Knee arthritis one year after bone marrow stem cells by Harry Adelson, N.D.
Christine discusses her results of her stem cell injection by Dr Harry Adelson for her arthritic knees http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Knee arthritis one year after bone marrow stem cells by Harry Adelson, N.D. - Video

(PRWEB UK) 11 September 2014

Without doubt the best stem cells are those found in the baby teeth of young children.

Why? Apart from their unique ability to morph and change into other stem cells, thus treating a far wider range of illnesses and conditions, mesenchymal stem cells can proliferate outside the body, and where children are concerned no tooth extraction is needed as they fall out naturally. Above all it is important to remember that the best type of cells are those which are young, and therefore have not been contaminated by a lifetime of use and exposure.

So does that mean for adults there is no hope for stem cell retrieval from their adult teeth and little chance of success if they are needed in stem cell therapy?

Not necessarily, says Mike Byrom, Chief Scientific Officer at specialist tooth stem cell bank, BioEden.

Stem cell therapy is not a black and white type of event. There are varying degrees of success based on many factors of which the capacity of the cells is one. The functional capacity of a 44 year old cell is not as good as that of a 6 year old but that does not mean that they have no value. Our requirements for storing material mean that the cells demonstrate acceptable growth rates, expected cellular morphology and growth characteristics which indicate their ability to differentiate into tissue specific lineage cell types. If the cells do not meet our minimum criteria for usefulness we will not store them.'

Aside from these tests we cannot make any specific guarantees about the cells usefulness. Adults should not be put off attempting to store their stem cells and can have faith that if we successfully complete the process of stem cell extraction then the cells are of high enough quality to be useful should they be required.

BioEden do not make any charge for the process of harvesting stem cells where no viable stem cells can be found.

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BioEden's Chief Scientific Officer Says Viable Stem Cells Can Be Found in Adult Teeth

Researchers at EMBL-EBI have resolved a long-standing challenge in stem cell biology by successfully 'resetting' human pluripotent stem cells to a fully pristine state, at point of their greatest developmental potential. The study, published in Cell, involved scientists from the UK, Germany and Japan and was led jointly by EMBL-EBI and the University of Cambridge.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells, which originate in early development, are capable of differentiating into any type of cell. Until now, scientists have only been able to revert 'adult' human cells (for example, liver, lung or skin) into pluripotent stem cells with slightly different properties that predispose them to becoming cells of certain types. Authentic ES cells have only been derived from mice and rats.

"Reverting mouse cells to a completely 'blank slate' has become routine, but generating equivalent nave human cell lines has proven far more challenging," says Dr Paul Bertone, Research Group Leader at EMBL-EBI and a senior author on the study. "Human pluripotent cells resemble a cell type that appears slightly later in mammalian development, after the embryo has implanted in the uterus."

At this point, subtle changes in gene expression begin to influence the cells, which are then considered 'primed' towards a particular lineage. Although pluripotent human cells can be cultured from in vitro fertilised (IVF) embryos, until now there have been no human cells comparable to those obtained from the mouse.

Wiping cell memory

"For years, it was thought that we could be missing the developmental window when nave human cells could be captured, or that the right growth conditions hadn't been found," Paul explains. "But with the advent of iPS cell technologies, it should have been possible to drive specialised human cells back to an earlier state, regardless of their origin -- if that state existed in primates."

Taking a new approach, the scientists used reprogramming methods to express two different genes, NANOG and KLF2, which reset the cells. They then maintained the cells indefinitely by inhibiting specific biological pathways. The resulting cells are capable of differentiating into any adult cell type, and are genetically normal.

The experimental work was conducted hand-in-hand with computational analysis.

"We needed to understand where these cells lie in the spectrum of the human and mouse pluripotent cells that have already been produced," explains Paul. "We worked with the EMBL Genomics Core Facility to produce comprehensive transcriptional data for all the conditions we explored. We could then compare reset human cells to genuine mouse ES cells, and indeed we found they shared many similarities."

Together with Professor Wolf Reik at the Babraham Institute, the researchers also showed that DNA methylation (biochemical marks that influence gene expression) was erased over much of the genome, indicating that reset cells are not restricted in the cell types they can produce. In this more permissive state, the cells no longer retain the memory of their previous lineages and revert to a blank slate with unrestricted potential to become any adult cell.

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Scientists revert human stem cells to pristine state

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San Diego scientists have taken a neurochemical fingerprint of schizophrenia. And they did it without probing the brains of lab mice.

