Stem Cell Clinic

Stem cell therapy may help knees – News – Citizens’ Voice – Citizens Voice

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Q: I read that you can use your own stem cells to rejuvenate worn-out knees. Does this really work?

A: Worn out is a good way to term what happens to the knee joint with prolonged use. Lets look at how this happens, starting with cartilage.

The lower portion of the knee joint (at the tibia) contains shock absorbers called menisci made of cartilage. You have one on the inner portion and another on the outer portion of each knee. The upper portion of the knee joint (at the femur) is lined with cartilage as well. All of this cartilage helps protect the bones at the joint but it doesnt heal or regenerate well due to limited blood supply. When severe, worn cartilage leads to arthritis of the knee. In knee X-rays of people over age 60, 37 percent have shown evidence of arthritis of the knees.

The intriguing thing about stem cells is that they have the ability to become any type of cell that the body needs. The cells used for stem cell injections in the knees are called mesenchymal stem cells, and they can differentiate into bone, fat or cartilage cells. These stem cells can come from the fat cells of your body, from your bone marrow or from the inner lining of your knee joint; theyre then replicated in the laboratory and injected into the knee joint.

Heres what the research shows so far.

In a 2013 study, 32 patients with meniscal tears of the knee were injected with a combination of stem cells, platelet-rich plasma and hyaluronic acid. The study reported improved symptoms and even MRI evidence of meniscal cartilage regeneration.

In a 2014 study, 55 patients who had surgery for meniscal tears of the knees were separated into three groups, with two of the groups receiving stem cell injections. Researchers found that, after six weeks, pain had decreased substantially in the two groups that received stem cell injections and that the decrease was even greater at one and two years after the injection.

In a 2017 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers analyzed six studies that used stem cells for osteoarthritis of the knees. In five of the studies, stem cells were given after surgery to the knee; in the other study, stem cells from a donor were administered without surgery. All the studies showed reduced pain and improved knee function. Further, in three of the four trials, MRIs corroborated the cartilage improvements.

There may be benefit to stem cell injections for cartilage loss of the knees, but more data are needed. Id also like to see more data on this type of therapy as a preventive measure for younger patients before their knees are worn out.

ASK THE DOCTORS is written by Robert Ashley, M.D., Eve Glazier, M.D., and Elizabeth Ko, M.D. Send questions to askthedoctors@

mednet.ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o Media Relations, UCLA Health, 924 Westwood Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA, 90095.

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CAR T-Cell Therapy Shown to Eliminate Tumors in Some Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients During Trial – Lymphoma News Today

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CAR T-cell immunotherapy was seen to eradicate or shrink tumors in 70% of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who had exhausted other treatment options, according to a clinical trial report.

Among those who had no sign of cancer left in the bone marrow four weeks after treatment, all had survived with no signs of cancer after six months.

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center also suggested, based on the studies, that analyzing bone marrow using a new genetic technique is a better method than the more commonly used cell counts when attempting to determine a prognosis for the disease.

The report,Durable Molecular Remissions in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Treated With CD19-Specific Chimeric Antigen ReceptorModified T Cells After Failure of Ibrutinib,described the outcomes of 24 CLL patients whose cancer had progressed after treatment with Imbruvica (ibrutinib), which was approved for the treatment of CLL in 2014. The research was published in theJournal of Clinical Oncology.

It was not known whether CAR T-cells could be used to treat these high-risk CLL patients, Cameron Turtle, an immunotherapy researcher at Fred Hutch and lead author of the study, said in apress release. Our study shows that CD19 CAR T-cells are a highly promising treatment for CLL patients who have failed ibrutinib.

CD19 is a molecule found on the surface of leukemia cells. T-cells, gathered from a patient, are engineered to specifically recognize this factor. When that happens, the body launches an aggressive immune response toward these cancer cells.

The Phase 1/2 study (NCT01865617) which is still recruiting participants included patients who had failed a median of five previous treatment rounds. The participants ages ranged from 40 to 73.

Before injecting the engineered T-cells into patients, their white blood cells were destroyed by chemotherapy.

