Stem Cell « Medical Research Center

Functions of organism last properly depending on well organized and controlled reproduction, immigration, differentiation and maturation activities unions. It is possible when the cells in organ and tissues are produced regularly. Stem cells are at the top of this system in an organism. Stem cell is that are able to renew themselves by keeping on splitting for long time by remaining same (not differentiated) and they can differentiate according to needs of organism. Stem cells are major source of cell based treatments. Thus some of researches are using human or animal based stem cells from different kind of tissues.

In different kinds of stem cell researches state that mature stem cell have some significant advantage on the cure of damaged tissues. The advantage of using stem cell obtained from an adult is that stem cell can reproduce in patients own cultivation and then before facing regeneration, they can be given to the patient.

Stem cell researches and its treatments are still the very popular topic in the world

STEM CELLS AND WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?

Research of stem cell has gained much prominence in recent years for its therapeutic potential in dealing with diseases many of which are essentially incurable by normal therapies. These diseases are characterized by progressive cell loss which has no regenerative potential: e.g. neurodegenerative process leads to Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. These have become serious health problems as people in advanced societies now live longer. There is great variability in the occurrence and onset of these diseases and the underlying environmental and genetic factors are unknown. The destruction of the beta cells of pancreatic islets is the main cause of diabetes, another serious health problem, can be caused by autoimmune reactions resulting in cell loss (1).

Stem cells are distinct from other cell types by two important characteristics. First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity (in G0). Second, under certain physiologic or experimental setting, they can be induced to become tissue or organ specific cells with special functions (2). In some organs, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues such as the gut and bone marrow. In other organs, however, such as the heart and the pancreas, stem cells only divide under special conditions. They have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. On the other hand, they serve as a sort of internal repair system in many tissues, dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive (2).

Scientists frequently worked with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic somatic or adult stem cells. Researchers discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos nearly 30 years ago, in 1981. In 1998, the detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery of a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These cells are called human embryonic stem cells. They are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, the inner cells give rise to the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs such as the heart, lung, skin, sperm, eggs and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease (2,3).

In 2006, researchers made another breakthrough by identifying conditions that would allow some specialized adult cells to be reprogrammed genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. This new type of stem cell was called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) (2).

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Stem Cell « Medical Research Center

KU stem cell center work touted | Kansas Health Institute

KANSAS CITY, Mo. A new non-embryonic stem cell research center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, which stirred legislative controversy when it was authorized earlier this year, has already treated one patient, university officials said Saturday.

Doctors used the patients bone marrow cells as a last-ditch effort to treat a circulatory problem before amputation, said Dr. Buddhadeb Dawn, director of the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center. The patient was a man who splits his time between California and Missouri, officials said.

The treatment was part of a clinical study that Dawn said he hoped ultimately would have two dozen participants. He said he did not know the patients condition because of protocols to maintain the objectivity of the study.

The lab opened in July and started producing its own stem cells about a month ago, Dawn said.

Dawn was among about145 people who gathered at the Sheraton Crown Center Hotel here for the stem cell centers inaugural scientific meeting. Others who attended included Dr. Douglas Girod, KU Med executive vice chancellor, and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.

This is the beginning, Brownback said, and we are catching it right as the field is really starting to burgeon.

Brownback signed the bill establishing the center in April.

Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Legislature criticized the center as an unfunded mandate for the the university which had not requested. the center. KU officials estimated the center would cost $10.7 million over 10 years.

Girod said university officials have always been excited about the scientific promise of the center, but that they were concerned about the expense while facing state funding cuts.

He said KU Med has received $1.2 million in state funding for the center, with about $700,000 of that going to refurbish existing space in its Cardiovascular Research Institute for the stem cell lab.

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KU stem cell center work touted | Kansas Health Institute

Human Stem Cells Elucidate Mechanisms of Beta-Cell Failure in …

NEW YORK, NY Scientists from the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have used stem cells created from the skin of patients with a rare form of diabetes to elucidate an important biochemical pathway for beta-cell failure in diabetes. The findings by Linshan Shang and colleagues were published today in Diabetes.

