Researchers discover new way to make muscle cells from human stem cells

As stem cells continue their gradual transition from the lab to the clinic, a research group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has discovered a new way to make large concentrations of skeletal muscle cells and muscle progenitors from human stem cells.

The new method, described in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, could be used to generate large numbers of muscle cells and muscle progenitors directly from human pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells, such as embryonic (ES) or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, can be made into virtually any adult cell in the body.

Muscle cells are stained green in this micrograph of cells grown from embryonic stem cells. Cell nuclei are stained blue; the muscle fibers contain multiple nuclei.

Image: Masatoshi Suzuki

Adapting a method previously used to make brain cells, Masatoshi Suzuki, an assistant professor of comparative biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine, has directed those universal stem cells to become both adult muscle cells and muscle progenitors.

Importantly, the new technique grows the pluripotent stem cells as floating spheres in high concentrations of two growth factors, fibroblast growth factor-2 and epidermal growth factor. These growth factors "urge" the stem cells to become muscle cells.

"Researchers have been looking for an easy way to efficiently differentiate stem cells into muscle cells that would be allowable in the clinic," says Suzuki. The novelty of this technique is that it generates a larger number of muscle stem cells without using genetic modification, which is required by existing methods for making muscle cells.

"Many other protocols have been used to enhance the number of cells that go to a muscle fate," says co-author Jonathan Van Dyke, a post-doctoral fellow in Suzukis laboratory. "But what's exciting about the new protocol is that we avoid some techniques that would prohibit clinical applications. We think this new method has great promise for alleviating human suffering."

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Researchers discover new way to make muscle cells from human stem cells

A*STAR Scientists Create Stem Cells From a Drop of Blood

By genetic reprogramming, matured human cells, usually blood cells, can be transformed into hiPSCs. As hiPSCs exhibit properties remarkably similar to human embryonic stem cells, they are invaluable resources for basic research, drug discovery and cell therapy. In countries like Japan, USA and UK[1], a number of hiPSC bank initiatives have sprung up to make hiPSCs available for stem cell research and medical studies.

Current sample collection for reprogramming into hiPSCs include invasive measures such as collecting cells from the bone marrow or skin, which may put off many potential donors. Although hiPSCs may also be generated from blood cells, large quantities of blood are usually required. In the paper published online on the Stem Cell Translational Medicine journal, scientists at IMCB showed for the first time that single-drop volumes of blood are sufficient for reprogramming into hiPSCs. The finger-prick technique is the world's first to use only a drop of finger-pricked blood to yield hiPSCs with high efficiency. A patent has been filed for the innovation.

The accessibility of the new technique is further enhanced with a DIY sample collection approach. Donors may collect their own finger-pricked blood, which they can then store and send it to a laboratory for reprogramming. The blood sample remains stable for 48 hours and can be expanded for 12 days in culture, which therefore extends the finger-prick technique to a wide range of geographical regions for recruitment of donors with varied ethnicities, genotypes and diseases.

By integrating it with the hiPSC bank initiatives, the finger-prick technique paves the way for establishing diverse and fully characterised hiPSC banking for stem cell research. The potential access to a wide range of hiPSCs could also replace the use of embryonic stem cells, which are less accessible. It could also facilitate the set-up of a small hiPSC bank in Singapore to study targeted local diseases.

Dr Loh Yuin Han Jonathan, Principal Investigator at IMCB and lead scientist for the finger-prick hiPSC technique, said, "It all began when we wondered if we could reduce the volume of blood used for reprogramming. We then tested if donors could collect their own blood sample in a normal room environment and store it. Our finger-prick technique, in fact, utilised less than a drop of finger-pricked blood. The remaining blood could even be used for DNA sequencing and other blood tests."

Dr Stuart Alexander Cook, Senior Consultant at the National Heart Centre Singapore and co-author of the paper, said "We were able to differentiate the hiPSCs reprogrammed from Jonathan's finger-prick technique, into functional heart cells. This is a well-designed, applicable technique that can unlock unrealized potential of biobanks around the world for hiPSC studies at a scale that was previously not possible."

