On his journey from Birmingham boy to Hollywood star David Harewood has shared the silver screen with Leonardo Di Caprio and earned an MBE for services to drama.

But the Homeland actor says his finest moment came away from the cameras and the red carpet.

Seven years ago David received a telephone call from the Anthony Nolan Trust. Someone somewhere had the blood cancer leukaemia and was in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant to help them beat the disease.

David was the closest match.

David, 48, says: The call came completely out of the blue, I felt like I had won the lottery. It was like a giant finger in the sky pointing me out and saying, its you. I immediately wanted to do whatever I could to help.

The transplant was initially scheduled for a few months later, but those plans had to be hastily revised while RADA-trained actor David was in Romania filming The Last Enemy for BBC One.

I had another call to say my recipient had taken a turn for the worse, says David, who is best known for playing CIA counter-terrorism chief David Este in the hit US spy drama Homeland.

They couldnt wait until I finished filming as they might not make it. They needed my stem cells urgently, it was horrifying.

Thankfully David was due a break in filming, which he used to flew straight home to the UK. A nurse then visited him at home every morning for four days, giving him injections to boost his stem cell production.

On the fifth day David went to Harley Street in London to have his stem cells harvested. He was hooked up to a machine that took blood from one arm, filtered out the vital stems cells that would replace his recipients bone marrow and fed the blood back into his body through a needle in the other arm.

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Homeland star David Harewood on donating bone marrow: 'They needed my stem cells urgently - it was horrifying'

Doctors and scientists in Southampton have completed their first hip surgery with a 3D printed implant and bone stem cell graft.

The 3D printed hip, made from titanium, was designed using the patient's CT scan and CAD CAM (computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing) technology, meaning it was designed to the patient's exact specifications and measurements.

The implant will provide a new socket for the ball of the femur bone to enter. Behind the implant and between the pelvis, doctors have inserted a graft containing bone stem cells.

The graft acts as a filler for the loss of bone. The patient's own bone marrow cells have been added to the graft to provide a source of bone stem cells to encourage bone regeneration behind and around the implant.

Southampton doctors believe this is a game changer. Douglas Dunlop, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, conducted the operation at Southampton General Hospital. He says: "The benefits to the patient through this pioneering procedure are numerous. The titanium used to make the hip is more durable and has been printed to match the patient's exact measurements -- this should improve fit and could recue the risk of having to have another surgery.

"The bone graft material that has been used has excellent biocompatibility and strength and will fill the defect behind the bone well, fusing it all together."

Over the past decade Mr Dunlop and Professor Richard Oreffo, at the University of Southampton, have developed a translational research programme to drive bone formation using patient skeletal stem cells in orthopaedics.

The graft used in this operation is made up of a bone scaffold that allows blood to flow through it. Stem cells from the bone marrow will attach to the material and grow new bone. This will support the 3D printed hip implant.

Professor Oreffo comments: "The 3D printing of the implant in titanium, from CT scans of the patient and stem cell graft is cutting edge and offers the possibility of improved outcomes for patients.

"Fractures and bone loss due to trauma or disease are a significant clinical and socioeconomic problem. Growing bone at the point of injury alongside a hip implant that has been designed to the exact fit of the patient is exciting and offers real opportunities for improved recovery and quality of life."

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Ground breaking hip and stem cell surgery completed using 3D printed implant

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Washington, May 17 : Researchers have completed their first hip surgery with a 3D printed implant and bone stem cell graft.

The 3D printed hip, made from titanium, was designed using the patient's CT scan and CAD CAM (computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing) technology, meaning it was designed to the patient's exact specifications and measurements.

The implant will provide a new socket for the ball of the femur bone to enter. Behind the implant and between the pelvis, doctors have inserted a graft containing bone stem cells.

The graft acts as a filler for the loss of bone. The patient's own bone marrow cells have been added to the graft to provide a source of bone stem cells to encourage bone regeneration behind and around the implant.

Southampton doctors believe this is a game changer. Douglas Dunlop, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, conducted the operation at Southampton General Hospital. He says: "The benefits to the patient through this pioneering procedure are numerous. The titanium used to make the hip is more durable and has been printed to match the patient's exact measurements - this should improve fit and could recue the risk of having to have another surgery.

"The bone graft material that has been used has excellent biocompatibility and strength and will fill the defect behind the bone well, fusing it all together."

--ANI (Posted on 17-05-2014)

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First ever hip surgery with 3D printed implant and bone stem cell graft conducted

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital have a potential solution for how to more effectively kill tumor cells using cancer-killing viruses. The investigators report that trapping virus-loaded stem cells in a gel and applying them to tumors significantly improved survival in mice with glioblastoma multiforme, the most common brain tumor in human adults and also the most difficult to treat.