One patient had a severe toxic response to the treatment and was not assessed for the therapys effects. Among the remaining patients, 16 of 23 70% had a response four weeks after treatment.

Not all patients had chemotherapy before CAR T-cell treatment, but among the 19 who did, four had a complete response, and 10 had a partial response.

Two additional patients responded after a second round of chemotherapy and CAR T-cell treatment.

Analyzing bone marrow using a method that can sort cancerous cells from normal cells indicated that 88% were free of disease after treatment. But repeating the analysis in 12 of these patients using a method called IGH deep sequencing showed that only 58% of them had no disease present in the bone marrow.

Those in which the genetic analysis found no traces of cancer all survived with no further traces of disease for a median of 6.6 months after treatment.

For more information about the trial, which also includes patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkins lymphoma or acute lymphoblastic leukemia, see the trial registration page at thislink. The trial treats patients at theSeattle Cancer Care Allianceclinic.

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CAR T-Cell Therapy Shown to Eliminate Tumors in Some Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients During Trial - Lymphoma News Today

Cardiac stem cells rejuvenate rats’ aging hearts, study says – CNN – CNN

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The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats' fur fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion.

"It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing "the systemic rejuvenating effects," he said, "it's kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth."

"We've been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now," Marbn said.

Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells.

"They're progenitor cells from the heart itself," Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely.

Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that suffered from a type of heart problem "that's very typical of what we find in older human beings: The heart's stiff, and it doesn't relax right, and it causes fluid to back up some," Marbn explained.

He and his team injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn rats into the hearts of 22-month-old rats -- that's elderly for a rat. Similar old rats received a placebo injection of saline solution. Then, Marbn and his team compared both groups to young rats that were 4 months old. After a month, they compared the rats again.

Even though the cells were injected into the heart, their effects were noticeable throughout the body, Marbn said

"The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because I'm kind of losing my hair) the animals ... regrew their fur a lot better after they'd gotten cells" compared with the placebo rats, Marbn said.

The rats that received cardiosphere-derived cells also experienced improved heart function and showed longer heart cell telomeres.

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that "contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue," Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Looking to the future, Marbn said he's begun to explore delivering the cardiac stem cells intravenously in a simple infusion -- instead of injecting them directly into the heart, which would be a complex procedure for a human patient -- and seeing whether the same beneficial effects occur.

Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the new study is "very comprehensive."

"Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems," said Gerstenblith, who did not contribute to the new research. "The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly."

Todd Herron, director of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center's Cardiovascular Regeneration Core Laboratory, said Marbn, with his previous work with cardiac stem cells, has "led the field in this area."

"The novelty of this bit of work is, they started to look at more precise molecular mechanisms to explain the phenomenon they've seen in the past," said Herron, who played no role in the new research.

One strength of the approach here is that the researchers have taken cells "from the organ that they want to rejuvenate, so that makes it likely that the cells stay there in that tissue," Herron said.

He believes that more extensive study, beginning with larger animals and including long-term followup, is needed before this technique could be used in humans.

"We need to make sure there's no harm being done," Herron said, adding that extending the lifetime and improving quality of life amounts to "a tradeoff between the potential risk and the potential good that can be done."

Capicor hasn't announced any plans to do studies in aging, but the possibility exists.

After all, the cells have been proven "completely safe" in "over 100 human patients," so it would be possible to fast-track them into the clinic, Marbn explained: "I can't tell you that there are any plans to do that, but it could easily be done from a safety viewpoint."

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2m collaboration to focus on gene and cell therapy – Drug Target Review

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news

A leading gene and cell therapy group has announced a collaboration focusing on gene and cell therapy manufacturing..

A leading gene and cell therapy group, has announced it has agreed to enter into a collaboration agreement with a consortium of partners, the agreement is a two-year 2 million collaboration project focused on gene and cell therapy manufacturing, co-funded by the UKs innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Cell and gene therapies offer unprecedented promise for the cure, treatment or long-term management of disease and we are delighted that this consortium has been awarded funding from Innovate UK that will help to keep Oxford BioMedica (OXB), our partners and the UK, at the forefront of innovation in industrial viral vector manufacturing., said John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioMedica.

