By Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born with so-called "bubble boy" disease can often be cured with a stem cell transplant, regardless of the donor -- but early treatment is critical, a new study finds.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), as the condition is medically known, actually refers to a group of rare genetic disorders that all but eliminate the immune system. That leaves children at high risk of severe infections.

The term "bubble boy" became popular after a Texas boy with SCID lived in a plastic bubble to ward off infections. The boy, David Vetter, died in 1984 at the age of 12, after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant -- an attempt to give him a functioning immune system.

Today, children with SCID have a high chance of survival if they receive an early stem cell transplant, researchers report in the July 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the best-case scenario, a child would get stem cells -- the blood-forming cells within bone marrow -- from a sibling who is a perfect match for certain immune-system genes.

But that's not always an option, partly because kids with SCID are often their parents' first child, said Dr. John Cunningham, director of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. He was not involved in the study.

In those cases, doctors typically turn to a parent -- who is usually a "half" match, but whose stem cells can be purified to improve the odds of success. Sometimes, stem cells from an unrelated, genetically matched donor can be used.

The good news: Regardless of the donor, children with SCID can frequently be cured, according to the new findings. But early detection and treatment is vital.

"These findings show that if you do these transplants early -- before [the age of] 3.5 months, in a child without infection -- the results are really quite comparable to what you have with a matched sibling," said lead researcher Dr. Richard O'Reilly, chief of the pediatric bone marrow transplant service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Read the original here:
Early Stem Cell Transplant Vital in 'Bubble Boy' Disease

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Jul-2014

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

Advances in stem cell research will provide enormous opportunities for both biological and future clinical applications. Basically, stem cells could replicate any other cells in the body, offering immense hope of curing Alzheimer's disease, repairing damaged spinal cords, treating kidney, liver and lung diseases and making damaged hearts whole. The potential for profit is staggering. Prof. Jinhui Chen from Indiana University in USA considered that this field of research still faces myriad biological, ethical, legal, political, and financial challenges. The eventual resolution of these conflicts will determine the success of the research and potentially the face of medicine in the future. The relevant study has been published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 7, 2014).

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Article: " A brief review of recent advances in stem cell biology " by Jinhui Chen1, Libing Zhou2, Su-yue Pan3 (1 Stark Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Neurological Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; 2 Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration (GHMICR), Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 3 Department of Neurology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China)

Chen JH, Zhou LB, Pan SY. A brief review of recent advances in stem cell biology. Neural Regen Res.2014;9(7):684-687.

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

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

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Recent advances in stem cell biology

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Jul-2014

Contact: Roberta Gottlieb roberta.gottlieb@cshs.org PLOS

There is epidemiological evidence that links type B coxsackie virus (CVB) infection with heart disease, and research published on July 31st in PLOS Pathogens now suggests a mechanism by which early infection impairs the heart's ability to tolerate stress at later stages of life.

CVB infection is very common and affects mostly children. The symptoms range widely: over half of the infections are thought to be asymptomatic, the majority of children who get sick have only a mild fever, and a very small proportion get inflammation of the heart or brain. On the other hand, 70 80% of patients with heart failure show signs of a previous CVB infection but have no history of viral heart disease, raising the possibility that even a mild earlier infection makes them more vulnerable to get heart disease later on.

To investigate this, researchers from San Diego State University, USA, led by Roberta Gottlieb and Ralph Feuer, first established a mouse model of mild juvenile CVB infection. Mice infected with a non-lethal dose of the virus shortly after birth did not develop any heart disease symptoms during the infection or into adulthood, but they had a predisposition to heart disease later in life.

Detailed analysis of the mice after infection showed that the virus does indeed target the heart and is found in cardiac stem cells. When comparing the numbers of cardiac stem cells in previously infected adult mice with uninfected ones, the researchers found significantly smaller numbers in the infected mice.

To test whether the childhood infection and stem cell depletion had any effect on the adult heart, the researchers exposed infected mice to two different types of cardiac stress. They treated some of the mice with a drug known to overstimulate the heart, and they challenged another group by making them swim for 90 minutes every day for 14 days. Following both treatments, the infected mice showed clear signs of early heart disease whereas uninfected controls showed little or no symptoms.

