem cells secrete, tiny vesicles that are chock-full of signaling molecules such as RNA and proteins. Apparently, its the vesicles found in the young cells that, contain all the needed instructions to turn back the clock.

With these latest results, he said, Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

The team is underway with more research, such as the ability to recreate the same results by administering the stem cells via IV (Intravenous) or with non-newborn cardiac stem cells. According to co-primary investigator and the first author of the study Lilian Grigorian-Shamagian, MD, PhD, their study didnt measure whether receiving the cardiosphere-derived cells extended lifespans. This will be another area the team plans to investigate.

References & Image Credits:(1) How NASA Anti-aging Drug Works(2) Science Daily(3) Wikipedia(4) LifeMapSC(5) OnlineJACC

More:
Cardiac Stem Cells May Be Fountain of Youth - Top Secret Writers

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Cardiac Stem Cells May Be Fountain of Youth – Top Secret Writers | September 1st, 2017

Cardiac predecessor cells appear to rejuvenate the hearts of older animals, according to a recent study from Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute that may lead to tests in humans.

Signs of rejuvenation in rats included a 20 percent increase in exercise capacity, faster regrowth of hair, and lengthening of the protective caps of chromosomes.

The study used cardiosphere-derived cells, or CDCs, which are like stem cells, but can only develop into heart cells. These cells are already being used in a human clinical trial to repair damage from heart attacks. The trial is being conducted by Beverly Hills-based Capricor in several hospitals, including Scripps La Jolla.

Since these cells have already been found to be safe, it should be fairly straightforward to extend testing from repairing heart damage in people to rejuvenation, said study leader Dr. Eduardo Marbn. Hes director of the Los Angeles Institute, part of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Marbn is also a co-founder of Capricor, publicly traded on Nasdaq.

However, a researcher not involved in the study said that while it was well done, the history of stem cell treatments indicates that proving efficacy in people promises to be far more difficult.

The study used cells taken from newborn rats, injected into the hearts of older, senescent rats. It was published Aug. 14 in the European Heart Journal.

The study is exceptional in both its scope and breadth, said Dr. Richard Schatz, a Scripps Clinic cardiologist involved in the Capricor trial at Scripps La Jolla.

It examines an extraordinary number of variables rarely seen in such studies to ask the question of the impact of CDC (specialized stem cells) on cardiac aging in rats, Schatz said by email. Every parameter of how aging might be studied moved in the right direction, meaning there might be a biologic effect of their cells throughout the body.

Schatz cautioned that scientific excellence doesnt equal clinical success.

The technologys muscle-improving effectiveness could also help patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Marbn said. That use is in clinical testing by Capricor. Early results in patients have been promising enough that more studies are planned.

Capricor clinical trial information is available at http://capricor.com/clinical-trials.

Marbn said the study adds to growing evidence that progenitor cells exert their healing power by secreting chemicals that stimulate repair, not by permanently incorporating themselves into the body. The chemicals are enclosed in tiny vesicles called exosomes that the cells shed.

Until fairly recently, exosomes were dismissed as cellular debris, but are now being appreciated for their role in cell signaling, Marbn said.

There's a staggering number, something like 100 billion to a trillion exosomes per drop of blood, per drop of cerebrospinal fluid, Marbn said. They are plentiful in breast milk. The only thing we know right now is that there is a complex signaling system.

These exosomes travel far beyond the heart to reach skeletal muscle, which is weakened in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, he said.

Schatz said the study provides evidence that the cells exert many different effects beyond those in a single target organ, through the exosomes, seen in humans as well.

This is very good news if you are a rat, but the obvious limitation is how will this play out in humans, Schatz said.

Previous clinical trials of stem cells have been successful in Phase 1 and 2, Schatz said, but fail in Phase 3. So the researchers face a daunting road ahead to demonstrate usefulness in people.

This does not take away from the brilliant science behind this exceptional group of investigators, Schatz said. They should be congratulated for a very thoughtful and expansive look at a fascinating subject, the clinical relevance of which remains to be seen.

The rejuvenation effects to some degree resemble cells created when adult cells are reprogrammed back to being stem cells, Marbn said.

Certain factors are turned on that regress the cells to act like embryonic stem cells. These are called induced pluripotent stem cells, because they can become nearly any cell in the body, a property called pluripotency.

Something like this might be happening through exosome-mediated reprogramming.

We have a suspicion that even though we didn't go about trying to activate those factors, some of them may in fact be turned on by the therapy, Marbn said.

Understanding precisely what is going on will take much more work to sort out, he said. For example, lengthening the protective caps of chromosomes, or telomeres, is presumably caused by production of telomerase, an enzyme that makes them longer. But how?

Knowing the exosomes are involved doesnt narrow it down very much, he said.

