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Director of Women's Guild Lung Institute awarded grant to study treatment for lung disease

By adminFebruary 7, 2014Stem Cell Treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Feb-2014

Contact: Laura Coverson laura.coverson@cshs.org 310-423-5215 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 6, 2014) A Cedars-Sinai research team led by Paul W. Noble, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine and director of the Women's Guild Lung Institute, has been awarded $628,816 by California's stem cell agency to develop a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly disease that destroys the lungs and damages other vital organs.

The illness, which has no cure and few effective treatments, thickens and hardens lung tissue, leaving the organs badly scarred. Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis have great difficulty breathing and the chronic reduction in oxygen damages vital organs. The cause of the disease is not clearly understood and many people live only three to five years after diagnosis.

"Lung fibrosis occurs when the lung is unable to repair itself properly after injury or infection," said Noble. "Some people are more susceptible to developing fibrosis, and we currently don't understand why the normal repair and renewal of lung cells stops occurring in these patients."

The two-year study will build upon preliminary research completed at Cedars-Sinai by Noble and physician researcher Dianhua Jiang, MD, PhD. They uncovered important clues to the precise way normal lung stem cell repair occurs and how a cure might be developed.

"Currently, there is no therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The only effective therapy is lung transplantation, which we do here at Cedars-Sinai," said Noble. "But if successful, our research will result in a completely novel approach to the treatment of lung diseases, allowing for the renewal and repair of the patient's cells."

This phase of Noble's research will involve the study of laboratory mice and human tissue to further identify the exact mechanisms necessary for stem cells to repair damage to the lungs.

"Funding these awards highlights our commitment to advancing the field with the most cutting-edge approaches and to help deepen our understanding of every aspect of stem cells, to help us find new treatments, and even cures for the deadliest diseases," said Jonathan Thomas, PhD, JD, chair of the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

How stem cells can fight obesity – Sacramento Holistic …

By adminFebruary 7, 2014Stell Cell Research

Otttawa scientists have discovered a trigger that turns muscle stem cells into brown fat, a form of good fat that could play a critical role in the fight against obesity. Fighting fat with fat? The recent stem cell discovery identified a potential obesity treatment, says research from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The study is a collaboration that included researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Nordion, Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands and University of Copenhagen.

The findings from Dr. Michael Rudnicki's lab, based at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, were published online ahead of print on February 5, 2013 in the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism. You can check out the abstract of the study, "MicroRNA-133 Controls Brown Adipose Determination in Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells by Targeting Prdm16."

"This discovery significantly advances our ability to harness this good fat in the battle against bad fat and all the associated health risks that come with being overweight and obese," says Dr. Rudnicki, according to the February 5, 2013 news release, "Fighting fat with fat: Stem cell discovery identifies potential obesity treatment."

Rudnicki is a senior scientist and director for the Regenerative Medicine Program and Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He's also a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Genetics and professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Globally, obesity is the fifth leading risk for death, with an estimated 2.8 million people dying every year from the effects of being overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization

The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that 25% of Canadian adults are obese. In 2007, Dr. Rudnicki led a team that was the first to prove the existence of adult skeletal muscle stem cells. In the paper published today, Dr. Rudnicki now shows (again for the first time) that these adult muscle stem cells not only have the ability to produce muscle fibres, but also to become brown fat. Brown fat is an energy-burning tissue that is important to the body's ability to keep warm and regulate temperature. In addition, more brown fat is associated with less obesity.

Perhaps more importantly, the paper identifies how adult muscle stem cells become brown fat. The key is a small gene regulator called microRNA-133, or miR-133. When miR-133 is present, the stem cells turn into muscle fibre; when reduced, the stem cells become brown fat.

The recent study reveals how adult muscle stem cells become brown fat

Dr. Rudnicki's lab showed that adult mice injected with an agent to reduce miR-133, called an antisense oligonucleotide or ASO, produced more brown fat, were protected from obesity and had an improved ability to process glucose. In addition, the local injection into the hind leg muscle led to increased energy production throughout the bodyan effect observed after four months.