San Diego scientists have taken a neurochemical fingerprint of schizophrenia. And they did it without probing the brains of lab mice.

UC San Diego's Vivian Hook, first author of a paper published Thursday in Stem Cell Reports, says mice just wouldn't cut it for her research on schizophrenia.

"The basic reason I didn't do it in mice is because mice naturally don't get schizophrenia," Hook said.

Hook and her colleagues tried a fairly new approach. They took skin cells from three schizophrenia patients, converted them into stem cells, and then turned those stem cells into brain cells. They ended up with tiny brain fragments in a dish, which mirrored the cells inside the actual brains of those human patients.

"We found that the schizophrenic neurons showed aberrant increases in certain neurotransmitters. The cells were pumping out more dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine than non-schizophrenic brain cells," Hook said. "There's a chemical imbalance that has been predicted in schizophrenia, and these model schizophrenic-derived nerve cells provide data showing that."

Hook says the study also proves that stem-cell derived neurons can secrete neurotransmitters, just like cells in living human brains. That could open up research into new drugs for schizophrenia, and could potentially help answer longstanding questions about conditions like autism, ALS and Alzheimer's.

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Stem Cells Give San Diego Scientists Useful Portrait Of Schizophrenia

Surgeons implanted retinal tissue created after reverting the patient's own cells to a "pluripotent" state

Researchers were able to grow sheets of retinal tissue from induced pluripotent stem cells, and have now implanted them for the first time in a patient. Credit: RIKEN/Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation

A Japanese woman in her 70s is the world's first recipient of cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, a technology that has created great expectations since it could offer the same advantages as embryo-derived cells but without some of the controversial aspects and safety concerns.

In a two-hour procedure starting at 14:20 local time today, a team of three eye specialists lead by Yasuo Kurimoto of the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, transplanted a 1.3 by 3.0 millimeter sheet of retinal pigment epithelium cells into an eye of the Hyogo prefecture resident, who suffers from age-related macular degeneration.

The procedure took place at the Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation Hospital, next to the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) where ophthalmologist Masayo Takahashi had developed and tested the epithelium sheets. She derived them from the patient's skin cells, after producing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and then getting them to differentiate into retinal cells.

Afterwards, the patient experienced no effusive bleeding or other serious problems, RIKEN has reported.

The patient took on all the risk that go with the treatment as well as the surgery, Kurimoto said in a statement released by RIKEN. I have deep respect for bravery she showed in resolving to go through with it.

He hit a somber note in thankingYoshiki Sasai, a CDB researcher who recenty committed suicide. This project could not have existed without the late Yoshiki Sasais research, which led the way to differentiating retinal tissue from stem cells.

Kurimoto also thanked Shinya Yamanaka, a stem-cell scientist at Kyoto University without whose discovery of iPS cells, this clinical research would not be possible. Yamanaka shared the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for that work.

Kurimoto performed the procedure a mere four days after a health-ministry committee gave Takahashi clearance for the human trials (see 'Next-generation stem cells cleared for human trial').

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Next-Generation Stem Cells Transplanted in Human for the First Time

GIOSTAR- STEM CELL THERAPY DR ANAND SHRIVASTAVA
Global Institute of Stem cell Therapy and Research - GIOSTAR Introduction to Stem Cell Therapy, and Dr.Anand Shrivastava - Chairman Co-founder of GIOSTAR.

By: Devang Parmar

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GIOSTAR- STEM CELL THERAPY & DR ANAND SHRIVASTAVA - Video

TIME Health medicine Woman Receives First Stem Cell Therapy Using Her Own Skin Cells A Japanese woman is the first to receive retinal cells made from her own skin cells

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan surgically transplanted a sheet of retinal pigment cells into the eye of a 70-year old woman on Friday.

The cells are the first induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, given to a human patient. They were made by Masayo Takahashi, who grew them from the patients own skin cells, which were treated with four genetic factors to revert back to an embryonic-like state. Takahashi then soaked the cells with the appropriate growth factors and other compounds so they developed into retinal pigment cells.

The patient was losing her sight due to macular degeneration, because her retinal pigment endothelial cells were damaged by an overgrowth of blood vessels. Replacing them with a new population of cells can restore her sight.