We think that there's thousands and thousands of different bioactive molecules within exosomes. And so I can't right now point to, let's say, these five RNAs and say, they're the ones that we think are doing the trick, Marbn said. But somewhere in the genetic instructions in the exosomes are signals that cause telomerase to be activated and elongation of the telomeres.

Even without understanding the precise mechanism, the demonstrated results have been promising enough for Capricor to continue clinical testing in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Marbn said, even though its outside the companys initial focus on heart disease.

The heart attack research gave mixed messages, he said. Capricor isnt abandoning it, but has given priority to the muscular dystrophy program.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and their parents are more interested in increasing skeletal muscle function than heart function, he said. The disease virtually exclusively affects males, and they often die when quite young.

Read more from the original source:
Young cardiac cells rejuvenate heart in animal study - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Young cardiac cells rejuvenate heart in animal study – The San Diego Union-Tribune | August 30th, 2017

SPECIAL ADVERTISING REPORT

HOWEVER, THERE ARE OTHER components of KentuckyOne Health Heart and Vascular Care that make it the critical statewide resource it is today. Research, community outreach and support of advocacy organizations are all important aspects of our mission to be the states leader in cardiovascular care.

Innovative Care

KentuckyOne provides patients with a full spectrum of cardiovascular care, with treatments for common problems as well as complex cardiovascular conditions. Our surgeons, nursing staff and other health care professionals utilize the latest diagnostic and therapeutic techniques to treat any type of patient with any type of condition.

Whether youre in need of heart attack care; heart rhythm care for cardiac arrhythmia; transplant (Louisville only) or mechanical device care for advanced heart failure; minimally invasive treatment for a disease like aortic stenosis or mitral regurgitation; vascular care for an aneurysm or artery disease; cardiac rehabilitation at one of our Healthy Lifestyle Centers; or some other type of heart and vascular service, KentuckyOne Health is the place to go.

Having access to the best equipment and newest treatments is only part of the equation, said Nezar Falluji, MD, MPH, interventional cardiologist with KentuckyOne Health Cardiology Associates and director of cardiovascular services for the KentuckyOne Health Lexington market at Saint Joseph Hospital. The teamwork and collaboration between cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other staff and physicians is what sets us apart.

Groundbreaking Research

Through a partnership with the University of Louisville and its physicians, KentuckyOne Health, and specifically Jewish Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital, is the site for groundbreaking research across many disciplines. Jewish Hospital is the primary site in Louisville for cardiovascular research.

The University of Louisville offers access to academic research and innovation that may be effectively applied in clinical settings, said Mark Slaughter, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Louisville and executive director of cardiovascular services for the KentuckyOne Health Louisville market. Through this research component, Jewish Hospital, the University of Louisville and KentuckyOne Health are leading the way in developing next-generation cardiovascular therapies.

Roberto Bolli, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville, is a renowned researcher whose stem cell therapy work has garnered worldwide attention.

Dr. Bolli has become a world leader in using patients own stem cells, growing them in tissue culture and then infusing them back into the injured heart, as a way to repopulate the heart with cardiac cells that will grow and heal. He is doing truly leading-edge cardiac stem cell work right here in Kentucky.

Many of the vascular diseases are silent and often go unnoticed until they eventually lead to major problems, said Stephen Self, MD, vascular surgeon at KentuckyOne Health Vascular Surgery Associates. Its crucial that people are aware of the risk factors and become proactive about their health.

Knowing the Risk Factors

Despite the sly nature of many vascular diseases, there are some controllable and uncontrollable risk factors you should know about, including:

Age People 50 and older are at greatest risk.

Smoking Smoke inhalation increases vascular damage.

Lack of exercise Contributes to fat storage, muscle loss and low energy.

Obesity A common sign of poor vascular health

Unhealthy diet Poor diets can increase bad cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.

Genetics Your family medical history can help define your risk.

Protecting Yourself

I recommend people with increased risk of vascular disease, such as those who smoke or have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and anyone over the age of 50, get vascular screenings, said Steve Lin, MD, who specializes in vein care at KentuckyOne Health Cardiology Associates. They are completely painless, inexpensive and can ultimately save your life.

See the article here:
Providing Leading-edge Cardiovascular Care - The Lane Report

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Providing Leading-edge Cardiovascular Care – The Lane Report | August 29th, 2017

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Global biotherapeutics leader CSL Behring announced today that it has agreed to acquire Calimmune, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy with R&D facilities in Pasadena, California and Sydney, Australia for an upfront payment of $91 million.

The acquisition will provide CSL Behring with Calimmune's pre-clinical asset, CAL-H, an HSC gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and -thalassemia, which complements CSL Behring's current product portfolio and deep expertise in hematology.

