Skin is the body's largest organ. Loss of the skin barrierresults in fluid and heat loss and the risk of infection. Thetraditional treatment for deep burns is to cover them with healthyskin harvested from another part of the body. But in cases ofextensive burns, there often isn't enough healthy skin toharvest.

During phase I of AFIRM, WFIRM scientists designed, built andtested a printer designed to print skin cells onto burn wounds. The"ink" is actually different kinds of skin cells. A scanner is usedto determine wound size and depth. Different kinds of skin cellsare found at different depths. This data guides the printer as itapplies layers of the correct type of cells to cover the wound. Youonly need a patch of skin one-tenth the size of the burn to growenough skin cells for skin printing.

During Phase II of AFIRM, the WFIRM team will explore whether atype of stem cell found in amniotic fluid and placenta (afterbirth)is effective at healing wounds. The goal of the project is to bringthe technology to soldiers who need it within the next 5 years.

This video -- with a mock hand and burn -- demonstrates the process.

Original post:
Printing Skin Cells on Burn Wounds - Wake Forest School of ...

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On a June day in 2009, a 39-year-old man named Ken Milles lay on an exam table at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A month earlier, he'd suffered a massive heart attack that destroyed nearly a third of his heart.

"The most difficult part was the uncertainty," he recalls. "Your heart is 30% damaged, and they tell you this could affect you the rest of your life." He was about to receive an infusion of stem cells, grown from cells taken from his own heart a few weeks earlier. No one had ever tried this before.

About three weeks later, in Kentucky, a patient named Mike Jones underwent a similar procedure at the University of Louisville's Jewish Hospital. Jones suffered from advanced heart failure, the result of a heart attack years earlier. Like Milles, he received an infusion of stem cells, grown from his own heart tissue.

"Once you reach this stage of heart disease, you don't get better," says Dr. Robert Bolli, who oversaw Jones' procedure, explaining what doctors have always believed and taught. "You can go down slowly, or go down quickly, but you're going to go down."

Conventional wisdom took a hit Monday, as Bolli's group and a team from Cedars-Sinai each reported that stem cell therapies were able to reverse heart damage, without dangerous side effects, at least in a small group of patients.

In Bolli's study, published in The Lancet, 16 patients with severe heart failure received a purified batch of cardiac stem cells. Within a year, their heart function markedly improved. The heart's pumping ability can be quantified through the "Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction," a measure of how much blood the heart pumps with each contraction. A patient with an LVEF of less than 40% is considered to suffer severe heart failure. When the study began, Bolli's patients had an average LVEF of 30.3%. Four months after receiving stem cells, it was 38.5%. Among seven patients who were followed for a full year, it improved to an astounding 42.5%. A control group of seven patients, given nothing but standard maintenance medications, showed no improvement at all.

"We were surprised by the magnitude of improvement," says Bolli, who says traditional therapies, such as placing a stent to physically widen the patient's artery, typically make a smaller difference. Prior to treatment, Mike Jones couldn't walk to the restroom without stopping for breath, says Bolli. "Now he can drive a tractor on his farm, even play basketball with his grandchildren. His life was transformed."

At Cedars-Sinai, 17 patients, including Milles, were given stem cells approximately six weeks after suffering a moderate to major heart attack. All had lost enough tissue to put them "at big risk" of future heart failure, according to Dr. Eduardo Marban, the director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, who developed the stem cell procedure used there.

The results were striking. Not only did scar tissue retreat -- shrinking 40% in Ken Milles, and between 30% and 47% in other test subjects -- but the patients actually generated new heart tissue. On average, the stem cell recipients grew the equivalent of 600 million new heart cells, according to Marban, who used MRI imaging to measure changes. By way of perspective, a major heart attack might kill off a billion cells.

"This is unprecedented, the first time anyone has grown living heart muscle," says Marban. "No one else has demonstrated that. It's very gratifying, especially when the conventional teaching has been that the damage is irreversible."

Perhaps even more important, no treated patient in either study suffered a significant health setback.

The twin findings are a boost to the notion that the heart contains the seeds of its own rebirth. For years, doctors believed that heart cells, once destroyed, were gone forever. But in a series of experiments, researchers including Bolli's collaborator, Dr. Piero Anversa, found that the heart contains a type of stem cell that can develop into either heart muscle or blood vessel components -- in essence, whatever the heart requires at a particular point in time. The problem for patients like Mike Jones or Ken Milles is that there simply aren't enough of these repair cells waiting around. The experimental treatments involve removing stem cells through a biopsy, and making millions of copies in a laboratory.

The Bolli/Anversa group and Marban's team both used cardiac stem cells, but Bolli and Anversa "purified" the CSCs, so that more than 90% of the infusion was actual stem cells. Marban, on the other hand, used a mixture of stem cells and other types of cells extracted from the patient's heart. "We've found that the mixture is more potent than any subtype we've been able to isolate," he says. He says the additional cells may help by providing a supportive environment for the stem cells to multiply.

Other scientists, including Dr. Douglas Losordo, have produced improvements in cardiac patients using stem cells derived from bone marrow. "The body contains cells that seem to be pre-programmed for repair," explains Losordo. "The consistent thing about all these approaches is that they're leveraging what seems to be the body's own repair mechanism."

Losordo praised the Lancet paper, and recalls the skepticism that met Anversa's initial claims, a decade ago, that there were stem cells in the adult heart. "Some scientists are always resistant to that type of novelty. You know the saying: First they ignore you, then they attack you and finally they imitate you."

Denis Buxton, who oversees stem cell research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, calls the new studies "a paradigm shift, harnessing the heart's own regenerative processes." But he says he would like to see more head-to-head comparisons to determine which type of cells are most beneficial.

Questions also remain about timing. Patients who suffer large heart attacks are prone to future damage, in part because the weakened heart tries to compensate by dilating -- swelling -- and by changing shape. In a vicious circle, the changes make the heart a less efficient pump, which leads to more overcompensation, and so on, until the end result is heart failure. Marban's study aimed to treat patients before they could develop heart failure in the first place.

In a third study released Monday, researchers treated patients with severe heart failure with stem cells derived from bone marrow. In a group of 60 patients, those receiving the treatment had fewer heart problems over the course of a year, as well as improved heart function.

A fourth study also used cells derived from bone marrow, but injected them into patients two to three weeks after a heart attack. Previous studies, with the cells given just days afterward, found a modest improvement in heart function. But Monday, the lead researcher, Dr. Dan Simon of UH Case Medical Center, reported that with the three-week delay, patients did not see the same benefit.

With other methods, there may be a larger window of opportunity. At least in initial studies, Losordo's bone marrow treatments helped some patients with long-standing heart problems. Bolli's Lancet paper suggests that CSCs, too, might help patients with advanced disease. "These patients had had heart failure for several years. They were a wreck!" says Bolli. "But we found their stem cells were still very competent." By that, he means the cells were still capable of multiplying and of turning into useful muscle and blood vessel walls.