MORE: Stem-Cell Research: The Quest Resumes

Stem cell scientists are starting to test their treatments in eye-related diseases, because parts of the eye are protected from the bodys immune system, which could recognize the introduced cells as foreign and destroy them. Thats not a problem with the iPS cells, since they are made from the patients own skin cells, but its an added safety net to ensure that the therapy is safe and hopefully effective.

Because iPS cells are genetically treated to erase their skin cell development and revert them back to an embryonic-like state when they can become any type of cell, there are still concerns about their safety when transplanted into patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved a trial involving iPS cells so far, only stem cells made from excess IVF embryos have been approved for treating macular degeneration. A 19-member committee of the Japanese ministry of health approved the experimental procedure four days ago, according to Nature, after Takahashi made her case, with the help of Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, who shared the 2012 Nobel Prize for discovering iPS cells.

MORE: Stem Cell Miracle? New Therapies May Cure Chronic Conditions like Alzheimers

Japans stem cell scientists are hoping the surgery is a success; the field has been struggling since a well-publicized paper about a new way to make iPS cells was retracted amid allegations of fraud.

Its not known whether the cells will continue to grow and form abnormal tumors, or whether they will migrate to other parts of the body. But now that the first patient has received them, those questions and more, about the effectiveness of stem cell therapy might be answered soon.

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Woman Receives First Stem Cell Therapy Using Her Own Skin Cells

Back in 2006, when controversy over embryonic stem cell funding was still raging, a piece of research came along that would make the debate essentially obsolete: normal adult cells can actually be reprogrammed into stem cells. No embryos necessary. The technique went on to win its inventor the Nobel Prize. And now, after many years in the lab, a Japanese patient will the first person to receive the next-gen treatment, called induced pluripotent stem cells.

This first clinical trial for iPSCs has long been in the making. Part of its complexity is that cells are taken from each patient and then, through a series of lab procedures, transformed into stem cells. Each patient gets his or her own genetically matched iPSCs.

This individualization is a key advantage over embryonic stem cells, which have been tested in humans before. Special drugs are required to prevent patients' bodies from rejecting embryonic stem cells.

After some final safety checks and genetic tests, the first clinical trial is officially underway in Japan. Nature reports that the first patient will likely receive iPSCs within days. In total, the clinical trial has enrolled six patients, all of whom with an eye condition called macular degeneration that leads to blindness. The iPSCs will replace a deteriorated layer of cells in their retinas.

So far, the procedure has worked without serious adverse effects (usually tumors) in mice and monkeys. If it works in humans, iPSCs could be a promising new avenue for human stem cell therapy, which, if you remember, could hold the key to all sorts of incurable conditions from diabetes to Parkinson's to spinal cord injuries. This is a small first step in that direction. [Nature]

Top image: an eye with signs of macular degeneration. National Eye Institute

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Induced Stem Cells Will Be Tested on Humans for the First Time

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(Phys.org) For the first time, scientists have turned human skin cells into transplantable white blood cells, soldiers of the immune system that fight infections and invaders. The work, done at the Salk Institute, could let researchers create therapies that introduce into the body new white blood cells capable of attacking diseased or cancerous cells or augmenting immune responses against other disorders.

The work, as detailed in the journal Stem Cells, shows that only a bit of creative manipulation is needed to turn skin cells into human white blood cells.

"The process is quick and safe in mice," says senior author Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, holder of Salk's Roger Guillemin Chair. "It circumvents long-standing obstacles that have plagued the reprogramming of human cells for therapeutic and regenerative purposes."

Those problems includes the long timeat least two monthsand tedious laboratory work it takes to produce, characterize and differentiate induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, a method commonly used to grow new types of cells. Blood cells derived from iPS cells also have other obstacles: an inability to engraft into organs or bone marrow and a likelihood of developing tumors.

The new method takes just two weeks, does not produce tumors, and engrafts well.

"We tell skin cells to forget what they are and become what we tell them to bein this case, white blood cells," says one of the first authors and Salk researcher Ignacio Sancho-Martinez. "Only two biological molecules are needed to induce such cellular memory loss and to direct a new cell fate."

Belmonte's team developed the faster technique (called indirect lineage conversion) and previously demonstrated that these approaches could be used to produce human vascular cells, the ones that line blood vessels. Rather than reversing cells all the way back to a stem cell state before prompting them to turn into something else, such as in the case of iPS cells, the researchers "rewind" skin cells just enough to instruct them to form the more than 200 cell types that constitute the human body.

