If you skin your knee, your body makes new skin. If you donate a portion of your liver, whats left will grow back to near-normal size. But if you lose a billion heart cells during a heart attack, only a small fraction of those will be replaced. In the words of Ke Cheng, an associate professor of regenerative medicine at N.C. State, The hearts self-repair potency is very limited.

Cheng has designed a nanomedicine he hopes will give the heart some help. It consists of an engineered nanoparticle that gathers the bodys own self-repair cells and brings them to the injured heart tissue.

In this case, the self-repair cells are adult stem cells. A stem cell is a very rich biological factory, Cheng said. Stem cells can become heart muscle, or they can produce growth factors that are beneficial to the regrowth of heart muscle.

After a heart attack, dying and dead heart cells release chemical signals that alert stem cells circulating in the blood to move to the injured site. But there just arent very many stem cells in the bloodstream, and sometimes they are not sufficiently attracted to the injured tissue.

Matchmakers with hooks

The nanomedicine Cheng designed consists of an iron-based nanoparticle festooned with two different kinds of hooks one kind of hook grabs adult stem cells, and the other kind of hook grabs injured heart tissue. Cheng calls the nanomedicine a matchmaker, because it brings together cells that can make repairs with cells that need repairs.

The hooks are antibodies that seek and grab certain types of cells. Because the antibodies are situated on an iron nanoparticle, they and the stem cells theyve grabbed can be physically directed to the heart using an external magnet. Cheng calls the nanomedicine MagBICE, for magnetic bifunctional cell engager.

The magnet is a first pass to get the iron-based particles and antibodies near the heart. Once there, the antibodies are able to identify and stick to the injured heart tissue, bringing the stem cells right where they need to go. Using two methods of targeting the magnet and the antibodies improves the chances of being able to bring a large number of stem cells at the site of injury.

In addition to providing a way to physically move the stem cells to the heart, the iron nanoparticles are visible on MRI machines, which allows MagBICE to be visualized after its infused into the bloodstream.

Cheng doesnt foresee much toxicity from the nanomedicine unless someone is allergic or particularly sensitive to iron. In fact, the iron-based nanoparticle that forms the platform for the antibodies is an FDA-approved IV treatment for anemia.

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Can a bodys own stem cells help heal a heart?

Many stem cells live a life of monotony, biding their time until theyre needed to repair tissue damage or propel the growth of a developing embryo. But when the time is right, they must spring into action without hesitation. Like Clark Kent in a phone booth, they fling aside their former identity to become the needed skin, muscle, bone or other cell types.

Now researchers at Stanford, Harvard and the University of California-Los Angeles have learned that embryonic stem cells in mice and humans chemically tag RNA messages encoding key stem-cell genes. The tags tell the cell not to let the messages linger, but to degrade them quickly. Getting rid of those messages allows the cells to respond more nimbly to their new marching orders. As dermatology professor Howard Chang, MD, PhD, explained to me in an email:

Until now, weve not fully understood how RNA messages within the cell dissipate. In many cases, it was thought to be somewhat random. This research shows that embryonic stem cells actively tag RNA messages that they may later need to forget. In the absence of this mechanism, the stem cells are never able to forget they are stem cells. They are stuck and cannot become brain, heart or gut, for example.

Chang, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute, is a co-senior author of a paper describing the research, which was published today in Cell Stem Cell. He shares senior authorship with Yi Xing, PhD, an associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA, and Cosmas Giallourakis, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard. Lead authorship is shared by postdoctoral scholars Pedro Batista, PhD, of Stanford, and Jinkai Wang, PhD, of UCLA; and by senior research fellow Benoit Molinie, PhD, of Harvard.

Messenger RNAs are used to convey information from the genes in a cells nucleus to protein-making factories in the cytoplasm. They carry the instructions necessary to assemble the hundreds of thousands of individual proteins that do the work of the cell. When, where and how long each protein is made is a carefully orchestrated process that controls the fate of the cell. For example, embryonic stem cells, which can become any cell in the body, maintain their stemness through the ongoing production of proteins known to confer pluripotency, a term used to describe how these cells can become any cell in the body.

The researchers, who knew that cells sometimes mark their RNA messages with chemical tags called methyl groups, were particularly interested in one type of methyl tag called m6A. Although the process of tagging the RNA is somewhat similar to how DNA is modified to control gene expression, it has not been clear exactly how these RNA tags function in development. On DNA, the chemical tags serve to help a cell remember which genes to express at particular times signaling a skin cell to preferentially make collagen and keratin, for example, rather than digestive enzymes or hormones. The study of these tags on DNA is called epigenetics.