Marban has an open mind on the timing issue. In fact, one patient from his control group e-mailed after the study was complete, saying he felt terrible and pleading for an infusion of stem cells. At Marban's request, the FDA granted special approval to treat him. "He had a very nice response. That was 14 months after his heart attack. Of course that's just one person, and we need bigger studies," says Marban.

For Ken Milles, the procedure itself wasn't painful, but it was unsettling. The biopsy to harvest the stem cells felt "weird," he recalls, as he felt the doctor poking around inside his heart. The infusion, a few weeks later, was harder. The procedure -- basically the same as an angioplasty -- involved stopping blood flow through the damaged artery for three minutes, while the stem cells were infused. "It felt exacfly like I was having a heart attack again," Milles remembers.

Milles had spent the first weeks after his heart attack just lying in bed re-watching his "Sopranos" DVDs, but within a week of the stem cell infusion, he says, "I was reinvigorated." Today he's back at work full time, as an accounting manager at a construction company. He's cut out fast food and shed 50 pounds. His wife and two teenage sons are thrilled.

Denis Buxton says the new papers could prove a milestone. "We don't have anything else to actually regenerate the heart. These stem cell therapies have the possibility of actually reversing damage."

Bolli says he'll have to temper his enthusiasm until he can duplicate the results in larger studies, definitive enough to get stem cell therapy approved as a standard treatment. "If a phase 3 study confirmed this, it would be the biggest advance in cardiology in my lifetime. We would possibly be curing heart failure. It would be a revolution."

Read this article:
Studies: Stem cells reverse heart damage - CNN

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 ResearchThe 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 HopeVolunteer 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.

Link:
Stem Cells & Spinal Cord Injuries - sci-info-pages.com

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Video abstract from Drs. Banerjee, Surendran, Bharti, Morishita, Varshney, and Pal on their recently published STEM CELLS paper entitled, "Long non-coding RNA RP11-380D23.2 drives distal-proximal patterning of the lung by regulating PITX2 expression." Read the paper here.

Video abstract from Drs. Sayed, Ospino, Himmati, Lee, Chanda, Mocarski, and Cooke on their recently published STEM CELLS paper entitled, "Retinoic Acid Inducible Gene 1 Protein (RIG1)-like Receptor Pathway is Required for Efficient Nuclear Reprogramming." Read the paper here.

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STEM CELLS - Issue - Wiley Online Library

Nearly 500,000 people in the US die of sudden cardiac death each year, and long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a major form of sudden cardiac death. LQTS can be triggered by drug exposure or stresses. Drug-induced LQTS is the single most common reason for drugs to be withdrawn from clinical trials, causing major setbacks to drug discovery efforts and exposing people to dangerous drugs. In most cases, the mechanism of drug-induced LQTS is unknown. However, there are genetic forms of LQTS that should allow us to make iPS cellderived heart cells that have the key features of LQTS. Our objective is to produce a cell-based test for LQTS with induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology, which allows adult cells to be reprogrammed to be stem celllike cells.Despite the critical need, current tests for drug-induced LQTS are far from perfect. As a result, potentially unsafe drugs enter clinical trials, endangering people and wasting millions of dollars in research funds. When drugs that cause LQTS, such as terfenadine (Seldane), enter the market, millions of people are put at serious risk. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to know when a drug will cause LQTS, since most people who develop LQTS have no known genetic risk factors. The standard tests for LQTS use animal models or hamster cells that express human heart genes at high levels. Unfortunately, cardiac physiology in animal models (rabbits and dogs) differs from that in humans, and hamster cells lack many key features of human heart cells. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be differentiated into heart cells, but we do not know the culture conditions that would make the assay most similar to LQTS in a living person. These problems could be solved if we had a method to grow human heart cells from people with genetic LQTS mutations, so that we know the exact test conditions that would reflect the human disease. This test would be much more accurate than currently available tests and would help enable the development of safer human pharmaceuticals.Our long-term goal is to develop a panel of iPS cell lines that better represent the genetic diversity of the human population. Susceptibility to LQTS varies, and most people who have life-threatening LQTS have no known genetic risk factors. We will characterize iPS cells with well-defined mutations that have clinically proven responses to drugs that cause LQTS. These iPS cell lines will be used to refine testing conditions. To validate the iPS cellbased test, the results will be directly compared to the responses in people. These studies will provide the foundation for an expanded panel of iPS cell lines from people with other genetic mutations and from people who have no genetically defined risk factor but still have potentially fatal drug-induced LQTS. This growing panel of iPS cell lines should allow for testing drugs for LQTS more effectively and accurately than any current test.To meet these goals, we made a series of iPS cells that harbor different LQTS mutations. These iPS cells differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes. We are now evaluating these LQTS cell lines in cellular assays. We are hopeful that our studies will meet or exceed all the aims of our original proposal.

Originally posted here:
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cardiovascular ...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common and serious form of muscular dystrophy. One out of every 3500 boys is born with the disorder, and it is invariably fatal. Until recently, there was little hope that the widespread muscle degeneration that accompanies this disease could be combated.

However, stem cell therapy now offers that hope. Like other degenerative disorders, DMD is the result of loss of cells that are needed for correct functioning of the body. In the case of DMD, a vital muscle protein is mutated, and its absence leads to progressive degeneration of essentially all the muscles in the body.

To begin to approach a therapy for this condition, we must provide a new supply of stem cells that carry the missing protein that is lacking in DMD. These cells must be delivered to the body in such a way that they will engraft in the muscles and produce new, healthy muscle tissue on an ongoing basis.

We now possess methods whereby we can generate stem cells that can become muscle cells out of adult cells from skin or fat by a process known as reprogramming. Reprogramming is the addition of genes to a cell that can dial the cell back to becoming a stem cell. By reprogramming adult cells, together with addition to them of a correct copy of the gene that is missing in DMD, we can potentially create stem cells that have the ability to create new, healthy muscle cells in the body of a DMD patient. This is essentially the strategy that we are developing in this proposal.

We start with mice that have a mutation in the same gene that is affected in DMD, so they have a disease similar to DMD. We reprogram some of their adult cells, add the correct gene, and grow the cells in incubators in a manner that will produce muscle stem cells. The muscle stem cells can be identified and purified by using an instrument that detects characteristic proteins that muscles make.

The corrected muscle stem cells are transplanted into mice with DMD, and the ability of the cells to generate healthy new muscle tissue is evaluated. Using the mouse results as a guide, a similar strategy will then be pursued with human cells, utilizing cells from patients with DMD. The cells will be reprogrammed, the correct gene added, and the cells grown into muscle stem cells. The ability of these cells to make healthy muscle will be tested by injection into mice with DMD that are immune-deficient, so they will accept a graft of human cells.

In order to make this process into something that could be used in the clinic, we will develop standard procedures for making and testing the cells, to ensure that they are effective and safe. In this way, this project could lead to a new stem cell therapy that could improve the clinical condition of DMD patients. If we have success with DMD, similar methods could be used to treat other degenerative disorders, and perhaps even some of the degeneration that occurs during normal aging

Read more from the original source:
Stem Cell Therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ...

When people talk about something that saved their skin, they usually mean that it helped them out of a difficult situation. But a young boy in Germany has literally had his skinand his lifesaved through the use of genetically-engineered adult stem cells.

