The great promise of stem cells may finally be getting close for multiple sclerosis patients.

Stem cells, which have the power to transform into other types of cells, have been much anticipated for more than a decade as a way to treat or even cure diseases like MS, Parkinson's, blindness and spinal cord injuries. But it's taken time to turn that promise into a workable reality.

Two new studies, both published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, suggest that researchers are getting close.

"We haven't landed on the moon yet, but we've tested the rockets," said Jeanne Loring, author of one of the studies and a professor and director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

Her study found that a certain type of stem cell, injected once into the spinal cords of mice with an MS-like condition, could dramatically improve the animals for at least six months.

The mice's immune systems almost immediately rejected and destroyed the cells, known as human embryonic stem cell-derived neural precursor cells. But the cells seemed to trigger a long-lasting benefit, dampening inflammation to slow the disease's progression, and repairing the damaged sheathing around nerve cells that is the hallmark of MS, according to Thomas Lane, a neural immunologist at the University of Utah who helped lead the research.

The other study, led by researchers from the University of Connecticut Health Center, ImStem Biotechnology Inc. of Farmington, Conn., and Advanced Cell Technology, a Massachusetts-based biotech, showed that mice with an MS-like disease could be restored to near normal by injecting them with a different type of stem cell. When injected, these cells ?? mesenchymal stem cells derived from human embryonic stem cells ?? were able to home in on damaged cells in the nervous system, even crossing the blood-brain barrier, said one of the authors, Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell.

They not only reduced the symptoms of the disease, but prevented more damage to nerve cells, he said.

The two studies together "speak to the changing role of stem cells and their potential as treatment strategies for MS," said Tim Coetzee with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, an advocacy group. The idea of using stem cells in MS has been around for a while, but these two studies overcome some of the challenges of finding a therapy that can be consistent and effective for many people.

"They set the stage quite impressively for potential work in humans," he said, with clinical trials likely within the next few years.

See more here:
New stem cells may help in battling multiple sclerosis

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise June 3, 2014, New Haven, CT Thomas Jessell, PhD, the Claire Tow Professor of Motor Neuron Disorders in the Departments of Neuroscience and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, is the recipient of the 2014 Neuroscience Prize of The Gruber Foundation. Jessell is being honored with this prestigious international award for his seminal work on the development and wiring of spinal cord neurons involved in the control of movement. He is also co-director of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, co-director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, all at Columbia.

The award will be presented to Jessell, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16 at the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Tom Jessell is one of the worlds leaders in the field of developmental neuroscience, says Ben Barres, a member of the Neuroscience Selection Advisory Board. His research has completely changed our understanding of the mechanisms of neural circuit assembly and function, which, in turn, has helped create a blueprint for the development of potential treatments for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

When Jessell began his research more than three decades ago, very little was known about the movement-controlling neural circuitry of the spinal cord, one of the most evolutionarily conserved regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Through a groundbreaking series of studies, Jessell revealed how nave neural cells develop into hundreds of distinct subtypes of motor neurons to form that remarkable circuitry. He was the first scientist to show, for example, that a specific signaling protein known as Sonic hedgehog (Shh) determines the fate (subtype identify and role in movement) of many of these cells.

Jessell has also described the precise way in which the distinct subtypes of spinal neurons are connected with each other and how they control the patterned activity of their muscle targets. In addition, he has led the way in demonstrating that Shh and other signaling pathways can be manipulated to influence the process by which stem cells mature into motor neurons. As a result, scientists now have a deeper understanding of how stem cells might be used to treat degenerative spinal cord diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Because of Jessells research, the spinal cord is now considered a model system for studying neural development and is widely used by scientists to better understand the neural circuitry of other, more complex areas of the CNS.

His more recent studies have focused on the mechanisms that wire circuits for limb movement, with the premise that genetic manipulation of individual neuronal classes can begin to uncover principles of circuit function as well as organization. Through the application of molecular information about neuronal identity to monitor, manipulate, and model the activity of specific classes of neurons, his work has also provided systems- and circuit-level insights into the neural control of limb movement.

Jessells discoveries have had a profound effect on all areas of neuroscience, which is why its so fitting that he is being acknowledged and honored with this award, says Carol Barnes, chair of the Selection Advisory Board to the Neuroscience Prize.

Follow this link:
Neurobiologist Thomas Jessell to Receive $500,000 Gruber Neuroscience Prize for Groundbreaking Work on the Neural ...

Thomas Jessell, PhD, the Claire Tow Professor of Motor Neuron Disorders in the Departments of Neuroscience and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, is the recipient of the 2014 Neuroscience Prize of The Gruber Foundation. Jessell is being honored with this prestigious international award for his seminal work on the development and wiring of spinal cord neurons involved in the control of movement. He is also co-director of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, co-director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, all at Columbia.