The technique demonstrated in this study uses a molecule called SOX2 to become somewhat plasticthe stage of losing their "memory" of being a specific cell type. Then, researchers use a genetic factor called miRNA125b that tells the cells that they are actually white blood cells.

The researchers are now conducting toxicology studies and cell transplantation proof-of-concept studies in advance of potential preclinical and clinical studies.

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Simple method turns human skin cells into immune-fighting white blood cells

Prof. Alexander Smikodub

MD Ph.D

Alexander Smikodub jr.

MD Ph.D

Our clinic offers the advanced and patented methods of fetal stem cell treatment for various conditions and diseases. This method of treatment can be found in wikipedia: Stem cell therapy. Fetal stem cells are non-specialized cells that differentiate (turn) into any other cell type of the body that form organs and tissues. Fetal stem cells that we use for treatment have huge potential for growth, differentiation and are not rejected by the patients body, which allows to achieve unique long-term clinical effects.

We have more than 15 years of experience in stem cell therapy and are the leaders of the industry. Most of the methodic used in the clinic are unique and patent protected in many countries including USA. Since 1994 prof. Alexander Smikodub Sr. was the main researcher, doctor and administrator of the clinic. Now his son, Alexander Smikodub Jr. M.D. continues his fathers venture. During these years more than 6500 patients from all over the world received fetal stem cell treatment, resulting in significant improvement of their conditions, and in case of timely contact with us in complete cure of the diseases still considered lethal by most medical institutions.

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Stem cells are the new word in the medical science, possibly the new revolution. Their importance can be compared with antibiotics discovery or the first successful heart transplantation. They are the inner restorative and regenerative reserve of your body, found in blood, fat layer and bone marrow. After injection of a big stem cells doze, impaired tissues are recovered, regeneration speed is increased and overall condition is greatly improved. We use only material from healthy patients, which passes multiple security checks. They are a perfect material for treating a wide variety of neural and physical diseases.

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Stem cell therapy | Stem cell treatment and medicine ...

Melbourne, Florida (PRWEB) September 11, 2014

Central Florida board-certified veterinary surgeon, Jeffrey S. Christiansen is proud to announce his partnerships with several Brevard County animal hospitals to bring regenerative veterinary medicine to pets. Dr. Christiansen has been working in the area since January 2006, credentialed to do stem cell therapy on small animals since 2008, and is happy to now offer his expertise through five different locations.

Over the years Dr. Christiansen has used stem cell therapy with Vet-Stem, Inc. on cruciate ligament and meniscus injuries, as well as osteoarthritis of the hips and other joints. Once Dr. Christiansen has identified a patient as a good stem cell therapy candidate, the pet undergoes a simple surgery to collect fat that is sent overnight to Vet-Stems lab in California. The day after the collection the fat is processed so stem cells can be extracted and put into concentrated, injectable doses. These doses are shipped back overnight to Dr. Christiansen and he is able to place them in the affected areas of the patient to encourage healing and regeneration.

Even if a pet is not an immediate candidate for stem cell therapy, but is undergoing an orthopedic or other type of surgery with Dr. Christiansen, he offers the ability to collect a small sample of fat for future stem cell use with Vet-Stem. Vet-Stem has the ability to cryo-bank stem cells and grow them in the future to provide doses when needed. This service is called StemInsure for dogs, and provides the insurance of a pet having a lifetime of stem cell therapy available from a single sample collection.

Stem cell therapy can be an alternative for pets that are unable to take anti-inflammatories or have digestive issues, as well as pets that are looking at long-term pain management. Because the stem cells come directly from the patient risk is low, and the procedure is natural.

As part of Superior Veterinary Surgical (and less-invasive) Solutions, Dr. Christiansen will be offering stem cell therapy at the following clinics beginning in September: Island Animal Hospital in Merritt Island, Brevard Animal Emergency Hospital in Malabar, Aloha Pet and Bird Hospital in Indian Harbour, Maybeck Animal Hospital in West Melbourne, and the Animal Emergency and Referral Center in Fort Pierce. He is bringing nearly 20 years of veterinary medicine experience with him, and takes pride in specializing in soft tissue, orthopedic, and spinal surgery.

