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Stem cell jab is 'five times better than drugs' for treating people with life-threatening heart conditions

British study involved more than 1,000 sufferers of chronic heart disease Indicated injecting stem cells into heart significantly increase survival rates Those who had the treatment less likely to be readmitted to hospital Patients who had injection also more likely to have improved heart function

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 18:37 EST, 29 April 2014 | Updated: 02:30 EST, 30 April 2014

Stem cells could be five times more effective in treating people with life-threatening heart diseases than conventional drugs.

A study involving more than 1,000 sufferers of chronic heart disease indicated that injecting stem cells into the heart can significantly increase survival rates after a year.

It found that those who underwent the treatment were less likely to be readmitted to hospital and also had improved heart function.

Stem cells could be five times more effective in treating people with life-threatening heart diseases than conventional drugs

Stem cell treatment for heart disease is currently limited to specialist research centres, where cells are extracted from a patients own blood or bone marrow and used to repair damaged tissue in the heart and arteries.

The Cochrane Heart Review Group looked at data involving 1,255 people from 23 trials, where all patients received treatments currently available to the public.

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Stem cell jab is 'five times better than drugs' for treating people with life-threatening heart conditions

Stem cell treatment repairs damaged heart tissue in monkeys

Sony increases net loss forecast to 130 billion yen

The Nation - Thursday 1st May, 2014

Tokyo - Sony Corp Thursday increased its predicted net loss to 130 billion yen (1.27 billion dollars) for the last financial year due to additional costs on its personal computer business and disc ...

The Nation - Thursday 1st May, 2014

Jakarta (dpa) - A five-year-old Indonesian boy jumped to his death in Jakarta after his mother forbade him viewing the movie Spiderman, local media reported ...

The Nation - Thursday 1st May, 2014

CHENNAI, India (AFP) - Twin bombs planted on a train killed one person and wounded 14 others in the southern Indian port of Chennai Thursday, the latest attack during ongoing national elections, ...

West Australian - Thursday 1st May, 2014

Bangkok (AFP) - A Thai comedian and prominent "Red Shirt" political activist lost an appeal Thursday against a two-year prison term under the kingdom's strict royal defamation law. ...

Rigzone - Thursday 1st May, 2014

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Stem cell treatment repairs damaged heart tissue in monkeys

Stem Cells Taken From Teeth Can Make Brain-like Cells

May 1, 2014

Image Caption: This is the distinct neuronal-like appearance of a mouse-derived dental pulp stem cell following the induction process. Credit: Dr. Kylie Ellis, University of Adelaide.

University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide researchers have discovered that stem cells taken from teeth can grow to resemble brain cells, suggesting they could one day be used in the brain as a therapy for stroke.

In the Universitys Centre for Stem Cell Research, laboratory studies have shown that stem cells from teeth can develop and form complex networks of brain-like cells. Although these cells havent developed into fully fledged neurons, researchers believe its just a matter of time and the right conditions for it to happen.

Stem cells from teeth have great potential to grow into new brain or nerve cells, and this could potentially assist with treatments of brain disorders, such as stroke, says Dr Kylie Ellis, Commercial Development Manager with the Universitys commercial arm, Adelaide Research & Innovation (ARI).

Dr Ellis conducted this research as part of her Physiology PhD studies at the University, before making the step into commercialization. The results of her work have been published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

The reality is, treatment options available to the thousands of stroke patients every year are limited, Dr Ellis says. The primary drug treatment available must be administered within hours of a stroke and many people dont have access within that timeframe, because they often cant seek help for some time after the attack.

Ultimately, we want to be able to use a patients own stem cells for tailor-made brain therapy that doesnt have the host rejection issues commonly associated with cell-based therapies. Another advantage is that dental pulp stem cell therapy may provide a treatment option available months or even years after the stroke has occurred, she says.

Dr Ellis and her colleagues, Professors Simon Koblar, David OCarroll and Stan Gronthos, have been working on a laboratory-based model for actual treatment in humans. As part of this research Dr Ellis found that stem cells derived from teeth developed into cells that closely resembled neurons.

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Stem Cells Taken From Teeth Can Make Brain-like Cells

Novartis abandons plans to buy Gamida Cell

Elbit Medical Technologies Ltd. (TASE:EMTC) and Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. (TASE: CBI) announced this morning that talks to sell stem cell cancer treatment developer Gamida Cell have broken down. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; LSE: NOV; SWX: NOVZ) had been in talks to acquire Gamida Cell for $200-300 million cash with the potential for a further three hundred million dollars in milestone payments and royalties. Sources inform "Globes" that Novartis decided not to approve the deal.

It is not clear what is Novartis's reason for pulling out of the deal. Novartis had never publicly acknowledged that there were talks in the first place, although they had signed a memorandum of understanding including the exact financial conditions of the deal.It is unusual for a deal to reach such an advanced stage and not be realized, even though this was a very advanced deal and it was related to future strategic directions.

The main casualties of the decision were Gamida Cell's shareholders - Elbit Medical (30%) and Clal Biotechnology (22%).