The work, led by Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, an HSCI Principal Faculty member, is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Shah heads the Molecular Neurotherapy and Imaging Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Cancer-killing or oncolytic viruses have been used in numerous phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for brain tumors but with limited success. In preclinical studies, oncolytic herpes simplex viruses seemed especially promising, as they naturally infect dividing brain cells. However, the therapy hasn't translated as well for human patients. The problem previous researchers couldn't overcome was how to keep the herpes viruses at the tumor site long enough to work.

Shah and his team turned to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) -- a type of stem cell that gives rise to bone marrow tissue -- which have been very attractive drug delivery vehicles because they trigger a minimal immune response and can be utilized to carry oncolytic viruses. Shah and his team loaded the herpes virus into human MSCs and injected the cells into glioblastoma tumors developed in mice. Using multiple imaging markers, it was possible to watch the virus as it passed from the stem cells to the first layer of brain tumor cells and subsequently into all of the tumor cells.

"So, how do you translate this into the clinic?" asked Shah, who also is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.

"We know that 70-75 percent of glioblastoma patients undergo surgery for tumor debulking, and we have previously shown that MSCs encapsulated in biocompatible gels can be used as therapeutic agents in a mouse model that mimics this debulking," he continued. "So, we loaded MSCs with oncolytic herpes virus and encapsulated these cells in biocompatible gels and applied the gels directly onto the adjacent tissue after debulking. We then compared the efficacy of virus-loaded, encapsulated MSCs versus direct injection of the virus into the cavity of the debulked tumors."

Using imaging proteins to watch in real time how the virus combated the cancer, Shah's team noticed that the gel kept the stem cells alive longer, which allowed the virus to replicate and kill any residual cancer cells that were not cut out during the debulking surgery. This translated into a higher survival rate for mice that received the gel-encapsulated stem cells.

"They survived because the virus doesn't get washed out by the cerebrospinal fluid that fills the cavity," Shah said. "Previous studies that have injected the virus directly into the resection cavity did not follow the fate of the virus in the cavity. However, our imaging and side-by-side comparison studies showed that the naked virus rarely infects the residual tumor cells. This could give us insight into why the results from clinical trials with oncolytic viruses alone were modest."

The study also addressed another weakness of cancer-killing viruses, which is that not all brain tumors are susceptible to the therapy. The researchers' solution was to engineer oncolytic herpes viruses to express an additional tumor-killing agent, called TRAIL. Again, using mouse models of glioblastoma -- this time created from brain tumor cells that were resistant to the herpes virus -- the therapy led to increased animal survival.

"Our approach can overcome problems associated with current clinical procedures," Shah said. "The work will have direct implications for designing clinical trials using oncolytic viruses, not only for brain tumors, but for other solid tumors."

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Herpes-loaded stem cells used to kill brain tumors

Stem Cell Therapy Saves Eyesight Of Fountain Valley Mother
Stem cell therapy saved the eyesight of a Fountain Valley mother. CBS2 #39;s Lisa Sigell reports. Official Site: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/ YouTube: http://...

By: CBS Los Angeles

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Stem Cell Therapy Saves Eyesight Of Fountain Valley Mother - Video

Mice have been poked, prodded, injected and dissected in the name of science. But there are limits to what mice can teach us especially when it comes to stem cell therapies. For the first time, researchers haveturned skin cells into bone in a creature more closely related to humans: monkeys.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Reports, scientists report that they regrew bone in 25rhesus macaques using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) taken from the creatures skin. Since macaques are more closely related to humans, their discovery could help push stem cell therapies into early clinical trials in humans.

While this is the good news, the bad news is that iPSCs can also seed tumors in monkeys; however, the tumors grew at a far slower rate than in previous studies in mice. This finding further emphasizes the key role primates likely will play in testing the safety of potential stem cell therapies.

Repairing Bone

Researchers used a common procedure to reprogram macaque skin cells, and coaxed them into pluripotent cells that were capable of building bone. They seeded these cells into ceramic scaffolds, which are already used by surgeons used to reconstruct bone. The cells took, and the monkeys successfully grew new bone.

In some experiments, the monkeys formed teratomas nasty tumors that can contain teeth and hair when they were injected with undifferentiated iPSCs, or cells that have the potential to change into any kind of cell. However, the tumors grew 20 times slower than in mice, highlighting an important difference between mice and monkeys.

Fortunately, tumors did not form in monkeys that were injected with differentiated iPSCs, or cells that were programmed to createbone cells.

Advancing Research

Researchers say their successful procedure proves that monkeys willplay an important rolein research on therapies using iPSCs. These monkeys will help scientists test and analyze risks associated with the therapies and improve their safety.

