Vitamin A deficiency is detrimental to blood stem cells – Phys.org – Phys.Org

May 5, 2017

Lack of vitamin A in the body has a detrimental effect on the hematopoietic system in the bone marrow. The deficiency causes a loss of important blood stem cells, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute of Stem Cell Research and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM) now report in the latest issue of the journal Cell. These findings will open up new prospects in cancer therapy.

Many specialized cells, such as in the skin, gut or blood, have a lifespan of only a few days. Therefore, steady replenishment of these cells is indispensable. They arise from so-called "adult" stem cells that divide continuously. In addition, there is a group of very special stem cells in the bone marrow that were first discovered in 2008 by a research team led by Andreas Trumpp, who is a division head at the DKFZ and director of HI-STEM. These cells remain in a kind of dormancy most of the time and only become active in an emergency such as bacterial or viral infections, heavy blood loss, or in the wake of chemotherapy. Once their work is done, the body sends its most potent stem cells back to sleep. The scientists assume that this protects them from dangerous mutations that may lead to leukemia.

The mechanisms that activate these special stem cells or make them go back to sleep after their work is done have remained elusive until now. The scientists have now identified retinoic acid, a vitamin A metabolite, as a crucial factor in this process. If this substance is absent, active stem cells are unable to return to a dormant state and mature into specialized blood cells instead. This means that they are lost as a reservoir. This was shown in studies with specially bred mice whose dormant stem cells are green fluorescent. "If we feed these mice on a vitamin A deficient diet for some time, this leads to a loss of the stem cells," said Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid, who is the first author of the publication. "Thus, we can prove for the first time that vitamin A has a direct impact on blood stem cells."

This finding not only enhances our understanding of the development of blood cells, it also sheds new light on prior studies that demonstrate that vitamin A deficiency impairs the immune system. "This shows how vitally important it is to have a sufficient intake of vitamin A from a balanced diet," Cabezas-Wallscheid emphasized. The body cannot produce its own vitamin A.

The scientists also have hopes for new prospects in cancer treatment. There is evidence that cancer cells, like healthy stem cells, also rest in a state of dormancy. When dormant, their metabolism is almost completely shut downand this makes them resistant to chemotherapy. "Once we understand in detail how vitamin A or retinoic acid, respectively, sends normal and malignant stem cells into dormancy, we can try to turn the tables," explained Trumpp. "If we could make cancer cells temporarily enter an active state, we could thus make them vulnerable to modern therapies."

In addition, in collaboration with colleagues from the European Bioinformatics Institute in Cambridge, the team performed genome-wide analyses of single cells and discovered that the transition from dormant to active stem cells and then on to progenitor cells is a continuous one and follows a different path for each individual cell. So far, scientists had assumed that specific cell types develop step by step in a defined pattern. This finding revolutionizes the previous concept of how cell differentiation in the body takes place.

Explore further: Vitamins and aminoacids regulate stem cell biology

More information: Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid et al, Vitamin A-Retinoic Acid Signaling Regulates Hematopoietic Stem Cell Dormancy, Cell (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.04.018

Journal reference: Cell

Provided by: German Cancer Research Center

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Vitamin A deficiency is detrimental to blood stem cells - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Scientists turn human induced pluripotent stem cells into lung cells – Medical Xpress

May 3, 2017 This is Finn Hawkins and Katherine McCauley. Credit: Jackie Ricciardi

Human lungs, like all organs, begin their existence as clumps of undifferentiated stem cells. But in a matter of months, the cells get organized. They gather together, branch and bud, some forming airways and others alveoli, the delicate sacs where our bodies exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. The end result, ideally: two healthy, breathing lungs.

For years, scientists who study lung diseases like cystic fibrosis have tried to track this process in detail, from start to finish, in the hope that understanding how lungs form normally may help explain how things go wrong. Now, scientists at Boston University's Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) have announced two major findings that further our understanding of this process: the ability to grow and purify the earliest lung progenitors that emerge from human stem cells, and the ability to differentiate these cells into tiny "bronchospheres" that model cystic fibrosis. Researchers hope that the results, published separately in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Cell Stem Cell, will lead to new, "personalized medicine" approaches to treating lung disease.

"Sorting these cells to purity is really difficult and important," says Darrell Kotton, director of CReM and co-senior author of both papers, with Brian Davis of UTHealth at the University of Texas. "It's the first step in trying to predict how an individual might respond to existing treatments or new drugs."

"There's a long list of lung diseases for which there are no treatments other than a lung transplant," added Kotton, whose work is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. "It's critically important to develop new tools for understanding these diseases."

