Author Archives: admin


Stem Cell Clinic > Articles by: admin

Step closer to muscle regeneration

By Uncategorized

Dec. 11, 2013 Muscle cell therapy to treat some degenerative diseases, including Muscular Dystrophy, could be a more realistic clinical possibility, now that scientists have found a way to isolate muscle cells from embryonic tissue.

PhD Student Bianca Borchin and Associate Professor Tiziano Barberi from the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI) at Monash University have developed a method to generate skeletal muscle cells, paving the way for future applications in regenerative medicine.

Scientists, for the first time, have found a way to isolate muscle precursor cells from pluripotent stem cells using a purification technique that allows them to differentiate further into muscle cells, providing a platform to test new drugs on human tissue in the lab. Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to become any cell in the human body including, skin, blood, brain matter and skeletal muscles that control movement.

Once the stem cells have begun to differentiate, the challenge for researchers is to control the process and produce only the desired, specific cells. By successfully controlling this process, scientists could provide a variety of specialised cells for replacement in the treatment of a variety of degenerative diseases such as Muscular Dystrophy and Parkinson's disease.

"There is an urgent need to find a source of muscle cells that could be used to replace the defective muscle fibers in degenerative disease. Pluripotent stem cells could be the source of these muscle cells," Professor Barberi said.

"Beyond obtaining muscle from pluripotent stem cells, we also found a way to isolate the muscle precursor cells we generated, which is a prerequisite for their use in regenerative medicine.

"The production of a large number of pure muscle precursor cells does not only have potential therapeutic applications, but also provides a platform for large scale screening of new drugs against muscle disease."

Using a technology known as fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), the researchers identified the precise combination of protein markers expressed in muscle precursor cells that enabled them to isolate those cells from the rest of the cultures.

Ms Borchin said there were existing clinical trials based on the use of specialised cells derived from pluripotent stem cells in the treatment of some degenerative diseases but deriving muscle cells from pluripotent stem cells proved to be challenging.

"These results are extremely promising because they mark a significant step towards the use of pluripotent stem cells for muscle repair," Ms Borchin said.

Here is the original post:
Step closer to muscle regeneration

Stemcell treatment for hair and skin, Autologous Adipose Stem Cell Treatment – Video

By Stem Cell Treatment


Stemcell treatment for hair and skin, Autologous Adipose Stem Cell Treatment
Through the history of stem cell therapy and stem cell research, animal stem cells have been used, human embryonic stem cells, and now research has led us to a superior form of stem cell treatment....

By: Ojas Aesthetic

Read the original here:
Stemcell treatment for hair and skin, Autologous Adipose Stem Cell Treatment - Video

Pakistani undergoes stem cell therapy in Bangalore

By Stem Cell Treatment

Bangalore, Dec 12 (IANS) Imran Qureshi, a 31-year-old Pakistani, underwent stem cell therapy for hip joint at a private hospital here.

"Qureshi, a garment exporter from Karachi port city, has been treated for hip bone joint through stem cell therapy by our experts at the Bangalore Institute of Regenerative Medicine," Live 100 Hospital chairman H.N. Nagaraj told reporters Thursday.

The disease, known as avascular necrosis in medical jargon, breaks the hip joint due to the cellular death of its bone tissues when blood supply is interrupted even in healthy people.

"Though total hip replacement is suggested as one of the treatments for the rare disease, our institute has pioneered stem cell therapy, eliminating surgery," Nagaraj said, presenting Qureshi as one of his hospital's overseas beneficiaries.

The treatment involves first extracting bone marrow of the patient for processing in a specialised laboratory at Pune, Maharashtra.

Subsequently, the stem cells in the bone marrow are separated from red blood cells and blood plasma and injected into the hip joint of a patient under sterile conditions.

"The transplanted stem cells restore hip joint function, which is lost due to damage to its cartilage. The stems cells also repair bone cells. As there is no surgery, there is no bleeding or scar formation in our treatment," Nagaraj said.