Prof Hong Wanjin, Executive Director at IMCB, said "Research on hiPSCs is now highly sought-after, given its potential to be used as a model for studying human diseases and for regenerative medicine. Translational research and technology innovations are constantly encouraged at IMCB and this new technique is very timely. We hope to eventually help the scientific community gain greater accessibility to hiPSCs for stem cell research through this innovation."

[1] New York Stem Cell Foundation, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Kyoto University Center for iPS Cell Research & Application are some institutes which are establishing hiPSC banks.

The research findings described in this media release can be found in the Stem Cell Translational Medicine Journal, under the title, "Human Finger-prick iPSCs Facilitate the Development of Stem Cell Banking" by Hong-Kee Tan,1, Cheng-Xu Delon Toh,1,16, Dongrui Ma,2,16, Binxia Yang,1, Tong Ming Liu,3, Jun Lu,2, Chee-Wai Wong,1, Tze-Kai Tan,1, Hu Li,4, Christopher Syn,5,15, Eng-Lee Tan,6,7, Bing Lim,3,8, Yoon-Pin Lim,9,10,11, Stuart A. Cook,2,12,13,14, Yuin-Han Loh,1,15.

1. Epigenetics and Cell Fates Laboratory, A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61 Biopolis Drive Proteos, Singapore 138673, Singapore 2. Research and Development Unit (RDU), National Heart Centre Singapore, Singapore 3. Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR, Singapore 4. Center for Individualized Medicine, Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA 5. Health Sciences Authority, Singapore 6. Centre for Biomedical and Life Sciences, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore 7. Department of Paediatrics, University Children's Medical Institute, National University Hospital, Singapore 8. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 9. Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 10. NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 11. Bioinformatics Institute, A*STAR, Singapore 12. Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 13. Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK 14. National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK 15. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore

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A*STAR Scientists Create Stem Cells From a Drop of Blood

New stem cell center conducting clinical trials

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A new center at the University of Kansas Medical Center that focuses on stem cell research is conducting clinical trials only eight months after it opened.

Officials with the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center briefed a Kansas Senate committee on the clinics work since it was established last year.

Dr. Buddhadeb Dawn, the centers director, detailed clinical trials for the Senate Ways and Means Committee. He says the trials will help patients and make the state a leader in stem cell treatments.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports (http://bit.ly/1enOsv8 ) the center works on adult stem cell, cord blood and related stem cell research. It is prohibited from using embryonic stem cells or cells taken from aborted fetal tissue.

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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com

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New stem cell center conducting clinical trials

Tonight at 10pm: Guntersville Man Beats Cancer Through Stem Cell Transplant

Posted on: 10:16 am, March 6, 2014, by Matt Kroschel, updated on: 10:27pm, March 6, 2014

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) Given a 50/50 chance of survival, Joseph Overton knew he was not got to stop fighting cancer. Seven months after receiving a stem cell transplant at Huntsville Hospital, the 78-year-old Guntersville man is now cancer free and counting his blessings.

Overton was diagnosed with B cell lymphoma, a very aggressive form of cancer that spreads quickly.

But the diagnosis, however grim was not going to stop Overton from fighting and he had a special weapon in his corner, Dr. Jeremy Hon at Huntsville Hospital and his well-trained stem cell transplant team.

You come to me when you want to fight cancer, you dont come to me if you are looking for a referral to Hospice, said Dr. Hon. You come to me to fight.

A stem cell transplant is not for every patient, but Overton was a perfect candidate due to his healthy lifestyle and his type of cancer. According to information from the Mayo Clinic, a stem cell transplant can be performed if high-dose chemotherapy is given in the treatment of blood disorders such as leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, or amyloidosis.

A stem cell transplant helps your body make enough healthy white blood cells, red blood cells or platelets, and reduce your risk of life-threatening infections, anemia and bleeding following high-dose chemotherapy.

At Huntsville Hospital, the procedure used to replenish your bodys supply of healthy blood-forming cells is known as a autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantmeaning the stem cells transplanted use cells from your own body.

Huntsville Hospital is the only hospital in a 100-mile radius with the equipment and staff needed for a stem cell transplant. The hospital purchased new machinery for the department this past year.

