Stem Cell Clinic

Stem cell therapy approved for MS patients in Scotland – HeraldScotland

MULTIPLE sclerosis campaigners have hailed a huge step forward for patients in Scotland after a stem cell therapy was recommended for use on the NHS for the first time.

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has been described as a game-changer for MS after an international clinical trial showed that it could reboot patients immune systems and halt the progress of the disease.

Some patients who had been in wheelchairs prior to treatment said their condition improved so dramatically it was like they had never been diagnosed with MS.

READ MORE: Scots MS patients 'missing out' on pioneering stem cell treatment available in England

The Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) said there is now sufficient evidence for it to recommend making HSCT available on the NHS in Scotland to MS patients who have the relapsing-remitting form of the disease, and who were not responding to drug treatments.

Iain Robertson, chairman of the SHTG, said: Our committee members were able to advise that this treatment should be considered for those with this particular type of MS who have not responded to treatment with disease-modifying therapies.

We hope that our advice will be of use in helping decide the best course of treatment for these patients.

The SHTG also stressed that patients must be made aware of the demands, risks and uncertainties of the treatment, which uses chemotherapy to wipe out patients' 'faulty' immune systems before replenishing it with a transplant of stem cells harvested from their own bone marrow.

It puts patients at high risk from infections, which can be fatal, but the theory is that the treatment works by enabling patients to 'reset' their immune system to stop it attacking the central nervous system as is the case in MS.

READ MORE: Anger of Scots MS patients travelling abroad for stem cell therapy available to some on NHS England

HSCT is not considered an effective treatment for patients with the progressive form of MS, however, as stem cells cannot regrow nerves or repair damaged myelin - the protective sheath which coats nerves.

It will also be unavailable to patients with relapsing-remitting MS who no longer show signs of inflammation on an MRI brain scan.

Scotland has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, but until now Scottish patients seeking HSCT have had to travel overseas to Mexico, Russia and Israel and bankroll their own private treatment at a cost of around 40-60,000.

It has also been available privately in London since 2017, but with a 100,000 price tag.

A small number of MS patients in England have been able to access the treatment on the NHS, however, because there are clinical trials into HSCT taking place at NHS hospitals in Sheffield and London.

Morna Simpkins, director of MS Society Scotland, said: The decision from SHTG to approve HSCT for the treatment of MS is good news and could help in the development of a clear pathway, for people who could potentially benefit, to access it.

We will push to ensure that this decision leads to real change for people with MS by continuing to engage with other groups to offer the treatments, including HSCT, which are right for them.

READ MORE: Stem cells help mother with MS make 'remarkable' recovery

The SHTG said eligible patients must have equal access to the procedures regardless of where they live, but it is unlikely all health boards will be able to provide it.

The MS Society wants a centre, or centres, of excellence set up where patients from across Scotland can be referred.

Lucy Clarke from the Scottish HSCT Network said the recommendation was "a huge step forward" for people in Scotland living with MS.

Ms Clarke underwent HSCT in Russia and credits it with substantially reversing her disability.

She added: This important decision supports HSCT as a treatment option where other treatments have failed. We will continue to push so that this treatment is available to people in Scotland who need it.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: We are grateful to the Scottish Health Technologies Group for this important work.

"NHS Boards are expected to consider their advice on technologies in the planning and provision of its services and clinicians are expected to follow their professional judgement, working within the management structure of their Board.

We will work closely with MS Society Scotland, other third sector bodies and the clinical community to consider what the Technologies Groups findings means for provision in Scotland, including the information that needs to be available to people about eligibility and risks.

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Stem cell therapy approved for MS patients in Scotland - HeraldScotland

Battle brews over how tightly to regulate new cancer treatment – Crain’s Detroit Business

In a letter to the commission, Republican State Sens. Curt Vanderwall, John Bizon and Mike Shirkey argued against regulation, saying it should be made available in as many places as possible, especially in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, where no FACT accredited hospitals are located.

Vanderwall, who testified against the regulation and is chair of the Senate health policy committee, said he doesn't believe restricting access, especially in northern Michigan, is in the best interests of patients.

"I'm just very concerned right now that we're going to limit access to care," Vanderwall said at the Sept. 19 commission meeting. "I appreciate the cost of the drug. I understand that. As you know I work very hard to make sure and we have things that are going to address some of these drug costs. But in this situation I really feel that we need to make sure that we follow the federal standard and allow the free market to play."

