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Stem cells edited to fight arthritis: Goal is vaccine that targets ... Science Daily Using CRISPR technology, a team of researchers rewired stem cells' genetic circuits to produce an anti-inflammatory arthritis drug when the cells encounter ... Fighting arthritis: Researchers edit stem cells to fight inflammationKasmir Monitor CRISPR-SMART Cells Regenerate Cartilage, Secrete Anti-Arthritis DrugGenetic Engineering & Biotechnology News all 6 news articles »

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April 25, 2017 Credit: University of California, Irvine

Using human skin cells, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists and their colleagues have created a method to generate one of the principle cell types of the brain called microglia, which play a key role in preserving the function of neural networks and responding to injury and disease.

The finding marks an important step in the use of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for targeted approaches to better understand and potentially treat neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. These iPS cells are derived from existing adult skin cells and show increasing utility as a promising approach for studying human disease and developing new therapies.

Skin cells were donated from patients at the UCI Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The study, led by Edsel Abud, Wayne Poon and Mathew Blurton Jones of UCI, used a genetic process to reprogram these cells into a pluripotent state capable of developing into any type of cell or tissue of the body.

The researchers then guided these pluripotent cells to a new state by exposing the cells to a series of differentiation factors which mimicked the developmental origin of microglia. The resulting cells act very much like human microglial cells. Their study appears in the current issue of Neuron.

In the brain, microglia mediate inflammation and the removal of dead cells and debris. These cells make up 10- to 15-percent of brain cells and are needed for the development and maintenance of neural networks.

"Microglia play an important role in Alzheimer's and other diseases of the central nervous system. Recent research has revealed that newly discovered Alzheimer's-risk genes influence microglia behavior. Using these cells, we can understand the biology of these genes and test potential new therapies," said Blurton-Jones, an assistant professor of the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior and Director of the ADRC iPS Core.

"Scientists have had to rely on mouse microglia to study the immunology of AD. This discovery provides a powerful new approach to better model human disease and develop new therapies," added Poon, a UCI MIND associate researcher.

Along those lines, the researchers examined the genetic and physical interactions between Alzheimer's disease pathology and iPS-microglia. They are now using these cells in three-dimensional brain models to understand how microglia interact with other brain cells and influence AD and the development of other neurological diseases.

"Our findings provide a renewable and high-throughput method for understanding the role of inflammation in Alzheimer's disease using human cells," said Abud, an M.D./Ph.D. student. "These translational studies will better inform disease-modulating therapeutic strategies."

Explore further: 'Housekeepers' of the brain renew themselves more quickly than first thought

More information: Edsel M. Abud et al, iPSC-Derived Human Microglia-like Cells to Study Neurological Diseases, Neuron (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.042

A study, led by the University of Southampton and published in Cell Reports, shows that the turnover of the cells, called Microglia, is 10 times faster, allowing the whole population of Microglia cells to be renewed several ...

Immune cells that normally help us fight off bacterial and viral infections may play a far greater role in Alzheimer's disease than originally thought, according to University of California, Irvine neurobiologists with the ...

A characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease is the presence of so called amyloid plaques in the patient's brain - aggregates of misfolded proteins that clump together and damage nerve cells. Although the body has mechanisms ...

Using a drug compound created to treat cancer, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists have disarmed the brain's response to the distinctive beta-amyloid plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Clusters of immune cells in the brain previously associated with Alzheimer's actually protect against the disease by containing the spread of damaging amyloid plaques, a new Yale University School of Medicine study shows.

A new study appearing in the Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that the brain's immune system could potentially be harnessed to help clear the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

(Medical Xpress)You walk into a wedding reception at a hotel. To your left, you see the entrance to the ballroom. To the right, there's an enormous painting of an evergreen forest. Behind you is the exit to the hotel lobby. ...

Columbia scientists have identified a gene that allows neurons that release serotonina neurotransmitter that regulates mood and emotionsto evenly spread their branches throughout the brain. Without this gene, these ...

The synchronization of brainwaves among students during class reflects how much they like the class and each other, a team of neuroscientists has found.

Putting a turbo engine into an old car gives it an entirely new lifesuddenly it can go further, faster. That same idea is now being applied to neuroscience, with a software wrapper that can be used on existing neuron tracing ...

Peering into laboratory glassware, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have watched stem-cell-derived nerve cells arising in a specific region of the human brain migrate into another brain region. This process ...

In two independent studies, scientists at the University of Basel have demonstrated that both the structure of the brain and several memory functions are linked to immune system genes. The scientific journals Nature Communications ...

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Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells

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Stem Cells Edited to Fight Arthritis Technology Networks Such stem cells, known as SMART cells (Stem cells Modified for Autonomous Regenerative Therapy), develop into cartilage cells that produce a biologic anti-inflammatory drug that, ideally, will replace arthritic cartilage and simultaneously protect ... CRISPR-SMART Cells Regenerate Cartilage, Secrete Anti-Arthritis DrugGenetic Engineering & Biotechnology News all 5 news articles »

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Stem Cells Edited to Fight Arthritis - Technology Networks

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A New Type of Stem Cell

While much has been gleaned about the power of stem cells over the last few decades, researchers from the Salk Institute and Peking Universityin China recently found out theres plenty left to discover and invent. Nature, it seems, will always keep you guessing.

In a study published in the journal Cell, the team of researchers revealed they had succeeded in creating a new kind of stem cell thats capable of becoming any type of cell in the human body. Extended pluripotent stem cells or EPS cells are similar to induced pluripotent stem cells(iPS cells), which were invented in 2006.

The key difference between the two is that iPS cells are made from skin cells (called fibroblasts) and EPS cells are made from a combination of skin cells and embryonic stem cells. iPS cells are the hallmark of stem cell research and can be programmed to become any cell in the human body hence the pluripotent part of their name. EPS cells, too, can give rise to any type of cell in the human body, but they can also do something very different something unprecedented, actually: they can create the tissues needed to nourish and grow an embryo.

The discovery of EPS cells provides a potential opportunity for developing a universal method to establish stem cells that have extended developmental potency in mammals, says Jun Wu, one of the studys authors and senior scientist at the Salk Institute, in the organizations news release.

When a human or any mammalian egg gets fertilized, the cells divide up into two task forces: one set is responsible for creating the embryo, and the other set creates the placenta and other supportive tissues needed for the embryo to survive (called extra-embryonic tissues). This happens very early in the reproductive process so early, in fact, that researchers have had a very hard time recreating it in a lab setting.

By culturing and studying both types of cells in action, researchers would not only be able to understand the mechanism that drives it, but hopefully could shed some light on what happens when things go wrong, like in the case of miscarriage.