The aim of the collaboration is to explore and apply novel advanced technologies to further evolve OXBs proprietary suspension LentiVector platform to deliver even higher quality vectors for both clinical and commercial use. The project aims to deliver tangible benefits to patients by shortening the time-to-clinic and time-to-market as well as to improve the cost and access of bringing novel gene and cell therapies to patients.

Each partner in the collaboration holds proprietary technology and know-how that can be used to develop an innovative approach to viral vector manufacturing.

Collaborating on developing improved process analytic technologies with our partners will help drive productivity in viral vector manufacturing, accelerating the development of these transformative advanced therapies. We have the opportunity to both transform patients lives and grow an industry in the UK that we can be proud of,said Keith Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult.

The aims of this pioneering project are closely aligned with the current government national priorities to make the UK a global hub for manufacturing advanced therapies, which will benefit economic growth and create and retain more highly skilled employment.

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2m collaboration to focus on gene and cell therapy - Drug Target Review

How Do We Get Pluripotent Stem Cells? | Boston Children’s …

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Pluripotent stem cells can be created in several ways, depending on the type.

Genetic reprogramming (induced pluripotent cells): Several labs, including that of George Q. Daley, MD, PhD, Director of Stem Cell Transplantation Program, have shown that it requires only a handful of genes to reprogram an ordinary cell from the body, such as a skin cell, into whats known as an induced pluripotent cell (iPS cell). Currently, these genes (Oct4, Sox2, Myc, and Klf4) are most commonly brought into the cell using viruses, but there are newer methods that do not use viruses.

Although skin cells are probably the number-one source of iPS cells currently, lines are also being created from blood cells and mesenchymal stem cells (a type of multipotent adult stem cell that gives rise to a variety of connective tissues). Laboratories in the Stem Cell Program at Childrens Hospital Boston are exploring whether iPS lines made from different kinds of patient cells are easier to work with, or can more readily form the particular kind of cell a patient might need for treatment.

Childrens researchers are also continuing to experiment with more efficient programming techniques, so they can get a higher yield of true pluripotent stem cells.

IVF donations of unused/discarded embryos (ES cells): Another major source of pluripotent stem cells for research purposes is unused embryo donated by couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Some of these may be poor-quality embryos that would otherwise be discarded. The resulting cells are considered to be true embryonic stem cells (ES cells).

The donated embryos are placed in a media preparation in special dishes and allowed to develop for a few days. At about the fifth day the embryo reaches the blastocyst stage and forms a ball of 100-200 cells. At this stage, ES cells are derived from the blastocysts inner cell mass. In some cases, the ES cells can be isolated even before the blastocyst stage.

To date, Childrens has created more than a dozen new ES cell lines using this approach, which we are now making available to other scientists. These ES cells are not genetically matched to a particular patient, but instead are used to advance our knowledge of how stem cells behave and differentiate.

Some people question the ethics of using discarded IVF embryos for research. For more discussion, see Policy and Ethics.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer: The process called nuclear transfer involves combining a donated human egg with a cell from the body (typically a skin cell) to create a type of embryonic stem cell, sometimes called an ntES cell. Nuclear transfer requires an egg donor.

First, an incredibly thin microscopic needle is used to remove the eggs nucleus, which contains all the eggs genetic material, and replace it with the nucleus from the body cell. The process of transferring the nucleus into the egg reprograms it, reactivating the full set of genes for making all the tissues of the body. How this happens isnt well understood yet, and researchers in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Childrens Hospital are trying to understand it better.

Next, the resulting reprogrammed cell is encouraged to develop and divide in the lab, and by about day five, it forms a blastocyst, a ball of 100-200 cells. The inner cells of the blastocyst are then isolated to create ntES cells.