CReM scientists work with induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, which were discovered by Shinya Yamanaka in 2006. Yamanaka figured out how to take an adult cell in the human bodylike a blood cell or skin celland "reprogram" it into a stem cell with the ability to grow into any organ. In recent years, several groups of scientists have grown lung cells from human iPSCs, but the recipes aren't perfectthe resulting lung cells grow amidst a jumble of liver cells, intestinal cells, and other tissues.

"That's a big issue," says Finn Hawkins, a BU School of Medicine (MED) assistant professor of medicine and part of the CReM team. Hawkins is co-first author on the Journal of Clinical Investigation paper, along with Philipp Kramer, formerly of UTHealth. "If you want to use these cells to study the lung, you need to get rid of those others."

First, Hawkins needed a way to identify the lung cells. Previous work by Kotton and other CReM scientists demonstrated that mouse stem cells express a gene called Nkx2-1 at the "fate decision"the moment they turn into lung cells. "That's the first gene that comes on that says, 'I'm a lung cell,'" says Hawkins. Kotton built a reporter gene that glowed green when the stem cells first expressed Nkx2-1, and Hawkins engineered the same gene into human cells. Now, he could easily spot and purify the glowing green lung cells.

Using a flow cytometer, Hawkins and his colleagues separated the green cells out from the mix, then grew them in a matrix. The result: tiny green spheres about half a millimeter across, "a population of pure, early lung cells," says Hawkins. The team calls the tiny spheres "organoids," simplified and miniaturized versions of an organ, containing key types of lung cells. The organoids are tools, and they serve at least two important purposes. First, they allow scientists to study, in detail, a critical juncture in human lung development about which very little is known. "We discovered that many of the genes that control lung development in other species, such as mice, are also expressed in these human cells," says Hawkins.

The organoids serve another purpose, as well: scientists can grow them into more mature, specific cell typeslike airway cells or alveolar cellsthat are critical for lung function. "Now we can actually start looking at disease," says Hawkins. That's where Katherine McCauley (MED'17), a fifth-year PhD candidate at CReM, enters the picture.

McCauley's interest is cystic fibrosis, a disease caused by mutations in a single gene, CFTR. The mutation causes a person's lungs to produce a thick, viscous mucus that leads to infection, inflammation, and, eventually, lung failure. For many patients, there is no cure.

McCauley, looking at the earliest stages of the disease, wanted to take Hawkins' purified lung cells to the next step and figure out how they became airway cells. Through many painstaking experiments, she zeroed in on a signaling pathway called Wnt, known to be important in mouse lung development. By turning the pathway off, she guided the immature lung cells into becoming airway cells. Then, she grew them into tiny balls of cells, which she called "bronchospheres."

Like Hawkins' organoids, the bronchospheres don't act like a bronchus; they are simply a collection of specific cells. But their specificity makes them exquisitely useful. "We wanted to see if we could use these to study airway diseases," says McCauley. "That's one of the big goals: to engineer these cells from patients and then use them to study those patients' diseases."

As a proof of concept, McCauley obtained two cell lines from a patient with cystic fibrosis, one in which the CFTR mutation that caused the disease had been corrected, and one in which it hadn't, and grew them into bronchospheres. To see if her recipe worked, she ran a test, applying a drug that should cause spheres made of normal, functioning cells to fill with fluid. It worked: the "fixed" bronchospheres began to swell, while the cystic fibrosis spheres didn't react. "The cool part is that we measured this using high-throughput microscopy, and then we calculated the change in area with time," says McCauley, who published these results in Cell Stem Cell and is lead author on the study. "So now we can evaluate CFTR function in a quantitative way."

The next step, says McCauley, is to improve the test, and scale it up, and create similar tests for other lung diseases. "The end goal is to take cells from a patient, and then screen different combinations of drugs," she says. "The idea that we could take a patient's cells and test not twenty, but hundreds or thousands of drugs, and actually understand how the patient was going to respond before we even give them the treatment, is just an incredible idea."

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Scientists turn human induced pluripotent stem cells into lung cells - Medical Xpress

Recent Study Published in Nature Unravels a Novel Pathway for … – Business Wire (press release)

PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--10x Genomics, a company focused on enabling the mastery of biology by accelerating genomic discovery, today announced publication of an article in the journal Nature of a collaborative research study with researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The article entitled, Non-equivalence of Wnt and R-spondin ligands during Lgr5+ intestinal stem-cell self-renewal, utilizes the 10x Genomics Single Cell 3 Solution for single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to unravel the priming and self-renewal mechanisms of intestinal stem cells (ISCs).

