Scientists have promised a lot of regenerative medicine will come from stem cells, but so far progress has been fairly slow: they can stimualte regrowth of heart tissue, make incredibly expesnive artifical blood, orat bestconstruct a short piece of vein. Now, though, scientists are claiming they can grow functional liver.

Nature reports that a team of scientists from Japan has presented its works at a conference, and it's incredible. In fact, George Daley, director of the stem-cell transplantation program at the Boston Children's Hospital in Massachusetts, told Nature that "it blew [his] mind." Wow.

The researchers used stem cells created from human skin cells, then placed the cells on growth plates in a specially designed culture medium. Over the course of nine days, the cells started producing chemicals that a typical liver cell, otherwise known as a hepatocyte, would produce. They then added endothelial and mesenchymal cellswhich form parts of blood vessels and other structural tissues within the bodyto the mix, in the hope that they would be incorporated and begin to help the cells develop a structure akin to the liver.

The result was amazing: two days later, the researchers found the cells assembled into a 5-millimeter-long, three-dimensional lump. That lump was almost identical to something known as a liver budan early stage of liver development. From Nature's report:

"The tissue lacks bile ducts, and the hepatocytes do not form neat plates as they do in a real liver. In that sense, while it does to some degree recapitulate embryonic growth, it does not match the process as faithfully as the optic cup recently reported by another Japanese researcher. But the tissue does have blood vessels that proved functional when it was transplanted under the skin of a mouse. Genetic tests show that the tissue expresses many of the genes expressed in real liver. And, when transferred to the mouse, the tissue was able to metabolize some drugs that human livers metabolize but mouse livers normally cannot. "

While it's not perfect, it's the first time anyone has successfully created part of a functional human organ from stem cells produced from human skin. If scientists hadn't quite managed to deliver on the promise of stem cells so far, they have now. [Nature]

Image by Spirit-Fire under Creative Commons license

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Scientists Can Now Grow Functioning Liver From Stem Cells [Medicine]

ScienceDaily (June 20, 2012) Cedars-Sinai's Regenerative Medicine Institute has pioneered research on how motor-neuron cell-death occurs in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, offering an important clue in identifying potential medicines to treat this leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers.

The study, published in the June 19 online issue of PLoS ONE, extends the institute's work to employ pluripotent stem cells to find a pharmaceutical treatment for spinal muscular atrophy or SMA, a genetic neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle atrophy and weakness.

"With this new understanding of how motor neurons die in spinal muscular atrophy patients, we are an important step closer to identifying drugs that may reverse or prevent that process," said Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Svendsen and his team have investigated this disease for some time now. In 2009, Nature published a study by Svendsen and his colleagues detailing how skin cells taken from a patient with the disorder were used to generate neurons of the same genetic makeup and characteristics of those affected in the disorder; this created a "disease-in-a-dish" that could serve as a model for discovering new drugs.

As the disease is unique to humans, previous methods to employ this approach had been unreliable in predicting how it occurs in humans. In the research published in PLoS ONE, the team reproduced this model with skin cells from multiple patients, taking them back in time to a pluripotent stem cell state (iPS cells), and then driving them forward to study the diseased patient-specific motor neurons.

Children born with this disorder have a genetic mutation that doesn't allow their motor neurons to manufacture a critical protein necessary for them to survive. The study found these cells die through apoptosis -- the same form of cell death that occurs when the body eliminates old, unnecessary as well as unhealthy cells. As motor neuron cell death progresses, children with the disease experience increasing paralysis and eventually death. There is no effective treatment now for this disease. An estimated one in 35 to one in 60 people are carriers and about in 100,000 newborns have the condition.

"Now we are taking these motor neurons (from multiple children with the disease and in their pluripotent state) and screening compounds that can rescue these cells and create the protein necessary for them to survive," said Dhruv Sareen, director of Cedars-Sinai's Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core Facility and a primary author on the study. "This study is an important stepping stone to guide us toward the right kinds of compounds that we hope will be effective in the model -- and then be reproduced in clinical trials."

The study was funded in part by a $1.9 million Tools and Technology grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine aimed at developing new tools and technologies to aid pharmaceutical discoveries for this disease.

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Understanding of spinal muscular atrophy improved with use of stem cells

Newswise LOS ANGELES (June 19, 2012) Cedars-Sinais Regenerative Medicine Institute has pioneered research on how motor-neuron cell-death occurs in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, offering an important clue in identifying potential medicines to treat this leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers.