Qureshi, who operates also from Saudi Arabia for his garment business, had felt pain in his hip two years ago when he was in the Saudi kingdom and underwent treatment in some hospitals but to no avail.

"Six months ago, when I was back in Pakistan, the pain became acute and diagnosis revealed that I had advanced avascular necroisis. Though it is feared that alcoholism, steroid usage and chemotherapy cause such a disease, I had none of them. I felt cursed. When I consulted doctors from the world over, I learnt about use of stem cell therapy in this Bangalore hospital," a relieved Qureshi recalled.

The Indian consulate in Karachi was also helpful to Qureshi, as his visa was given in three days as against normal 15 days for Pakistani nationals.

Original post:
Pakistani undergoes stem cell therapy in Bangalore

Stem cell transplantation outcomes ‘improved with new drug regime’

By Stem Cell Treatment

Current ratings for: Stem cell transplantation outcomes 'improved with new drug regime'

Ratings require JavaScript to be enabled.

New research suggests that outcomes for patients who have undergone stem cell transplants from unrelated or mismatched donors could be improved with the use of a drug called bortezomib, also known as velcade. This is according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Stem cell transplants are treatments carried out in an attempt to cure some cancers affecting the body's bone marrow, such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

The treatment involves very high doses of chemotherapy (myeloablation) or whole body radiotherapy to clear a person's bone marrow and immune system of cancerous cells.

After this process, the killed cells are replaced with healthy stem cells through a drip that flows into a vein. These stem cells can be from the patient's own body or from a donor - preferably a sibling.

According to researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute who conducted the study, stem cells from unrelated or mismatched donors are likely to lead to worse patient outcomes following transplantation.

These patients tend to have a higher mortality rate as a result of the treatment and are more likely to experience graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). This is a disease in which the transplanted cells attack the immune system of the recipient.

According to the researchers, recipients of mismatched donor transplants have a severe GVHD rate of 37%, a 1-year treatment-related mortality rate of 45%, and a 1-year overall survival rate of 43%.

Recipients of unrelated donor transplants have a severe GVHD rate of 28%, a 1-year treatment-related mortality rate of 36%, and a 1-year overall survival rate of 52%.

Read more here:
Stem cell transplantation outcomes 'improved with new drug regime'

Phoenix Pain Management Doctors at Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute Now Offering 4 Stem Cell Treatments for Arthritis

By Stem Cell Treatment

Phoenix, Arizona (PRWEB) December 11, 2013

The top Phoenix stem cell treatment clinic, Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute, is now offering four stem cell therapies for arthritis. The treatments offered are very low risk and offered as an outpatient. For more information and scheduling on the regenerative medicine treatments offered, call (602) 507-6550.

The Board Certified, Award Winning pain management doctors in Arizona provide either bone marrow, fat derived or amniotic stem cell injections. The fat or bone marrow is harvested from the patient, and immediately processed for injection into the target area. Since the material comes directly from the patient, the risks are exceptionally low.

With regards to the amniotic derived injections, the fluid is obtained from consenting donors and processed at an FDA regulated lab. The treatment does not involve any fetal tissue, and contains a high concentration of stem cells, growth factors and anti-inflammatory factors.

The additional treatment offered is platelet rich plasma therapy, known as PRP therapy for short. PRP therapy involves a simple blood draw from the patient, which is then centrifuged and spun down for 15 minutes to obtain a solution rich in platelets and growth factors.

The PRP is then injected into the target area, where published studies have shown impressive results for arthritis and soft tissue injury such as rotator cuff tendonitis, tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis, ligament injury and more. The treatments have the potential to not only provide pain relief, but also regenerate the damaged tissue or cartilage.

Numerous athletes over the past few years have turned to regenerative medicine to obtain pain relief and get back into playing condition. This has included athletes such as Hines Ward, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Rafael Nadal and many more.

The Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute treats everyone from athletes to college students to executives, manual laborers, senior citizens and more. Board Certified and Award Winning Phoenix pain management doctors offer the stem cell treatments along with other cutting edge pain relief options such as radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord stimulator implants.

Over 50 insurance plans are accepted, and Arizona Pain Specialists offers 5 locations for convenience. Call (602) 507-6550 for scheduling.

Visit link:
Phoenix Pain Management Doctors at Arizona Pain Stem Cell Institute Now Offering 4 Stem Cell Treatments for Arthritis

UTHealth Researchers Study Stem Cell Treatments for Children with CP

By Stem Cell Treatment

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise HOUSTON (Dec. 10, 2013) A first-of-its-kind clinical trial studying two forms of stem cell treatments for children with cerebral palsy (CP) has begun at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School.

The double-blinded, placebo-controlled studys purpose includes comparing the safety and effectiveness of banked cord blood to bone marrow stem cells. It is led by Charles S. Cox, Jr., M.D., the Childrens Fund, Inc. Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery at the UTHealth Medical School and director of the Pediatric Trauma Program at Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital. Co-principal investigator is Sean I. Savitz, M.D., professor and the Frank M. Yatsu, M.D., Chair in Neurology in the UTHealth Department of Neurology.

The study builds on Cox extensive research studying stem cell therapy for children and adults who have been admitted to Childrens Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Prior research, published in the March 2010 issue of Neurosurgery, showed that stem cells derived from a patients own bone marrow were safely used in pediatric patients with TBI. Cox is also studying cord blood stem cell treatment for TBI in a separate clinical trial.

A total of 30 children between the ages of 2 and 10 who have CP will be enrolled: 15 who have their own cord blood banked at Cord Blood Registry (CBR) and 15 without banked cord blood. Five in each group will be randomized to a placebo control group. Families must be able to travel to Houston for the treatment and follow-up visits at six, 12 and 24 months.

Parents will not be told if their child received stem cells or a placebo until the 12-month follow-up exam. At that time, parents whose children received the placebo may elect to have their child receive the stem cell treatment through bone marrow harvest or cord blood banked with CBR.

Collaborators for the study include CBR, Lets Cure CP, TIRR Foundation and Childrens Memorial Hermann Hospital. The study has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affects the ability to move and maintain balance and posture, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain, which affects a persons control over muscles. Treatment includes medications, braces and physical, occupational and speech therapy.

For a list of inclusion and exclusion criteria for the trial, go to http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. For more information, call the toll-free number, 855-566-6273.

See the original post:
UTHealth Researchers Study Stem Cell Treatments for Children with CP

FAQs [Stem Cell Information]

By Stem Cell Doctors

Basic Questions

What are stem cells? Stem cells are cells that have the potential to develop into some or many different cell types in the body, depending on whether they are multipotent or pluripotent. Serving as a sort of repair system, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells for as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each "daughter" cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

For a discussion of the different kinds of stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, or induced pluripotent stem cells, see Stem Cell Basics.

What classes of stem cells are there? Stem cells may be pluripotent or multipotent.

Where do stem cells come from? There are several sources of stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells can be isolated from human embryos that are a few days old. Cells from these embryos can be used to create pluripotent stem cell "lines" cell cultures that can be grown indefinitely in the laboratory. Pluripotent stem cell lines have also been developed from fetal tissue (older than 8 weeks of development).

In late 2007, scientists identified conditions that would allow some specialized adult human cells to be reprogrammed genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. These stem cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). IPSCs are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem celllike state by being forced to express genes and factors important for maintaining the defining properties of embryonic stem cells. Although these cells meet the defining criteria for pluripotent stem cells, it is not known if iPSCs and embryonic stem cells differ in clinically significant ways. Mouse iPSCs were first reported in 2006, and human iPSCs were first reported in late 2007. Mouse iPSCs demonstrate important characteristics of pluripotent stem cells, including expressing stem cell markers, forming tumors containing cells from all three germ layers, and being able to contribute to many different tissues when injected into mouse embryos at a very early stage in development. Human iPSCs also express stem cell markers and are capable of generating cells characteristic of all three germ layers.

