by GEORGE RIBA

WFAA Sports

Posted on February 18, 2014 at 12:41 PM

DALLAS -- Malena Brownwas hoping for a match onValentines Day weekend, butnot the kind of match you expect.

The 15-year-old daughter of Dallas Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown is looking for an "angel donor" whose bone marrow stem cells will match hers and help her overcome what's known as CML, or chronic myeloid leukemia.

Well, its kind of scary knowing that there wasn't a match for me, but we're doing a bone marrow drive now and hopefully find somebody that matches me, Malena said.

Neither one of Malena's siblings is a match, and trying to find one has become a challenge.

The No. 1 challenge has been trying to find a match based on her ancestry, and she being biracial, has been extra difficult because the registry is under-represented with African-American and other multiracial people, said Kim Brown, Malenas mother.

We've had nothing but people trying to help us in any way they can, said father Gary Brown. When you know your daughter is going through something hard, and there are other people out there that care as much as you do and want to help her as much as you do.

To add your name to the national registry, all you do is a simple swab test, add it to a booklet, and send it in.

Read the rest here:
Cowboys coach seeks marrow match for daughter

By Liisa Vexler

A new age in biology and biotechnology may be upon us as scientists in London, England have successfully created embryonic-type stem cells without the use of actual embryos. By re-engineering mature cells, scientists may be close to overcoming one of the largest ethical debates in stem cell research, the use of human embryos. Though the initial research was conducted with cells from mice, scientists believe the technique could be successful in humans.

Researchers at the University College London were able to generate pluripotent cells from fully developed, or mature cells. Chris Mason, Chair of Regenerative Medicine Bioprocessing at the institution described the process as the most simple, lowest-cost and quickest method to-date. These pluripotent cells have unlimited therapeutic potential as they are able to develop into different cell types.

Mason explained to Reuters, If it works in man, this could be the game changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patients own cells as starting material.

Researchers from other institutions including Brigham and Womens Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the RIKENCenter for Developmental Biology in Japan took part in this study.

Scientists performed the experiment by allowing mature cells to multiply and then, using a number of methods, stressing them almost to the point of death. According to the researchers, the cells were able to survive and recover by returning to a state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell.

Stem Cells Defined

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the ability to differentiate into specialized types of cells that the body needs. There are two types of stem cells, embryonic stem cells found in embryos, and adult or IPS stem cells, which are harvested from the blood or skin and genetically reprogrammed into stem cells.

According to scientists, the stem cells ability to regenerate tissue makes them valuable in the fight against degenerative diseases including Parkinsons and cardiovascular disease.

Source: http://www.euronews.com/2014/01/29/stem-cells-produced-without-embryo-in-major-scientific-breakthrough/

Here is the original post:
Biologists Create Embryonic-Type Stem Cells Without Embryos

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), a biotechnology company that develops and markets products in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced that Chief Executive Officer Michael D. West, PhD will present at the 9th Annual Stem Cell Summit in New York. Dr. West will speak in the session Disrupting the Pharma Model with Allogeneic Stem Cell Therapies on February 18, 2014, starting at 9:05 a.m. EST.

Dr. West will discuss the potential comparative advantages of treating disease with BioTime's PureStem-based therapeutics compared to traditional small molecule pharmaceuticals and BioTime's product development strategy. The presentation will be made available on BioTime's website at http://www.biotimeinc.com.

About BioTime, Inc.

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 CheilJedang Corporation under exclusive licensing agreements.

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

Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a new subsidiary which has acquired the stem cell assets of Geron Corporation, including patents and other intellectual property, biological materials, reagents and equipment for the development of new therapeutic products for regenerative medicine.

OncoCyte Corporation is developing products and technologies to diagnose and treat cancer.

Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd. (Cell Cure Neurosciences) is an Israel-based biotechnology company focused on developing stem cell-based therapies for retinal and neurological disorders, including the development of retinal pigment epithelial cells for the treatment of macular degeneration, and treatments for multiple sclerosis.

LifeMap Sciences, Inc. (LifeMap Sciences) markets, sells and distributes GeneCards, the leading human gene database, as part of an integrated database suite that also includes the LifeMap Discovery database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, and MalaCards, the human disease database.