Using an ASO to treat disease by reducing the levels of specific microRNAs is a method that is already in human clinical trials. However, a potential treatment using miR-133 to combat obesity is still years away.

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How stem cells can fight obesity - Sacramento Holistic ...

Histones may hold the key to the generation of totipotent stem cells

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Medicine

1 hour ago This image shows iPS cells (green) generated using histone variants TH2A and TH2B and two Yamanaka factors (Oct3/4 and Klf4). Credit: RIKEN

One major challenge in stem cell research has been to reprogram differentiated cells to a totipotent state. Researchers from RIKEN in Japan have identified a duo of histone proteins that dramatically enhance the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) and may be the key to generating induced totipotent stem cells.

Differentiated cells can be coaxed into returning to a stem-like pluripotent state either by artificially inducing the expression of four factors called the Yamanaka factors, or as recently shown by shocking them with sublethal stress, such as low pH or pressure. However, attempts to create totipotent stem cells capable of giving rise to a fully formed organism, from differentiated cells, have failed.

The study, published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell and led by Dr. Shunsuke Ishii from RIKEN, sought to identify the molecule in the mammalian oocyte that induces the complete reprograming of the genome leading to the generation of totipotent embryonic stem cells. This is the mechanism underlying normal fertilization, as well as the cloning technique called Somatic-Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT).

SCNT has been used successfully to clone various species of mammals, but the technique has serious limitations and its use on human cells has been controversial for ethical reasons.

Ishii and his team chose to focus on two histone variants named TH2A and TH2B, known to be specific to the testes where they bind tightly to DNA and affect gene expression.

The study demonstrates that, when added to the Yamanaka cocktail to reprogram mouse fibroblasts, the duo TH2A/TH2B increases the efficiency of iPSC cell generation about twentyfold and the speed of the process two- to threefold. And TH2A and TH2B function as substitutes for two of the Yamanaka factors (Sox2 and c-Myc).

By creating knockout mice lacking both proteins, the researchers show that TH2A and TH2B function as a pair, are highly expressed in oocytes and fertilized eggs and are needed for the development of the embryo after fertilization, although their levels decrease as the embryo grows.

In the early embryo, TH2A and TH2B bind to DNA and induce an open chromatin structure in the paternal genome, thereby contributing to its activation after fertilization.

These results indicate that TH2A/TH2B might induce reprogramming by regulating a different set of genes than the Yamanaka factors, and that these genes are involved in the generation of totipotent cells in oocyte-based reprogramming as seen in SCNT.

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Histones may hold the key to the generation of totipotent stem cells

Stem Cell Research at the 2014 NJ Symposium on Biomaterials Science

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Medicine

Piscataway, NJ (PRWEB) February 06, 2014

Mahendra Rao, MD, PhD, the Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has agreed to be a keynote speaker at the 12th edition of the New Jersey Symposium Biomaterials Science. Dr. Rao is internationally renowned for his research involving human embryonic stem cells and other somatic stem cells. He has worked in the stem cell field for more than 20 years with stints in academia, government and regulatory affairs, and industry. Dr. Rao will address the role of biomaterials for stem cell therapies in a session devoted to scientific breakthroughs leading to clinical applications.

Along with Dr. Rao, the 12th edition of the New Jersey Symposium on Biomaterials Science will feature a roster of presentations by 30 leading scientists, many with global reputations for their work in academia and industry in the areas of biomaterials, bioengineering and clinical practice.

Detailed information about the symposium and registration links will be found at http://www.njbiomaterials.org/biomaterials-symposia.htm.

The New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (NJCBM) was founded in 1997. Based at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the center spans academia, industry and government. Staffed by biomaterial scientists, the Center works to improve health care and quality of life by developing advanced biomedical products for tissue repair and replacement as well as the delivery of pharmaceutical agents. The Centers technologies have been translated into clinical and pre-clinical products including surgical meshes, cardiovascular stents, bone regeneration scaffolds, and ocular drug delivery systems.