Of all the techniques for making pluripotent cells, nuclear transfer is the most technically demanding and therefore the least efficient. To date, it has only been successful in lower animals, not in humans. But because the stem cells created would be an exact genetic match to the patient, nuclear transfer may eliminate the tissue matching and tissue rejection problems that are currently a serious obstacle to successful tissue transplantation. For this reason, nuclear transfer is an important area of research at Childrens.

Because ntES cells created from human patients would match them genetically, nuclear transfer is sometimes called therapeutic cloningnot to be confused with the concept of reproductive cloning.

Parthenogenesis (unfertilized eggs): Using a series of chemical treatments, its possible to trick an egg into developing into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm. This process, called parthenogenesis, sometimes happens in nature, allowing many plants and some animals to reproduce without the contribution of a male.

By inducing parthenogenesis artificially, researchers have been able to create parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells, or pES cells, in mice. The embryos created, known as parthenotes, are grown for about five days until they reach the blastocyst stage. Development is then stopped and pES cells were derived from the blastocysts inner core of cells.

Parthenogenesis hasnt been accomplished in human eggs yet, at least not by choice (a Korean team is thought to have created human pES cells accidentally in 2007). But researchers at Childrens are trying to do so, since pES cells, if carefully typed genetically, could potentially be used to create master banks of pluripotent stem cells. Doctors could then choose a cell line thats genetically compatible with the patients immune system. (For details, see How do pluripotent stem cells get turned into treatments?).

Of more immediate concern is the possibility that parthenogenesis could be used to make pES cells for the egg donor herself or a sibling. However, before using these cells in patients, researchers need to know more about the safety of this approach.

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Global Markets Report 2017-2021

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

DUBLIN, July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Global Markets" report to their offering.

The Global Market for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) should reach $3.6 Billion in 2021, Increasing at a CAGR of 11.6% from 2016 through 2021

This study is focused on the market side of iPSCs rather than its technical side. Different market segments for this emerging market are covered.

For example, application-based market segments include academic research, drug development and toxicity testing, and regenerative medicine; product function-based market segments include molecular and cellular engineering, cellular reprogramming, cell culture, cell differentiation and cell analysis; iPSC-derived cell-type-based market segments include cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes, neurons, endothelia cells and other cell types; geography-based market segments include the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. Research and market trends are also analyzed by studying the funding, patent publications and research publications in the field.

Key Topics Covered:

1: Introduction

2: Summary and Highlights

3: Overview

4: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Applications

5: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Market Segmentation and Forecast

6: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research Application Market

7: Drug Discovery and Development Market

8: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Contract Service Market

9: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Clinical Application Market

10: Research Market Trend Analysis

11: Clinical Application Market Trend Analysis

12: Company Profiles

13: Conclusions

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3ns6k3/induced

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Global Markets Report 2017-2021

Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market: HTF Market

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Table of Contents

Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022

1 Industry Overview of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

1.1 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Overview

1.1.1 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Product Scope

1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook

1.2 Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size and Analysis by Regions

1.2.1 United States

1.2.2 EU

1.2.3 Japan

1.2.4 China

1.2.5 India

1.2.6 Southeast Asia

1.3 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market by Type

1.3.1 Hepatocytes

1.3.2 Fibroblasts

1.3.3 Keratinocytes

1.3.4 Amniotic Cells

1.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market by End Users/Application

1.4.1 Academic Research

1.4.2 Toxicity Screening

1.4.3 Regenerative Medicine

1.4.4 Drug Development and Discovery

2 Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Competition Analysis by Players

2.1 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)

2.2 Competitive Status and Trend

2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate

2.2.2 Product/Service Differences

2.2.3 New Entrants

2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future

3 Company (Top Players) Profiles

3.1 Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

3.1.1 Company Profile

3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.1.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.1.5 Recent Developments

3.2 Fujifilm Holding Corporation

3.2.1 Company Profile

3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.2.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.2.5 Recent Developments

3.3 Astellas Pharma Inc.

3.3.1 Company Profile

3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.3.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.3.5 Recent Developments

3.4 Fate Therapeutics, Inc.

3.4.1 Company Profile

3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.4.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.4.5 Recent Developments

3.5 Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.