When the researchers compared m6A patterns among thousands of RNA molecules in mouse and human embryonic stem cells, they found striking similarities between the organisms. Often key pluripotency genes were methylated at particular points along their length; these messages were degraded more quickly than unmethylated RNA molecules. Blocking the methylation mechanism in the embryonic stem cells, the researchers found, not only protected the pluripotency messages from degradation, but it also made it more difficult for the cells to respond appropriately to external cues and significantly slowed their ability to differentiate into other cell types.

The researchers concluded that its necessary for the cells to be able to quickly degrade those key RNA messages. If no differentiation is necessary, the cells simply replenish the messages by repeatedly copying them from the DNA. However, if a change in fate is needed, the cell can quickly shut down RNA production and any remaining messages will be rapidly destroyed. As Chang explained, This research is conceptually groundbreaking because it reveals an anti-epigenetic mechanism that works to keep genetic messages transient. In contrast to epigenetic mechanisms that provide cellular memory of gene expression states, m6A helps the cells to forget the past and embrace the future.

Previously: Epigenetics: the hoops genes jump through, Caught in the act! Fast, cheap, high-resolution, easy way to tell which genes a cell is using, and Red light, green light: Simultaneous stop and go signals on stem cells genes may enable fast activation, provide aging clock

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The politics of destruction: Short-lived RNA helps stem ...

Powerful stem cells injected into the eyes of 18 patients with diseases causing progressive blindness have proven safe and dramatically improved the vision of some of the patients, scientists report.

Three years of follow up show that vision improved measurably in seven of the patients, the team at Advanced Cell Technology report in the Lancet medical journal. In some cases, the improvement was dramatic.

For instance, we treated a 75-year-old horse rancher who lives in Kansas, said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief medical officer for the Massachusetts-based company. The rancher had poor vision 20/400 in one eye.

Once month after treatment his vision had improved 10 lines (20/40) and he can even ride his horses again. Other patients report similarly dramatic improvements in their lives, Lanza added. For instance, they can use their computers or read their watch. Little things like that which we all take for granted have made a huge difference in the quality of their life.

Not all the patients improved and one even got worse. But overall, Lanzas team reported, the patients vision improved by three lines on a standard vision chart.

"They can use their computers or read their watch. Little things like that which we all take for granted have made a huge difference in the quality of their life.

The researchers treated only one eye in each patient. There was no improvement in vision in the untreated eyes.

The patients had either Stargardts disease, a common type of macular degeneration, or dry macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. There are no treatments for either condition, and patients gradually lose vision over the years until they are, often, blind.

Lanzas team used human embryonic stem cells, made using human embryos. They are powerful cells, each one capable of giving rise to all the cells and tissues in the body. The ACT team took one cell from embryos at the eight-cell stage to make batches of these cells.

They reprogrammed them to make immature retinal cells, which they injected into the eyes of the patients. The hope is that the immature cells would take up the places of the degenerated cells and restore vision.

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Vision Quest: Stem Cells Treat Blinding Disease

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Newswise INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers have developed a technique to jump-start the body's systems for creating blood vessels, opening the door for potential new treatments for diseases whose impacts include amputation and blindness.

The international team, led by scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine, is targeting new therapies for illnesses such as peripheral artery disease, a painful leg condition caused by poor blood circulation. The disease can lead to skin problems, gangrene and sometimes amputation.

While the body has cells that specialize in repairing blood vessels and creating new ones, called endothelial colony-forming cells, these cells can lose their ability to proliferate into new blood vessels as patients age or develop diseases like peripheral arterial disease, said Mervin C. Yoder Jr., M.D., Richard and Pauline Klingler Professor of Pediatrics at IU and leader of the research team.

Peripheral artery disease patients can be given medication to improve blood flow, but if the blood vessels to carry that improved flow are reduced in number or function, the benefits are minimal. If "younger," more "enthusiastic" endothelial colony forming cells could be injected into the affected tissues, they might jump-start the process of creating new blood vessels. Gathering those cells would not be easy however -- they are relatively difficult to find in adults, especially in those with peripheral arterial disease. However, they are present in large numbers in umbilical cord blood.

Reporting their work in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers said they had developed a potential therapy through the use of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells, which are normal adult cells that have been "coaxed" via laboratory techniques into reverting into the more primitive stem cells that can produce most types of bodily tissue. So, in one of the significant discoveries reported in the Nature Biotechnology paper, the research team developed a novel methodology to mature the induced pluripotent stem cells into cells with the characteristics of the endothelial colony-forming cells that are found in umbilical cord blood. Those laboratory-created endothelial colony-forming cells were injected into mice, where they were able to proliferate into human blood vessels and restore blood flow to damaged tissues in mouse retinas and limbs.

