PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Jul-2014

Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research

Dr. Ning Yuan, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, China and his colleagues, developed a novel neural stem cell scaffold that has two layers: the inner loose layer and the outer compact layer. The loose layer was infiltrated with a large amount of neural stem cells before it was transplanted in vivo. Thus a plenty of neural stem cells can be provided at the target spinal cord site. The loose layer was adhered to the injured side and the compact layer was placed against the lateral side. The compact layer has very small holes, so it can prevent ingrowth of adjacent scar tissue. It can also prevent the loss of inner neural stem cells and the neural growth factors secreted by the differentiated neural stem cells. Thus a good microenvironment forms to help spinal cord injury repair. Yuan Ning and colleagues found that transplantation of neural stem cells in a double-layer collagen membrane with unequal pore sizes is an effective therapeutic strategy to repair an injured spinal cord in rats. Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 10, 2014).

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Article: " Neural stem cell transplantation in a double-layer collagen membrane with unequal pore sizes for spinal cord injury repair," by Ning Yuan1, Wei Tian1, Lei Sun2, Runying Yuan2, Jianfeng Tao2, Dafu Chen2 (1 Department of Spine, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China; 2 Beijing Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Beijing, China) Yuan N, Tian W, Sun L, Yuan RY, Tao JF, Chen DF. Neural stem cell transplantation in a double-layer collagen membrane with unequal pore sizes for spinal cord injury repair. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(10):1014-1019.

Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research http://www.nrronline.org/

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Using a novel scaffold to repair spinal cord injury

Paul Laikind, CEO of ViaCyte, which is making a treatment for diabetes from human embryonic stem cells.

In an historic announcement for the stem cell field, San Diego's ViaCyte said Thursday it has applied to start human clinical trials of its treatment for Type 1 diabetes.

ViaCyte grows replacement insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells. The cells are packaged while maturing in a semi-permeable device and implanted. In animal trials, the cells produce insulin, relieving diabetes.

Now the company proposes to take what could be a cure for diabetes into people. ViaCyte has asked to begin a Phase 1/2 clinical trial, which would assess both safety and efficacy of its product. ViaCyte is targeting Type 1 diabetes, in which the insulin-producing cells are destroyed. Patients require multiple injections of insulin daily to survive.

The announcement is good news for California's stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The agency has awarded nearly $39 million to ViaCyte to ready its device for human use.

Paul Laikind, ViaCytes chief executive, said if all goes smoothly, the first patients will be treated in August or September. Based on animal studies, it will take a few months to see results, and just a few patients will be treated at first.

CIRM itself, funded with $3 billion in state bond funds, has come under pressure to show results from its work. The money is projected to run out in 2017. Some supporters of the agency have proposed launching a new initiative to continue funding.

"This is a great example of how the investment that the voters made in creating CIRM is beginning to move from labs to patients," said Joe Panetta, a member of CIRM's governing board and chief executive of Biocom, the San Diego-based life science trade group. ""There are at least a dozen other clinical trials in progress. This is good for CIRM and San Diego."

Robert N. Klein, former chairman of CIRM's board, who has a 24-year-old son with Type 1 diabetes, praised the announcement.

"This is an exciting day for the father of any son or daughter who has Type 1 diabetes," Klein said. "This is a very critical trial that we're optimistic about. ViaCyte has a team that is extremely well-qualified to deal with complications and setbacks that often come up. They have extreme quality integration of their clinical and scientific groups, so they can respond well to modifications they may have to make along the way to accomplish all of their goals."

See more here:
ViaCyte asks to start diabetes stem cell therapy

Experts say a $15 million trial to explore stem cells from cord blood for treating autism is premature.

Cold comfort: Researchers are trying to find out whether stem cells taken from frozen cord blood can improve autism symptoms. Credit:Tbsdy lives via Wikimedia Commons

A team at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is set to launch a $40 million clinical trial to explore stem cells from umbilical cord blood as a treatment for autism. But experts caution that the trial is premature.

A $15 million grant from the Marcus Foundation, a philanthropic funding organization based in Atlanta, will bankroll the first two years of the five-year trial, which also plans to test stem cell therapy for stroke and cerebral palsy. The autism arm of the trial aims to enroll 390 children and adults.

Joanne Kurtzberg, the trials lead investigator, has extensive experience studying the effectiveness of cord blood transplants for treating various disorders, such as leukemia and sickle cell anemia. Most recently, she showed that cord blood transplants can improve the odds of survival for babies deprived of oxygen at birth. A randomized trial of the approach for this condition is underway.