Gamida Cell has proprietary technology for growing the number and density of stem cells within a specific blood sample. This capability could be a basis for all stem cell activity. The company seeks to enhance umbilical cord blood donations for implants to cure blood cancer in adults. Currently, umbilical cord blood can only be used for implant in people weighing less than 45 kilograms.

Gamida-Cell's first product was jointly developed with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) retroactively tightened clinical trial requirements rendering the product's development uneconomical. The company is developing what it says is an improved product in the same field. The product is undergoing clinical trials, and because of its expected improved efficacy, justifies the high development cost.

Gamida-Cell is also considering an IPO on Wall Street.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - http://www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2014

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Novartis abandons plans to buy Gamida Cell

Stem cell breakthrough in treating heart attacks

An implanted graft of cardiac cells derived from human stem cells (green) meshed with a monkey's own heart cells (red). Picture: Murry Lab/University of Washington/PA

Stem cell heart repair treatments could be tested on human patients within four years following a ground-breaking study of monkeys.

Scientists successfully restored damaged cardiac muscle in macaque monkeys suffering the after-effects of experimentally induced heart attacks, paving the way to clinical trials.

Researchers injected 1bn immature heart muscle cells derived from human embryonic stem cells into each animals heart.

Over several weeks, the new cells developed, assembled into muscle fibres, and began to beat in correct time. On average, 40% of the damaged heart tissue was regenerated.

It is the first time stem cell therapy for damage caused by heart attacks has been shown to work in a primate.

Lead scientist Prof Charles Murry, director of the Centre for Cardiovascular Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, said: Before this study, it was not known if it is possible to produce sufficient numbers of these cells and successfully use them to remuscularise damaged hearts in a large animal whose heart size and physiology is similar to that of the human heart.

He expects the treatment to be ready for clinical trials in human patients within four years.

Heart attack symptoms were triggered in the monkeys by blocking the coronary artery the main artery supplying the heart with blood for 90 minutes.

In humans, the reduced blood flow caused by narrowing of the arteries has a similar effect. Lack of blood flow to the heart damages the heart muscle by depriving it of oxygen.

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Stem cell breakthrough in treating heart attacks

Stem cells from teeth can make brain-like cells

University of Adelaide researchers have discovered that stem cells taken from teeth can grow to resemble brain cells, suggesting they could one day be used in the brain as a therapy for stroke.

In the University's Centre for Stem Cell Research, laboratory studies have shown that stem cells from teeth can develop and form complex networks of brain-like cells. Although these cells haven't developed into fully fledged neurons, researchers believe it's just a matter of time and the right conditions for it to happen.

"Stem cells from teeth have great potential to grow into new brain or nerve cells, and this could potentially assist with treatments of brain disorders, such as stroke," says Dr Kylie Ellis, Commercial Development Manager with the University's commercial arm, Adelaide Research & Innovation (ARI).

Dr Ellis conducted this research as part of her Physiology PhD studies at the University, before making the step into commercialisation. The results of her work have been published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy.

"The reality is, treatment options available to the thousands of stroke patients every year are limited," Dr Ellis says. "The primary drug treatment available must be administered within hours of a stroke and many people don't have access within that timeframe, because they often can't seek help for some time after the attack.

"Ultimately, we want to be able to use a patient's own stem cells for tailor-made brain therapy that doesn't have the host rejection issues commonly associated with cell-based therapies. Another advantage is that dental pulp stem cell therapy may provide a treatment option available months or even years after the stroke has occurred," she says.

Dr Ellis and her colleagues, Professors Simon Koblar, David O'Carroll and Stan Gronthos, have been working on a laboratory-based model for actual treatment in humans. As part of this research Dr Ellis found that stem cells derived from teeth developed into cells that closely resembled neurons.

"We can do this by providing an environment for the cells that is as close to a normal brain environment as possible, so that instead of becoming cells for teeth they become brain cells," Dr Ellis says.

"What we developed wasn't identical to normal neurons, but the new cells shared very similar properties to neurons. They also formed complex networks and communicated through simple electrical activity, like you might see between cells in the developing brain."

This work with dental pulp stem cells opens up the potential for modelling many more common brain disorders in the laboratory, which could help in developing new treatments and techniques for patients.

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Stem cells from teeth can make brain-like cells

Dr. Max Gomez: Scientists Use Stem Cells To Grow Functional Human Muscle

CBS New York (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSNewYork.com/ACA

Health News & Information: CBSNewYork.com/Health

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) Growing new muscle could be a huge boon to thousands of soldiers wounded in IED attacks. It could also help accident and trauma victims as well as those injured in sports.

As CBS 2s Dr. Max Gomez reported, scientists used stem cells to grow human muscle and thats just the start of a treatment that could restore function for thousands of seriously injured patients.

Nick Clarks lower leg was badly damaged in a skiing accident nearly a decade ago.

Because of complications of that sever break there was a lot of internal bleeding inside these muscle compartments and that caused swelling, Clark said.

As a result of the accident Clark lost a large amount of muscle.

I couldnt push off my left foot at all. I had no balance, he said.

Clark was one of five patients who took part in an experiment to test a new stem cell technique that starts with connective tissue from pigs.

