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Stem cell research in Alabama gets anonymous $1 million boost

By Stem Cell Medicine

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A new organization looking to stimulate stem cell research got a shot in the arm last month with an anonymous $1 million donation.

The Alabama Institute of Medicine wants to use the money to help fund four to five pilot studies which typically cost about $100,000 to $300,000 a piece, said Tory Williams co-founder of the private, nonprofit organization.

On Monday AIM will ask Alabama scientists to begin submitting their applications for funding, a process called a Request For Application (RFA). The applications will be reviewed on a double-blind basis -- meaning the grantee not knowing the reviewer and vice versa.

"We want to raise money for pilot studies aimed at treating such diseases as cancer, diabetes, cardiac, sports injury and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," she said.

She said she feels good about raising their goal of $10 million this year. A longer term goal is to develop a hospital where regenerative medical treatments can be administered.

She said 90 percent of the funds will go toward research. All donations are placed in AIMs scientific trust fund and are recognized as tax- deductible donations.

In 2012 she worked to help pass a law for spinal cord injury research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During that time she saw how scientists were not being encouraged to engage in advanced stem cell research like hESCs -- human embryonic stem cells.

She acknowledged that Alabama has a segment of the population that is opposed to such research on religious grounds but she said she has been amazed by the support.

"Research involving embryos has been controversial," she said. "But over 500,000 embryos are thrown away every year from fertility clinics. It almost like recycling. Take something that is being thrown away every year and treat people dying of these diseases."

Williams was recently featured in a Q&A in the Knoepfer Lab Blog at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine.

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Stem cell research in Alabama gets anonymous $1 million boost

Scientists smash barrier to growing organs from stem cells

By Stem Cell Medical Center

8 hours ago by Josh Barney U.Va. scientists Bernard and Chris Thisse have created a zebrafish embryo by instructing stem cells.

(Phys.org) Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have overcome one of the greatest challenges in biology and taken a major step toward being able to grow whole organs and tissues from stem cells. By manipulating the appropriate signaling, the U.Va. researchers have turned embryonic stem cells into a fish embryo, essentially controlling embryonic development.

The research will have dramatic impact on the future use of stem cells to better the human condition, providing a framework for future studies in the field of regenerative medicine aimed at constructing tissues and organs from populations of cultured pluripotent cells.

In accomplishing this, U.Va. scientists Bernard and Chris Thisse have overcome the most massive of biological barriers. "We have generated an animal by just instructing embryonic cells the right way," said Chris Thisse of the School of Medicine's Department of Cell Biology.

The importance of that is profound. "If we know how to instruct embryonic cells," she said, "we can pretty much do what we want." For example, scientists will be able one day to instruct stem cells to grow into organs needed for transplant.

Directing Embryonic Development

The researchers were able to identify the signals sufficient for starting the cascade of molecular and cellular processes that lead to a fully developed fish embryo. With this study came an answer to the longstanding question of how few signals can initiate the processes of development: amazingly, only two.

The study has shed light on the important roles these two signals play for the formation of organs and full development of a zebrafish embryo. Moreover, the Thisses are now able to direct embryonic development and formation of tissues and organs by controlling signal locations and concentrations.

The embryo they generated was smaller than a normal embryo, because they instructed a small pool of embryonic stem cells, but "otherwise he has everything" in terms of appropriate development, said Bernard Thisse of the Department of Cell Biology.

Their next steps will be to attempt to reproduce their findings using mice. They expect molecular and cellular mechanisms will be extremely similar in mice and other mammals including humans.

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Scientists smash barrier to growing organs from stem cells

FDA Approves CardioCell's Phase 2A Trial For CHF Stem Cell Therapy

By Uncategorized

By Estel Grace Masangkay

CardioCell LLC announced that it has received FDA approval for its investigational new drug (IND) application for a U.S.-based Phase IIA clinical study evaluating its allogeneic stem-cell therapy for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).

Dr. Sergey Sikora, CardioCells president and CEO, said, With the FDAs IND approval, CardioCell is pleased to proceed with a Phase 2a CHF clinical trial based on the safety data reported in previous clinical trials using our unique, hypoxically grown stem cells. At the studys conclusion we will understand if our therapy produces signs of improvement in a population of patients with dilated CHF, a condition largely unaddressed by current therapies. Dilated CHF is characterized by a viable but non-functioning myocardium in which cardiomyocytes are alive but are not contracting as they should. We hope that unique properties of our itMSCs will transition patients cardiomyocytes from viable to functioning, eventually improving or restoring heart function.

