Coronary heart disease is the countrys leading cause of death A new treatment was designed to treat damaged heart muscle The capsule contains stem cells derived from the patients bone marrow

By Roger Dobson for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:33 EST, 9 March 2015 | Updated: 18:07 EST, 9 March 2015

A new treatment using a tiny grow-bag has been designed to treat damaged heart muscle

A tiny grow-bag could be a new way to mend hearts damaged by disease or heart attack.

The capsule, which is pea-sized, contains stem cells that trigger the growth of new cells.

An estimated 2.3 million people in Britain have coronary heart disease the countrys leading cause of death.

It occurs when the arteries supplying the heart become blocked by fatty substances, reducing the flow of blood.

If a bit of this fatty substance breaks off, it can trigger a blood clot, which in turn cuts off the blood supply to heart muscle, causing it to die off. This is what triggers a heart attack.

Heart disease and heart attacks can also lead to heart failure, where the heart becomes too weak to pump blood around the body properly.

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The tiny grow-bag that could mend a heart damaged by disease

Researchers have created a "heart on a chip" using actual cardiac muscles to help test the effects of heart medication.

Anurag Mathur/Healy Lab

A new device could help make drug testing safer, faster, cheaper -- and eliminate the need for animal testing. It's just an inch long, but inside its silicone body is housed a small piece of cardiac muscle that responds to cardiovascular medications in exactly the same way heart muscle does inside a living human body.

"Ultimately, these chips could replace the use of animals to screen drugs for safety and efficacy," explained Kevin Healy, UC Berkeley professor of engineering, who led the research team that designed the device.

The problems with using animals to test human heart medication aren't merely ethical -- such concerns about lab animals rarely enter scientific discussions. Rather, there are some serious physiological problems -- namely, that drugs designed for humans will not have the same effect on a species that is biologically different from a human.

"These differences often result in inefficient and costly experiments that do not provide accurate answers about the toxicity of a drug in humans," Healy explained.

"It takes about $5 billion on average to develop a drug, and 60 percent of that figure comes from upfront costs in the research and development phase. Using a well-designed model of a human organ could significantly cut the cost and time of bringing a new drug to market."

The chips were created using heart muscle grown in a lab from adult human induced pluripotent stem cells -- stem cells that can be coaxed to grow into many other types of cell. The team then carefully designed the structure to be similar to the geometry and spacing of connective tissue fibre in a living human heart.

Microfluidic channels carved into the silicone on either side of the cell matrix act the same way as blood vessels, mimicking the exchange of nutrients and drugs with human tissue as it would happen in the body.

The cells start beating on their own within 24 hours of being loaded into the chamber at a healthy resting rate of 55 to 80 beats per minute. In order to test the system, the team then administered four well-known cardiovascular drugs -- isoproterenol, E-4031, verapamil and metoprolol. By monitoring the beat rate, the team was able to observe -- and accurately predict -- the chip's response to the drugs. Isoproterenol, for example -- a drug used to treat slow heart rate -- caused the muscle's beat rate to increase from 55 beats per minute to 124 beats per minute half an hour after being administered.

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Human heart on a chip could replace animal drug testing

Though it may not look at all like the muscle in your chest, this heart-on-a-chip can beat like the real thing. A blend of microfluidics and biological cells, the device will be used as a more efficient means of testing for drug toxicity.

Developed by a team of bioengineers form University of California, Berkeley, the device is designed to mimic the geometry of fibers in a human heart. Pluripotent stem cellsthe cells that can be nudged to become one of the many different types of tissue present in our bodiesare introduced to a channel which is specially designed to encourage cells to grow in multiple layers in one direction, like real cardiac tissue. Here, they grow in to heart cells.

This section is then perfused with blood from microfluidic channels which act as blood vessels. Within 24 hours of lining the structure with heart cells, the structure began to beat at rate of between 55 to 80 beats per minutejust like a real human heart. Anurag Mathur, one of the researchers, explains to PhysOrg:

"This system is not a simple cell culture where tissue is being bathed in a static bath of liquid. We designed this system so that it is dynamic; it replicates how tissue in our bodies actually gets exposed to nutrients and drugs."