ES Cell International Pte Ltd., a Singapore private limited company, developed clinical and research grade hES cell lines and plans to market those cell lines and other BioTime research products in over-seas markets as part of BioTimes ESI BIO Division.

See more here:
BioTime CEO Dr. Michael West to Present at 9th Annual Stem Cell Summit

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Feb-2014

Contact: Philip Bernstein, Ph.D. ITNCommunications@immunetolerance.org 240-235-6132 Immune Tolerance Network

WA, Seattle (February 17, 2014) A new study describes the complexity of the new T cell repertoire following immune-depleting therapy to treat multiple sclerosis, improving our understanding of immune tolerance and clinical outcomes.

In the Immune Tolerance Network's (ITN) HALT-MS study, 24 patients with relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis received high-dose immunosuppression followed by a transplant of their own stem cells, called an autologous stem cell transplant, to potentially reprogram the immune system so that it stops attacking the brain and spinal cord. Data published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation quantified and characterized T cell populations following this aggressive regimen to understand how the reconstituting immune system is related to patient outcomes.

ITN investigators used a high-throughput, deep-sequencing technology (Adaptive Biotechnologies, ImmunoSEQTM Platform) to analyze the T cell receptor (TCR) sequences in CD4+ and CD8+ cells to compare the repertoire at baseline pre-transplant, two months post-transplant and 12 months post-transplant.

Using this approach, alongside conventional flow cytometry, the investigators found that CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes exhibit different reconstitution patterns following transplantation. The scientists observed that the dominant CD8+ T cell clones present at baseline were expanded at 12 months post-transplant, suggesting these clones were not effectively eradicated during treatment. In contrast, the dominant CD4+ T cell clones present at baseline were undetectable at 12 months, and the reconstituted CD4+ T cell repertoire was predominantly comprised of new clones.

The results also suggest the possibility that differences in repertoire diversity early in the reconstitution process might be associated with clinical outcomes. Nineteen patients who responded to treatment had a more diverse repertoire two months following transplant compared to four patients who did not respond. Despite the low number of non-responders, these comparisons approached statistical significance and point to the possibility that complexity in the T cell compartment may be important for establishing immune tolerance.

This is one of the first studies to quantitatively compare the baseline T cell repertoire with the reconstituted repertoire following autologous stem cell transplant, and provides a previously unseen in-depth analysis of how the immune system reconstitutes itself following immune-depleting therapy.

###

Read the original post:
Extensive renewal of the T cell repertoire following autologous stem cell transplant in MS

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise WA, Seattle (February 17, 2014) A new study describes the complexity of the new T cell repertoire following immune-depleting therapy to treat multiple sclerosis, improving our understanding of immune tolerance and clinical outcomes.

In the Immune Tolerance Networks (ITN) HALT-MS study, 24 patients with relapsing, remitting multiple sclerosis received high-dose immunosuppression followed by a transplant of their own stem cells, called an autologous stem cell transplant, to potentially reprogram the immune system so that it stops attacking the brain and spinal cord. Data published today in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (http://www.jci.org/articles/view/71691?key=b64763243f594bab6646) quantified and characterized T cell populations following this aggressive regimen to understand how the reconstituting immune system is related to patient outcomes.

ITN investigators used a high-throughput, deep-sequencing technology (Adaptive Biotechnologies, ImmunoSEQTM Platform) to analyze the T cell receptor (TCR) sequences in CD4+ and CD8+ cells to compare the repertoire at baseline pre-transplant, two months post-transplant and 12 months post-transplant.

Using this approach, alongside conventional flow cytometry, the investigators found that CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes exhibit different reconstitution patterns following transplantation. The scientists observed that the dominant CD8+ T cell clones present at baseline were expanded at 12 months post-transplant, suggesting these clones were not effectively eradicated during treatment. In contrast, the dominant CD4+ T cell clones present at baseline were undetectable at 12 months, and the reconstituted CD4+ T cell repertoire was predominantly comprised of new clones.

