Regenerating heart tissue through stem cell … – Mayo Clinic

Volume 9, Issue 1 Summary

A groundbreaking study on repairing damaged heart tissue through stem cell therapy has given patients hope that they may again live active lives. An international team of Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators has done it by discovering a way to regenerate heart tissue.

Clinical trial participant Miroslav Dlacic near his home in Belgrade.

Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., is the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Family Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine, and the Marriott Family Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases Research at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Miroslav Dlacic's heart attack changed his life drastically and seemingly forever. His damaged heart made him too tired to work in his garden or to spend much time at his leather-accessories workshop in Belgrade, Serbia. Like many patients with heart problems, Dlacic, who is 71, thought he would live his remaining years in a weakened condition.

Then, a groundbreaking Mayo Clinic trial of stem cell therapy to repair damaged heart tissue changed his life again this time for the better.

Dlacic agreed to participate in the Mayo Clinic stem cell trial through the hospital in Serbia where he is treated. Two years later, Dlacic is able to walk again without becoming worn out.

"I am more active, more peppy," he says. "I feel quite well."

"It's a paradigm shift," says Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine and senior investigator of the stem cell trial. "We are moving from traditional medicine, which addresses the symptoms of disease, to being legitimately able to cure disease."

For decades, treating patients with cardiac disease has typically involved managing heart damage with medication. It's a bit like driving a car without fixing a sluggish engine you manage the consequences as best you can and learn to live with them.

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Regenerating heart tissue through stem cell ... - Mayo Clinic

Cardiovascular Stem Cell Therapy

Stem Cell Clinical Research & Deployment Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Conditions

The Miami 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. The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center offers IRB approved protocols and investigational use ofAdult Autologous Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) for clinical research and deployment for numerous Cardiovascular and Pulmonary disorders, inclusive of:

Cardiovascular conditions include medical problems involving the heart and vascular system (the arterial and venous blood vessels). The most common cardiovascular condition is atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (ASCVD), which especially affects the coronary arteries and is the leading cause of heart attacks and death worldwide; and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).

Other common cardiovascular conditions involve the cardiac muscle (CHF), cardiac valves, and heart rhythm. Many patients are typically treated with a multitude of medications; many patients require surgical interventions such as coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass, or other surgeries. Often patients, despite maximum therapy with medications and surgery, continue to suffer pain, discomfort, disability and have marked restrictions in their normal daily living activities.

The Miami 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, andwe provide care for patients with a wide variety of disorders that may be treated with adult stem cell-based regenerative therapy.

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center offers IRB approved protocols and investigational use of Autologous Adult Adipose Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) for clinical research and deployment for numerous cardiovascular conditions. These ADSCs cells are derived from fat an exceptionally abundant source of stem cells that has been removed during our mini-liposuction office procedure. The source of the regenerative stem cells actually comes from stromal vascular fraction (SVF) a protein rich segment from processed adipose tissue. SVF contains a mononuclear cell line (predominantly autologous mesenchymal stem cells), macrophage cells, endothelial cells, red blood cells, and important growth factors that facilitate the stem cell process and promote their activity. Our technology allows us to isolate high numbers of viable cells that we can deploy during the same surgical setting.

The SVF and stem cells are then deployed back into the patients body via injection or IV infusion on an outpatient basis; the total procedure takes less than two hours; and only local anesthesia is used. Not all cardiovascular problems respond to stem cell therapy, and each patient must be assessed individually to determine the potential for optimal results from this regenerative medicine process.

The Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center is committed not only to providing a high degree of quality care for our patients with cardiovascular problems but we are also highly committed to clinical stem cell research and the advancement of regenerative medicine. At the Miami Stem Cell Treatment Center we exploit anti-inflammatory, immuno-modulatory and regenerative properties of adult stem cells to mitigate cardiovascular conditions which are otherwise lethal to our bodies.