The award will be presented to Jessell, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16 at the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Tom Jessell is one of the worlds leaders in the field of developmental neuroscience, says Ben Barres, a member of the Neuroscience Selection Advisory Board. His research has completely changed our understanding of the mechanisms of neural circuit assembly and function, which, in turn, has helped create a blueprint for the development of potential treatments for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.

When Jessell began his research more than three decades ago, very little was known about the movement-controlling neural circuitry of the spinal cord, one of the most evolutionarily conserved regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Through a groundbreaking series of studies, Jessell revealed how nave neural cells develop into hundreds of distinct subtypes of motor neurons to form that remarkable circuitry. He was the first scientist to show, for example, that a specific signaling protein known as Sonic hedgehog (Shh) determines the fate (subtype identify and role in movement) of many of these cells.

Jessell has also described the precise way in which the distinct subtypes of spinal neurons are connected with each other and how they control the patterned activity of their muscle targets. In addition, he has led the way in demonstrating that Shh and other signaling pathways can be manipulated to influence the process by which stem cells mature into motor neurons. As a result, scientists now have a deeper understanding of how stem cells might be used to treat degenerative spinal cord diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Because of Jessells research, the spinal cord is now considered a model system for studying neural development and is widely used by scientists to better understand the neural circuitry of other, more complex areas of the CNS.

His more recent studies have focused on the mechanisms that wire circuits for limb movement, with the premise that genetic manipulation of individual neuronal classes can begin to uncover principles of circuit function as well as organization. Through the application of molecular information about neuronal identity to monitor, manipulate, and model the activity of specific classes of neurons, his work has also provided systems- and circuit-level insights into the neural control of limb movement.

Jessells discoveries have had a profound effect on all areas of neuroscience, which is why its so fitting that he is being acknowledged and honored with this award, says Carol Barnes, chair of the Selection Advisory Board to the Neuroscience Prize.

Read the original here:
Prof. Thomas Jessell Wins Gruber Prize for Spinal Cord Neuron Research

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

3-Jun-2014

Contact: A. Sarah Hreha info@gruber.yale.edu 203-432-6231 Yale University

Thomas Jessell, PhD, the Claire Tow Professor of Motor Neuron Disorders in the Departments of Neuroscience and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at Columbia University, is the recipient of the 2014 Neuroscience Prize of The Gruber Foundation. Jessell is being honored with this prestigious international award for his seminal work on the development and wiring of spinal cord neurons involved in the control of movement. He is also co-director of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, co-director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, all at Columbia.

The award will be presented to Jessell, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16 at the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

"Tom Jessell is one of the world's leaders in the field of developmental neuroscience," says Ben Barres, a member of the Neuroscience Selection Advisory Board. "His research has completely changed our understanding of the mechanisms of neural circuit assembly and function, which, in turn, has helped create a blueprint for the development of potential treatments for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases."

When Jessell began his research more than three decades ago, very little was known about the movement-controlling neural circuitry of the spinal cord, one of the most evolutionarily conserved regions of the central nervous system (CNS). Through a groundbreaking series of studies, Jessell revealed how nave neural cells develop into hundreds of distinct subtypes of motor neurons to form that remarkable circuitry. He was the first scientist to show, for example, that a specific signaling protein known as Sonic hedgehog (Shh) determines the "fate" (subtype identify and role in movement) of many of these cells.

Jessell has also described the precise way in which the distinct subtypes of spinal neurons are connected with each other and how they control the patterned activity of their muscle targets. In addition, he has led the way in demonstrating that Shh and other signaling pathways can be manipulated to influence the process by which stem cells mature into motor neurons. As a result, scientists now have a deeper understanding of how stem cells might be used to treat degenerative spinal cord diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Because of Jessell's research, the spinal cord is now considered a model system for studying neural development and is widely used by scientists to better understand the neural circuitry of other, more complex areas of the CNS.

His more recent studies have focused on the mechanisms that wire circuits for limb movement, with the premise that genetic manipulation of individual neuronal classes can begin to uncover principles of circuit function as well as organization. Through the application of molecular information about neuronal identity to monitor, manipulate, and model the activity of specific classes of neurons, his work has also provided systems- and circuit-level insights into the neural control of limb movement.

Go here to read the rest:
Neurobiologist Thomas Jessell to receive $500,000 Gruber Neuroscience Prize

Disabled mice regained the ability to walk less than two weeks after receiving human neural stem cells (Photo: Shutterstock)

When scientists at the University of Utah injected human stem cells into mice disabled by a condition similar to multiple sclerosis, they expected the cells to be rejected by the animals' bodies. It turned out that the cells were indeed rejected, but not before they got the mice walking again. The unexpected finding could have major implications for human MS sufferers.

In multiple sclerosis, the body's immune system attacks the myelin sheath that covers and insulates nerve fibers in the spinal cord, brain and optic nerve. With that insulation gone, the nerves short-circuit and malfunction, often compromising the patient's ability to walk among other things.