More here:
Successful Stem Cell Therapy in Monkeys is First of Its Kind

Dr. Broyles #39; Cartilage Regeneration: Why Bone Marrow Stem Cells?
Dr. Broyles highlights the differences between Dr. Saw #39;s methods and his own, including FDA regulations in the US regarding autologous stem cells. For more i...

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Dr. Broyles' Cartilage Regeneration: Why Bone Marrow Stem Cells? - Video

THURSDAY, May 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Although the very concept of cancer stem cells has been controversial, new research provides proof that these distinct types of cells exist in humans.

Using genetic tracking, researchers found that a gene mutation tied to cancer's development can be traced back to cancer stem cells. These cells are at the root of cancer and responsible for supporting the growth and progression of the disease, the scientists report.

Cancer stem cells are able to replenish themselves and produce other types of cancer cells, just as healthy cells produce other normal cells, the study's British and European authors explained.

"It's like having dandelions in your lawn. You can pull out as many as you want, but if you don't get the roots they'll come back," study first author Dr. Petter Woll, of the MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, said in a university news release.

The researchers, led by a team of scientists at Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said their findings could have significant implications for cancer treatment. They explained that by targeting cancer stem cells, doctors could not only get rid of a patient's cancer but also prevent any remaining cancer cells from sustaining the disease.

The study, published May 15 in Cancer Cell, involved 15 patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a type of cancer that often develops into acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood cancer.

The researchers examined the cancer cells in the patients' bone marrow. Four of the patients were also monitored over time. One patient was followed for two years. Two patients were followed for 30 months and another patient was monitored for 10 years.

According to the researchers, in prior studies citing the existence of cancer stem cells, the lab tests that were used to identify these cells were considered by many to be unreliable.

However, "In our studies we avoided the problem of unreliable lab tests by tracking the origin and development of cancer-driving mutations in MDS patients," explained study leader Sten Eirik Jacobsen, of Oxford's MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine.

According to the research, a distinct group of MDS cells had all the characteristics of cancer stem cells, and only these particular cancer cells appeared able to cause tumor spread.

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Scientists get closer to the stem cells that may drive cancers

Concerns that stem cells could cause cancer in recipients are fading further with a new study

New bone formation (stained bright green under ultra-violet light) was seen in monkeys given their own reprogrammed stem cells. Courtesy of Nature magazine

A major concern over using stem cells is the risk of tumors: but now a new study shows that It takes a lot of effort to get induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to grow into tumors after they have been transplanted into a monkey. The findings will bolster the prospects of one day using such cells clinically in humans.

Making iPS cells from an animal's own skin cells and then transplanting them back into the creature also does not trigger an inflammatory response as long as the cells have first been coaxed to differentiate towards a more specialized cell type. Both observations, published inCell Reports today, bode well for potential cell therapies.

It's important because the field is very controversial right now, saysAshleigh Boyd,a stem-cell researcher at University College London, who was not involved in the work. It is showing that the weight of evidence is pointing towards the fact that the cells won't be rejected.

Pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated into many different specialized cell types in culture and so are touted for their potential as therapies to replace tissue lost in diseases such as Parkinsons and some forms of diabetes and blindness. iPS cells, which are made by reprogramming adult cells, have an extra advantage because transplants made from them could be genetically matched to the recipient.

Researchers all over the world are pursuing therapies based on iPS cells, and a group in Japan began enrolling patients for a human study last year. But work in mice has suggested controversially that even genetically matched iPS cellscan trigger an immune response, and pluripotent stem cells can also form slow-growing tumors, another safety concern.

Closer to human Cynthia Dunbar, a stem-cell biologist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, who led the new study, decided to evaluate both concerns in healthy rhesus macaques. Human stem cells are normally only studied for their ability to form tumors in mice as a test of pluripotency if the animals immune systems are compromised, she says.

We really wanted to set up a model that was closer to human. It was somewhat reassuring that in a normal monkey with a normal immune system you had to give a whole lot of immature cells to get any kind of tumour to grow, and they were very slow growing.

Dunbar and her team made iPS cells from skin and white blood cells from two rhesus macaques, and transplanted the iPS cells back into the monkeys that provided them. It took 20 times as many iPS cells to form a tumor in a monkey, compared with the numbers needed in an immunocompromised mouse. Such information will be valuable for assessing safety risks of potential therapies, Dunbar says. And although the iPS cells did trigger a mild immune response attracting white blood cells and causing local inflammation iPS cells that had first been differentiated to a more mature state did not.

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New Stem Cell Finding Bodes Well for Future Medical Use in Humans

A number of ingredients like ceramides, collagen, stem cells and antioxidants that are commonly associated with cosmetics are being featured in products for the hair. Do they work as well?