Besides Vanderwall, seven other organizations objected to the proposed standards, including the Cancer and Hematology Centers of Western Michigan in Grand Rapids; the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine; the Biotechnology Innovation Organization; and Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company that manufactures one of the CAR T-cell medications.

Arguing in favor of regulation, Greg Yanik, M.D., a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, estimated about 300 patients annually in Michigan would qualify for IECT therapy.

"We're not talking 3,000, we're not talking 30,000," Yanik said. "Do we want unregulated access where let's say 100 hospitals can each treat three patients? No. I really firmly believe that the SAC recommendations will probably end up with 10 to 20 hospitals and those with fairly large oncology group practices each treating 15 to 20 patients."

Yanik said in his 30 years as an oncologist, he has never seen such a toxic combination of agents involved in the therapy protocol. He said the potential benefits are great, but the risks are even higher.

"I'm Roman Catholic. Every patient I give CAR T or these IECT therapies to, right before I treat, I go like this (making the sign of the cross and saying a prayer)," he said. "That tells you how serious I feel about this therapy."

In March 2018, Karmanos became the first cancer center in Michigan to offer CAR-T therapy for an aggressive type of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The FDA approved CAR T-cell for lymphoma in October 2017.

Pam Darling, 65, a homemaker in Spring Lake, was one of the early recipients of CAR T-cell cancer treatment at Karmanos. She told Crain's in 2017 she found a lump on her neck and it went to her primary care physician, who recommended she see an oncologist.

After three outpatient chemotherapy treatments and then a radiation treatment, Darling said, the cancer, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, became very aggressive.

"I looked at stem cell transplant therapy, but that didn't go through. My oncologist recommended CAR T-cell and I was told by Blue Care Network that Karmanos was the only hospital doing that at the time," Darling said.

In May 2018, Darling began treatment at Karmanos. She spent three weeks at Karmanos, the last two in the intensive care unit.

"I was totally out of it. I had no idea where I was. I couldn't breathe, and they put me on a ventilator," said Darling, adding that after she was discharged she had to stay at a hotel room at MotorCity Casino for four days until Karmanos doctors cleared her to travel home.

"I took a CT scan in May, and they said there was no cancer there. It could come back, but (Abhinav Deol, M.D) said if I passed the year mark with no cancer, I have a good chance at it not returning," Darling said.

On whether she believes hospitals should be tightly regulated, Darling said that is a tough question to answer.

"I would want a place like Karmanos to go get this treatment. It is very difficult, and I was impressed with the medical team," she said. "It was expensive to travel. I will tell you that. I wished I could have it done in Grand Rapids, if they had it at the time. Before, I probably would have wanted to go to a hospital that is closer. But knowing what I know now, I would want it to be" like Karmanos.

Deol said CAR T-cell therapy is a one-shot treatment that has a good chance at putting the patients' disease in remission. But because it is a new procedure, data is scant on success rates.

"Following CAR T therapy, we're seeing initial positive response rates in the range of 80 percent; and long-term response rates, approximately one year or longer, up to 45 percent," Deol said in a statement. "As more data becomes available, we hope to see an even longer time in remission."

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Battle brews over how tightly to regulate new cancer treatment - Crain's Detroit Business

Quadruple Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Patients With MM Shows PFS Benefit Over Triple Therapy – AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Quadruple therapy for newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma (MM) led to significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS), according to an abstract presented at the 17th International Myeloma Workshop 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts, last month.

Compared with triple therapy, quadruple therapy was associated with deep responses before and after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), with a significant PFS gain across all risk groups.

Given MMs significant spatial and temporal clonal heterogeneity, researchers believe that therapeutic agents with different mechanisms of action are required to improve both response and outcomes. These agents may be administered in combination or sequentially.

The UK NCRI Myeloma XI phase 3 trial compareda standard chemotherapy regimen of cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone plus thalidomide with a newer regimen of cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone plus lenalidomide with or without carfilzomib. Patients who did not have the best response might be randomized to receive a combination of cyclophosphamide, dexamethasone plus bortezomib. Patients may have also received more intensive chemotherapy, along with ASCT.

After maximal response was achieved, patients were treated with either long-term lenalidomide, lenalidomide with vorinostat, or receive no further treatment.