3.5.1 Company Profile

3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.5.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.5.5 Recent Developments

3.6 ViaCyte, Inc.

3.6.1 Company Profile

3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.6.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.6.5 Recent Developments

3.7 Celgene Corporation

3.7.1 Company Profile

3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.7.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.7.5 Recent Developments

3.8 Japan Tissue Engineering Co., Ltd.

3.8.1 Company Profile

3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.8.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.8.5 Recent Developments

3.9 Organogenesis Inc.

3.9.1 Company Profile

3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.9.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.9.5 Recent Developments

3.10 Acelity Holdings, Inc.

3.10.1 Company Profile

3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview

3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions

3.10.4 Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)

3.10.5 Recent Developments

3.11 StemCells, Inc.

4 Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)

4.1 Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size by Type (2012-2017)

4.2 Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size by Application (2012-2017)

4.3 Potential Application of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Future

4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

5 United States Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Development Status and Outlook

5.1 United States Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size (2012-2017)

5.2 United States Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)

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Global Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Market: HTF Market

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Global Effort to …

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Since the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology more than a decade ago, it has become an important part of the life sciences industry. In the past five years, the global market for iPSCs has grown rapidly. This pace is projected to continue over the next several years to reach $3.6 billion, according to a new forecast by BCC Research. By 2021, the major contributor will be the drug development and toxicity testing segment, which will account for approximately 61% of the total market. This will be followed by the academic research (24%) and regenerative medicine (15%) sectors.

GLOBAL MARKET SHARES FOR INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL PRODUCTS BY APPLICATION, 2021

Drug development and toxicity testing are currently the major source of revenue. However, the market for regenerative medicine is the fastest growing. The segment of iPSC applications in translational medicine research is also expanding quickly. iPSC technology has improved the drug discovery process and, in particular, has been instrumental in promoting precision medicine and the development of personalized drugs and diagnostic tests. The iPSC technology platform is being exploited for research applications in order to supply products and services to the academic, public research, and life science industry sectors.

HOW IT WORKS

In 2006, researchers at Kyoto University in Japan identified conditions that would allow specialized adult cells to be genetically reprogrammed to assume a stem celllike state. These adult cells, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), were reprogrammed to an embryonic stem celllike state by introducing genes important for maintaining the essential properties of embryonic stem cells. Researchers have rapidly improved the techniques to generate iPSCs, creating a powerful new way to de-differentiate cells for which developmental fates had been previously assumed to be determined. NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page

The clinical market for iPSCs is still nascent. BCC Research predicts a hefty 11.6% five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for this market as it comes of age, with developments such as the establishment of the start-up BlueRock Therapeutics by Bayer AG and Versant Ventures in December 2016. In 2014, the first human iPSC clinical trial began, which yielded encouraging results published earlier this year about the first patient with macular degeneration to be treated with sheets of retinal pigmented epithelial cells made from iPSCs [The New England Journal of Medicine, 3/16]. The iPSC clinical research and services market is expected to maintain its rapid growth over the next few years.

In its recent report, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Global Markets, BCC Research made several key observations. The pharmaceutical industry needs better cell sources, such as iPSC-derived functional cells, for drug toxicity testing and screening. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been authorized to provide orphan drug designations for many of the therapies being developed for rare diseases, such as Parkinsons and Huntingtons, using stem cells. Also, iPSC technology is developing into a platform for precision medicine, which is experiencing rapid growth globally.

In Australia, scientists created brain-like tissue in the lab using a 3D printer and special bio-ink made from iPSCs. After the bio-ink was printed into a 3D scaffold, the stem cells turned into nerve cells found in the brain. The research moves toward being able to make replacement brain tissue derived from a patients own skin or blood cells to help treat conditions such as brain injury, Parkinsons disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Jeremy Crook, from the University of Wollongong and ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, said the ability to customize brain tissue from a persons own body tissue circumvents issues of immune rejection, which is common in organ transplantation. It's personalized medicine.