The system has already been used to test established cardiovascular drugs such as isoproterenol, E-4031, verapamil and metoprolol. The team observed effects upon the heart-on-a-chip consistent with those brought about in real humanso, drugs intended to speed up heart rate did exactly that to the cells in the device. The findings are published in Scientific Reports.

It's hoped that the device will be used to screen drugs, model human genetic diseasesand perhaps even link up with other organs-on-a-chip to predict whole-body reactions too. [Scientific Reports via PhysOrg]

Originally posted here:
This Heart-on-a-Chip Beats Like the Real Thing

When University of California, Berkeley, bioengineers say they are holding their hearts in the palms of their hands, they are not talking about emotional vulnerability.

Instead, the research team led by bioengineering professor Kevin Healy is presenting a network of pulsating cardiac muscle cells housed in an inch-long silicone device that effectively models human heart tissue, and they have demonstrated the viability of this system as a drug-screening tool by testing it with cardiovascular medications.

This organ-on-a-chip, reported in a study to be published Monday, March 9, in the journal Scientific Reports, represents a major step forward in the development of accurate, faster methods of testing for drug toxicity. The project is funded through the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Initiative, an interagency collaboration launched by the National Institutes of Health to develop 3-D human tissue chips that model the structure and function of human organs.

"Ultimately, these chips could replace the use of animals to screen drugs for safety and efficacy," said Healy.

The study authors noted a high failure rate associated with the use of nonhuman animal models to predict human reactions to new drugs. Much of this is due to fundamental differences in biology between species, the researchers explained. For instance, the ion channels through which heart cells conduct electrical currents can vary in both number and type between humans and other animals.

"Many cardiovascular drugs target those channels, so these differences often result in inefficient and costly experiments that do not provide accurate answers about the toxicity of a drug in humans," said Healy. "It takes about $5 billion on average to develop a drug, and 60 percent of that figure comes from upfront costs in the research and development phase. Using a well-designed model of a human organ could significantly cut the cost and time of bringing a new drug to market."

The heart cells were derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells, the adult stem cells that can be coaxed to become many different types of tissue.

The researchers designed their cardiac microphysiological system, or heart-on-a-chip, so that its 3-D structure would be comparable to the geometry and spacing of connective tissue fiber in a human heart. They added the differentiated human heart cells into the loading area, a process that Healy likened to passengers boarding a subway train at rush hour. The system's confined geometry helps align the cells in multiple layers and in a single direction.

Microfluidic channels on either side of the cell area serve as models for blood vessels, mimicking the exchange by diffusion of nutrients and drugs with human tissue. In the future, this setup could also allow researchers to monitor the removal of metabolic waste products from the cells.

"This system is not a simple cell culture where tissue is being bathed in a static bath of liquid," said study lead author Anurag Mathur, a postdoctoral scholar in Healy's lab and a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine fellow. "We designed this system so that it is dynamic; it replicates how tissue in our bodies actually gets exposed to nutrients and drugs."

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Bioengineers put human hearts on a chip to aid drug screening

Durham, NC (PRWEB) February 27, 2015

Several studies showing the promise of stem cells for treating patients with heart failure have made headline news recently. However, all these studies dealt with adult patients only. New research appearing in this months STEM CELLS Translational Medicine shows that stem cells may have the same potential in treating children with congenital heart diseases that can lead to heart failure.

The study, undertaken by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., looked at the feasibility and long-term safety of injecting autologous umbilical cord blood cells directly into the heart muscle at the pediatric stage of heart development. The study was conducted on pigs, due to their hearts similarity to human hearts.

The team injected the stem cells directly into the right ventricle of groups of three- and four-week old healthy piglets, and then compared the results to a control group that did not receive any cells. Over the next three months, the animals were monitored to assess cardiac performance and rhythm to determine how safe the procedure would be for humans.

During this follow-up period, we found no significant acute or chronic cardiac injury pattern caused by the injections directly into the heart, said lead author Timothy J. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinics Department of Medicine, and all the animals hearts appeared to be normal and healthy.