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Dr. Max Gomez: Scientists Use Stem Cells To Grow Functional Human Muscle

Stem cell cloning may be aid treatment for diabetes – CBS News

Scientists have moved one step closer to creating and effective diabetes treatment by creating insulin-producing cells with the DNA of a diabetic woman.

The approach could someday aid treatment of the Type 1 form of the illness, which is usually diagnosed in childhood and accounts for about 5 percent of diabetes cases in the U.S. The disease kills insulin-making cells in the pancreas. People with Type 1 diabetes use shots or a small pump to supply the hormone, which is needed to control blood sugar.

The new work is a step toward providing genetically matched replacement cells for transplant, said Dieter Egli of the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute in New York. He led the research, which was reported online Monday in the journal Nature.

Doug Melton of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who was not involved with the work, called the paper an impressive technical achievement. But he said he believed the cells would be useful as a research tool rather than a source of transplants. They could help scientists uncover what triggers Type 1 diabetes, he said, which could in turn lead to better therapies.

Scientists had previously made insulin cells that match diabetic patients by another means, so the new work gives researchers another option for comparison. Researchers are also exploring transplants of insulin-producing cells from cadavers as a potential treatment.

The latest work used a technique that partially resembles the process used to clone animals. Basically, scientists put DNA from the woman's skin cells into donated human eggs. The eggs were grown into early embryos. From these, the scientists removed stem cells, which can grow into any cell type in the body. These stem cells were turned into the insulin-producing cells.

Egli told reporters that these cells have shown promise in animal tests, but that he could not estimate a timetable for human experiments. The new work is the third report of using the cloning approach to make human stem cells, and the first using the technique to create insulin-making cells.

Stem cells cloning is an area of research that's showing promise to treat a number of diseases. In January, Dr. Jon LaPook, chief medical correspondent for CBS News, reported an experimental stem cell treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis. Scientists have also been able to repair bones using the stem cells of fatty tissue and also use cloned cells can repair a damaged heart.

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Stem cell cloning may be aid treatment for diabetes - CBS News

Stem Cell Advance May Bring New Diabetes Treatments

A colony of an embryonic stem cell line derived from a person with type 1 diabetes. | Bjarki Johannesson, NYSCF

NEW YORK (AP) In a potential step toward new diabetes treatments, scientists used a cloning technique to make insulin-producing cells with the DNA of a diabetic woman.

The approach could someday aid treatment of the Type 1 form of the illness, which is usually diagnosed in childhood and accounts for about 5 percent of diabetes cases in the U.S.

The disease kills insulin-making cells in the pancreas. People with Type 1 diabetes use shots or a small pump to supply the hormone, which is needed to control blood sugar.

The new work is a step toward providing genetically matched replacement cells for transplant, said Dieter Egli of the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute in New York. He led the research, which was reported online Monday in the journal Nature.

Doug Melton of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who was not involved with the work, called the paper an impressive technical achievement. But he said he believed the cells would be useful as a research tool rather than a source of transplants. They could help scientists uncover what triggers Type 1 diabetes, he said, which could in turn lead to better therapies.

Scientists had previously made insulin cells that match diabetic patients by another means, so the new work gives researchers another option for comparison. Researchers are also exploring transplants of insulin-producing cells from cadavers as a potential treatment.

The latest work used a technique that partially resembles the process used to clone animals. Basically, scientists put DNA from the woman's skin cells into donated human eggs. The eggs were grown into early embryos. From these, the scientists removed stem cells, which can grow into any cell type in the body. These stem cells were turned into the insulin-producing cells.

Egli told reporters that these cells have shown promise in animal tests, but that he could not estimate a timetable for human experiments.

The new work is the third report of using the cloning approach to make human stem cells, and the first using the technique to create insulin-making cells.

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Stem Cell Advance May Bring New Diabetes Treatments

Stem cells used to repair animal hearts and human muscle

by Karen Weintraub, Special for USA TODAY

KING5.com

Posted on April 30, 2014 at 3:48 PM

Two new studies out today show both the incredible promise of stem cell research and its current limitations.

In one, published in the journal Nature, researchers showed that they could repair damaged hearts by injecting these versatile stem cells into macaque monkeys. Heart disease is the leading cause of death, and if the same process can work in people, it could benefit hundreds of thousands a year.

In the other study, published in Science Translational Medicine, five men were able to regrow leg muscles destroyed by accidents or military service. The researchers, from the University of Pittsburgh, inserted into the men's muscles a "scaffold" of muscle tissue from a pig. Through aggressive physical therapy right after the surgery, the men's own stem cells were encouraged to populate the scaffold and substantially rebuild their leg muscles.

Nothing had been able to help these men before, including multiple surgeries and years of physical therapy, said Stephen Badylak, the study's senior author.

"Frankly, most of these patients have been through hell," he said at a Tuesday news conference.

David Scadden, a physician and co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, said he was impressed with the rigor and promise of both studies.

It's long been a goal of stem cell research to figure out how to help the body regrow damaged tissue, he said, and both studies mark a significant step toward that goal.

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Stem cells used to repair animal hearts and human muscle