To really sort out if [stem] cells can treat these children, we need to do randomized, controlled trials that are well designed and well controlled, and thats what we intend to do, says Kurtzberg, professor of pediatrics and pathology at Duke. We firmly believe we should be moving ahead in the clinic.

Early animal studies have shown that stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood can stimulate cells in the spinal cord to regrow their myelin layers, and in doing so help restore connections with surrounding cells. Autism is thought to result from impaired connectivity in the brain. Because of this, some groups of children with the disorder may benefit from a stem cell transplant, Kurtzberg says.

But others are skeptical of the approach. Autism is a complex disorder with many possible causes. Also, its unclear how stem cells derived from cord blood can improve connections in the brain. Given these important caveats, its too soon to conduct a test of this scale and investment, some experts say.

Its probably premature to run large trials without evidence that they have a therapeutic effect that [we] understand, cautions Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at the University of California, San Francisco.

Pilot trials In June, Kurtzberg launched the first phase of the trial, with 20 children between 2 and 5 years of age. Her team plans to infuse the children with a single dose of their own cord blood cells, banked at birth and preserved by freezing.

Originally posted here:
Large Study of Stem Cells for Autism Draws Criticism

A study led by Humboldt University of Berlin claims that a a group of embryonic stem cells called the neural crest, link traits in tame animals Charles Darwin first noted that domesticated mammals share a strange mixture of characteristics such as floppier ears and white patches of fur The modern scientists' hypothesis hasn't been tested, but is the first to connect several components of the domestication syndrome They think that humans inadvertently selected animals to breed that had mild neural crest deficits, resulting in smaller adrenal glands

By Sarah Griffiths

Published: 10:50 EST, 15 July 2014 | Updated: 11:18 EST, 15 July 2014

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It is a mystery that has gone unsolved for more than 140 years since Charles Darwin noticed something peculiar about domesticated mammals.

But now scientists think they know why domestic species tend to have certain characteristics that accompany their tameness, such as floppier ears, patches of white fur, and more juvenile faces with smaller jaws.

Geneticists believe that a group of embryonic stem cells called the neural crest, link all these traits, which are seen in many peoples pet cats and dogs.

Domestic science: Scientists think they know why domestic species tend to have certain characteristics that accompany their tameness, such as floppier ears, patches of white fur, and more juvenile faces with smaller jaws (illustrated by this spaniel) - and it's because of a group of embryonic stem cells called the neural crest

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Does your dog have 'domestication syndrome'? Scientists reveal why pets tend to have baby faces and white patches of fur

Following months of controversy, editors at the scientific journal Nature have retracted two high-profile studies that purported to demonstrate a quick and simple way of making flexible stem cells without destroying embryos or tinkering with DNA.

Several critical errors have been found in our Article and Letter, Nature wrote in a retraction statement issued Wednesday. We apologize for the mistakes.

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FOR THE RECORD

July 3, 7:53 a.m.: An article in the July 3 A section about two controversial stem cell studies that were retracted had stated that the decision was made by editors at the journal Nature. The retraction decision was made by the authors of the studies. Additionally, the comments in the retraction statement should have been attributed to the authors of the studies, not to the journal editors.

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The two reports described a new way of reprogramming blood cells so that they would revert to a developmentally primitive state and be capable of growing into any type of cell. Researchers from Japan and the United States said they accomplished this feat by soaking the cells in an acid bath for 30 minutes and then spinning them in a centrifuge for 5 minutes.

The resulting stem cells dubbed stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP had the hallmarks of embryonic stem cells. When the researchers injected them into developing mice, the STAP stem cells grew into heart, bone and brain cells, among others, the research team reported in January.

Scientists in the field of regenerative medicine were giddy at the prospect of using the cells to grow new insulin-producing cells for people with Type 1 diabetes or central nervous system cells for people with spinal cord injuries, to name a few examples. Since these replacement tissues would be generated from a patients own cells, researchers believed they would not prompt the immune system to attack, eliminating the need for patients to take immune-suppressing drugs.

But it didnt take long for some researchers to suspect that STAP stem cells were too good to be true. Critiques posted online gained more currency when labs began reporting that they werent able to replicate the experiments. Then one of the senior researchers who worked on both of the studies called for the papers to be withdrawn until the results could be independently verified.