The intensive induction phasecarfilzomib, lenalidomide, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone (KCRD)was compared with a response-adapted approach of sequential triplet therapies in newly diagnosed transplant-eligible patients.

Carfilzomib, a selective proteasome inhibitor (PI), is approved for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory MM; combination regimens incorporating a PI and immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) have been associated with deep responses and extended survival in patients with newly diagnosed MM.

In the study, 1056 patients were randomized between KCRD (28 day cycles of carfilzomib 36 mg/m2 given intravenously days 1-2, 8-9, and 15-16; cyclophosphamide 500 mg PO day 1 and 8; lenalidomide 25 mg days 1-21; dexamethasone 40 mg days 1-4, 8-9, and 15-16), and IMiD triplet cyclophosphamide, thalidomide, and dexamethasone (CTD)/cyclophosphamide, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (CRD) prior to ASCT.

Patients with a suboptimal response to CTD/CRD underwent response-adapted intensification randomization to a different PI (bortezomib, plus cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone, a combination known as CVD) containing triplet or no CVD. A maintenance randomization at 3 months post-ASCT compared lenalidomide with observation.

Molecular high-risk (HiR) was classified by t(4;14), t(14;16), t(14;20), del(17p) or gain(1q) with ultrahigh risk (UHiR) the presence of >1 lesions.

KCRD treatment was linked with a significantly longer PFS than IMiD triplet therapy (hazard ratio [HR] 0.63; 95% CI 0.51-0.76; 3 year PFS KCRD 64.5% vs CTD/CRD 50.3%; P <.0001). There was no significant toxicity due to the quadruplet regimen.

In addition, a higher proportion of patients receiving KCRD induction were able to undergo ASCT than those who received response-adapted induction. In an analysis restricted to those who had completed ASCT, KCRD induction was still associated with a significantly longer PFS.

There was no significant difference in PFS outcome between molecular risk groups, with a benefit for quadruple therapy over triplet therapy.

In patients receiving KCRD there was no difference in response rate at the end of initial induction by risk group, but UHiR disease was associated with significantly shorter PFS than both patients with standard risk (SR) and HiR. There was no difference in outcome between patients with HiR (1 adverse lesion only) and SR.

An exploratory analysis compared the patients receiving KCRD to patients in the CTD/CRD arm who had received the optimum response-adapted approach (ie excluding those with a suboptimal response randomized to no CVD).

KCRD was associated with significantly longer PFS than using a response adapted sequential triplet approach (HR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.78;P .0001).

Reference

Pawlyn C, Davies F, Cairns D, et al. Quadruplet KCRD (carfilzomib, cyclophosphamide, lenalidomide and dexamethasone) induction for newly diagnosed myeloma patients. Presented at: 17th International Myeloma Workshop; Boston, Massachusetts September 12-15, 2019. Abstract OAB-002.

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Quadruple Therapy for Newly Diagnosed Patients With MM Shows PFS Benefit Over Triple Therapy - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Some animals pause their own pregnancies, but how they do it is still a mystery – The Conversation AU

Putting your pregnancy on pause until the time is right to give birth sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel, but for many mammals whats known as embryonic diapause is an essential part of raising their young.

Although scientists have known since the 1850s that some animals have this ability, it is only now becoming clear how it could teach us valuable lessons about human pregnancy, stem cells, and cancer.

More than 130 species of mammal can pause their pregnancies. The pause can last anywhere between a couple of days and 11 months. In most species (except some bats, who do it a little later) this happens when the embryo is a tiny ball of about 80 cells, before it attaches to the uterus.

Its not just a single group of mammals, either. Various species seem to have developed the ability as needed to reproduce more successfully. Most carnivores can pause their pregnancies, including all bears and most seals, but so can many rodents, deer, armadillos, and anteaters.

Read more: What marsupials taught us about embryo implantation could help women using IVF

More than a third of the species that take a breather during gestation are from Australia, including some possums and all but three species of kangaroo and wallaby.

The record-holder for pregnancy pause time is the tammar wallaby, which has been studied extensively for its ability to put embryos on hold for up to 11 months.

The main advantage to pausing pregnancy is that it separates mating and birth. There are two main ways in which animals do this.

The first way is to mate soon after giving birth, to have a backup pregnancy in case something happens to the newborn young. The stress of lactating triggers a pause that lasts during suckling, and the pregnancy restarts once the young leave.