Additionally, CSL Behring will acquire two unique proprietary platform technologies, Select+ and Cytegrity. These technologies are designed to address some of the major challenges currently associated with the commercialization of stem cell therapy, including the ability to manufacture consistent, high-quality products, and to improve engraftment, efficacy and tolerability. Both technologies have broad applications in ex vivo stem cell gene therapy.

"Calimmune shares in our promise and focus to improve the lives of patients with rare and serious medical conditions," said CSL Limited Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Paul Perreault. "The acquisition represents another important step in the execution of our strategy for sustainable growth."

"Calimmune's scientific accomplishments are impressive," Perreault added. "The team has built a robust technology platform, and designed a promising HSC gene therapy candidate - CAL-H, which strongly aligns with our longer-term strategic goals, and complements our core competencies and areas of therapeutic focus. While Calimmune is still in the early stages, we believe that our combined strengths have tremendous potential to change treatment paradigms, and most importantly, significantly improve the lives of our patients."

Calimmune Chief Executive Officer Louis Breton said, "We are excited to become part of CSL Behring. They are an established global industry leader in protein-replacement therapies and have a proven track record of driving innovations through the development pipeline and delivering differentiated products to the global marketplace. Together, we are well positioned to take our achievements to the next level."

CAL-H, Calimmune's HSC gene therapy for sickle cell and -thalassemia, employs both the Select+ system, and the Cytegrity virus production platform. CAL-H has yielded early positive preclinical results and demonstrates the potential to offer a significant advantage to patients suffering from these currently incurable genetic diseases.

Both proprietary technologies have the potential to be used in treatments for a wide range of other rare diseases that would complement CSL Behring's business, including those within the company's current product portfolio.

About Sickle Cell Disease and thalassemiaSickle cell disease and -thalassemia are inherited disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body. They are chronic diseases that dramatically impair the function of many organs and are associated with substantial morbidity, poor quality of life and a shortened life expectancy. The severe forms of both these diseases remain areas of high unmet need with sickle cell disease affecting approximately 150,000 Americans and Europeans and -thalassemia approximately 16,000. Although there are effective treatments available to relieve the symptoms of these diseases, there are no disease modifying treatments and in many cases regular blood transfusions are also required. Bone marrow transplant has been shown to be an effective cure in children, however, is rarely done due to the lack of closely matched donors.

About Select+ Calimmune's Select+TM is a proprietary technology aimed at driving selection of the genetically modified stem cells once they are given back to patients, to decrease toxicity and improve efficacy. One of the historical challenges for gene therapy is achieving a high enough engraftment of stem cells in the bone marrow to reach the relevant therapeutic window. Toxic conditioning regimens used to drive engraftment of gene modified cells can cause a range of adverse events that often require hospitalization and have additional long-term risks.Calimmune has focused on and made significant investments in solving this issue with Select+TM.The combination of Select+TM and lentiviral therapeutic applications aims to reduce the conditioning regimens, increase engraftment and overall efficacy, and improve the patient experience, ultimately making stem cell gene therapy an out-patient modality.

About Cytegrity Calimmune's CytegrityTM is a scalable manufacturing technology for the production of lentiviral vectors, which are used as a delivery mechanism for gene therapy. Lentiviral vectors are traditionally manufactured in small batches through a convoluted process; Cytegrity represents a new system that increases consistency and quality, and significantly lowers costs.

Transaction & Closing CSL Behring will have operational control ofCalimmune following closing of the transaction. In addition to the upfront payment, theagreement between the parties includes the potential for performance based milestone payments of up to $325 million over a period currently anticipated to be around eight years or more following the closing of the transaction.The transaction is expected to close within the next two weeks, subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal advisor to CSL Behring. Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Calimmune.

About Calimmune Calimmune is a privately owned company committed to accelerating the promise of gene therapy to liberate patients from chronic and currently incurable diseases. To achieve this ambitious goal, Calimmune has built a suite of technologies to advance the delivery, manufacturing, and overall efficiency of these life-changing medicines. Calimmune's lead development programs are novel ex vivo gene therapies for hematologic diseases.

About CSL BehringCSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients' needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.

CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company,CSL Limited(ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs nearly 20,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 60 countries. For more information visitwww.cslbehring.comand follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/CSLBehring.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/csl-behring-to-acquire-biotech-company-calimmune-and-its-proprietary-stem-cell-gene-therapy-platform-300510086.html

SOURCE CSL Behring

Read more:
CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform - Markets Insider

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform – Markets Insider | August 28th, 2017

This is not about creating zombies-those so-called living (or walking) dead that are very popular and make a really great theme for TV shows and movies.

Even the Game of Thrones has its version of the living dead with them nasty creatures called White Walkers and Wights.

But then again, thats only science fiction, isnt it? Well, maybe not. In fact, this science-fiction plot could soon play out in real life. Read on.

Researchers from U.S.-based biotech company Bioquark are aimimg to resurrect patients who have been declared brain dead. Yep, you read it right. Resurrect, just like those stories in the Bible. Really bringing back people to life.