The boy suffered from a condition called junctional epidermolysis bullosa, a severe and often lethal disease in which a mutation leaves the skin cells unable to interconnect and maintain epidermal integrity. The skin blisters and falls off, and the slightest touch or abrasion can leave a patch of skin gone and a painful, difficult-to-heal wound behind. There is no cure for the disease and little other than palliative care available for sufferers of the most severe forms.

Now researchers have combined use of adult stem cells with genetic engineering to successfully treat the young boys life-threatening condition. The boys doctors in Germany called on Dr. Michele De Luca at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy to use a technique he has developed to correct the genetic problem and grow new skin.

Over many years, Dr. De Luca has developed a method to grow skin from a patients own epidermal adult stem cells, correct the genetic mutation in the laboratory, and use the genetically-engineered adult stem cells to grow healthy new skin. Dr. De Luca and his team took a tiny patch of skin from the boy, isolated the epidermal stem cells and corrected the genetic problem in stem cell culture. Then they grew sheets of genetically-corrected skin and transplanted them onto the boy.

Reports called the boys recovery stunning, with successful replacement of 80 percent of his skin. Before the procedure, the boys doctors tried several treatments to no avail. One doctor even said, We had a lot of problems in the first days keeping this kid alive. Yet within six months of starting the process, the boy was back in school.

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His skin has remained healthy and completely blister-free. According to the published reports now 21 months after the boys transplant, he loves to show off his new skin and is enjoying school, playing soccer, and being a normal kid. The research has also taught scientists much about the possibilities of using adult stem cells in combination with gene therapy for treatment of diseases.

LifeNews Note: File photo.

Read more:
Adult Stem Cells and Gene Therapy Save a Young Boy With ...

In this project, we aim to develop a 3D bioprinting technology to create functional cardiac tissues via encapsulation of cardiomyocytes derived from hESCs. To further improve their viability and cardiac functionality, we are developing a new vascularization technique to enhance the cardiac tissue model through the incorporation of functional vasculature using 3D bioprinting. In Specific Aim 1, we have successfully developed and optimized a rapid 3D bioprinting technique to create biomimetic 3D micro-architectures using hyaluronic acid (HA)-based biomaterials and hESC-derived cardiomyocytes. A protocol for the synthesis of the photopolymeriable hydrogel biomaterial (hyaluronic acid-glycidyl methacrylate (HA-GM)) proposed for use with the 3D bioprinting platform has been created and refined. HA-GM chemical synthesis efficiency was evaluated. H7 human embryonic stem cells (hESC) were used. These hESC derived cardiomyoctes (hESC-CMs) were shown to be well differentiated based on examining surface markers (Nkx2.5 & cardiac troponin T) and mRNA expression (Nkx2.5, ISL1, MYL2, and MYL7). These cells have been encapsulated within a 3D vasculature pattern of photopolymerized HA-GM hydrogel biomaterial. Digital images derived from a 3D model of the heart have been printed and the direct printing of biomaterials and cell-laden materials has been successfully achieved. Fluorescent staining showed encapsulated cell survival of this structure after 2-weeks of incubation. We have successfully measured the physiological function of cells embedded within the hydrogel constructs. We assessed changes in the cell viability, alignment and function of cells within hydrogel constructs. We successfully characterized electrical function of cardiomyocytes by optical mapping of Spontaneous Beats in unpatterned and patterned tissue constructs. We further measured mechanical function in the tissue constructs by cantilever displacement. We have also measured calcium transients in our 3D printed tissue constructs by live confocal imaging at varying frequencies. In Specific Aim 2, we have created an advanced vascularization technique for 3D pre-vascularized cardiac tissues with precise control of spatial organization. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were encapsulated within a mesh of hexagonal channels and cardiomyocytes were encapsulated within islands between these channels to demonstrate the capability of spatially printing distinct cell populations into a simple prevascularized co-culture model. Cells in this bioprinted configuration showed proliferation and viability. To investigate the formation of the endothelial network, we performed immunofluorescence staining on the prevascularized tissues after 1-week culture in vitro. Human-specific CD31 staining (green) in confocal microscopy shows the conjunctive network formation of HUVECs at different patterned channel widths.

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Development of 3D Bioprinting Techniques using Human ...

The Problem with Chronic Pulmonary Diseases

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disorder that often occurs as a result of prolonged cigarette smoking, second-hand smoke, and polluted air or working conditions. COPD is the most prevalent form of chronic lung disease. The physiological symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath (dyspnea), cough, and sputum production, exercise intolerance and reduced Quality of Life (QOL). These signs and symptoms are brought about by chronic inflammation of the airways, which restricts breathing. When fibrotic tissues contract, the lumen is narrowed, compromising lung function. As histological studies confirm, airway fibrosis and luminal narrowing are major features that lead to airflow limitation in COPD1-3.

Today, COPD is a serious global health issue, with a prevalence of 9-10% of adults aged 40 and older4. And the prevalence of the disease is only expected to rise. Currently COPD accounts for 27% of tobacco related deaths and is anticipated to become the fourth leading cause of death worldwide by 2030 5. Today, COPD affects approximately 600 million individualsroughly 5% of the worlds population 6. Despite modern medicine and technological advancements, there is no known cure for COPD.

The difficulty in treating COPD and other lung diseases rests in the trouble of stimulating alveolar wall formation15. Until recently, treatment has been limited by two things: a lack of understanding of the pathophysiology of these disease processes on a molecular level and a lack of pharmaceutical development that would affect these molecular mechanisms. This results in treatment focused primarily in addressing the symptoms of the disease rather than healing or slowing the progression of the disease itself.

The result is that there are few options available outside of bronchodilators and corticosteroids7. Although lung transplants are performed as an alternative option, there is currently a severe shortage of donor lungs, leaving many patients to die on waiting lists prior to transplantation. Lung transplantation is also a very invasive form of treatment, commonly offering poor results, a poor quality of life with a 5-year mortality rate of approximately 50%, and a litany of health problems associated with lifelong immunosuppression13.

However, it has been shown that undifferentiated multipotent endogenous tissue stem cells (cells that have been identified in nearly all tissues) may contribute to tissue maintenance and repair due to their inherent anti-inflammatory properties. Human mesenchymal stromal cells have been shown to produce large quantities of bioactive factors including cytokines and various growth factors which provide molecular cueing for regenerative pathways. This affects the status of responding cells intrinsic in the tissue 18. These bioactive factors have the ability to influence multiple immune effector functions including cell development, maturation, and allo-reactive T-cell responses 19. Although research on the use of autologous stem cells (both hematopoietic and mesenchymal) in regenerative stem cell therapy is still in the early stages of implementation, it has shown substantive progress in treating patients with few if any adverse effects.

The Lung Institute (LI) provided treatment by harvesting autologous stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stromal cells) by withdrawing adipose tissue (fat), bone marrow or peripheral blood. These harvested cells are isolated and concentrated, and along with platelet-rich plasma, are then reintroduced into the body and enter the pulmonary vasculature (vessels of the lungs) where cells are trapped in the microcirculation (the pulmonary trap). Alternatively, nebulized stem cells are reintroduced through the airways in patients who have undergone an adipose (fat tissue) treatment.