The researchers at the Salk Institute managed to form a chemical cocktail of four chemicals and a type of growth factor that created a stable environment in which they could culture both types of cells in an immature state. They could then harness the two types of cells for their respective abilities.

What they discovered was that not only were these cells extremely useful for creating chimeras (where two types of animal cells or human and animal cells are mixed to form something new), but were also technically capable of creating and sustaining an entire embryo.At least in theory: while they were able to sustain both human and mouse cells, the ethical considerations of creating a human embryo this way have prevented them from attempting it.

That being said, theres no shortage of applications for this type of stem cell: researchers will be able to use them to model diseases, regenerate tissue, create and trial drug therapies, and study in depth early reproductive processes like implantation. Human-animal chimeras may also help engineer organs for transplant or, you know, give rise to the next superhero.

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Researchers Invent Stem Cell Capable of Becoming an Entire Embryo - Futurism

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From Skin to Brain

The brain is one of the most vital organs in the human body, so damage to the brain from injury or aging can have major impacts on peoples quality of life.Neurological disorders representsome of todays most devastating medical conditions that are also difficult to treat.Among these is Alzheimers disease.

Usually, research involving Alzheimers rely on brain cells from mice. Now, neurobiologists from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a method that could allow the use of human cells instead of animal ones to help understand neurological diseases better.

In their study, which was published in the journal Neuron, the researchers found a way to transform human skin cells into stem cells and program them into microglial cells. The latter make up about 10 to 15 percent of the brain and are involved in the removing dead cells and debris, as well as managing inflammation. Micgrolia are instramentalin neural network development and maintenance, explained researcher Mathew Blurton Jones, fromUCIs Department of Neurobiology & Behavior.

Microglia play an important role in Alzheimers and other diseases of the central nervous system. Recent research has revealed that newly discovered Alzheimers-risk genes influence microglia behavior, Jones said in an interview for a UCI press release. Using these cells, we can understand the biology of these genes and test potential new therapies.

The skin cells had been donated by patients from UCIs Alzheimers Disease Research Center. These were firstsubjected toa genetic process to convert them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells adult cells modified to behave as an embryonic stem cell, allowing them to become other kinds of cells. These iPS cells were then exposed to differentiation factors designed to imitate the environment of developing microglia, which transformed them into the brain cells.

This discovery provides a powerful new approach to better model human disease and develop new therapies, said UCI MIND associate researcher Wayne Poon in the press release. The researchers, in effect, have developed a renewable and high-throughput method for understanding the role of inflammation in Alzheimers disease using human cells, according to researcher Edsel Abud in the same source.

In other words, by using human microglia instead of those from mice, the researchers have developed a more accurate toolto study neurological diseases and to develop more targeted treatment approaches. In the case of Alzheimers, they studied the genetic and physical interactions between the diseases pathology and the induced microglia cells. These translational studies will better inform disease-modulating therapeutic strategies, Abud added in the press release.

Furthermore, they are now using these induced microglia cells in three-dimensional brain models. The goal is to understand the interaction between microglia and other brain cells, and how these influence the development of Alzheimers and other neurological diseases.

This is all made possible by reprogrammable stem cells. Indeed, this study is one more example of how stem cells arechanging medicine.

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A New Technique Transforms Human Skin Into Brain Cells - Futurism - Futurism

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on A New Technique Transforms Human Skin Into Brain Cells – Futurism – Futurism | April 26th, 2017

Tiny, 3-D clusters of human brain cells grown in a petri dish are providing hints about the origins of disorders like autism and epilepsy.

An experiment using these cell clusters which are only about the size of the head of a pin found that a genetic mutation associated with both autism and epilepsy kept developing cells from migrating normally from one cluster of brain cells to another, researchers report in the journal Nature.

"They were sort of left behind," says Dr. Sergiu Pasca, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. And that type of delay could be enough to disrupt the precise timing required for an actual brain to develop normally, he says.

The clusters often called minibrains, organoids or spheroids are created by transforming skin cells from a person into neural stem cells. These stem cells can then grow into structures like those found in the brain and even form networks of communicating cells.

Brain organoids cannot grow beyond a few millimeters in size or perform the functions of a complete brain. But they give scientists a way to study how parts of the brain develop during pregnancy.

"One can really understand both a process of normal human brain development, which we frankly don't understand very well, [and] also what goes wrong in the brain of patients affected by diseases," says Paola Arlotta, a professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard who was not involved in the cell migration study. Arlotta is an author of a second paper in Nature about creating a wide variety of brain cells in brain organoids.

Pasca's team began experimenting with organoids in an effort to learn more about brain disorders that begin long before birth. Animal brains are of limited use in this regard because they don't develop the way human brains do. And traditional brain cell cultures, which grow as a two-dimensional layer in a dish, don't develop the sort of networks and connections that are thought to go awry in disorders like autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia.

"So the question was really, can we capture in a dish more of these elaborate processes that are underlying brain development and brain function," Pasca says.

He was especially interested in a critical process that occurs when cells from deep in the brain migrate to areas nearer the surface. This usually happens during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

So Pasca's team set out to replicate this migration in a petri dish. They grew two types of clusters, representing both deep and surface areas of the forebrain. Then they placed deep clusters next to surface clusters to see whether cells would start migrating.

Pasca says the cells did migrate, in a surprising way. "They don't just simply crawl, but they actually jump," he says. "So they look for a few hours in the direction in which they want to move, they sort of decide on what they want to do, and then suddenly they make a jump."

Pasca suspected this migration process might be disrupted by a genetic disorder called Timothy syndrome, which can cause a form of autism and epilepsy. So he repeated the experiment, using stem cells derived from the skin cells of a person who had Timothy syndrome.

And sure enough, the cells carrying the genetic mutation didn't jump as far as healthy cells did. "They moved inefficiently," Pasca says.

Next Pasca wondered if there might be some way to fix the migration problem. He thought there might be, because Timothy syndrome causes cells to let in too much calcium. And he knew that several existing blood pressure drugs work by blocking calcium from entering cells.

So the team tried adding one of these calcium blockers to the petri dish containing clusters of brain cells that weren't migrating normally. And it worked. "If you do treat the cultures with this calcium blocker, you can actually restore the migration of cells in a dish," Pasca says.

Fixing the problem in a developing baby wouldn't be that simple, he says. But the experiment offers a powerful example of how brain organoids offer a way to not only see what's going wrong, but try drugs that might fix the problem.

Still, to realize their full potential, brain organoids need to get better, Arlotta says. This means finding ways to keep the cell clusters alive longer and allowing them to form more of the types of brain cells that are found in a mature brain.

