Stem Cell Treatments for Lung Diseases Advance – Healthline – Healthline

Two new studies look at using stem cells from lungs to combat fibrosis and other lung-related diseases.

Stem cell treatments for lung diseases may have taken a big step forward according to a pair of studies published earlier this month.

In one animal study, researchers did transbronchial biopsies, sending miniscule tweezers down the throats of rats in order to obtain lung cells.

The researchers were able to culture tens of millions of cells and inject them into rats that had a condition similar to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Rats that received the injected cells showed less lung inflammation and overall healthier lung cells than those that didnt receive the cells.

Both studies, published in the journals Respiratory Research and Stem Cells Translational Medicine, built upon research into stem cell therapies for heart diseases, and less successful work on lung diseases like emphysema.

Both offer new hope for fibrosis patients, whose current treatment options are medications to reduce symptoms, or a lung transplant.

The new research raises the possibility of reversing the impacts of fibrosis and similar diseases that cause lung inflammation, which gradually damages lung tissue and makes internal organs less able to transfer oxygen to the blood.

Its also the first time stem cells have been gathered and reproduced using the minimally invasive biopsy method, researchers said.

Lung stem cells are most often obtained surgically.

That requires putting the patient on a ventilator and cutting out a small piece of lung, said Dr. Jason Lobo, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, and co-author of the new papers.

Using the method employed by the researchers, Lobo told Healthline, medical professionals can tweeze out a few cells and send patients home the same day.

However, minimally invasive may be a relative term.

Its not as invasive as opening up your chest, but if youve ever had a tube stuck down your throat, you wouldnt call it noninvasive, Dr. Norman Edelman, senior scientific advisor to the American Lung Association, told Healthline.

But Edelman calls the new research exceedingly interesting.

Stem cells are hot, he said. People are doing a lot of interesting things with stem cells, and I expect eventually theyll hit on something, and maybe this it.

Edelman cautions, however, that theres been a long history of stem therapy for lung diseases, most of it not very satisfactory.

He points specifically to work using stem cells to fight emphysema. He said the therapies havent been proven to be successful, but have led to a number of clinics outside the United States providing Americans with stem cell treatments not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The American Lung Association has cautioned against these unregulated stem cell therapies.

Lots of interesting things in rats and mice dont turn out, said Edelman, who wasnt involved in the latest studies.

But he expects the University of North Carolina researchers would go through all the necessary safeguards when they start testing in humans and not offer it as something more than experimental.

Lobo said they hope to have FDA approval to begin human trials by the end of the year. Those would start within six months after the approval.

We might have to do more mouse trials, but the last time we met with the FDA, we got the feeling they werent leaning that way, Lobo said.

They would join about a dozen other clinical trials looking into the use of various types of stem cells to combat pulmonary fibrosis.

Stem cells are young enough that they can still grow up to become any number of specialized cells, potentially including mature lung tissue cells.

Other research into stem cell therapies has largely focused on mesenchymal stromal cells, which have immunosuppressive qualities but arent necessarily obtained from lungs.

Lobo and his co-authors focused on resident lung cells, which they figured would more easily graft to the lungs and survive a hypothesis backed up in a 2015 paper.

While their current research is focused on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, they hope the therapies, if successful, may eventually help people with related diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis. and fibro-cavernous pulmonary tuberculosis.

Asked whether a cure for lung cancer could be on the horizon, Lobo said probably not, due to the different nature of the disease.

But hopefully we will be able to extend into other diseases... any chronic lung disease, he said.

Continue reading here:
Stem Cell Treatments for Lung Diseases Advance - Healthline - Healthline

These Six Startups From Y Combinator’s Demo Day 1 Are Ready to Transform Our World – Futurism

A Room Full of Ideas

Great ideas,given the proper support, can change the world. Thats one of the reasons seed funding provider Y Combinator helps innovative startups acquire the financial resources they need to put their ideas into action. Since 2005, theyvefunded about 1,500 startups, and two times every year, they present some of those companies to investors via a three-day event known as Demo Day.

For the firstdayof Y Combinators Summer 2017Demo Day event, the startup accelerator presented 50 companies that all have remarkable potential. While you can check them all out on TechCrunch,the following six startups earn our vote as the most futuristic of them all.

Founded by a group of medical doctors and biomedical research scientists, Forever Labs combines two of the most advanced fields in modern medicine: stem cells and anti-aging research.

The startups current staff of 20 doctors wants to take a different approach to fighting age-related diseases by cryogenically freezing stem cells that can be used to combat such diseases when a person is older.

According to the company, stem cell storage couldgrow into a $56 billion market, and the figure doesnt seem outlandish considering the rapid pace at which anti-aging studies and stem cell research have been advancing lately.

Sunuisanother startup with a health-focus, only instead of combatting aging, their goal is to help those who suffer from visual impairments.