Individuals diagnosed with COPD were tracked by the Lung Institute to measure the effects of treatment via either the venous protocol or adipose protocol on both their pulmonary function as well as their Quality of Life.

All PFTs were performed according to national practice guideline standards for repeatability and acceptability8-10. On PFTs, pre-treatment data was collected through on-site testing or through previous medical examinations by the patients primary physician (if done within two weeks). The test was then repeated by their primary physician 6 months after treatment.*

* Due to the examination information required from primary physicians, only 25 out of 100 patients are reflected in the PFT data.

Patients with progressive COPD will typically experience a steady decrease in their Quality of Life. Given this development, a patients Quality of Life score is frequently used to define additional therapeutic effects, with regulatory authorities frequently encouraging their use as primary or secondary outcomes17.

On quality of life testing, data was collected through the implementation of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) based survey17. The survey measured the patients self-assessed quality of life on a 0-6 scale, with adverse Quality of Life correlated in ascending numerical order. It was implemented in three stages: pre-treatment, 3-months post-treatment, and 6-months post-treatment. The survey measured two distinct outcomes: the QLS score, which measured the patients self-assessed quality of life score, and the QIS, a percentage-based measurement determining the proportion of patients within the sample that experienced QLS score improvements.

Over the duration of six months, the results of 100 patients treated for COPD through venous and adipose based therapies were tracked by the Lung Institute in order to measure changes in pulmonary function and any improvement in Quality of Life.

Of the 100 patients treated by the Lung Institute, 64 were male (64%) and 36 were female (36%). Ages of those treated range from 55-88 years old with an average age of 71. Throughout the study, 82 (82%) were treated with venous derived stem cells, while 18 (18%) were treated from stem cells derived from adipose tissue.

* The survey measured the patients self-assessed quality of life on a 0-6 scale, with adverse Quality of Life correlated in ascending numerical order.

Over the course of the study, the patient group averaged an increase of 35.5% to their Quality of Life (QLS) score within three months of treatment. While in the QIS, 84% of all patients found that their Quality of Life score had improved within three months of treatment (figure 1.3).

Within the PFT results, 48% of patients tested saw an increase of over 10% to their original pulmonary function with an average increase of 16%. During the three to six month period after treatment, patients saw a small decline in their progress, with QLS scores dropping from 35.5% to 32%, and the QIS from 84% to 77%.Fletcher and Petos work shows that patient survival rate can be improved through appropriate or positive intervention14 (figure 1.4). It remains to be seen if better quality of life will translate to longevity, but if one examines what factors allow for improved quality of life such as improvement in oxygen use, exercise tolerance, medication use, visits to the hospital and reduction in disease flare ups then one can see that quality of life improves in association with clinical improvement.

Currently the most utilized options for treating COPD are bronchodilator inhalers with or without corticosteroids and lung transplant each has downsides. Inhalers are often used incorrectly11, are expensive over time, and can only provide temporary relief of symptoms. Corticosteroids, though useful, have risk of serious adverse side effects such as infections, blood sugar imbalance, and weight gain to name a few 16. Lung transplants are expensive, have an adverse impact on quality of life and have a high probability of rejection by the body the treatment of which creates a new set of problems for patients. In contrast, initial studies of stem cells treatments show efficacy, lack of adverse side effects and may be used safely in conjunction with other treatments.

Through the data collected by the Lung Institute, developing methodologies for this form of treatment are quickly taking place as other entities of the medical community follow suit. In a recent study of regenerative stem cell therapy done by the University of Utah, patients exhibited improvement in PFTs and oxygen requirement compared to the control group with no acute adverse events12. Through the infusion of stem cells derived from the patients own body, stem cell therapy minimizes the chance of rejection to the highest degree, promotes healing and can improve the patients pulmonary function and quality of life with no adverse side effects.

Although more studies using a greater number of patients is needed to further examine objective parameters such as PFTs, exercise tests, oxygen, medication use and hospital visits, larger sample sizes will also help determine if one protocol is more beneficial than others. With deeper research, utilizing economic analysis along with longer-term follow up will answer questions on patient selection, the benefits of repeated treatments, and a possible reduction in healthcare costs for COPD treatment.

The field of Cellular Therapy and Regenerative Medicine is rapidly advancing and providing effective treatments for diseases in many areas of medicine.The Lung Institutes strives to provide the latest in safe, effective therapy for chronic lung disease and maintain a leadership role in the clinical application of these technologies.

In a landscape of scarce options and rising costs, the Lung Institute believes that stem cell therapy is the future of treatment for those suffering from COPD and other lung diseases. Although data is limited at this stage, we are proud to champion this form of treatment while sharing our findings.

See the rest here:
Lung Institute | Stem Cell Research Study for Lung Disease

In an apparent major breakthrough, scientists in Korea report using umbilical cord blood stem cells to restore feeling and mobility to a spinal-cord injury patient.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cythotherapy, centered on a woman had been a paraplegic 19 years due to an accident.

After an infusion of umbilical cord blood stem cells, stunning results were recorded:

The patient could move her hips and feel her hip skin on day 15 after transplantation. On day 25 after transplantation her feet responded to stimulation.

Umbilical cord cells are considered adult stem cells, in contrast to embryonic stem cells, which have raised ethical concerns because a human embryo must be destroyed in order to harvest them.

The report said motor activity was noticed on day 7, and she was able to maintain an upright position on day 13. Fifteen days after surgery, she began to elevate both lower legs about one centimeter.

The studys abstract says not only did the patient regain feeling, but 41 days after stem cell transplantation, testing also showed regeneration of the spinal cord at the injured cite and below it.

The scientists conclude the transplantation could be a good treatment method for paraplegic patients.

Bioethics specialist Wesley J. Smith, writing in Lifesite.com, expressed enthusiasm about the apparent breakthrough, but also urged caution.

We have to be cautious, said Smith, a senior fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute and a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture. One patient does not a treatment make.

The authors of the study note, writes Smith, that the lamenectomy the patient received might have offered some benefit.

But still, this is a wonderful story that offers tremendous hope for paralyzed patients, he said.

The fact that the patient has a very old injury, Smith added, makes the results even more dramatic.

Smith said he has known about the study for some time, but because I didnt want to be guilty of the same hyping that is so often engaged in by some therapeutic cloning proponents, I waited until it was published in a peer reviewed journal.

Like most breakthroughs using adult stem cells, this one has been completely ignored by the U.S. mainstream media, Smith pointed out.

Can you imagine the headlines if the cells used had been embryonic? he asked.

Read the original post:
Paraplegic breakthrough using adult stem cells - WND

(May, 2010) If there was ever a woman on a mission, its Laura Dominguez. Doctors once told her shed never walk again. And while shes not ready to run a marathon, shes already proving them wrong, with the best yet to come.