The renewal and differentiation of Lgr5+ ISCs is critical to the continuous regeneration of the epithelial lining of the gut, which enables us to absorb nutrients and provides a barrier to protect us from the external environment. Disruptions in this process can lead to or worsen human intestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastrointestinal cancer and Celiac disease.

This carefully regulated process occurs within a stem-cell niche called the intestinal crypt, and depends on Wnt signaling, which can be turned up by Wnt and R-spondin (RSPO) ligands. The authors sought to identify the unique functional roles of Wnt and RSPO ligands for regulating Lgr5+ ISCs and the relative contributions of both ligands to in vivo Wnt signaling and stem-cell biology.

The authors were able to show using in vivo experiments that Wnt and RSPO are not redundant signals. RSPO was shown to expand stem cell number. Although Wnt was needed to maintain Lgr5+ ISCs in the presence of RSPO, Wnt was not sufficient to induce additional numbers of Lgr5+ ISCs above a certain threshold, demonstrating that RSPO, and not Wnt, establishes the set point for Lgr5+ ISC number. The authors performed single-cell RNA-seq to definitively show that the signaling contributions of Wnt and RSPO elicited distinct effects on ISCs, by fully characterizing the expression profile for each unique cellular subtype on a cell-by-cell basis upon perturbation of those signals in vivo.

By characterizing gene expression from 13,102 single cells, Yan and colleagues were able to show that Lgr5- control cells represented differentiated cell types of the small intestinal lineages, including Paneth, goblet, enteroendocrine, enterocyte, pre-enterocyte, and tuft cells. The Lgr5+ cells consisted of three cellular sub-populations, corresponding to cycling stem cells, non-cycling stem cells, and transit amplifying cells. The authors were able to further show that these three distinct sub-populations of Lgr5+ cells were each uniquely affected by perturbations in Wnt and RSPO signaling, conclusively demonstrating that Wnts are priming factors that enable stem cells to be competent by expressing RSPO receptors on their cell surface, whereas RSPOs are actual self-renewal factors that expand stem cell number.

Single-cell analysis provided conclusive evidence for the unique roles of Wnt and RSPO signaling to their respective function, either co-operatively priming Lgr5+ cells for competency, or for RSPO-mediated self-renewal. said Grace Zheng, Ph.D., research scientist at 10x Genomics. This powerfully illustrates the utility of single-cell RNA-seq to monitor discrete stem-cell states and their dynamic perturbation. To do this with any other technology would have been extremely cumbersome, if not impossible.

We are very excited about this result, and it opens up the possibility that analogous multi-tiered regulation by priming and self-renewal factors may be a generalized property of stem cells across other organ systems, either through Wnt and RSPO or functionally equivalent stem-cell niche components, said Ben Hindson, Ph.D., president, co-founder, and chief scientific officer of 10x Genomics. This could have wide reaching implications for stem-cell research and potentially yield new insight towards therapeutic applications in the future.

The lead author of the study is Kelley Yan, M.D. Ph.D., lead author of the study, formerly a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford and now an Assistant Professor of Medicine and of Genetics and Development in the Columbia Center for Human Development at Columbia University Medical Center. The senior author is Calvin Kuo, M.D. Ph.D., Professor of Medicine at Stanford.

The article entitled, Non-equivalence of Wnt and R-spondin ligands during Lgr5+ intestinal stem-cell self-renewal, can be accessed from Nature online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature22313

For more information about this research, visit the Kuo Lab at Stanford: http://kuolab.stanford.edu/index.html

About 10x Genomics

10x Genomics is changing the definition of sequencing by providing an innovative genomics platform that dramatically upgrades the capabilities of existing sequencing technologies. This is achieved through a combination of new microfluidic science, chemistry and bioinformatics. By implementing GemCode Technology within the Chromium System, researchers can now, for the first time, find new structural variants, haplotypes and other valuable genomic information with comprehensive workflows for Single Cell, V(D)J, Genome, Exome and de novo Assembly applications that incorporate their pre-existing sequencing technologies. http://www.10xGenomics.com.

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Recent Study Published in Nature Unravels a Novel Pathway for ... - Business Wire (press release)

Breakthrough Regenerative Therapeutics Company Establishes Scientific Advisory Board – Yahoo Finance

MONTREAL, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Fortuna Fix Inc.("Fortuna"), a private, clinical-stage biotech company, is aiming to be the first to eliminate the need for embryonic and fetal stem cells by using direct reprogramming of autologous cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Fortuna announced today the launch of its Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB") with Professor Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD; Father Kevin FitzGerald, S.J., PhD; Col. (R) Dallas Hack, MD, MPH; and Professor James Giordano, PhD.