Overcoming another hurdle that has been faced by scientists in the field, the research team found that the cord-blood-like endothelial colony-forming cells grown in laboratory tissue culture expanded dramatically, creating 100 million new cells for each original cell in a little less than three months.

"This is one of the first studies using induced pluripotent stem cells that has been able to produce new cells in clinically relevant numbers -- enough to enable a clinical trial," Dr. Yoder said. The next steps, he said, include reaching an agreement with a facility approved to produce cells for use in human testing. In addition to peripheral artery disease, the researchers are evaluating the potential uses of the derived cells to treat diseases of the eye and lungs that involve blood flow problems.

A short video explaining the research is available here: http://youtu.be/nyPk_5bLdzs

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Researchers Develop New Cells Meant to Form Blood Vessels, Treat Peripheral Artery Disease

Researchers have developed a technique to jump-start the body's systems for creating blood vessels, opening the door for potential new treatments for diseases whose impacts include amputation and blindness.

The international team, led by scientists at the Indiana University School of Medicine, is targeting new therapies for illnesses such as peripheral artery disease, a painful leg condition caused by poor blood circulation. The disease can lead to skin problems, gangrene and sometimes amputation.

While the body has cells that specialize in repairing blood vessels and creating new ones, called endothelial colony-forming cells, these cells can lose their ability to proliferate into new blood vessels as patients age or develop diseases like peripheral arterial disease, said Mervin C. Yoder Jr., M.D., Richard and Pauline Klingler Professor of Pediatrics at IU and leader of the research team.

Peripheral artery disease patients can be given medication to improve blood flow, but if the blood vessels to carry that improved flow are reduced in number or function, the benefits are minimal. If "younger," more "enthusiastic" endothelial colony forming cells could be injected into the affected tissues, they might jump-start the process of creating new blood vessels. Gathering those cells would not be easy however -- they are relatively difficult to find in adults, especially in those with peripheral arterial disease. However, they are present in large numbers in umbilical cord blood.

Reporting their work in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the researchers said they had developed a potential therapy through the use of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells, which are normal adult cells that have been "coaxed" via laboratory techniques into reverting into the more primitive stem cells that can produce most types of bodily tissue. So, in one of the significant discoveries reported in the Nature Biotechnology paper, the research team developed a novel methodology to mature the induced pluripotent stem cells into cells with the characteristics of the endothelial colony-forming cells that are found in umbilical cord blood. Those laboratory-created endothelial colony-forming cells were injected into mice, where they were able to proliferate into human blood vessels and restore blood flow to damaged tissues in mouse retinas and limbs.

Overcoming another hurdle that has been faced by scientists in the field, the research team found that the cord-blood-like endothelial colony-forming cells grown in laboratory tissue culture expanded dramatically, creating 100 million new cells for each original cell in a little less than three months.

"This is one of the first studies using induced pluripotent stem cells that has been able to produce new cells in clinically relevant numbers -- enough to enable a clinical trial," Dr. Yoder said. The next steps, he said, include reaching an agreement with a facility approved to produce cells for use in human testing. In addition to peripheral artery disease, the researchers are evaluating the potential uses of the derived cells to treat diseases of the eye and lungs that involve blood flow problems.

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

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New cells meant to form blood vessels developed, treat peripheral artery disease

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A research team led by Douglas Melton (left) has made insulin-secreting cells using human stem cells.

Each year, surgeon Jose Oberholzer frees a few people with type1 diabetes from daily insulin injections by giving them a transplant of the insulin-secreting -cells that the disease attacks. But it is a frustrating process. Harvested from a cadavers pancreas, the -cells are in short supply and vary in quality. And the patients must take drugs to suppress their immune response to the foreign cells, which can in turn cause kidney failure.

On 9October, stem-cell researcher Douglas Melton of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his colleagues reported an advance that has the potential to overcome Oberholzers frustrations and allow many more people with type1 diabetes to receive transplants. Melton and his team have achieved a long-term goal of stem-cell science: they have created mature -cells using human stem cells that can be grown from a potentially unlimited supply, and that behave like the real thing (F.W.Pagliuca etal. Cell 159, 428439; 2014). The next challenge is to work out how to shield these -cells from the bodys immune response.

Researchers had previously created immature -cells from stem cells and transplanted them into diabetic mice. But they take months to mature into insulin-secreting cells, and it is unclear whether they would do so in humans.