Insulin-producing beta cells produced from skin cells of individuals with a rare form of diabetes, Wolfram syndrome. Credit: Linshan Shang, PhD, the New York Stem Cell Foundation.

Scientists from NYSCF produced induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from skin samples from individuals with a rare form of diabetes, Wolfram syndrome. They then derived insulin-producing cells (beta cells) from these iPS cells, creating a human diabetes model in vitro. Next, they showed that the beta cells failed to normally secrete insulin because of protein-foldingor endoplasmic reticulum (ER)stress. They found that a chemical, 4-phenyl butyric acid, that relieves this stress prevents the cells from failing, suggesting a potential target for clinical intervention.

These cells represent an important mechanism that causes beta-cell failure in diabetes. This human iPS-cell model represents a significant step forward in enabling the study of this debilitating disease and the development of new treatments, said Dieter Egli, PhD, principal investigator of the study, senior research fellow at NYSCF, and NYSCFRobertson Stem Cell Investigator.

Wolfram syndrome is a rare, often fatal genetic disorder characterized by the development of insulin-dependent diabetes, vision loss, and deafness. Since all forms of diabetes are ultimately the result of an inability of pancreatic beta cells to provide sufficient insulin in response to blood sugar concentrations, this Wolfram patient stem-cell model enables analysis of a specific pathway leading to beta-cell failure in more prevalent forms of diabetes. It also enables the testing of strategies to restore beta-cell function that may be applicable to all types of diabetes.

Utilizing stem cell technology, we were able to study a devastating condition to better understand what causes the diabetes symptoms, as well as discover possible new drug targets, said Susan L. Solomon, co-founder and chief executive officer of the New York Stem Cell Foundation.

This report highlights again the utility of close examination of rare human disorders as a path to elucidating more common ones, said co-author Rudolph L. Leibel, MD, the Christopher J. Murphy Professor of Diabetes Research and co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at CUMC. Our ability to create functional insulin-producing cells using stem-cell techniques on skin cells from patients with Wolframs syndrome has helped to uncover the role of ER stress in the pathogenesis of diabetes. The use of drugs that reduce such stress may prove useful in the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

Clinicians from the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center recruited Wolfram syndrome patients to donate a skin sample. All Wolfram patients had childhood-onset diabetes requiring treatment with injected insulin, and all had vision loss. Additional cell lines were obtained from Coriell Institute for Medical Research. The researchers at NYSCF reprogrammed, or reverted, the skin cells to an embryonic-like state to become iPS cells. An iPS cell line generated from a healthy individual was used as a normal control.

The researchers differentiated the iPS cells from the Wolfram subjects and the controls into beta cells, an intricate process that took several weeks. They implanted both Wolfram and control iPS cell-derived beta cells under the kidney capsule of immuno-compromised mice. Beta cells from the Wolfram subjects produced less insulin in the culture dish and secreted less insulin into the bloodstream of the mice when they were challenged with high blood-sugar levels.

A key finding was that these beta cells showed elevated markers of ER stress. Treatment with 4-phenyl butyric acid reduced the ER stress and increased the amount of insulin produced by the beta cells, thereby increasing the ability to secrete insulin in response to glucose.

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Human Stem Cells Elucidate Mechanisms of Beta-Cell Failure in ...

Stem cell research | University of Maryland Medical Center

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A stem cell is a generic cell that can make exact copies of itself indefinitely. A stem cell has the ability to make specialized cells for various tissues in the body, such as heart muscle, brain tissue, and liver tissue. Stem cells can be saved and usedlater to make specialized cells, when needed.

There are two basic types of stem cells:

Potential uses for stem cells

There are many areas in medicine in which stem cell research could have a significant impact. For example, there are a variety of diseases and injuries in which a patient's cells or tissues are destroyed and must be replaced by tissue or organ transplants. Stem cells may be able to make brand new tissue in these cases, and even cure diseases for which there currently is no good therapy. Diseases that could be helped by stem cells include Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, cancer, and burns.