In the quest for a healthy and shining mane, a number of new products are being launched in the market on a regular basis. It has been observed that many of these are said to contain elements that are normally associated with skin care. Products with collagen, ceramides, hyaluronic acid, stem cells and so on have long been proven beneficial to plump up skin, reduce fine lines, lighten dark spots and keep skin healthy and radiant. However, recently a number of these have been seen in hair care products like shampoos and conditioners. The question remains though is of they work just as well on the mane. Copper peptides, for example is considered an effective skin regeneration ingredient and research shows it works well for the scalp too producing thicker, healthier hair. Ceramides can be effective in forming a protective coat around the hair shaft and strengthening it, while collagen helps hair hold onto moisture making it look thicker and fuller. Antioxidants are said to neutralise the free radicals preventing dullness of locks.

SCALP IS SIMILAR TO SKIN Tisha Kapur Khurana, beauty expert and executive director, Bottega di Lungavita explains similar ingredients can be used on the skin and hair sometimes because the scalp is covered with thicker skin similar to the rest of our body. It is a thick layer of skin with many sebaceous glands which produce oil or sebum to protect the hair. Collagen is a protein that is found in the body and is a necessity for good health. The collagen supplements let hair grow long and strong. It increases the body's natural hair-building proteins. Moreover, if applied to the scalp, it can reduce the look and dryness of grey hair. Even stem cells work as the hair follicles contain cells which may lead to successfully treating baldness. When buying a product you should always consider the hair type curly or straight as well as thick or fine and accordingly choose products, she says.

BE CAREFUL It is advisable not to use similar products for your hair and skin. Your skin is very tender and it needs really mild products to cleanse and clear the dirt and impurities. On the other hand, while you do need mild products for your hair as well, the shampoos and conditioners are mild but effective enough to cleanse the grime, dandruff and other impurities that get lodged in your scalp, explains Priti Mehta, founder and director, Omved. She adds, Standard cosmetics often include synthetic and sometimes even animal-derived ingredients. When you use natural options for your skin and hair, it is likely to help your skin feel and breathe better. Anything that has SLS, parabens, preservatives, fragrance, and colours to name a few listed on it should be avoided.

HAVE SOME BENEFITS Dr Apratim Goel, dermatologist, Cutis Skin Studio says some of these ingredients can work. Collagen or ceramides are larger molecules which are doubtful on skin as well. However these ingredients have been used regularly in hair care products. However, there is no controlled studies of efficacy of these ingredients in hair. Stem cells and antioxidants, though, do work for hair. Stem cell injections are a regular treatment for boosting hair growth. Further, plant stem cells are available as hair serums and give good results against hair loss. Regarding antioxidants, they are very important for hair care as hair especially coloured or treated locks are very prone to damage from sun as well as chemical exposure.

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Do products used in cosmetics work for the hair?

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX) and its subsidiary Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced that Jane S. Lebkowski, PhD, President, Research & Development of Asterias, will present at the 17th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy taking place May 20-24, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Lebkowskis presentation will take place in the session titled The Next Generation in Stem Cell Therapies on Thursday May 22, 2014 at 10:15 AM EDT at the Marriot Wardman Park, Washington, DC. Dr. Lebkowskis presentation is titled Phase I Clinical Trial of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Oligodendrocyte Progenitors in Patients with Neurologically Complete Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury: Results and Next Steps. In her presentation, Dr. Lebkowski will disclose for the first time certain Phase I clinical trial results of OPC1. The presentation will be made available on BioTimes and Asterias websites at http://www.biotimeinc.com and http://www.biotimeinc.com/asterias-biotherapeutics/.

About Asterias

Asterias is a biotechnology company focused on the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Our core technologies center on stem cells capable of becoming all of the cell types in the human body, a property called pluripotency. We plan to develop therapies based on pluripotent stem cells to treat diseases or injuries in a variety of medical fields, with an initial focus on the therapeutic applications of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPC1) and antigen-presenting dendritic cells (VAC1 and VAC2) for the fields of neurology and oncology respectively. OPC1 was tested for treatment of spinal cord injury in the worlds first Phase 1 clinical trial using human embryonic stem cell-derived cells. We plan to reinitiate clinical testing of OPC1 in spinal cord injury this year, and are also evaluating its function in nonclinical models of multiple sclerosis and stroke. VAC1 and VAC2 are dendritic cell-based vaccines designed to immunize cancer patients against the telomerase, a protein abnormally expressed in over 95% of human cancer types. VAC2 differs from VAC1 in that the dendritic cells presenting telomerase to the immune system are produced from human embryonic stem cells instead of being derived from human blood.