An oil spill on a San Antonio freeway is blamed for the car crash that sent Laura and her brother directly into a retaining wall one summer afternoon in 2001. Laura was just 16 years old at the time and the crash left her completely paralyzed from the neck down. Surgeons say she suffered whats known as a C6 vertebrae fracture that severely damaged her spinal cord.

I refused to accept their prognosis that I never would walk again and began searching for other options, says Laura. After stays in several hospitals for nearly a year, Laura and her mother relocated to San Diego, CA so that she could undergo extensive physical therapy. While in California, they met a family whose daughter was suffering from a similar spinal cord injury. They were also looking for other alternatives to deal with spinal cord injuries.

After extensive research and consultations with medical experts in the field of spinal cord injuries, they decided to explore a groundbreaking new surgical procedure using adult stem cells pioneered by Dr. Carlos Lima of Portugal.

The surgery involved the removal of tissue from the olfactory sinus area at the back of the nose--and transplanting it into the spinal cord at the injury site. Both procedures, the harvesting of the tissue and the transplant, were done at the same time. Laura was the tenth person in the world and the second American to have this procedure done and was featured in a special report by PBS called Miracle Cell.(Link to Miracle Cell (PBS) Episode)

Following the surgery she returned to California where she continued with the physical therapy regimen, then eventually returned home to San Antonio. Upon her return home, an MRI revealed her spinal cord was beginning to heal. Approximately 70% of the lesion now looked like normal spinal cord tissue. More importantly to Laura, she began to regain feeling in parts of her upper body and within six months of the surgery regained feeling down to her abdomen.

Improvements in sensory feelings have continued until the present time. She can feel down to her hips, and has regained feeling and some movement in her legs. Lauras upper body has gained more strength and balance and one of the most evident improvements has been her ability to stand and remain standing, using a walker, and with minimal assistance. When she stands she can contract her quadriceps and hamstring muscles.

Every week it seems Im able to do something new, something different that I hadnt done the week before, says Laura.

Now Lauras story is poised to take a new, potentially groundbreaking turn. In the Fall of 2009, she traveled again to Portugal where adult stem cells were extracted from her nose for culturing. As this story is written, she is preparing to fly back to Portugal where scar tissue at her injury site will be removed and her own adult stem cells injected in the area of her original wound.

The Laura Dominguez story is not complete. The next chapter may or may not yield the results she seeksbut no one can deny the determination and courage of Laura. For her part, she has one goal in mind: I will walk again.

We shall update this site and keep you informed on her progress.

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Adult Stem Cell Success Story | Spinal Cord Injury | SCRF

Bone marrow, also called myeloid tissue, soft, gelatinous tissue that fills the cavities of the bones. Bone marrow is either red or yellow, depending upon the preponderance of hematopoietic (red) or fatty (yellow) tissue. In humans the red bone marrow forms all of the blood cells with the exception of the lymphocytes, which are produced in the marrow and reach their mature form in the lymphoid organs. Red bone marrow also contributes, along with the liver and spleen, to the destruction of old red blood cells. Yellow bone marrow serves primarily as a storehouse for fats but may be converted to red marrow under certain conditions, such as severe blood loss or fever. At birth and until about the age of seven, all human marrow is red, as the need for new blood formation is high. Thereafter, fat tissue gradually replaces the red marrow, which in adults is found only in the vertebrae, hips, breastbone, ribs, and skull and at the ends of the long bones of the arm and leg; other cancellous, or spongy, bones and the central cavities of the long bones are filled with yellow marrow.

Red marrow consists of a delicate, highly vascular fibrous tissue containing stem cells, which differentiate into various blood cells. Stem cells first become precursors, or blast cells, of various kinds; normoblasts give rise to the red blood cells (erythrocytes), and myeloblasts become the granulocytes, a type of white blood cell (leukocyte). Platelets, small blood cell fragments involved in clotting, form from giant marrow cells called megakaryocytes. The new blood cells are released into the sinusoids, large thin-walled vessels that drain into the veins of the bone. In mammals, blood formation in adults takes place predominantly in the marrow. In lower vertebrates a number of other tissues may also produce blood cells, including the liver and the spleen.

Because the white blood cells produced in the bone marrow are involved in the bodys immune defenses, marrow transplants have been used to treat certain types of immune deficiency and hematological disorders, especially leukemia. The sensitivity of marrow to damage by radiation therapy and some anticancer drugs accounts for the tendency of these treatments to impair immunity and blood production.

Examination of the bone marrow is helpful in diagnosing certain diseases, especially those related to blood and blood-forming organs, because it provides information on iron stores and blood production. Bone marrow aspiration, the direct removal of a small amount (about 1 ml) of bone marrow, is accomplished by suction through a hollow needle. The needle is usually inserted into the hip or sternum (breastbone) in adults and into the upper part of the tibia (the larger bone of the lower leg) in children. The necessity for a bone marrow aspiration is ordinarily based on previous blood studies and is particularly useful in providing information on various stages of immature blood cells. Disorders in which bone marrow examination is of special diagnostic value include leukemia, multiple myeloma, Gaucher disease, unusual cases of anemia, and other hematological diseases.

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Bone marrow | anatomy | Britannica.com

Stem cell can be isolated from the the bone marrow and adipose tissue in the abdomen that are capable of forming new blood vessels and heart muscle cells. The cell number is so small in the tissues that the cells should be grown for several weeks before there is enough for the treatment of patients.

We have conducted three clinical stem cell therapy studies in which patients with coronary artery disease havebeen treated with their own mesenchymal stem cells from either the bone marrow or adipose tissue. Encouraging results are available from two studies and there is ongoing follow-up in the third study. Treatments with stem cells have in all previous studies been without any side effects.

During the course of the SCIENCE study a total of 138 patients with heart failure will be included and treated in a so-called blinded placebo-controlled design. This means that 92 patients will receive stem cells and 46 patients placebo (inactive medication, saline). Choice of treatment will be done by drawing lots. The study is carried out by an international collaboration between cardiac centers in Denmark, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Sloveniaand the industrial partners Terumo BCT and COOK Tegentec.

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The spinal cord is a column of nerve tissue. It runs from the brain stem down the back through the centre of the vertebrae, which are the bones of the spinal column. The nerves in the spinal cord carry messages (electrical signals) between the brain and the rest of the body. Spinal cord compression (also called cord compression) is a problem that occurs when something, such as a tumour, puts pressure on the spinal cord. The pressure causes swelling and means that less blood can reach the spinal cord and nerves.

Spinal cord compression is a serious condition that needs to be treated right away.

Spinal cord compression can be caused by any condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord. It can happen if the vertebrae are damaged or collapse. It can also develop if a tumour puts pressure on the spinal cord.

The most common cause of spinal cord compression in people with cancer is metastasis to the spine. About 60%70% of metastases to the spine occur in the middle part of the back, which is called the thoracic spine. About 20%30% of metastases happen in the lower back, or lumbosacral spine. Only about 10% of metastases happen in the upper back or neck area, which is called the cervical spine. About 30% of people with metastasis to the spine will have metastases in more than one area of the spine.

Any type of cancer can spread to the spine, but it is more common with the following cancers:

Symptoms of spinal cord compression can vary. They may be mild at first or pain may be the only symptom. As the tumour puts more pressure on the spine, the symptoms become worse and more serious.