It goes without saying that this is really a serious matter. More importantly, Bioquarks small pilot study has been approved and gotten ethical permission by none other than the National Institutes of Health. The study would be an attempt to reawaken the clinically-dead brains of patients who have suffered serious brain injuries.

How will Bioquark do it?

Through stem cell therapy, which has been proven successful already in treating various diseases such as acquired ataxia, Alzheimers disease, Bells Palsy, cerebral atrophy, cirrhosis, optic nerve damage, osteoarthritis, and leukemia.

But, with brain-dead people, its going to be a real challenge since this condition according to medical experts is irreversible.

Brain death is different from a heart thats already stopped beating. A heart can still be revived and sustained by a ventilator or life-support system.

However, in the case of brain death, you cannot revive dead neurons with the help of a life-support machine even though it continues to pump oxygen to the body. The oxygen will get into the other organs like the heart, but it can no longer be utilized by the brain when the neurons are dead.

Neurons are the working units of the brain, specialized cells which are responsible for transmitting information to other nerve cells, gland cells, and muscles.They form networks or connections in the brain which number up to trillions.

A traumatic brain injury, sudden cardiac arrest, or a stroke caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain can cause brain tissues to start dying due to oxygen deprivation.

Oxygen-Deprived Brains Timeline:

However, Bioquark is hopeful that stem cell treatment may spur the growth of new neurons to replace the dead ones and pave the way to revive a clinically dead brain. After all, the brain is a fighter and scientists have found out that our gray matter has a small reservoir of stem cells which can produce new neurons.

Researchers are thinking of the possibility of urging these stem cells to generate new neurons which can remedy injured brain tissues. One other option is to inject neural stem cells into the brain of a person who has just died, and these may generate the necessary new neurons to help revive the brain.

Soon, Bioquark will find out the answer or learn some more information from their pilot study which is the first stage of the companys broaderReanima project. The project is exploring the potential of cutting edge biomedical technology for human neuro-regeneration and neuro-reanimation as a way to hopefully give patients and their loved ones a second chance in life.

Bioquark is set to conduct this very first human trial in partnership with the Indian biotech company Revita Life Sciences which specializes in stem cell treatment.

Follow this link:
Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought 'Back to Life' in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy - Wall Street Pit

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought ‘Back to Life’ in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy – Wall Street Pit | August 28th, 2017

Northern New Mexico College started its fall semester last Monday by welcoming several new faculty and staff members to the Northern family, in addition to the incoming freshmen students.

Northern believes that its biggest assets are its people, which is why the College invites the campus and wider community to give a very warm welcome to the Colleges new faculty and staff.

Sushmita Nandy, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Sushmita Nandy is a stem cell and cancer biologist by training. She earned her PhD from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She then pursued her post-doctoral research work, first at The Jackson Laboratory, in Bar Harbor, Maine, and later at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, in El Paso, Texas. Her PhD research work involved investigating the regenerative potential of human mesenchymal stem cells and developing approaches to coax them towards cardiac and dopaminergic neuronal lineages.

Rhiannon West, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Rhiannon West received her PhD from the University of New Mexico where she focused on the behavior and ecology of pupfishes. Dr. West then had a post-doctoral position at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska which focused on the behavioral ecology of green swordtails.She studies the behavioral ecology of pupfish (Cyprinodon spp.) where she examines the interaction between behavioral mechanisms, mate choice, morphology, and phenotypic plasticity.

Martina J. Granado, MSN, RN, CNM

Martina joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She is a graduate of Northern's associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs, and recently received her Masters degree in nursing from the University ofNewMexico as a Certified Nurse Midwife. Her area of clinical expertise is maternal/newborn, labor and delivery, and obstetrical care. Martina is employed as a Certified Nurse Midwife at Bridge Care for Women in Los Alamos.

Sarah Graham Edwards, BA, BSN, RN

Sarah joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from State University ofNewYork. Her area of clinical expertise is labor and delivery and she maintains a clinical practice as astaffnurse at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

Deborah Kitchen, BSN, RN

Debbie brings over 40 years of experience in nursing to her position as an adjunct faculty member. She will be teaching the nurse aide training program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She is an experienced nurse aide instructor and has worked in a variety long-term care facilities and community health settings.

Gabriel Martinez

Gabriel is thenewAssistant Athletic Director/Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach. Gabriel graduated from NNMC with his Bachelor in Business Administration. He also played on the mens basketball team for four years.

Miquella Espinoza

Miquella is the new Transition Specialist for the High School Equivalency Program. She joined the College as a student and is expected to graduate this fall with a BA in Integrative Studies with an emphasis in Psychology. She received an AAS in Human Services in May 2015 from NNMC. Miquella has tutored and coached kindergarten and elementary students for seven years. She is excited for the opportunity to work with students who are in search of bettering their lives and continuing their education.