Arlotta's team has developed techniques that allow brain cell clusters to continue growing and developing in a dish for many months. And what's remarkable, she says, is that over time the clusters automatically begin creating structures and networks like those in a developing brain.

"Using their own information from their genome, the cells can self-assemble and they can decide to become a variety of different cell types than you normally find," she says.

In one experiment, a brain organoid produced nearly all the cell types found in the mature retina, Arlotta says. And tests showed that some of these retinal cells even responded to light.

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'Minibrains' in a dish shed a little light on autism and epilepsy - 89.3 KPCC

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on ‘Minibrains’ in a dish shed a little light on autism and epilepsy – 89.3 KPCC | April 26th, 2017

Cancerous cells in a skin tumor become locked in an abnormal state as a result of the activation of a gene-regulating element (green).

Like an image in a broken mirror, a tumor is a distorted likeness of a wound. Scientists have long seen parallels between the two, such as the formation of new blood vessels, which occurs as part of both wound healing and malignancy.

Research at The Rockefeller University offers new insights about what the two processes have in commonand how they differat the molecular level. The findings, described April 20 in Cell, may aid in the development of new therapies for cancer.

Losing identity

At the core of both malignancy and tissue mending are stem cells, which multiply to produce new tissue to fill the breach or enlarge the tumor. To see how stem cells behave in these scenarios, a team led by scientists in Elaine Fuchss lab compared two distinct types found within mouse skin.

One set of stem cells, at the base of the follicle, differentiates to form the hair shaft; while another set produces new skin cells. Under normal conditions, these two cell populations are physically distinct, producing only their respective tissue, nothing else.

But when Yejing Ge, a postdoc in the Fuchs lab, looked closely at gene activity in skin tumors, she found a remarkable convergence: The follicle stem cells expressed genes normally reserved for skin stem cells, and vice versa. Around wounds, the researchers documented the same blurring between the sets of stem cells.

Master switches

Two of the identity-related genes stood out. They code for so-called master regulators, molecules that play a dominant role in determining what type of tissue a stem cell will ultimately producein this case, hair follicle or skin. The researchers suspect that stress signals from the tissue surrounding the damage or malignancy kick off a cycle that feeds off itself by enabling the master regulators to make more of themselves.

Access to DNA is the key. To go to work, master regulators bind to certain regions of DNA and so initiate dramatic changes in gene expression. The researchers found evidence that stress signals open up new regions of DNA, making them more accessible to gene activation. By binding in these newly available spots, master regulators elevate the expression of identity-related genes, including the genes that encode the master regulators themselves.

Locked in

While wounds heal, cancer can grow indefinitely. The researchers discovered that while stress signals eventually wane in healing wounds, they can persist in cancerand with prolonged stress signaling, another region of DNA opens up to kick off a separate round of cancer-specific changes.

Tumors have been described as wounds that never heal, and now we have identified specific regulatory elements that, when activated, keep tumor cells locked into a blurred identity, Ge says.

The scientists hope this discovery could lead to precise treatments for cancer that cause less collateral damage than conventional chemotherapy. We are currently testing the specificity of these cancer regulatory elements in human cells for their possible use in therapies aimed at killing the tumor cells and leaving the healthy tissue cells unharmed, Fuchs says.

Elaine Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, head of the Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

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A mechanism shared by healing wounds and growing tumors - The Rockefeller University Newswire

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Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells: Study to advance ... Science Daily Using human skin cells, neurobiologists have created a method to generate one of the principle cell types of the brain called microglia, which play a key role in ... and more »

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Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells: Study to advance ... - Science Daily

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells: Study to advance … – Science Daily | April 25th, 2017

Technology Networks

Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells Technology Networks Salk scientists and collaborators have shed light on a longstanding question about what leads to variation in stem cells by comparing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from identical twins. Even iPSCs made from the cells of twins, they ... and more »

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Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells - Technology Networks

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An international group of scientists led by investigators at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) says it has discovered molecular mechanisms that might prevent the development ofgraft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in individuals receiving stem cell transplants.

During GVHD, transplanted stem cells become T lymphocytes, which are supposed to fight intruders such as bacteria. Instead, they start attacking the recipients already weakened body.

Researchers from TUM and theMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center published a study ("RIG-I/MAVS and STING Signaling Promote Gut Integrity during Irradiation- and Immune-Mediated Tissue Injury")in Science Translational Medicine that provides details on how to prevent the development of GVHD.

The attacks by the T cells primarily affect the skin, liver, and, in particular, the gastrointestinal tract. The intestine is believed to be the key organ where GVHD starts. The drug treatment and radiation involved in stem cell transplants damage epithelial cells, which form part of the intestinal mucosal layer. Stress signals emitted by the dying epithelial cells and the arrival of intestinal bacteria in the previously germ-free areas of the gut due to the loss of the epithelium trigger the activation of aggressive donor T cells.

"If the epithelium could be protected or quickly restored, the risk of an immune response would be much lower," says Hendrik Poeck, M.D., Ph.D., who, along with Tobias Haas, M.D., heads a research group at the third medical clinic of TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar. "Up to now, however, there have been very few treatment strategies that seek to regenerate the epithelium."

The scientists working with Dr. Poeck studied two proteins produced naturally in the body and known for their role in fighting bacteria and viruses: RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) and STING (stimulator of interferon genes). "We were able to demonstrate for the first time that both of them can also be used to bring about a regenerative effect," notes Julius Fischer, first author of the study.

Both proteins are part of signal chains that cause type I interferon (IFN-I) to be produced. IFN-I triggers many different immune responses, but can also speed up the replacement of epithelial cells.

The RIG-I signal pathway can be deliberately stimulated using triphosphate-RNA (3pRNA). Poeck and his team were able to demonstrate in mice that 3pRNA can indeed protect the epithelial cells. Timing is critical. Measurable protection was only seen when the 3pRNA was administered exactly 1 day before the start of radiation and drug treatment.

"We assume that after just 1 day of treatment, there would no longer be enough intact epithelial cells in the gut for the RIG-I/IFN signal path to function," explains Haas. Although fewer activated T cells were generated after a treatment with 3pRNA, the positive effect of the leukemia therapy was not reduced to a measurable degree.

Both RIG-I agonists, such as 3pRNA, and STING agonists are currently in clinical development. The research points to a wide range of potential applications, especially in the treatment of tumors.

"Our study shows that regenerative processes can also be triggered through selective activation of these signal paths," adds Poeck. "It thus appears quite possible that these selective agonists will be administered in the future to patients who are candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplants. However, further studies will be needed to learn how they actually work before applications in human medicine are possible."