The results also suggest the possibility that differences in repertoire diversity early in the reconstitution process might be associated with clinical outcomes. Nineteen patients who responded to treatment had a more diverse repertoire two months following transplant compared to four patients who did not respond. Despite the low number of non-responders, these comparisons approached statistical significance and point to the possibility that complexity in the T cell compartment may be important for establishing immune tolerance.

This is one of the first studies to quantitatively compare the baseline T cell repertoire with the reconstituted repertoire following autologous stem cell transplant, and provides a previously unseen in-depth analysis of how the immune system reconstitutes itself following immune-depleting therapy.

About The Immune Tolerance Network The Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) is a research consortium sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. The ITN develops and conducts clinical and mechanistic studies of immune tolerance therapies designed to prevent disease-causing immune responses, without compromising the natural protective properties of the immune system. Visit http://www.immunetolerance.org for more information.

###

Read this article:
Deep TCR Sequencing Reveals Extensive Renewal of the T Cell Repertoire Following Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in ...

Researchers at the southern Taiwan-based National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) recently announced in a press conference that they have identified a new drug that can be used to repair aged and damaged hearts.

The stem cell researchers, led by Professor Patrick Ching-Ho Hsieh, from the Institute of Clinical Medicine, NCKU, discovered that prostaglandin E2, a type of hormone-like medicine, is capable of rejuvenating aged hearts.

The discovery sheds light on cardiac cell regeneration and provides another effective option for heart disease patients other than heart transplantation.

Hsieh said that cardiovascular disease such as congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Currently, there are about 6 million patients of congestive heart failure in the US and about 0.4 million patients in Taiwan. In spite of intensive medical or surgical treatment, 80% of patients die within 8 years of diagnosis, Hsieh added.

He also noted that biomedical research nowadays has couple of milestones for heart diseases; however, the renewing mechanism is still unknown. It is also lacking a drug allowing stimulation of heart regeneration by endogenous stem cells.

After 7 years of work, Hsiehs team has identified the critical time period and the essential player for this cardiac repairing process.

Also a cardiovascular surgeon at the NCKU Hospital, Hsiehs research group used a special transgenic mouse model he developed when he was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School to investigate how endogenous stem cells regenerate cardiomyocytes following myocardial infarction, or heart attack.

They showed that the cardiac self-repairing process begins within 7 days after injury and it reaches its maximal activity on day 10.

The key player for this process is PGE2 and it is important for regulating cardiac stem cell activities.

References

Here is the original post:
PGE2 promotes cardiac stem cell activity | Stem Cells Freak

stem cell therapy treatment for right brachial plexus by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india
improvement seen in just 5 days after stem cell therapy treatment for right brachial plexus by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india. Stem Cell Therapy done date 21/...

By: Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute

Read more here:
stem cell therapy treatment for right brachial plexus by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india - Video

Sunday, February 16, 20144:07:29 PM(IST)

Havana, Feb 16 (IANS): More than 5,000 patients have received stem cell treatment in Cuba since its procedure was introduced in 2004, a medical expert said.

Porfirio Hernandez, researcher and vice director at the Hematology and Immunology Institute in Cuba, said the stem cell treatment method has been implemented in 13 of the 15 provinces in Cuba.

As a widely acknowledged pioneer of this practice, Hernandez said that more than 60 percent of patients receiving the treatment had suffered from severe ischemia at lower limbs and other blood vessel related ailments, reported Xinhua.

The therapy has also been used to reduce the sufferings of patients with severe orthopedic and cardiac problems, Hernandez added.

Stem cells are capable of self-renewing, regenerating tissues damaged by diverse disease, traumas, and ageing, and stimulating the creation of new blood vessels.

Please note that under 66A of the IT Act, sending offensive or menacing messages through electronic communication service and sending false messages to cheat, mislead or deceive people or to cause annoyance to them is punishable. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.

See the article here:
Over 5,000 Cubans receive stem cell treatment: Expert

Best Wrinkle Serum
http://tinyurl.com/n57p88w The best wrinkle serum is Anti Aging Serum Advanced Formula, with 10% Photocelltec Malus Domestica -- Swiss Apple Stem Cell Extrac...