JoRonda Abeyta

JoRonda recently joined Northern as an academic advisor after graduating from NNMC with herBachelor's degree in Psychology in May of 2017. She is a Licensed Substance Abuse Associate through the State of New Mexico and is working to become a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. JoRonda also plans to pursue her master's degree in August of 2018.

Patrick K. Bendegue

Patrick is a math instructor for the High School Equivalency Program and the College. Born in Cameroon, Patrick graduated from Covenant Ministries Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Morehouse College for a year under a basketball scholarship while pursuing a degree in computer engineering. He then transferred to Northern as part of the mens basketball team, during which time he received several awards. Patrick graduated with a Bachelor in Engineering Information Technology from Northern.

Joanna Martinez

Joanna is the new Business Office Receptionist. She was previously employed with CNM where she worked as an Assessment Technician for over 2 years. She is married to Gabriel Martinez and has a 9-year-old son, Elijah. Next spring, Joanna will be graduating with her third Associates in Business Administration.

Excerpt from:
NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff - Los Alamos Daily Post

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff – Los Alamos Daily Post | August 28th, 2017

The pernicious effect of a heart attack includes the permanent damaging of heart muscles capacity to pump blood, causing healthy tissue to scar. People who suffer from this condition are often fatigued and cannot do as many things as they used to. They are also more prone to cardiac arrest, a condition that leads to death. Medication can help, and a heart transplant is sometimes used, though the necessity of using powerful anti-rejection drugs makes that option dangerous at the very least. The availability of donor hearts is also a limiting factor.

According to the CDC, 5.7 million Americans suffer from #Heart Failure.

Half of the people with the diagnosis die within five years. Heart failure costs the United States $30.7 billion a year in health care services, medication, and lost productivity.

A new option for people with this kind of heart failure is on the horizon, according to Mach. The idea is to grow patches of beating heart cells from a patients own tissue and then cover the parts of the heart that have been scarred by a cardiac event. The technology has the promise to allow heart failure patients to live nearly normal lives and to reduce the need for heart transplants.

Beating heart cell patches are created when blood cells are extracted from the patient and are transformed into stem cells using well known genetic engineering techniques. Then the stem cells would be used in a 3D printer to create living heart tissue, geared to match the exact size and shape of the area of the heart that has been scarred.

Then an open heart surgery procedure would be undertaken to implant the patch on the scarred tissue, including blood vessel grafts that would integrate the new tissue into the patients cardiovascular system.

The procedure would be a delicate one. The surgeon might cut the scarred tissue away and replace it with the patch or just overlay it with the theory that the scarring would go away in time. The hope is that the new tissue will beat in synchronicity with the rest of the heart.

The beauty of the procedure that even though it would cost $100,000, it will still be cheaper than a heart transplant, which costs $500,000 not including the expense of the anti-rejection drugs.

Researchers have enjoyed some success with the procedure in mice and pigs. The hope is that human trials can start in five years with the procedure being available in a clinical setting in about #Ten Years. #Stem Cell

Continued here:
Using stem cell patches to fix heart failure - Blasting News

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Using stem cell patches to fix heart failure – Blasting News | August 25th, 2017

Let our news meet your inbox.

From clot-busting drugs to bypass surgery, cardiologists have many options for treating the 700,000-plus Americans who suffer a heart attack each year. But treatment options remain limited for the 5.7 million or so Americans who suffer from heart failure, an often debilitating condition in which damage to the heart (often resulting from a heart attack) compromises its ability to pump blood.

Severe heart damage can pretty much incapacitate people, says Dr. Timothy Henry, director of cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. You cant climb a flight of stairs, youre fatigued all the time, and youre at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

Medication is available to treat heart failure, but its no panacea. And some heart failure patients undergo heart transplantation, but it remains an iffy proposition even 50 years after the first human heart was transplanted in 1967.

But soon, there may be another option.

A patch for the heart

Researchers are developing a new technology that would restore normal cardiac function by covering scarred areas with patches made of beating heart cells. The tiny patches would be grown in the lab from patients own cells and then surgically implanted.

The patches are now being tested in mice and pigs at Duke University, the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University. Researchers predict they could be tried in humans within five years with widespread clinical use possibly coming within a decade.

The hope is that patients will be again to live more or less normally again without having to undergo heart transplantation which has some serious downsides. Since donor hearts are in short supply, many patients experiencing heart failure die before one becomes available. And to prevent rejection of the new heart by the immune system, patients who do receive a new heart typically must take high doses of immunosuppressive drugs.

Heart transplants also require bypass machines which entails some risk and complications, says Dr. Timothy Kamp, co-director of the University of Wisconsins Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center and one of the researchers leading the effort to create heart patches. Putting a patch on doesnt require any form of bypass, because the heart can continue to pump as it is.