Analyzing the stressed mice in more detail, the researchers found that the hearts from previously infected mice had impaired ability to re-arrange their heart blood vessels and grow new ones. This process, called vascular remodeling, is critical for the heart to respond to changes in the environment, including stress.

As discussed in the article, important open questions remain. For example, does CVB infection affect cardiac stem cells at any age, or is there a vulnerable period in early childhood? It is also not clear whether other strains of CVB have similar properties to the one used here, which was isolated from a patient with heart disease.

Continue reading here:
Childhood coxsackie virus infection depletes cardiac stem cells and might compromise heart health in adults

SINGAPORE - Singapore's life-saving Bone Marrow Donor Programme celebrated its 100th donor and new patron, Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam, on Thursday.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the statement from the Bone Marrow Donor Programme:

The Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) celebrates 21 years of saving lives through an extraordinary gift of kindness and generosity as ordinary Singaporeans commit to helping a fellow human being.

As bone marrow transplants become the preferred treatment for a wide number of blood related diseases such as leukaemia and lymphoma, the new BMDP Patron, Minister K Shanmugam, Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs and MP for Nee Soon GRC gave an award to the 100th Singaporean bone marrow donor, Lim Yun Song a 27 year-old Engineer and NTU graduate. This was in recognition of the commitment he and all the other bone marrow donors have made in a purely voluntary capacity to give of themselves a priceless gift of bone marrow (blood stem cells) to save the life of a stranger.

The BMDP manages Singapore's only registry of bone marrow donors and can literally be the last chance of survival for patients with terminal blood-related illnesses. Sadly, though, the chance of finding a donor whose DNA profile is a match to the patient is an alarming 1 in 20,000. With Singapore's unique and rapidly changing demographic, it is more important than ever to recruit more volunteers to join the registry and make sure that each patient is given this last chance of survival.

In conjunction with the 21st anniversary and office inauguration, the BMDP shared a number of significant milestones achieved in recent months.

In addition to reaching the 100th local donor, the number of local donors identified as a patient match increased from 38 in 2012 to 73 last year and year-to-date 64 donors were called up for Confirmatory Typing.

In tandem, the number of volunteers actually going through to make their life-saving donation has increased from seven in the whole of 2013, to nine in the first half of this year with more scheduled.

Minister Shanmugam says, "Bone marrow donors are heroes. They are given a chance to help a fellow human being through a simple yet selfless act of kindness - and they take it. This opportunity is available to everyone but so few rise to the challenge and I hope that more young people - the future of Singapore - will be inspired by what we are seeing here today and will sign up as volunteer bone marrow donors. I'm honoured to join the BMDP as their Patron, and look forward to working with them to build our community of heroes".

View original post here:
Bone marrow donor programme celebrates 100 donors and new patron

Health and Medicine for Seniors

Aging Immune System May Get Kick-Start from Discovery of Molecular Defect

Old stem cells are not just sitting there with damaged DNA ready to develop cancer, as it has long been postulated

"The decline of stem-cell function is a big part of age-related problems. Achieving longer lives relies in part on achieving a better understanding of why stem cells are not able to maintain optimal functioning."

Emmanuelle Passegu, PhD

July 31, 2014 - There's a good reason seniors over 60 are not donor candidates for bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and weakens with time, making the elderly prone to life-threatening infection and other maladies, and a UC San Francisco research team now has discovered a reason why.

"We have found the cellular mechanism responsible for the inability of blood-forming cells to maintain blood production over time in an old organism, and have identified molecular defects that could be restored for rejuvenation therapies," said Emmanuelle Passegu, PhD, a professor of medicine and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.

Passegu, an expert on the stem cells that give rise to the blood and immune system, led a team that published the new findings online July 30, 2014 in the journal Nature.

Blood and immune cells are short-lived, and unlike most tissues, must be constantly replenished. The cells that must keep producing them throughout a lifetime are called "hematopoietic stem cells."

Through cycles of cell division these stem cells preserve their own numbers and generate the daughter cells that give rise to replacement blood and immune cells. But the hematopoietic stem cells falter with age, because they lose the ability to replicate their DNA accurately and efficiently during cell division, Passegu's lab team determined.

View original post here:
Aging Immune System May Get Kick-Start from Discovery of Molecular Defect

Boston, MA (PRWEB) July 31, 2014

Bostons Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC (ASCTC) finds itself flush with innovative adult stem cell biotechnologies. Currently the company holds seven recently issued patents and has three additional patent applications currently under examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office.