In the U Utah study (which was begun at the University of California, Irvine) human neural stem cells were grown in a Petri dish, then injected into the afflicted mice. The cells were grown under less crowded conditions than is usual, which reportedly resulted in their being "extremely potent."

As early as one week after being injected, there was no sign of the cells in the animals' bodies evidence that they had been rejected, as was assumed would happen. Within 10 to 14 days, however, the mice were walking and running. After six months, they still hadn't regressed.

This was reportedly due to the fact that the stem cells emitted chemical signals that instructed the rodents' own cells to repair the damaged myelin. Stem cells grown under the same conditions have since been shown to produce similar results, in tests performed by different laboratories.

Additional mouse trials are now planned to assess the safety and durability of the treatment, with hopes for human clinical trials down the road. "We want to try to move as quickly and carefully as possible," said Dr. Tom Lane, who led the study along with Dr. Jeanne Loring from the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute. "I would love to see something that could promote repair and ease the burden that patients with MS have."

A paper on the research was recently published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

Source: University of Utah

Just enter your friends and your email address into the form below

See original here:
Human stem cell treatment gets mice with MS-like condition walking again

Littleton, MA (PRWEB) May 28, 2014

Provia Labs StoreATooth, a leader in dental stem cell preservation, today announced the appointment of Jill Rubin as a new territory sales manager covering all of Manhattan and Westchester County. Jill brings over 20 years of experience in the field of Oral and Reconstructive Dentistry and will be a strong advocate in educating the New York dental professional community about the benefits of stem cell banking. Jill will be responsible for providing education, training and staff support to dental practices who offer Store-ATooth to patients. She will also be very active in the community, educating families and other medical/healthcare professionals on stem cell preservation.

Jill joins Store-A-Tooth after over 20 years experience in clinical marketing and education and holds a degree in Medical Sociology and is a member of the Million Dollar Sales Club.

According to Howard Greenman, CEO of Store-A-Tooth, Jills expertise and knowledge of clinical and surgical advanced techniques in therapeutic and surgical dentistry will prove to be a valuable asset to the Manhattan/Westchester County community as she will be instrumental in helping many families make an informed decision to preserve their childrens dental stem cells for future use.

Stem cells are present in healthy teeth, and can easily be collected as a child loses baby teeth, or from teeth being pulled for orthodontia or wisdom teeth extractions. Dental stem cell banking gives families the opportunity to store their childs stem cells long after birth for potential use in future therapies for conditions such as type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries, stroke, heart attack and neurological disorders such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers.

###

About Provia Laboratories, LLC Provia Laboratories, LLC (http://www.provialabs.com) is a health services company specializing in high quality biobanking (the collection, transport, processing, and cryogenic storage of biological specimens). Its dental stem cell banking service, Store-A-ToothTM, gives parents the option to store stem cells today to protect their childrens health tomorrow. Store-A-Tooth preserves precious stem cells from baby and wisdom teeth that would otherwise be discarded, so parents can be prepared for advances in stem cell therapies that someday may help treat conditions such as type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injury, heart attack, stroke, and neurological disorders like Parkinsons and Alzheimers.

For more information about Store-A-Tooth dental stem cell banking, please call 1-877-867-5753 or visit us at http://www.store-a-tooth.com or Like Store-A-Tooth at http://www.facebook.com/storeatooth.

Visit http://www.facebook.com/storeatoothfindacure to learn more about their Stem Cells for a Cure initiative to support diabetes research.

Go here to read the rest:
Store-A-Tooth Dental Stem Cell Banking Announces Appointment of Experienced Representative in Manhattan/Westchester ...

Littleton, MA (PRWEB) May 27, 2014

Provia Labs Store-A-Tooth, a leader in dental stem cell preservation, announces Jerra DiPrisco as the new dedicated representative, growing the companys South Florida field office. Jerra brings over 10 years of experience in the dental field including Oral and General Dentistry. Her enthusiasm and knowledge of Stem Cell Science will be an asset in educating the South Florida community on the benefits of banking stem cells from teeth.

She will be responsible for providing resources and support to dentists who offer the Store-A-Tooth service to patients in their practices, as well as educating local families about the powerful choice they can make to bank their childrens stem cells when their teeth come out.

Dr. Jeffrey Eisner, DMD, of Eisner Oral Surgery in Miami said: I treat patients every day with conditions that could be solved with stem cells in the future. Patients should know about this cutting edge and promising technology which could safeguard their childrens future. According to Eisners Vice President of Operations, Sonny Diblasi who stored her sons dental stem cells a few years ago the practice routinely tells patients about Store-A-Tooth as part of their patient education prior to scheduled extractions.

Ms. DiPrisco joins Store-A-Tooth after many years as a Clinical and Marketing professional at various dental practices and is also a registered nurse.