To create heart patches, doctors first take blood cells and then use genetic engineering techniques to reprogram them into so-called pluripotent stem cells. These jack-of-all-trade cells, in turn, are used to create the various types of cells that make up heart muscle. These include cardiomonocytes, the cells responsible for muscle contraction; fibroblasts, the cells that give heart tissue its structure; and endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels.

These cells are then grown over a tiny scaffold that organizes and aligns them in a way that they become functional heart tissue. Since the patches would be made from the patients own blood cells, there would be no chance of rejection by the patients immune system.

Once the patch tissue matures, MRI scans of the scarred region of the patients heart would be used to create a digital template for the new patch, tailoring it to just the right size and shape. A 3D printer would then be used to fabricate the extracellular matrix, the pattern of proteins that surround heart muscle cells.

The fully formed patch would be stitched into place during open-heart surgery, with blood vessel grafts added to link the patch with the patients vascular system.

In some cases, a single patch would be enough. For patients with multiple areas of scarring, multiple patches could be used.

Inserting patches will be delicate business, in part because scarring can render heart walls thin and susceptible to rupture. Researchers anticipate that heart surgeons will look at each case individually and decide whether it makes more sense to cut out the scarred area and cover the defect with a patch or simply affix the patch over the scarred area and hope that, over time, the scars will go away.

Another challenge will be making sure the patches contract and relax in synchrony with the hearts onto which theyre grafted. We think this will happen because cells of the same type like to seek each other out and connect over time, Kamp says. We anticipate that if the patch couples with the native heart tissue, the electrical signals which pass through the heart muscle like a wave and tell it to contract, will drive the new patch to contract at the same rate.

How much would it cost to patch a damaged heart? Researchers put the price tag at about $100,000. Thats far less than the $500,000 or so it costs give a patient a heart transplant. And regardless of the cost, researchers are upbeat about the possibility of having a new way to treat heart failure.

Using these patches to repair the damaged muscle is likely to be very effective, says Henry. Were not quite there yet itll be a few years before you see the first clinical trials. But this technology may really provide a whole new avenue of hope for people with these conditions who badly need new treatment options.

FOLLOW NBC MACH ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM.

Let our news meet your inbox.

Original post:
'Beating Heart' Patch Offers New Hope for Desperately Ill Patients - NBCNews.com

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on ‘Beating Heart’ Patch Offers New Hope for Desperately Ill Patients – NBCNews.com | August 25th, 2017

Dr. Alexandre R. Colas is an assistant professor at SBP. Credit: James Short

Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), the Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University and other institutions were surprised to discover that the four genes in the Id family play a crucial role in heart development, telling undifferentiated stem cells to form heart tubes and eventually muscle. While Id genes have long been known for their activity in neurons and blood cells, this is the first time they've been linked to heart development. These findings give scientists a new tool to create large numbers of cardiac cells to regenerate damaged heart tissue. The study was published in the journal Genes & Development.

"It has always been unclear what intra-cellular mechanism initiates cardiac cell fate from undifferentiated cells," says Alexandre Colas, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at SBP and corresponding author on the paper. "These genes are the earliest determinants of cardiac cell fate. This enables us to generate unlimited amounts of bona fide cardiac progenitors for regenerative purposes, disease modeling and drug discovery."

The international team, which included researchers from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Italy, University Pierre and Marie Curie in France and the University of Coimbra in Portugal, combined CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, high-throughput microRNA screening and other techniques to identify the role Id genes play in heart development.

In particular, CRISPR played a crucial role, allowing them to knock out all four Id genes. Previous studies had knocked out some of these genes, which led to damaged hearts. However, removing all four genes created mouse embryos with no hearts at all. This discovery comes after a decades-long effort to identify the genes responsible for heart development.

"This is a completely unanticipated pathway in making the heart," says co-author Mark Mercola, Ph.D., professor of Medicine at Stanford and adjunct professor at SBP. "People have been working for a hundred years to figure out how the heart is specified during development. Nobody in all that time had ever implicated the Id protein."

Further study showed Id genes enable heart formation by turning down the Tcf3 and Foxa2 proteins, which inhibit the process, and turning up Evx1, Grrp1 and Mesp1, which support the process.

In addition to contributing a new chapter in the understanding of heart development, this study illuminates a powerful technique to screen for protein function in complex phenotypical assays, which was previously co-developed by Colas and Mercola. This technology could have wide-spread impact throughout biology.

"On a technical level, this project succeeded because it combined high-throughput approaches with stem cells to functionally scan the entire proteome for individual proteins involved in making heart tissue," says Mercola. "It shows that we can effectively walk through the genome to find genes that control complex biology, like making heart cells or causing disease."