Originally posted here:
Nature retracts STAP stem cell studies after finding more errors

Following months of controversy, editors at the scientific journal Nature have retracted two high-profile studies that purported to demonstrate a quick and simple way of making flexible stem cells without destroying embryos or tinkering with DNA.

Several critical errors have been found in our Article and Letter, Nature wrote in a retraction statement issued Wednesday. We apologize for the mistakes.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

July 3, 7:53 a.m.: An article in the July 3 A section about two controversial stem cell studies that were retracted had stated that the decision was made by editors at the journal Nature. The retraction decision was made by the authors of the studies. Additionally, the comments in the retraction statement should have been attributed to the authors of the studies, not to the journal editors.

------------

The two reports described a new way of reprogramming blood cells so that they would revert to a developmentally primitive state and be capable of growing into any type of cell. Researchers from Japan and the United States said they accomplished this feat by soaking the cells in an acid bath for 30 minutes and then spinning them in a centrifuge for 5 minutes.

The resulting stem cells dubbed stimulus triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP had the hallmarks of embryonic stem cells. When the researchers injected them into developing mice, the STAP stem cells grew into heart, bone and brain cells, among others, the research team reported in January.

Scientists in the field of regenerative medicine were giddy at the prospect of using the cells to grow new insulin-producing cells for people with Type 1 diabetes or central nervous system cells for people with spinal cord injuries, to name a few examples. Since these replacement tissues would be generated from a patients own cells, researchers believed they would not prompt the immune system to attack, eliminating the need for patients to take immune-suppressing drugs.

But it didnt take long for some researchers to suspect that STAP stem cells were too good to be true. Critiques posted online gained more currency when labs began reporting that they werent able to replicate the experiments. Then one of the senior researchers who worked on both of the studies called for the papers to be withdrawn until the results could be independently verified.

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Nature STAP stem cell studies retracted after more errors found

TAMPA

Twice a week, Gabriela Camargo and her husband, Romulo, get up before dawn to get him dressed, settled in his wheelchair and ready for the two-hour trip to Longwood, near Orlando, for the kind of intense, long-term physical therapy they hope will one day get him walking again.

After Romulo undergoes three hours of guided workouts on advanced exercise machines at Project Walk a therapy center unlike any in the Tampa Bay area, they say they fight the traffic back.

"I-4 is crazy!'' says Gabriela, adding that the couple usually arrives back home in New Tampa about 3:30 p.m.

After about a year of the routine, Gaby, as she's called, decided that she and "Romy'' should open a nonprofit intensive therapy center in Tampa.

"I thought it was a crazy idea,'' said Romy, an Army Special Forces officer who was shot in the neck and paralyzed from the shoulders down during an ambush in Afghanistan in 2008.

But the more he thought about it, the more he liked the plan.

They seem to be on their way, having collected about $216,000 in corporate and individual donations toward the $750,000 they figure they'll need for two years of operating expenses. They hope to open the StayInStep spinal cord injury therapy center in north Tampa in the fall.

Romy, a chief warrant officer 3, remains on active duty until his retirement next spring after 20 years in the service.

In 2011, Dr. Carlos Lima of Portugal, a pioneer in the use of stem cell surgery to stimulate nerve regeneration in spinal cord injury patients, operated on Romy, taking stem cells from tissue inside Romy's nose and transferring them to site of the injury.

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Paralyzed veteran raises money for therapy center in Tampa

Started by Duska Anastasijevic (@duska) 2 day(s) ago

July 4th Marks 75th Anniversary of Lou Gehrigs Farewell Speech

ROCHESTER, Minn. Seventy-five years ago, on July 4th 1939, baseball legend Lou Gehrig delivered the famous speech bidding farewell to the ballpark and his fans. Two weeks before Gehrig had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)at Mayo Clinicin Rochester, Minnesota. Accompanied by his wife, Eleanor, Lou left Mayo Clinic with the devastating diagnosis on June 20th 1939, a day after his 36th birthday. He died in June two years later, not quite 38 years old, of the rare neurological disease that would come to bear his name.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Journalists, the video package and addition b-roll are available in the downloads. To read the video script click here.

ALS is a type of progressive motor neuron disease that typically strikes at middle to later life and causes nerve cells in spinal cord, brain stem and brain to gradually break down and die. These nerve cells are responsible for muscle function so eventually, ALS can affect the ability to control the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe.