The -cells reported by Meltons team were grown from adult cells that had been reprogrammed to resemble stem cells. In response to glucose, the -cells quickly secreted insulin, which the body uses to regulate blood sugar. When implanted in diabetic mice, the cells relieved symptoms within two weeks. The -cells even formed clusters that are similar to those found in a pancreatic structure called the islet of Langerhans. If you took these cells and showed them to somebody without telling them what they are, I guarantee you an expert would say that is a perfect human islet cell, says Oberholzer, who is working with Meltons team to test the cells in non-human primates.

A remaining hurdle is shielding the cells from immune attack. This is necessary if the treatment is to become more widely available, because immunosuppressant drugs can be justified only in the most severe cases of diabetes. And although mature -cells could be derived from a patients own skin cells, type1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, so transplanted cells would still be vulnerable to attack.

One solution might be to encapsulate the cells in a credit-card-sized, biocompatible sheath made by ViaCyte of San Diego, California. The company will implant its first device loaded with immature -cells in a patient on 21October. Studies in animals have been promising, but some researchers worry that the cells inside the device are packed too densely and might become starved of oxygen and nutrients.

Another option is to coat cells in a protective hydrogel, which results in thousands of separate balls of cells. But a potential drawback is that it would be much harder to remove such cells if there was a safety concern, says Albert Hwa, director of discovery science at JDRF, a diabetes-research foundation in New York.

Neither technique avoids the bodys tendency to enclose foreign bodies inside scar tissue, which could cut the transplanted cells off from nutrients. Bioengineer Daniel Anderson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and his team are screening chemical compounds for a hydrogel that does not trigger this. Some, used with Meltons cells, have shown promise in unpublished studies of diabetic primates, he says.

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Stem-cell success poses immunity challenge for diabetes

Oct 13, 2014 Stem cells show auxeticity; the nucleus expands, rather than thins, when it's stretched. Credit: Effigos AG

Looking at stem cells through physicists' eyes is challenging some of our basic assumptions about the body's master cells.

One of the many mysteries surrounding stem cells is how the constantly regenerating cells in adults, such as those in skin, are able to achieve the delicate balance between self-renewal and differentiation in other words, both maintaining their numbers and producing cells that are more specialised to replace those that are used up or damaged.

"What all of us want to understand is how stem cells decide to make and maintain a body plan," said Dr Kevin Chalut, a Cambridge physicist who moved his lab to the University's Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute two years ago. "How do they decide whether they're going to differentiate or stay a stem cell in order to replenish tissue? We have discovered a lot about stem cells, but at this point nobody can tell you exactly how they maintain that balance."

To unravel this mystery, both Chalut and another physicist, Professor Ben Simons, are bringing a fresh perspective to the biologists' work. Looking at problems through the lens of a physicist helps them untangle many of the complex datasets associated with stem cell research. It also, they say, makes them unafraid to ask questions that some biologists might consider 'heretical', such as whether a few simple rules describe stem cells. "As physicists, we're very used to the idea that complex systems have emergent behaviour that may be described by simple rules," explained Simons.

What they have discovered is challenging some of the basic assumptions we have about stem cells.

One of those assumptions is that once a stem cell has been 'fated' for differentiation, there's no going back. "In fact, it appears that stem cells are much more adaptable than previously thought," said Simons.

By using fluorescent markers and live imaging to track a stem cell's progression, Simons' group has found that they can move backwards and forwards between states biased towards renewal and differentiation, depending on their physical position in the their host environment, known as the stem cell niche.

For example, some have argued that mammals, from elephants to mice, require just a few hundred blood stem cells to maintain sufficient levels of blood in the body. "Which sounds crazy," said Simons. "But if the self-renewal potential of cells may vary reversibly, the number of cells that retain stem cell potential may be much higher. Just because a certain cell may have a low chance of self-renewal today doesn't mean that it will still be low tomorrow or next week!"

Chalut's group is also looking at the way in which stem cells interact with their environment, specifically at the role that their physical and mechanical properties might play in how they make their fate decisions. It's a little-studied area, but one that could play a key role in understanding how stem cells work.

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Stem cell physical

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Patients with type 1 diabetes lack the insulin-producing cells that keep blood glucose levels in check. Currently, these patients must use insulin pumps or daily hormone injections to keep levels stable.

But in a recent breakthrough in laboratories at Harvard University, researchers came upon a new technique for transforming stem cells into pancreatic beta cells that respond to glucose levels and produce insulin when necessary. The breakthrough could lead to new less invasive, more hands-off treatment for diabetes.

Remarkably, the new technique -- a complex process which involves turning on and off specific genes and takes about 40 days and six precise steps to complete -- was replicated not only on embryonic stem cells but also on human skin cells reprogrammed to act in a stem-cell-like manner. This revelation allows scientists to produce millions of insulin-producing cells while avoiding the ethical dilemmas attached to traditional stem cell research.