By: ph499

Go here to see the original:
Best Wrinkle Serum - Video

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

16-Feb-2014

Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center

STANFORD, Calif. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have pinpointed why normal aging is accompanied by a diminished ability to regain strength and mobility after muscle injury: Over time, stem cells within muscle tissues dedicated to repairing damage become less able to generate new muscle fibers and struggle to self-renew.

"In the past, it's been thought that muscle stem cells themselves don't change with age, and that any loss of function is primarily due to external factors in the cells' environment," said Helen Blau, PhD, the Donald and Delia B. Baxter Foundation Professor. "However, when we isolated stem cells from older mice, we found that they exhibit profound changes with age. In fact, two-thirds of the cells are dysfunctional when compared to those from younger mice, and the defect persists even when transplanted into young muscles."

Blau and her colleagues also identified for the first time a process by which the older muscle stem cell populations can be rejuvenated to function like younger cells. "Our findings identify a defect inherent to old muscle stem cells," she said. "Most exciting is that we also discovered a way to overcome the defect. As a result, we have a new therapeutic target that could one day be used to help elderly human patients repair muscle damage."

Blau, a professor of microbiology and immunology and director of Stanford's Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology, is the senior author of a paper describing the research, which will be published online Feb. 16 in Nature Medicine. Postdoctoral scholar Benjamin Cosgrove, PhD, and former postdoctoral scholar Penney Gilbert, PhD, now an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, are the lead authors.

The researchers found that many muscle stem cells isolated from mice that were 2 years old, equivalent to about 80 years of human life, exhibited elevated levels of activity in a biological cascade called the p38 MAP kinase pathway. This pathway impedes the proliferation of the stem cells and encourages them to instead become non-stem, muscle progenitor cells. As a result, although many of the old stem cells divide in a dish, the resulting colonies are very small and do not contain many stem cells.

Using a drug to block this p38 MAP kinase pathway in old stem cells (while also growing them on a specialized matrix called hydrogel) allowed them to divide rapidly in the laboratory and make a large number of potent new stem cells that can robustly repair muscle damage, Blau said.

"Aging is a stochastic but cumulative process," Cosgrove said. "We've now shown that muscle stem cells progressively lose their stem cell function during aging. This treatment does not turn the clock back on dysfunctional stem cells in the aged population. Rather, it stimulates stem cells from old muscle tissues that are still functional to begin dividing and self-renew."

Follow this link:
Researchers rejuvenate stem cell population from elderly mice, enabling muscle recovery

stem cell research stem cell therapy marrow transplant and lung repair stem cell transplant
Learn more: http://www.ez3dbiz.com/rejuvenessence.html.

By: 3dbizez

Read more here:
stem cell research stem cell therapy marrow transplant and lung repair stem cell transplant - Video

adult stem cell therapy blood bone marrow astragalus herb benefits for rheumatoid arthritis
Learn more at: http://www.ez3dbiz.com/rejuvenessence.html.

By: 3dbizez

The rest is here:
adult stem cell therapy blood bone marrow astragalus herb benefits for rheumatoid arthritis - Video

by GEORGE RIBA

WFAA Sports

Posted on February 15, 2014 at 10:35 AM

DALLAS Malena Brown is hoping for a match on this Valentines Day weekend, but its not the kind of match you expect.

The 15-year-old daughter of Dallas Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown is looking for an "angel donor" whose bone marrow stem cells will match hers and help her overcome what's known as CML, or chronic myeloid leukemia.

Well, its kind of scary knowing that there wasn't a match for me, but we're doing a bone marrow drive now and hopefully find somebody that matches me, Malena said.

Neither one of Malena's siblings is a match, and trying to find one has become a challenge.

The No. 1 challenge has been trying to find a match based on her ancestry, and she being biracial, has been extra difficult because the registry is under-represented with African-American and other multiracial people, said Kim Brown, Malenas mother.

We've had nothing but people trying to help us in any way they can, said father Gary Brown. When you know your daughter is going through something hard, and there are other people out there that care as much as you do and want to help her as much as you do.

To add your name to the national registry, all you do is a simple swab test, add it to a booklet, and send it in.