The company wants to help blind people navigate streets without having to depend on a cane or a guide dog. To do this, the startup has developed a sonar bracelet or smartwatch that vibrates to alert visually impaired people of nearby objects.

Sunu band combines sonar or echolocation with gentle precise vibrations to inform the user about objects or obstacles within their environment, according to the companys website. After beta-testing the device for six months, Sunu says it managed to reduce the chances that their vision-impaired users got into accidents by 90 percent.

Not all of the startups featured at Demo Day were focused on health and medicine, though this next one combines materials engineering withtextile science.

Kestrel Materialshas designed a fabric thats a step-up from breathable and waterproof types, and their goal is simple enough: reduce the need for bulky layers. To do this, the startup has created an adaptive material that reacts to cold and warmth.

When exposed to cold surroundings, the fabric flexes and creates air pockets that trap heat and keep people warm. During warmer weather, the air pockets collapse and prevent heat from being trapped in the clothing. Since the material uses common fibers, such as nylon and polyester, the applications for such an adaptive fabric are as plentiful as the styles of clothes people wear.

Few things scream future quite likeflying cars, and the next two startups are looking to extend their reach into that space.

First is Skyways, a startup based in Austin, Texas, thats building vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) delivery drones. While they arent exactly the kinds of flying cars you may expect to one day operate yourself, delivery drones like Skyways are positioned to be just as big a part of that flying future.

Skyways drones are capable of hauling loads of up to roughly 20 kilograms (45 pounds), and the company wants to use them to provide the military with a transportation service that doesnt put peoples lives at risk.

Now, this startup takes flying cars to the next level.

Pykawants to make autonomous single-person aircraft a part of our reality, and theyve already built a 181 kilogram (400 pound) one that can fly itself.

While theyre ironing out the tons of regulations requiredfor commercial use of this transportation system, Pykas taken on a side gig in New Zealand as an autonomous crop duster.

Speaking of autonomous tech and farming, thisstartup wants to employ robots as vegetable farmers.

Modular Science, as their name suggests, is into building modular machines for agriculture, and one of their products is a specialized plant-farming robot. The companys goal is to automate 99 percent of the vegetable farming process in the next six months.

More here:
These Six Startups From Y Combinator's Demo Day 1 Are Ready to Transform Our World - Futurism

UTMB lung experiment flies into space – Austin American-Statesman

GALVESTON

Two hundred and fifty miles above the Earths surface, scientists have begun testing the limits of human biology. In the sterile environment of the International Space Station, cells are being prodded to grow and multiply.

The goal is to grow human body parts, without the rest of the human attached.

The experiment sounds like a plot for a science fiction movie. But its actually one of the newest experiments to be conducted on the space station. The experiment, launched this month, was designed by a University of Texas Medical Branch team.

Researchers aim to study how stem cells develop in a zero-gravity environment. The results could lead to new possibilities to help with long-distance space flight and terrestrial medical treatments, said Joan Nichols, a professor of internal medicine, and microbiology and immunology and the associate director of the Galveston National Laboratory.

The experiment was developed over the past five years. It was launched as part of the payload aboard a SpaceX Dragon Cargo ship. The ship carried 6,400 pounds of equipment, experiments and supplies, including a freezer with Blue Bell ice cream cups.

Nichols and her team spent the week before the launch in Florida, preparing the experiment. It went off without a hitch, and the capsule arrived at the space station.

Everything went smoothly, Nichols said.

Nichols has studied lungs and their development on a cellular level for 15 years. The lab, which is focused on studying how lungs grow and heal, is no stranger to pushing scientific boundaries. In 2015, researchers from the lab successfully transplanted a bioengineered lung into a living pig.

Over time, the limits of growing cells on Earth has become apparent, she said. Studies have already shown that stems cells grow and multiply better in a zero-gravity environment than they do down below, she said.

The results could be used to develop treatments for problems astronauts develop on a long space flight, such as lung disease or traumatic injury.

Weve discovered what our limits are for doing large tissue constructs is the fact that the stem cells dont proliferate very well, Nichols said. Stem cells stay stemmy in space, she said, they dont mature and become other types of cells as fast.

If the cells stay stemmier and produce better, thats a huge thing that we cant do here on Earth, Nichols said. It will answer some questions about these cells.

Nichols and her team will be in communication with NASA and the astronauts on the space station over the six-week course of the experiment. While tests are done in space, her team will replicate the experiment at the Galveston National Laboratory, to provide a control sample to compare the results.

Being able to expand the UTMB program to the stars has been a dream come true, Nichols said.

Being at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral, and working at the lab there, at the building where all the Apollo missions happened I grew up with that, Nichols said. We worked hard and there were really long days, but it really was the most amazing experience ever.

Here is the original post:
UTMB lung experiment flies into space - Austin American-Statesman

Test results after stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma can … – Medical Xpress

August 10, 2017 Dr. Gurmukh Singh, vice chair of clinical affairs for the Department of Pathology and Walter L. Shepeard Chair in Clinical Pathology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Credit: Phil Jones

It's a cancer of the plasma cells, which normally make an array of antibodies that protect us from infection.