The research team, whose work was published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, used 3D printing to make neurons involved in producing GABA and serotonin, as well as support cells called neuroglia. In the future, they plan to print neurons that produce dopamine, deficiencies of which are linked to Parkinsons disease. We might want to make a tissue that specifically generates that neurotransmitter for grafting into the brain of a Parkinsons patient, said Dr. Crook. [ABC Science, 7/26]

Rapid growth in medical tourism and contract research outsourcing are among factors driving the stem cell market in the Asia-Pacific region. BCC Research forecasts this to be the fastest-growing geographic segment, with a five-year CAGR of 13.7%. Corporate Japan has lagged its Western rivals in stem cell commercialization efforts. Now, Japanese companies are joining the search for ways to commercialize iPSCs, spurred in part by recent legislation designed to fast track such forms of regenerative medicine.

Daiichi Sankyo announced that it will seek to commercialize sheets of heart muscle tissue derived from iPSCs as a treatment for heart disease. The company is investing an undisclosed amount in the Osaka University spin-off Cuorips, which developed the sheets of myocardial cells. The idea is to grow the sheets and graft them onto the heart to help it beat properly. This would give patients with severe heart failure an alternative to a transplant or an artificial heart. Daiichi Sankyo will conduct clinical trials in cooperation with doctors at Osaka University and work to develop a way to mass produce the sheets of myocardial tissue.

The same day, Megakaryon announced that it has developed a way to mass produce blood platelets derived from iPSCs. It has been working on this project in collaboration with 15 companies, including Otsuka Holdings and Sysmex, as a way to address the shortage of blood for transfusions. The goal is to gain regulatory approval in 2020. [Nikkei Asian Review, August 8]

The first iPSC clinical products will most likely enter the market in the next few years, says BCC Research analyst Mike Fan. Regarding therapeutic solutions for diseases without ethical issues, a series of technical breakthroughs have been made in recent years for improving cellular reprogramming, differentiation, and large-scale production of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)grade iPSCs and their derivatives for clinical use.

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induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell) | biology …

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Alternative Title: iPS cell

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS cell), immature cell that is generated from an adult (mature) cell and that has regained the capacity to differentiate into any type of cell in the body. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) differ from embryonic stem cells (ES cells), which form the inner cell mass of an embryo but also are pluripotent, eventually giving rise to all the cell types that make up the body. Induced pluripotent cells were first described in 2006 by Japanese physician and researcher Shinya Yamanaka and colleagues. The first experiments were performed by using mouse cells. The following year, however, Yamanaka successfully derived iPS cells from human adult fibroblast cells. Until that time, human stem cells could be obtained only by isolating them from early human embryos. Hence, an important feature of iPS cells is that their generation does not require an embryo, the use of which is fraught with ethical issues.

The generation of iPS cells from somatic cells (fully differentiated adult cells, excluding germ cells) was based on the idea that any cell in the body can be reprogrammed to a more primitive (stemlike) state. Among the first to discover that possibility was British developmental biologist John B. Gurdon, who in the late 1950s had shown in frogs that egg cells are able to reprogram differentiated cell nuclei. Gurdon used a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), in which the nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred into the cytoplasm of an enucleated egg (an egg that has had its nucleus removed). In 1996 British developmental biologist Ian Wilmut and colleagues used SCNT to create Dolly the sheep, the first clone of an adult mammal. The experiments with SCNT were crucial to the eventual production of iPS cells. Indeed, by the time of Dollys creation, it was widely accepted that factors in the egg cytoplasm were responsible for reprogramming differentiated cell nuclei. The factors controlling the process were unknown, however, until Yamanaka published his first report describing iPS cell generation. (Yamanaka and Gurdon shared the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries.)

Several proteins have been identified that are capable of inducing or enhancing pluripotency in nonpluripotent (i.e., adult) cells. Of key importance are the transcription factors Oct-4 (octamer 4) and Sox-2 (sex-determining region Y box 2), which maintain stem cells in a primitive state. Other proteins that may be used to enhance pluripotency include Klf-4 (Kruppel-like factor 4), Nanog, and Glis1 (Glis family zinc finger 1).