Overton is back to doing what he loves thanks to the stem cell transplant. During the last year he took a trip to Disney, a cruise and has started building houses again.

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Tonight at 10pm: Guntersville Man Beats Cancer Through Stem Cell Transplant

Dr. Gerry Curatola Signs on as Advisory Board Member of Store-A-Tooth Dental Stem Cell Banking

Littleton, MA , MA (PRWEB) February 27, 2014

Provia Labs Store-A-Tooth, a Stem Cell Bank specializing in dental stem cell preservation, announces the appointment of Dr. Gerry Curatola, dentist, author and humanitarian best known for his clinical contributions in cosmetic dentistry and wellness, to their Advisory Board.

Dr. Curatola co-founded CS Bioscience Inc., a dental biotech company, and currently serves as its Chairman of the Board. The company performs research and development of pioneering natural therapeutics that promote oral health. In addition, Dr. Curatola is the founder of Rejuvenation Dentistry, a wellness-focused global network of dental practices, and the co-inventor and co-developer of REVITIN Oral Therapy. Dr. Curatola has private dental practices in both Manhattan and East Hampton, New York.

Following a lifelong model of humanitarian service, Dr. Curatola traveled to Andhra Pradesh, India at the invitation of Dr. Krishna Ajjarapu, founder of an orphanage and school in the region, to help establish a dental and medical clinic which will serve thousands of impoverished in this community. Closer to home, Dr. Curatola helped to establish the Pediatric Dental Fund of the Hamptons, a dental charity founded by local pediatrician, Dr. Gail Schoenfeld, which provides free dental care to needy children on Long Islands East End.

We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Curatola as part of our team, said Provia Labs CEO Howard Greenman. His passion for the integration of oral health with overall health and wellness is aligned perfectly with the value of banking stem cells from teeth that ultimately will be useful for a patients overall health. Greenman adds, Most importantly, Gerry is a great guy, has an infectious personality and is truly on a mission to improve patients health - globally.

Dr Curatola, best known as Dr. Gerry, is a Celebrity Dentist and has contributed to numerous TV and radio programs including The Dr. Oz Show, The Martha Stewart Show, ABC News, FOX News, NBC, CBS, and CNN. I am excited about being an advisor to a world-class team like the one at Provia Labs, says Dr. Curatola. The decision to store dental stem cells now is a very important consideration for parents and their children who would otherwise discard this tissue. The future use of these valuable cells, stored in a robust, youthful state, is made possible by Provia Labs. Every dentist should provide their patients with the information to make an informed decision about banking their childs stem cells.

About Provia Laboratories, LLC Provia Laboratories, LLC (http://www.provialabs.com) is a health services company specializing in high quality stem cell biobanking (the collection, transport, processing, and cryogenic storage of biological specimens). Its dental stem cell banking service, Store-A-ToothTM, gives parents the option to store stem cells today to protect their childrens health tomorrow. Store-A-Tooth preserves stem cells from baby and wisdom teeth that would otherwise be discarded, so parents can be prepared for advances in stem cell therapies that someday may help treat conditions such as type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injury, heart attack, stroke, and neurological disorders like Parkinsons and Alzheimers.

For more information about Store-A-Tooth dental stem cell banking, please call 1-877-867-5753 or visit us at http://www.store-a-tooth.com or Like Store-A-Tooth at http://www.facebook.com/storeatooth.

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Dr. Gerry Curatola Signs on as Advisory Board Member of Store-A-Tooth Dental Stem Cell Banking

Kerry Simon finishes second round of stem-cell treatments, finalizes plans for MSA benefit Thursday

Cashman Photography

Kerry Simon and Sammy Hagar celebrate the second anniversary of KGB (Kerrys Gourmet Burgers) in Harrahs on Saturday, June 2,2012.

By Robin Leach (contact)

Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 | 4:07 p.m.

Iron Chef America winner Kerry Simon wrapped up his second round of stem-cell transplants Sunday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and returns here today to put the final touches on his Fight MSA fundraiser Thursday at our downtown Keep Memory Alive event center at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Chef Kerry is courageously battling Multiple System Atrophy, for which there is no treatment or cure. My colleague John Katsilometes story of Kerrys bravery was posted early Sunday.