About Dr. Christiansen and Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions Jeffrey S. Christiansen, DVM, DACVS graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. He completed his surgical residency in 2001, following an internship, and in 2002 he became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons. Dr. Christiansen has been practicing in Brevard County since the beginning of 2006 and runs Superior Veterinary Surgical Solutions. In addition to stem cell therapy, some special areas of interest to Dr. Christiansen include artificial urethral sphincter (for incontinence), juvenile pubic symphysiodesis (for prevention of arthritis secondary to hip dysplasia), prophylactic gastropexy (for prevention of gastric dilatation-volvulus, commonly referred to as bloat), subcutaneous ureteral bypass (for obstructions between the kidney and bladder in cats), ureteral stenting (for obstruction between the kidney and bladder in dogs), and urethral stenting (for urethral obstruction), tibial tuberosity advancement (for tears of the cranial cruciate ligament; ACL in people) and tracheal stenting (for tracheal collapse).

About Vet-Stem, Inc. Since its formation in 2002, Vet-Stem, Inc. has endeavored to improve the lives of animals through regenerative medicine. As the first company in the United States to provide an adipose-derived stem cell service to veterinarians for their patients, Vet-Stem pioneered the use of regenerative stem cells for horses, dogs, cats, and some exotics. In 2004 the first horse was treated with Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy for a tendon injury that would normally have been career ending. Ten years later Vet-Stem celebrated its 10,000th animal treated, and the success of establishing stem cell therapy as a regenerative medicine for certain inflammatory, degenerative, and arthritic diseases. As animal advocates, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and cell biologists, the team at Vet-Stem tasks themselves with the responsibility of discovering, refining, and bringing to market innovative medical therapies that utilize the bodys own healing and regenerative cells. For more information about Vet-Stem and Regenerative Veterinary Medicine visit http://www.vet-stem.com or call 858-748-2004.

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Dr. Jeff Christiansen is Now Offering Stem Cell Therapy for Pets at Five Brevard County Animal Hospitals and Beyond

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) September 11, 2014

The Stem Cell Institute, located in Panama City, Panama, will present an informational seminar about umbilical cord stem cell therapy on Saturday, September 20, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas at the La Cantera Hill Country Resort from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

Stem Cell Institute Speakers include:

Neil Riordan PhD Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Clinical Trials for MS and Autism: Rationale and Clinical Protocols

Dr. Riordan is the founder of the Stem Cell Institute and Medistem Panama Inc.

Jorge Paz-Rodriguez MD Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis, Inflammation and Sports Injuries

Dr. Paz is the Medical Director at the Stem Cell Institute. He practiced internal medicine in the United States for over a decade before joining the Stem Cell Institute in Panama.

Special Guest Speaker:

Janet Vaughan, DDS, MS, Professional Dancer- Successful Stem Cell Therapy in Panama: A Patients Perspective

Dr. Vaughan is Board Certified in Orthodontics (Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics) and she is a Fellow in the International College of Dentistry.

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Stem Cell Institute Public Seminar on Adult Stem Cell Therapy Clinical Trials in San Antonio, Texas September 20th, 2014

Wichita, KS (PRWEB) September 10, 2014

Ryan Benton, a 28 year-old Duchennes muscular dystrophy patient from Wichita, Kansas, received his first umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell treatment yesterday following US FDA approval of his doctors application for a single patient, investigational new drug (IND) for compassionate use.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rapidly progressive form of muscular dystrophy that occurs primarily in boys. It is caused by an alteration (mutation) in a gene, called the DMD gene, which causes the muscles to stop producing the protein dystrophin. Individuals who have DMD experience progressive loss of muscle function and weakness, which begins in the lower limbs and leads to progressively worsening disability. Death usually occurs by age 25, typically from lung disorders. There is no known cure for DMD.

This trial, officially entitled Allogeneic transplantation of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) for a single male patient with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) marks the first time the FDA has approved an investigational allogeneic stem cell treatment for Duchennes in the United States.

Ryan received his first intramuscular stem cell injections from allergy and immunology specialist, Van Strickland, M.D at Asthma and Allergy Specialists in Wichita, Kansas. He will receive 3 more treatments this week on consecutive days. Dr. Strickland will administer similar courses to Ryan every 6 months for a total of 3 years.

This is not the first time Ryan has undergone umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell therapy. Since 2009, Ryan has been traveling to the Stem Cell Institute in Panama for similar treatments. Encouraging results from these treatments prompted Dr. Strickland to seek out a way to treat Ryan in the United States.

The stem cell technology being utilized in this trial was developed by renowned stem cell scientist Neil H. Riordan, PhD. Dr. Riordan is the founder and president of the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama and Medistem Panama. Medistem Panama is providing cell harvesting and banking services for their US-based cGMP laboratory partner.