Previous attempts to convert stem cells into insulin-producers have proven moderately successful, but these cells mostly produced insulin at will, unable to adjust their output on the fly. The latest techniques -- developed by Douglas Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and his research colleagues -- produce insulin cells that react to glucose spikes by upping production, and lowering insulin output when there's not excess sugar to break down.

The breakthrough has already shown significant promise when used on lab mice. Diabetic mice who received a transplant of the stem cell beta cells had improved blood sugar levels, and were shown to be capable of breaking down sugar.

"We can cure their diabetes right away -- in less than 10 days," Melton told NPR. "This finding provides a kind of unprecedented cell source that could be used for cell transplantation therapy in diabetes."

But there's still one major issue. For reasons doctors still don't understand, the beta cells in humans with diabetes are attacked by the body's immune system. Researchers like Melton still have to figure out a way to protect the new beta cells from being killed -- otherwise the breakthrough won't become anything more than another short-term solution.

"It's taken me 10 to 15 years to get to this point, and I consider this a major step forward," Melton told TIME. "But the longer term plan includes finding ways to protect these cells, and we haven't solved that problem yet."

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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Ageless Derma Apple Stem Cell Skincare
This active ingredient won the Best Active Ingredient prize in European Innovation in 2008. Stem Cells derived from a rare Swiss Apple are part of the rev...

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Research into a cure for diabetescould result in an end to insulin injections It has beenhailed as the biggest medical breakthrough since antibiotics Harvard researcher Doug Melton promised his children he'd find a cure Treatment involves making insulin-producing cells from stem cells Scientistshope to have human trials under way within a 'few years'

By Fiona Macrae for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:41 EST, 9 October 2014 | Updated: 04:45 EST, 10 October 2014

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Scientists have hailed stem-cell research into a cure for diabetes as potentially the biggest medical breakthrough since antibiotics.

It could result in an end to insulin injections, and to the disabling and deadly complications of the disease, such as strokes and heart attacks, blindness and kidney disease.

The treatment, which involves making insulin-producing cells from stem cells, was described as a 'phenomenal accomplishment' that will 'leave a dent in the history of diabetes'.

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Could this stem cell breakthrough offer an end to diabetes?

October 10, 2014 - 17:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - In what could be a major breakthrough for diabetes treatment, scientists have discovered a way to drastically alter human embryonic stem cells, transforming them into cells that produce and release insulin, RT said.

Developed by researchers at Harvard University, the innovative new technique involves essentially recreating the formation process of beta cells, which are located in the pancreas and secrete insulin. By stimulating certain genes in a certain order, the Boston Globe reports that scientists were able to charm embryonic stem cells and even altered skin cells into becoming beta cells.

The whole process took 15 years of work, but now lead researcher Doug Melton says the team can create hundreds of millions of these makeshift beta cells, and theyre hoping to transplant them into humans starting in the next few years.

"We are reporting the ability to make hundreds of millions of cells the cell that can read the amount of sugar in the blood which appears following a meal and then squirts out or secretes just the right amount of insulin," Melton told NPR.

There are 29.1 million people in the United States believed to have diabetes, according to statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dating back to 2012. Thats 9.3 percent of the entire population.

Currently, diabetes patients must rely on insulin shots to keep their blood-sugar levels stable, a process that involves continual monitoring and attentiveness. Failure to efficiently control these levels can cause some patients to go blind, suffer from nerve damage and heart attacks, and even lose limbs. If Meltons beta cell creation process can be successfully applied to humans, it could eliminate the need for such constant check-ups, since the cells would be doing all the monitoring. Already, there are positive signs moving forward: the transplanted cells have worked wonders on mice, quickly stabilizing their insulin levels.

"We can cure their diabetes right away in less than 10 days," Melton said to NPR. "This finding provides a kind of unprecedented cell source that could be used for cell transplantation therapy in diabetes."

With mice successfully treated, the team is now working with a scientist in Chicago to put cells into primates, the Globe reported.

Even so, significant obstacles remain, particularly for those who have Type 1 diabetes. With this particular form of the disease, the human immune system actually targets and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, so Meltons team is looking into encasing cells inside of a protective shell in order to ensure their safety.

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Harvard University scientists alter stem cells to make insulin

Ageless Derma Anti Aging Skin Care
This active ingredient won the Best Active Ingredient prize in European Innovation in 2008. Stem Cells derived from a rare Swiss Apple are part of the revolutionary technological designed...