Kerrys business partner Elizabeth Blau told me: Kerry is in great spirits and wanted to express his most sincere gratitude to everyone who has worked so hard on putting together the event. He is incredibly excited. We are four days out from our event, and Kerry thanks everyone for the herculean efforts that have gone into putting it together in such a short period of time.

We still have some tickets to sell for the last-minute push. We are getting a large number of requests for comped tickets from celebrities, people who have donated auction items, the media, and the list goes on. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed even in the smallest of ways, but there are no comp tickets to this event.

There is no Kerry Simon guest list! Everyone on this committee has expended the greatest efforts and bought their own tickets to keep operational costs as low as possible and secured hundreds of auction items to make sure every dollar raised goes to effectively Fight MSA.

Oscar-nominated actor Bill Murray, a close friend of Kerrys, will MC the buffet party with star chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud, Michael Mina, Rick Moonen, Charlie Palmer, Barry Dakake and in concert Sammy Hagar, Vince Neil, Slash, Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, Lisa Loeb and System of a Downs John Dolmayan.

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Kerry Simon finishes second round of stem-cell treatments, finalizes plans for MSA benefit Thursday

Katie's family 'holding our breath' – stem cell donor clinic Saturday

Cambridge Times

CAMBRIDGE The family of four-year-old Katie Herron is anxiously waiting to find out if chemotherapy was successful enough to put her into remission and give her a chance at the stem cell transplant that could save her life.

The Cambridge girl, who is facing cancer for the second time, is in Toronto Sick Kids hospital fighting for her life after normally successful treatments didnt beat her childhood leukemia. Herrons only hope is to receive a stem cell transplant, but she desperately needs to find a donor match first.

Its hoped that chances of finding a potential donor will increase thanks to a stem cell donor clinic scheduled for Saturday (Feb. 22). The clinic will run from 1 to 5 p.m. at Cambridge Sports Park, located at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Can-Amera Parkway.

The Herron family is encouraging residents to come to the clinic and register as a donor with OneMatch, which co-ordinates the worldwide registry. Registering as a donor is a simple as a swab of the cheek.

However, even if a match is found, the four-year-olds fatigued body still needs to get healthy enough to have the procedure. Herron continues to undergo a battery of tests to see if she is well enough to accept a transplant. She has just completed another round of chemotherapy in hopes of putting her body into remission. Bone marrow tests are currently being reviewed.

We are, as you can imagine, holding our breath for the results and anxious on word of a match, said Herrons mother Anne Hodgkinson.

If her daughter is not given the go ahead for transplant, doctors will do one final round of chemotherapy.

Herron, meanwhile, is being treated for an infection she developed several weeks ago. She is feeling a little better, said Hodgkinson, and is finding the courage to smile and laugh a little again.

She is doing well enough for us to all stay together at the Ronald McDonald house here in Toronto, she said, going into the hospital during the day for tests and treatments.

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Katie's family 'holding our breath' - stem cell donor clinic Saturday

Doubts mount on STAP stem cells

(This story is an update of my earlier blog post on the controversy over whether the stress-created STAP cells actually exist).

A stunning stem cell breakthrough announced last month is being examined for errors by the institute where the studys lead researcher works.

The Riken Institute in Japan has launched an investigation into the study, it told news outlets including the journal Nature, which published the study Jan. 29. The probe was launched after other stem cell researchers, who have failed to replicate the findings, are expressing growing doubt.

The study, led by Haruko Obokata of Riken, found that certain white cells from young mice could be easily converted into embryonic-like or pluripotent stem cells by immersing them in acid or subjecting them to other stresses.

Stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler / California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The creation of what the researchers called STAP cells appeared to be a great advance from existing methods used to create what are called induced pluripotent stem cells. The IPS methods require adding genes and chemicals and convert just a small percentage of cells treated.

But scientists examining the study said it apparently used inverted and duplicate images. These included one indicating that the cells grew a placenta, a sure sign that stem cells had been produced. Riken declined to say specifically which allegations it was investigating, according to the news reports.