The study, published in the June 19 online issue of PLoS ONE, extends the institutes work to employ pluripotent stem cells to find a pharmaceutical treatment for spinal muscular atrophy or SMA, a genetic neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle atrophy and weakness.

With this new understanding of how motor neurons die in spinal muscular atrophy patients, we are an important step closer to identifying drugs that may reverse or prevent that process, said Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Svendsen and his team have investigated this disease for some time now. In 2009, Nature published a study by Svendsen and his colleagues detailing how skin cells taken from a patient with the disorder were used to generate neurons of the same genetic makeup and characteristics of those affected in the disorder; this created a disease-in-a-dish that could serve as a model for discovering new drugs.

As the disease is unique to humans, previous methods to employ this approach had been unreliable in predicting how it occurs in humans. In the research published in PLoS ONE, to the team reproduced this model with skin cells from multiple patients, taking them back in time to a pluripotent stem cell state (iPS cells), and then driving them forward to study the diseased patient-specific motor neurons.

Children born with this disorder have a genetic mutation that doesnt allow their motor neurons to manufacture a critical protein necessary for them to survive. The study found these cells die through apoptosis the same form of cell death that occurs when the body eliminates old, unnecessary as well as unhealthy cells. As motor neuron cell death progresses, children with the disease experience increasing paralysis and eventually death. There is no effective treatment now for this disease. An estimated one in 35 to one in 60 people are carriers and about in 100,000 newborns have the condition.

Now we are taking these motor neurons (from multiple children with the disease and in their pluripotent state) and screening compounds that can rescue these cells and create the protein necessary for them to survive, said Dhruv Sareen, director of Cedars-Sinais Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core Facility and a primary author on the study. This study is an important stepping stone to guide us toward the right kinds of compounds that we hope will be effective in the model and then be reproduced in clinical trials.

The study was funded in part by a $1.9 million Tools and Technology grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine aimed at developing new tools and technologies to aid pharmaceutical discoveries for this disease.

# # #

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Researchers, with Stem Cells, Advance Understanding of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Public release date: 19-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Nicole White nicole.white@cshs.org 310-423-5215 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES (June 19, 2012) Cedars-Sinai's Regenerative Medicine Institute has pioneered research on how motor-neuron cell-death occurs in patients with spinal muscular atrophy, offering an important clue in identifying potential medicines to treat this leading genetic cause of death in infants and toddlers.

The study, published in the June 19 online issue of PLoS ONE, extends the institute's work to employ pluripotent stem cells to find a pharmaceutical treatment for spinal muscular atrophy or SMA, a genetic neuromuscular disease characterized by muscle atrophy and weakness.

"With this new understanding of how motor neurons die in spinal muscular atrophy patients, we are an important step closer to identifying drugs that may reverse or prevent that process," said Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Svendsen and his team have investigated this disease for some time now. In 2009, Nature published a study by Svendsen and his colleagues detailing how skin cells taken from a patient with the disorder were used to generate neurons of the same genetic makeup and characteristics of those affected in the disorder; this created a "disease-in-a-dish" that could serve as a model for discovering new drugs.

As the disease is unique to humans, previous methods to employ this approach had been unreliable in predicting how it occurs in humans. In the research published in PLoS ONE, to the team reproduced this model with skin cells from multiple patients, taking them back in time to a pluripotent stem cell state (iPS cells), and then driving them forward to study the diseased patient-specific motor neurons.

Children born with this disorder have a genetic mutation that doesn't allow their motor neurons to manufacture a critical protein necessary for them to survive. The study found these cells die through apoptosis the same form of cell death that occurs when the body eliminates old, unnecessary as well as unhealthy cells. As motor neuron cell death progresses, children with the disease experience increasing paralysis and eventually death. There is no effective treatment now for this disease. An estimated one in 35 to one in 60 people are carriers and about in 100,000 newborns have the condition.

"Now we are taking these motor neurons (from multiple children with the disease and in their pluripotent state) and screening compounds that can rescue these cells and create the protein necessary for them to survive," said Dhruv Sareen, director of Cedars-Sinai's Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core Facility and a primary author on the study. "This study is an important stepping stone to guide us toward the right kinds of compounds that we hope will be effective in the model and then be reproduced in clinical trials."