With multiple myeloma, the cells start primarily producing instead a singular product, called a monoclonal antibody, or M spike, that leaves patients vulnerable for serious infections, like pneumonia, and can even eat away at their bones.

Sophisticated laboratory tests used to both diagnose the disease then follow treatment response, can send confusing messages to patients and their physicians, particularly after stem cell therapy to try to restore a healthy antibody mix, says Dr. Gurmukh Singh. Singh, vice chair of clinical affairs for the Department of Pathology and Walter L. Shepeard Chair in Clinical Pathology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, is corresponding author of the study highlighting reasons for potential confusion in the Journal of Clinical Medicine Research.

The tests, serum protein electrophoresis and serum immunofixation electrophoresis, or SPEP/SIFE, and serum free light chain assay, or SFLCA, separate proteins into groups according to their electrical charge.

The M spike stands out as a distinctive, dense band of color among the layers of protein groups, while typical antibody levels create bands of lighter smears.

But after stem cell therapy, which first destroys cancerous plasma cells then restores healthy ones, follow up profiles often yield a lineup of antibodiescalled an oligoclonal patternthat can look eerily similar to the M spike.

The confusion comes because there again may be a prominent and likely short-lived band of proteins that emerges as the antibody mix begins, ideally, to normalize.

"We want to emphasize that oligoclonal bands should mostly be recognized as a response to treatment and not be mistaken as a recurrence of the original tumor," Singh says.

The key clarifier appears to be the location of the malignant, monoclonal spike when the diagnosis is made compared to the location of new spikes that may show up after stem cell therapy in these oligoclonal bands, says Singh.

"If the original peak was at location A, now the peak is location B, that allows us to determine that it is not the same abnormal, malignant antibody," Singh says, pointing toward different before and after treatment profiles on a patient.

Normally antibodies spread out in a usual sequence in these studies. "If it's in a different location, it's not the same protein," reiterates Singh. "If the location is different, this is just a normal response of recovery of the bone marrow that could be mistaken for recurrence of the disease," Singh says of the oligoclonal bands that can also temporarily show up in response to an infection.

He notes while the prominent bands are typically short-lived following treatment, the recognition that they are non-malignant may occur only in retrospect.

For the study, Singh and his team looked at lab and clinical data on 251 patients with multiple myeloma treated from January 2010 to December 2016; 159 of those patients received autologous stem cell transplants. Each patient had at least three tests, and at least two of the tests were following their transplant.

They found the incidence of oligoclonal patterns was significantly higher in patients who had a stem cell transplant than the patients who had chemotherapy alone: 57.9 percent compared to 8.8 percent. Only five of the 159 patients who received a transplant had an oligoclonal pattern before treatment but 92 had one afterward. More than half of the the oligoconal patterns developed within the first year following a transplant. The earliest pattern was detected at two months - as soon as the first post-transplant tests were doneand a few occurred as long as five years later.

Autologous stem cell therapy is not considered curative for most patients with multiple myeloma. There is no clear cause of the disease but the risk does increase at age 40, Singh says.

Explore further: Excessive tests don't benefit patient, do increase cost in age-related immune disorder

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Read more:
Test results after stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma can ... - Medical Xpress

Novel stem cell-derived model created of inflammatory neurological disorder – Medical Xpress

August 10, 2017 Organoids are clusters of cultured cells self-organized into miniature replicas of organs. In this image, neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are green. As the brain organoids increase in size, multi-layer structures composed of NPCs develop with intermediate progenitors (not shown) and cortical layer neurons (red). Cell nuclei are depicted in blue. Credit: Cleber A. Trujillo, UC San Diego

An international team of scientists, led by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers, has created a human stem cell-based model of a rare, but devastating, inherited neurological autoimmune condition called Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome (AGS). In doing so, the team was able to identify unusual and surprising underlying genetic mechanisms that drive AGS and test strategies to inhibit the condition using existing drugs.

Two repurposed FDA-approved drugs showed measurable effect, rescuing cells from the effects of AGS. The findings point to the promise of future clinical trials and to the utility of creating novel stem cell-based models of human diseases when no other models are available.

The findings are published in the August 10 online issue of Cell Stem Cell.

"Our approach can now be used to investigate other neurological conditions, like autism and schizophrenia and overlapping autoimmune disorders that dysfunction in similar ways," said Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program and a member of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine.

First described in 1984, AGS typically involves early-onset inflammation affecting the brain, immune system and skin. Its severity depends upon which genes are involvedthere are six typesbut usually results in pronounced physiological and psychological consequences, from microcephaly (an abnormally small head) and spasticity to skin and vision problems and joint stiffness, all appearing in the first year of life. The syndrome is progressive, resulting in death or a persistent vegetative state in early childhood. Currently, there is no cure; the only treatments are symptomatic or palliative.