This led us to conclude that autologous stem cells from cord blood can be safely collected and surgically delivered to children. The study also establishes the foundation for cell-based therapy for children and aims to accelerate the science toward clinical trials for helping children with congenital heart disease that could benefit from a regenerative medicine strategy, he added.

The lead author, Susan Cantero Peral, M.D., Ph.D. commented, This work highlights the importance and utility of umbilical cord blood as it can be applied to new applications. Rather than discarding this sample at birth, individuals with congenital heart disease may one day be able to have these cells collected and processed in a specialized way to make them available for cardiac regeneration.

This work was funded by the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome founded at the Mayo Clinic.

These data help establish the foundation of a cell-based therapy for juvenile hearts by showing that injections of autologous cells from cord blood are safe and feasible, said Anthony Atala, M.D., editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

###

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Study Shows Stem Cells Have Potential to Help Kids Hearts, Too

Albany, NewYork (PRWEB) February 27, 2015

ResearchMoz has announced the addition of a recent study that presents the analysis of the cell culture protein surface coating market across the globe. The research report discusses the current scenario and development prospects of the global cell culture protein surface coating industry for the period of 2015 to 2019.

Read Complete Report With TOC @ http://www.researchmoz.us/global-cell-culture-protein-surface-coating-market-2015-2019-report.html

The research report, titled Global Cell Culture Protein Surface Coating Market, offers an analytical study, providing an in-depth assessment of the industry based on market trends, growth drivers as well as challenges. This is done taking various segments of the market into consideration. The report also forecasts that the worldwide cell culture protein surface coating industry will expand at a CAGR of 12.91% during the forecast period of 2014 to 2019.

Cell culture protein surface coating is defined as the coating process wherein cell culture surfaces are covered with extra-cellular matrix elements or with protein to improve in-vitro linkage and propagation in the cells.

The various kinds of proteins that are available in our surroundings are synthetic proteins, human-derived proteins, plant-derived proteins, and animal-derived proteins. Fibronectin, collagen, laminin, osteopontin, and vitronectin are some of the proteins that are utilized for cell culture protein surface coating. Cell culture protein surface coating assists in the development of several kinds of cells such as epithelial, endothelial, fibroblasts, muscle cells and myoblasts, leukocytes, CHO cell lines, and neurons.

The wide range of applications for cell culture protein surface coatings consist of enhanced adhesion of cells, better propagation and development of cells, cell matrix studies, morphogenesis studies, receptor-ligand binding studies, signal transduction studies, genetic engineering, differentiation of individual cell types, drug screening, and metabolic pathway studies.

Stem cells have high potential for the treatment of severe diseases such as cardiac ailments, neuro degenerative diseases, and even diabetes. This fact has resulted in the increase in demand for highly developed cell culture products for stem cell manufacturing and studies. Cell culture protein surface coating offers enhanced adhesion, propagation, and rapid development of cells during the period of isolation and cultivation.

The main factor that is adding to the growth of the global cell culture protein surface coating industry is increased focus of top market players towards stem cell research. However, the drawbacks of animal-derived protein surface coating is a factor that is soon becoming a matter of concern, hindering the growth of the cell culture protein surface coating market.

Top players of the cell culture protein surface coating industry are EMD Millipore, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Corning, and Sigma-Aldrich.

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Global Cell Culture Protein Surface Coating Industry: Rising Focus towards Stem Cells Research to Trigger Market Growth

Posted by Richard Dietman (@rdietman) 3 day(s) ago

Mayo Clinic Radio: Cardiac Regeneration/Stop-Smoking Drug/Juicing

On this weeks Mayo Clinic Radio,fixing a broken heart. Cardiac regeneration uses the bodys own stem cells to repair damage done by heart disease. Mayo Clinic cardiologist Dr. Atta Behfar explains. Also on the program, nicotine dependency expert Dr. Richard Hurt discusses results of a new study about the stop-smoking drug varenicline (Chantix). And Mayo Clinic registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky explains the risks of juice-only diets.

Myth or Matter-of-Fact: Cardiac regeneration may someday replace the need for surgery to repair heart damage.

To listen to the program at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 21, clickhere.

Follow#MayoClinicRadioand tweet your questions.