"We are excited and honored to have these world-leading experts join our SAB," says CEO Jan-Eric Ahlfors. "We look forward to working with them to bring our novel regenerative medicine solutions to patients suffering from neurotrauma and neurodegeneration."

Fortuna's two flagship technologies autologous directly reprogrammed neural precursor cells ("drNPC") and Regeneration Matrix ("RMx") are poised to lead a revolution in neuro-regeneration.

For the first time, patients suffering from neurotrauma or neurodegeneration will be able to get treated with autologous neural stem cells produced by direct reprogramming (i.e. starting with and only using the patient's own cells, bypassing use of pluripotent stem cells and avoiding harvesting and use of human embryos or fetuses). The method of direct reprogramming developed by Fortuna relies on an ethical, rapid, high throughput, low cost and fully automated manufacturing process. As drNPC do not involve any genetic engineering, pluripotent stem cells, or use of immune-suppression, it provides patients with personalized stem cells that are also expected to have a greater safety profile. In addition, drNPC are expected to replace dead neural cells, something that no other current technology can do effectively.

RMx is a unique and highly efficient bio-scaffold for the promotion of neural tissue regrowth.

"Our testing of drNPC at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre of the University Health Network in various Spinal Cord Injury ("SCI") animal models to characterize their regenerative capacity and safety profile indicates that drNPC are a promising source of therapeutic stem cells with potential for tissue preservation and functional improvement after SCI. I am highly encouraged by the reprogramming efficiency of drNPC and look forward to leading the clinical development of drNPC for SCI," says Professor Fehlings, after working on the drNPC in his lab for two years.

Dr. Hack further remarks:"Fortuna's autologous drNPC represent a major advance in cell therapy for treatment of CNS injury and degeneration. For the first time, neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes the three type of cells of the brain and spinal cord can be repaired and replaced where these cells have died or been destroyed due to trauma or neurodegenerative disease. Fortuna's proprietary automated manufacturing addresses a key hurdle of personalized cell therapy, making drNPC commercially viable both at small and large scale"

"Stem cell therapeutics have been plagued with controversy and hype, raising ethical and political issues that have resulted in a relatively hostile funding environment for research and development in the field. I am excited to work alongside Fortuna to help advance development of their ethical and commercially viable platform for cell therapeutics to benefit patients, their families, and our entire society," says Father FitzGerald.

The SAB members encompass unique expertise in key areas of importance for the company:

Professor Michael G. Fehlings, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS

Dr. Michael Fehlings is a world-renowned Neurosurgeon focusing on Spinal Cord Injury and a leader in the field of stem cell therapeutics for SCI. Dr. Fehlings is the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery, Co-Director of the Spine Program and a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. He is well known for his work on early decompressive surgery, which demonstrated significant improvement on neurological and functional outcomes after SCI that had an important impact on how spinal trauma is managed today. Recently, during the Henry Farfan Award ceremony (2013), he was described as the "single most influential active spinal cord injury researcher and clinician in the world."Dr. Fehlings is also the recipient of the coveted Olivecrona Award from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden (known as the "Nobel Prize of Neuroscience").

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Dr. Fehlings has been an integral part of the work performed by independent validators sponsored by CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) on Fortuna's technology. Dr. Fehlings' work was presented at the annual International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) conference in June 2016 in San Francisco with a follow up to be presented at the ISSCR in June 2017 in Boston.

Father Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J., PhD, PhD

Father Kevin FitzGerald is a Professor at Georgetown University and advisor to the Vatican on Bioethics (including human genetic engineering, cloning, stem cell research, and personalized medicine). Father FitzGerald is the Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethics in the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He is a founding member of Do No Harm, a member of the ethics committee for the March of Dimes, a member of the Genetic Alliance IRB, and a member of the Georgetown-MedStar Hospital Ethics Committee. Father FitzGerald has been a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy of Life since 2005, and has been a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Culture since 2014. He has a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and a second Ph.D. in bioethics, from Georgetown University. His research efforts focus on the investigation of abnormal gene expression in cancer, and on ethical issues in biomedical research and medical genomics.