The clinical features of AGS mimic those of viral infections acquired in utero, before birth, with increased levels of inflammatory markers and other signatures of inflammatory response. However, Muotri said there is no link between AGS and exogenous pathogens. Previous research has shown that AGS patients have mutations in genes critical to nucleic acid metabolism in the regulation of cellular immune response, among them a deficiency in an enzyme called TREX1, which helps prevent abnormal DNA from accumulating in cells.

Deeper probing into the pathogenesis of AGS has been difficult because animal models do not accurately mimic the human version of the disease. So Muotri, with colleagues, used embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from AGS patients to create six cellular models of the condition. In the past, Muotri's lab has developed similar "disease-in-a-dish" neuronal models of autism, anorexia nervosa and Williams Syndrome, among other rare genetic neurological conditions.

From the iPSCs, they also created cerebral organoids or "mini-brains"larger clusters of neurons that organize themselves into a cortical structure, similar to a developing human cerebral cortex.

The researchers found that with TREX1 not functioning normally, all of the cell models displayed excess extra-chromosomal DNA and that a major source of the excess DNA came from LINE1 (L1) retroelements. L1s are repetitive sequences of DNA with the ability to autonomously copy-and-paste themselves within the human genome. In the past, they have been called "jumping genes" and, because their function within cells is largely unknown, "junk DNA."

However the term "junk DNA" is increasingly becoming a misnomer. In work published in 2005, for example, Muotri and colleagues reported that L1s have a high impact on brain cells compared to other tissues, suggesting an important, if so far mysterious, role in brain development.

Since then, he said, researchers around the world have investigated the role of L1s in creating a genetic mosaicism in the brain. "These are ancient, genomic parasites that replicate inside our cells. The majority of the current work is focusing on the impact of this genome mosaicism, but we decided to also look outside of the nucleus. And what we found was a big surprise."

In some of the AGS cell models created by the researchers, toxins from excess DNA built up. Others showed an abnormal immune response, secreting toxins that induced cell death in other cells. The combined effect in organoids was a massive reduction in neuron growth when the opposite should occur. "These models seemed to mirror the development and progression of AGS in a developing fetus," said Muotri. "It was cell death and reduction when neural development should be rising."

The cell death was trigged by the anti-viral response from the L1 molecules outside the nucleus. "We uncovered a novel and fundamental mechanism, where chronic response to L1 elements can negatively impact human neurodevelopment," said Charles Thomas, a former graduate student in the Muotri lab and first author of the study. "This mechanism seems human-specific. We don't see this in the mouse."

The researchers observed that AGS pathogenesis was similar to a retroviral infection and wondered whether existing HIV antiretroviral drugs might be effective in interfering in L1 replication. Two drugs were tested in the cell models: Stavudine and Lamivudine. Both drugs resulted in reduced L1 and cell toxicity. Cell model growth returned in all cell types and in the complex, differentiated colonies of nerve cells that comprise organoids.

The data supported the idea that HIV drugs could benefit AGS patients, Muotri said. A clinical trial led by study co-author Yanick Crow, MRCP, PhD, at Sorbonne Paris Cite University and the University of Manchester, has already started in Europe.

Muotri said the findings were illuminating and encouraging, providing a platform and impetus for further study of the pathology of neuroinflammation and drug discovery. "It's important to note that while this work focused on AGS, nerve cells in schizophrenia show an overabundance of L1 elementsand there is an overlap with other autoimmune disorders.

"This is a great example of how a fundamental basic research could be rapidly translated into clinics. Are there analogous mechanisms at work in these different diseases? Is this modeling strategy relevant for better understanding and treating them? These are questions we will now pursue."

Explore further: Researchers create model of anorexia nervosa using stem cells

More information: Charles A. Thomas et al, Modeling of TREX1-Dependent Autoimmune Disease using Human Stem Cells Highlights L1 Accumulation as a Source of Neuroinflammation, Cell Stem Cell (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2017.07.009

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Visit link:
Novel stem cell-derived model created of inflammatory neurological disorder - Medical Xpress

Are Stem Cell Companies Abusing ClinicalTrials.gov? – PLoS Blogs (blog)

Im often asked about the safety of treatments that purport to inject stem cells into painful body parts. The reputation of stem cells seems to exceed the reach, with companies touting treatments that arent FDA approved or even being tested.

Back in March, an alarming article in the New England Journal of Medicinedescribed three women blinded by stem cell treatments two of the patients reported seeing a reference on the company website to registration at the National Institutes of Healths well-respected ClinicalTrials.gov, and assuming it applied to their treatment. It didnt.

In what is perhaps a modern version of hawking snake oil, companies can indeed register certain clinical trials without breaking any rules but desperate patients might not know that.