The second way is to pause every pregnancy until the time is right (usually depending on the season). For example, minks mate around the start of March but put the embryos on pause until after the spring equinox (March 21), when the days are growing longer in their northern hemisphere homes. This ensures that the young are born in spring when conditions improve, and not in winter.

The tammar wallaby combines these two methods (suckling in the first half of the year, short days in the second) to pause for almost a year and give birth in January. This ensures the young leave the pouch the following spring instead of in the middle of a hot Australian summer.

Diapause was first identified in 1854 after hunters in Europe noticed that pregnancy in roe deer seemed to last a lot longer than normal. Since then scientists have been fascinated by this process and it has helped us understand more about basic reproductive processes in all mammals.

But it took until 1950 before our knowledge of pregnancy had increased enough so that we could confirm what the hunters had observed 100 years earlier.

But how the process worked at the molecular level is still a mystery. Until recently, there seemed to be no connection between which species used it and which didnt and there didnt seem to be a unifying mechanism for how pregnancy was paused. Even the hormones controlling diapause are different between mammal groups.

However, research now suggests that regardless of what hormones affect the uterus, the molecular signalling between the uterus and the embryo is conserved, at least between the mouse, mink and tammar wallaby.

Furthermore, researchers in Poland paused embryos from sheep (a non-diapause species) by transferring them into a mouse uterus and then back into the sheep with no ill effects.

This indicates the potential for diapause could lie in all mammals, including humans.

Its unlikely that pausing pregnancy will become the norm in humans. For starters, youd have to know you were pregnant within five days of conceiving to match the time when most species start diapause.

Understanding how mammals pause their pregnancies does have significant implications for our understanding of how to make healthy embryos. The time when the embryo enters into diapause is the same time in IVF when an embryo is transferred into the uterus. Diapause could help us improve how we grow embryos in culture or how to recognise which is the best embryo to transfer.

Read more: Explainer: what are stem cells?

Diapause could also help create better stem cells and find new cancer treatments. The first stem cells ever isolated by scientists came from a mouse embryo in diapause, when the cell cycle of the embryo is arrested. Stem cells are also remarkably similar to a diapaused embryo.

So understanding how diapause works at the molecular level could lead to new therapies to halt cell division or to identify markers for tumour stem cells, which are thought to be responsible for metastasis in cancer.

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Some animals pause their own pregnancies, but how they do it is still a mystery - The Conversation AU

Hormones Control your Health, Mood and Behavior A balanced hormone means happier, healthier life and success in career and relationship. – Magazine of…

Non-surgical regenerative cell-based treatment uses the bodys natural healing ability to repair damaged bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons and ligaments.Knee injuries are painful and often patients are unable to walk. Our treatment protocol always uses products following FDA guidelines.Injections done with ultrasound guided needle recognition capability to ensure safety as well target the area needing treatment. Plasma; Alpha-2-Macroglobulim (A2M) is the new biologic treatment for your arthritic knee (osteoarthritis)When your hips hurt, or your knee is stiff, or your back is throbbing, that means your joint is bone on bone and there is no lubrication to ease movement.Regenerative medicine giving new hope to patients suffering from painful joint injuries such as knee, shoulder and hip with a chance to live a pain free life.Regenerative cell-based ultrasound guided injection now available to treat pain associated with joint injury. There are indications that it reduces the pain and swelling of the joints and helps lubricating and improve movements.Commonly Treated Conditions: Osteoarthritis of the Hips, Knee, and Shoulders Rotator Cuff tears of the Shoulder Meniscus, ACL and PCL tears of the kneeOur stem cell treatment using your own stem cells and with using imaging guidance ensures precise injection of stem cell, it is a highly-specialized practice.Besides treating above injuries we have advance stem cell micro-needling treatment for the following: Cell-based PRP Hair Restoration combining micro-needling with growth factors and hair follicles voluma vitamins plus BLotinyl T1, Biotin, Anti-aging and Kopexil. Non-toxin facial renewal Anti-Aging APGF Advanced Peptide Micro-needling PRP, Dual Anti-Aging Ampoules for deep hydration, more collagen to reduce wrinkles and firm skin.Dr. Ibrahim is the staff physician at Valencia Medical Center specializing in regenerative medicine, pain management, and rejuvenation. Call for a consultation at 661-222-9117.