Funding for this trial is being provided by the Aidan Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Dr. Riordan in 2004 to provide financial assistance for alternative therapies to people like Ryan.

About Van Strickland, MD

Dr. Strickland came to Wichita in 1979 from his fellowship at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver. Since then he has spent one year in Wyoming, one year in Dallas, Texas and one year in Lees Summit Missouri before returning to full-time practice in Wichita, Kansas.

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After FDA Approval, Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy Patient Receives First Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Treatment in the ...

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10-Sep-2014

Contact: Sally Stewart sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute infused antibody-studded iron nanoparticles into the bloodstream to treat heart attack damage. The combined nanoparticle enabled precise localization of the body's own stem cells to the injured heart muscle.

The study, which focused on laboratory rats, was published today in the online peer reviewed journal Nature Communications. The study addresses a central challenge in stem cell therapeutics: how to achieve targeted interactions between stem cells and injured cells.

Although stem cells can be a potent weapon in the fight against certain diseases, simply infusing a patient with stem cells is no guarantee the stem cells will be able to travel to the injured area and work collaboratively with the cells already there.

"Infusing stem cells into arteries in order to regenerate injured heart muscle can be inefficient," said Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, who led the research team. "Because the heart is continuously pumping, the stem cells can be pushed out of the heart chamber before they even get a chance to begin to heal the injury."

In an attempt to target healing stem cells to the site of the injury, researchers coated iron nanoparticles with two kinds of antibodies, proteins that recognize and bind specifically to stem cells and to injured cells in the body. After the nanoparticles were infused into the bloodstream, they successfully tracked to the injured area and initiated healing.

"The result is a kind of molecular matchmaking," Marbn said. "Through magnetic resonance imaging, we were able to see the iron-tagged cells traveling to the site of injury where the healing could begin. Furthermore, targeting was enhanced even further by placing a magnet above the injured heart."

The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has been at the forefront of developing investigational stem cell treatments for heart attack patients. In 2009, Marbn and his team completed the world's first procedure in which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells. The specialized cells were then injected back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair and regrow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack. Results, published in The Lancet in 2012, showed that one year after receiving the stem cell treatment, heart attack patients demonstrated a significant reduction in the size of the scar left on the heart muscle.

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Combining antibodies, iron nanoparticles and magnets steers stem cells to injured organs

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Newswise Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in partnership with ViaCyte, Inc., a San Diego-based biotechnology firm specializing in regenerative medicine, have launched the first-ever human Phase I/II clinical trial of a stem cell-derived therapy for patients with Type 1 diabetes.

The trial will assess the safety and efficacy of a new investigational drug called VC-01, which was recently approved for testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The 2-year trial will involve four to six testing sites, the first being at UC San Diego, and will recruit approximately 40 study participants.

The goal, first and foremost, of this unprecedented human trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of various doses of VC-01 among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, said principal investigator Robert R. Henry, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at UC San Diego and chief of the Section of Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. We will be implanting specially encapsulated stem cell-derived cells under the skin of patients where its believed they will mature into pancreatic beta cells able to produce a continuous supply of needed insulin. Previous tests in animals showed promising results. We now need to determine that this approach is safe in people.

Development and testing of VC-01 is funded, in part, by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the states stem cell agency, the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center and JDRF, the leading research and advocacy organization funding type 1 diabetes research.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a life-threatening chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to allow glucose to enter cells to produce energy. It is typically diagnosed during childhood or adolescence, though it can also begin in adults. Though far less common than Type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin, Type 1 may affect up to 3 million Americans, according to the JDRF. Among Americans age 20 and younger, prevalence rose 23 percent between 2000 and 2009 and continues to rise. Currently, there is no cure. Standard treatment involves daily injections of insulin and rigorous management of diet and lifestyle.

Phase I/II clinical trials are designed to assess basic safety and efficacy of therapies never before tested in humans, uncovering unforeseen risks or complications. Unpredictable outcomes are possible. Such testing is essential to ensure that the new therapy is developed responsibly with appropriate management of risks that all medical treatments may present.

This is not yet a cure for diabetes, said Henry. The hope, nonetheless, is that this approach will ultimately transform the way individuals with Type 1 diabetes manage their disease by providing an alternative source of insulin-producing cells, potentially freeing them from daily insulin injections or external pumps.