Although additional research is needed, iPSCs are already useful tools for drug development and modeling of diseases, and scientists hope to use them in transplantation medicine. Viruses are currently used to introduce the reprogramming factors into adult cells, and this process must be carefully controlled and tested before the technique can lead to useful treatments for humans. In animal studies, the virus used to introduce the stem cell factors sometimes causes cancers. Researchers are currently investigating non-viral delivery strategies.

Non-embryonic (including adult and umbilical cord blood) stem cells have been identified in many organs and tissues. Typically there is a very small number of multipotent stem cells in each tissue, and these cells have a limited capacity for proliferation, thus making it difficult to generate large quantities of these cells in the laboratory. Stem cells are thought to reside in a specific area of each tissue (called a "stem cell niche") where they may remain quiescent (non-dividing) for many years until they are activated by a normal need for more cells, or by disease or tissue injury. These cells are also called somatic stem cells.

Why do scientists want to use stem cell lines? Once a stem cell line is established from a cell in the body, it is essentially immortal, no matter how it was derived. That is, the researcher using the line will not have to go through the rigorous procedure necessary to isolate stem cells again. Once established, a cell line can be grown in the laboratory indefinitely and cells may be frozen for storage or distribution to other researchers.

Stem cell lines grown in the lab provide scientists with the opportunity to "engineer" them for use in transplantation or treatment of diseases. For example, before scientists can use any type of tissue, organ, or cell for transplantation, they must overcome attempts by a patient's immune system to reject the transplant. In the future, scientists may be able to modify human stem cell lines in the laboratory by using gene therapy or other techniques to overcome this immune rejection. Scientists might also be able to replace damaged genes or add new genes to stem cells in order to give them characteristics that can ultimately treat diseases.

Read this article:
FAQs [Stem Cell Information]

How to Locate Stem Cell Clinical Trials | eHow

By Stem Cell Clinic

healthsection Health Topics A-Z Healthy Living Featured Conditions eHow Now eHow Health Conditions & Treatments Medical Conditions How to Locate Stem Cell Clinical Trials

Michele Starkey

Michele Starkey is a graduate of the Christian Writers Guild. Her stories have been published by Adams Media, F&W Publications and Thomas Nelson Publishers. After living the world over, she is currently residing in the Hudson Valley of New York and is a reporter for the hometown newspaper.

View my portfolio

Stem cells are "the building blocks of life that construct blood vessels, the nervous system, organs, and everything else that makes us human," according to the John Hopkins Medical Center (See Reference 1). The U.S. National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies and private industries such as pharmaceutical corporations sponsor a website to assist you in locating clinical trials both within the United States and abroad. (See Reference 2) Participation in stem cell clinical trials requires meeting the criteria outlined in each trial and signing an informed consent form.

Visit clinicaltrials.gov, a service provided by the National Institutes of Health in collaboration with other federal agencies, pharmaceutical industries and other private industries. Enter "stem cell" in the search box and receive a list of all actively recruiting stem cell clinical trials.

Sort the list. A link on the website allows you to view actively recruiting stem cell trials, completed trials and non-active trials.

Select the stem cell clinical trial that interests you. Read the eligibility requirements to ensure that you meet criteria.

If you have reviewed the clinical trial purpose and still have additional questions, contact the responsible party to obtain more information. The contact and location information is listed at the bottom of every stem cell clinical trial page.

Understand the location of the stem cell trial. The database is multinational and trials can be anywhere in the world.