Jerras experience and drive will prove to be a valuable asset to the South Florida community as she will aid many families in making an informed decision to preserve their childrens dental stem cells for future use. said Howard Greenman, CEO of Store-A-Tooth.

Stem cells are present in healthy teeth, and can easily be collected as a child loses baby teeth, or from teeth being pulled for orthodontia or wisdom teeth extractions. Dental stem cell banking gives families the opportunity to store their childs stem cells long after birth for potential use in future therapies for conditions such as type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injuries, stroke, heart attack and neurological disorders such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers. ### About Provia Laboratories, LLC Provia Laboratories, LLC (http://www.provialabs.com) is a health services company specializing in high quality biobanking (the collection, transport, processing, and cryogenic storage of biological specimens). Its dental stem cell banking service, Store-A-ToothTM, gives parents the option to store stem cells today to protect their childrens health tomorrow. Store-A-Tooth preserves precious stem cells from baby and wisdom teeth that would otherwise be discarded, so parents can be prepared for advances in stem cell therapies that someday may help treat conditions such as type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injury, heart attack, stroke, and neurological disorders like Parkinsons and Alzheimers.

For more information about Store-A-Tooth dental stem cell banking, please call 1-877-867-5753 or visit us at http://www.store-a-tooth.com or Like Store-A-Tooth at http://www.facebook.com/storeatooth. Visit http://www.facebook.com/storeatoothfindacure to learn more about their Stem Cells for a Cure initiative to support diabetes research.

See the article here:
Store-A-Tooth Dental Stem Cell Banking Announces Appointment of Experienced Representative in South Florida

SALT LAKE CITY Researchers at the University of Utah are working to help people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, and so far their work has promising results among mice.

Researchers are using stem cells to treat mice with a condition similar to MS, and some of the mice were able to walk just days after they were treated.

Dr. Peter Jensen, a professor at the University of Utah and the chairman of the Department of Pathology, spoke about the findings.

Remarkably, animals that were paralyzed, could walk, he said.

Dr. Tom Lane is another professor of pathology involved in the project, and he said the results werent what they expected.

Which was a complete surprise to us because we started the experiment with a completely different idea in mind, so this was really a happy accident, he said of the animals walking again.

Lane made the discovery after injecting human stem cells into the spinal cords of the mice. He said he was hoping to discover why the immune systems of mice often reject human stem cells, but what he found was that the stem cells were repairing the damaged nerves in the disabled mice.

In essence, youre regenerating the function of damaged nerves and gives hope for a potential therapy down the road to actually reverse the symptoms that were permanent or otherwise previously permanent in patients with MS, Jensen said.

The current procedure is invasive, as doctors must operate on the spinal cord in order to get results. But they hope further tests will lead to a less invasive method.

What we hope to do is to find out what these cells are secreting that actually change the environment within the diseased tissue, and if we can identify what factor or factors are being secreted, then we could potentially make this druggable so that it could be injected into people that have MS, or the long term goal would be to make it into a pill form so they could take it orally, Lane said.

Original post:
U of U researchers studying stem cells inadvertently cure mice of paralysis

Stem cell therapy can be defined as a part of a group of new techniques, or technologies that rely on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning ones. These new techniques are being applied experimentally to a wide range of human disorders, including many types of cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.

Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) is comprised of nationally-recognized patient organizations, universities, scientific societies, foundations, and individuals with life-threatening illnesses and disorders, advocating for the advancement of breakthrough research and technologies in regenerative medicine - including stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer - in order to cure disease and alleviate suffering.

Portraits of Hope Volunteer group of patients and their families and friends who believe that stem cell research has the potential to save the lives of those afflicted by many medical conditions, including spinal cord injury. Purpose is to show the faces and recount the stories of people who have such illnesses and present these "portraits" to federal and state legislators in request for government support.

Go here to see the original:
Stem Cells & Spinal Cord Injuries

Content by UTS

UTS researchers are experimenting with spinal cord tissue.

It all started at a symposium five years ago. Catherine Gorrie, an expert in spinal cord injury, was listening to a presentation about the differences between the developing brains of children and the mature ones of adults when she had an aah-haa moment.

I began to wonder if there is something in the spines of children that could be manipulated for repair, says Dr Gorrie, a neuroscientist at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). It made sense. Dr Gorrie already knew that the more adaptable, or plastic, spinal cords of infants responded more efficiently to injury than did those of adults.

If she could tease out the factors that encouraged generic cells, so-called stem cells, in the spines of newborns to become new nerve cells, neurones, Dr Gorrie reasoned that it should be possible to mimic the process and help repair spinal cord injuries in people of all ages. That would be incredibly important because, to date, there is no cure for spinal cord injury and no proven drug treatment.

The most effective treatments available involve the surgical stabilisation of the spinal column and extensive physical therapy to provide some functional improvement, Dr Gorrie says. There is nothing else.