Myocardial infarction (heart attack) is responsible for significant cardiac muscle destruction and impairment due to ischemia (lack of blood flow). This can lead to further or recurrent restriction of blood flow thereby causing re-current infarct and pain on exertion (or even rest) known as chronic angina. Chronic angina causes restriction of daily activities of everyday living and is plagued with chest pain, chest pressure, and depression. This problem is caused most commonly by coronary artery disease which is very common in the United States and associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

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Cardiovascular Stem Cell Therapy

Autologous Adipose Tissue Derived Stromal Vascular Fraction Cells Application In Patients – Video

Autologous Adipose Tissue Derived Stromal Vascular Fraction Cells Application In Patients
The U.S. Stem Cell Clinic is founded on the principle belief that the quality of life for our patients can be improved through stem cell therapy. We are dedicated to providing safe and effective...

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Autologous Adipose Tissue Derived Stromal Vascular Fraction Cells Application In Patients - Video

U.S. Stem Cell Clinic: Meet Kristin Comella – Video

U.S. Stem Cell Clinic: Meet Kristin Comella
Ms. Comella has over 15 years experience in corporate entities with expertise in regenerative medicine, training and education, research, product development, and senior management. Ms. Comella...

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U.S. Stem Cell Clinic: Meet Kristin Comella - Video

Colorado researchers use horse sense to innovate joint therapies

When Little Brother came up lame six years ago at the age of 8, Brenda Simmons took her horse from one veterinarian specialist to another to find a fix.

Injections of the horse's stem cells into a lower leg joint and tendons relieved his pain and returned full function to a horse that had been unridable.

"He was better than ever, and he's still going strong," the 58-year-old Granby resident said. "I asked the vet, 'Can you do that for me?' "

She couldn't, but a physician in Edwards, Dr. Scott Brandt, did treat her with stem cells.

After crippling pain had sidelined her for years, she said, injection of her own stem cells and other living cell products, taken from her bone marrow and fat tissue, has restored the former runner and skier to a more active life over the past year. She had already had one knee-replacement surgery, but she now believes she can avoid a second one.

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"It's not mainstream. It's still in development," Brandt said of treatment that can cost $8,000 to $12,000 and isn't covered by insurance. "But it will happen in our lifetimes. This will delay or prevent many surgeries."

Many orthopedic specialists remain skeptical of these treatments unsure where proven advancements end and experimentation begins in doctors' offices using people's stem cells along with other biological components.

Yet leading researchers say there is real potential, especially if the Food and Drug Administration eases restrictions on culturing adult stem cells in labs for reinjection.

Even as these alternatives to surgical fixes for knees, backs, hips, shoulders and elbows are being developed, joint surgeries are booming as Americans resist being stiff and sore.

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Colorado researchers use horse sense to innovate joint therapies

Scripps Health Receives $7.6M Grant to Regrow Knee Cartilage

Dr. Darryl DLima. Photo courtesy of Scripps Health

Scripps Health announced today it has received a $7.6 million grant to study the repair and regeneration of knee cartilage, and the underlying bone defects and lesions caused by osteoarthritis.

The award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will support ongoing stem cell research by the Shiley Center for Orthopedic Research and Education at Scripps Clinic.

The funding provided by CIRM is essential to the development and support of the research we are doing with regard to tissue regeneration at Scripps, said Dr. Darryl DLima, the Scripps Health director of orthopedic research. With this grant we plan to continue our progress in this field and move toward clinical trials within the next three years.

Scripps researchers are studying a cell therapy that combines stem cells with a natural scaffold made of water-based gels to support the repair of cartilage and bone defects. Such defects, if left untreated, are a major factor in contributing to early osteoarthritis in patients younger than 55.

Caused by the deterioration of cartilage between joints, osteoarthritis affects more than 27 million people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Almost all current strategies to repair knee cartilage involve the removal of healthy cartilage and tissue around the lesion and the creation of artificial defects in the joint to facilitate further treatment or implantation. However, for younger patients with severe arthritis or impending arthritis, there is no treatment that can prevent, cure or even slow the progression of this disease.