Col. (R) Dallas Hack, MD, MPH, MMS, CPE

Dr. Dallas Hack, recently retired from the US military, is one of the leaders of military medicine of his time, with a particular focus on brain health (Traumatic Brain Injury ("TBI") and concussion). He served as the Director of the US Army Combat Casualty Care Research Program and Chair of the Joint Program Committee for Combat Casualty Care from 2008 to 2014 and as the Senior Medical Advisor to the Principal Assistant for Research and Technology, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command from 2014 to 2015. He coordinated more than 70% of the Department of Defense trauma research to improve battlefield trauma care of those injured in combat at a time when the Department of Defense funded more TBI research than any other organization in the world because of the increasing awareness of the massive burden of TBI in the military. He has held numerous military medical leadership positions, including Chief of Clinical Services at Fort Knox, KY, Commander of the NATO Headquarters Healthcare Facility, and Command Surgeon at the strategic level during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Col. (R) Dallas Hack has received numerous military awards, including the Bronze Star, two Legion of Merit awards, and seven Meritorious Service Medals and was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Military Order of Medical Merit. He has appointments from the School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh as Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery, and from the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University as Associate Clinical Professor.

Professor James Giordano, PhD, MPhil

Dr. James Giordano is Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry, and Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program at the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics of Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC. Prof.Giordano has served as a member of the Neuroethics, Legal and Social Issues Advisory Panel of the Defense Advanced Research Projects' Agency (DARPA), as a Senior Science Advisory Fellow of the Strategic Multilayer Assessment Branch of the Joint Staff of the Pentagon, is an appointed member of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Council for Human Research Protection, and is a Research Fellow of the European Union Human Brain Project. In recognition of his ongoing work, Prof. Giordano was elected to the European Academy of Science and Arts.

About Fortuna Fix Inc.

Fortuna is a private, clinical-stage biotech company with a patented direct cell reprogramming technology platform together with a patented bio-scaffolding technology for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and neurotrauma. The company is focused on clinical development of its platforms for a range of neurodegenerative diseases including SCI, Parkinson's disease, stroke, TBI, and ALS. The company has developed a proprietary fully automated GMP manufacturing system for production of drNPC, initially to be used in clinical trials in Parkinson's disease and Spinal Cord Injury.

Media contact

Vikram Lamba, CFO Email: vikramlamba09@gmail.com http://www.fortunafix.com

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Breakthrough Regenerative Therapeutics Company Establishes Scientific Advisory Board - Yahoo Finance

Auto pioneer’s family turns tragedy into discovery with $5 million commitment to bipolar research – Medical Xpress

May 1, 2017 Stem cells derived from skin cells donated by people with and without bipolar disorder are helping researchers make discoveries about the condition at the most basic level. Credit: University of Michigan

Fifty years ago this spring, entrepreneur Heinz Prechter moved his company to Detroit, to answer car buyers' fast-growing demand for sunroofs. But even as his products brought light into more than a million vehicles, he fought darkness in his own life.

He struggled to keep his bipolar disorder hidden, until his suicide in July 2001 shocked the automotive industry.

Heinz's wife, Waltraud "Wally" Prechter, resolved to fight the stigma that led her husband to hide his mental illness, and to address the lack of scientific understanding about the condition and how best to treat it. She channeled her energy into helping the University of Michigan Depression Center do both, by donating and raising money for a U-M bipolar research fund in her husband's name.

Today, U-M named its entire bipolar disorder research program for Heinz Prechter, in honor of a new gift commitment of up to $5 million by the World Heritage Foundation - Prechter Family Fund.

But the gift comes with a challenge to others who care about bipolar disorder: The Prechter family will match every dollar given to U-M bipolar disease research up to $5 million. This will double the value of every donation, and the Prechter family gift will be available to researchers faster, if others step in to support the cause.

Once the challenge is met, the Prechter family's total giving to U-M bipolar research since Heinz Prechter's death will be well over $10 million. Philanthropic gifts, including individual, foundation and corporate gifts, are critical to the effort and account for more than half of the research funding in any given year. The Prechter family set up this gift as a match to encourage more philanthropic support of research into bipolar disorder.

"I think that if you canif you truly believe in somethingyou owe it to yourself to help, to give, and to make a difference. Because ultimately, that is all you leave behind," says Wally Prechter.

Says U-M president Mark Schlissel, M.D., Ph.D., "I deeply appreciate Wally Prechter's commitment to advancing bipolar disease research that will give hope to millions of people around the world. The Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program will enhance the University of Michigan's longstanding research initiatives and drive new medical discoveries to combat this devastating disorder."

Building new innovation and advancing bipolar science

"When we lost Heinz to his disease, it took Wally's bravery and generosity to help us create incredible good out of such a tragic loss," says John Greden, M.D., who was working with Heinz and Wally Prechter to create the U-M Depression Center at the time of Heinz's death. Greden is the Depression Center's director and a professor of psychiatry at Michigan Medicine, the U-M academic medical center.