Media Contact:

Louli Kourkounakis (732) 445 0488 ext. 40001 symposium(at)dls(dot)rutgers(dot)edu

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Stem Cell Research at the 2014 NJ Symposium on Biomaterials Science

Researchers turn adult cells back into stem cells | khou …

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

by KAREN WEINTRAUB

USA TODAY Special Contributor

Posted on January 31, 2014 at 5:49 PM

In a step that has implications for stem cell research, human biology and the treatment of disease, researchers in Japan and at Harvard University have managed to turn adult cells back into flexible stem cells without changing their DNA.

The researchers discovered that they could put cells in various challenging circumstances including in acidic solutions and under physical pressure and turn mature blood cells into cells that were capable of turning into virtually any cell in the body.

The research, published today in the journal Nature, was in mice. If it can be repeated in people, it has the potential to transform research using stem cells to treat disease, and it may lead to a new understanding of how the body heals from injury, said Charles Vacanti, the Harvard Medical School stem cell and tissue engineering biologist who led the research.

Biology textbooks say that once a cell matures to serve a specific role, like, say a red blood cell, it can never go back into a less mature state. Vacanti and his colleagues say their new research upends that dogma.

"This study demonstrates that any mature cell when placed in the right environment can go back, become a stem cell, which then has the potential to become any cell needed by that tissue," said Vacanti, also of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

He believes that that process happens naturally in the body after injury, and the more significant the injury, the farther back these cells will revert. "With a very significant injury, you will cause it to revert clear back to what is basically an embryonic stem cell," he said.

In an early embryo, all cells are stem cells, capable of turning into any cell in the body. As the fetus develops, those cells differentiate into cells with specific functions in muscles, blood, organs, etc. Some of those mature cells develop diseases and injuries. The promise of stem cells as yet largely unrealized is to provide patients with healthy versions of their own cells that can then repair damage and reverse disease.

Stem cells to treat lung disease in preterm infants

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Feb-2014

Contact: Becky Lindeman journal.pediatrics@cchmc.org 513-636-7140 Elsevier Health Sciences

Cincinnati, OH, February 6, 2014 -- Advances in neonatal care for very preterm infants have greatly increased the chances of survival for these fragile infants. However, preterm infants have an increased risk of developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a serious lung disease, which is a major cause of death and lifelong complications. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers evaluated the safety and feasibility of using stem cell therapies on very preterm infants to prevent or treat BPD.

Won Soon Park, MD, PhD, and colleagues from Samsung Medical Center and Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea, conducted a phase I, single-center trial of intratracheal transplantation of human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells to nine very preterm infants (24-26 weeks gestational age) who were at high risk of developing BPD.

All patients who received the treatment tolerated the procedure well without any immediate serious adverse effects. Thirty-three percent of treated infants developed moderate BPD and none developed severe BPD, and 72 percent of a matched comparison group developed moderate or severe BPD. Another serious side effect of very preterm birth, retinopathy of prematurity requiring surgery, tended to occur less often in treated infants. Overall, all nine treated infants survived to discharge, and only three developed moderate BPD.

This phase I study suggests that intratracheal administration of mesenchymal stem cells is safe and feasible. According to Dr. Park, "These findings strongly suggest that phase II clinical trials are warranted to test the efficacy of mesencymal stem cell transplantation, which could lead to new therapies to prevent or cure BPD." Dr. Park and colleagues are currently conducting a long-term safety and follow-up study of these nine preterm infants (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01632475).

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Stem cells to treat lung disease in preterm infants

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. and BioHeart, Inc. Launch Clinical Trial for COPD Stem Cell Therapies

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Uncategorized

Miami (PRWEB) February 05, 2014

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. and BioHeart, Inc. announce the launch of a clinical trial for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) using adipose-derived stem cell technology. The clinical trials will be held at the Global Stem Cells treatment center in Cozumel, Mexico, as well as in several U.S. states. Global Stem Cells Group affiliate Regenestem in collaboration with CMC Hospital of Cozumel offer cutting-edge cellular medicine treatments to patients from around the world

The study titled "An Open-label, Non-Randomized, Multi-Center Study to Assess the Safety and Effects of Autologous Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells Delivered intravenously in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease" is lead by principal investigator Armando Pineda Velez, Global Stem Cells Group Medical Director. Global Stem Cells Group has represented that it offers the most advanced protocols and techniques in cellular medicine from around the world.