The patented inventions address two of the most vexing problems in adult stem cell biology research and regenerative medicine. Adult stem cells are difficult to identify; and they have been difficult to multiply to sufficient numbers to support regenerative medicine applications.

ASCTC has addressed the identity problem by developing patented biomarkers that are found exclusively on adult stem cells. The biomarkers are based on ASCTCs expertise in defining properties of adult stem cells that are not shared by any other normal cell types in the body. The patented biomarkers also identify some types of cancer stem cells. Therefore, they have applications in both stem cell medicine and cancer medicine.

ASCTCa success in developing procedures for producing adult stem cells in large numbers is due to the companys expertise in adult stem cell growth control. ASCTCs technology uses natural compounds found in the body to instruct adult stem cells to multiply in a controlled manner as during normal body growth.

The companys patented method for controlling adult stem cells to multiply without losing their stem cell properties has applications for many different types of adult stem cells. ASCTCs approved patents demonstrate the application of the method for production of human liver stem cells, hair follicle stem cells, and human pancreatic stem cells; but the technology has general application to adult stem cells found in many other types of organs and tissues.

In addition to the main focus on adult stem cell technologies, ASCTCs most recently issued patent applies its cell multiplication methods to produce induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) without transferring exogenous genes. This gene-free single agent method should offer significant value to the many mushrooming companies that supply iPSCs and iPSC production reagents.

As a small start-up, ASCTC is employing a social media marketing strategy. In the past week, the company has launched patent licensing ads on LinkedIn, Vocus, and Facebook, as well increased its advertising references within its recently established Twitter presence.

It would be a shame for these technologies to lie dormant, just because our hands are full with other projects at the moment. James Sherley, director of ASCTC, relates that the companys two main business efforts require only a fraction of its available intellectual property. ASCTC is currently focused on bringing laboratory-scale production of human liver stem cells to manufacturing scales and developing a computer simulation assay for preclinical detection of drug candidates with intolerable toxicity due to adverse effects on adult stem cells.

Sherley adds, We already have a few companies that have expressed interest in licensing. But we could do a lot better at reaching others whose development efforts would benefit from ASCTCs unique technologies. Love to hear from ViaCyte!

More:
The Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC Launches A Marketing Campaign To License Adult Stem Cell Biotechnologies

"Bubble boy" David Vetter lived in a protective environment designed by NASA engineers. He died of complications after receiving a bone marrow transplant in 1984, at the age of 12. Baylor College of Medicine Photo Archives

Babies born with so-called "bubble boy" disease can often be cured with a stem cell transplant, regardless of the donor -- but early treatment is critical, a new study finds.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), as the condition is medically known, actually refers to a group of rare genetic disorders that all but eliminate the immune system. That leaves children at high risk of severe infections.

The term "bubble boy" became popular after a Texas boy with SCID lived in a plastic bubble to ward off infections. The boy, David Vetter, died in 1984 at the age of 12, after an unsuccessful bone marrow transplant -- an attempt to give him a functioning immune system.

15 Photos

Immune disorder forced David Vetter to live in bubble - but breakthroughs from his story now enable similar kids to live free

In the best-case scenario, a child would get stem cells -- the blood-forming cells within bone marrow -- from a sibling who is a perfect match for certain immune-system genes.

But that's not always an option, partly because kids with SCID are often their parents' first child, said Dr. John Cunningham, director of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. He was not involved in the study.

In those cases, doctors typically turn to a parent -- who is usually a "half" match, but whose stem cells can be purified to improve the odds of success. Sometimes, stem cells from an unrelated, genetically matched donor can be used.

The good news: Regardless of the donor, children with SCID can frequently be cured, according to the new findings. But early detection and treatment is vital.

Original post:
Early stem cell transplant may cure "bubble boy" disease

What clinical trials for gene and stem cell therapy are under way in your London laboratory?
Robin Ali, BSc, PhD, FMedSci, internationally known for his research in gene and cell-based therapy for the treatment of retinal degeneration, has joined the U-M Department of Ophthalmology...