The company has developed an ischemic tolerant mesenchymal stem cells (itMSC) treatment for the type of dilated CHF that is not related to coronary artery disease. The treatment could potentially apply to about 35 percent of CHF patients. Only CardioCells CHF therapies feature itMSCs, exclusively licensed from CardioCells parent company Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc. The company said Stemedicas bone marrow-derived, allogeneic MSCs are different from other MSCs because they are grown under hypoxic conditions that closely resemble the environment in which they thrive on in the body.

Dr. Stephen Epstein, CardioCells Scientific Advisory Board Chair, said Although past trials have tested the efficacy of different stem cells in patients with DCM, CardioCells itMSCs, grown under chronic hypoxic conditions, are unique. As compared to stem cells grown under normoxic conditions, they express higher levels of factors that could exert beneficial effects on the mechanisms contributing to myocardial dysfunction and disease progression. This study, therefore, provides an exciting opportunity to test the potential of these itMSCs to attenuate or eliminate these mechanisms and, in so doing, improve patient outcomes.

The trial entitled A Phase 2a, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover, Multi-Center, Randomized Study to Assess the Safety, Tolerability, and Preliminary Efficacy of a Single Intravenous Dose of Ischemia-Tolerant Allogeneic Mesenchymal Bone Marrow Cells to Subjects With Heart Failure of Non-Ischemic Etiology, will be conducted at Emory University, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania in May this year.

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FDA Approves CardioCell's Phase 2A Trial For CHF Stem Cell Therapy

Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy Clinical Trial for Multiple Sclerosis Gets Green Light

By Stem Cell Clinic

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) April 03, 2014

Translational Biosciences, a subsidiary of Medistem Panama, has received the green light for a phase I/II clinical trial using human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSC) for multiple sclerosis from the Comit Nacional de Biotica de la Investigacin (CNEI) Institutional Review Board (IRB) in Panama.

According to the US National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in Multiple Sclerosis (MS), an abnormal immune-mediated T cell response attacks the myelin coating around nerve fibers in the central nervous system, as well as the nerve fibers themselves. This causes nerve impulses to slow or even halt, thus producing symptoms of MS that include fatigue; bladder and bowel problems; vision problems; and difficulty walking. The Cleveland Clinic reports that MS affects more than 350,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide.

Mesenchymal stem cells harvested from donated human umbilical cords after normal, healthy births possess anti-inflammatory and immune modulatory properties that may relieve MS symptoms. Because these cells are immune privileged, the recipients immune system does not reject them. These properties make UC-MSC interesting candidates for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders.

Each patient will receive seven intravenous injections of UC-MSC over the course of 10 days. They will be assessed at 3 months and 12 months primarily for safety and secondarily for indications of efficacy.

The stem cell technology being utilized in this trial was developed by Neil Riordan, PhD, founder of Medistem Panama. The stem cells will be harvested and processed at Medistem Panamas 8000 sq. ft. ISO-9001 certified laboratory in the prestigious City of Knowledge. They will be administered at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama.

From his research laboratory in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Riordan commented, Umbilical cord tissue provides an abundant, non-controversial supply of immune modulating mesenchymal stem cells. Preclinical and clinical research has demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and immune modulating effects of these cells. We look forward to the safety and efficacy data that will be generated by this clinical trial; the first in the western hemisphere testing the effects of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on patients with multiple sclerosis.

The Principle Investigator is Jorge Paz-Rodriguez, MD. Dr. Paz-Rodriguez also serves as the Medical Director at the Stem Cell Institute.

For detailed information about this clinical trial visit http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . If you are a multiple sclerosis patient between the ages of 18 and 55, you may qualify for this trial. Please email trials (at) translationalbiosciences (dot) com for more information about how to apply.