Go here to see the original:
Cowboys coach seeks marrow match for teen daughter

by GEORGE RIBA

WFAA Sports

Posted on February 14, 2014 at 10:36 PM

Updated today at 8:20 AM

DALLAS Malena Brown is hoping for a match on this Valentines Day weekend, but its not the kind of match you expect.

The 15-year-old daughter of Dallas Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown is looking for an "angel donor" whose bone marrow stem cells will match hers and help her overcome what's known as CML, or chronic myeloid leukemia.

Well, its kind of scary knowing that there wasn't a match for me, but we're doing a bone marrow drive now and hopefully find somebody that matches me, Malena said.

Neither one of Malena's siblings is a match, and trying to find one has become a challenge.

The No. 1 challenge has been trying to find a match based on her ancestry, and she being biracial, has been extra difficult because the registry is under-represented with African-American and other multiracial people, said Kim Brown, Malenas mother.

We've had nothing but people trying to help us in any way they can, said dad Gary Brown. When you know your daughter is going through something hard, and there are other people out there that care as much as you do and want to help her as much as you do.

See original here:
Cowboys coach seeks marrow match for ailing teen daughter

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Feb-2014

Contact: Joseph Caputo joseph_caputo@harvard.edu 617-496-1491 Harvard University

Harvard stem cell scientists have a new theory for how stem cells decide whether to become liver or pancreatic cells during development. A cell's fate, the researchers found, is determined by the nearby presence of prostaglandin E2, a messenger molecule best known for its role in inflammation and pain. The discovery, published in the journal Developmental Cell, could potentially make liver and pancreas cells easier to generate both in the lab and for future cell therapies.

Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD, and Trista North, PhD, both principal faculty members of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), identified a gradient of prostaglandin E2 in the region of zebrafish embryos where stem cells differentiate into the internal organs. Experiments conducted by postdoctoral fellow Sahar Nissim, MD, PhD, in the Goessling lab showed how liver-or-pancreas-fated stem cells have specific receptors on their membranes to detect the amount of prostaglandin E2 hormone present and coerce the cell into differentiating into a specific organ type.

"Cells that see more prostaglandin become liver and the cells that see less prostaglandin become pancreas," said Goessling, a Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "This is the first time that prostaglandin is being reported as a factor that can lead this fate switch and essentially instruct what kind of identity a cell is going to be."

The researchers next collaborated with the laboratory of HSCI Affiliated Faculty member Richard Maas, MD, PhD, Director of the Genetics Division at Brigham and Women's Hospital, to see whether prostaglandin E2 has a similar function in mammals. Richard Sherwood, PhD, a former graduate student of HSCI Co-director Doug Melton, was successfully able to instruct mouse stem cells to become either liver or pancreas cells by exposing them to different amounts of the hormone. Other experiments showed that prostaglandin E2 could also enhance liver growth and regeneration of liver cells.

Goessling and his research partner North, a Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, first became intrigued by prostaglandin E2 in 2005, as postdoctoral fellows in the lab of HSCI Executive Committee Chair Leonard Zon, MD. It caught their attention during a chemical screen exposing 2,500 known drugs to zebrafish embryos to find any that could amplify blood stem cell populations. Prostaglandin E2 was the most successful hit the first molecule discovered in any system to have such an effectand recently successfully completed Phase 1b clinical trials as a therapeutic to improve cord blood transplants.

"Prostaglandin might be a master regulator of cell growth in different organs," Goessling said. "It's used in cord blood, as we have shown, it works in the liver, and who knows what other organs might be affected by it."

With evidence of how prostaglandin E2 works in the liver, the researchers next want to calibrate how it can be used in the laboratory to instruct induced pluripotent stem cellsmature cells that have been reprogrammed into a stem-like stateto become liver or pancreas cells. The scientists predict that such a protocol could benefit patients who need liver cells for transplantation or who have had organ injury.

Read more here:
Harvard scientists find cell fate switch that decides liver, or pancreas?

Instead of being shut out of a $40 million stem cell grant awarded to Stanford University, San Diego researchers will be major partners, say the scientists who lead the project.

Joseph Ecker of the Salk Institute and Michael Snyder of Stanford say that under an informal arrangement, they will jointly allocate money granted from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for a new center on stem cell genomics. CIRM is responsible for distributing $3 billion in state bond money to turn stem cell research into disease treatments.