Understanding this pathway could ultimately jumpstart efforts to use stem cells to generate heart muscle and replace damaged tissue. In addition, because Id proteins are the earliest known mechanism to control cardiac cell fate, this work is an important milestone in understanding cardiovascular developmental biology.

"We've been influenced by the skeletal muscle development field, which found the regulator of myogenic lineage, or myoD," says Colas. "For decades, we have been trying to find the cardiac equivalent. The fact that Id genes are sufficient to direct stem cells to differentiate towards the cardiac lineage, and that you don't have a heart when you ablate them from the genome, suggests the Id family collectively is a candidate for cardioD."

Explore further: Discovery of a key regulatory gene in cardiac valve formation

More information: Thomas J. Cunningham et al, Id genes are essential for early heart formation, Genes & Development (2017). DOI: 10.1101/gad.300400.117

Read the rest here:
Id genes play surprise role in cardiac development - Medical Xpress - Medical Xpress

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Id genes play surprise role in cardiac development – Medical Xpress – Medical Xpress | August 22nd, 2017

LOS ANGELES In the fight against cardiovascular disease, a new super-weapon is now even closer to deployment and its capabilities are turning out to be beyond expectations.

One of the most notorious killers facing humanity, cardiovascular disease, is responsible for about about 1 in every 3 deaths in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association. A new study aimed at combating the disease finds that stem cells, the controversial darlings of modern biomedical research, are not only showing promise in treating heart failure, but in rats are actually reversing problems associated with old age.

The way the cells work to reverse aging is fascinating, says Dr. Eduardo Marbn,one of the studys primary investigators, in a press release. They secrete tiny vesicles that are chock-full of signaling molecules such as RNA and proteins. The vesicles from young cells appear to contain all the needed instructions to turn back the clock.

Marbn, who serves as director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, explains this latest study builds on previous lab work and human trials which have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions.

The specific type of stem cells used in the study are known as cardiosphere-derived cells or CDCs. The process to grow these cells was initially developed when Marbn was part of the Johns Hopkins University faculty.

While the latest research involving CDCs indicates possibilities that have previously been in the realm of science fiction, the scientists leading the charge urge restraint in face of the excitement.

This study didnt measure whether receiving the cardiosphere-derived cells extended lifespans, so we have a lot more work to do, says Dr. Lilian Grigorian-Shamagian, the studys first author. We have much to study, including whether CDCs need to come from a young donor to have the same rejuvenating effects and whether the extracellular vesicles are able to reproduce all the rejuvenating effects we detect with CDCs.

Nevertheless, the latest results of stem cell infusions in rats are startling. Not only did rats that received the CDCs experience improved heart function, they also had lengthened heart cell telomeres.

Telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, normally shrink with age. As telomere shrinkage is one of the most studied and least understood phenomenons associated with aging, the effect of CDCs on them is especially fascinating.

LIKE STUDIES? FOLLOW STUDYFINDS.ORG ON FACEBOOK!

Whats more, the researchers said the rats who received the treatment also had their exercise capacity increase by about 20 percent. They also regrew hair faster than rats that didnt receive the cells.

With these thrilling results only the latest in recent stem cell headlines, researchers caution the public that most treatments are still not ready for prime time.

Indeed, a recent Reuters article warned that stem cell therapy still is not approved to treat heart failure in the U.S., yet many unscrupulous clinics are offering questionable services anyway and charging tens of thousands of dollars for it. In some cases, researchers quoted in the article said these labs may not even be injecting stem cells, but rather a useless and dangerous mix of cellular debris.

The article also noted two patients died and another went blind after stem cell injection procedures in Florida clinics.

Still, the legitimate doctors and scientists working to push the frontier of medicine forward are very optimistic about the real possibilities of the therapy. The Cedars-Sinai team said they are also studying the use of stem cells in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a condition that affects more than 50 percent of all heart failure patients.

Their research on CDCs effects on aging was published this month in the European Heart Journal.

See original here:
Study: Cardiac Stem Cell Injections Reverse Effects of Aging - Study Finds

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Study: Cardiac Stem Cell Injections Reverse Effects of Aging – Study Finds | August 22nd, 2017

How long do you expect to live?

Thats a question that can make a lot of people feel suddenly lost for an answer.

In fact, its not a question that anybody would like to answer.

However, for scientific, socio-economic, and other legitimate reasons, average life expectancy per region are being documented. According to the World Factbook by the Central Intelligence Agency, the average life expectancy at birth of the following countries as of 2016 are as follows:

The rest of the world has an average life expectancy of 80 years downwards, with Chad ranking the lowest at 50.20 years.

Life is short, too short.

Its the reason why the pursuit of anything and everything under the sun that can stop aging is mankinds obsession.

We want to live longer; if possible, forever.

Forever is definitely too, too far away. But, longer, yes. Its more probable.