About Translational Biosciences

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Umbilical Cord Stem Cell Therapy Clinical Trial for Multiple Sclerosis Gets Green Light

TiGenix : licenses exclusive marketing and distribution rights for ChondroCelect to Sobi

By Uncategorized

Regulated information 3 April, 2014

TiGenix licenses exclusive marketing and distribution rights for ChondroCelect to Sobi

Sobi to assume responsibility for the commercialisation of ChondroCelect in existing and new markets in Europe and beyond

Sobi's considerable expertise and resources will enhance the availability of ChondroCelect to many more patients in many more countries

TiGenix to focus its resources on developing its pipeline of allogeneic treatments using expanded adipose-derived stem cells (eASC's)

Leuven (BELGIUM) - 3 April, 2014 -TiGenix NV (Euronext Brussels: TIG), the European leader in cell therapy, announced today that it has licensed the marketing and distribution of ChondroCelect, the cell-based medicinal product for the repair of cartilage defects of the knee, to the international specialty healthcare company dedicated to rare diseases, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB ('Sobi', NASDAQ OMX Stockholm: SOBI).

ChondroCelect was the first cell-based product to be approved in Europe. It is currently available for patients and reimbursed in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Sales of ChondroCelect in 2013 were Euro 4.3 million, a growth of 25% on a like-for-like basis over 2012.

Sobi will continue to market and distribute the product where it is currently available and has also acquired the exclusive rights to expand the product's availability to patients in multiple additional territories, including the rest of the European Union, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and Russia, plus the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.

TiGenix will receive a royalty of 22% of the net sales of ChondroCelect in the first year of the agreement, and 20% of the net sales of ChondroCelect thereafter. There will be no upfront or milestone payments. The agreement will take effect on 1 June 2014, and has a duration of 10 years.

"We are delighted to reach this agreement with Sobi", said Eduardo Bravo, CEO of TiGenix. "With its experience of marketing and distributing specialty products, and with its human and financial resources, Sobi has the ability to bring ChondroCelect to a far greater number of patients in many more countries. This then allows TiGenix to focus its human and financial resources on the development of its platform and pipeline of allogeneic treatments using expanded adipose-derived stem cells (eASC's) for the benefit of patients suffering from a range of inflammatory and immunological conditions."

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TiGenix : licenses exclusive marketing and distribution rights for ChondroCelect to Sobi

Patient stem cells help identify common problem in ALS

By Stem Cell Treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

3-Apr-2014

Contact: B.D. Colen bd_colen@harvard.edu 617-413-1224 Harvard University

Harvard stem cell scientists have discovered that a recently approved medication for epilepsy may possibly be a meaningful treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)Lou Gehrig's disease, a uniformly fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The researchers are now collaborating with Massachusetts General Hospital to design an initial clinical trial testing the safety of the treatment in ALS patients.

The investigators all caution that a great deal needs to be done to assure the safety and efficacy of the treatment in ALS patients, before physicians should start offering it.

The work, laid out in two related papers in the April 3 online editions of Cell Stem Cell and Cell Reports, is the long-term fruition of studies by Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Principal Faculty member Kevin Eggan, PhD, who, in a 2008 Science paper, first raised the possibility of using ALS patient-derived stem cells to better understand the disease and identify therapeutic targets for new drugs.

Now Eggan and HSCI colleague Clifford Woolf, MD, PhD, have found that the many independent mutations that cause ALS may be linked by their ability to trigger abnormally high activity in motor neurons. Using neurons derived from stem cells made from ALS patient skin cells, the two research teams conducted clinical trials of the anti-epilepsy medication on neurons in laboratory dishes, finding that it reduced the hyperexcitability of the cells.

ALS is a devastating and currently untreatable degradation of motor neurons, the long nerve cells that connect the spinal cord to the muscles of the body. While several potential treatments have looked promising in mice, all proved disappointing in the clinic.

"The big problem in ALS is that there are more than a hundred mutations in dozens of genes that all cause the disease, but almost all of the therapeutics that have gone forward in the clinic have done so for just one of those mutations, SOD1, which almost everyone studies in mice," said Eggan, a professor in Harvard's Department of Stem and Regenerative Biology.

"And so," he continued, "the key question that we really wanted to address wasare clinical efforts failing because the mouse is taking us on a wild goose chase, or is it simply that people haven't had the opportunity to pre-test whether their ideas are true across lots of forms of ALS?"

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Patient stem cells help identify common problem in ALS

New York Podiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Adler to Be Interviewed April 5 on NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC About the Use of Stem Cell …

By Stem Cell Treatment

New York, New York (PRWEB) April 03, 2014

Dr. Jeffrey Adler, New York podiatrist and Owner/Medical Director of Adler Footcare New York, will be interviewed by radio personality Laura Smith and taking live calls on New York talk show 77 WABC about the use of stem cells to treat chronic foot pain.