There is no doubt that some patients have misinterpreted a studys listing on ClinicalTrials.gov as a stamp of legitimacy, federal review, and compliance. In this way, treatments with no safety or efficacy data, no prior clinical study, and no ongoing clinical trials under FDA review, appear to have federal approval. Such a misunderstanding can lead to disastrous outcomes for patients, said Thomas Albini, MD, of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami, who treated the blinded women.

When I wrote about the disaster here at DNA Scienceand atMedscape Medical News, my Medscape editor asked me to take a closer look at criteria for listing investigations at ClinicalTrials.gov. It proved an interesting exercise, but I declined to write an article, fearing lawsuits if I named companies.

ClinicalTrials.gov is where research groups, in academia and pharma/biotech, describe protocols to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new drugs, biologics, and devices, which FDA regulates, typically in randomized, controlled trials. But for an observational study that just follows what happens after a treatment, no such thumbs-up is required; no investigational new drug (IND) designation or investigational device exemption (IDE) need be filed. And that creates a loophole that companies are happily jumping through and luring patients in pain, who may know little about clinical trial design, and perhaps trust too much the companies and the doctors offering these services.

Its easy to see how people are fooled. One company claims that By providing access to registered clinical studies through the NIH, we are providing patients with the ability to choose a stem cell treatment center with the highest standard of care. If the treatment is experimental, how can there even be a standard of care?

MOST STUDIES LEGIT

I love ClinicalTrials.gov its packed with information about all manner of conditions, with contacts and references. I started my investigation by searching for studies that sounded bogus.

I began with a treatment that epitomizes pseudoscience: magnets. But I was fooled. Other than legit uses in medical devices, my magnet search called up as an acronym of sorts for theMothers and Girls Dancing Together Trial, a well-designed study on preventing childhood obesity, with a decent sample size and controls.

I also thought the randomised crossover trial of the acute effects of a deep-fried Mars bar or porridge on the cerebral vasculature was fake, but it turned out to be a medical students project, well done, and published in the Scottish Medical Journal.

But trial NCT02833532, sponsored by a Korean pharmaceutical company, was likely a joke, with the stated purpose of temporary penile enhancement and one of the investigators first name being Dong. Participants must answer the question How do you rate your penile size? Very small/small/normal/big/very big to enroll. Those accepted get to try something made of hyaluronic acid, which is found, coincidentally, in cocks combs.

Searching ClinicalTrials.gov for stem cells returns more than 4,000 entries, so I gave up. Fortunately, Leigh Turner, PhD, associate professor at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota, wasnt afraid of lawyers and took a more measured, scholarly approach. He recently published the intriguing findings in Regenerative Medicine, where you can find nice tables naming the stem cell companies that use and possibly abuse ClinicalTrials.gov.

AN ACADEMIC INVESTIGATION

Dr. Turner searched ClinicalTrials.gov for stem cells along with patient-sponsored, patient-funded, and self-funded because expecting patients to pay is a red flag. Only a very few real clinical trials charge patients, and those that do must have FDA approval to do so.

He found 7 such pay-as-you-go clinical trials, each enrolling more than 100 people, at the government website, and another 11 in a database of companies that provide direct-to-consumer stem-cell-based treatments. The DTC label indicates that the treatments arent part of a real experimental protocol. One of themhad signed up more than 3,000 gullible people.

The companies that charge patients yet proclaim a ClinicalTrials.gov listing are having their proverbial cake and eating it too borrowing the governmental veneer of a sanctioned clinical trial, while collecting fees. And many health care consumers arent even aware theyre being bamboozled.

Another red flag in a stem cell pitch is an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink list of targets. Stem Cell Network, for example, claims to be able to treat, using stem cells grown from a patients fat, some 28 conditions, including the vague knee problems, and also muscular dystrophy, ankle problems, neuropathy, asthma, and alopecia areata. Also be wary of stem cells derived from one body part like butt fat being injected into another body part such as eyeballs.

Wed like people to protect themselves by going to a reliable website, like ClinicalTrials.gov, to distinguish legitimate from bogus claims of stem cell clinics. But the findings of this paper challenge that advice because this valuable resource, which is designed to promote transparency and to help people find clinical trials, lists unlicensed and unproven stem cell interventions that companies turn into personal marketing platforms. So if you have ALS, MS, Parkinsons disease, a ClinicalTrials.gov listing looks like any other study on the NIH website. Many people think a listing is credible, Dr. Turner told me.

There is an urgent need for careful screening of clinical studies before they are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, Dr. Turners paper concludes. But in the current climate of a nuclear threat, a health care system in disarray, and possible cuts to the CDC, FDA, and NIH, ramping up scrutiny at ClinicalTrials.gov is unlikely to have priority, if the President even has a clue what it is.

Its not possible to slash, burn, defund, and deregulate at every turn and think that federal agencies are going to improve how they function. But no administration is forever, no budget is forever, deregulatory moments dont last forever, and perhaps problems that are ignored or neglected now will be addressed in the future, with collateral damage along the way while nothing is done, warns Dr. Turner, who lives in Canada. I wonder if he has a spare room.