Joseph Ecker, a Salk Institute researcher and co-principal investigator of the new center for stem cell genomics created with a $40 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. / Salk Institute

Genomics, the study of the complete set of genes and DNA in an organism, is necessary to help understand how stem cells function. Stem cells contain virtually the same genes as adult cells but differ in which genes are turned on and off. The signals that cause stem cells to differentiate are not well understood.

By analyzing the genomes of stem cells, researchers expect to better understand how stem cells can produce more stem cells, and which genes are involved in directing stem cells down the path to becoming adult cells of interest, such as islet cells that make insulin, bone or retinal cells.

Last months decision had been characterized as a big win for Stanford, because the university had been awarded the grant over competing applications, including one from The Scripps Research Institute and San Diego DNA sequencing giant Illumina.

Ecker and Snyder said that belief is a misunderstanding, because their proposal is a cooperative venture involving extensive participation from San Diego biomedical scientists.

Michael Snyder, a Stanford University researcher and co-principal investigator of the new center for stem cell genomics created with a $40 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. / Stanford University

The leadership issue is confusing, because CIRM requires a single institute to be listed as the lead on funding proposals, even if the institutions are sharing leadership, Ecker said by email. In fact, Mike Snyder and I, by proxy Stanford and Salk, are equal partners. Responsibility for administration of the center will fall equally to Stanford and Salk researchers, as well as strategic steering and decision-making on what projects to pursue.

Besides Salk and Stanford, partners are UC San Diego, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, the J. Craig Venter Institute, The Scripps Research Institute and UC Santa Cruz. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute also plays a role.

See the original post:
Salk, Stanford equal partners in stem cell genomics program

ONEIDA >> There is an abundance of groundbreaking research going on at the Cardiac Research Institute, or Masonic Medical Research Laboratory in Utica. Myron Thurston III, the assistant director of development and communications at the institute, will host the next Community Media Lab to share some of the experimental cardiology projects and research with the public, as well as educate them on heart health.

The Community Media Lab will take place Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Oneida Daily Dispatch office, 130 Broad St. in Oneida. It is free and open to the public.

Thurston will explain what were doing in the area of cardiac arrhythmias and irregular heartbeats. An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm caused by electrical instability within the heart.

Some of the most significant work done at the lab is with stem cell research and bio-engineering. Scientists at the lab are working on using skin cells to create genetically-matching heart cells that can ideally be used for regenerative therapy for failing hearts.

Thurston says the idea is that if the scientists can create a heart or organ made from the persons cells the body wouldnt reject it.

The lab is also pioneering efforts in cloning a human heart. In the beginning of 2013, scientists at the institute began to look into replicating a heart in their revolutionary bioreactor, or bio-engineering chamber, which provides a space for the growth and maturity of cloned organs. They have been testing with rabbit hearts, and hope to scale up from there.

The process begins with removing all of the genetic material from the heart, leaving a shell of the muscle, commonly called a ghost heart because it has a white appearance after decellularization. The goal is to put pluripotent stem cells, or stem cells capable of separating into one of many cell types, into the ghost heart to generate a cloned heart from the patients own cells. Scientist are in the process of putting cells back into the heart, and Thurston says so far its working.

This gets rid of the need for donor hearts, said Thurston. Donor hearts have to be harvested within minutes to be viable for a transplant, he said, which is less time than it takes to harvest most other organs.

Thurston says the next step is for scientists to test pig hearts, which are identical to human hearts once all the genetic material is removed.

While the lab has made several scientific accomplishments including producing revolutionary drugs and treatments for cardiac arrhythmias, it boasts the discovery and naming of the M cell as its most significant breakthrough in heart research. Through the finding of the M cell, researchers were able to determine that the heart was a heterogeneous organ, meaning differences exist in the organs function and drug interaction. The cells were found to be the main reason for many types of arrhythmias, leading to the development of new strategies to fight the irregular heartbeats by targeting the M cells. Continued...