Scientists with The Scripps Research Institute and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute are assisting with the project.

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Scripps Health Receives $7.6M Grant to Regrow Knee Cartilage

TSRI Team Discovers Enzyme that Keeps Blood Stem Cells Functional to Prevent Anemia

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Newswise LA JOLLA, CA March 23, 2015 Stem cells can generate any type of cell in the body, but they are inactive most of the timeand for good reason. When stem cells become too active and divide too often, they risk acquiring cell damage and mutations. In the case of blood stem cells (also called hematopoietic stem cells or HSCs), this can lead to blood cancers, a loss of blood cells and an impaired ability to fight disease.

Now scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that a particular enzyme in HSCs is key to maintaining healthy periods of inactivity. Their findings, published recently in the journal Blood, show that animal models without this enzyme experience dangerous HSC activation and ultimately succumb to lethal anemia.

These HSCs remain active too long and then disappear, said TSRI Associate Professor Karsten Sauer, senior author of the new study. "As a consequence, the mice lose their red blood cells and die."

With this new understanding of the enzyme, called Inositol trisphosphate 3-kinase B (ItpkB), scientists are closer to improving therapies for diseases such as bone marrow failure syndrome, anemia, leukemia, lymphoma and immunodeficiencies.

Stem Cells Need Rest

HSCs are a type of adult stem cell that live in little niches in the bone marrow. They are normally inactive, or quiescent, and only divide to self-renew about every two months.

However, when mature blood cells are lost, for example through severe bleeding or during infections, HSCs become activated to generate new progenitor cellsthe cells that replenish the blood supply and produce immune cells to fight disease. Once the blood cells have been replenished, the HSCs become quiescent again.

The balance between inactivity and activity is important because HSC activation generates side products that harm HSCs. In addition, every division introduces a risk of mutation, sometimes leading to cancer. Its like a car wearing down its own engine while it is doing its work, said Sauer. "Like people, HSCs need long periods of rest to remain healthy and work well."

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TSRI Team Discovers Enzyme that Keeps Blood Stem Cells Functional to Prevent Anemia

Beware stem cell therapy for lung disease

Clinics in other countries for some time have promised dramatic results in the treatment of lung disease, primarily emphysema, through the use of autologous stem cells obtained from the patient. The stem cells are extracted from adipose (fat) tissue, treated and then injected into the patient. The cells then supposedly go to work regenerating and replacing the damaged lung tissue.

Several of this type of clinic are now popping up in parts of the United States, mostly in California and Florida. Their advertisements are filled with testimonials from patients, extolling the virtues of the treatments. The treatments are quite expensive, and would be an absolute godsend for the 30 million Americans who suffer from some stage of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). If they worked.

Trouble is, none of these clinics or their treatments are approved by the FDA, and the only proof of their effectiveness is anecdotal, coming from selected customers.

Anyone with a chronic, progressive disease, such as COPD, will usually find themselves in a situation of desperation, eager to embrace any promises of a cure. I have been there, and it is a terrible situation.

Sadly, further research shows that institutions that are working on stem cell therapy for lungs unanimously agree that the successful regeneration of human lung tissue is likely decades away. Dr. Hatch, a British researcher, states that he may be able to announce success in about 20 years. Boston University states that stem cell treatment for lungs may be available for our grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

Even the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest, which has successfully built working bladders and other of the simpler internal organs, states that we are likely 20 years away from creating a lung.

There have always been those who would separate us from our money with promises of cures of everything from cancer to male pattern baldness. Please beware.

Jim Nelson is a former Glenwood Springs resident who works with regional and national cardiovascular and lung organizations.

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Beware stem cell therapy for lung disease

The International Society for Stem Cell Research announces annual meeting details

CHICAGO -- The International Society for Stem Cell Research's 13th annual meeting will take place June 24-27, 2015 at the Stockholmsmssan Exhibition and Convention Center in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting will bring together approximately 4,000 stem cell scientists, bioethicists, clinicians and industry professionals from over 50 countries to present and discuss the latest discoveries and technologies within the field.