While ALS still evades cure and effective treatment, researchers at Mayo Clinic are conducting Phase I clinical trial in the hope that they can guide newly grown stem cells to become protective of neuromuscular function.

We use fat-derived mesenchymal stem cells from the patient's own body. These cells are modified in the laboratory and delivered through a spinal tap into the fluid around the patient's nervous system to promote neuron survival, explains neurologist Anthony Windebank, M.D, deputy director for discovery in the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. We hope that the growth factors that they are producing will help protect and promote the survival of nerve cells and therefore slow down or arrest the progression of ALS. If we can halt an ALS patient's loss of cells at 20 to 30 percent, that persons function would be well-preserved," says Dr. Windebank.

In the current phase of the FDA-controlled trial, Dr. Windebank and his team are studying the safety and efficacy of the treatment. If injecting ALS patients with stem cells grown from samples of their own fat tissue is found to be safe, the research would move to a Phase II, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial to allow further study of safety and efficacy on a greater number of patients.

The FDA just approved another clinical trial in which Mayo Clinic will take part. The BrainStorm Phase II trial will look into whether stem cells can be used to actually replace the neurons that have been destroyed by ALS.

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July 4th Marks 75th Anniversary of Lou Gehrigs Farewell Speech

Introduction

Despite advances in early recognition and treatment, spinal cord injuries continue to produce devastating and long lasting disabilities. Patients suffer paralysis that can vary from a partial leg to almost the entire body. In addition, the medical cost of a spinal cord injury patient over a lifetime ranges from $500,000-2,000,000.

The purpose of this paper is to help readers gain a greater understanding of the use of adult stem cells for spinal cord injuries. We also want to offer a framework for evaluating if stem cell treatment should be considered an option for you or your loved one. The paper covers the following:

Feel free to skip to sections that provide information that is helpful to you. For more information including definitions and descriptions of spinal cord injuries visit:

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Spinal cord injuries occur at a rate of 40 persons per million per year in the United States. That translates to over 12,000 new cases a year. Motor vehicle accidents account for almost half of the cases. Falls, violence such as gunshot wounds and sports injuries make up most of the rest. Up to 80% of victims are male. This is a disorder that affects the young; the average age of victims in the US is 38.

The most obvious symptom of spinal cord injury is the paralysis in affected areas. The amount and severity of paralysis depends on several factors including the location and type of injury. Patients can experience anything from a weakness in one extremity to complete paralysis of everything below the neck.

Red areas indicate loss of sensation and motion for injuries at that level

Spinal cord injury patients also experience a number of other complications that include:

See the article here:
Adult Stem Cells for Spinal Cord Injuries | Innovations ...

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) June 24, 2014

The birth injury patient advocates at CerebralPalsyHelp.org are alerting parents of children with cerebral palsy of new research information on the site. Duke University was recently awarded a research grant to explore the use of umbilical cord cells to treat brain damage causing cerebral palsy and other conditions*.

The CP Help Center is a national advocacy center providing the latest on cerebral palsy treatment, clinical trials, resources and litigation news. Parents can learn more about their childs condition and how it may have been caused, get information on available assistance, and decide if they should seek legal advice.

Cerebral palsy affects muscle movement, coordination and posture. It is the leading cause of functional and developmental disability in children in the United States**, occurring in approximately 3.3 out of every 1,000 births, and affecting approximately 500,000 children**.

While CP affects muscle function, it is actually a neurological disorder caused by brain damage to the parts that control muscle function***. This usually occurs before, during or after birth***.

Cerebral palsy may be caused by factors occurring to the fetus during pregnancy, or by trauma or asphyxiation during labor***. There is no cure at this time, however, researchers are working towards better treatments.

Now, the CP Help Center has learned that Duke Medical Center has received a $15 million grant from the Marcus Foundation to begin two years of umbilical cord stem cell research, in what is eventually expected to become a five-year, $41 million study*.

Duke researchers will study whether cord blood can help repair dysfunctional or damaged parts of the brain and hope to develop cell-based therapies that could help millions affected by cerebral palsy, stroke or autism*. The study will include approximately 100 children with cerebral palsy, in trials that inject donated cord blood to treat their brain damage*.

Anyone whose child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy should learn more about how their condition was caused, or speak with a lawyer about their legal options. The CP Help Center only recommends lawyers who specialize in cerebral palsy lawsuits.