###

Visit link:
Cedars-Sinai researchers, with stem cells, advance understanding of spinal muscular atrophy

Salk researcher's findings suggest a potentially favorable time to harvest stem cells for therapy and may reveal genes crucial to tissue production

With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

In a paper published June 13 in Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report discovering that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development, during which a battery of genes essential for cell potency (the ability of a generic cell to differentiate, or develop, into a cell with specialized functions) is activated. This unique condition, called totipotency, gives ES cells their unique ability to turn into any cell type in the body, thus making them attractive therapeutic targets.

"These findings," says senior authorSamuel L. Pfaff, a professor in Salk'sGene Expression Laboratory, "give new insight into the network of genes important to the developmental potential of cells. We've identified a mechanism that resets embryonic stem cells to a more youthful state, where they are more plastic and therefore potentially more useful in therapeutics against disease, injury and aging."

ES cells are like silly putty that can be induced, under the right circumstances, to become specialized cells-for example, skin cells or pancreatic cells-in the body. In the initial stages of development, when an embryo contains as few as five to eight cells, the stem cells are totipotent and can develop into any cell type. After three to five days, the embryo develops into a ball of cells called a blastocyst. At this stage, the stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into almost any cell type. In order for cells to differentiate, specific genes within the cells must be turned on.

Pfaff and his colleagues performed RNA sequencing (a new technology derived from genome-sequencing to monitor what genes are active) on immature mouse egg cells, called oocytes, and two-cell-stage embryos to identify genes that are turned on just prior to and immediately following fertilization. Pfaff's team discovered a sequence of genes tied to this privileged state of totipotency and noticed that the genes were activated by retroviruses adjacent to the stem cells.

Nearly 8 percent of the human genome is made up of ancient relics of viral infections that occurred in our ancestors, which have been passed from generation to generation but are unable to produce infections. Pfaff and his collaborators found that cells have used some of these viruses as a tool to regulate the on-off switches for their own genes. "Evolution has said, 'We'll make lemonade out of lemons, and use these viruses to our advantage,'" Pfaff says. Using the remains of ancient viruses to turn on hundreds of genes at a specific moment of time in early embryo development gives cells the ability to turn into any type of tissue in the body.

From their observations, the Salk scientists say these viruses are very tightly controlled-they don't know why-and active only during a short window during embryonic development. The researchers identified ES cells in early embryogenesis and then further developed the embryos and cultured them in a laboratory dish. They found that a rare group of special ES cells activated the viral genes, distinguishing them from other ES cells in the dish. By using the retroviruses to their advantage, Pfaff says, these rare cells reverted to a more plastic, youthful state and thus had greater developmental potential.

Pfaff's team also discovered that nearly all ES cells cycle in and out of this privileged form, a feature of ES cells that has been underappreciated by the scientific community, says first author Todd S. Macfarlan, a former postdoctoral researcher in Pfaff's lab who recently accepted a faculty position at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "If this cycle is prevented from happening," he says, "the full range of cell potential seems to be limited."

It is too early to tell if this "magical state" is an opportune time to harvest ES cells for therapeutic purposes. But, Pfaff adds, by forcing cells into this privileged status, scientists might be able to identify genes to assist in expanding the types of tissue that can be produced.

See original here:
‘Magical State' Of Embryonic Stem Cells May Help Overcome Hurdles To Therapeutics

ScienceDaily (June 19, 2012) A cutting-edge method developed at the University of Michigan Center for Arrhythmia Research successfully uses stem cells to create heart cells capable of mimicking the heart's crucial squeezing action.

The cells displayed activity similar to most people's resting heart rate. At 60 beats per minute, the rhythmic electrical impulse transmission of the engineered cells in the U-M study is 10 times faster than in most other reported stem cell studies.

An image of the electrically stimulated cardiac cells is displayed on the cover of the current issue of Circulation Research, a publication of the American Heart Association.

For those suffering from common, but deadly heart diseases, stem cell biology represents a new medical frontier.

The U-M team of researchers is using stem cells in hopes of helping the 2.5 million people with an arrhythmia, an irregularity in the heart's electrical impulses that can impair the heart's ability to pump blood.

"To date, the majority of studies using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiac muscle cells have focused on single cell functional analysis," says senior author Todd J. Herron, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the U-M.

"For potential stem cell-based cardiac regeneration therapies for heart disease, however, it is critical to develop multi-cellular tissue like constructs that beat as a single unit," says Herron.