Those seeking stem cell treatments should check out the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Patient Handbook on Stem Cell Therapiesand stemcells.nih.gov. Alas, much of the media is still somewhat unfamiliar with the biology of stem cells, that they are not cells that can turn into any cell typebut that they self-renew and jettison a new stem cell at every division. Thats what makes them stem cells, not the ability to spawn specialized cells.

So I tell people who ask me if they should have stem cells shot into their aching knees or backs to do so only if they wouldnt object to an abnormal growth cancer forming there.

When it comes to stem cell therapies, its caveat emptor buyer beware!

Read more here:
Are Stem Cell Companies Abusing ClinicalTrials.gov? - PLoS Blogs (blog)

Okyanos Center for Regenerative Medicine to Hold Stem Cell Symposium in Freeport – Benzinga

First Annual Meeting Will Host Healthcare Administrators and Practitioners to Highlight Stem Cell Research Advances and Applications Through Expert Panel Discussions

Freeport, Grand Bahama (PRWEB) August 09, 2017

Okyanos Center for Regenerative Medicine has announced its First Annual Regenerative Medicine Symposium will take place at the Pelican Bay Hotel in Freeport, Grand Bahama on September 27, 2017. This daytime event is free to attend, however space is limited and pre-registration is required.

With oversight from the Ministry of Health's National Stem Cell Ethics Committee (NSCEC) and regulations laid out in the Stem Cell Research and Therapy Act passed in 2013, The Bahamas remains a leader in the global regenerative medicine community. Okyanos Center for Regenerative Medicine was the first cell therapy facility to meet the required standards and began treating patients in 2014.

Healthcare practitioners and administrators are encouraged to participate in the upcoming symposium which will feature specialist presentations, expert panel discussions and live Q&A sessions. The symposium will conclude in time for guests to attend the Okyanos-sponsored Grand Bahama Medical and Dental Association (GBMDA) welcome cocktail reception which will take place at 6:00pm on September 27th at the Pelican Bay.

"It is great to have this year's Grand Bahama Medical and Dental Association conference coordinated with the regenerative medicine symposium," said Dr. Vincent Burton who serves as Okyanos President and Chief Anesthesiologist as well as Vice President of the GBMDA. "The partnership we have forged should ensure an abundance of learning and networking opportunities for attendees."

Director of Research and Development Marc Penn, MD, PhD, FACC, will moderate the informative sessions and address the symposium to share an overview of Okyanos' planned research foci and strategic direction. "Through this annual meeting and others like it, we hope to encourage ongoing discussions which are critical to the development of the regenerative medicine industry both locally and internationally," said Dr. Penn.

To learn more and to register for Okyanos' First Annual Regenerative Medicine Symposium, please visit the Okyanos website.

ABOUT OKYANOS CENTER FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE (OH KEY AH NOS): Combining state-of-the art technologies delivered in a cell therapy center of excellence, Okyanos Center for Regenerative Medicine is a leading adult stem cell therapy provider located in Freeport, Grand Bahama. Okyanos was founded in 2011 and is licensed and accredited by the Bahamas' National Stem Cell Ethics Committee (NSCEC) under the Bahamas Stem Cell Therapy and Research Act to provide cell therapy to patients with chronic medical needs that, per scientific research, clinical trials and application, can be safely and potentially efficaciously treated with patients' own adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells. The literary name Okyanos, the Greek god of the river Okeanos, symbolizes restoration of blood flow. Learn more at http://www.okyanos.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/08/prweb14585069.htm

Read more from the original source:
Okyanos Center for Regenerative Medicine to Hold Stem Cell Symposium in Freeport - Benzinga

About Us – Stem Cell Medicine :: STEM CELL MEDICINE LTD.

COMPANY OVERVIEW Stem Cell Medicine's mission is to develop and commercialize cellular therapies in combination with pharmaceutical products to be used for tissue repair and for the treatment of inflammatory, immunological and neurological disorders.

The Company develops products from a number of tissue sources, such as adipose tissue stem cells for ischemic indications and from T cells for solid tumor-directed immunotherapies.

The Companys business plan calls for the engagement in collaboration with other companies, research institutions and medical centers. The aim of these collaborations is to shorten the industry's standard length of development cycles and expand the Companys technology and know-how in R&D, business development, marketing and management. Seeking partneships with companies that have products in development stages and early clinical development.

Stem Cell Medicine's facilities include state-of-the-art R&D laboratories and modern GMP manufacturing production rooms that, together with well-equipped analytical laboratories, provide an optimal environment for the development of products from inception to the clinic.

Additionally, the Company offers CMO services for products, including solid-form pharmaceuticals and injectibles,for use in clinical trials.