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Hormones Control your Health, Mood and Behavior A balanced hormone means happier, healthier life and success in career and relationship. - Magazine of...

Tiger Woods wins, Gary McCord and Peter Kostis out at CBS, and Brooks Koepka (knee) to miss more time: What you missed – Golf Digest

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here's every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Oct. 28.

Tiger ties Snead

The greats can make the routine spectacular, and the spectacular seem routine. In a tournament halfway around the world, during a time most golf fans are in hibernation, we were reminded, once again, no one in modern sports personifies that sentiment like Tiger Woods.

Woods, making his first appearance in two months and first since his fifth career knee surgery, won the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan by three shots over Hideki Matsuyama. A win, his 82nd on the PGA Tour, that ties Sam Sneads all-time record.

Its about being consistent and doing it for a long period of time, Woods said. Ive been very fortunate to have the career Ive had so far.

A rain-out on Friday made the weekend a marathon, a dash that was held in the waning hours of Americas East Coast. Yet Woods, who shared the first-round lead with Gary Woodland with a 64, never relinquished his position, entering Monday morning with a three-shot lead over Matsuyama with seven holes left to play.

Woods opened with a bogey at Narashino Country Clubs 12thlet the record show his first-hole jitters apply to restarts as wellbut negated the mistake with a birdie at the 14th. Woods followed with three pars before making an up-and-down birdie, and taking a final-bow fist pump, at the 18th.

The scene was not as visceral or breathtaking as East Lake, the moment not as cathartic or emotional as Augusta. When you win 82 times, all will not be made-for-movie scripts. Even so, Woods made history when few expected him to, in a workman-like manner that belied its blowout fashion. He continues to pen a story no screenwriter could conjure.

The only thing apropos about his performance was his fondness for proving critics wrong. As early as last week, some wondered if Woods was transitioning into the ceremonial player phase of his career. Suppose thats partially true; trophies are handed out at ceremonies, after all.

Its satisfying to dig my way out of it and figure it out, figure out a way, Woods said. There are some hard times to figure it out, but Ive come back with different games over the years.

And perhaps, for years to come.

Tiger the player impresses Tiger the captain

Speaking of future, Woods' next likely appearance will be at his Hero World Challenge in December after the end of the tour's fall slate. The following week is the Presidents Cup, which Woods is captaining for the United States. Though the 43-year-old was not among the eight automatic qualifiers, he remains a consideration for one of the four spot remaining for captain's picks.

A spot he has appeared to lock up.

I think I certainly, as a player, got the captain's attention, Woods jokingly said at his post-round press conference.

Or, as Woodlandalso a captain's pick candidateframed it: "If he doesnt [pick himself], hes dumb.

Woods has made eight Presidents Cup appearances in his career, the last coming in 2013. His picks are expected to come in the first week of November.

The 2019 Presidents Cup will be played at Royal Melbourne, the site of the only International victory in Presidents Cup history (1998). The biennial event begins Dec. 12.

McCord, Kostis out at CBS

Two mainstays of CBS Sports' golf broadcast team are not returning in 2020.

The contracts of Gary McCord and Peter Kostis have not been renewed for next season by the network. Golfweek's Geoff Shackelford and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand reported the news on Saturday, and CBS confirmed the move to Golf Digest in a statement.

"Gary and Peter have been an important part of our golf coverage for three decades," said a CBS spokesperson. "They were both outstanding teammates, and we thank them for their significant contributions throughout the years. We wish them both all the best.

Kostis had been with CBS since 1992, working as an on-course reporter. He is most known for his breakdowns of player swings in slow-motion sequences. McCord, a former PGA Tour player, joined CBS in 1986. He rose to prominence thanks to a colorful personality, one that occasionally got him into trouble, most notably earning a ban from broadcasting at the Masters for saying "There are some body bags down there if that keeps going," when a ball was rolling toward a water hazard, and joking that "bikini wax" was used on Augusta National's greens.

CBS Sports' next broadcast is the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in late January. The network's contract with the PGA Tour ends in 2021, although CBS is one of multiple entities currently bidding for future media rights.

Surprise winner in Euro Tour finale

Steven Brown was using the Portugal Masters to prepare for an upcoming trip to the European Tour's Qualifying tournament. His itinerary post-Portugal has dramatically changed.