Additionally, scientists including UC Davis stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler said the finding appeared very unlikely. Pluripotent stem cells tend to form tumors, so producing them in response to stress should have been weeded out by evolution, Knoepfler wrote on his blog, ipscell.com. Hes also running an informal poll.

Weve had nine people put reports of various kinds there, and none of the reports seemed particularly encouraging, Knoepfler said in a Tuesday interview.

"There's a feeling that the duplication of the placenta image, which now one of the authors has confirmed was indeed a duplication, and also some duplication of data in a paper in 2011 by (co-author Charles) Vacanti and Obokata, has made people more concerned about their level of confidence in the finding overall," Knoepfler said.

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Doubts mount on STAP stem cells

Regenerating orthopedic tissues within the human body

By combining a synthetic scaffolding material with gene delivery techniques, researchers at Duke University are getting closer to being able to generate replacement cartilage where it's needed in the body.

Performing tissue repair with stem cells typically requires applying copious amounts of growth factor proteins -- a task that is very expensive and becomes challenging once the developing material is implanted within a body. In a new study, however, Duke researchers found a way around this limitation by genetically altering the stem cells to make the necessary growth factors all on their own.

They incorporated viruses used to deliver gene therapy to the stem cells into a synthetic material that serves as a template for tissue growth. The resulting material is like a computer; the scaffold provides the hardware and the virus provides the software that programs the stem cells to produce the desired tissue.

The study appears online the week of Feb. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Farshid Guilak, director of orthopaedic research at Duke University Medical Center, has spent years developing biodegradable synthetic scaffolding that mimics the mechanical properties of cartilage. One challenge he and all biomedical researchers face is getting stem cells to form cartilage within and around the scaffolding, especially after it is implanted into a living being.

The traditional approach has been to introduce growth factor proteins, which signal the stem cells to differentiate into cartilage. Once the process is under way, the growing cartilage can be implanted where needed.

"But a major limitation in engineering tissue replacements has been the difficulty in delivering growth factors to the stem cells once they are implanted in the body," said Guilak, who is also a professor in Duke's Department of Biomedical Engineering. "There's a limited amount of growth factor that you can put into the scaffolding, and once it's released, it's all gone. We need a method for long-term delivery of growth factors, and that's where the gene therapy comes in."

For ideas on how to solve this problem, Guilak turned to his colleague Charles Gersbach, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and an expert in gene therapy. Gersbach proposed introducing new genes into the stem cells so that they produce the necessary growth factors themselves.

But the conventional methods for gene therapy are complex and difficult to translate into a strategy that would be feasible as a commercial product.

This type of gene therapy generally requires gathering stem cells, modifying them with a virus that transfers the new genes, culturing the resulting genetically altered stem cells until they reach a critical mass, applying them to the synthetic cartilage scaffolding and, finally, implanting it into the body.

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Regenerating orthopedic tissues within the human body

Halifax students help spark interest in stem cell donation

Right now there are at least 40 Canadians hoping that, somewhere, healthy young black men with their particular genetic markers will sign up to be stem cell donors.

To me, its not something you just think about, its something you do. Its pretty simple, says 18-year-old Emmanuel John.

The Grade 12 student at Halifax West was volunteering Monday at his high school, helping register potential donors and taking swabs.

You get a couple tests and you may be a potential donor, he said. If you are, you can potentially save someones life.

The registration and swab event was put on by Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. The network tries to match donors with people suffering from blood diseases or cancers like sickle-cell anemia and leukemia, said OneMatch co-ordinator Hailu Mulatu.

There are 750 Canadians in need of a stem cell transplant, but African-Canadians who make up just under one per cent of registered potential donors are under-represented in the national registry, said Mulatu.

Finding a donor and patient match is very difficult. And, because patients and donors must share similar genetic markers, a successful match will only be found among people of the same ethnic origin. Only about 25 per cent of donors are found in a patients family.

Ideal candidates are healthy individuals ranging in age from 17 to 35. Men are more likely to be successful donors than women, Mulatu said.

Organizers chose African Heritage Month as a good time to raise the awareness of the need for more African-Canadian donors.

By noon Monday, the majority of students turning out to the registration event were female although they appeared to be from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

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Halifax students help spark interest in stem cell donation