Mayo Clinic Radio is available oniHeartRadio.

Mayo Clinic Radiois a weeklyone-hour radio program highlighting health and medical informationfrom Mayo Clinic.

To find and listen toarchived shows,click here.

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Mayo Clinic Radio: Cardiac Regeneration/Stop-Smoking Drug/Juicing

Kansas City, MO (PRWEB) February 09, 2015

One in five Americans will develop heart failure in their lifetime. It is the number one cause of hospitalization for adults over 65. The cost to treat heart failure is $32 billion and expected to double by 2030. There is no doubt heart failure is a significant health problem. The good news is proper care and treatment can dramatically improve a patients outcome and potentially promising new treatments are on the horizon.

February 8-14, 2015 is National Heart Failure Awareness Week. Saint Lukes Mid America Heart Institute, in Kansas City, Missouri specializes in treating heart failure and other complex cardiovascular conditions and has long been one of the leaders in cardiovascular care not only in the Midwest, but across the country.

Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to efficiently move blood to the rest of the body either due to thickening or weakness. Onset can come from a variety of causes including heart attack, viral illness, abnormal heart valves, genetic traits and even after pregnancy. Symptoms can be subtle; shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, swelling in the legs and or stomach.

The good news is a variety of treatments are available and proper care and treatment can dramatically improve symptoms and quality of life for patients.

Treatments include:

The exciting news for patients is we have promising treatments currently in the research phase of development, said Bethany Austin, M.D., Associate Medical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program at Saint Lukes Mid America Heart Institute. These treatments range from clinical trials involving catheter based treatments, treatment of sleep apnea, and gene therapy with stem cells for damaged heart muscles. In addition, there is a new medication which has shown in recent trials to provide significant benefit to heart failure patients compared to standard therapy although it is not yet commercially available. All of these offer new hope to heart failure patients.

Saint Lukes offers a multidisciplinary heart team, including the regions only team of cardiologists board certified in Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant, cardiothoracic surgeons, and critical care anesthesiologists.

The Saint Lukes Heart Failure Program also features:

In 2014, The Joint Commission awarded Saint Lukes Hospital Advanced Certification in Heart Failure. Only 53 other hospitals in the United States currently have Advanced Heart Failure Certification. Saint Lukes Hospital also received the Get With The GuidelinesHeart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation secondary prevention guidelines for heart failure patients.

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Saint Lukes Mid America Heart Institute Offers Tips & Treatments For Heart Failure Awareness Week 2015

Late-Breaking Basic Science Research Presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions Shows Stem Cell Treatment Restores Heart Function Damaged by Muscular Disease

Contact: Sally Stewart Email: sally.stewart@cshs.org

Los Angeles - Nov. 17, 2014 Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that injections of cardiac stem cells might help reverse heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, potentially resulting in a longer life expectancy for patients with the chronic muscle-wasting disease.

The study results were presented today at a Breaking Basic Science presentation during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago. After laboratory mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were infused with cardiac stem cells, the mice showed steady, marked improvement in heart function and increased exercise capacity.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects 1 in 3,600 boys, is a neuromuscular disease caused by a shortage of a protein called dystrophin, leading to progressive muscle weakness. Most Duchenne patients lose their ability to walk by age 12. Average life expectancy is about 25. The cause of death often is heart failure because the dystrophin deficiency leads to cardiomyopathy, a weakness of the heart muscle that makes the heart less able to pump blood and maintain a regular rhythm.

"Most research into treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients has focused on the skeletal muscle aspects of the disease, but more often than not, the cause of death has been the heart failure that affects Duchenne patients," said Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and study leader. "Currently, there is no treatment to address the loss of functional heart muscle in these patients."

During the past five years, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has become a world leader in studying the use of stem cells to regenerate heart muscle in patients who have had heart attacks. In 2009, Marbn and his team completed the world's first procedure in which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells. The specialized cells were then injected back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair and regrow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack. Results, published in The Lancet in 2012, showed that one year after receiving the experimental stem cell treatment, heart attack patients demonstrated a significant reduction in the size of the scar left on the heart muscle.