Their objective, working with researchers at the University of Oxford, Imperial College and University of Wisconsin, included developing a bioengineering approach, using stem cells generated from skin biopsies, which can be used to create large numbers of cardiac muscle cells that can transmit uniform electrical impulses and function as a unit.

Furthermore, the team designed a fluorescent imaging platform using light emitting diode (LED) illumination to measure the electrical activity of the cells.

"Action potential and calcium wave impulse propogation trigger each normal heart beat, so it is imperative to record each parameter in bioengineered human cardiac patches," Herron says.

See more here:
New method generates cardiac muscle patches from stem cells

For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 9-centimetre section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girl's condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

Original post:
Vein grown from girl's own stem cells transplanted

1:00 AM Since the new vein was transplanted, the 10-year-old with blockage to her liver is much improved.

The Associated Press

LONDON - For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 3-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary, and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Original post:
Girl's stem cells used to make her a new vein

LONDON For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patients own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girls doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 3-1/2-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girls bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients, said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the studys authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing acute pressures on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girls condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

View post:
Vein grown from stem cells

For the first time, doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patients own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. In March, the girls doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 3 1/2-inch section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girls bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients, said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the studys authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing acute pressures on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Ms. Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girls condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

See the rest here:
Doctors transplant vein grown with patient's own stem cells

LONDON For the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 9-centimeter (3 -inch) section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girl's condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

See the article here:
Doctors make new vein using patient's own stem cells for transplant into 10-year-old girl

LONDONFor the first time doctors have successfully transplanted a vein grown with a patient's own stem cells, another example of scientists producing human body parts in the lab.

In this case, the patient was a 10-year-old girl in Sweden who was suffering from a severe vein blockage to her liver. Last March, the girl's doctors decided to make her a new blood vessel to bypass the blocked vein instead of using one of her own or considering a liver transplant.

They took a 9-centimeter (3 1/2-inch) section of vein from a deceased donor, which was stripped of all its cells, leaving just a hollow tube. Using stem cells from the girl's bone marrow, scientists grew millions of cells to cover the vein, a process that took about two weeks. The new blood vessel was then transplanted into the patient.

Because the procedure used her own cells, the girl did not have to take any drugs to stop her immune system from attacking the new vein, as is usually the case in transplants involving donor tissue.

"This is the future for tissue engineering, where we can make tailor-made organs for patients," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson of the University of Gothenburg, one of the study's authors.

She and colleagues published the results of their work online Thursday in the British medical journal Lancet. The work was paid for by the Swedish government.

The science is still preliminary and one year after the vein was transplanted, it needed to be replaced with another lab-grown vein when doctors noticed the blood flow had dropped. Experts from University College London raised questions in an accompanying commentary about how cost-effective the procedure might be, citing "acute pressures" on health systems that might make these treatments impractical for many patients.

Sumitran-Holgersson estimated the cost at between $6,000 and $10,000.

Similar methods have already been used to make new windpipes and urethras for patients. Doctors in Poland have also made blood vessels grown from donated skin cells for dialysis patients.

Patients with the girl's condition are usually treated with a vein transplant from their own leg, a donated vein, or a liver transplant. Those options can be complicated in children and using a donated vein or liver also requires taking anti-rejection medicines.

Read the rest here:
Doctors make new vein with girl's own stem cells

Salk researcher's findings suggest a potentially favorable time to harvest stem cells for therapy and may reveal genes crucial to tissue production

LA JOLLA, CA----With their potential to treat a wide range of diseases and uncover fundamental processes that lead to those diseases, embryonic stem (ES) cells hold great promise for biomedical science. A number of hurdles, both scientific and non-scientific, however, have precluded scientists from reaching the holy grail of using these special cells to treat heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

In a paper published June 13 in Nature, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies report discovering that ES cells cycle in and out of a "magical state" in the early stages of embryo development, during which a battery of genes essential for cell potency (the ability of a generic cell to differentiate, or develop, into a cell with specialized functions) is activated. This unique condition, called totipotency, gives ES cells their unique ability to turn into any cell type in the body, thus making them attractive therapeutic targets.

"These findings," says senior author Samuel L. Pfaff, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory, "give new insight into the network of genes important to the developmental potential of cells. We've identified a mechanism that resets embryonic stem cells to a more youthful state, where they are more plastic and therefore potentially more useful in therapeutics against disease, injury and aging."