Advertisement

In Australia, about 10,000 people live with spinal cord injury and 300-400 new cases emerge every year. Most injuries are a result of car accidents, sporting activities or severe falls.

Childhood spinal cord injury is frequently the result of tumours that compress the spine, crushing neurones which transmit signals to and from the brain.

As the notion of exploiting the biomechanical properties of infant spinal cords took shape in her mind, Dr Gorrie pulled together a team of UTS researchers: Dr Matt Padula, Dr Hui Chen and doctoral students Thomas Cawsey and Yilin Mao.

Go here to see the original:
Newborns a hope for spinal injuries

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) May 13, 2014

Neil Riordan, PhD will Present Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) in the Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases at the 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging, Regenerative and Aesthetic Medicine at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida as part of the Specialty Workshop: Stem Cells in Anti-Aging Medicine: An Update.

The primary focus of this workshop is to teach medical professionals how to successfully incorporate stem cell treatments into their practices. Expert faculty will cover stem cell theory and clinical trial research for all aspects of regenerative medicine as well as stem cell treatment marketing.

Dr. Riordan will discuss: Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells mechanisms of immune modulating activities; the importance of MSC placement for clinical effect; human clinical trials demonstrating efficacy; alternative routes of MSC delivery; dose and frequency; and clinical safety of MSC.

The conference will be held from May 15 17, 2014 at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida. For more information, please visit http://www.a4m.com/anti-aging-conference-orlando-2014-may.html.

About Neil Riordan PhD

Dr. Riordan is the founder and chairman of Medistem Panama, Inc., (MPI) a leading stem cell laboratory and research facility located in the Technology Park at the prestigious City of Knowledge in Panama City, Panama. Founded in 2007, MPI stands at the forefront of applied research on adult stem cells for several chronic diseases. MPI's stem cell laboratory is ISO 9001 certified and fully licensed by the Panamanian Ministry of Health. Dr. Riordan is the founder of Stem Cell Institute (SCI) in Panama City, Panama (est. 2007).

Under the umbrella of MPI subsidiary Translational Biosciences, MPI and SCI are currently conducting five IRB-approved clinical trials in Panama for multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis using human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells, mesenchymal trophic factors and stromal vascular fraction. Additional trials for spinal cord injury, autism and cerebral palsy are slated to commence in 2014 upon IRB approval.

Dr. Riordan is an accomplished inventor listed on more than 25 patent families, including 11 issued patents. He is credited with a number of novel discoveries in the field of cancer research since the mid-1990s when he collaborated with his father Dr. Hugh Riordan on the effects of high-dose intravenous vitamin C on cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. This pioneering study on vitamin Cs preferential toxicity to cancer cells notably led to a 1997 patent grant for the treatment of cancer with vitamin C. In 2010, Dr. Riordan received another patent for a new cellular cancer vaccine.

Dr. Riordan is also the founder of Aidan Products, which provides health care professionals with quality nutraceuticals including Stem-Kine, the only nutritional supplement that is clinically proven to increase the amount of circulating stem cells in the body for an extended period of time. Stem-Kine is currently sold in 35 countries.

The rest is here:
Neil Riordan, PhD Presents at American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine's 22nd Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging ...

Jeanne Loring, stem cell researcher and astronomy buff, at home with one of her telescopes.

Few medical advances equal stem cells in their promise to treat conditions that currently have no cure. From Parkinsons disease to AIDS to spinal-cord injuries, scientists are getting ever closer to realizing that promise for hundreds of millions of patients.

Yet when Jeanne Loring began her research pursuits in the late 1970s, few people knew what stem cells were. These microscopic wonders, with their ability to turn into many different types of cells in the body, fascinated her. She has devoted her career to studying them and encouraging others to do likewise.

Loring, in short, is a stem-cell evangelist.

She commands respect worldwide not only because she was one of the first people to become proficient in producing human embryonic stem cells in the lab, but also because her collaborative spirit has been foundational in expanding the stem-cell field to new generations of scientists.

At the request of the National Institutes of Health, she co-wrote a manual on the subject to train other researchers. She also provided knowledge that was crucial in courtroom battles against a patent that had put a stranglehold on stem cell studies nationwide. And she helped establish a trailblazing training program for stem-cell scientists in Southern California.

Today, as a leading figure at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Loring is widely considered both a stem-cell pioneer and a key voice on the latest issues in the field.

Shes a board member of the institute that funds and coordinates much of the stem-cell research in California. She revels in teamwork with experts at other scholarly institutions, in industry and from patient-advocacy groups. And shes internationally renowned for her findings on how stem cells might treat neurological diseases.

But Loring is happy to be more of a behind-the-scenes player.

Sometimes you hear about scientists who are pie-in-the-sky crazy people, and youve got to lasso them back down to Earth. Thats not a problem with Jeanne. Shes got her feet planted firmly on the Earth, said Daniel Ravicher, an attorney with the Santa Monica-based group Consumer Watchdog and founder of the Public Patent Foundation.