For more information on the research, treatment, causes and litigation news related to cerebral palsy, or to speak with a lawyer, visit http://www.cerebralpalsyhelp.org today.

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CP Help Center Adds New Information About Cerebral Palsy Cord Blood Research

LONDON (CNN) Some birth defects in newborns could one day be a thing of the past due to new robotics technologies being developed to perform surgery on babies in the womb.

Spina bifida is one such disease, affecting approximately 1 in 2,500 newborns worldwide, where a lesion on the back leaves the spinal cord exposed in the womb, leading to severe disabilities, learning difficulties, and sometimes death.

The best option is to perform surgery to correct the problem before the baby is born but the complexities of such a procedure mean this currently only takes place in five countries worldwide. Most countries instead perform surgery after a child is born, but when the majority of damage has been done.

To reduce the risk involved in fetal surgery, scientists at University College London (UCL), and KU Leuven in Belgium are developing a miniscule robotic arm to enter the womb with minimum disruption to mother and baby. The robotics are targeting spina bifida but also lesser known conditions such as twin-twin transfusion syndrome, where blood passes unequally between twins who share a placenta, and fetal lower urinary tract obstruction, where babies are unable to urinate in the womb and their bladders become large and distended.

Surgery on fetuses has been effective in treating some conditions to date, but for spina bifida, the risks to mother and baby mean surgery is currently only performed in a handful of countries, where specialist teams exist.

Most birth defects can be prevented if we can intervene earlier, says Professor Sebastien Ourselin, from the UCL Center for Medical Image Computing, who is leading the new research project. But currently, surgical delivery systems are not available and operating on babies in the womb is reserved for just a handful of the most severe defects as risks are too high.

Ourselins team plans to develop a small three-armed robot, no more than 2 cm wide, to allow more surgeries to take place, as part of a $17 million project funded by the Wellcome Trust and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The device will consist of a photoacoustic camera that provides 3D imaging of the fetus in real time, which will help guide two flexible arms to deliver gels or patches to seal the gap in the spine of babies with spina bifida. If successful, the arms will be developed with more dexterity and degrees of freedom to perform surgery themselves and treat further conditions such as congenital heart disease. They may even deliver stem cells as stem cell therapies progress. Once entry into the womb becomes safe, the potential is huge.

In countries where fetal surgery is currently performed, surgeons cut into the mothers womb before 26 weeks of pregnancy, but there are health risks, side effects to mothers and risks of pre-term labor.

Where surgery is available in Europe, people are reluctant and fearful of the side-effects, explains Dr. Jan Duprest, who is leading the work at KU Leuvin and has patients declining surgery quite regularly. Robotic surgery is becoming popular these days and we need to take advantage of that and improve not only the number of patients choosing surgery but also improve the freedom with which we can operate using these flexible probes.

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Researchers developing tiny robotic arm that could fix birth defects in the womb

SUNNYVALE, CA and JOHNSTOWN, CO--(Marketwired - Jun 11, 2014) - Spinal Kinetics, the designer and manufacturer of the M6 Artificial Disc, and Kenneth A. Pettine, MD, a leading spine surgeon in northern Colorado, announced completion of the initial series of M6-C implantsas part of a US FDA Clinical Trial at Arte Surgical Center in Johnstown, Colorado.To date, four patients have received the innovative artificial disc at Arte and are among the first treated nationwide.

Dr. Pettine is the only surgeon in Colorado enrolling for the FDA trial and one of only a select number of centers in the US.The trial compares single-level cervical disc replacement to single-level cervical fusion.The M6-C artificial disc represents next generation technology in artificial cervical disc design. "We are very excited to participate in this important clinical trial," said Dr. Kenneth Pettine, M6-C Clinical Trial Investigator and co-Founder of Arte Surgical Center and The Spine Institute at Rocky Mountain Associates in Orthopedic Medicine (Johnstown, CO)."The M6-C has established a phenomenal track record overseas, and we are happy to finally bring this advancement to our patient base here in the US for this clinical study."

The M6-C artificial cervical disc is designed to help patients suffering from degenerative disc disease of the spine, a common cause of chronic neck and arm pain. The M6 technology provides an alternative to spinal fusion and is designed to restore natural physiologic motion to the spine. The M6 is the only artificial disc that replicates the anatomic structure and biomechanics of a natural disc by incorporating both an artificial nucleus and annulus.