By: Kellogg Eye Center - Ann Arbor

Go here to read the rest:
What clinical trials for gene and stem cell therapy are under way in your London laboratory? - Video

Working Paper

4-2014

Stem cell-based therapies are an emerging branch of medicine with the purpose of restoring tissue function for patients with serious injuries, such as a spinal cord injury. As a result, scientists and engineers are increasing research efforts in the field of regenerative medicine. Due to the delicate nature of stem cells, producing the large quantity required for a successful therapy has proved challenging. In recent years, research has shown the potential of stem cell-based therapies, and thus there is a need for the commercialization of these treatments. The proposed facility targets the demand for spinal cord injury treatments and can support production for both clinical trials and a commercial release. Bioreactors designed specifically for the culture and growth of stem cells have flexibility in their ability to support different stem cell lines for various therapies. Small reactors in parallel can easily adapt to changes in production size. This process also takes advantage of the best options currently available for purification and preservation to maximize the product yield.

Due to the strict regulations set in place by the FDA and lack of adequate funding, there is an untapped market for stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries. Approximately 250,000 people in the United States suffer from spinal cord injuries, varying in severity, and this patient base increases at a rate of 12,000 new injuries every year (Spinal Cord Injury Facts and Figures, 2009). Future markets include expansion into Europe and Asia.

There are two steps to this proposal: the upstream process and the downstream process. The upstream process includes the scale-up, differentiation, and purification of human embryonic stem cells; the downstream process consists of the scale-up of neurons for injection. The upstream process will be built initially and yield enough cells for clinical trials, without incurring the capital costs of building the entire plant. Upon success of the clinical trials, the downstream process will be built for maximum production. The profitability of this proposal is based on running 26 batches a year at 1.02x1010 cells per batch or 2.66x1011 cells per year. By targeting 5,000 patients, two percent of the current market, and charging $45,000 per dose, a profitable profile can be created. Assuming 50% production capacity the first year and a ten-year plant life, the ROI, NPV, and IRR of the proposal are 226.09%, $961,892,600, and 242.81% respectively. Using a 50% production capacity allows for higher profit margins upon expansion. The proposed plan will meet the need of this growing market.

Date Posted: 25 July 2014

Read more:
"Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injuries" by Priya ...

Theres a good reason people over 60 are not donor candidates for bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and weakens with time, making the elderly prone to life-threatening infection and other maladies, and a UC San Francisco research team now has discovered a reason why.

Emmanuelle Passegu, PhD

We have found the cellular mechanism responsible for the inability of blood-forming cells to maintain blood production over time in an old organism, and have identified molecular defects that could be restored for rejuvenation therapies, said Emmanuelle Passegu, PhD, a professor of medicine and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF. Passegu, an expert on the stem cells that give rise to the blood and immune system, led a team that published the new findings online July 30, 2014 in the journal Nature.

Blood and immune cells are short-lived, and unlike most tissues, must be constantly replenished. The cells that must keep producing them throughout a lifetime are called hematopoietic stem cells. Through cycles of cell division these stem cells preserve their own numbers and generate the daughter cells that give rise to replacement blood and immune cells. But the hematopoietic stem cells falter with age, because they lose the ability to replicate their DNA accurately and efficiently during cell division, Passegus lab team determined.

Especially vulnerable to the breakdown, the researchers discovered in their new study of old mice, are transplanted, aging, blood-forming stem cells, which lack the ability to make B cells of the immune system. These B cells make antibodies to help us fight all sorts of microbial infections, including bacteria that cause pneumonia, a leading killer of the elderly.

In old blood-forming stem cells, the researchers found a scarcity of specific protein components needed to form a molecular machine called the mini-chromosome maintenance helicase, which unwinds double-stranded DNA so that the cells genetic material can be duplicated and allocated to daughter cells later in cell division. In their study the stem cells were stressed by the loss of activity of this machine and as a result were at heightened risk for DNA damage and death when forced to divide.

The researchers discovered that even after the stress associated with DNA replication, surviving, non-dividing, resting, old stem cells retained molecular tags on DNA-wrapping histone proteins, a feature often associated with DNA damage. However, the researchers determined that these old survivors could repair induced DNA damage as efficiently as young stem cells.

"Old stem cells are not just sitting there with damaged DNA ready to develop cancer, as it has long been postulated" Passegu said.