"Without Wally Prechter's leadership over the past decade, we would not have been able to develop the world's first bipolar-specific stem cell lines, discover new genetic links, explore environmental factors or bring experts worldwide together as we have," says Melvin McInnis, M.D., who is the Thomas B. and Nancy Upjohn Woodworth Professor of Bipolar Disorder, professor of psychiatry, and director of the newly named Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program.

The Prechter family is committed to increasing scientific understanding and treatment options that will enable people with bipolar disorder to lead healthy and productive lives. The new gift will grow the endowment that provides for the continuation of the Prechter Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder, which has been ongoing for 11 years.

The Longitudinal Study allows researchers to track symptoms, response to treatment and overall health over time like never before. Already, more than 1,200 dedicated individuals have partnered with the research team to track personal and medical information for this long-term study.

"Our participants are the real heroes," says Wally Prechter. "The goal of the Prechter Program is to identify effective solutions for people with bipolar disorder."

Volunteers can also donate samples of their blood, giving scientists the chance to study tiny differences in DNA that may play a role in how the disorder develops, why it runs in families, how it affects people over time and what makes people vary in their response to treatment.

The "bank" of DNA from hundreds of research participants over the last decade is called the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Genetics Repository, and it is the nation's largest privately funded bipolar genetics repository.

"We look forward to fueling new discoveries, and involving hundreds more people with bipolar and their families in the search for better treatments. The new funding, from the Prechters and others who believe in our work, will allow us to accelerate our pace of discovery," says McInnis.

The Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program will be the umbrella program over the Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder and other bipolar research studies.

About bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is a devastating, chronic mental illness with recurring episodes of mania (highs) and depression (lows). The illness causes unusual and dramatic shifts in mood, energy and behavior. Presently, 30 percent of individuals with bipolar disorder attempt suicide during their lives, and 20 percent die by suicide.

Although the direct cause of bipolar disorder is unclear, it has long been understood that genetic, biochemical and environmental factors play a role. Bipolar disorder runs in families, tends to recur throughout the life span and is affected by genes and life experiences.

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Just 10 minutes of daily mindful mediation can help prevent your mind from wandering and is particularly effective if you tend to have repetitive, anxious thoughts, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.

Worry - it does a body good. And, the mind as well. A new paper by Kate Sweeny, psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, argues there's an upside to worrying.

An analysis just published online has broken new ground by finding gender differences in both symptoms and diagnoses of depression appearing at age 12.

Turning down that delicious piece of chocolate cake. Resisting the temptation to buy clothes that we don't need. If we want to watch our weight and save our pennies, these enticements demand that we exercise some degree of ...

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Auto pioneer's family turns tragedy into discovery with $5 million commitment to bipolar research - Medical Xpress

WSU basketball player set to undergo five hour stem cell surgery – Dayton Daily News

Ryan Custer, the Wright State University basketball player injured diving into a makeshift pool near Miami University, is out of surgery and recovering in his room, according to a social media page dedicated to his progress.

Doctors informed the family that the procedure went well, according to posts to the Facebook page from Custers father. Custer is the third person in the world to get a 20 million-count stem cell injection, his father said. Doctors estimate it will take a period of 60 to 90 days before any results will show.

UPDATE April 28 @ 10:40 a.m.:

Ryan Custer, the Wright State basketball player who was injured diving into a makeshift pool near Miami University, is scheduled to undergo an extensive stem cell operation this morning at 11 a.m.

George Custer, Ryans father, released on facebook the details of this procedure stating,We are of course nervous, but Ryan is in good hands and Dr. Fessler told us although they have to open up his first incision on the back of his neck it is a lot less dangerous than his fusion surgery. George Custer also advised that Ryan will have 20 million stem cells injected into his neck.

Additionally, HBO is going to be at the hospital interviewing the Custer family and filming the actual procedure. George Custer said he will be give an update on Ryans procedure later in the day.

EARLIER: George and Kim Custer, the parents of injured Wright State basketball player Ryan Custer, held a brief press conference Tuesday to afternoon at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center to give an update on their sons condition and what lies ahead.

George, who got emotional multiple times during his 3 1/2 minute statement, said Ryan is being considered for a stem cell study at Rush University in Chicago.

We just found out he leaves Friday morning at 8 oclock, he said. Theres no guarantees, but hell be evaluated for five days and hopefully hell pass the test that theyre going to give him and hell receive an injection. And then hell be there seven to nine days afterward for further evaluation. At that time hell go to an in-patient rehabilitation facility.