Read more:
Spreading the stem cell gospel

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

2-May-2014

Contact: Becky Attwood r.attwood@soton.ac.uk 44-023-805-92116 University of Southampton

Gels made from clay could provide an environment that would stimulate stem cells to regenerate damaged tissues such as bone, skin, heart, spinal cord, liver, pancreas and cornea.

Researchers at the University of Southampton believe that clay particles' ability to bind to biological molecules could be used to stimulate the stem cell regeneration process.

Dr Jon Dawson, who is leading the research, explains: "Clay particles encourage molecules to bind to them. This interaction is now routinely harnessed in the design of tablets to carefully control the release and action of a drug. We will use this mechanism to see if we can encourage stem cells to grow new tissue."

The project, funded by a 1.4m grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), aims to create tailormade micro-environments to foster stem cell regeneration. The team will use clay gels both to explore the biological signals necessary to successfully control stem cell behaviour for regeneration and also to provide stem cells with signals to stimulate regeneration in the body.

The approach will first be applied to regenerate bone lost to cancer or hip replacement failure. If successful the same technology may be applied to harness stem cells for the treatment of a whole host of different scenarios, from burn victims to those suffering with diabetes or Parkinson's.

Dr Dawson will be working with Professor Richard Oreffo of the Bone and Joint Research Group at the University of Southampton to explore the application of this technology in orthopaedics. "Fractures and bone loss due to trauma or disease are a significant clinical and socioeconomic problem," Dr Dawson comments. "Clay particles could offer an improved way of stimulating stem cells at the point of injury, which will be better for the patient's recovery."

Dr Dawson believes that the rich electrostatic properties of nano scale clay particles, which are one millionth of a millimetre, could overcome two challenges in the development of stem-cell based regenerative therapies.

The rest is here:
From the dust -- mixing stem cells with clay to regenerate human tissue

Spinal cord injury refers the injury to the soft tissues of the spinal cord which is protected by the vertebrae when they are broken or dislocated. The injuries can occur at any level of the spinal cord. The injured segment of the cord and the severity of the damage will determine which body functions are compromised or lost. There has been no cure for it currently. But the symptoms can be treated and some complications can be controlled.

Scientists and doctors turn to stem cells. Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that can differentiate into specialized cell types. Stem cells can repair the damaged cells by the spinal cord injury and also produce some cells to replace the dead cells. A number of published papers and case studies support the feasibility of treating spinal cord injury with allogeneic human stem cells derived from umbilical cord and autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells.

In severe injury, axons are cut or damaged beyond repair, and neural cell membranes are broken. Blood vessels may rupture and cause bleeding into the spinal cords central tissue, or bleeding can occur outside the cord, causing pressure by the blood clot on the cord.

Within minutes, the spinal cord near the site of severe injury swells within the spinal canal. This may increase pressure on the cord and cut blood flow to spinal cord tissue. Blood pressure can drop, sometimes dramatically, as the body loses its ability to self-regulate. All these changes can cause a condition known as spinal shock that can last from several hours to several days.

Some people experienced spinal cord injury may have hemiplegia, loss of many feelings such as touch and hot, and dysfunctions of movement.

After stem cells are transplanted into the damaged segment of the spinal cord, the cells would repair the damaged cells and help them to recover. Also some cells will be produced by stem cells to help improve the damaged functions by spinal cord injury.

See original here:
Spinal Cord Injury Stem Cells | StemcellsHealthCare.com

The future of the University of Minnesotas regenerative medicine research program is looking brighter than ever.

State and federal leaders in the past have denied funding for the Universitys Office of Regenerative Medicine, which includes the Stem Cell Institute, because some had ethical disagreements with stem cell research.

But this legislative session, with a DFL majority and an overall shift in public opinion, researchers and legislators are confident funding will come through this year.

The current House bill sets aside $450,000 for the Office of Regenerative Medicine, while the Senate version outlines a $5 million increase each year from 2015-17. The bills texts dont specify how funds should be used and how they would be divided between the University and the Mayo Clinic, its research partner.

The Senates bill mandates that anadvisory task force comprised of members from the University, the Mayo Clinic and private industry, as well as two other regenerative medicine experts, recommend how to spend the state funding.

Dayton didnt include funds for the research in his original budget proposal this year, but Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, said there seems to be a general consensus among legislators to work together and decide on a funding amount.

I have not heard many naysayers, she said.

Changing perceptions

The state plays a major role in moving the institutes research forward.

These days, legislators are more open to it than they were in the past, said Dr. Andre Terzic, director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine.

Read this article:
Legislature could boost U stem cell research

Stem Cells and Spinal Cord Injury:

Spinal cord injuries are described at various levels of "incomplete", which can vary from having no effect on the patient to a "complete" injury which means a total loss of function.