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Preventing Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Preventing Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release) | April 21st, 2017

The New Cellogica Website Features In-Depth Information about the Skin Care Product, which Includes Stem Cell Technology

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2017 / The founders of Cellogica, a top line of skincare products that utilize stem cells and other innovative ingredients, are pleased to announce the re-launch of their website, Cellogica.com.

To check out the recently revised website, which is now easier than ever to navigate and features updated information about Cellogica, please visit http://www.cellogica.com at any time.

As a company spokesperson noted, Cellogica's "Two Secrets of Youth" involve the use of stem cell technology and also its MAC-5 Complex, which includes five ingredients that may help the skin look as young as possible. Rather than merely repairing the skin, Cellogica may actually help stop the loss of existing skin stem cells, as well as prevent premature aging.

Cellogica features a day cream, a non-greasy and light product which is designed to protect and enhance the skin and provide it with a natural barrier to the damaging UV rays of the sun and harsh weather. It also includes a night cream that works as the user sleeps by naturally repairing, restoring and regenerating the skin.

As the spokesperson noted, because skin stem cells are responsible for regenerating new and healthy skin cells, the founders of Cellogica were inspired to create a skin care cream that contains stem cells.

"Our revolutionary Stem Cell Technology is derived from strains of rare Swiss apples (Malus Domestica) and the Alpine Rose (Rhododentron Ferrugineum)," the spokesperson said, adding that together, these two very powerful stem cell extracts may allow for the regeneration of new skin stem cells, prevent the loss of existing skin stem cells, and increase the skin's barrier function.

"They may protect and repair the skin and combat against chronological aging, thus leading to fresh, healthy and vibrant looking skin."

The MAC-5 Complex is the other key component to Cellogica's ability to help improve the appearance of the skin. The proprietary combination includes Syn-Coll, which is an aqueous unpreserved glycerin-based solution that was developed to reduce wrinkles, as well as stimulate collagen synthesis. The other four ingredients in the MAC-5 Complex are RonaFlair LDP, hyaluronic acid, Syn-Ake, and Kojic acid, which may help eliminate blotchy skin while evening out the skin tone.

About Cellogica:

Cellogica is a premiere skincare line utilizing newly discovered stem cells to stop and reverse the physical signs of aging. To learn more about the product, please visit their website, http://www.cellogica.com.

Contact:

Darryl Burke admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861

SOURCE: Power Americas Minerals Corp.

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Cellogica Launches Their Updated and More User-Friendly Website ... - Yahoo Finance

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Based on human stem cells derived from skin samples, researchers from the University of Luxembourg succeeded in obtaining tiny three-dimensional cultures of cerebral tissue whose behavior is similar to the human midbrain. Credit: scienceRELATIONS / University of Luxembourg

The most complex organ in humans is the brain. Due to its complexity and, of course, for ethical reasons, it is extremely difficult to do scientific experiments on it ones that could help us to understand neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons, for example. Scientists at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have now succeeded in turning human stem cells derived from skin samples into tiny, three-dimensional, brain-like cultures that behave very similarly to cells in the human midbrain.

Related:Sophisticated 'mini-brains' add to evidence of Zika's toll on fetal cortex

In the researchers petri dishes, different cell types develop, connect into a network, exchange signals and produce metabolic products typical of the active brain. Our cell cultures open new doors to brain research, says Prof. Dr. Jens Schwamborn, in whose LCSB research group Developmental and Cellular Biology the research work was done. We can now use them to study the causes of Parkinsons disease and how it could possibly be effectively treated. The team publishes its results in the prestigious scientific journal Stem Cell Reports.

The human midbrain is of particular interest to Parkinsons researchers: it is the seat of the tissue structure known medically as thesubstantia nigra. Here, nerve cells specifically dopaminergic neurons produce the messenger dopamine. Dopamine is needed to maintain smooth body movements. If the dopaminergic neurons die off, then the person affected develops tremors and muscle rigidity, the distinctive symptoms of Parkinsons disease. For ethical reasons, researchers cannot take cells from thesubstantia nigrato study them. Research groups around the world are therefore working on cultivating three-dimensional structures of the midbrain in petri dishes. The LCSB team led by stem cell researcher Jens Schwamborn is one such group.

Brain-like tissue for research

The LCSB scientists worked with so-called induced pluripotent stem cells stem cells that cannot produce a complete organism, but which can be transformed into all cell types of the human body. The procedures required for converting the stem cells into brain cells were developed by Anna Monzel as part of her doctoral thesis, which she is doing in Schwamborns group. I had to develop a special, precisely defined cocktail of growth factors and a certain treatment method for the stem cells, so that they would differentiate in the desired direction, Monzel describes her approach. To do this, she was able to draw on extensive preparatory work that had been done in Schwamborns team the years before. The pluripotent stem cells in the petri dishes multiplied and spread out into a three-dimensional supporting structure producing tissue-like cell cultures.

See also:Bioengineers create functional 3D brain-like tissue

Our subsequent examination of these artificial tissue samples revealed that various cell types characteristic of the midbrain had developed, says Jens Schwamborn. The cells can transmit and process signals. We were even able to detect dopaminergic cells just like in the midbrain. This fact makes the LCSB scientists results of extraordinary interest to Parkinsons researchers worldwide, as Schwamborn stresses: On our new cell cultures, we can study the mechanisms that lead to Parkinsons much better than was ever the case before. We can test what effects environmental impacts such as pollutants have on the onset of the disease, whether there are new active agents that could possibly relieve the symptoms of Parkinsons or whether the disease could even be cured from its very cause. We will be performing such investigations next.

Samples of human origin

The development of the brain-like tissue cultures not only opens doors to new research approaches. It can also help to reduce the amount of animal testing in brain research. The cell cultures in the petri dishes are of human origin, and in some aspects resemble human brains more than the brains of lab animals such as rats or mice do. Therefore, the structures of human brains and its modes of function can be modelled in different ways than it is possible in animals. There are also attractive economic opportunities in our approach, Jens Schwamborn explains: The production of tissue cultures is highly elaborate. In the scope of our spin-off Braingineering Technologies Sarl, we will be developing technologies by which we can provide the cultures for a fee to other labs or the pharmaceutical industry for their research.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided byThe University of Luxembourg. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference:

Monzel, A. S., Smits, L. M., Hemmer, K., Hachi, S., Moreno, E. L., Wuellen, T. V., . . . Schwamborn, J. C. (2017). Derivation of Human Midbrain-Specific Organoids from Neuroepithelial Stem Cells. Stem Cell Reports. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.03.010

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Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells - Technology Networks

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells – Technology Networks | April 20th, 2017

Size: 1.8 oz (50 ml)

Skin 2 Skin Care Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum is a highly-concentrated lifting serum created to restore a tighter, more youthful appearance. On application, the silky serum immediately improves the texture and feel of the skin while complex peptides and stem cells work over time to diminish the appearance of sagging and wrinkles. It provides essential nourishment that helps skin act and appear younger. After a month of use, Marta, the founder of Truth In Aging, reported firmer and more lifted skin, especially around the cheeks and jawline.

Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum features two advanced peptide complexes. Syn-Coll (Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5) has been shown to help reduce the appearance of any lip and nasal labial lines while improving facial definition. Syn-Tacks (Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 and Palmitoyl Dipeptide-6 Diaminohydroxybutyate) supports the epidermis and stimulates collagen, laminin and elastin. In addition, green tea stem cell extract is used for its powerful ability to renew the skin. This formula is free of parabens, petroleum, mineral oil, paraffin, phthalates, sulfates, PABA, synthetic color and fragrance. Apply it to the face and neck for stronger, sag-resistant skin.

Tested for 30 days and recommended by Marta:

When I chatted to Skin 2 Skin founder Ken Simpson about Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum ($73), he went out of his way to point out that it contains dimethicone, adding that while he appreciates that some in the Truth In Aging community wont like this, the ingredient does wonders for scars. It didnt put me off when testing this serum, and I am most impressed with the results.

This serum can certainly be added to our arsenal of firming creams. I found that my skin looked a little lifted, especially around the jawline and lower cheeks. Overall, my skin is firmer and softer. As a bonus, as promised by Ken, I found that an odd little callused scar which appeared one day about a year ago on the site of a blemish, is much reduced. Nothing had helped in the past. Good job, Skin 2 Skin.

One of the things I like about this creamy-textured serum, is that the ingredients list doesnt take an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. It is tightly focused on two very good peptide complexes, green tea stem cells and the aforementioned silicone.

Syn-tacks is a combination of two synthetic peptides. According to the manufacturer, they interact with the most relevant protein structures of the dermal-epidermal junction and stimulates a broad spectrum of things responsible for youthful skin laminin V, collagen types IV, VII and XVII and integrin all at once. For example, collagen IV activity is increased by a whopping 190 percent, according to the manufacturer.

Syn-Coll is a peptide molecule that works in two ways. First, it boosts collagen by mimicking the bodys own mechanism to activate transforming growth factor beta, TGF- (Tissue Growth Factor), a key element in the synthesis of collagen. It also protects collagen from degradation through the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP).

My objection to silicone in skincare is that it has been a stalwart of department store beauty brands for decades, used to impart a superficial silkiness to the skin and inexpensively bulk up the formula. However, Skin 2 Skin has consciously introduced it here to help soften and reduce scars and blemishes. As I mentioned earlier in this review, I can attest to this working. Independent research has demonstrated that

silicone increases hydration of stratum corneum, helping to regulate fibroblast production and reduction in collagen production. The result is a softer and flatter scar.

As always with Skin 2 Skin, this is a highly effective formula that does what it sets out to do and contains no nasties. For those looking to achieve firmer, more velvety skin, this is definitely on the must try list.

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Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells | Technology Networks Technology Networks Technology Networks is an internationally recognised publisher that provides access to the latest scientific news, products, research, videos and posters. and more »

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Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells | Technology Networks - Technology Networks

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells | Technology Networks – Technology Networks | April 20th, 2017

Third in an occasional series on how Harvard researchers are tackling the problematic issues of aging.

If only, wrote an ancient Japanese poet, when one heard that Old Age was coming one could bolt the door.

Science is working on it.

Aging is as much about the physical processes of repair and regeneration and their slow-motion failure as it is the passage of time. And scientists studying stem cell and regenerative biology are making progress understanding those processes, developing treatments for the many diseases whose risks increase as we get older, while at times seeming to draw close to a broader anti-aging breakthrough.

If stem cells offer potential solutions, theyre also part of the problem. Stem cells, which can differentiate into many cell types, are important parts of the bodys repair system, but lose regenerative potency as we age. In addition, their self-renewing ability allows the mutations that affect every cell to accumulate across cellular generations, and some of those mutations lead to disease.

We do think that stem cells are a key player in at least some of the manifestations of age, said Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology David Scadden, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The hypothesis is that stem cell function deteriorates with age, driving events we know occur with aging, like our limited ability to fully repair or regenerate healthy tissue following injury.

When it comes to aging, certain tissue types seem to lead the charge, according to Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Lee Rubin, who directs the Harvard Stem Cell Institutes Therapeutic Screening Center. Particular tissues nerve cells appear to be one somehow signal to others that its time to age. This raises the prospect, Rubin said, that aging might be reversed by treating these key tissue categories, rather than designing individual treatments for the myriad tissue types that make up the body.

The process of aging involves all tissues in your body and, while different things go wrong in each tissue, they go wrong at basically the same rate, Rubin said. We can think of it as a process that is somehow coordinated, or there are fundamental processes in each tissue that play out.

In addition to key tissues, certain chemical pathways like insulin signaling seem to be able to control aging, said Rubin, whose work has received backing from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, as well as private foundations. The insulin signaling pathway is a chemical chain reaction in which the hormone insulin helps the body metabolize glucose. Reducing it has been shown to greatly extend life span in flies and worms, Rubin said. Also, signaling doesnt have to be reduced in all tissues.

If you just reduce it in neurons, the whole fly or worm lives longer, Rubin said. Certain key tissues in those organisms, if you selectively manipulate those tissues, have a positive effect on a number of processes in other tissues.

Because it circulates throughout the body, blood is an obvious place to look for controlling or signaling molecules that prompt or coordinate aging. A key carrier of oxygen and nutrients, blood is also rich with other compounds, some of which appear to play a role in decline linked to age.

Scadden described recent work done separately by Ben Ebert, a professor of medicine working at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Womens Hospital, and Steve McCarroll, the Dorothy and Milton Flier Associate Professor of Biomedical Science and Genetics, that identified age-related changes in the blood that can increase the risk of diseases we dont typically think of as blood diseases.

Another tantalizing study, published in 2013, used the blood of a young mouse to rejuvenate the organs of an older one. In these parabiotic experiments, conducted by Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Richard Lee and Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Amy Wagers, the circulatory systems of the two mice were joined, allowing the blood of the young to flow through the older ones body. The older mouse showed improvements in muscle tone and heart function. Later, similar experiments done by Rubin also showed improvements in neuronal health and brain functioning.

The young mouses fate depended on the age of the older mouse, Rubin said. If the latter was middle-aged, the young mouse appeared to be fine. If the older mouse was very old, however, the young mouse did worse.