In October of 2013, Asterias acquired the cell therapy assets of Geron Corporation. These assets included INDs for the clinical stage OPC1 and VAC1 programs, banks of cGMP-manufactured OPC1 drug product, cGMP master and working cell banks of human embryonic stem cells, over 400 patents and patent applications filed worldwide, research cell banks, customized reagents and equipment, and various assets relating to preclinical programs in cardiology, orthopedics, and diabetes.

Asterias is a member of the BioTime family of companies.

About BioTime

BioTime is a biotechnology company engaged in research and product development in the field of regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine refers to therapies based on stem cell technology that are designed to rebuild cell and tissue function lost due to degenerative disease or injury. BioTimes focus is on pluripotent stem cell technology based on human embryonic stem (hES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. hES and iPS cells provide a means of manufacturing every cell type in the human body and therefore show considerable promise for the development of a number of new therapeutic products. BioTimes therapeutic and research products include a wide array of proprietary PureStem progenitors, HyStem hydrogels, culture media, and differentiation kits. BioTime is developing Renevia (a HyStem product) as a biocompatible, implantable hyaluronan and collagen-based matrix for cell delivery in human clinical applications. In addition, BioTime has developed Hextend, a blood plasma volume expander for use in surgery, emergency trauma treatment and other applications. Hextend is manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by Hospira, Inc. and in South Korea by CJ HealthCare Corporation under exclusive licensing agreements.

BioTime is also developing stem cell and other products for research, therapeutic, and diagnostic use through its subsidiaries:

Additional information about BioTime can be found on the web at http://www.biotimeinc.com.

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Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. to Present Phase I Clinical Data at the 17th Annual Meeting of the American Society of ...

In this image, the top row shows the stem cells transplanted into the mouse spinal cord. The lower row shows a close-up of the stem cells (brown). By day 7 post-transplant, the stem cells are no longer detectable. Within this short period of time, the stem cells have sent chemical signals to the mouses own cells, enabling them to repair the nerve damage caused by MS. (image: Lu Chen)

For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), current treatment options only address early-stage symptoms of the debilitating disease. Now, new research has found a potential treatment that could both stop disease progression and repair existing damage.

In a study published in Stem Cell Reports, researchers utilized a group of paralyzed mice genetically engineered to have an MS-like condition. Initially, the researchers set out to study the mechanisms of stem cell rejection in the mice. However, two weeks after injecting the mice with human neural stem cells, the researchers made the unexpected discovery that the mice had regained their ability to walk.

This had a lot of luck to do with it; right place, right time co-senior author Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, told FoxNews.com. [co-senior author Tom Lane] called me up and said, Youre not going to believe this. He sent me a video, and it showed the mice running around the cages. I said, Are you sure these are the same mice?

Loring, whose lab specializes in turning human stem cells into neural precursor cells, or pluripotent cells, collaborated with Tom Lane, a professor of pathology at the University of Utah whose focus is on neuroinflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. The team was interested in stem cell rejection in MS models in order to understand the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms contributing to rejection of potential stem cell therapies for the disease.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide. For people with MS, the immune system misguidedly attacks the bodys myelin, the insulating coating on nerve fibers.

In a nutshell, its the rubber sheath that protects the electrical wire; the axon that extends from the nerves cell body is insulated by myelin, Lane, who began the study while at the University of California, Irvine, told FoxNews.com

Once the myelin has been lost, nerve fibers are unable to transmit electric signals efficiently, leading to symptoms such as vision and motor skill problems, fatigue, slurred speech, memory difficulties and depression.

The researchers inadvertent treatment appeared to work in two ways. First, there was a decrease of inflammation within the central nervous system of the mice, preventing the disease from progressing. Secondly, the injected cells released proteins that signaled cells to regenerate myelin and repair existing damage.

While the stem cells were rejected in the mice after 10 days, researchers were able to see improvements for up to six months after initial implantation.

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Stem cell therapy shows promise for multiple sclerosis

Mice have been poked, prodded, injected and dissected in the name of science. But there are limits to what mice can teach us especially when it comes to stem cell therapies. For the first time, researchers haveturned skin cells into bone in a creature more closely related to humans: monkeys.

In a study published Thursday in the journal Cell Reports, scientists report that they regrew bone in 25rhesus macaques using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) taken from the creatures skin. Since macaques are more closely related to humans, their discovery could help push stem cell therapies into early clinical trials in humans.

While this is the good news, the bad news is that iPSCs can also seed tumors in monkeys; however, the tumors grew at a far slower rate than in previous studies in mice. This finding further emphasizes the key role primates likely will play in testing the safety of potential stem cell therapies.