MISSION Stem Cell Medicine strives to facilitate the leap from existing stem cell R&D practices and technology and first-product development to pharmaceutical solutions by consolidating the existing stem cell know-how and expertise in Israel, Europe, USA and Asia (China). Stem Cell Medicine benefits from its privileged access to world class medical facilities, top research and the large pool of stem cell companies at various stages of development. THE FOUNDER Ehud Maroms career has circled around building companies that have a strong technical backbone in the fields of chemistry and life-sciences. Mr. Marom believes that in the future, stem cell product launches will continue to yield attractive returns. This outlook is based on a combination of the current known advancements in R&D, todays business and political/regulatory environment both in the U.S. and Israel, as well as the actual product launch successes we have seen to date. Mr. Marom had the privilege of playing a pivotal role in the early days of Gamida Cell, one of the leading Israeli biotech companies and a global leader in stem cell technologies and products. Mr. Marom led the development of the companys flagship product from pre-clinical to Phase III trials.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Ehud Marom - Chairman & CEO Mr. Marom received his BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology with distinction. He brings vast experience in management, operations, business and strategic planning in the pharmaceutical industry, where he has held various senior positions over the years. Past positions include VP of Operations at Teva Pharmaceuticals' API and Innovative divisions, where he was credited for his contribution to the market success of Teva; COO of Peptor Ltd; CEO of the Jerusalem-based biotechnology company, Gamida Cell, a leader in hematopoietic (blood) stem cell therapeutics; President and CEO of Makhteshim Chemical Works Ltd., followed by position of Senior VP of Supply Chain at Makhteshim-Agan Group. In addition to his role as Chairman & CEO at Stem Cell Medicine, Mr. Marom also acts as Chairman & CEO of Mapi Pharma and Chairman of Pharma Two B.Dr. Frida Grynspan , VP R&D and Site ManagerDr. Grynspan has extensive experience in the areas of cellular therapeutics and protein chemistry. She served as VP R&D at CollPlant, Pluristem and Gamida Cell. Dr. Grynspan holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a post-doctoral degree from Harvard Medical School. Irit Zalayet - CFOMs. Zalayet CPA serves as Stem Cell Medicines CFO as of 2012. Prior to this Ms. Zalayet served as deputy CEO of Kesselman & Kesselman Trust Co. (1971) Ltd. and as a CPA at PwC Israel. Irit completed her Bachelors in Economics and Accounting and her M.A. in Law; both degrees are from The Bar-Ilan University. Ms. Zalayet also serves as the CFO of a related group party Pharma Two B. Ruth Reiss - Quality Assurance ManagerMs. Reiss joined Stem Cell Medicine in 2013. Prior to joining the company, she served as QA manager at Hy-Laboratories Ltd. She successfully led the company in its first FDA QP inspection in addition to GMP accreditation by the Israeli Ministry of Health. Ruth received her BSc in Agriculture from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Business Management degree from the Open University of Israel.

Aviva Zyskind - Business Development Senior Associate Ms. Zyskind joined Stem Cell Medicine in 2014. Previously, she worked at KPMG in Israel where she founded the China Practice and worked as a member of the M&A team; and as International Project Coordinator at the Hisense R&D Center in China. She received her BA in Economics and Mandarin Chinese from Brandeis University and has lived and worked in China for three years.Dr. Yael Hayon - R&D Project ManagerDr. Hayon received her PhD in Neurobiology from Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center and specializes in developing models of human disease and blood products within the fields of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. Through the course of her work, she has registered a patent for clinical applications and presented her research in conferences around the world. Her findings have been published in five different journals. Prior to joining Stem Cell Medicine in 2014, Dr. Hayon has held a number of positions, including director of Cerebrovascular Research and Development at the Neurology and Hematology Departments and Deputy Director and Medical Advisor at the Blood Bank, Hadassah Medical Center.

Dr. Dotan Uzi - R&D Project Manager Dr. Uzi received his PhD in Medical Research from the Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center and specializes in cellular metabolism and toxicity, gene therapy and human disease models as platforms for stem cell therapy. Prior to joining Stem Cell Medicine, he served as VP and Head of Research and Development at Clearance Ltd, and as Human Disease Model Consultant at BiolineRx. Dr. Uzi has published his work in leading journals and as a main author in a leading hepatology textbook. He has also received the Israel Association for the Study of the Liver's Award for Excellence twice.

Read more from the original source:
About Us - Stem Cell Medicine :: STEM CELL MEDICINE LTD.

Engineered Skin Cells Control Type 2 Diabetes in Mice: Study – Sioux City Journal

THURSDAY, Aug. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have created genetically altered skin cells that may control type 2 diabetes in lab mice. And they believe the general concept could someday be used to treat various diseases.

Using a combination of stem cells and "gene editing," the researchers created patches of skin cells that were able to release a hormone called GLP1 in a controlled manner.

The hormone, which is normally produced in the digestive tract, spurs the production of insulin -- the body's key regulator of blood sugar levels.

The scientists found that transplanting the engineered skin patches onto diabetic lab mice helped regulate their blood sugar levels over four months.