Earlier this year, Heart Institute researchers began a new study, called ALLSTAR, in which heart attack patients are being infused with allogeneic stem cells, which are derived from donor-quality hearts. Recently, the Heart Institute opened the nations first Regenerative Medicine Clinic, designed to match heart and vascular disease patients with appropriate stem cell clinical trials being conducted at Cedars-Sinai and other institutions.

"We are committed to thoroughly investigating whether stem cells could repair heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy," Marbn said.

In the study, 78 lab mice were injected with cardiac stem cells. Over the next three months, the lab mice demonstrated improved pumping ability and exercise capacity in addition to a reduction in heart inflammation. The researchers also discovered that the stem cells work indirectly, by secreting tiny fat droplets called exosomes. The exosomes, when purified and administered alone, reproduce the key benefits of the cardiac stem cells.

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Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy May Heal Heart Damage Caused by ...

LA JOLLA (CNS) - Two scientists with UC San Diego were awarded a combined $2.7 million in grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to pursue their studies on stem cell therapies, the school announced Monday.

Shyni Varghese, an associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering and director of the Bio-Inspired Materials and Stem Cell Engineering Laboratory, received a $1.4 CIRM grant to improve the function of transplanted stem cells.

Shaochen Chen, a professor in the Department of Nanoengineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering and a member of UCSD's Institute of Engineering in Medicine, received $1.3 million to develop three-diminensional bioprinting techniques that use heart muscle cells derived from human embryonic stem cells to create new cardiac tissue.

The awards were part of almost $30 million in grants announced at CIRM's monthly meeting in San Francisco, according to UCSD.

"Sometimes even the most promising therapy can be derailed by a tiny problem," said Jonathan Thomas, chairman of the CIRM Board of Directors. "These awards are designed to help find ways to overcome those problems, to bridge the gaps in our knowledge and ensure that the best research is able to keep progressing and move out of the lab and into clinical trials in patients."

Varghese's lab focuses on the interactions of cells with their surrounding micro-environment, and how the conditions necessary to promote normal, healthy survival and growth occur, according to UCSD.

Chen's studies focus on using stem cells to create new heart tissue that would help patients when transplants aren't immediately available.

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UCSD scientists awarded $2.7M grants for stem cell research

What Happens When Stem Cells Go Into My Heart?
Renowned cardiologist, stem cell therapy expert and Okyanos Chief Science Officer Leslie Miller, MD, FACC, explains the importance of generating new blood ve...

By: Okyanos

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What Happens When Stem Cells Go Into My Heart? - Video

Cardiac Muscle Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells

By: CK LAB

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Cardiac Muscle Derived from Pluripotent Stem Cells - Video

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy May Be Helped With Cardiac Stem Cells
Study shows cardiac stem cells used to treat heart attacks may also help children with muscular dystrophy. Dr. Bruce Hensel reports for the NBC4 News at 5 on...

By: CoalitionDuchenne

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Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy May Be Helped With Cardiac Stem Cells - Video

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY: Quote) has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY: Quote) to explore combination regimens from its immuno-oncology portfolio with other mechanisms of action that may accelerate the development of new treatment options for patients.

As per the agreement terms, a phase 1/2 trial will evaluate Bristol-Myers Squibb's approved immunotherapy Opdivo in combination with Lilly's investigational Galunisertib as a potential treatment option for patients with advanced (metastatic and/or unresectable) glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer.

Opdivo is approved by FDA for intravenous use for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma while Galunisertib is currently under investigation as an oral treatment for advanced/metastatic malignancies, including phase 2 evaluation in hepatocellular carcinoma, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), glioblastoma, and pancreatic cancer.

In other related news, Lilly has also entered into a collaboration agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK: Quote) to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Merck's KEYTRUDA in combination with Lilly compounds in multiple clinical trials.

Merck's KEYTRUDA was granted accelerated approval by FDA last September for unresectable or metastatic melanoma with disease progression following Ipilimumab and, if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor.

BMY closed Tuesday's trading at $63.12, up 1.51%.

Celsus Therapeutics plc (CLTX: Quote) has completed enrollment in its phase II study evaluating the safety and efficacy of MRX-6 cream 2% in a pediatric population with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis.