Entering the week 150th in the Race to Dubai standings, Brown played bogey-free over his last 36 holesincluding a five-under final round at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Courseto win the Euro Tour regular-season finale by one over Branden Stone and Justin Walters.

The victory means instead of fighting for his tour card in Q-school for the seventh time in eight years, Brown has earned an invite to the postseason, beginning in two weeks at the Turkish Airlines Open.

"You just never know with this game," Brown said. "It's crazy to think how well I've played the last month to how bad it was the first two-thirds of the year. I never thought this was going to happen Even today, I liked the fact that I had to go for it and I wasn't just trying to have a good result. That's probably the difference."

Also gaining entry into the playoffs (the top 115 in the Race to Dubai rankings advance) was Walters, who began the week at No. 124. Some of the bubble boys who didn't fare so well were Paul Dunne, former Ryder Cup player Jamie Donaldson and Lee Slattery. Slatterys ousting was particularly brutal, as he missed the cut by a shot seven times in 2019.

Koepka (knee) to miss more time

The worlds best will be at the first WGC of the 2019-'20 PGA Tour season this week. But the World No. 1 will not.

Brooks Koepka was not among the field commitments to the HSBC Champions on Friday. Koepka aggravated his left knee after slipping on wet concrete during the CJ Cup two weeks ago in South Korea, withdrawing from the event and returning to the United States for further testing. He dropped out of the Zozo Championship in the process yet left open the possibility of playing in the WGC-HSBC.

That Koepka is staying on the sidelines is not a surprise. Following the Tour Championship, Koepka underwent stem-cell treatment to repair a partially torn patella tendon in that same knee, a procedure he referred to as extremely painful. He missed the cut in his first tournament back at the Shriners Hospital for Children Open, and indicated in South Korea another stem-cell treatment is on the table.

Koepka is likely out for the remainder of the PGA Tours fall slate, and his involvement for Decembers Presidents Cup is in question. Tiger Woods, who will captain the United States team, said earlier last week hes been in talks with Brooks about the matter.

Were just waiting to see what the surgeons say and see what his protocols will be going forward. Thats something hell keep me abreast of going forward, Woods said. Hes getting other opinions about where his knee is and what his options are. I went through the same thing with my knee and my back. You want as many opinions as you can before you decide which road you want to go down.

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Tiger Woods wins, Gary McCord and Peter Kostis out at CBS, and Brooks Koepka (knee) to miss more time: What you missed - Golf Digest

Stem cell registry gets good response – The New Indian Express

By Express News Service

KOCHI:Though the impending examinations, the study leave and the hartal called by the merchants association played spoilsport, nearly 525 youngsters came forward to register themselves as stem cell donors on Tuesday at a camp set up by Smilemakers of Cusat and DATRI of St Teresas College. The organisers were expecting around 1,000 registrations.

Next, we will be holding a camp at Lulu Mall on November 14, said Ramiz Rehman of Smilemakers. Not only students but also teachers and people from outside the campus came in to register. However, one big impediment is the lack of awareness about the stem cell donation process, he said.According to him, there is a common notion that bone marrow aspiration needs to be done to extract stem cells. But this is not the case. The stem cells are extracted from the blood. There is no drilling of bones happens, said Ramiz. According to him, stem cell transfusion is the only treatment that can save the lives of those suffering from leukaemia and thalassemia.

The programme has been organised for the benefit of not only the three siblings diagnosed with thalassemia major hailing from Mattancherry, but for the thousands of patients who have registered with DATRI. Since the possibility of obtaining a match is one in 20 lakh, there is a need to have a lot of people registering as fast as possible, he said. Speaking after inaugurating the registry drive, Poornima Jayaram, actor, said: Everyone will come as one to register themselves if they put themselves in the shoes of the recipient.

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Stem cell registry gets good response - The New Indian Express

The Stars in Our Brains – Duke Department of Neurology

More than 10 million people worldwideabout 1 percent of people over age 60live with Parkinsons disease. There are treatments that can help control symptoms, but there is no cure.

The hallmark of the disease is the death of certain brain cellsneurons that produce dopamine. Most Parkinsons researchers have focused on studying these cells. But what if the disease starts elsewhere? What if it involves not only neurons but other cells that interact with neurons? In particular, what role is played by astrocytes, star-shaped cells that nurture and help form the connections, or synapses, between the neurons?