Ryan fractured his C5 vertebrae April 8 when he jumped into a makeshift pool during a party at Miami University. He was air-lifted to the UC Medical Center, where he is still recovering after doctors removed vertebrae fragments and shaved the C3, C4, C5 and C6 vertebrae.

George said the family is encouraged by some of the small improvements Ryan has made recently.

Over the past few days hes shown some improvement in his touch and movement. Hes able to feel his fingers to the touch and he has slight movement in his fingertips. Right now he has hardly any feeling below his legs, although he has felt us rub the top of his feet and he said theres been some tingling in his thighs and his feet.

George also made a point to clarify that Ryan did not injure himself by diving off a balcony or through someones legs into the makeshift pool during an April 8 party at Miami University, as was stated in the police report.

Ryan is in good spirits but also nervous and scared for his future, George said, adding Hes not sure whats going to happen. But weve assure him hes not going to make this journey alone. Well be right there with him.

George and Kim, who did not take questions, wrapped the press conference by thanking everyone for their prayers and donations, and they asked that those prayers continue.

The more prayers we have, maybe God will answer our prayers and give him the healing he needs, George said. The only answers we can come up with through this whole terrible situation is that Ryan has and will be an inspiration to other people. Hes a very special kid and everyones going to see how tough, determined and resilient his spirit truly is.

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WSU basketball player set to undergo five hour stem cell surgery - Dayton Daily News

Making bone transparent – The Biological SCENE

Scientists have developed a biochemical process that renders bones transparent and then used it to visualize the bone-cell-proliferating action of a new osteoporosis drug (Sci. Transl. Med. 2017, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aah6518). In addition to enabling the study of drug effects on bone cells, the feat could provide an unprecedented view of the processes in bone cell growth and death.

The team, led by Caltech biology and biological engineering professor Viviana Gradinaru, based its bone-clearing strategy on a soft-tissue-clarifying method, called Clarity, that Gradinaru helped develop as a postdoc in Karl Deisseroths lab at Stanford University.

In recent years, numerous scientists have made significant progress in being able to remove light-scattering lipids from brains and other soft-tissue constructs. The ability to visualize clear, intact soft tissue has great advantages over examining tissue slices because the structures and cells within remain connected and undisturbed.

Bones, however, have been tougher to render transparent than soft tissues because they are impregnated with minerals, which are difficult to wash away while maintaining bone structure.

To clear the calcium from bones, Gradinarus lab used ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Then, as in the original version of Clarity, the researchers infused the bone with acrylamide monomers to form a stabilizing hydrogel mesh and finally washed out lipids with a detergent.

To see cells inside the transparent bone, the group genetically engineered mice so that their bone stem cells, known as osteoprogenitors, glowed red. Drug company Amgen provided the team with a new osteoporosis drug to investigate. Gradinarus team compared the bones of mice who had received the drug with those who hadnt. They saw a clear proliferation of osteoprogenitors in the vertebrae of mice who had been given the drug.

Sean Morrison, director of the Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at the University of Texas Southwestern says improving our understanding of the localization of osteoprogenitors in the bone marrow is an important goal that will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the maintenance of the adult skeleton.

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Making bone transparent - The Biological SCENE

Treating Cerebral Palsy With UCB Stem Cells – Financial Tribune

The biggest national project to treat patients with cerebral palsy (CP) through injection of stems cells from umbilical cord blood (UCB) into the brain began its trial run in March. The project is jointly undertaken by Royan Institute, Childrens Medical Center (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences), and the Iran Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO). In the first phase, it will provide treatment to 130 children with CP between the ages 5-13. The treatment was tested in September 2016 on children with CP in some hospitals, and the results were highly satisfactory. Approximately four in every 1,000 children in Iran have CP while in the developed countries the rate is 2 to 2.5 per 1000 live births. Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for the effects of damage to a developing brain by various causes. It is connected with a range of symptoms, including muscle weakness and movement problems. The damage to the brain usually occurs early on in its development, either in the baby during pregnancy or during the period soon after birth. Symptoms may include difficulties in walking, balance and motor control, eating, swallowing, speech or coordination of eye movements. Some people affected by CP also have some level of intellectual disability. No two people with cerebral palsy are affected in exactly the same way. The IBTO plans to expand the storage of stems cells from umbilical cord blood to 100,000 samples from the current 80,000, said Ali Akbar Pourfathollah, head of the organization, ILNA reported. Around 75,000 samples have been stored in private banks and 5,000 in public banks, but the number will surpass 100,000 soon, he added.