Pain in the back or neck is a common symptom. It may feel like a band around the chest or abdomen. It can radiate, or spread out, over the lower back and into the buttocks or legs. It may also spread down the arms. The pain may be worse when you lie down.

Other symptoms of spinal cord compression include:

Your doctor will try to find the cause of spinal cord compression. This usually includes physical and neurological exams that include questions and tests to check brain, spinal cord and nerve function. Your doctor will also check your coordination and how well your muscles and reflexes are working.

Spinal cord compression is usually diagnosed by the following imaging tests:

If a centre doesnt have MRI or CT scans, the doctor may order myelography. During this procedure, an x-ray is taken after injecting a dye into the spinal canal. The spinal canal is the hollow space in the spinal column that contains the spinal cord.

Find out more about these tests and procedures.

Spinal cord compression needs to be treated right away to try to prevent permanent damage to the spinal cord. The goal of treatment is to give you the best quality of life possible. Treatments are used to:

You may be given one or more of the following treatments. Your doctor may also order physical therapy or other rehabilitation after treatment to help you maintain and improve your ability to move.

Corticosteroids are drugs that reduce swelling and lower the bodys immune response. They are used to quickly lower swelling and pressure around the spinal cord. They can also quickly relieve pain.

The healthcare team will usually start corticosteroids right away if they think you have cord compression. The dose is gradually lowered and then stopped if symptoms improve or if you start other treatments.

External beam radiation therapy is the most common treatment for spinal cord compression. It is a type of radiation therapy that uses a machine outside the body to direct radiation at a tumour and surrounding tissue. It is used to shrink a tumour pressing on the spinal cord.

You will start external beam radiation therapy as soon as possible after your doctor diagnoses cord compression. It is usually given as a short-course treatment, which means it is given for a short period of time. Treatments for most types of tumours can vary from a single treatment to daily treatments for 2 weeks. If you have lymphoma or multiple myeloma, you may need radiation therapy for up to 4 weeks. If you need surgery, radiation therapy may be given after surgery.

Surgery may be offered if the tumour doesnt respond to radiation therapy or if you already had radiation therapy. But surgery is an option for only a small number of people. Whether or not you can have surgery depends on the type of tumour, where the tumour is and how unstable the spine may be. Other factors include whether or not the specialized equipment and a trained neurosurgeon are available in your area and the overall prognosis of the cancer.

Surgery is used to remove as much of the tumour as possible. It is also used to stabilize the spine and relieve pressure within the spine.

The surgeon may remove parts of a vertebra to remove a tumour or relieve pressure on the spinal cord. Removing parts of a vertebra will not weaken the spine. The surgeon may place steel pins or rods to help stabilize the spine.

Your healthcare team may use drug therapy to treat the tumour. The type of drugs given will depend on the type of cancer. Chemotherapy may be used for certain types of cancer such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) or lung cancer. Hormonal therapy and chemotherapy may be given after radiation therapy or surgery for other types of cancer such as breast or prostate cancer.

If your healthcare team thinks that you are at risk of developing spinal cord compression, they may prescribe bisphosphonates. These drugs stop the body from breaking down bone. They also help strengthen bones. Bisphosphonates are used to help protect bones in the spinal column against the effects of some cancers. Find out more about bisphosphonates.

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Spinal cord compression - Canadian Cancer Society

Basic Spinal Cord Anatomy

To understand this confusion and what you are actually being told when your injury is described as being at a certain level, it is necessary to understand basic spinal anatomy. The spine and the spinal cord are two different structures. The spinal cord is a long series of nerve cells and fibers running from the base of the brain to shortly above the tailbone. It is encased in the bony vertebrae of the spine, which offers it some protection.

The spinal cord relays nerve signals from the brain to all parts of the body and from all points of the body back to the brain. Part of the confusion regarding spinal cord injury levels comes from the fact that the spine and the spinal cord each are divided into named segments which do not always correspond to each other. The spine itself is divided into vertebral segments corresponding to each of the vertebrae.

The spinal cord is divided into neurological segmental levels, meaning that the focus is on what part of the body the nerves from each section control. The spine is divided into seven neck (cervical) vertebrae, twelve chest (thoracic) vertebra, five back (lumbar) vertebrae, and five tail (sacral) vertebrae. The segments of the spine and spinal cord are designated by letters and numbers; the letters used in the designation correspond to the location on the spine or the spinal cord. For example:

The spinal cord segments are named in the same fashion, but their location does not necessarily correspond to the spinal segments location. For example:

The spinal cord is responsible for relaying the nerve messages that control voluntary and involuntary movement of the muscles, including those of the diaphragm, bowels, and bladder. It relays these messages to the rest of the body via spinal roots which branch out from the cord.

The spinal roots are nerves that go through the spines bone canal and come out at the vertebral segments of the spinal cord. Bodily functions can be disrupted by injury to the spinal cord. The amount of the impairment depends on the degree of damage and the location of the injury.

The head is held by the first and second cervical segments. The cervical cord supplies the nerves for the deltoids, biceps, triceps, wrist extensors, and hands. The phrenic nucleus (a group of cell bodies with nerve links to the diaphragm) is located in the C3 cord.

The thoracic vertebral segments compose the rear wall of the ribs and pulmonary cavity. In this area, the spinal roots compose the between the ribs nerves (intercostal nerves) which control the intercostal muscles.

The spinal cord does not travel the entire length of the spine. It ends at the second lumbar segment (L2). Spinal roots exit below the spinal cords tip (conus) in a spray; this is called the cauda equine (horses tail). Damage below the L2 generally does not interfere with leg movement, although it can contribute to weakness.

In addition to motor function, the spinal cord segments each innervate different sections of skin called dermatomes. This provides the sense of touch and pain. The area of a dermatome may expand or contract after a spinal cord injury.

The differences between some of the spinal vertebral and spinal cord levels have added to the confusion in developing a standardized rating scale for spinal cord injuries. In the 1990s, the American Spinal Cord Association devised a new scale to help eliminate ambiguities in rating scales. The ASIA scale is more accurate than previous rating systems, but there are still differences in the ways various medical specialists evaluate an SCI injury.

Dr. Wise Young, founding director of Rutgers W. M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience explains that usually neurologists (nerve specialists) will rate the level of injury at the first spinal segment level which exhibits loss of normal function; however, rehabilitation doctors (physiatrists) usually rate the level of injury at the lowest spinal segment level which remains normal.

For example, a neurologist might say that an individual with normal sensations in the C3 spinal segment who lacks sensation at the C4 spinal segment should be classified as a sensory level C4, but a physiatrist might call it a C3 injury level. Obviously, these differences are confusing to the patient and to the patients family. People with a spinal cord injury simply want to know what level of disability they will have and how much function they are likely to regain. Adding to the confusion is the debate over how to define complete versus incomplete injuries.

For many years, a complete spinal cord injury was thought of as meaning no conscious sensations or voluntary muscle use below the site of the injury; however, this does not take in to account that partial preservation of function below the injury site is rather common. This definition of a complete injury also failed to take into account the fact that may people have lateral preservation (function on one side).