Adler Footcare New York uses live birth stem cells to help treat patients with chronic foot problems such as: Plantar fasciitis, Osteoarthritis, Achilles tendonitis and torn soft tissue. The stem cell treatment is proving to be much more effective than traditional treatments like physical therapy or orthotic therapy.

Stem cells have the ability to replicate themselves or change into the cell type that is needed to repair damaged tissue. The therapy works by directly introducing live stem cells into the affected area causing pain. Its approved by the FDA and consistently reviewed by medical professionals to remove the potential of any communicable diseases.

Dr. Adler often travels to other states to share his knowledge with other doctors in his profession. His latest research on stem cell therapy has gained much interest among his peers in the medical industry.

When compared to traditional treatments, stem therapy is proving to be more successful and longer lasting, Dr. Adler said. We are seeing patients heal much quicker and return to their normal activities much sooner.

To learn more about stem cell replacement therapy or to schedule a consultation with a New York podiatrist at Adler Footcare, call (212) 704-4310 or visit http://www.mynycpodiatrist.com.

About Adler Footcare New York Dr. Jeffrey L. Adler, Medical/Surgical Director and owner of Adler Footcare New York has been practicing podiatric medicine since 1979 and has performed thousands of foot and ankle surgeries. Dr. Adler is board certified in Podiatric Surgery and Primary Podiatric Medicine by the American Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry. Dr. Adler is also a Professor of Minimally Invasive Foot Surgery for the Academy of Ambulatory Foot and Ankle Surgeons. As one of only several in the country who perform minimally invasive podiatric surgery, Dr. Adlers patients enjoy significantly reduced recovery times.

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New York Podiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Adler to Be Interviewed April 5 on NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC About the Use of Stem Cell ...

Revolutionary stem cell op to repair hearts: Graham read in Good Health about a pioneering way to beat heart failure …

By Stem Cell Doctors

Graham Parker, 41, from County Durham is one of first to benefit from trial Some participants were given stem cells and the rest placebo Stem cells were taken from bone marrow in his hip and injected into heart Years later Graham feels better - but still classed as having heart failure

By Carol Davis

Published: 18:04 EST, 31 March 2014 | Updated: 18:25 EST, 31 March 2014

Graham Parker took part in a trial using stem cells to repair heart damage

A major new trial is using patients' own stem cells to treat heart failure. One of the first to benefit is Graham Parker, 41, an archaeology student from Stanley, County Durham. He tells CAROL DAVIS his story.

Working as a supply teacher a few years ago, I started feeling exhausted. I couldn't walk more than 50 metres without pausing, was constantly breathless and would wake at night coughing.

At first I thought it was a cold or flu, or the stress of a house move. But my mum, a retired nurse, pointed out I'd been ill for two months, and sent me to the doctor.

The GP suspected asthma, and gave me an inhaler. But within a week it was worse and I couldn't walk more than a few yards without retching.

So I saw a second GP. She didn't say what she thought it was - she called an ambulance instead. I was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, then transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle while they ran several tests, including an ECG (electrocardiogram) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan.

Doctors explained I had heart failure: part of my heart muscle was damaged and the lower pumping chamber had become flabby so couldn't pump blood round my body properly. This was why I was so exhausted.

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Revolutionary stem cell op to repair hearts: Graham read in Good Health about a pioneering way to beat heart failure ...

Researchers discover ancient virus DNA remnants necessary for pluripotency in humans

By Stem Cell Medicine

Mar 31, 2014 by Bob Yirka Human embryonic stem cells in cell culture. Credit: Wikipedia.

(Phys.org) A team of Canadian and Singaporean researchers has discovered that remnants of ancient viral DNA in human DNA must be present for pluripotency to occur in human stem cells. In their paper published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the team describes how they disabled a viral remnant in stem cell samples and discovered that doing so prevented the stem cell from being able to grow into all but one type of human cell.

All of the cells in the human body start out as stem cellsthe ability of such cells to do so is known as pluripotency. Scientists don't really understand how individual stem cells know which type to become but are working hard to find outit could lead to the development of cures for many diseases or the regeneration of lost limbs. In this new effort, the researchers wondered about the role of remnant viral DNA in stem cell DNA and pluripotency in general.

Scientists have known for some time that viral DNA exists in human DNA, the result of retrovirus infections millions of years ago. Retroviruses reproduce by injecting their own DNA into the DNA of a hostif it occurs in sperm or egg cells, the virus DNA can end up in the DNA of the host. Until now, scientists have thought that remnant viral DNA was simply "junk" DNAmeaning it didn't do anything at all. Now it appears clear that at least one type of such DNAHERV-Hactually plays a very important role in pluripotency.