View original post here:
How to Locate Stem Cell Clinical Trials | eHow

How to Volunteer for Clinical Stem Cell Research | eHow

By Stem Cell Clinic

healthsection Health Topics A-Z Healthy Living Featured Conditions eHow Now eHow Health Conditions & Treatments Medical Conditions How to Volunteer for Clinical Stem Cell Research

Now that Pres. Obama has revoked the Bush administration's restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, patients everywhere are wondering how they can participate in a stem cell research study at the clinical level. Unfortunately, except in one special exception (see the Tips section below) it's still too early to talk about clinical research using embryonic stem cells. Scientists are still experimenting with animals to make sure treatments are both safe and effective. As to the Obama action, the National Institutes of Health has to write guidelines for conducting ethical research using federal tax dollars. (That will take until the middle of summer.) Once those guidelines are in place, NIH will begin evaluating research proposals and awarding grant funding. So, the promise of embryonic stem cell research is still far from being fulfilled in a clinical setting.

But there is already a lot of clinical (i.e., human focused) research being done using adult (non-embryonic) stem cells. These clinical trials are being conducted in a variety of diseases and disorders. Here are some tips on how to find and volunteer for clinical stem cell research. (NOTE: Stem cell research involving blood diseases such as leukemia has been ongoing for decades.)

Learn all you can about stem cells and stem cell biology. There's an awful lot of misinformation floating around. It's important that you understand the basics: the difference between embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and induced pluripotent (iPS) cells. The NIH is a great place to start. See the Resources section below for a link to NIH Web pages that give you all the information you need.

Learn all you can about clinical studies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stay away from treatments and therapies (usually offered outside the United States) that have not undergone the FDA-monitored pre-clinical and clinical experimentation process. These unapproved stem cell treatments are probably scams: unproven scientifically, hugely expensive, mostly ineffective and possibly dangerous. See the Resources section below for a link to FDA Web pages that provide a thorough background briefing on the clinical research process.

Speaking of scams, before you are tempted to apply for stem cell treatments offered in clinics outside the United States, educate yourself on the dangers of expensive, unproven stem cell therapies. The Resources section includes a link to the Web site of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The organization offers a free 8-page handbook downloadable in PDF for patients tempted to go overseas for stem cell treatments. It includes a long list of questions to ask the treatment provider before you spend a nickel.

Once you've educated yourself about stem cells, clinical trials, and stem cell scams, you can easily locate clinical trials approved by the FDA that are recruiting patient volunteers. The FDA database is simple to search using key words (e.g., "stem cell AND heart attack"). I did a search recently on "Parkinson's AND stem cell" and found one clinical trial sponsored by two NIH institutes. The study was launched in 2002 and is still recruiting patients. The Resources section has the link to the search engine at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Once you've found a clinical study that you're interested in, read the eligibility requirements. These will tell who will be accepted and who will be rejected and why. If you meet the basic requirements, find the contact information. Then call or send an e-mail to ask for more information.

Lastly, consult your physician before applying for a clinical study. He or she may know something about your physical condition that would prevent you from participating in a study. It is important for clinical researchers to know everything about your physical history before accepting you.

You don't need a Ph.D. in biology to volunteer for a stem cell-based clinical study. But you really do need to bone up on the basics. Follow every step above and you'll be armed with enough information to ask the right questions and be accepted in the right study.

See the original post:
How to Volunteer for Clinical Stem Cell Research | eHow

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release

By Uncategorized

Press Release

2012-10-08

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012

jointly to

John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka

for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent

The Nobel Prize recognizes two scientists who discovered that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings have revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.

John B. Gurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialisation of cells is reversible. In a classic experiment, he replaced the immature cell nucleus in an egg cell of a frog with the nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. This modified egg cell developed into a normal tadpole. The DNA of the mature cell still had all the information needed to develop all cells in the frog.

Shinya Yamanaka discovered more than 40 years later, in 2006, how intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells. Surprisingly, by introducing only a few genes, he could reprogram mature cells to become pluripotent stem cells, i.e. immature cells that are able to develop into all types of cells in the body.

Read the rest here:
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Press Release

→←