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Henderson, NV (PRWEB) October 07, 2014

Stem cells from plants are becoming an increasingly popular way to turn the clock backward on skin aging. Hylunia's own light and silky Moisure Infusion contains plant stem cells and peptides that are thought to delay aging, making skin look softer smoother and younger.

Plant stem cells like the ones found in grapes are undifferentiated cells from the meristems of plants. Like human stem cells, they can replace damaged cells and renew themselves. Plant stem cells are cultured in labs, allowing scientists to have more control over the quality, quantity and purity of a plant's anti-aging substance.

Skin care stem cells are extracted from various plants, including tiny white Edelweiss flowers, a swamp plant called gotu kola, swiss apples, and raspberry cell cultures. Lilac and algae may also be used. Most of these products contain antioxidants and other chemicals that make skin look younger.

Hylunia's unique product features grape stem cells cultivated from the Gamay Teinturier Fraux grape from Burgundy, France. Their ingredient list explains that these grapes are "high in powerful antioxidants and [have] free radical scavenging capabilities."

The site adds that "The Grape Stem Cells contain special epigenetic factors and metabolites which are able to protect human stem cells against UV radiation and therefore delay aging." UV damage is responsible for up to 80% of skin aging.

Hylunia Moisture Infusion also contains peptides, which can boost collagen and block the neurotransmitters that contract the muscles that form wrinkles. They stimulate epidermal skin cells and increase skin healing and repair.

Hyluna's product contains Palmitoyl Trypeptide-5 (patented), which stimulates collagen synthesis to "strengthen skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles."

Hylunia is currently putting together a webinar about plant peptides for their professional customers like spa and salon owners. The webinar will be available soon.

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Hylunia Educates Professional Customers on Anti-Aging Peptides and Stem Cells

3 hours ago New genetic barcoding technology allows scientists to identify differences in origin between individual blood cells. Credit: Camargo Lab

A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Children's Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells. The researchers hypothesize that blood comes from stable populations of different long-lived progenitor cells that are responsible for giving rise to specific blood cell types, while blood stem cells likely act as essential reserves.

The work, supported by a National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award and published in Nature, suggests that progenitor cells could potentially be just as valuable as blood stem cells for blood regeneration therapies.

This new research challenges what textbooks have long read: That blood stem cells maintain the day-to-day renewal of blood, a conclusion drawn from their importance in re-establishing blood cell populations after bone marrow transplantsa fact that still remains true. But because of a lack of tools to study how blood forms in a normal context, nobody had been able to track the origin of blood cells without doing a transplant.

Boston Children's Hospital scientist Fernando Camargo, PhD, and his postdoctoral fellow Jianlong Sun, PhD, addressed this problem with a tool that generates a unique barcode in the DNA of all blood stem cells and their progenitor cells in a mouse. When a tagged cell divides, all of its descendant cells possess the same barcode. This biological inventory system makes it possible to determine the number of stem cells/progenitors being used to make blood and how long they live, as well as answer fundamental questions about where individual blood cells come from.

"There's never been such a robust experimental method that could allow people to look at lineage relationships between mature cell types in the body without doing transplantation," Sun said. "One of the major directions we can now go is to revisit the entire blood cell hierarchy and see how the current knowledge holds true when we use this internal labeling system."

"People have tried using viruses to tag blood cells in the past, but the cells needed to be taken out of the body, infected, and re-transplanted, which raised a number of issues," said Camargo, who is a member of Children's Stem Cell Program and an associate professor in Harvard University's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. "I wanted to figure out a way to label blood cells inside of the body, and the best idea I had was to use mobile genetic elements called transposons."

A transposon is a piece of genetic code that can jump to a random point in DNA when exposed to an enzyme called transposase. Camargo's approach works using transgenic mice that possess a single fish-derived transposon in all of their blood cells. When one of these mice is exposed to transposase, each of its blood cells' transposons changes location. The location in the DNA where a transposon moves acts as an individual cell's barcode, so that if the mouse's blood is taken a few months later, any cells with the same transposon location can be linked back to its parent cell.

The transposon barcode system took Camargo and Sun seven years to develop, and was one of Camargo's first projects when he opened his own lab at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research directly out of grad school. Sun joined the project after three years of setbacks, and accomplished an experimental tour de force to reach the conclusions in the Nature paper, which includes data on how many stem cells or progenitor cells contribute to the formation of immune cells in mouse blood.

With the original question of how blood arises in a non-transplant context answered, the researchers are now planning to explore many more applications for their barcode tool.

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Barcoding tool for stem cells: New technology that tracks the origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma

HOUSTON -

Stem cells, the body's so called "master cells," are used to treat heart disease and cancer and to grow tissue. But plants also have stem cells and they're some of the hottest ingredients in anti-aging products.