Rubin said the experiments suggest that blood contains both positive and negative factors that influence aging. It may be, he said, that both are always present, but that positive factors outweigh negative in the young and that negative factors increase as we age.

Researchers have identified but not yet confirmed candidate blood factors for the rejuvenating effects. What seems not in doubt is the overall effect of the young blood on the old mouse. Interest is intense enough that a California company, Alkahest, has begun experiments giving Alzheimers patients plasma from young blood in hopes of improving cognition and brain function.

Even if that approach works, Rubin said, there would be practical hurdles to the widespread administration of young peoples blood plasma to older patients. But with an active compound identified, a drug could be made available to restore at least some cognitive function in Alzheimers patients.

In addition to the overall process of aging, researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, as well as across the University and its affiliated institutions, are investigating an array of diseases whose incidence increases sometimes dramatically with age.

The list includes several of the countrys top causes of death heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer as well as rarer conditions such as the lethal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Two decades ago, when stem cell research hit mainstream consciousness, many thought its greatest promise would be in stem cells ability to grow replacement parts: organs and tissues for damage caused by trauma or disease.

The stem cell revolution is still developing, Scadden said, but so far has taken a different form than many expected. The dream of harnessing stem cells to grow replacement hearts, livers, and kidneys remains, but potentially powerful uses have emerged in modeling disease for drug discovery and in targeting treatment for personalized medicine.

We thought stem cells would provide mostly replacement parts. I think thats clearly changed very dramatically. Now we think of them as contributing to our ability to make disease models for drug discovery.

David Scadden

Researchers have taken from the sick easily accessible cells, such as skin or blood, and reprogrammed them into the affected tissue type nerve cells in the case of ALS, which most commonly strikes between 55 and 75, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

These tissues are used as models to study the disease and test interventions. Work on ALS in the lab of Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Kevin Eggan has identified a drug approved for epilepsy that might be effective against ALS. This application is now entering clinical trials, in collaboration with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

In the end, stem cells might have their greatest impact as a drug-discovery tool, Scadden said.

Much of stem cell medicine is ultimately going to be medicine, he said. Even here, we thought stem cells would provide mostly replacement parts. I think thats clearly changed very dramatically. Now we think of them as contributing to our ability to make disease models for drug discovery.

Also evolving is knowledge of stem cell biology. Our previous understanding was that once embryonic stem cells differentiated into stem cells for muscle, blood, skin, and other tissue, those stem cells remained flexible enough to further develop into an array of different cells within the tissue, whenever needed.

Recent work on blood stem cells, however, indicates that this plasticity within a particular tissue type may be more limited than previously thought, Scadden said. Instead of armies of similarly plastic stem cells, it appears there is diversity within populations, with different stem cells having different capabilities.

If thats the case, Scadden said, problems might arise in part from the loss of some of these stem cell subpopulations, a scenario that could explain individual variation in aging. Getting old may be something like the endgame in chess, he said, when players are down to just a few pieces that dictate their ability to defend and attack.

If were graced and happen to have a queen and couple of bishops, were doing OK, said Scadden, whose work is largely funded through the NIH. But if we are left with pawns, we may lose resilience as we age.

Scaddens lab is using fluorescent tags to mark stem cells in different laboratory animals and then following them to see which ones do what work. It might be possible to boost populations of particularly potent players the queens to fight disease.

Were just at the beginning of this, Scadden said. I think that our sense of stem cells as this highly adaptable cell type may or may not be true. What we observe when we look at a population may not be the case with individuals.

The replacement parts scenario for stem cells hasnt gone away. One example is in the work of Harvard Stem Cell Institute co-director and Xander University Professor Douglas Melton, who has made significant progress growing replacement insulin-producing beta cells for treatment of diabetes.

Another is in Lees research. With support from the NIH, Lee is working to make heart muscle cells that can be used to repair damaged hearts.

Trials in this area have already begun, though with cells not genetically matched to the patient. In France, researchers are placing partially differentiated embryonic stem cells on the outside of the heart as a temporary aid to healing. Another trial, planned by researchers in Seattle, would inject fully differentiated heart muscle cells into a patient after a heart attack as a kind of very localized heart transplant.

Lees approach will take longer to develop. He wants to exploit the potential of stem cell biology to grow cells that are genetically matched to the patient. Researchers would reprogram cells taken from the patient into heart cells and, as in the Seattle experiment, inject them into damaged parts of the heart. The advantage of Lees approach is that because the cells would be genetically identical to the patient, he or she could avoid antirejection drugs for life.

What were thinking about is longer-term but more ambitious, Lee said. Avoiding immune suppression could change the way we think about things, because it opens the door to many decades of potential benefit.

Change has been a constant in Lees career, and he says theres no reason to think that will slow. Patient populations are older and more complex, disease profiles are changing, and the tools physicians have at their disposal are more powerful and more targeted.

Many of our patients today wouldnt be alive if not for the benefit of research advances, he said. Cardiology has completely changed in the last 25 years. If you think its not going to change even more in the next 25 years, youre probably wrong.

When Lee envisions the full potential of stem cell science, he sees treatments and replacement organs with the power to transform how we develop and grow old.

It may not be there for you and me, but for our children or their children, ultimately, regenerative biology and stem cell biology have that kind of potential, he said. We imagine a world where it doesnt matter what mutations or other things youre born with, because we can give you a good life.

Lees not guessing at future longevity. Hes not even sure extending life span beyond the current record, 122, is possible. Instead, he cites surveys that suggest that most Americans target 90 as their expectation for a long, healthy life.

Thats about a decade more than we get now in America, Lee said. We have work to do.

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Researchers study secrets of aging via stem cells - Harvard Gazette

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Researchers study secrets of aging via stem cells – Harvard Gazette | April 18th, 2017

Like drag car racers revving their engines at the starting line, stem cells respond more quickly to injury when they've been previously primed with one dose of a single protein, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Mice given the priming protein recover muscle function more quickly after damage, their skin heals more rapidly and even the shaved area around the injury regrows hair more quickly, the study found. Harnessing the power of this protein may one day help people recover more quickly from surgery or restore youthful vigor to aging stem cells.

"We're trying to better understand wound healing in response to trauma and aging," said Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, professor of neurology and neurological sciences. "We've shown that muscle and bone marrow stem cells enter a stage of alertness in response to distant injury that allows them to spring into action more quickly. Now we've pinpointed the protein responsible for priming them to do what they do better and faster."

Rando, who also directs Stanford's Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, is the senior author of the study, which will be published April 18 in Cell Reports. Former postdoctoral scholar Joseph Rodgers, PhD, is the lead author. Rodgers is now an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Southern California.