The Cozumel clinical trials will be lead by Rafael Moguel, M.D., an advocate and pioneer in the use of stem cell therapies to treat a wide variety of conditions.

COPD is one of more than 150 chronic conditions that are treatable with adult stem cells, eliminating the potential risk of surgery, transplants, and toxic drugs

Details of the protocol and eligibility criteria can be found on the government clinical trial website at: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

For more information on Global Stems Cell Group, visit the Global Stem Cells Group website, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

About Global Stem Cells Group:

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions.

With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

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Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. and BioHeart, Inc. Launch Clinical Trial for COPD Stem Cell Therapies

Stem cells cultivated without using human or animal cells

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Treatment

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Previously, stem cells have been cultivated using animal proteins or by growing them from other human cells. Both methods come with associated problems. But, according to a study published in the journal Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers have now identified a new method for cultivating stem cells.

Stem cells are a kind of cell that are able to divide or self-renew indefinitely. This allows the stem cell to generate into a range of different cell types for the organ that they originate from, or they may even be able to regenerate the whole organ.

Because of this, scientists are interested in using stem cells in a range of medical treatments, to replenish damaged tissue in the brain or skin, or as a treatment for diseases of the blood.

In adults, these stem cells have been found in tissues such as the brain, bone marrow, blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, skin and liver. Adult stem cells only become "activated" and start dividing and generating new cells when their host tissue becomes damaged by disease or injury.

A more potent kind of stem cell is found in human embryos - this type has the unique ability to grow into any kind of cell in the human body. But using these cells in scientific research is controversial - and illegal in some countries - as harvesting them requires the destruction of a fertilized human egg (a "blastocyst") that has not had the chance to develop into a baby.

Stem Cell Therapy for Feline Kidney Disease, a Video Testimonial by a Pleased Pet Owner Gives Hope for Cats Suffering …

By adminFebruary 6, 2014Stem Cell Treatment

Poway, CA (PRWEB) February 06, 2014

Stem Cell Therapy for Feline Kidney Disease is a special interest piece produced by Nicky Sims, the owner of Kitters, who recently had Vet-Stem Regenerative Cell Therapy for his Feline Kidney Disease. Nicky highlights Kitters journey through diagnosis of the disease and his recent stem cell therapy, as well as educating about stem cells and their benefits.

Nickys film explains that Kitters began showing signs of kidney failure at the age of 15, exhibiting classic symptoms; lack of appetite, excessive thirst, nausea and lethargy. In 2012, Kitters was officially diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure, or kidney disease. He was prescribed a low protein diet and subcutaneous fluids for rehydration. This has been the standard treatment for decades although it has only been shown to slow the progression of the disease; not reverse it.

Dr. Richter at Montclair Veterinary Hospital thinks that there is something else that can help. In recent years, his hospital has begun using stem cells to treat animals for various orthopedic conditions such as pain from arthritis and dysplasia. In October 2013, Kitters would be the first cat he had treated with stem cell therapy for Feline Kidney Disease.

Dr. Richter explains why this could work for Kitters, Stem cells are cells within your body that are able to turn into any other cell in the body. Kitters has kidney issues, so what weve done is harvested some fat from his abdomen and sent that fat to Vet-Stem in San Diego, and what they do is isolate the stem cells from the fatty tissue. They concentrate them and send them back to us. In the case of an animal with kidney disease, we just give the stem cells intravenously. What that is going to do is begin the healing and rebuilding process.