In addition, a person may later recover a degree of function, after being labeled in the first few days after the injury as having a complete injury. In 1992, the American Spinal Cord Association sought to remedy this dilemma by coming up with a simple definition of complete injury.

According to the ASIA scale, a person has a complete injury if they have no sensory or motor function in the perineal and anal region; this area corresponds to the lowest part of the sacral cord (S4-S5). A rectal examination is used to help determine function in this area. The ASIA Scale is classified as follows:

At this point, if you are a patient with a spinal cord injury or the family member of a spinal cord injury patient you may be more confused than ever. How do these ratings apply to the daily life of someone with a spinal cord injury? A brief overview of the basic definitions may help.

This is the greatest level of paralysis. Complete C1-C4 tetraplegia means that the person has no motor function of the arms or legs. He or she generally can move the neck and possibly shrug the shoulders. When the injury is at the C1-C3 level, the person will usually need to be on a ventilator for the long-term; fortunately, new techniques may be able to reduce the need for a ventilator.

A person whose injury is at the C4 level usually will not need to use the ventilator for the long-term, but will likely need ventilation in the first days after the injury. People with complete C1-C4 quadriplegia may be able to use a power wheelchair that can be controlled with the chin or the breath. They may be able control a computer with adaptive devices in a similar fashion and some can work in this way. They can also control light switches, bed controls, televisions and so with the help of adaptive devices. They will require a caregivers assistance for most or all of their daily needs.

People with C5 tetraplegia can flex their elbows and with the help of assistive devices to help them hold objects, they can learn to feed and groom themselves. With some help they can dress their upper body and change positions in bed. They can use a power wheelchair equipped with hand controls and some may be able use a manual wheelchair with grip attachments for a short distance on level ground.

People with C5 will need to rely on caregivers for transfers from bed to chair and so forth, and for assistance with bladder and bowel management, as well as with bathing and dressing the lower body. Adaptive technology can help these people be independent in many areas, including driving. People with C5 tetraplegia can drive a vehicle equipped with hand controls.

People with C6 tetraplegia have the use both of the elbow and the wrist and with assistive support can grasp objects. Some people with C6 learn to transfer independently with the help of a slide board. Some can also handle bladder and bowel management with assistive devices, although this can be difficult.

People with C6 can learn to feed, groom, and bath themselves with the help of assistance devices. They can operate a manual wheelchair with grip attachments and they can drive specially adapted vehicles. Most people with C6 will need some assistance from a caregiver at times.

People with C7 tetraplegia can extend the elbow, which allows them greater freedom of movement. People with C7 can live independently. They can learn to feed and bath themselves and to dress the upper body. They can move in bed by themselves and transfer by themselves. They can operate a manual wheelchair, but will need help negotiating curbs. They can drive specially-equipped vehicles. They can write, type, answer phones, and use computers; some may need assistive devices to do so, while others will not.

People with C8 tetraplegia can flex their fingers, allowing them a better grip on objects. They can learn to feed, groom, dress, and bath themselves without help. They can manage bladder and bowel care and transfer by themselves. They can use a manual wheelchair and type, write, answer the phone and use the computer. They can drive vehicles adapted with hand controls.

People with T1-T12 paraplegia have nerve sensation and function of all their upper extremities. They can become functionally independent, feeding and grooming themselves and cooking and doing light housework. They can transfer independently and manage bladder and bowel function. They can handle a wheelchair quite well and can learn to negotiate over uneven surfaces and handle curbs. They can drive specially adaptive vehicles.

People with a T2-T9 injury may have enough torso control to be able to stand with the help of braces and a walker or crutches. People with a T10-T12 injury have better torso control than those with a T2-T9 injury, and they may be able to walk short distances with the aid of a walker or crutches.

Some can even go up and down stairs; however, walking with such an injury requires a great deal of effort and can quickly exhaust the patient. Many people with thoracic paraplegia prefer to use a wheelchair so that they will not tire so quickly.

People with sacral or lumbar paraplegia can be functionally independent in all of their self-care and mobility needs. They can learn to skillfully handle a manual wheelchair and can drive specially equipped vehicles. People with a lumbar injury can usually learn to walk for distances of 150 feet or longer, using assistive devices. Some can walk this distance without assistance devices. Most rely on a manual wheelchair when longer distances must be covered.

There are many other functional scales besides the ASIA scale, but it is the most frequently used. Neurologists find the NLOI (the Neurological level of injury) scale helpful; it is a simply administered test of motor function and range of motion. The Function Independence Measure (FIM) evaluates function in mobility, locomotion, self-care, continence, communication, and social cognition on a 7-point scale.

The Quadriplegic Index of Function (QIF) detects small, clinically significant changes in people with tetraplegia. Other scales include the Modified Barthel Index, the Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM), the Capabilities of Upper Extremity Instrument (CUE), the Walking Index for SCI (WISCI), and the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM).

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Levels of Spinal Cord Injury - Brain and Spinal Cord

Espaol

Katie Sharify had six days to decide: would she let her broken body become experimental territory for a revolutionary new approacheven if it was unlikely to do her any good? The question was barely fathomable. She had only just regained consciousness. A week earlier, she had been in a car crash that damaged her spine, leaving her with no sensation from the chest down. In the confusion and emotion of those first few days, the family thought that the treatment would fix Katie's mangled spinal cord. But that was never the goal. The objective, in fact, was simply to test the safety of the treatment. The misunderstanding a cure, and then no cure -- plunged the 23-year-old from hope to despair. And yet she couldn't let the idea of this experimental approach go.

Just days after learning that she would never walk again, that she would never know when her bladder was full, that she would not feel it if she broke her ankle, she was thinking about the next girl who might lie in this bed with a spinal injury. If Katie walked away from this experimental approachwhat would happen to others that came after her?

Her medical team provided a crash course in stem cell therapy to help Katie think things through. In this case the team had taken stem cells obtained from a five-day old embryo and converted them into cells that support communication between the brain and body. Those cells would be transplanted into the injured spines. Earlier experiments in animal models suggested that, once in place, these cells might help regenerate a patient's own nerve tissue. But before scientists could do the experiment, they needed to make sure the technique they were using was safe by using a small number of cells, too few to likely have any benefit. And that's why they wanted Katies help in this CIRM-funded trial. They explained the risks. They explained that she was unlikely to derive any benefit. They explained that she was just a step along the way. Even so, Katie agreed. She became the fifth patient in what's called a Phase I trial: part of the long, arduous process required to bring new therapies to patients. Shortly after she was treated the trial stopped enrolling patients for financial reasons.

That was in 2011. Since then, she has been through an intensive physical therapy program to increase her strength. She went back to college. She tried skiing and surfing. She learned how to make life work in this new body. But as she rebuilt her life she wondered if taking part in the clinical trial had truly made a difference.

"I was frustrated at first. I felt hopeless. Why did I even do this? Why did I even bother?" But soon she began to see how small advances were moving the science forward. She learned the steep challenges that await new therapies. Then in 2014, she discovered that the research she participated in was deemed to be safe and is about to enter its next phase, thanks to a $14.3 million grant from CIRM to Asterias Biotherapeutics. "This has been my wish from day one," Katie says.