"Spinal Kinetics is proud to collaborate with Dr. Kenneth Pettine at the Spine Institute and the team at Arte Surgical Center on this important milestone event," said Tom Afzal, President and CEO of Spinal Kinetics, Inc."Spine surgeons and patients across the US have asked for access to this leading edge disc technology, and we are excited to start the process toward FDA approval by working with key Surgeon/Investigators like Dr. Pettine and innovative Spine Centers like Arte."

Introduced internationally in 2006, M6 technology has quickly become the market leader in Europe and other international markets and is available in over 27 countries worldwide. With approximately 30,000 implants to date, the M6 has become the disc of choice among leading spine surgeons around the world.In the U.S., Spinal Kinetics has successfully completed an FDA approved pilot study of the M6-C and subsequently received approval from the FDA to initiate the current clinical trial.

For more information on potential enrollment in the M6-C Clinical Trial, please contact Kira Sniff at ksniff@rmaortho.com, or (970) 669-8881 ext 229.

About Degenerative Disc Disease Between adjacent vertebra throughout the spine is an intervertebral disc; a shock-absorbing pillow that helps maintain proper spacing, stability, and motion within the spine.Each disc has a fibrous outer band called the annulus fibrosus that encases a central, gel-like substance called the nucleus pulposus.The nucleus and annulus work together to absorb shock, help stabilize the spine, and provide a controlled range of motion between adjacent vertebra.Often brought on by aging, the spine begins to show signs of wear and tear and the discs can dry out and shrink.This degenerative process can put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves and may cause neck, arm and back pain and other painful conditions such as spinal stenosis or a herniated disc.

About Spinal Kinetics Founded in 2003, Spinal Kinetics is a privately held medical device company focused on developing innovative and practical solutions for treatment of diseases of the spine. The M6-C cervical and M6-L lumbar artificial discs have rapidly established themselves among the leading artificial discs available due to their unique biomechanical properties that replicate the motion of a natural disc.The company is located in Sunnyvale, California.

About Kenneth A. Pettine, MD Dr. Kenneth Pettine co-founded The Spine Institute at Rocky Mountain Associates in Orthopedic Medicine. He has an extensive background in spinal surgery, research, and rehabilitation. Dr. Pettine is a board certified fellowship trained spine surgeon.He is the recipient of numerous honors, a distinguished speaker at national and international symposiums, and the author of nearly 20 research publications. He has been the principal investigator for 16 FDA studies involving non-fusion implants, biologics, and stem cells. For information on Dr. Pettine and The Spine Institute visit http://www.spinerevolution.com

About Arte Surgical Center Arte is a pain management and orthopedic/ spine ambulatory surgical facility in Johnstown, CO, that is licensed and joint commission accredited. We provide our patients with quality outpatient and inpatient surgical care in a safe and friendly environment. For information on the Arte Surgical Center, please visit http://www.aretesurgicalcenter.com

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Spinal Kinetics and Dr. Kenneth Pettine Initiate US FDA Clinical Trial of M6(R)-C Artificial Cervical Disc at Arete ...

Phil Reyes, one of the Parkinson's patients in Summit 4 Stem Cell, urges California's stem cell agency to support its research.

A potentially groundbreaking trial to treat spinal cord injuries with tissue grown from human embryonic stem cells will resume, after being funded by the California's stem cell agency.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's governing committee approved without opposition a $14.3 million award to Asterias Biotherapeutics of Menlo Park. Asterias is taking over from Geron, which stopped clinical trials in November, 2011. Geron, also of Menlo Park, said it discontinued the trials for business reasons. Asterias is a subsidiary of Alameda-based BioTime.

Patients will be given transplants of neural tissue grown from the embryonic stem cells. The hope is that the cells will repair the severed connections, restoring movement and sensation below the injury site.

CIRM also unanimously approved a $5.6 million grant for another potential breakthrough: a clinical trial by Sangamo Biosciences of Richmond, Calif, to cure HIV infection with gene therapy. The trial is now in Phase II. Immune cells are taken from the patient and given a mutant form of a gene that HIV uses to get inside the cells. The mutated gene resists infection. The genetically altered cells are then given back to the patient.

Approval of both grants had been expected, as staff reports had recommended their approval. The agency met in San Diego.

In addition CIRM's Independent Citizens Oversight Committee funded $16.2 million in grants to bring three stem cell researchers to California. That vote was more contentious, with some committee members arguing that it made no sense to bring more scientists to California without a specific need. In addition, they argued that CIRM's main emphasis needs to be on funding clinical trials.