Potential therapy

"Our research shows that by priming the body before an injury you can speed the process of tissue repair and recovery, similar to how a vaccine prepares the body to a fight infection," Rodgers said. "We believe this could be a therapeutic approach to improve recovery in situations where injuries can be anticipated, such as surgery, combat or sports."

Normally, adult, tissue-specific stem cells are held in a kind of cellular deep freeze called quiescence to avoid unnecessary cell division in the absence of injury. In a 2014 paper published in Nature, Rodgers and Rando showed in laboratory mice that an injury to the muscle of one leg caused a change in the muscle stem cells of the other leg. These cells entered what the researchers called an "alert" phase of the cell cycle that is distinct from either fully resting or fully active stem cells.

The fact that muscle stem cells distant from the injury were alerted indicated that the damaged muscle must release a soluble factor that can travel throughout the body to wake up quiescent stem cells. Rodgers and his colleagues found that a protein called hepatocyte growth factor, which exists in a latent form in the spaces between muscle cells and tissue, can activate a critical signaling pathway in the cells by binding to their surfaces. This pathway stimulates the production of proteins important in alerting the stem cells. But it wasn't known how HGF itself became activated.

In the new study, Rodgers and his colleagues identified the activating factor by injecting uninjured animals with blood serum isolated from animals with an induced muscle injury. (Mice were anesthetized prior to a local injection of muscle-damaging toxin; they were given pain relief and antibiotics during the recovery period.) After 2.5 days, the researchers found that muscle stem cells from the recipient animals were in an alert state and completed their first cell division much more quickly than occurred in animals that had received blood serum from uninjured mice.

"Clearly, blood from the injured animal contains a factor that alerts the stem cells," said Rando. "We wanted to know, what is it in the blood that is doing this?"

Increased levels of a protein

The researchers found that the serum from the injured animals had the same levels of HGF as the control serum. However, it did have increased levels of a protein called HGFA that activates HGF by snipping it into two pieces. Treating the serum with an antibody that blocked the activity of HGFA eliminated the recovery benefit of pretreatment, the researchers found.

In a related experiment, exposing the animals to a single intravenous dose of HGFA alone two days prior to injury helped the mice recover more quickly. They scampered around on their wheels sooner and their skin healed more quickly than mice that received a control injection. They also regrew their hair around the shaved surgical site more completely than did the control animals.

"Just like in the muscles, we saw the responses in the skin were dramatically improved when the stem cells were alerted," Rando said.

In addition to pinpointing possible ways to prepare people for surgeries or other situations in which they might sustain wounds, the researchers are intrigued by the role HGF and HGFA might play in aging. It's known that the pathway activated by these proteins is less active in older people and animals.

"Stem cell activity diminishes with advancing age, and older people heal more slowly and less effectively than younger people. Might it be possible to restore youthful healing by activating this pathway?" said Rando. "We'd love to find out."

The work is an example of Stanford Medicine's focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill.

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Protein primes mouse stem cells to quickly repair injury, study finds ... - Science Daily

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Protein primes mouse stem cells to quickly repair injury, study finds … – Science Daily | April 18th, 2017

BY: DUSTIN BATTY

Stem cell research is a controversial topic that is often vilified in the minds of the general public. This is in part because of the vast mainstream media coverage of the debates surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, and their tendency to refer to the issue simply as the stem cell controversy rather than specifying that the problematic stem cells are those harvested from embryos.

Embryonic stem cells aside, though, there is still some discussion in bioethical circles about the harvesting of stem cells from bone marrow and even from skin. According to a study exploring an alternative method of obtaining stem cells, the debates surrounding the extraction of stem cells from even a mildly invasive procedure such as a skin biopsy are particularly relevant when one is procuring cells from vulnerable populations, such as children and individuals with intellectual disability. The study was undertaken to prove the viability of a non-invasive method of procuring stem cells from individuals with Down syndrome.

The method used by the researchers was surprisingly successful. They managed to extract cells from urine samples that were able to become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which means that the cells were altered so they could act like stem cells. Notably, the iPSCs obtained from the urine samples were superior to those harvested from skin biopsies and other methods because theyd had no exposure to ultraviolet light, and thus their DNA was generally undamaged.

Perhaps the most significant advantage that iPSCs from urine samples have over other methods is their completely non-invasive nature. This is particularly true when collecting stem cells from individuals with Down syndrome; in the past, a significant percentage of such individuals or their parents or guardians have refused to go forward with skin biopsies, limiting the availability of material for developing treatment methods. Research ethics boards have also been known to prevent the wide-scale use of skin biopsies in individuals with DS [Down syndrome]. This new method is expected to relieve the anxieties of the individuals involved, and should be easily accepted by ethics boards as well.

The researchers expect that the use of this method will improve both the quality of cells used and the quantity available to be studied. This increased availability is important to the efficient continuation of research into treatments for Down syndrome. Although such research begins with the use of lab mice to test the viability of new treatment methods, mouse physiology is so much simpler than that of humans that such tests arent sufficient. Eventually, the treatment needs to be tested on human cells. Stem cells are particularly useful for these kinds of tests because they are able to grow into a variety of different cells, which can be tested with the treatment individually.

The researchers conclude with the assurance that the techniques they implemented could be useful not only for research into Down syndrome, but also in the study of other neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.

Providing better quality cells with increased participation and no ethical concerns, this new method of harvesting stem cells could be the answer that medical researchers were looking for.

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Stem cells can now be gathered from urine samples - The Plaid Zebra (blog)

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cells can now be gathered from urine samples – The Plaid Zebra (blog) | April 17th, 2017

Salk Institute and Chinese researchers report creating a new kind of stem cell, one that is more versatile than any other normally grown in the lab.

Called an extended pluripotent stem cell, it can give rise to every cell type in the body, the researchers say in a recent study. This includes the extra-embryonic tissues such as the placenta that support the developing baby. Just one cell can generate a complete organism.

Embryonic stem cells and artificial embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells cant make these extra-embryonic tissues. So neither embryonic nor IPS cells can give rise to a complete embryo, because the supportive tissues necessary for an embryo to survive arent there.

But the extended pluripotent stem cells can reliably give rise to both types of cells, and thus whole embryos and offspring, the scientists report.

The EPS cells were made from human and mouse embryonic stem cells. In addition, they were produced from skin cells, or fibroblasts by treating them with a chemical cocktail. IPS cells, invented in 2006, are generated from fibroblasts by a similar reprogramming process.

Use of IPS cells is regarded as morally acceptable by those who oppose use of human embryonic stem cells, because they cant form an entire embryo. This is the reasoning of the Catholic Church. But since the EPS cells can make whole embryos, at least in mice, how the church will react is unclear.