ES cells are like silly putty that can be induced, under the right circumstances, to become specialized cells-for example, skin cells or pancreatic cells-in the body. In the initial stages of development, when an embryo contains as few as five to eight cells, the stem cells are totipotent and can develop into any cell type. After three to five days, the embryo develops into a ball of cells called a blastocyst. At this stage, the stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into almost any cell type. In order for cells to differentiate, specific genes within the cells must be turned on.

Pfaff and his colleagues performed RNA sequencing (a new technology derived from genome-sequencing to monitor what genes are active) on immature mouse egg cells, called oocytes, and two-cell-stage embryos to identify genes that are turned on just prior to and immediately following fertilization. Pfaff's team discovered a sequence of genes tied to this privileged state of totipotency and noticed that the genes were activated by retroviruses adjacent to the stem cells.

Nearly 8 percent of the human genome is made up of ancient relics of viral infections that occurred in our ancestors, which have been passed from generation to generation but are unable to produce infections. Pfaff and his collaborators found that cells have used some of these viruses as a tool to regulate the on-off switches for their own genes. "Evolution has said, 'We'll make lemonade out of lemons, and use these viruses to our advantage,'" Pfaff says. Using the remains of ancient viruses to turn on hundreds of genes at a specific moment of time in early embryo development gives cells the ability to turn into any type of tissue in the body.

From their observations, the Salk scientists say these viruses are very tightly controlled-they don't know why-and active only during a short window during embryonic development. The researchers identified ES cells in early embryogenesis and then further developed the embryos and cultured them in a laboratory dish. They found that a rare group of special ES cells activated the viral genes, distinguishing them from other ES cells in the dish. By using the retroviruses to their advantage, Pfaff says, these rare cells reverted to a more plastic, youthful state and thus had greater developmental potential.

Pfaff's team also discovered that nearly all ES cells cycle in and out of this privileged form, a feature of ES cells that has been underappreciated by the scientific community, says first author Todd S. Macfarlan, a former postdoctoral researcher in Pfaff's lab who recently accepted a faculty position at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "If this cycle is prevented from happening," he says, "the full range of cell potential seems to be limited."

It is too early to tell if this "magical state" is an opportune time to harvest ES cells for therapeutic purposes. But, Pfaff adds, by forcing cells into this privileged status, scientists might be able to identify genes to assist in expanding the types of tissue that can be produced.

See the original post here:
"Magical State" of Embryonic Stem Cells May Help Overcome Hurdles to Therapeutics

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) (www.internationalstemcell.com) has announced new sales and marketing initiatives for its Lifeline Skin Care products (www.lifelineskincare.com). These efforts are designed to enable Lifeline to robustly, strategically and profitably grow the business.

Consumer Advertising

During June and July, new integrated advertising campaigns will be launched in three marketing channelsonline, in newspapers and magazines, and through direct mail. The campaigns will feature Lifelines innovative stem cell technology and proof of the brands potential: younger looking skin. Although the ads will eventually be national in reach, the first few months will be devoted to optimizing the creative approach, targeting, frequency, timing, positioning, offer and ROI.

Key Opinion Leader and Peer Group Influencer

Elizabeth K. Hale, MD, one of the nation's top dermatologists, is now endorsing Lifeline Skin Care to both consumer and trade audiences. Dr. Hale is an Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at New York University, a private practitioner and a guest of the Doctor Oz show, the Today Show and Good Morning America. During the week of June 4 she met with beauty editors for Prevention, Health, Town and Country, Allure, FoxNews.com and InStyle, to present Lifeline Skin Care and its unique technology. The endorsement of a leading dermatologist should not only enhance the credibility of the brand but increase its visibility.

Strategic Partners

Email campaigns through strategic partners have been very successful at marketing Lifeline products. To expand that effort, several new key opinion leaders have now agreed to endorse Lifeline Skin Care to their social networks, including Mrs. Jeri Thompson, a conservative spokesperson, radio and TV guest and advocate for non-embryonic stem cell research; and authors, experts and media personalities in the areas of women's health, yoga, cosmetic dentistry, and retirement planning. Many of these partners plan to market Lifeline through their social network (email marketing, blogs, Facebook, etc.) as well as through personal and radio appearances. Most of these campaigns will launch during the third quarter.

Professional Channels

During the week of June 12, Lifeline is launching two campaigns directed to 27,000 cosmetic dermatologists and day spas. These campaigns are focused on providing information to skin care professionals, including dermatologists and plastic surgeons, to understand and embrace the significance and value of stem cell extracts for skin rejuvenation.