Member Jeff Sheehy said that bringing the scientists to California doesn't create more scientific capacity. However, a vote to deny funding failed, and a subsequent vote to approve funding passed.

CIRM is projected to run out of its $3 billion in bond funding by 2017, and supporters of the public agency are considering asking California voters for more money.

Also appearing at the CIRM meeting were advocates of funding a stem cell-based therapy for Parkinson's disease. The therapy, which may be approved in 2015 for a clinical trial, uses artificial embryonic stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells grown from the patient's own skin cells. The group, Summit 4 Stem Cell, plans to ask for funding to help with the trial in the near future.

Original post:
Spinal cord, HIV stem cell treatments funded | UTSanDiego.com

Farmington, CT (PRWEB) June 05, 2014

ImStem Biotechnology, Inc. (ImStem) announced today it has successfully treated an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS) using human embryonic stem cells (hESC) derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), called hES-MSCs.

MS is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease with no cure. Most current MS therapies offer only palliative relief without repairing damaged nerve cells. Adult tissues such as bone marrow derived MSCs (BM-MSCs) may reduce neuroinflammation and promote nerve cell regeneration in MS, which are currently being tested in MS clinical trials. However, the application of adult-tissue derived MSCs has significant limitations since these cells must be obtained from a limited number of healthy donors, constraining the availability of this treatment and also resulting in variations in treatment quality.

Now researchers from ImStem, in collaboration with University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) and Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., demonstrates that hES-MSCs, which have unlimited stable supply, significantly reduce the disease severity in a mouse model of MS. They also found that hES-MSCs are more effective in treating animal model of MS than MSCs from bone marrow of adult human donors (BM-MSC). This work is published in the June 5th 2014 online edition of Stem Cell Reports, the official journal of International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) by Cell Press.

The beauty of hES-MSCs (embryonic stem cell derived) is their consistently high efficacy in MS model. We found that BM-MSC (adult stem cell) lines show poor or no efficacy in MS animal model and also expressing more proinflammatory cytokines. This definitely adds more advantages to hES-MSCs, which are younger, purer and express the right factors" says the lead author Dr. Xiaofang Wang, CTO of ImStem.

"These great advantages perfectly match the requirements for safety and quality of clinical-grade MSCs as a potential therapy for autoimmune diseases. says Dr. Ren-He Xu, corresponding author of the article, CSO of ImStem, now a professor at the University of Macau.

Dr. Joel Pachter, a UCHC collaborator, observed fluorescently labeled hES-MSCs but not BM-MSCs effectively penetrated the blood brain barrier and migrated into inflamed spinal cord. He remarks, "This difference is extraordinary as it could hold a key to the therapeutic action(s) of hES-MSCs. MSCs might require access to specific sites within the central nervous system in order to remediate disease."

"This was unexpected as bone marrow MSCs are widely believed to be effective in this EAE animal model. Our data indicate that the use of BM-MSCs is highly variable and there may be a previously unrecognized risk of poor outcome associated with proinflammatory cytokines produced by these cells," says Dr. Stephen Crocker, another UCHC collaborator.

The cells not only reduced the clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis but prevented demyelination, which disrupts the ability of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a wide range of symptoms in patients, including blurred vision, loss of balance, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, paralysis and blindness, says Dr. Robert Lanza, one of the senior authors from ACT.

Imstem was founded by Dr. Xiaofang Wang and Dr. Ren-He Xu, former director of UConn Stem Cell Core in 2012. In 2013, ImStem was awarded a $1.13M grant from the State of Connecticut Stem Cell Research Program and a $150,000 pre-seed fund from Connecticut Innovations. With these supports, ImStem has improved the hES-MSC technology with better efficiency and safety and has developed clinical grade hES-MSCs in its cGMP facility. ImStem is now seeking approval for Phase I clinical trials using its hES-MSCs and is looking for investors to expedite the progress.

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ImStem Biotechnology, Inc. Advances Multiple Sclerosis Treatment with Embryonic Stem Cells

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.

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New stem cells may help in battling multiple sclerosis

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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.

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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.

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Prof. Thomas Jessell Wins Gruber Prize for Spinal Cord Neuron Research

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Store-A-Tooth Dental Stem Cell Banking Announces Appointment of Experienced Representative in Manhattan/Westchester ...