The topline data from the trial are expected by end-February, 2015.

CLTX closed Tuesday's trading 10.39% higher at $5.95.

Cellular Dynamics International (ICEL: Quote) has entered into a research collaboration with privately-held Cord Blood Registry to reprogram newborn stem cells into induced pluripotent stem cells.

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LLY Collaborates With BMY And MRK, CLTX On Watchlist, ZLTQ Continues To Grow

TUCSON Dr. Zain Khalpey stands next to a ghostly white lung pumping rhythmically on the table next to him. Thats pretty damn good, actually, Khalpey says as he gazes at the data recorded by the lungs ventilator.

The ventilator indicates that the pig lung is inflating and deflating like a normal lung. Experiments such as this bring research a step closer to the operating room.

Khalpey, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Arizona, focuses his research on making more organs available to patients who need a transplant. Every day, 18 people on organ transplant lists die, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In Arizona patients have to wait two to three years for a lung transplant, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. This waiting period is emotionally and financially draining for patients.

Khalpey is trying to shrink the wait time. He is taking damaged organs and refurbishing them so they end up in a needy patients body. Other organs too damaged to be refurbished are stripped of their cells and used to grow new organs with the patients stem cells.

In the future, donor organs may not even be needed. Khalpey is working on hybrid organs that are 3-D printed and then seeded with the patients stem cells.

From London

to Tucson

Khalpeys passion for transplant surgery started on a rainy day in 1990s London. A 16-year-old boy lay on the operating table about to undergo a heart-and-lung transplant. Cystic fibrosis caused his lungs to become a breeding ground for infection that whittled away his ability to breathe.

A team of surgeons replaced the boys lungs as well as his heart because he was more likely to survive with donor organs. The medical team rushed the boys viable heart to a second operating room, where it gave new life to another patient.

Excerpt from:
Research looks to build organ stockpiles

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Newswise Researchers Recreate Stem Cells From Deceased Patients to Study Present-Day Illnesses Cedars-Sinai research scientists have developed a novel method to re-create brain and intestinal stem cells from patients who died decades ago, using DNA from stored blood samples to study the potential causes of debilitating illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease. The lab research, published in the journal STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, could yield new therapies for people who suffer from aggressive motor-neuron and gut-related conditions that proved fatal to the deceased patients who long-ago volunteered their blood samples. CONTACT: Cara Martinez, 310-423-7798; Email cara.martinez@cshs.org

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute Physician-Researcher Awarded National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Grant to Develop Prevention Strategies for Deadly Heart Condition One of medicines most prominent experts in sudden cardiac arrest has received a new $2.36 million grant to study how to better predict the deadly heart condition that kills an estimated 300,000 Americans each year. Over recent years, Sumeet S. Chugh, MD, and his team of researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have identified several risk factors for sudden cardiac arrest, including levels of sex hormones in the blood, genetics and electrical and structural abnormalities of the heart. CONTACT: Sally Stewart, 310-248-6566; Email sally.stewart@cshs.org

Study Shows More Patients With Lou Gehrigs Disease Have Genetic Origin Than Previously Thought Genetics may play a larger role in causing Lou Gehrigs disease than previously believed, potentially accounting for more than one-third of all cases, according to one of the most comprehensive genetic studies to date of patients who suffer from the condition also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The study, conducted by investigators at Cedars-Sinai and Washington University in St. Louis, also showed that patients with defects in two or more ALS-associated genes experience disease onset about 10 years earlier than patients with single-gene mutations. CONTACT: Sandy Van, 808-526-1708; Email sandy@prpacific.com

Computer System More Effective Than Doctors at Producing Comprehensive Patient Reports A computer system was more effective than doctors at collecting information about patient symptoms, producing reports that were more complete, organized and useful than narratives generated by physicians during office visits, according to a Cedars-Sinai study. Investigators said the research, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, highlights the potential of computers to enhance the quality of medical care and improve outcomes by harnessing accurate and thorough patient information. CONTACT: Duke Helfand, 310-248-6608; Email: duke.helfand@cshs.org