Andrea Vizcaino, 49, is trying out a new phyto-facial that comes in the form of a freeze dried serum in a vial. One of the main ingredients is stem cells from the argon tree in Morocco. She described the procedure.

"It feels warm, especially around my chin and it feels good," said Vizcaino. "Very hydrating; the skin feels moist."

Apple, echinacea and grape stem cells are already used in many skin care products, but some scientists think the argon tree cells will penetrate even deeper.

"The plant stem cells stimulate our stem cells to regenerate the skin," said skin care specialist Candy Bonura.

Allenby agrees the new products can be hydrating, but said the jury is still out about the real effectiveness of plant stem cells.

"Stem cells are kind of the buzz word right now, but we have to remember that stem cells are different in plants and different in people," Allenby said.

Bonura acknowledged these new products won't take years off your face, but many clients do see a difference.

"I see a brightening, I see a hydration, I also see the skin is more supple looking and more youthful with a glow to it," Bonura said.

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Plant stem cells may help skin look younger, healthier

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Newswise NIBIB-funded researchers report in a recent study that they were able to use human stem cells to grow brand new nerves in a rat model of spinal cord injury. The neurons grew tens of thousands of axons that extended the entire length of the spinal cord, out from the area of injury. The procedure employs induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs, which are stem cells that can be driven to become a specific cell type -- in this case nerve cells-- to repair an experimentally damaged spinal cord. The iPSCs were made using the skin cells of an 86 year old male, demonstrating that even in an individual of advanced age, the ability of the cells to be turned into a different cell type (pluripotency) remained.

Lead author Paul Lu, Ph.D., and senior author Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, and their team at the University of California - San Diego Center for Neural Repair, performed the experiment building on earlier work using human embryonic stem cells in a similar rat spinal cord injury model.1 The current work, described in the August 20 edition of Neuron, was performed to determine whether iPSCs could be used for spinal cord repair.2

The group is interested in using iPSCs to develop a potential repair for spinal cord injury (SCI) because with iPSCs, they can use cells taken from the person with the injury, rather than use donated cells such as human embryonic stem cells, which are foreign to the patient. This is an important advantage because it avoids any immune rejection that could occur with foreign repair cells.

In the current work, the iPSC-derived human neurons were embedded in a matrix that included a cocktail of growth factors, which was grafted onto the experimentally injured spinal cord in the rat model. After three months the researchers observed extensive axonal growth projecting from the grafted neurons, reaching long distances in both directions along the spinal cord, from the brain to the tail end of the spinal cord. The axons appeared to make connections with the existing rat neurons. Importantly, the axons extended out from the site of injury, an area with a complex combination of post-injury factors and processes going on, some of which are known to hinder neuronal growth and axon extension.

In the earlier study, Tuszynski and colleagues used human embryonic stem cells in a similar grafting experiment. In that study, axons grew out from the site of spinal cord injury and the treated animals had some restoration of ability to move affected limbs. The current study was undertaken to see if the same result could be achieved using the iPSC method to create the neurons used in the graft. While the use of iPSCs in the current study resulted in dramatic growth of the grafted neurons across the central nervous system of the rats, the treated animals did not show restoration of function in their forelimbs (hands). The researchers note that the human cells were still at a fairly early stage of development when function was tested, and that more time will likely be needed to be able to detect functional improvement.

Tuszynski went on to state, There are several important considerations that future studies will address. These include whether the extensive number of human axons make correct or incorrect connections; whether the new connections contain the appropriate chemical neurotransmitters to form functional connections; whether connections, once formed, are permanent or transient; and exactly how long it takes human cells to become mature. These considerations will determine how viable a candidate these cells might be for use in humans.

Lu, Tuszynski and their colleagues hope to identify the most promising neural stem cell type for repairing spinal cord injuries. Tuszynski emphasizes their commitment to a careful, methodical approach: Ultimately, we can only translate our animal studies into reliable human treatments by testing different neural stem cell types, carefully analyzing the results, and improving the procedure. We are encouraged, but we continue to work hard to rationally to identify the optimal cell type and procedural methods that can be safely and effectively used for human clinical trials.

1. Long-distance growth and connectivity of neural stem cells after severe spinal cord injury. Lu P, Wang Y, Graham L, McHale K, Gao M, Wu D, Brock J, Blesch A, Rosenzweig ES, Havton LA, Zheng B, Conner JM, Marsala M, Tuszynski MH. Cell. 2012 Sep 14;150(6):1264-73

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Grafted Stem Cells Display Vigorous Growth in Spinal Cord Injury Model

While most are familiar with the potential for 3D printers to pump out plastic odds and ends for around the home, the technology also has far-reaching applications in the medical field. Research is already underway to develop 3D bioprinters able to create things as complex as human organs, and now engineering students in Canada have created a 3D printer that produces skin grafts for burn victims.