Heres the latest news on anti-aging, and this time its about stem cells. Stem cells from a young heart may help in regaining vitality which we lose as we grow old.

Researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have recently discovered that upon application of Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDC), which they took from newborn mice and injected into the hearts of 22-month-old mice, had resulted to better heart functionality, hair regrowth at a faster rate, 20 percent longer exercise endurance, and longer cardiac telomeres.

The findings on the effect of CDC cells on telomeres is very significant since these compound structures located at the tip of chromosomes function as the cells time-keepers. In fact, another study is focusing on methods to lengthen telomeres to fight the effects of progeria and help prolong life.

Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure usingcardiac stem cell infusions, saidCedars-Sinai Heart Institute and lead researcher Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

According to Dr. Marban, the CDC cells work on reversing the aging process by secreting very small vesicles that are full of signaling molecules like proteins and ribonucleic acid (RNA). The vesicles appear to have all the necessary information in producing cardiac and systemic rejuvenation.

In 2009, the LA-based team achieved the worlds first stem cell infusion which they hope to use in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cases of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. However, this was the first time that they have observed this kind of rejuvenating effects of CDC cells.

Nevertheless, Dr. Marban and his team acknowledge that they still have a lot to do and figure out. They havent determined yet if the CDC cells could lengthen life, or just produce a younger heart in an aged physique. They also have to find out if the cells must come from younger hearts for the stem cell treatment to be effective.They will obviously need more time and tests to find the right answers to these very important questions.

But, if Dr. Marban and his team succeed, CDC cells may be a key to restoring youth and vigor. It will also help globally the large number of people who suffer from cardiovascular diseases-heart disease is the worlds number 1 killer and accounts for 17.3 million deaths per year.

The study was published on theEuropean Heart Journal.

Continue reading here:
In World First, Scientists Reverse Aging in Old Hearts by Injecting Younger Cells - Wall Street Pit

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on In World First, Scientists Reverse Aging in Old Hearts by Injecting Younger Cells – Wall Street Pit | August 20th, 2017

On Monday, a group of scientists at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, CA, discovered througha world-first experimenta form to rejuvenate elder rats old hearts by injecting cardiac stem cells from much younger rats with healthier hearts. They hope this process might eventually become useful to humans.

The first time an experiment like this was carried out was in 2009 by the same Los Angeles-based team. Now, they also proved the possibility of reversing aging in old hearts.

Heart failure is a typical cause of death in humans. Around 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men die a year from heart attacks and other heart-related diseases. They are the first reason of death worldwide, and a leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 375,000 Americans a year. Nearly half of all African-American population suffers from heart diseases.

Researchers took stem cells from the hearts of 4-month-old rats, shaped them into cardiosphere-derived cells and injected them into the hearts of other rats of 22 monthsold, an age that makes them be considered as old. They carried out a similar process to another group of rats but injected saline instead. Scientists later compared both groups.

After receiving the stem cells injection, researchers noted a significant change in the way old rats continued to live. They turned much more active and improved their functionalities. Not just their heart rates got better and faster, but also the way they ran and breathed. Their hair started to grow faster, their chromosomal telomeres which commonly shrink with age lengthened, plus other benefits. The rodents began to progressively improve their capacity of exercise along with their stamina overall.

The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because Im kind of losing my hair) the animals regrew their fur a lot better after theyd gotten cells compared with the placebo rats, said Dr Eduardo Marbn, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and lead author, who is also extremely excited for having witnessed the unexpected fountain of youth.

In 2009, his team successfully repaired the damaged heart of a man who had suffered a heart attack, using his own heart tissue.

Stem cells are a really basic type of cells that can be molded and converted into other much-specialized cells through a process called differentiation, which is basicallyshaping them into any kind of body cell.They form in embryos like embryonic stem cells -, which help in the growth process of babies, along with the millions of other different cell types they need before their birth.

One of many cells scientists generated from stem cells is called progenitor cell, which shares some of the same properties. But unlike the original cells, progenitor cells are not able to divide and reproduce indefinitely. Dr. Marbn also said they discovered cardiosphere-derived cells, which tend to promote the healing of a condition that affects more than 50 percent of patients suffering from heart failure.

Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions, said Dr Marbn. Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

According to Dr. Marbn, stem cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles which contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injuries, and the way genes are expressed in the tissue. They are placed into the heart, and act to transform it into a better organ, helping it at the same time to improve exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Now, Dr. Marbn is exploring a much easier way to deliver the stem cells intravenously, instead of injecting them directly into the heart. Thus avoiding surgeries, which tend to be more complicated and expensive for the patient.

Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems, said Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, who did not contribute to the new research. The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly.

Now, scientistsneed to make more extensive studies before using the technique in humans.

Source: CNN

See the article here:
Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells ... - Pulse Headlines

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells … – Pulse Headlines | August 19th, 2017