Stem cells could also be used to gain a better understanding of how genetics work in the early stages of cell development. This can help scientists understand why some cells develop abnormally and lead to medical problems such as birth defects and cancer. This might help scientists learn how to prevent some of these diseases.

Finally, stem cells may be useful in the testing and development of drugs. Because stem cells can be used to create unlimited amounts of specialized tissue, such as heart tissue, it may be possible to test how drugs react onsuch tissues before testing the drugs on animals and humans. Drugs could be tested for effectiveness and side effects more rapidly.

Controversy about stem cell research

In August 2001, President George W. Bush approved limited federal funding for stem cell research. While stem cell research has the potential to provide major medical advances, including cures for many diseases, stem cell research is controversial.

The stem cell controversy is based on the belief by opponents that a fertilized egg is fundamentally a human being with rights and interests that need to be protected. Those who oppose stem cell research do not want fetuses and fertilized eggs used for research purposes. However, a team of scientists have developed a technique that was successful in generating mouse stem cells without destroying the mouse embryo. This technique has not yet been attempted on human embryonic tissue. Many other scientists are attempting to create more universally accepted forms of human embryonic stem cells, as well as other types of adult stem cells.

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Stem cell research | University of Maryland Medical Center

Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center

The Advancement of Stem Cell Technology

Welcome to the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, and affiliate of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center and the Cell Surgical Network of Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage, California, USA.

Our affiliated Treatment Centers utilize cutting edge advanced techniques and innovative technology to improve the health and well being of our patients.

At the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, we engage in the investigational use of Adipose Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) for clinical research and deployment through which patients who are suffering from diseases that may have limited treatment options have an opportunity to respond to stem cell based regenerative treatment and further advance the state of medicine, knowledge, and treatment options for all patients.

Our expertise involves a deep commitment and long-term understanding, knowledge, experience and expertise in clinical research and the advancement of regenerative medicine. Our staff and Physicians at the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center have been trained by the Founders and world renown specialists of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, who have been nationally recognized for working with autologous (your own) adipose derived stem cells providing investigational therapy to patients with various inflammatory and/or degenerative conditions.

Our Centers utilize a fat transfer technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by liposuction on the same day. Using technology developed in South Korea, our Centers have developed an in-office procedure to isolate this cellular medium called the Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) which is rich in Stem Cells. Our Founders have also worked in conjunction with a number of international organizations and physicians of great expertise to help develop our protocols for procedures. In 2012, the Cell Surgical Network (CSN) was formed to provide the same high level quality controlled investigational therapy both nationally and internationally.

Our Protocols are approved by an IRB (Institutional Review Board) approved protocol, and accordingly we are able to safely provide adipose (fat)-derived stem cell procedures on an investigational basis to our patients. Modeled after the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, weve formed a multidisciplinary team to evaluate patients with a variety of conditions which are known to often be responsive to Stem Cell therapy.

All affiliate members of the California Stem Cell Treatment Center and the Cell Surgical Network, including our Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center, contribute to the California Centers IRB approved investigation data. In this manner, we are continuously updating, researching, and learning more on how to help patients and advance the state of the art of regenerative medicine.

All patients who are interested in our investigational treatment protocols will be evaluated by our physicians specially trained in our adipose-derived stem cell procedures and given an honest opinion as to the potential benefits and risks of stem cell therapy for their presenting condition.

The Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center is proud to be part of the only Institutional Review Board (IRB)-based stem cell treatment network in the United States that utilizes fat-transfer surgical technology. We have an array of ongoing IRB-approved protocols, and we provide care for patients with a wide variety of disorders that may be treated with adult stem cell-based regenerative therapy. At the Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center we exploit anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory and regenerative properties of adult stem cells to mitigate inflammatory and degenerative diseases.

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Irvine Stem Cell Treatment Center