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International Stem Cell Corporation Announces Marketing Plans for Its Wholly Owned Subsidiary Lifeline Skin Care

ScienceDaily (June 11, 2012) Studying mice and humans, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and their collaborators in Paris have identified two proteins that are required to maintain a supply of stem cells in the developing kidney.

In the presence of the two proteins, FGF9 and FGF20, mouse kidney stem cells stayed alive outside the body longer than previously reported. Though the cells were maintained only five days (up from about two), the work is a small step toward the future goal of growing kidney stem cells in the lab.

In the developing embryo, these early stem cells give rise to adult cells called nephrons, the blood filtration units of the kidneys.

The results appear online June 11 in Developmental Cell.

"When we are born, we get a certain allotment of nephrons," says Raphael Kopan, PhD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Developmental Biology. "Fortunately, we have a large surplus. We can donate a kidney -- give away 50 percent of our nephrons -- and still do fine. But, unlike our skin and gut, our kidneys can't build new nephrons."

The skin and the gut have small pools of stem cells that continually renew these organs throughout life. Scientists call such pools of stem cells and their support system a niche. During early development, the embryonic kidney has a stem cell niche as well. But at some point before birth or shortly after, all stem cells in the kidney differentiate to form nephrons, leaving no self-renewing pool of stem cells.

"In other organs, there are cells that specifically form the niche, supporting the stem cells in a protected environment," Kopan says. "But in the embryonic kidney, it seems the stem cells form their own niche, making it a bit more fragile. And the signals and conditions that lead the cells to form this niche have been elusive."

Surprisingly, recent clues to the signals that maintain the embryonic kidney's stem cell niche came from studies of the inner ear. David M. Ornitz, MD, PhD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Developmental Biology, investigates FGF signaling in mice. Earlier this year, Ornitz and his colleagues published a paper in PLoS Biology showing that FGF20 plays an important role in inner ear development.

"Mice without FGF20 are profoundly deaf," Ornitz says. "While they are otherwise viable and healthy, in some cases we noticed that their kidneys looked small."

Past work from his own lab and others suggested that FGF9, a close chemical cousin of FGF20, might also participate in kidney development. FGF20 and FGF9 are members of a family of proteins known as fibroblast growth factors. In general, members of this family are known to play important and broad roles in embryonic development, tissue maintenance, and wound healing. Mice lacking FGF9 have defects in development of the male urogenital tract and die after birth due to defects in lung development.

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Clues found to way embryonic kidney maintains its fleeting stem cells

SAN FRANCISCO Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells with a single genetic factor into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells.

The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions because scientists expect that such a transformation orreprogramming of cells may lead to better models for testing drugs for devastating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimers disease.

This research comes at a time of renewed focus on Alzheimers disease, which currently afflicts 5.4 million people in the United States alone a figure expected to nearly triple by 2050. Yet there are no approved medications to prevent or reverse the progression of this debilitating disease.

In findings appearing online today inCell Stem Cell, researchers in the laboratory of Gladstone investigator Yadong Huang, M.D., Ph.D., describe how they transferred a single gene called Sox2 into both mouse and human skin cells. Within days the skin cells transformed into early-stage brain stem cells, also called induced neural stem cells (iNSCs). These iNSCs began to self-renew, soon maturing into neurons capable of transmitting electrical signals. Within a month, the neurons had developed into neural networks.

Many drug candidates especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases fail in clinical trials because current models dont accurately predict the drugs effects on the human brain, said Huang, who also is an associate professor of neurology at UCSF. Human neurons derived from reengineered skin cells could help assess the efficacy and safety of these drugs, thereby reducing risks and resources associated with human trials.

Huangs findings build on the work of other Gladstone scientists, starting with Gladstone investigator Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D. In 2007, Yamanaka used four genetic factors to turn adult human skin cells into cells that act like embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells.

Also known as iPS cells, these cells can become virtually any cell type in the human body just like embryonic stem cells. Then last year, Gladstone senior investigatorSheng Ding, PhD, announced that he had used a combination of small molecules and genetic factors to transform skin cellsdirectlyinto neural stem cells. Today, Huang takes a new tack by using one genetic factor Sox2 to directly reprogram one cell type into another without reverting to the pluripotent state.

Avoiding the pluripotent state as Drs. Ding and Huang have done is one approach to avoiding the potential danger that rogue iPS cells might develop into a tumor if used to replace or repair damaged organs or tissue.