To demonstrate this ability to make all cell types, the researchers grew an entire mouse from just one EPS cell. They also grew chimeric mice, with human EPS cells integrating into the mice better than embryonic stem cells did.

The study on these new stem cells was published April 6 in the journal Cell. It can be found at j.mp/extendedstem.

Better tool

That characteristic of creating every cell in the body, called totipotency, is normally found only at the very beginning of embryonic development. Embryonic stem cells are usually extracted too late, when the cells have already divided into the embryonic and extra-embryonic lineages.

Totipotent stem cells have been observed in the lab, but they lasted briefly, and didnt yield stable totipotent cell lines.

Salk Institute stem cell researcher Juan Carlos Izpisa Bemonte was a cosenior author of the paper along with Hongkui Deng of Peking University in Beijing. The first authors were Yang Yang, Bei Liu, Jun Xu, and Jinlin Wang; all of Peking University, and Jun Wu, of the Salk Institute.

EPS cell lines provide a useful cellular tool for gaining a better molecular understanding of initial cell fate commitments and generating new animal models to investigate basic questions concerning development of the placenta, yolk sac, and embryo proper, the study stated.

Furthermore, they also provide an unlimited cell resource and hold great potential for in vivo disease modeling, in vivo drug discovery, and in vivo tissue generation in the future. Finally, our study opens a path toward capturing stem cells with intra- and/or inter-species bi-potent chimeric competency from a variety of other mammalian species.

Organs for transplant

The creation of chimeric mice is part of Izpisa Bemontes longstanding goal of growing human organs in animals for transplant.

While mice are too small to grow organs for transplant, they serve as a model to understand how cells from a different species, can be grown in a host body. In this new study, the mice served as a model of how well the EPS cells can integrate.

Izpisa Bemonte is now working to translate his research on chimeric mice to pigs, which are large enough to provide human organs. In January, a team he led reported on work with human-pig chimeras, which were not allowed to grow past the embryonic stage. They also created rat-mice chimeras.

The superior chimeric competency of both human and mouse EPS cells is advantageous in applications such as the generation of transgenic animal models and the production of replacement organs, Wu said in a Salk statement. We are now testing to see whether human EPS cells are more efficient in chimeric contribution to pigs, whose organ size and physiology are closer to humans.

We believe that the derivation of a stable stem cell line with totipotent-like features will have a broad and resounding impact on the stem cell field, Izpisua Belmonte said in the statement.

The work was funded by a number of sources. They include: the National Key Research and Development Program of China; the National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Guangdong Innovative and Entrepreneurial Research Team Program; the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province, China; the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China; the Ministry of Education of China (111 Project); the BeiHao Stem Cell and Q9 Regenerative Medicine Translational Research Institute; the Joint Institute of Peking University Health Science Center; University of Michigan Health System; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences; the National Science and Technology Support Project; the CAS Key Technology Talent Program; the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation; and The Moxie Foundation.

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

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Stem cell invented that can grow into any tissue in the body - The ... - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cell invented that can grow into any tissue in the body – The … – The San Diego Union-Tribune | April 16th, 2017

Stem cells are a rapidly advancing field of biological research. Since Dr. James Thomson first cultivated human embryonic stem cells at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in the late 1990s, this field of researched has exploded with potential. The links below provide access to a curriculum developed under the supervision of Dr. Thomson as well as the co-directors and staff of the UW Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center. The material has been reviewed for accuracy by the scientists actually conducting the research and was compiled and formatted by Craig Kohn, a high school teacher with research experience, for a high school audience. The PowerPoint presentation works in conjunction with the notesheet, allowing for students to work independently if preferred. More information about specific instructional practices can be found below in Teacher Notes. PowerPoint: http://bit.ly/ted-stemcells Notesheet: http://bit.ly/ted-stemcellsnotesheet Quiz: http://bit.ly/ted-stemcellsquiz Additional resources about stem cells can be found at: http://www.stemcells.wisc.edu/node/386 http://stemcells.nih.gov/Pages/Default.aspxhttp://www.stemcellschool.org/http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/750/25-best-blogs-for-following-stem-cell-research/

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What are stem cells? - Craig A. Kohn | TED-Ed

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on What are stem cells? – Craig A. Kohn | TED-Ed | April 16th, 2017

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'Cradle of life' stem cells taken from skin samples were developed into three-dimensional brain-like organisms capable of exchanging signals between each other in a network.

The petri dish cells behave in a similar way to the brain cells which produce messenger dopamine from neurons - and scientists hope they will be able to use them to come up with a cure for Parkinson's.

Dopamine maintains smooth body movements, but when the neurons die off, tremors, rigid muscles and other Parkinson's disease symptoms begin to take over.

The new developments mean scientists can now use the cells to test what environmental factors like pollutants have on the onset of the disease and potentially find a cure.

Lead author Professor Jens Schwamborn said: "Our cell cultures open new doors to brain research.

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"We can now use them to study the causes of Parkinson's disease and how it could possibly be effectively treated."

Our cell cultures open new doors to brain research

Professor Jens Schwamborn

The stem cells can be transformed into any cell type of the human body but cannot produce a complete organism.

PHD student Anna Monzel developed a procedure to convert the stem cells into brain cells as part of her doctoral thesis.

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Tremor - One of the most noticeable signs of Parkinson's is a tremor that often starts in the hands or fingers when they are relaxed

She said: "I had to develop a special, precisely defined cocktail of growth factors and a certain treatment method for the stem cells, so that they would differentiate in the desired direction."

Prof Schwamborn from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine at Luxembourg University said: "Our subsequent examination of these artificial tissue samples revealed that various cell types characteristic of the midbrain had developed."

"The cells can transmit and process signals.

"We were even able to detect dopaminergic cells - just like in the midbrain."

The scientists say their petri dish study can also reduce the amount of animal testing in brain research.

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Because cell cultures in the petri dishes are of human origin in some aspects they resemble human brains more than the brains of lab animals such as rats or mice.

Professor Schwamborn added: "There are also attractive economic opportunities in our approach.

"The production of tissue cultures is highly elaborate.

"In the scope of our spin-off Braingineering Technologies Sarl, we will be developing technologies by which we can provide the cultures for a fee to other labs or the pharmaceutical industry for their research."

The study was published in the Stem Cell Reports journal.

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Scientists one step closer to turning stem cells into BRAIN | Health ... - Express.co.uk

Skin Stem Cells Comments Off on Scientists one step closer to turning stem cells into BRAIN | Health … – Express.co.uk | April 14th, 2017