Called PrintAlive, the new machine was developed by University of Toronto engineering students Arianna McAllister and Lian Leng, who worked in collaboration with Professor Axel Guenther, Boyang Zhang and Dr. Marc Jeschke, the head of Sunnybrook Hospital's Ross Tilley Burn Centre.

While the traditional treatment for serious burns involves removing healthy skin from another part of the body so it can be grafted onto the affected area, the PrintAlive machine could put an end to such painful harvesting by printing large, continuous layers of tissue including hair follicles, sweat glands and other human skin complexities onto a hydrogel. Importantly, the device uses the patient's own cells, thereby eliminating the problem of the tissue being rejected by their immune system.

Because growing a culture of a patient's skin cells ready for grafting can typically take more than two weeks, the machine prints the patient's cells out in patterns of spots or stripes rather than a continuous sheet, to make them go further. The result is a cell-populated wound dressing that reproduces key features of human skin and can be precisely controlled in terms of thickness, structure and composition.

Having been under development since 2008, the team recently completed a second-generation, pre-commercial prototype that they say is smaller than an average microwave. This makes it portable enough to easily transport, which gives it the potential to one day revolutionize burn care in rural and developing areas around the world.

"Ninety per cent of burns occur in low and middle income countries, with greater mortality and morbidity due to poorly-equipped health care systems and inadequate access to burn care facilities," says Jeschke. "Regenerating skin using a patients own stem cells can significantly decrease the risk of death in developing countries."

So far, the 3D-printed skin grafts have been tested on mice, with the team planning to move onto pigs before clinical trials on humans in the next few years. They were recently named the Canadian winners in the 2014 James Dyson Awards, giving them US$3,500 to continue development and putting them in the running for the $60,000 main prize.

The PrintAlive bioprinter is detailed in the video below.

Sources: University of Toronto, James Dyson Award

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PrintAlive 3D bioprinter creates on-demand skin grafts for burn victims

TARPON SPRINGS --

A veterinarian in Tarpon Springs is doing research that could alleviate a problem thousands of dogs in Florida face.

Dr. Michael Amsberry is embarking on cutting edge research that could change the lives of those dogs and their owners.

Nube and Sage are part of a pilot study at Amsberrys Tarpon Springs pet care center.

Hes injecting dogs with stem cells to help with their Dermatitis, a condition that affects dogs in Florida each year.

Often times it starts out with skin thats irritated and red and then we often well suffer from secondary bacterial and yeast infections, said Dr. Michael Amsberry, Saint Francis Pet Care Center.

The treatment is inside a little jar that contains millions of stem cells that all come from one dogs umbilical cord in California. The treatment takes about 10 minutes, and the cells are in Amsberrys patients.

It is treating the body with the body not using chemicals or drugs.

There are drugs to treat dermatitis, and some of them work well. Amsberry and others like him said theyre looking for a cleaner, less expensive way.

The process to see if stem cell therapy actually works has only just begun.

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Tarpon vet using stem cells to treat doggie dermatitis

Company plans for the future of stem cell use

by Samantha Schmieder

Staff Writer

Next Healthcare Inc. of Germantown recently launched a partnership with Arizona Cardinals wide reciever Larry Fitzgerald to promote its newest venture, CelBank Pro to other professional athletes.

Next Healthcares CelBank is the collection of cell samples and storage of their blood, skin or stem cells to be used in the future. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that are able to renew themselves through cell division and can be scientifically manipulated to become another type of cell with a more specialized function. They offer hope to provide new ways to fight disease or injuries, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Essentially we are in the business of banking cells for people, Vin Singh, the founder and CEO of Next Healthcare, said.

While CelBank is geared toward anyone interested in using their own cells later in their life, CelBank Pro is geared toward sports players who are very likely to get injured or just worn down during their career.

Skin cells and stem cells are stored at a healthy time at someones life for later use in regenerative medicine, Singh said.

In 2006 and 2007, Singh, who lives in Boyds, heard about a method in Japan that was able to turn adult skin cells into stem cells. Singh decided to build Next Healthcare around these induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells.

For me that was the real spark. I heard about that and thought, Wow, this is an amazing, revolutionary breakthrough, Singh said. Thats where the idea came from, what can we do with that technology. There has to be something that I can do for consumers to give them an advantage.

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