Valuable Source for Treatment Umbilical blood is a valuable source of hematopoietic stem cells which can be used for treatment of many malignant diseases such as leukemia. Hundreds of transplants have been performed using stem cells from such blood, which is easy and risk free. The use of stem cells reduces the risk of viral diseases transmission and incidence of Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD). The ability to perform organ transplants is among the benefits of umbilical cord blood transfusion. Using stems cells is also one of the best ways to treat blood diseases since the method has a success rate of 70% worldwide. Storage of stem cells is a valuable investment. So far, 27 cord blood banks have been launched across the country. There are two types: public and private banks for stem cell storage. The former does not charge a fee for storage. But in the latter, the cost of collection and genetic testing is about $645 and the annual charge for storage is $33, according to ISNA. Pourfathollah said the IBTO is looking to store stem cells in medical cases when a patient needs to receive treatment from matched unrelated donors. In the past Iranian year (ended March 20), out of the 8,000 stem cell transplantations in the country, only 100 were from matched unrelated donors and the rest came from sibling (or related) donors. IBTO is also looking to set up coagulation/transfusion and HLA/immunogenetics laboratories in the country on par with international standards. The Immunogenetics and HLA Laboratory provides human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, HLA antibody identification and post-transplant engraftment monitoring services. These tests are required for patients undergoing evaluation for organ transplantation, recipients of bone marrow/stem cell transplants, patients requiring platelet transfusions from HLA-matched donors, and patients undergoing evaluation of particular health conditions.

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Treating Cerebral Palsy With UCB Stem Cells - Financial Tribune

Sanford Medical Center has breakthrough in curing Rotator Cuff … – INFORUM

A team from Sanford Medical Center in Fargoand Sioux Falls, S.D., could hold the key to repairing this shoulder injury by using our own bodies.

It's the first Food and Drug Administration-approved clinical trial of its kind in the country.

Gary Johnson, 64, hopes to be a candidate and he, like many of us, has nagging rotator cuff pain.

"That one repetitive motion has worn this one point out in the front." Johnson says.

He hopes to meet the criteria and be enrolled in this groundbreaking research at Sanford.

"I was asked if I had a vision for the future where did I think it would be, not unique to me, but the future is in biologics." says Dr. Mark Lundeen, a doctor at Sanford.

They will use a person's fat-derived stem cells to treat rotator cuff injury.

"If we can prove the stem cells induce a healing response and prevent progression, that changes everything for a large number of people." Lundeen says.

Eighteen patients will be in the study.

Some will receive the stem cells; others will not.

The FDA will then look at the data, and using stringent scientific rigor, decide if the United States will welcome this treatment.

With FDA approval, the stem cell treatment could be available in the U.S. within two years.

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Sanford Medical Center has breakthrough in curing Rotator Cuff ... - INFORUM

Elder grad, Wright State athlete considered for stem cell study – Cincinnati.com

George and Kim Custer, parents of Ryan Custer, provide an update on their son's condition.(Photo: The Enquirer/Sheila Vilvens)Buy Photo

Reading from a prepared statement, pausing to choke back emotions a few times, the father of the recently injured Wright State University basketball player and Elder High School graduate, Ryan Custer, offered an update on his sons condition.

Hes shown some improvement in the past few days, George Custer said during a news conference at University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He has some feeling in his fingers and some slight movement, he said. Hes also felt the tops of his feet being rubbed and said theres some tingling in his thighs and feet.

Ryan Custer suffered a spinal injury April 8 after he reportedly attempted to dive into a make-shift pool while at a party near Miami University. He was flown to UC Medical Center where he underwent surgery and has remained since the accident.

Right now Ryan is being considered for a stem cell study at Rush University in Chicago, George Custer said.

He leaves Friday morning but there are no guarantees he will be accepted into the study. He will be evaluated for five days.

Hopefully hell pass the test theyre going to give him and hell receive an injection and hell be there for seven to nine days afterward for further evaluation, Custer said. In-house rehabilitation will follow at a yet-to-be-determined location.

Custer, with his wife, Kim, by his side, expressed gratitude for the prayers, supportand kindness shown to his family and Ryan over the past week and for the generous donations to the GoFundMe page set up for Ryan.

The Ryan Custer 33 Recovery Fund has raised more than $81,000 towards its $100,000 goal.

Those donations will be extremely helpful in ensuring Ryan receives the best care that he can get so we can get him back to the way he was, Custer said.

He asked for continued prayers as well.

The more prayers we have, maybe God will answer our prayers and give him the healing that he needs, he said.

For those wanting to follow his progress, updates will continue to be provided on Ryan Custers Recovery Care Page on Facebook.

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Elder grad, Wright State athlete considered for stem cell study - Cincinnati.com