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stem cell: Induced pluripotent stem cells

Due to the ethical and moral issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells, scientists have searched for ways to reprogram adult somatic cells. Studies of cell fusion, in which differentiated adult somatic cells grown in culture with embryonic stem cells fuse with the stem cells and acquire embryonic stem-cell-like properties, led to the idea that specific genes could reprogram...

Pluripotency factors can be introduced into nonpluripotent cells in different ways, such as by plasmids or delivery as proteins or modified RNAs. Among the most effective and widely used methods, however, is delivery via a retroviral vector. Retroviral vectors can readily enter cells, making the genes they carry accessible to the cell; other retroviral activities are silenced. However, because retroviruses integrate into the nuclear genome, their use raises the risk of virus-induced tumour formation. Nonetheless, retroviral delivery remains highly effective, and technical advances to prevent the integration of retroviral material into the nuclear genome have allowed for the generation of iPS cells via ectopic expression (in the cytoplasm) of retrovirus-delivered transcription factors. Ectopic expression also has been achieved with the use of recombinant adeno-associated virus.

Since the initial development of iPS cells, researchers have been working to improve the techniques and to learn what drives pluripotent stem cells to differentiate in particular ways. They also have been investigating the use of iPS cells in the treatment of certain diseases. Of significance is the potential to create patient-specific iPS cells (using a patients own adult cells), which could allow for the generation of perfectly matched cells and tissues for transplantation therapies. Such therapies could help overcome the risk of immune rejection, which is a major challenge in regenerative medicine.

an undifferentiated cell that can divide to produce some offspring cells that continue as stem cells and some cells that are destined to differentiate (become specialized). Stem cells are an ongoing source of the differentiated cells that make up the tissues and organs of animals and plants. There...

...in animals. This is primarily because of the technical challenges and ethical controversy arising from the procuring of human eggs solely for research purposes. In addition, the development of induced pluripotent stem cells, which are derived from somatic cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic state through the introduction of specific genetic factors into the cell nuclei, has...

...into pluripotent stem cells. Examples of these factors include Oct-4 (octamer 4), Sox-2 (sex-determining region Y box 2), Klf-4 (Kruppel-like factor 4), and Nanog. Reprogrammed adult cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, are potential autogeneic sources for cell transplantation and bioartificial tissue construction. Such cells have since been created from the skin cells of...

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MESO-BRAIN initiative receives 3.3million to replicate brain’s neural networks through 3D nanoprinting – Cordis News

By Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The MESO-BRAIN consortium has received a prestigious award of 3.3million in funding from the European Commission as part of its Future and Emerging Technology (FET) scheme. The project aims to develop three-dimensional (3D) human neural networks with specific biological architecture, and the inherent ability to interrogate the networks brain-like activity both electrophysiologically and optically.

The MESO-BRAIN projects cornerstone will use human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that have been differentiated into neurons upon a defined and reproducible 3D scaffold to support the development of human neural networks that emulate brain activity. The structure will be based on a brain cortical module and will be unique in that it will be designed and produced using nanoscale 3D-laser-printed structures incorporating nano-electrodes to enable downstream electrophysiological analysis of neural network function. Optical analysis will be conducted using cutting-edge light sheet-based, fast volumetric imaging technology to enable cellular resolution throughout the 3D network. The MESO-BRAIN project will allow for a comprehensive and detailed investigation of neural network development in health and disease.

The MESO-BRAIN project will launch in September 2016 and research will be conducted over three years.

The MESO-BRAIN initiative targets a transformative progress in photonics, neuroscience and medicine. The project aims to develop human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural networks upon a defined and reproducible 3D scaffold to emulate brain activity and improve our understanding and treatment of conditions such as Parkinsons disease, dementia and trauma. This research, led by Aston University, is a collaboration between Axol Bioscience Ltd. (UK), Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany), University of Barcelona (Spain), Institute of Photonic Sciences (Spain) and KITE Innovation (UK). The project is funded by the European Commission through its Future and Emerging Technology (Open) programme.

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MESO-BRAIN initiative receives 3.3million to replicate brain's neural networks through 3D nanoprinting - Cordis News

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