This clinical trial at UC San Diego Health System was launched and supported by the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center. The Center was recently created to advance leading-edge stem cell medicine and science, protect and counsel patients, and accelerate innovative stem cell research into patient diagnostics and therapy.

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Clinical Trial to Test Safety of Stem Cell-Derived Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes

Kotlikoff lab

Optogenetic proteins enable visualization of a developing heart.

New technologies involving optogenetic proteins, which use light to control and observe cells with unprecedented precision, have begun to illuminate processes underlying cellular behavior and the effects of cell- and gene-based therapies. Cornell researchers are developing advanced forms of these proteins to create a toolkit to make them more widely available to scientists.

With a five-year, $3.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Healths Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the team will develop the Cornell Heart, Lung and Blood Resource for Optogenetic Mice (CHROMus), which will incorporate optogenetic proteins in mice and human stem cells. Scientists use such tools to control and observe how different types of cells function and interact.

We will target these tools so that they can be combined to study diseases of the heart, lungs, vasculature and blood, said Dr. Michael Kotlikoff, the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Cornells College of Veterinary Medicine and the projects lead investigator. Researchers will be able to use them to address a broad set of health issues, including heart attack, stroke, asthma and immune diseases.

Marrying optics and genetics, optogenetics enables scientists to use light to trigger and monitor the behavior of cells engineered to contain one or both of two types of designer proteins: effectors, which respond to light by activating the cell they are on, or sensors, which fluoresce when a cell has been activated.

Effectors and sensors can be engineered into specific kinds of cells and color-coded, letting scientists noninvasively trigger one type to see how another type responds. One can see different cell types light up in living animals, giving direct insight into specific cells roles in complex biological systems.

The lines of CHROMus mice developed in this project are designed to be easily crossbred, creating a combinatorial platform that will allow scientists to customize sets of effectors and sensors including new sensors from the Kotlikoff lab into the specific cell types they want to study.

For example, our lab is particularly interested in using these tools to study the control of blood flow to tissues what happens before, during and after major events like stroke and cardiac infarction, and how abnormal rhythms develop after heart injury, said Kotlikoff. Arrhythmias following a heart attack are the single most common cause of acute death in the western world, and how they can be prevented requires a better understanding of how, why and where they arise. Optogenetic tools let us look directly at relevant cells throughout the heart to determine their role in these dangerous and often fatal events.

The tools will be designed to allow scientists to ask and answer similar questions related to vascular and lung diseases, such as the role of the immune system in asthma and stroke, and how therapeutic stem cells integrate within the tissue that they are designed to repair.

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Optogenetics shed light on cardiac, lung, immune disease

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

9-Sep-2014

Contact: Lauren Anderson lauren.anderson@europeanlung.org 1-142-672-876 European Lung Foundation http://www.twitter.com/EuropeanLung

Munich, Germany: A new study has revealed how stem cells work to improve lung function in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Previous studies have shown that stem cells can reduce lung inflammation and restore some function in ARDS, but experts are not sure how this occurs. The new study, which was presented at the European Respiratory Society's International Congress today (09 September 2014), brings us a step closer to understanding the mechanisms that occur within an injured lung.

ARDS is a life-threatening condition in which the efficiency of the lungs is severely reduced. It is caused by damage to the capillary wall either from illness or a physical injury, such as major trauma. ARDS is characterised by excessive and dysregulated inflammation in the lung and patients require mechanical ventilation in order to breathe.

Although inflammation is usually a method by which the body heals and copes with an infection, when the inflammation is dysregulated it can lead to severe damage. Immune cells known as macrophages can coordinate the inflammatory response by driving or suppressing inflammation, depending on the stimulation.

The researchers investigated whether stem cells can affect the stimulation of the macrophages and promote the state in which they will suppress the inflammation.

They tested this in an animal model using human bone marrow-derived stem cells. Mice were infected with live bacteria to induce acute pneumonia and model the condition of ARDS. The results showed that treatment with stem cells led to significant reductions in lung injury, inflammation and improved bacterial clearance. Importantly, when stem cells were given to animals that had their macrophages artificially removed, the protective effect was gone. This suggests that the macrophages are an important part of the beneficial effects of stem cells seen in this model of ARDS.

These results were further supported by experiments where stem cells were applied to human macrophages in samples of fluid taken from lungs of patients with ARDS. Again, the stem cells were able to promote the anti-inflammatory state in the human macrophage cells. The authors have identified several proteins, secreted by the stem cells, that would be responsible for this effect.