Repairing Bone

Researchers used a common procedure to reprogram macaque skin cells, and coaxed them into pluripotent cells that were capable of building bone. They seeded these cells into ceramic scaffolds, which are already used by surgeons used to reconstruct bone. The cells took, and the monkeys successfully grew new bone.

In some experiments, the monkeys formed teratomas nasty tumors that can contain teeth and hair when they were injected with undifferentiated iPSCs, or cells that have the potential to change into any kind of cell. However, the tumors grew 20 times slower than in mice, highlighting an important difference between mice and monkeys.

Fortunately, tumors did not form in monkeys that were injected with differentiated iPSCs, or cells that were programmed to createbone cells.

Advancing Research

Researchers say their successful procedure proves that monkeys willplay an important rolein research on therapies using iPSCs. These monkeys will help scientists test and analyze risks associated with the therapies and improve their safety.

Read more here:
Succssful Stem Cell Therapy in Monkeys is First of Its Kind

Researchers have shown for the first time in an animal that is more closely related to humans that it is possible to make new bone from stem-cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) made from an individual animal's own skin cells. The study in monkeys reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on May 15th also shows that there is some risk that those iPSCs could seed tumors, but that unfortunate outcome appears to be less likely than studies in immune-compromised mice would suggest.

"We have been able to design an animal model for testing of pluripotent stem cell therapies using the rhesus macaque, a small monkey that is readily available and has been validated as being closely related physiologically to humans," said Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We have used this model to demonstrate that tumor formation of a type called a 'teratoma' from undifferentiated autologous iPSCs does occur; however, tumor formation is very slow and requires large numbers of iPSCs given under very hospitable conditions. We have also shown that new bone can be produced from autologous iPSCs, as a model for their possible clinical application."

Autologous refers to the fact that the iPSCs capable of producing any tissue typein this case bonewere derived from the very individual that later received them. That means that use of these cells in tissue repair would not require long-term or possibly toxic immune suppression drugs to prevent rejection.

The researchers first used a standard recipe to reprogram skin cells taken from rhesus macaques. They then coaxed those cells to form first pluripotent stem cells and then cells that have the potential to act more specifically as bone progenitors. Those progenitor cells were then seeded onto ceramic scaffolds that are already in use by reconstructive surgeons attempting to fill in or rebuild bone. And, it worked; the monkeys grew new bone.

Importantly, the researchers report that no teratoma structures developed in monkeys that had received the bone "stem cells." In other experiments, undifferentiated iPSCs did form teratomas in a dose-dependent manner.

The researchers say that therapies based on this approach could be particularly beneficial for people with large congenital bone defects or other traumatic injuries. Although bone replacement is an unlikely "first in human" use for stem cell therapies given that the condition it treats is not life threatening, the findings in a primate are an essential step on the path toward regenerative clinical medicine.

"A large animal preclinical model for the development of pluripotent or other high-risk/high-reward generative cell therapies is absolutely required to address issues of tissue integration or homing, risk of tumor formation, and immunogenicity," Dunbar said. "The testing of human-derived cells in vitro or in profoundly immunodeficient mice simply cannot model these crucial preclinical safety and efficiency issues."

The NIH team is now working with collaborators on differentiation of the macaque iPSCs into liver, heart, and white blood cells for eventual clinical trials in hepatitis C, heart failure, and chronic granulomatous disease, respectively.

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The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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First test of pluripotent stem cell therapy in monkeys is successful

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-May-2014

Contact: University of Oxford news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk 44-186-528-0530 University of Oxford

The gene mutations driving cancer have been tracked for the first time in patients back to a distinct set of cells at the root of cancer cancer stem cells.

The international research team, led by scientists at the University of Oxford and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, studied a group of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes a malignant blood condition which frequently develops into acute myeloid leukaemia.

The researchers say their findings, reported in the journal Cancer Cell, offer conclusive evidence for the existence of cancer stem cells.

The concept of cancer stem cells has been a compelling but controversial idea for many years. It suggests that at the root of any cancer there is a small subset of cancer cells that are solely responsible for driving the growth and evolution of a patient's cancer. These cancer stem cells replenish themselves and produce the other types of cancer cells, as normal stem cells produce other normal tissues.

The concept is important, because it suggests that only by developing treatments that get rid of the cancer stem cells will you be able to eradicate the cancer. Likewise, if you could selectively eliminate these cancer stem cells, the other remaining cancer cells would not be able to sustain the cancer.

'It's like having dandelions in your lawn. You can pull out as many as you want, but if you don't get the roots they'll come back,' explains first author Dr Petter Woll of the MRC Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford.

The researchers, led by Professor Sten Eirik W Jacobsen at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit and the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford, investigated malignant cells in the bone marrow of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and followed them over time.