See the original post:
Key to Aging Immune System Is Discovered

Next time you come across an advertisement offering cosmetic stem cell procedures not only to give your skin a glowing look but also to stop it from growing old, beware.

Most of such ads claim benefits from procedures that have not undergone rigorous scientific evaluation - including potential risks related to stem cell and tissue processing and the effects of ageing on stem cells, a new research warns.

"Stem cells offer tremendous potential but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk," warned Michael T. Longaker from Stanford University's Medical Center.

The procedures marketed as "stem cell facelifts" are often just "lipofilling" procedures, "an established fat injection technique with no prolonged anti-ageing effect", Longaker added.

To gain insight into these claims, researchers performed a Google search for cosmetic stem cell treatments, the most common of which was "stem cell facelift".

Most procedures used "stem cells" isolated from fat.

However, the websites provided little information on the quality of the stem cells used.

Without advanced cell-sorting procedures, the products used in these procedures likely contain many other types of cells besides fat-derived stem cells.

To date, just one stem cell procedure for cosmetic purpose has received the approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

That product, designed to treat fine facial wrinkles, is undergoing extensive post-approval surveillance.

See the original post:
'Most stem cell-based cosmetic surgeries fake'

Published at Retail Investor 360: Monday, 28 July 2014 20:02 by Doctor Hung V. Tran, MD, MS

Disclosure: I am long on MNKD.

Due to its capacity to self-renew and give rise to cells of various lineage, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have generated a great amount of enthusiasm over the past decade as a novel therapeutic paradigm for a variety of diseases. The leading, integrated stem cell company Osiris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OSIR) thus indeed has captured and gained a significant impact in this unique market since infancy with its capabilities in groundbreaking research, development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of stem cell products to treat unmet medical conditions in orthopedic, sport medicine and specifically wound care markets.

Source: Stem Cell

Giving the diabetes mellitus market is growing at a rapid rate globally; roughly 25 million or 8.3% of the U.S. population suffer from this condition. With its FDA approved super rapid acting insulin, Afrezza, that could mimic the actions of healthy pancreas, Mannkind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) is already positioned it self to become the new leader in this huge insulin market. Diabetic complications such as diabetic foot ulceration, infection, and gangrene are significant complications and the leading causes of hospitalization in patients with diabetes mellitus. We believed that Afrezza's disruptive technology to deliver Technosphere insulin via a small whistle-like device Dreamboat enabling patient's with convenience, ease of use, hence, removing barriers leading to the aforementioned complication. Regardless of Afrezza's superiority or any other potential drugs, a sizeable number of patients, not having access to care due to poverty, transportation, or rural setting would not be able to optimally control their blood sugar, thus, succumb to diabetes complications. These complications often precede lower-extremity amputation. Prompt and aggressive treatments of diabetic foot ulcers are essential to prevent exacerbation of the problem and eliminate the potential for amputation. Osiris, thus, successfully tapped into this market and established a new standard in diabetic wound care, as well as proven the tremendous impact of stem cell can have in medicine.

Key Factors Involved in the Development of Diabetic Foot Problems

Diabetic foot ulcer is among the most common complications of diabetes, accounting for as many as 20% of all hospitalizations in diabetic patients at an annual cost of $200 to $350 million. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 15% of diabetic patients experience significant foot ulcer during their lifetime.

Approximately 71,000 lower-extremity amputations, often sequelae of uncontrolled infection, are performed each year on diabetic patients; this represents up to 70% of all nontraumatic amputations in the United States. Also, approximately 20% of diabetics will undergo additional surgery or amputation of a second limb within 12 months of the initial amputation.

Original post:
Osiris Stem Cells To Compliment Mannkind's Afrezza In Disrupting Diabetes Market

A new stem-cell discovery might one day lead to a more streamlined process for obtaining stem cells, which in turn could be used in the development of replacement tissue for failing body parts, according to UC San Francisco scientists who reported the findings in the current edition of Cell.

The work builds on a strategy that involves reprogramming adult cells back to an embryonic state in which they again have the potential to become any type of cell.

The efficiency of this process may soon increase thanks to the scientists identification of biochemical pathways that can inhibit the necessary reprogramming of gene activity in adult human cells. Removing these barriers increased the efficiency of stem-cell production, the researchers found.