Double Lung Transplant Patient Pays Tribute to Donors Family in the Rose Parade Hours before receiving a lung transplant he thought would never happen, Michael Adams told his surgical team at Cedars-Sinai that hed be happy to live just one more year. Adams, 51, had suffered from cystic fibrosis since he was a baby. Hed been in and out of hospitals for as long as he could remember. By Thanksgiving of 2002, the former wheelchair company worker had end-stage disease. His lungs barely worked. Even eight liters of oxygen left him gasping for air. Then Adams received the call that saved his life: Two healthy lungs had suddenly become available. They belonged to a 15-year-old boy who had been shot and killed on the steps of his church 78 miles away in San Bernardino. Adams was transferred immediately to Cedars-Sinai, where he underwent a double lung transplant. He and his transplant surgeons are available for interviews CONTACT: Laura Coverson, 310-423-5215 Email: laura.coverson@cshs.org

# # #

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Cedars-Sinai Medical Tip Sheet for Jan., 2015

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. Reminding broken hearts how to mend them selves. After years of tracking down the right genetic buttons a team at the Salk Institute in La Jolla has taught a mammal to do what zebra fish do naturally, repair a severely damaged heart. While all our cells have the genetic code for building whole organs those genes seem to be switched off in all higher animals, but active in some more primitive species like zebra fish and salamanders.

New cells (red) repairing injury in a zebra fish heart.

When, with CIRM funding, they inserted genetic signals to turn off those genes in the mice, they saw significant repair of the damaged heart. There are many steps between this advance and getting human hearts to repair them selvesnotably finding a way to introduce the genetic signals without using the virus used in this study. HealthCanal picked up the institutes press release.

Cloned stem cells pretty much like reprogrammed stem cells. In the early days of stem cell research there was a great deal of excitement about the possibility of creating stem cells that genetically match a patient by a process commonly called cloning. This process of taking the genetic storehouse of a cell, the nucleus, and inserting it into a donor egg had been relatively easy in mice. But it turned out quite difficult in humans and was only accomplished last year.

During the years of failed attempts at this process known as nuclear transfer in humans an alternative came into the field. The Nobel prize-winning discovery that you can reprogram any adult cell to act like an embryonic stem cell gave us a new way to create personalized stem cells that genetically match a patient. But ever since that 2008 advance, the research community has fretted over whether those new stem cells called iPS cells really match embryonic stem cells. The iPS cells came from older cells that had lived through many opportunities for mutation and the genetic factors used to reprogram them added further opportunities for mutation.

Researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundations in house lab have now compared the two types of cells with several layers of genetic analysis. They found the same level of mutation in the iPS cells and the cells from nuclear transfer lending some reassurance to the use of iPS cells going forward. HealthCanal ran the foundations press release.

A more efficient way to make cloned stem cells. Even though a team in Oregon overcame the obstacles to creating stem cells by nuclear transfer last year, and the feat has been repeated by the New York team above and others, it remains terribly inefficient. So, several groups are working on better ways to make these potentially valuable cells.

A former colleague now at Childrens Hospital, Boston wrote a nice explanation of how researchers are going about making these cloned cells easier in the hospitals blog, Vector. Stem cells reduced seizures. The seizures endured by people with many forms of epilepsy originate from genetic defects in their nerves. So, a team at McClean Hospital outside of Boston implanted healthy nerves grown from embryonic stem cells in mice with genetically linked seizures. Half the mice no longer had seizures and the other half had their seizure frequency reduced.

The type of nerves transplanted are called interneurons, which are known to be the nerves that reduce firing of signals. In epilepsy nerve signals are hyperactive. The team is now working on methods to mature the stem cells into purer populations of just the desired interneurons. ClinicalSpace picked up the hospitals press release.

Don Gibbons

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Stem cell stories that caught our eye: heart repair ...

At Stem Cell Treatment Institute advanced stem cell procedures are performed at some of the most scientifically advanced hospitals in the world. Our Heart Disease treatment differs from standard methods by attacking the root cause inside the heart. Stem cell therapy is focused on affecting physical changes in the heart that can improve a patient's quality of life.