(This article by Angela Spivey, with photos by Alex Boerner, originally appeared in Duke Medical Alumni News. Read that story here.)

Thats the question a team of Duke researchers led by Cagla Eroglu, PhD, associate professor of cell biology and neurobiology, is exploring, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Sitting in her office, Eroglu picks up an orange plastic object that resembles a piece of coral, its tentacles branching this way and that. This is a model of a mouse astrocyte, she says. It can interact with 100,000 synapses at the same time. Astrocytes, she explains, infiltrate the brain, touching everything within their reach. They communicate with its synapses, regulating blood flow and metabolism.

Astrocytes from the Greek astron, meaning "star"have traditionally been thought of as support cells. But that thinking is changing. Since astrocytes are in such close contact and continuously communicating with synapses, we are beginning to appreciate that they are also fundamentally involved in regulating brain function, Eroglu says.

Collaborating with Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, Eroglu found that a certain gene known to be important in Parkinsons is more highly expressed in astrocytes than in neurons. And when the researchers mutated that gene in astrocytes, they saw some intriguing changes. This still-unpublished work laid the foundation for their proposal to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is bringing together experimental scientists from divergent fields to take a fresh look at the causes of neurodegenerative disorders.

There are vanishingly few papers that have delved into how astrocytes are contributing to the Parkinsons disease process, says La Spada, professor of neurology and vice chair of research for the Department of Neurology. This is an area that's been under-studied, and I think that the results that we're generating are suggesting that it deserves more attention.In addition to his long experience studying neurodegenerative diseases, La Spada brings expertise in growing astrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs). That process starts by growing skin cells from a skin biopsy from a Parkinsons patient. Then we use what's called a reprogramming protocol to basically revert them to stem cells that are pluripotent. Once you create the IPSCs, you could use them to make any cell you wanta muscle cell or a cardiac cell or a neuron or an astrocyte, La Spada says. The beauty of this is, it comes from the patient who has the disease of interest."

His labs expertise will only grow because of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has formed focus groups for grantees around various areas, such as stem cell modeling, CRISPR gene-editing technology, bioinformatic analysis of data sets, and more. We're meeting other researchers from around the world who are doing really unique things. It's a chance for us all to compare notes, and I think this will accelerate all of our endeavors, La Spada says.

Rounding out the team is Nicole Calakos, MD, PhD, a scientist and clinician who treats patients with movement disorders, including Parkinsons. Calakos says that when she first met Eroglu, she was intrigued by her idea that since astrocytes are involved in sculpting the language of neurons, perhaps they play a role in the events that can lead to disease.

Everybody has been fixated like a magnet on the idea that the problem is the neuron that's dying, Calakos says. Cagla said, Hey, let's think outside of the box of that dead cell. Lets consider whether astrocytes are like the soil around a plant, providing the nutrition, and allowing it to form roots, and maybe that is whats broken. Why aren't we even thinking about this critical piece of the brain?

Eroglu puts it this way: Maybe the problem is loss of connections between neurons, even before they die.

Calakos says that part of the reason she came to Duke was the close intermingling of physicians and bench scientists. Because of how the community is at Duke, Cagla and I had been exchanging ideas and collaborating over the years, she says. The Chan Zuckerberg grant is an opportunity to get together as a formal team. I think it's really forward-thinking of them to have teams of basic scientists and practicing physicians all talking to each other.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was launched in December 2015 by Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, and Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician and founder and CEO of The Primary School in East Palo Alto. In addition to her clinical insight, Calakos brings expertise in electrophysiologyreal-time recording and observation of electrical signals coming from brain cells. We can listen to the language of synapses, she says. They speak in electrical currents,which we can measure. Eroglu believes that by learning all they can about how astrocytes support synaptic development and health in the normal brain, they may find ways to stop neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons.

We are seeing aging as a part of development, Eroglu says. If your house is built on a strong base, then it might last longer. Whereas, if you build it in another way, it may be there for a while, but gradually start to break down.

This doesn't mean that we are destined to have neurodegeneration and we can't do anything. We may be more predisposed to get the disease, but we may not get it if we have done something else in our lives that helps strengthen our brain. I strongly believe that there will be ways to stop neurodegeneration.We will find a way to strengthen the brain connections. If we can figure out the weakest link, then we could concentrate on solving that.

Visit link:
The Stars in Our Brains - Duke Department of Neurology