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Study sheds light on how stem cells can be used to treat lung disease

Father-of-two James Cross, 55, suffered a heart attack in February Surgeons at the London Chest Hospital offered him a unique chance Experimental therapy involved injecting stem cells from Mr Cross's hip into his heart in the hope they would encourage the organ to repair itself It appears to have worked as Mr Cross's heart muscle function has increased from 21% after the attack to 37% and it is still improving Experts hope the new technique will increase survival rates by a quarter

By John Naish

Published: 20:38 EST, 8 September 2014 | Updated: 07:12 EST, 9 September 2014

James Cross, 55,was offered experimental treatment after suffering a heart attack in February

After James Cross had a heart attack in February, he was given a unique chance for a new life.

Surgeons at the London Chest Hospital offered the 55-year-old experimental therapy that involved injecting his own stem cells into the damaged organ.

This was done in the hope that it would encourage his heart to repair itself.

The injected stem cells should prevent the hearts muscle tissue from becoming increasingly damaged after suffering a lack of oxygen during the heart attack.

And it seems to have worked.

After the heart attack, I had 21 per cent of my heart muscle functioning, as opposed to the normal 61 per cent, says James.

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Could stem cells from your hip repair your heart after an attack?

CHILHOWIE, Va. You wouldnt think from seeing her smile and watching her run and play that there is anything wrong with 5-year-old Nevaeh Bruner of Chilhowie.

But shes lucky to be alive and faces a lengthy procedure that could be her only chance for survival.

Pam Troxel Buchanan, the little girls great aunt, and Donna Hamm, her great-great aunt, are taking care of Nevaeh and tear up just thinking about what this little girl has been through and what she faces in her fight to live.

She is a very strong little girl. I couldnt do it, said Buchanan.

Nevaeh has been diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare disease that causes a complete failure of production of all types of blood cells. As a result, the bone marrow contains large numbers of fat cells instead of the blood-producing cells that would normally be present. It is a potentially fatal blood disease in which there are not enough stem cells in the bone marrow or the stem cells have stopped working effectively.

Buchanan said that last November Nevaehs teacher at Chilhowie Elementary School noticed bruising on her body. She had shown no other symptoms of illness, Buchanan said, so her parents were advised to take her to Niswonger Childrens Hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, where there is a St. Jude affiliate clinic.

Buchanan said they spent a month running tests and the doctors told Nevaehs parents that her blood count was so low that she would not have lived much longer had she not received treatment. The little girl, who was 4-years-old at the time, has undergone numerous procedures, including surgery, transfusions, chemotherapy and radiation. She is taking oral chemotherapy and having blood transfusions as needed, but she is being weaned off the chemo to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

The chemo is also causing her kidneys to malfunction, bringing her close to kidney failure, Buchanan said.

She will always be in stage two kidney disease, Buchanan said. She will have sensitive kidneys and have to live with that.

The only option at this point is a bone marrow transplant, Buchanan said. Two donor matches have been found and the procedure will take place at St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee, at the end of this year or next spring, Buchanan said.

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One Lucky Little Girl

Aging News & Information

Aging Muscles May Be Restored by Discovery of a Key to Making Muscle

Results hailed as important step toward developing new muscle to treat muscle diseases; good news for seniors with muscles wasting away from aging

Sept. 8, 2014 Promising results have been achieved in repairing damaged tissue in muscles which could lead to a new therapeutic approach to treating the millions of people suffering from muscle diseases, including those with muscular dystrophies and muscle wasting associated with cancer and aging seniors, according to the study, published September 7 in Nature Medicine.

Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) in La Jolla, California, have developed this novel technique to promote tissue repair in damaged muscles. The technique also creates a sustainable pool of muscle stem cells needed to support multiple rounds of muscle repair.

There are two important processes that need to happen to maintain skeletal-muscle health. First, when muscle is damaged by injury or degenerative disease such as muscular dystrophy, muscle stem cellsor satellite cellsneed to differentiate into mature muscle cells to repair injured muscles.

Second, the pool of satellite cells needs to be replenished so there is a supply to repair muscle in case of future injuries. In the case of muscular dystrophy, the chronic cycles of muscle regeneration and degeneration that involve satellite-cell activation exhaust the muscle stem-cell pool to the point of no return.

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Aging Muscles May Be Restored by Discovery of a Key to Making Muscle