Our new work has important implications for both regenerative medicine and cancer research, said Miguel Ramalho-Santos, Ph.D., associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, who led the research, funded in part by a prestigious NIH Directors New Innovator Award.

The earlier discovery that it was possible to take specialized adult cells and reverse the developmental clock to strip the mature cells of their distinctive identities and characteristics and to make them immortal, reprogrammable cells that theoretically can be used to replace any tissue type led to a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded to UCSF, Gladstone Institutes and Kyoto University researcher Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., in 2012.

These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are regarded as an alternative experimental approach to ongoing efforts to develop tissue from stem cells obtained from early-stage human embryos. However, despite the promise of iPS cells and the excitement surrounding iPS research, the percentage of adult cells successfully converted to iPS cells is typically low, and the resultant cells often retain traces of their earlier lives as specialized cells.

Researchers generate stem cells by forcing the activation within adult cells of pluripotency-inducing genes starting with the so-called Yamanaka factors a process that turns back the clock on cellular maturation.

Yet, as Ramalho-Santos notes, From the time of the discovery of iPS cells, it was appreciated that the specialized cells from which they are derived are not a blank slate. They express their own genes that may resist or counter reprogramming.

But the nature of what exactly was getting in the way of reprogramming remained poorly understood. Now, by genetically removing multiple barriers to reprogramming, we have found that the efficiency of generation of iPS cells can be greatly increased, he said. The discovery will contribute to accelerating the safe and efficient use of iPS cells and other reprogrammed cells, according to Ramalho-Santos.

Miguel Ramalho-Santos

See the original post:
Stem cell discovery may make tissue regeneration more efficient

Heal Interstitial Cystitis with Stem Cell Therapy
via YouTube Capture.

By: Minecraft madness and mayhem

Read more from the original source:
Heal Interstitial Cystitis with Stem Cell Therapy - Video

The future of medicine is regenerative medicine.

Thats a view shared by Thomas Gonwa, associate director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine in Jacksonville, and by Jorge and Leslie Bacardi.

Regenerative medicine will be the cutting-edge medicine of the 21st century, Gonwa says.

We think it is the most important thing happening in medicine, Leslie Bacardi said.

Now the Bacardis, who live in Nassau in the Bahamas, have given what Mayo Clinic officials call a substantial gift to fund ongoing research and clinical trials in regenerative medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.

Jorge Bacardi, part of the family that has been making rum and other spirits for 150 years, declined to specify the amount of the gift. Were not people who boast about the amount we give, he said.

Its an amount that should be sufficient to fund the ongoing research into regenerative medicine in Jacksonville, he said.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic both in Jacksonville and in Rochester, Minn., now envision a future in which new organs can be grown for patients, using their own cells, and a time when the injection of stem cells can be used to repair a damaged organ.

Last year, Tim Nelson, a physician with the Center for Regenerative Medicine in Rochester, removed tissue from the arm of ABC Nightline reporter Bill Weir and created what Weir called a tiny piece of my cardiac tissue that had dramatically formed into the shape of a heart a pumping, three-dimensional glimpse into a future when this kind of cell could theoretically be injected into a heart-attack victim or a diseased child and literally mend the person from within.

That, to us, was just mind-boggling, Leslie Bacardi said. ... Regenerative medicine is for us an investment in our future and the future of medicine. It may take a while to reap any benefits, but when those benefits do come, it will make the investment seem small.

Here is the original post:
Gift from Bacardi family will help Mayo Clinic researchers in Jacksonville close in on 'the future of medicine'

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

28-Jul-2014

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

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important regulatory role in the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. Dr. Defeng Zou and co-workers from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, China focuses on the effect of miRNA overexpression on the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. In the study released on the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 12, 2014), researchers used GeneChip technology to analyze the expression of miRNAs in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells and neurons. They constructed a lentiviral vector overexpressing miR-124 and transfected it into bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Intracellular expression levels of the neuronal early markers -III tubulin and microtubule-associated protein-2 were significantly increased, and apoptosis was reduced in transfected cells. After miR-124-transfected bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into the injured rat spinal cord, a large number of cells positive for the neuronal marker neurofilament-200 were observed in the transplanted region. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scores showed that the motor function of the hind limb of rats with spinal cord injury was substantially improved. These results suggest that miR-124 plays an important role in the differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells into neurons, providing novel strategies for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for spinal cord injury.