Xiaoyang Wu, a stem cell biologist at the University of Chicago, led the "proof of concept" study. He said it raises the possibility that "therapeutic skin grafts" could be used to treat a range of diseases -- from hemophilia to drug dependence.

Wu's team focused on type 2 diabetes in these initial experiments because it's a common condition.

However, a researcher not involved in the study doubted the usefulness of the approach for diabetes specifically.

People with type 2 diabetes already manage the disease with diet, exercise and medications -- including ones that target GLP1, said Juan Dominguez-Bendala.

Using high-tech gene therapy to get the same result seems unlikely, said Dominguez-Bendala, an associate professor at the University of Miami's Diabetes Research Institute.

"I don't see something like this coming to the clinic for diabetes," he said.

But Dominguez-Bendala also pointed to what's "cool" about the experiments.

Wu's team used a recently developed technology called CRISPR (pronounced "crisper") to create the skin patches. The technique, heralded as a major breakthrough in genetic engineering, allows scientists to make precision "edits" in DNA -- such as clipping a particular defect or inserting a gene at a specific location.

Before CRISPR, scientists could not control where an inserted gene would be integrated into the genome. It might end up in a "bad" location, Dominguez-Bendala explained, where it could, for example, "awaken" a tumor-promoting gene.

Wu and colleauges used CRISPR to make specific edits in GLP1, including one that allowed the gene to be turned "on" or "off" as needed, by using the antibiotic doxycycline.

The modified gene was inserted into mouse stem cells, which were then cultured into skin grafts in the lab. Finally, those grafts were transplanted onto lab mice.

The researchers found that when the mice were fed food with tiny amounts of doxycycline, the transplanted skin released GLP1 into the bloodstream. In turn, the animals' insulin levels rose and their blood sugar dipped.

The engineered skin also seemed to protect the mice from the ravages of a high-fat diet. When the mice were fed a fat-laden diet, along with doxycycline, they gained less weight versus normal mice given the same diet. They also showed less resistance to the effects of insulin, and lower blood sugar levels.

According to Wu, the study lays the groundwork for more research into using skin cells as a way to deliver "therapeutic proteins."

For instance, he said, skin cells could be engineered to provide an essential protein that is missing because of a genetic defect. As an example, he cited hemophilia -- a genetic disorder in which people lack a protein that allows the blood to clot properly.

Skin cells could be an ideal way to deliver such therapies, Wu said.

For one, the safety of skin grafts in humans is well-established, he pointed out. Since the 1970s, doctors have known how to harvest skin stem cells from burn victims, then use those cells to create lab-grown skin tissue.

Because the skin is generated from a patient's own stem cells, that minimizes the issue of an immune system attack on the tissue.

Dominguez-Bendala agreed that using skin cells has advantages. For one, he noted, the skin graft can be easily removed if something goes awry.

But a lot of work remains before therapeutic skin grafts could become a reality for any human disease. And research in animals doesn't always pan out in humans.

A next step, Wu said, is to see whether the skin grafts maintain their effects in lab mice over a longer period. The researchers will also monitor the animals for any immune system reactions against the GLP1 protein itself.

The findings were published online Aug. 3 in Cell Stem Cell.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has a primer on gene therapy.

See the rest here:
Engineered Skin Cells Control Type 2 Diabetes in Mice: Study - Sioux City Journal

Qkine synchronises licensing deal – Global University Venturing

Qkine, a UK-based stem cell technology developer spun out from University of Cambridge, signed a key licensing agreement with the institutions tech transfer office Cambridge Enterprise on Tuesday.

The deal relates to Activin A production technology. Activin A, and related proteins, is one of the crucial elements in mimicking the environment in the human body and helps turn stem cells into specific cell types.

The technology was developed by co-founder Marko Hyvnen from the Department of Biochemistry.

Qkine was incorporated in November 2016 before securing a Pathfinder investment from Cambridge Enterprise the following month to facilitate setting up the business. It then began operations as an embedded company at the Department of Biochemistry in April.

Qkine aims to manufacture bioactive proteins that have applications in regenerative medicine and stem cell research. There is a need for this technology in a wide range of clinical areas, from disease modelling and drug screening to precision medicine.

MarkoHyvnen said: I have been providing growth factors to the Cambridge stem cell community for almost a decade.

Demand is growing from labs outside Cambridge and forming Qkine will allow us to focus on producing the highest quality cytokines for these scientists and establish a unique UK-based supplier of one of the enabling technologies for regenerative medicine, one of the priority areas for British manufacturing recently identified by the government.

Iain Thomas, head of life sciences at Cambridge Enterprise, said: Qkine is a great example of how opportunities are incubated in the university until the commercial time is right.

We are delighted that Qkine is taking this technology into the stem cell and regenerative medicine markets both of which are important and rapidly growing.

Read more here:
Qkine synchronises licensing deal - Global University Venturing