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Genetic tracking identifies cancer stem cells in human patients

The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB) in Stuttgart, Germany, has developed a technique to analyze living cells quickly and accurately based on Raman spectroscopy. The non-invasive optical procedure, which can identify the molecular fingerprint of different materials, has primarily been employed in quality control for medications and pharmaceutical substances.

Now biomedical researchers can also use this technology thanks to the research at IGB involving joint projects with universities, industrial partners, and the State of Baden-Wrttemberg. The tmethod is suited to investigating living cells without requiring invasive techniques or altering them with dyes.

In order to characterize stem cells or identify changes to tissues that are caused by tumors, inflammations, fungi, or bacteria, for example, it is now sufficient to determine the individual cells Raman spectrum which is a specialized energy spectrum having particular analytical capability.

Prof. Katja Schenke-Layland from IGB commented, We have developed comprehensive know-how in this area and have advanced the technology from use in pure research to industrial implementation. We can now investigate not just individual cells, but entire tissue structures and organs. Next we want to further refine the technology and develop more applications.

Cell biologists at IGB use a specially developed Raman spectroscope jointly designed and built with physicists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques (IPM) in Freiburg. The device is compact and can be conveniently used to investigate a wide range of scientific problems. The scientists are accumulating the spectra they have recorded into a database.

Cancer testing

Schenke-Layland added, Each cell has a unique, unmistakable Raman spectrum. Doctors can compare the sample from their patients cells with our database and complete their diagnoses more quickly. The technology is already being employed on a practical basis by industrial partners. The scientists are working at present on a rapid test for cancer diagnosis.

Doctors using mobile Raman spectroscopes during an operation could unambiguously say whether a patient has cancer or not simply by comparing the cell sample with the data base.

Conventional cancer diagnoses are still complicated and prolonged. After excising the tissue for biopsy, it first must be prepared for further analysis for example by suitably sectioning or dying it to identify biomarkers. But this always requires intervention in the specimen and manipulating it in some way, she said.

Diverse applications

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Raman method analyzes live cells quickly and accurately

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Newswise CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (May 15, 2014) By studying nerve and liver cells grown from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Whitehead Institute researchers have identified a potential dual-pronged approach to treating Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, a rare but devastating genetic disorder.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), approximately 1 in 150,000 children born are afflicted with NPC, the most common variant of Niemann-Pick. Children with NPC experience abnormal accumulation of cholesterol in their liver and nerve cells, leading to liver failure, neurodegeneration, andultimatelydeath, often before age 10.

Although there is currently no effective treatment for NPC disease, a clinical trial examining potential cholesterol-lowering effects of the drug cyclodextrin in NPC patients is ongoing. However, research in Whitehead Founding Member Rudolf Jaenischs lab led by Dorothea Matezel along with Sovan Sarkar suggests that the high doses may actually be harmful. This and other findings are reported this week in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

At those levels of cyclodextrin (in the clinical trial), Maetzel and her coauthors show that cells encounter a further block in autophagy that could be detrimental, says Jaenisch, who is also a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But when they use it at a lower dose in combination with another small molecule, carbamazepine, which stimulates autophagy, then it significantly improves the survival of the cells. Such an approach lowers cholesterol levels and restores the autophagy defects at the same time. This could be a new type of treatment for NPC disease.

To clarify what is amiss in NPC and identify potential therapeutics that could correct these problems, Maetzel generated iPSCs from patients with the most common genetic mutation that causes NPC. She created the iPSCs by pushing skin cells donated by the patients back to an embryonic stem cell-like state. These iPSCs were differentiated into liver and neuronal cells, the cell types most affected in NPC. Along with Haoyi Wang, a postdoctoral researcher in the Jaenisch lab, she then corrected one copy of the causal mutation, in the NPC1 gene, to create control cells whose genomes differ only at the single edited gene copy.

When Maetzel and Sarkar analyzed the cellular functions in the NPC1-mutant and control cell lines, they determined that although cholesterol does build up in the NPC1-mutant cells, a more significant problem is defective autophagya basic cellular function that degrades and recycles unneeded or faulty molecules, components, or organelles in a cell. The impaired autophagy prevents normal elimination of its cargo, such as damaged organelles or other substrates like p62, which then accumulates and damages the cells. The finding confirms previous work from the Jaenisch lab linking the NPC1 mutation to defective autophagy in mouse cells.

Autophagy dysfunction has major implications in several neurodegenerative and certain liver conditions, and therefore autophagy modulators have tremendous biomedical relevance, says Sarkar. We wanted to screen for compounds stimulating autophagy in human disease-relevant cells and show the beneficial effects of such an approach in the context of a lipid/lysosomal storage disorder.