Treatment of spinal cord injuries starts with restraining the spine and controlling inflammation to prevent further damage. The actual treatment can vary widely depending on the location and extent of the injury. In many cases, spinal cord injuries require substantial physical therapy and rehabilitation, especially if the patient's injury interferes with activities of daily life.

After a spinal cord injury, many of the nerve fibers at the injury site lose their insulating layer of myelin. As a result, the fibers are no longer able to properly transmit signals between the brain and the spinal cord contributing to paralysis. Unfortunately, the spinal cord lacks the ability to restore these lost myelin-forming cells after trauma.

Tissue engineering in the spinal cord involves the implantation of scaffold material to guide cell placement and foster cell development. These scaffolds can also be used to deliver stem cells at the site of injury and maximize their regenerative potential.

When the spinal cord is damagedeither accidentally (car accidents, falls) or as the result of a disease (multiple sclerosis, infections, tumors, severe forms of spinal bifida, etc.)it can result in the loss of sensation and mobility and even in complete paralysis.

Spinal Cord Injury and Stem Cell Treatment

Go here to read the rest:
Stem Cell Treatment Spinal Cord Injury - ASCI - Asian Stem ...

Overview Spinal Cord Injury - Stem Cell Treatment in India In 1995, actor Christopher Reeve fell off a horse and severely damaged his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. From then until his death in 2004, the silver screen Superman became the most famous face of spinal cord injury.

Most spinal cord injury causes permanent disability or loss of movement (paralysis) and sensation below the site of the injury. Paralysis that involves the majority of the body, including the arms and legs, is called quadriplegia or tetraplegia. When a spinal cord injury affects only the lower body, the condition is called paraplegia.

Christopher Reeve's celebrity and advocacy raised national interest, awareness and research funding for spinal cord injury. Many scientists are optimistic that important advances will occur to make the repair of injured spinal cords a reachable goal. In the meantime, treatments and rehabilitation allow many people with spinal cord injury to lead productive, independent lives.

A complete spinal cord injury is defined by total or near-total loss of motor function and sensation below the area of injury. However, even in a complete injury, the spinal cord is almost never completely cut in half. Doctors use the term "complete" to describe a large amount of damage to the spinal cord. It's a key distinction because many people with partial spinal cord injuries are able to experience significant recovery, while those with complete injuries are not.

Together, your spinal cord and your brain make up your central nervous system, which controls most of the functions of your body. Your spinal cord runs approximately 15 to 17 inches from the base of your brain to your waist and is composed of long nerve fibers that carry messages to and from your brain.

These nerve fibers feed into nerve roots that emerge between your vertebrae - the 33 bones that surround your spinal cord and make up your backbone. There, the nerve fibers organize into peripheral nerves that extend to the rest of your body.

Injury may be traumatic or nontraumatic

A traumatic spinal cord injury may stem from a sudden, traumatic blow to your spine that fractures, dislocates, crushes or compresses one or more of your vertebrae. It may also result from a gunshot or knife wound that penetrates and cuts your spinal cord. Additional damage usually occurs over days or weeks because of bleeding, swelling, inflammation and fluid accumulation in and around your spinal cord.

Nontraumatic spinal cord injury may be caused by arthritis, cancer, blood vessel problems or bleeding, inflammation or infections, or disk degeneration of the spine.

Damage to nerve fibers

Read the original:
Spinal Cord Injury,Stem Cell Therapy Spinal Cord Treatment ...

Spinal Cord Injury

Damage to the spinal cord usually results in impairments or loss of muscle movement, muscle control, sensation and body system control.

Presently, post-accident care for spinal cord injury patients focuses on extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other rehabilitation therapies; teaching the injured person how to cope with their disability.

A number of published papers and case studies support the feasibility of treating spinal cord injury with allogeneic human umbilical cord tissue-derived stem cells and autologous bone marrow-derived stem cells.

Feasibility of combination allogeneic stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury: a case report co-authored by Stem Cell Institute Founder Dr. Neil Riordan references many of them. Published improvements include improved ASIA scores, improved bladder and/or bowel function, recovered sexual function, and increased muscle control.

The adult stem cells used to treat spinal cord injuries at the Stem Cell Institute come from two sources: the patients own bone marrow (autologous mesenchymal and CD34+) and human umbilical cord tissue(allogeneic mesenchymal).

A licensed anesthesiologist harvests bone marrow from both hips under light general anesthesia in a hospital operating room. This procedure takes about 1 1/2 2 hours. Before they are administered to the patient, these bone marrow-derived stem cells must pass testing for quality, bacterial contamination (aerobic and anaerobic) and endotoxin.

All donated umbilical cords are screened for viruses and bacteria to International Blood Bank Standards.

Our stem cell treatment protocol for spinal cord injury calls for a total of 16 injections over the course of 4 weeks.