###

Article: "Overexpression of microRNA-124 promotes the neuronal differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells" by Defeng Zou1, Yi Chen2, Yaxin Han1, Chen Lv1, Guanjun Tu1 (1 Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China; 2 Department of Orthopedics, Jinhua Central Hospital of Zhejiang University, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China)

Zou DF, Chen Y, Han YX, Lv C, Tu GJ. Overexpression of microRNA-124 promotes the neuronal differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(12):1241-1248.

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

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

Read the original:
How does microRNA-124 promote the neuronal differentiation of BMSCs?

When Karen Mitchell read the popular blog written by teenage terminal cancer sufferer Alice Pyne, not only was she deeply moved but also inspired.

Pride Of Britain winner Alice, who had Hodgkins lymphoma from the age of 12, took to social media to urge people to join the bone marrow register. Karen decided she too would sign up to donate her stem cells and save lives.

But there was one thing holding her back her weight.

She was 25st and had a BMI of 60, well above the healthy range of 18-25, and when she began the online registration for Anthony Nolan with her weight and height 5ft 6in she was rejected as being too fat.

So, instead she sent brave Alice a tweet, promising she would lose weight to join the register. And when Alice replied, urging her not to give up, Karen swore that she would not fail.

Now shes lost an incredible 11st 7lb and next week she will make a life-saving donation in memory of Alice, who died in January 2013.

Alice told me not to give up and I didnt want to let her down, says Karen. Her amazing legacy can go on saving lives and I hope everyone reading this will donate as well not for me but for Alice.

Karen, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, had battled with her weight for as long as she could remember. Her teenage years were a misery as she was forced to dress in size 18 clothes. Even turning vegetarian and making her staple food cheese at 15 didnt help solve her weight problem.

I longed to wear trendy clothes like the other girls at my school but I could only shop in the fat section of shops, she says.

Karen married when she was 27 but says she knew when she walked down the aisle in her size 28 wedding dress that the marriage was already doomed.

Link:
'I promised brave cancer teenager Alice I'd lose 11st so I could donate bone marrow'

6 hours ago Induced pluripotent stem cellsknown as iPS cells, and which act very much like embryonic stem cellsare here growing into heart cells (blue) and nerve cells (green). Credit: Gladstone Institutes/Chris Goodfellow

A new stem-cell discovery might one day lead to a more streamlined process for obtaining stem cells, which in turn could be used in the development of replacement tissue for failing body parts, according to UC San Francisco scientists who reported the findings in the current edition of Cell.

The work builds on a strategy that involves reprogramming adult cells back to an embryonic state in which they again have the potential to become any type of cell.

The efficiency of this process may soon increase thanks to the scientists' identification of biochemical pathways that can inhibit the necessary reprogramming of gene activity in adult human cells. Removing these barriers increased the efficiency of stem-cell production, the researchers found.

"Our new work has important implications for both regenerative medicine and cancer research," said Miguel Ramalho-Santos, PhD, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF, who led the research, funded in part by a prestigious NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

The earlier discovery that it was possible to take specialized adult cells and reverse the developmental clock to strip the mature cells of their distinctive identities and characteristics and to make them immortal, reprogrammable cells that theoretically can be used to replace any tissue type led to a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine being awarded to UCSF, Gladstone Institutes and Kyoto University researcher Shinya Yamanaka, MD, in 2012.

Turning Back the Clock on Cellular Maturation

These induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are regarded as an alternative experimental approach to ongoing efforts to develop tissue from stem cells obtained from early-stage human embryos. However, despite the promise of iPS cells and the excitement surrounding iPS research, the percentage of adult cells successfully converted to iPS cells is typically low, and the resultant cells often retain traces of their earlier lives as specialized cells.

Researchers generate stem cells by forcing the activation within adult cells of pluripotency-inducing genesstarting with the so-called "Yamanaka factors" a process that turns back the clock on cellular maturation.

Yet, as Ramalho-Santos notes, "From the time of the discovery of iPS cells, it was appreciated that the specialized cells from which they are derived are not a blank slate. They express their own genes that may resist or counter reprogramming."

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Stem cell advance may increase efficiency of tissue regeneration

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