Maetzel and Sarkar used the two types of human disease-affected cells to screen for compounds known to improve autophagy but not impacting on the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, which has critical cellular functions and also controls autophagy. They found only one capable of jumpstarting autophagy independently of mTOR in both liver and nerve cells. When this drug, carbamazepine, which is a mood stabilizer prescribed for bipolar disorder, was added in combination with low doses of cyclodextrin, both cholesterol accumulation and autophagy defects were rescued in the NPC-mutated cells.

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Combination Therapy a Potential Strategy for Treating Niemann Pick Disease

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15-May-2014

Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press

Researchers have shown for the first time in an animal that is more closely related to humans that it is possible to make new bone from stem-cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) made from an individual animal's own skin cells. The study in monkeys reported in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports on May 15th also shows that there is some risk that those iPSCs could seed tumors, but that unfortunate outcome appears to be less likely than studies in immune-compromised mice would suggest.

"We have been able to design an animal model for testing of pluripotent stem cell therapies using the rhesus macaque, a small monkey that is readily available and has been validated as being closely related physiologically to humans," said Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "We have used this model to demonstrate that tumor formation of a type called a 'teratoma' from undifferentiated autologous iPSCs does occur; however, tumor formation is very slow and requires large numbers of iPSCs given under very hospitable conditions. We have also shown that new bone can be produced from autologous iPSCs, as a model for their possible clinical application."

Autologous refers to the fact that the iPSCs capable of producing any tissue typein this case bonewere derived from the very individual that later received them. That means that use of these cells in tissue repair would not require long-term or possibly toxic immune suppression drugs to prevent rejection.

The researchers first used a standard recipe to reprogram skin cells taken from rhesus macaques. They then coaxed those cells to form first pluripotent stem cells and then cells that have the potential to act more specifically as bone progenitors. Those progenitor cells were then seeded onto ceramic scaffolds that are already in use by reconstructive surgeons attempting to fill in or rebuild bone. And, it worked; the monkeys grew new bone.

Importantly, the researchers report that no teratoma structures developed in monkeys that had received the bone "stem cells." In other experiments, undifferentiated iPSCs did form teratomas in a dose-dependent manner.

The researchers say that therapies based on this approach could be particularly beneficial for people with large congenital bone defects or other traumatic injuries. Although bone replacement is an unlikely "first in human" use for stem cell therapies given that the condition it treats is not life threatening, the findings in a primate are an essential step on the path toward regenerative clinical medicine.

"A large animal preclinical model for the development of pluripotent or other high-risk/high-reward generative cell therapies is absolutely required to address issues of tissue integration or homing, risk of tumor formation, and immunogenicity," Dunbar said. "The testing of human-derived cells in vitro or in profoundly immunodeficient mice simply cannot model these crucial preclinical safety and efficiency issues."

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First test of pluripotent stem cell therapy in monkeys is a success

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15-May-2014

Contact: Mika Ono mikaono@scripps.ed 858-784-2052 Scripps Research Institute

LA JOLLA, CAMay 15, 2014Mice crippled by an autoimmune disease similar to multiple sclerosis (MS) regained the ability to walk and run after a team of researchers led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), University of Utah and University of California (UC), Irvine implanted human stem cells into their injured spinal cords.

Remarkably, the mice recovered even after their bodies rejected the human stem cells. "When we implanted the human cells into mice that were paralyzed, they got up and started walking a couple of weeks later, and they completely recovered over the next several months," said study co-leader Jeanne Loring, a professor of developmental neurobiology at TSRI.

Thomas Lane, an immunologist at the University of Utah who co-led the study with Loring, said he had never seen anything like it. "We've been studying mouse stem cells for a long time, but we never saw the clinical improvement that occurred with the human cells that Dr. Loring's lab provided," said Lane, who began the study at UC Irvine.

The mice's dramatic recovery, which is reported online ahead of print by the journal Stem Cell Reports, could lead to new ways to treat multiple sclerosis in humans.

"This is a great step forward in the development of new therapies for stopping disease progression and promoting repair for MS patients," said co-author Craig Walsh, a UC Irvine immunologist.

Stem Cell Therapy for MS

MS is an autoimmune disease of the brain and spinal cord that affects more than a half-million people in North America and Europe, and more than two million worldwide. In MS, immune cells known as T cells invade the upper spinal cord and brain, causing inflammation and ultimately the loss of an insulating coating on nerve fibers called myelin. Affected nerve fibers lose their ability to transmit electrical signals efficiently, and this can eventually lead to symptoms such as limb weakness, numbness and tingling, fatigue, vision problems, slurred speech, memory difficulties and depression.

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Stem cell therapy shows promise for MS in mouse model

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

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

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

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Stem Cells & Spinal Cord Injuries