Originally posted here:
Stem Cell Therapy || Spinal Cord Injury Treatment || Stem ...

By Estel Grace Masangkay

Researchers from the University of Michigan have discovered how mechanical forces in the environment influence stem cell growth and differentiation. The scientists arrived at the findings using a key ingredient in Silly Putty for their experiments.

Using an ultrafine carpet made out of polydimethylsiloxane, a key ingredient in Silly Putty, the scientists were able to coax stem cells to morph into working spinal cord cells. The Silly Putty component was made into a specially engineered growth system with microscopic posts. By varying the post height, the researchers were able to adjust the stiffness of the surface where the cells are made to grow.

Jianping Fu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan, said, This is extremely exciting. To realize promising clinical applications of human embryonic stem cells, we need a better culture system that can reliably produce more target cells that function well. Our approach is a big step in that direction, by using synthetic microengineered surfaces to control mechanical environmental signals.

Stem cells that were grown on tall, softer micropost carpets morphed into nerve cells faster and more often than those grown on stiffer surfaces. The colonies of spinal cord cells that grew on softer micropost carpets were also 10 times larger and four times more pure than those grown on rigid carpets or traditional plates.

The study is the first to directly link physical signals to human embryonic stem cells differentiation, in contrast to chemical signals. Professor Jianping Fu says the findings may lead to a more efficient way of guiding stem cells to differentiate and provide specialized therapies for diseases such Alzheimers, Huntingtons, Lou Gerhrigs disease, and others. Our work suggests that physical signals in the cell environment are important in neural patterning, a process where nerve cells become specialized for their specific functions based on their physical location in the body, said Professor Jianping.

The study from the University of Michigan was published online at Nature Materials this week.

See original here:
U-M Researchers Use Silly Putty Ingredient To Study Stem Cells

Could a component of Silly Putty, the childhood classic from the 1950s that your grandkids probably play with today, help embryonic stem cells turn into working spinal cord cells? Yes, say researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann who published their study online at Nature Materials on April 13th 2014.

A release from the university reports that the team grew the cells on a soft, utrafine carpet made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty. The ingredient, called polydimethylsiloxane, is a type of silicone. This research is the first to directly link physical, as opposed to chemical, signals to human embryonic stem cell differentiation. Differentiation is the process of the source cells morphing into the body's more than 200 cell types that become muscle, bone, nerves and organs, for example.

Jianping Fu, U-M assistant professor of mechanical engineering, says the findings raise the possibility of a more efficient way to guide stem cells to differentiate and potentially provide therapies for diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), Huntington's or Alzheimer's.

In the specially engineered growth systemthe carpets Fu and his colleagues designedmicroscopic posts of the Silly Putty component serve as the threads. By varying the post height, the researchers can adjust the stiffness of the surface on which they grow cells. Shorter posts are more rigid ike an industrial carpet. Taller ones are softer and plusher.

The team found that stem cells they grew on the tall, softer micropost carpets turned into nerve cells much faster and more often than those they grew on the stiffer surfaces. After 23 days, the colonies of spinal cord cellsmotor neurons that control how muscles movethat grew on the softer micropost carpets were four times more pure and 10 times larger than those growing on either traditional plates or rigid carpets. The release quotes Fu as saying, "This is extremely exciting. To realize promising clinical applications of human embryonic stem cells, we need a better culture system that can reliably produce more target cells that function well. Our approach is a big step in that direction, by using synthetic microengineered surfaces to control mechanical environmental signals." Fu is collaborating with doctors at the U-M Medical School. Eva Feldman, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, studies amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. It paralyzes patients as it kills motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Researchers like Feldman believe stem cell therapiesboth from embryonic and adult varietiesmight help patients grow new nerve cells. She's using Fu's technique to try to make fresh neurons from patients' own cells. At this point, they're examining how and whether the process could work, and they hope to try it in humans in the future.

"Professor Fu and colleagues have developed an innovative method of generating high-yield and high-purity motor neurons from stem cells," Feldman said. "For ALS, discoveries like this provide tools for modeling disease in the laboratory and for developing cell-replacement therapies." Fu's findings go deeper than cell counts. The researchers verified that the new motor neurons they obtained on soft micropost carpets showed electrical behaviors comparable to those of neurons in the human body. They also identified a signaling pathway involved in regulating the mechanically sensitive behaviors. A signaling pathway is a route through which proteins ferry chemical messages from the cell's borders to deep inside it. The pathway they zeroed in on, called Hippo/YAP, is also involved in controlling organ size and both causing and preventing tumor growth. Fu says his findings could also provide insights into how embryonic stem cells differentiate in the body. "Our work suggests that physical signals in the cell environment are important in neural patterning, a process where nerve cells become specialized for their specific functions based on their physical location in the body," he said.

More:
Silly Putty the Key to Stem Cell Therapies?