"It gives me so much hope to know there is an organization that cares and wants to push these therapies forward, that wants to find a cure or a treatment," she says. "I don't know what I would do if I thought nobody cared, nobody wanted to take any risks, nobody wanted to put any funding into spinal cord injuries.

"I really have to have some ray of hope to hold onto, and for me, CIRM is that ray of hope."

For more information about CIRM-funded spinal cord injury research, visit our fact sheet.

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Stories of Hope: Spinal Cord Injury | California's Stem ...

Disease Team Award DR1-01461, autologous cardiac-derived cells for advanced ischemic cardiomyopathy, is targeted at developing novel therapies for the treatment of heart failure, a condition which afflicts 7 million Americans. Heart failure, when symptomatic, has a mortality exceeding that of many malignant tumors; new therapies are desperately needed. In the second year of CIRM support, pivotal pre-clinical studies have been completed. We have found that dose-optimized injection of CSps preserves systolic function, attenuates remodeling, decreases scar size and increases viable myocardium in a porcine model of ischemic cardiomyopathy. The 3D microtissues engraft efficiently in preclinical models of heart failure, as expected from prior work indicating their complex multi-layer nature combining cardiac progenitors, supporting cells and derivatives into the cardiomyocyte and endothelial lineages. Analysis of the MRI data continues. We have developed standard operating procedures for cardiosphere manufacturing and release criteria, product and freezing/thawing stability testing have been completed for the 3D microtissue development candidate. We have identified two candidate potency assays for future development. The disease team will evaluate the results of the safety study (immunology, histology, and markers of ischemic injury) and complete the pivotal pig study in Q1 2012. With data in hand, full efforts will be placed on preparation of the IND for Q2 2012 submission.

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Autologous cardiac-derived cells for advanced ischemic ...

In a finding that may provide a potential cure for baldness, researchers have used stem cells from mice to develop a skin patch that is complete with hair follicles in a laboratory.

Using the skin model, the scientists developed both the epidermis (upper) and dermis (lower) layers of skin, which grow together in a process that allows hair follicles to form the same way as they would in a mouses body.

The novel skin tissue more closely resembles natural hair than existing models and may prove useful for testing drugs, understanding hair growth, and reducing the practice of animal testing, the researchers said.

You can see the organoids with your naked eye, said Karl Koehler, assistant professor at the Indiana University. It looks like a little ball of pocket lint that floats around in the culture medium. The skin develops as a spherical cyst, and then the hair follicles grow outward in all directions, like dandelion seeds.

The scientists developed both the epidermis (upper) and dermis (lower) layers of skin, which grow together in a process that allows hair follicles to form the same way as they would in a mouses body.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the study, published in Cell Reports, Koehler and team originally began using pluripotent stem cells from mice, which can develop into any type of cells in the body, to create organoids -- miniature organs in vitro -- that model the inner ear.

But they discovered that they were generating skin cells in addition to inner ear tissue. Thus, they decided to coax the cells into sprouting hair follicles. Moreover, they found that mouse skin organoid technique could be used as a blueprint to generate human skin organoids.

It could be potentially a superior model for testing drugs, or looking at things like the development of skin cancers, within an environment thats more representative of the in vivo microenvironment, Koehler noted.

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Hairy skin from mouse stem cells may hold a cure for ...

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside some of your bones, such as your hip and thigh bones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells. The stem cells can develop into red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, white blood cells, which fight infections, and platelets, which help the blood to clot.

A bone marrow transplant is a procedure that replaces a person's faulty bone marrow stem cells. Doctors use these transplants to treat people with certain diseases, such as

Before you have a transplant, you need to get high doses of chemotherapy and possibly radiation. This destroys the faulty stem cells in your bone marrow. It also suppresses your body's immune system so that it won't attack the new stem cells after the transplant.

In some cases, you can donate your own bone marrow stem cells in advance. The cells are saved and then used later on. Or you can get cells from a donor. The donor might be a family member or unrelated person.

Bone marrow transplantation has serious risks. Some complications can be life-threatening. But for some people, it is the best hope for a cure or a longer life.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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Bone Marrow Transplantation | Bone Marrow Transplant ...

COPD

Over 32 million Americans suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (also known as COPD). COPD is a progressive lung disease, however regenerative medicine, such as lung regeneration therapies using stem cells are showing potential for COPD by encouraging tissue repair and reducing inflammation to the diseased lung tissue.

Following up with stem cell therapy and exome therapy immediately in the first 36 to 48 hours after stroke symptoms surface has proven to be crucial to long-term recovery and regaining mobility again. Cell therapy also calms post-stroke inflammation in the body, and reduces risk of serious infections.

Parkinsons is a neurodegenerative brain disorder caused by the gradual loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. It afflicts more than 1 million people in the U.S., and currently, there is no known cure. Stem cell therapies have been showing incredible progress. Using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, a mature cell can be reprogrammed into an embryonic-like, healthy and highly-functioning state, which has the potential to become a dopamine-producing cell in the brain.

A thick, full head of hair is possible, naturally! Stem cell and exosome therapy promotes healing from within to naturally stimulate hair follicles, which encourages new hair growth. Using your own stem cells, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and exosomes, you can regrow your own healthy, thick hair naturally and restore your confidence!

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is the inability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual intercourse. Regenerative medicine offers a non-surgical option that commonly uses the patients own stem cells, exosomes, and other sources of growth factors to regenerate healthy tissue to improve performance and sensation.

If chronic joint pain is derailing your active lifestyle, then youre not alone. Regenerative medicine offers a non-surgical option that commonly uses the patients own stem cells, exosomes, and other sources of growth factors to reduce inflammation, promote natural healing and regenerate healthy tissue surrounding the joint for relief.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects 400,000 people in the U.S., and occurs when the body has an abnormal immune system response and attacks the central nervous system. Regenerative medicine now offers treatment for MS with stem cell therapy, which is an exciting and rapidly developing field of therapy. Stem cells work to repair damaged cells these new cells can become replacement cells to restore normal functionality.

Spinal cord injuries are as complex as they are devastating. Today, cellular treatments, usually a combination of therapies, such as stem cell, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and exosome therapy with growth factors are showing promise in contributing to spinal cord repair and reducing inflammation at the site of injury.

If you have chronic nerve injury pain that doesnt fade, your health care provider may recommend surgery to reverse the damage. However, regenerative medicine offers a non-surgical option to repair damaged tissue and reduce inflammation at the site of injury. Stem cell therapy commonly uses the patients own stem cells, exosomes, and other sources of growth factors to regenerate healthy tissue.

Neuropathy also called peripheral neuropathy occurs when nerves are damaged and cant send messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, skin and other parts of the body. Simply put, the two areas stop communicating. Stem cell and exosome therapies treat damaged nerves affected by neuropathy, and they have the ability to replicate and create new, healthy cells, while repairing damaged tissue.

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Stem Cell Center Of NJ New Jersey Stem Cell Therapy