We wanted to see whether these newly generated neurons could result in tumor growth after transplanting them into mouse brains, said Karen Ring, UCSF Biomedical Sciences graduate student and the papers lead author. Instead we saw the reprogrammed cells integrate into the mouses brain and not a single tumor developed.

This research has also revealed the precise role of Sox2 as a master regulator that controls the identity of neural stem cells. In the future, Huang and his team hope to identify similar regulators that guide the development of specific neural progenitors and subtypes of neurons in the brain.

Original post:
Scientists reprogram skin cells into brain cells

By Anne Holden on June 7, 2012

Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes have for the first time transformed skin cells with a single genetic factor into cells that develop on their own into an interconnected, functional network of brain cells.

The research offers new hope in the fight against many neurological conditions because scientists expect that such a transformation or reprogramming of cells may lead to better models for testing drugs for devastating neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimers disease.

Yadong Huang, MD, PhD

This research comes at a time of renewed focus on Alzheimers disease, which currently afflicts 5.4 million people in the United States alone a figure expected to nearly triple by 2050. Yet thereare no approved medications to prevent or reverse the progression of this debilitating disease.

In findings appearing online today in Cell Stem Cell, researchers in the laboratory of Gladstone Investigator Yadong Huang, MD, PhD, describe how they transferred a single gene called Sox2 into both mouse and human skin cells. Within days the skin cells transformed into early-stage brain stem cells, also called induced neural stem cells (iNSCs). These iNSCs began to self-renew, soon maturing into neurons capable of transmitting electrical signals. Within a month, the neurons had developed into neural networks.

Many drug candidates especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases fail in clinical trials because current models dont accurately predict the drugs effects on the human brain, said Huang, who is also an associate professor of neurology at UCSF. Human neurons derived from reengineered skin cells could help assess the efficacy and safety of these drugs, thereby reducing risks and resources associated with human trials.

Huangs findings build on the work of other Gladstone scientists, starting with Gladstone Investigator, Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD. In 2007, Yamanaka used four genetic factors to turn adult human skin cells into cells that act like embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells.

Also known as iPS cells, these cells can become virtually any cell type in the human body just like embryonic stem cells. Then last year, Gladstone Senior Investigator Sheng Ding, PhD, announced that he had used a combination of small molecules and genetic factors to transform skin cells directly into neural stem cells. Today, Huang takes a new tack by using one genetic factor Sox2 to directly reprogram one cell type into another without reverting to the pluripotent state.

Avoiding the pluripotent state as Drs. Ding and Huang have done is one approach to avoiding the potential danger that rogue iPS cells might develop into a tumor if used to replace or repair damaged organs or tissue.

Read this article:
Gladstone Scientists Reprogram Skin Cells into Brain Cells

June 8, 2012

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com

For the first time, scientists at Gladstone Institute have changed skin cells, imbued with a single genetic factor, into cells that can become a group of interconnecting, functional brain cells. The findings show that there may be options in combating neurological conditions. This transformation of cells would pave the way for better methods in testing drugs for neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimers disease.

The research follows increased interest in Alzheimers disease. Currently, the disorder affects 4.5 million people in the U.S. and, by 2050, the number will have tripled. There are no medications to prevent or reverse Alzheimers Disease at this time.

The findings are published online at Cell Stem Cell and describe how the team of researchers transfer a single cell, known as Sox2, into mouse and human skin cells. Shortly, the skin cells became early-stage brain stem cells called induced neural stem cells (INSCs). The INSCs were able to self-renew and transmit electrical signals. The neurons were able to become neural networks within a month.

Many drug candidates especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases fail in clinical trials because current models dont accurately predict the drugs effects on the human brain, commented Gladstone Investigation Dr. Yadong Huang, who is also an associate professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in a prepared statement. Human neuronsderived from reengineered skin cellscould help assess the efficacy and safety of these drugs, thereby reducing risks and resources associated with human trials.

Huangs study was based off work done by Gladstone Investigator Dr. Shinya Yamanaka. Yanaka had four genetic factors become adult human skin cells then into embryonic stem cells, otherwise known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). The cells can become almost any type of cell in the body. As well, last year, Gladstone Senior Investigator Dr. Sheng Ding found a combination of small molecules and genetic factors that could change skin cells into neural stem cells. These days, Huang uses one genetic factor, Sox2, to directly reprogram cell types without having to resort back to a pluripotent state.