"The ISSCR is excited to bring its annual meeting to Stockholm, a city that shares our passion and reputation for great scientific research and collaboration," said ISSCR President Rudolf Jaenisch, M.D., Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. "We look forward to learning more about the strong work being done in Sweden and across Europe."

The meeting will open with the Presidential Symposium on June 24 from 1:15-3:15 p.m. local time. The symposium sets the stage for the meeting with world renowned speakers, including Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka. It is also the platform for the formal recognition of the 2015 recipients of the McEwen Award for Innovation and the ISSCR Public Service Award. Another prestigious award, the ISSCR-BD Biosciences Outstanding Young Investigator Award, will be presented during Plenary VI on June 27 from 9-11:20 a.m. and followed by an award lecture.

"I look forward to the Presidential Symposium setting the tone for the entire program," Jaenisch said. "A thread throughout will be the use of stem cells to drive our understanding of development and disease, as we explore disease modeling, gene and tissue engineering technologies and other important advances that are bringing stem cells into the clinic."

Presidential Symposium speakers will include:

Fred H. Gage, Ph.D., Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, U.S.

Jrgen Knoblich, Ph.D., Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Austria

Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D., Center for iPS Cell Research & Application, Japan

Jeannie Lee, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, U.S.

The McEwen Award for Innovation award winners (Presidential Symposium):

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The International Society for Stem Cell Research announces annual meeting details

New reporter system to study bone-related regenerative medicine generated by UMN labs

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (2/10/2015) - A new reporter system used to study the bone regeneration potential of human embryonic stem cells has been generated in research led by the University of Minnesota. The new reporter system is the first of its kind for human pluripotent stem cells and is important for identifying certain agents and pathways that mediate early stages of human bone development.

The research is published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

The RUNX2-yellow fluorescent protein reporter system allows researchers to learn whether a human pluripotent stem cell-derived cell tests positive (or negative) for certain properties. Cells testing positive have been shown previously to repair bone in the skulls of immunodeficient mice. An improved understanding of whether a cell tests positive or negative through the RUNX2-yellow fluorescent protein reporter system will allow researchers to better monitor which types of cells produced from human pluripotent stem cells might be best suited to regenerating bone.

The Stem Cell Reports publication comes on the heels of a complementary finding led by the same group of University of Minnesota researchers published in December in the journal Stem Cells. The Stem Cells publication specified a new reporter system to identify and isolate a unique group of progenitor blood cells from human pluripotent stem cells. The ability to isolate this unique group of cells will likely impact the scientific community's potential to generate human blood cells from human pluripotent stem cells, with the potential to produce new therapies for patients to better treat diseases such as leukemia or genetic blood disorders.

The bone-related reporter system will now be used to test potential new therapeutic compounds at the University's Institute for Therapeutics Discovery & Development. Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry contributed to the finding supported by National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grants DE022556 and R90 DE023058.

"While we've developed these reporters in other systems including animals in the past, we haven't previously done this in human-specific cells," said Dan Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D., corresponding author of the publication, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Stem Cell Institute and Masonic Cancer Center member. "Human cells allow us to better translate new therapies from the lab to humans, and learn more about how early bone and blood cells are made."

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The University of Minnesota Medical School, with its two campuses in the Twin Cities and Duluth, is a leading educator of the next generation of physicians. Our graduates and the school's 3,800 faculty physicians and scientists advance patient care, discover biomedical research breakthroughs with more than $180 million in sponsored research annually, and enhance health through world-class patient care for the state of Minnesota and beyond. Visit med.umn.edu to learn more.

Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota is part of the University's Academic Health Center. It is designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information about the Masonic Cancer Center, visit cancer.umn.edu or call 612-624-2620.

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New reporter system to study bone-related regenerative medicine generated by UMN labs