The researchers treated some human stem cells with a small amount of RNA designed to suppress HERV-H. Doing so, they found, removed the stem cell's ability to develop into any human cellinstead they would only grow into cells that resembled fibroblastscells normally found in connective tissue. A closer look revealed that suppressing HERV-H also suppressed the production of proteins necessary for pluripotency. Thus, at least in humans, the remnant viral DNA appears to be necessary for normal human developmentwithout it, human life would be impossible.

Because of the role HERV-H plays in pluripotency, its possible other remnant viral DNA plays a role in human development as well, thus it's very likely that other research efforts will focus on testing each to see if they are more than just junk left over from infections over the course of human evolution.

Explore further: Critical factor (BRG1) identified for maintaining stem cell pluripotency

More information: The retrovirus HERVH is a long noncoding RNA required for human embryonic stem cell identity, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2014) DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2799

Abstract Human endogenous retrovirus subfamily H (HERVH) is a class of transposable elements expressed preferentially in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Here, we report that the long terminal repeats of HERVH function as enhancers and that HERVH is a nuclear long noncoding RNA required to maintain hESC identity. Furthermore, HERVH is associated with OCT4, coactivators and Mediator subunits. Together, these results uncover a new role of species-specific transposable elements in hESCs.

2014 Phys.org

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Researchers discover ancient virus DNA remnants necessary for pluripotency in humans

Oklahoma Medical and Cosmetic Center Introduces Xcell to the State

By Stem Cell Medical Center

Oklahoma City, OK (PRWEB) April 02, 2014

Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center is excited to announce that they have added Xcell Therapy, a revolutionary stem cell therapy process, as a service for its patients. This will mark Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center as the only facility in Oklahoma state to offer Xcell. The process is used to improve the look of scars, stimulate hair growth, ease joint discomfort, combat certain degenerative cell diseases, and provide an overall revitalizing effect on the skin.

Xcell Therapy was developed by Florida based research clinician Robert Brandt and has been introduced to Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center by its CEO, Ron Nerad. The process involves utilizing a patients blood and repurposing the blood to act as a catalyst for the healing process. This is done by drawing blood from the patient, then manipulating the blood in order to remove the red and white blood cells from the patients blood plasma. Whats left is a concentration of super-rich growth factors that Nerad refers to as a golden serum. The serum is then applied topically or injected into the affected area.

The golden serum is full of activated platelets that have released healing proteins called growth factors. These growth factors will excite the recovery process for patients, said Nerad. It is the next generation PRP and we are excited to introduce Xcell and all of its benefits to Oklahoma City and beyond.

PRP, or rather platelet rich plasma, has been used extensively in sports medicine to relieve and accelerate the healing process with athletes who have suffered muscle tears or joint discomfort. The new generation of PRP is referred to as CRP, cytokine rich plasma. The Xcell process falls under the CRP category, the advanced and purer form of PRP, and therefore acts more efficiently than its PRP counterpart.

Nerad combines the healing power of the CRP process of Xcell Therapy with his in-house staffs medical experience to create the perfect environment for healing. Jennifer Collins, the Centers Medical Physician, is responsible for applying the Xcell treatment onto the patient, while chiropractor physician Darren Risley, specializing in soft tissue injuries, gets the body working together in alignment to expedite the recovery process.

While this treatment is still considered experimental it is safe because your healing capable cells are utilized. Non-surgical cortisone injections alleviate pain and inflammation for a short time and can cause side effects like calcification of ligaments and tendons. This regenerative procedure restores and heals the injured cells enabling rehabilitation sooner. The whole process, from consultation to application, takes about an hour.

Along with Xcell Therapy, Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center offers an array of treatments including spa and laser treatments such as Micro-Needling, Laser Skin Resurfacing treatments, and Botox Cosmetic. To learn more about the medical staff and their work, visit http://www.vitalitymcc.com.

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About Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center Vitality Medical and Cosmetic Center offers the latest technology and best in class products and procedures at a price that is affordable and offers tremendous value. Vitality offers procedures for skin care & wellness that not only meets but exceeds patient expectations raising the bar in terms of quality and patient experience.

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Oklahoma Medical and Cosmetic Center Introduces Xcell to the State

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