Nickys film explores the importance of kidneys stating they play a vital role, ridding the body of toxins. As kidney disease progresses scar tissue develops making it harder to filter toxins. Damage to the kidneys makes the animal vulnerable to a number of other health conditions. Unfortunately the disease usually goes undiagnosed given that the symptoms of the disease often do not show until 2/3 of the kidneys are damaged.

Kitters own stem cells were used with the hope of repairing his damaged tissue Dr. Richter goes on, The nice thing about stem cells is that there is no issue of tissue rejection, since it is Kitters own stem cells. Additionally, if there is anything else going on in his body beyond the kidneys its going to address that as well. So, it is a really wonderful systemic treatment.

To find out more or view the special interest piece by Nicky Sims, Stem Cell Therapy for Feline Kidney Disease, visit this link.

About Vet-Stem, Inc. Vet-Stem, Inc. was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the veterinary profession. The privately held company is working to develop therapies in veterinary medicine that apply regenerative technologies while utilizing the natural healing properties inherent in all animals. As the first company in the United States to provide an adipose-derived stem cell service to veterinarians for their patients, Vet-Stem, Inc. pioneered the use of regenerative stem cells in veterinary medicine. The company holds exclusive licenses to over 50 patents including world-wide veterinary rights for use of adipose derived stem cells. In the last decade over 10,000 animals have been treated using Vet-Stem, Inc.s services, and Vet-Stem is actively investigating stem cell therapy for immune-mediated and inflammatory disease, as well as organ disease and failure. For more on Vet-Stem, Inc. and Veterinary Regenerative Medicine visit http://www.vet-stem.com or call 858-748-2004.

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Stem Cell Therapy for Feline Kidney Disease, a Video Testimonial by a Pleased Pet Owner Gives Hope for Cats Suffering ...

Extraordinary stem cell method tested in human tissue

By adminFebruary 5, 2014Stem Cell Medicine

(Image: Charles Vacanti and Koji Kojima, Harvard Medical School)

Talk about speedy work. Hot on the heels of the news that simply dipping adult mouse cells in acid could turn them into cells with the potential to turn into any cell in the body, it appears that the same thing may have been done using human cells.

The picture above, given to New Scientist by Charles Vacanti at Harvard Medical School, is said to be images of the first human "STAP cell" experiments.

Last week, the scientific world was bowled over by a study in Nature showing that an acidic environment turned adult mouse cells into "totipotent" stem cells which can turn into any cell in the body or placenta. The researchers called these new totipotent cells stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells.

"If they can do this in human cells, it changes everything," Rob Lanza of Advanced Cell Technologies in Marlborough, Massachusetts, said at the time. The technique promises cheaper, quicker and potentially more flexible cells for regenerative medicine, cancer therapy and cloning.

Now, Vacanti and his colleagues say they have taken human fibroblast cells and tested several environmental stressors on them in an attempt to recreate human STAP cells. He won't reveal what type of stressors were applied but he says the resulting cells appears similar in form to the mouse STAP cells. His team is in the process of testing to see just how stem-cell-like these cells are.

Vacanti says that the human cells took about a week to resemble STAP cells, and formed spherical clusters just like their mouse counterparts. Using a similar experimental set-up with green monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus) cells, Vacanti says the resulting cells are behaving slightly differently. He says that may be due to the fact that the researchers used slightly different techniques. Both Vacanti and his Harvard colleague Koji Kojima emphasise that these results are only preliminary and much further analysis and validation is required.

"Even if these are STAP cells they may not necessarily have the same potential as mouse ones they may not have the totipotency which is one of the most interesting features of the mouse cells," says Sally Cowley, head of the James Martin Stem Cell Facility at the University of Oxford.

Pluripotent cells, such as embryonic stem cells, can form any cell in an embryo but not a placenta. Totipotent cells, however, can form any cell in an embryo and a placenta meaning they have the potential to create life. The only cells known to be naturally totipotent are in embryos that have only undergone the first couple of cell divisions immediately after fertilisation.

Research using totipotent cells would have to be under very strict regulatory surveillance, says Cowley. "It would actually be ideal if the human cells could be pluripotent and not totipotent it would make everyone's life a lot easier."

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