We wanted to see whether these newly generated neurons could result in tumor growth after transplanting them into mouse brains, explained Karen Ring, UCSF Biomedical Sciences graduate student and the papers lead author, in the statement. Instead we saw the reprogrammed cells integrate into the mouses brainand not a single tumor developed.

The findings of the project have shown that Sox2 acts as a master regulator that maintains the identity of neural stem cells. In the future, Huang and his fellow researchers hope that they can identify similar regulators that can help the development of particular neural progenitors and subtypes of neurons in the brain.

If we can pinpoint which genes control the development of each neuron type, we can generate them in the petri dish from a single sample of human skin cells, noted Huang. We could then test drugs that affect different neuron typessuch as those involved in Parkinsons diseasehelping us to put drug development for neurodegenerative diseases on the fast track.

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Scientists Reprogram Skin Cells To Brain Cells

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 11:00 EST, 7 June 2012 | UPDATED: 11:01 EST, 7 June 2012

A single genetic tweak is all that is needed to turn ordinary skin cells into functioning brain cells, scientists have shown

A single genetic tweak is all that is needed to turn ordinary skin cells into functioning brain cells, scientists have shown.

The research could help to treat Alzheimers, Parkinsons and other brain diseases.

Working in the laboratory, US scientists transferred a single gene called Sox2 into both mouse and human skin cells.

Within days the cells transformed themselves into early-stage brain stem cells.

These induced neural stem cells (iNSCs) then began to self-renew and mature, eventually becoming neurons capable of transmitting electrical signals.

In less than a month the cells had developed neural networks. Transplanted into mouse brains, they functioned without any adverse side effects, such as tumour growth.

Lead researcher Dr Yadong Huang, from the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco, California, said: Many drug candidates, especially those developed for neurodegenerative diseases, fail in clinical trials because current models dont accurately predict the drugs effects on the human brain.

The rest is here:
New hope for Alzheimer's sufferers as breakthrough allows scientists to grow new brain cells from normal skin

News | Mind & Brain

A unique form of carbon dating, made possible by the Cold War, suggests that new neurons rarely survive in the human olfactory bulb after birth

By Ferris Jabr | June 7, 2012

BOMBSHELL FINDINGS: A new study relying on radioactive carbon from Cold War nuclear tests argues that the adult human brain rarely weaves new neurons into the olfactory bulb, but not everyone is convinced. Image: Adapted from Wikimedia Commons images

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The human body is a tireless gardener, growing new cells throughout life in many organsin the skin, blood, bones and intestines. Until the 1980s most scientists thought that brain cells were the exception: the neurons you are born with are the neurons you have for life. In the past three decades, however, researchers have discovered hints that the human brain produces new neurons after birth in two places: the hippocampusa region important for memoryand the walls of fluid-filled cavities called ventricles, from which stem cells migrate to the olfactory bulb, a knob of brain tissue behind the eyes that processes smell. Studies have clearly demonstrated that such migration happens in mice long after birth and that human infants generate new neurons. But the evidence that similar neurogenesis persists in the adult human brain is mixed and highly contested.

A new study relying on a unique form of carbon dating suggests that neurons born during adulthood rarely if ever weave themselves into the olfactory bulb's circuitry. In other words, peopleunlike other mammalsdo not replenish their olfactory bulb neurons, which might be explained by how little most of us rely on our sense of smell. Although the new research casts doubt on the renewal of olfactory bulb neurons in the adult human brain, many neuroscientists are far from ready to end the debate.

In preparation for the new study, Olaf Bergmann and Jonas Frisn of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and their colleagues acquired 14 frozen olfactory bulbs from autopsies performed between 2005 and 2011 at the institute's Department of Forensic Medicine. To determine whether the neurons were younger than the people they came fromwhich would mean the cells were generated after birththe researchers needed to isolate the cells' DNA. First, they dissolved the brain tissue into a kind of soup, which they spun at high speeds so that the dense cell bodies and nuclei containing DNA sank to the bottom of the flasks. Using Y-shaped proteins called antibodies, which were hitched to fluorescent markers, the researchers tagged nuclei from both neurons and from glia, non-neuronal brain cells. After a laser-equipped cell-sorting machine identified and separated the nuclei, the researchers isolated and purified the DNA within.

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How Nuclear Fallout Casts Doubt on Renewal of Some Adult Brain Cells