More here:
Media Lab to focus on heart research

Baltimore

A new method of creating versatile stem cells from a relatively simple manipulation of existing cells could further reduce the need for any stem-cell research involving human embryos, according to leading ethicists.

Although the process has only been tested in mice, two studies published Jan. 29 in the journal Nature detailed research showing success with a process called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency, or STAP.

Scientists from Japan's RIKEN research institute and Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston were able to reprogram blood cells from newborn mice by placing them in a low-level acidic bath for 30 minutes. Seven to 9 percent of the cells subjected to such stress returned to a state of pluripotency and were able to grow into other types of cells in the body.

"If this technology proves feasible with human cells, which seems likely, it will offer yet another alternative for obtaining highly flexible stem cells without relying on the destructive use of human embryos," said Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. "This is clearly a positive direction for scientific research."

Pacholczyk, a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Mass., who holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Yale University, said the only "potential future ethical issue" raised by the new STAP cells would be if scientists were to coax them into "a new degree of flexibility beyond classical pluripotency," creating cells "with essential characteristics of embryos and the propensity to develop into the adult organism."

"Generating human embryos in the laboratory, regardless of the specific methodology, will always raise significant ethical red flags," he said.

The Catholic church opposes any research involving the destruction of human embryos to create stem cells.

Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said if the new method were used to create stem cells so versatile that they could form placenta tissue and make human cloning easier, "then we would have serious moral problems with that." But there is no indication so far that the scientists could or would do so, he added.

"You could misuse any powerful technology, but the technique itself is not problematic" in terms of Catholic teaching, Doerflinger said.

Go here to read the rest:
New stem-cell method offers another alternative to embryonic research

StemCells, Inc. Expands Phase I/II Spinal Cord Injury Trial to North America

NEWARK, Calif., Jan. 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (Nasdaq:STEM) announced today that a team at the University of Calgary successfully transplanted its first subject in the Company's Phase I/II clinical trial in chronic spinal cord injury, with the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC human neural stem cells. The ninth subject to enroll in the trial, which was initiated in Switzerland, is the first spinal cord injury patient to have undergone transplantation in North America. This expansion from a single-site, single-country study to a multi-site, multi-country program accelerates the current trial, which should complete enrollment of the remaining three patients this quarter, and pave the way for a controlled Phase II efficacy study that StemCells, Inc. plans to initiate mid-year to further investigate its HuCNS-SC product candidate as a treatment for spinal cord injury.

"With this transplantation in Canada, we have the first international trial investigating neural stem cells for spinal cord injury," said Stephen Huhn, M.D., FACS, FAAP, Vice President, CNS Clinical Research at StemCells, Inc. "The 12-month data from the first cohort has demonstrated a favorable safety profile, and sensory gains first detected in two of the three subjects at the six-month assessment have persisted. The third subject remains stable. We are extremely encouraged with the progress of our spinal cord injury program and the transition into an international study will accelerate completion of enrollment."

Steve Casha, M.D., Ph.D., FRCSC, the principal investigator at the University of Calgary, added, "We are proud to be the first center to enroll a subject in North America. This important research is yielding critical insight into the use of stem cells in treating spinal cord injury patients. The results should serve as a solid foundation for the Company's planned Phase II controlled efficacy study and represents an important step in the development of this promising technology."

"We have closely followed the conduct of the StemCells, Inc. trial at the University of Zurich, under the direction of Dr. Armin Curt," said Michael Fehlings M.D., Ph.D., FACS, FRCSC. Dr. Fehlings is Medical Director of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto, head of the Spinal Program at the Toronto Western Hospital, and principal investigator for the trial at the University of Toronto. "There is a large unmet medical need for treatments in spinal cord injury. The opening of sites in North America is great news for the worldwide community of patients and their families, as well as for researchers. There is a strong rationale to explore novel therapeutic approaches to treating spinal cord injury, and we are pleased to be working with StemCells at the forefront of this trailblazing study."

About the StemCells, Inc. Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Trial

The Company's Phase I/II clinical trial is designed to assess both safety and preliminary efficacy of HuCNS-SC cells as a treatment for chronic spinal cord injury. The Company plans to enroll 12 subjects with thoracic (chest-level) neurological injuries at the T2-T11 level, classified as complete or incomplete according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale.