Most Heart Failure patients are treated by IV; injecting the stem cells into the blood which transports them up the heart.

Another procedure, by which the stem cells are surgically implanted directly into the heart, with angiography is also available.

Treatment using Bone Marrow Stem Cells First bone marrow is collected from the patient's iliac crest (hip bone) using thin-needle puncture under local anesthesia. Once the bone marrow collection is complete, patients may return to their hotel and go about normal activities.

The stem cells are then processed in a state-of-the-art laboratory. In the lab, both the quantity and quality of the stem cells are measured.

The stem cells are then implanted back into the patient by IV or surgical implantation.

Cost: Stem cell treatments begin around $13,500 (adults).

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As we age our stem cells become less prolific and less effective. For this reason younger cells are often preferred. We do not need to go all the way back to an early stage embryo to get young cells. Young cells can be used from The Placenta, or Umbilical Cord (cord blood cells), and other young sources. These young cells are more likely than stem cells found in adult sources like bone marrow and adipose tissue (fat) to have proliferative properties. This means that stem cells found in placenta and cord blood have a greater ability to regenerate. In some counrties (US and Europe) requlations limit access to these advanced stem cell sources. Fortunately our International Health Department Permit, a COFEPRIS, is on a Presidential level, insuring access to the highest level of quality stem cells.

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Stem Cell Treatment for Heart Disease

HEART DISEASE & HEART ATTACK Helped With Your OWN STEM CELLS Watch these Heart Repair VIDEOS .. and Review All your Stem Cell Options for Heart Attacks

Heart disease can be helped and controlled with your own Stem Cells. REVIEW and Investigate All your NATURAL Adult Stem cell Options.

Just 2 Patented Stem Cell Enhancer capsules, release 3 to 4 Million New STEM CELLS into your blood stream within 60 Minutes.. Your very OWN Adult Stem Cells can Help prevent and repair Heart Attacks with NO Injections.. NO Surgery .. NO Controversy .. No Hospitals...

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Heart disease patients with clogged arteries and severe chest pain who were injected with stem cells from their own bone marrow had a small improvement in blood flow and the pumping ability of their hearts, along with an easing of pain, researchers found.

Doctors in the Netherlands drew bone marrow from the hips of heart disease patients in the study. After isolating the stem cells, they injected them back into the patients hearts and monitored their progress. The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.(JAMA)

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FACT : To treat a range of conditions, and several thousand heart disease patients have been treated with adult stem cells, those found in mature organs. While some cardiologists originally hoped bone marrow cells might generate new heart muscle to replace damaged tissue, that hasnt been found to occur, said Warren Sherman, a cardiologist at Columbia University in New York.

The focus has shifted, said Sherman, in a telephone interview today. Cardiologists are now hoping that bone marrow stem cells can promote the growth of new blood vessels and improve the quality of life and level of chest pain patients have. The new study, in 50 heart disease patients, showed that adult stem cells can improve blood flow and ease chest pain, Sherman said. In the study, half of the heart disease patients got their own stem cells and the others got a simulated treatment. The cardiologists used a catheter, a thin wire threaded through their arteries that also carried a small camera to guide the injections. Go Review and investigate healthy heart and heart wellness stem cell options HERE

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Cardiovascular diseases remain the biggest cause of deaths worldwide, though over the last two decades, cardiovascular mortality rates have declined in many high-income countries but have increased at an astonishingly fast rate in low- and middle-income countries. The percentage of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease range from 4% in high-income countries to 42% in low-income countries. More than 17 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2008. Each year, heart disease kills more Americans than cancer. In recent years, cardiovascular risk in women has been increasing and has killed more women than breast cancer.

Measures to prevent cardiovascular disease may include:

A fairly recent emphasis is on the link between low-grade inflammation that hallmarks atherosclerosis and its possible interventions. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a common inflammatory marker that has been found to be present in increased levels in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. Also osteoprotegerin which is involved with regulation of a key inflammatory transcription factor called NF-B has been found to be a risk factor of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Studies have shown that Stem Cells have shown the ability to reduce inflammation.

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Stem Cell Treatment Heart Disease - ASCI - Asian Stem Cell ...