To date, nine patients have been enrolled and transplanted with HuCNS-SC cells.Each of the first three subjects suffered a complete injury prior to enrolling in the study. Twelve months after transplantation of the HuCNS-SC cells, data showed multi-segment gains in sensory function in two of the first three subjects, one of which converted from a complete injury classification to an incomplete injury.The third subject in this cohort remained stable, 12 months after transplantation. The company expects to report additional interim data on both the first and second cohorts by mid-2014.

The trial is currently enrolling spinal cord injury patients at three centers: the University of Calgary; the University of Toronto; and at Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, a world-leading medical center for spinal cord injury and rehabilitation. Patients who may qualify and are interested in participating in the study in North America should contact the University of Calgary at 403-944-4334 or the University of Toronto at 416-603-5285. For information on enrollment in Switzerland, interested parties may contact the study nurse either by phone at +41 44 386 39 01, or by email at stemcells.pz@balgrist.ch.

All subjects who enroll in the trial will receive HuCNS-SC cells through direct transplantation into the spinal cord and will undergo temporary treatment with immunosuppressive drugs.Evaluations will be regularly performed in the post-transplant period in order to monitor and assess the safety of the HuCNS-SC cells, the surgery and the immunosuppression, as well as to measure any change in neurological function.Preliminary efficacy will be evaluated based on defined clinical endpoints, such as changes in sensation, motor function and bowel/bladder function.The Company intends to follow the effects of this intervention long term, and each of the subjects will be invited to enroll in a separate four-year observational study after completing the Phase I/II study.In addition, the Company plans to initiate a controlled Phase II efficacy trial in in spinal cord injury in 2014.

Continue reading here:
StemCells, Inc. Expands Phase I/II Spinal Cord Injury ...

Poets and physicians know that a scarred heart cannot beat the way it used to, but the science of reprogramming cells offers hope--for the physical heart, at least.

A team of University of Michigan biomedical engineers has turned cells common in scar tissue into colonies of beating heart cells. Their findings could advance the path toward regenerating tissue that's been damaged in a heart attack.

Previous work in direct reprogramming, jumping straight from a cell type involved in scarring to heart muscle cells, has a low success rate. But Andrew Putnam, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and head of the Cell Signaling in Engineered Tissues Lab, thinks he knows at least one of the missing factors for better reprogramming.

"Many reprogramming studies don't consider the environment that the cells are in -- they don't consider anything other than the genes," he said. "The environment can dictate the expression of those genes."

To explore how the cells' surroundings might improve the efficiency of reprogramming, Yen Peng Kong, a post-doctoral researcher in the lab, attempted to turn scarring cells, or fibroblasts, into heart muscle cells while growing them in gels of varying stiffness. He and his colleagues compared a soft commercial gel with medium-stiffness fibrin, made of the proteins that link with platelets to form blood clots, and with high-stiffness collagen, made of structural proteins.

The fibroblasts came from mouse embryos. To begin the conversion to heart muscle cells, Kong infected the fibroblasts with a specially designed virus that carried mouse transgenes -- genes expressed by stem cells.

Fooled into stem cell behavior, the fibroblasts transformed themselves into stem-cell-like progenitor cells. This transition, which would be skipped in direct reprogramming, encouraged the cells to divide and grow into colonies rather than remaining as lone rangers. The tighter community might have helped to ease the next transition, since naturally developing heart muscle cells are also close with their neighbors.

After seven days, Kong changed the mixture used to feed the cells, adding a protein that encourages the growth of heart tissue. This helped push the cells toward adopting the heart muscle identity. A few days later, some of the colonies were contracting spontaneously, marking themselves out as heart muscle colonies.

The transition was particularly successful in the fibrin and fibrin-collagen mixes, which saw as many as half of the colonies converting to heart muscle.

The team has yet to discover exactly what it is about fibrin that makes it better for supporting heart muscle cell. While most materials either stretch or weaken under strain, fibrin gets harder. Putnam wonders whether the fibrin was successful because heart muscles expect a material that toughens up when they contract.

Go here to read the rest:
Help for a scarred heart: Scarring cells turned to beating ...