Stem cell transplants may advance ALS treatment by repair of blood-spinal cord barrier – Medical Xpress

May 15, 2017 An MRI with increased signal in the posterior part of the internal capsule which can be tracked to the motor cortex consistent with the diagnosis of ALS. Credit: Frank Gaillard/Wikipedia

Researchers at the University of South Florida show in a new study that bone marrow stem cell transplants helped improve motor functions and nervous system conditions in mice with the disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) by repairing damage to the blood-spinal cord barrier.

In a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers in USF's Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair say the results of their experiment are an early step in pursuing stem cells for potential repair of the blood-spinal cord barrier, which has been identified as key in the development of ALS. USF Health Professor Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, PhD, led the project.

Previous studies in development of various therapeutic approaches for ALS typically used pre-symptomatic mice.

"This is the first study advancing barrier repair that treats symptomatic mice, which more closely mirrors conditions for human patients," Dr. Garbuzova-Davis said.

Using stem cells harvested from human bone marrow, researchers transplanted cells into mice modeling ALS and already showing disease symptoms. The transplanted stem cells differentiated and attached to vascular walls of many capillaries, beginning the process of blood-spinal cord barrier repair.

The stem cell treatment delayed the progression of the disease and led to improved motor function in the mice, as well as increased motor neuron cell survival, the study reported.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects neuronal cells in the brain and the spinal cord, which send signals to control muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of motor neuron cells leads to death from ALS. More than 6,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with the disease.

Because stem cells have the ability to develop into many different cell types in the body, researchers at USF's Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery & Brain Repair have focused on using stem cells to restore function lost through neurodegenerative disorders or injuries.

Damage to the barrier between the blood circulatory system and the central nervous system has been recently recognized as a factor in ALS development, leading researchers to work on targeting the barrier for repair as a potential strategy for ALS therapy.

In this study, the ALS mice were given intravenous treatments of one of three different doses of the bone marrow stem cells. Four weeks after treatment, the scientists determined improved motor function and enhanced motor neuron survival. The mice receiving the higher doses of stem cells fared better in the study, the researcher noted.

The transplanted stem cells had differentiated into endothelial cells - which form the inner lining of a blood vessel, providing a barrier between blood and spinal cord tissueand attached to capillaries in the spinal cord. Furthermore, the researchers observed reductions in activated glial cells, which contribute to inflammatory processes in ALS.

Explore further: Discovery offers new hope to repair spinal cord injuries

More information: Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis et al, Endothelial and Astrocytic Support by Human Bone Marrow Stem Cell Grafts into Symptomatic ALS Mice towards Blood-Spinal Cord Barrier Repair, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-00993-0

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Skin Cell Discovery Could Lead to Possible Treatments for Balding, Hair Graying – Sci-News.com

A team of scientists at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has identified the cells that directly give rise to hair as well as the mechanism that causes hair to turn gray. The research is published in the journal Genes & Development.

Layers of the skin. Image credit: M.Komorniczak / Madhero / CC BY-SA 3.0.

With this knowledge, we hope in the future to create a topical compound or to safely deliver the necessary gene to hair follicles to correct these cosmetic problems, said senior author Dr. Lu Le, an associate professor of dermatology with the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Le and colleagues found that a protein called KROX20 (also termed EGR2), more commonly associated with nerve development, turns on in skin cells that become the hair shaft.

These hair precursor cells then produce a protein called stem cell factor (SCF) that the researchers showed is essential for hair pigmentation.

When the authors deleted the SCF gene (KITLG gene) in the hair progenitor cells in mouse models, the animals hair turned white.

When they deleted the KROX20-producing cells, no hair grew and the mice became bald.

We uncovered this explanation for balding and hair graying while studying a disorder called Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on nerves, Dr. Le said.

Scientists already knew that stem cells contained in a bulge area of hair follicles are involved in making hair and that SCF is important for pigmented cells.

What they did not know in detail is what happens after those stem cells move down to the base, or bulb, of hair follicles and which cells in the hair follicles produce SCF or that cells involved in hair shaft creation make the KROX20 protein.

If cells with functioning KROX20 and SCF are present, they move up from the bulb, interact with pigment-producing melanocyte cells, and grow into pigmented hairs.

But without SCF, the hair in mouse models was gray, and then turned white with age. Without KROX20-producing cells, no hair grew.

We will now try to find out if the KROX20 in cells and the SCF gene stop working properly as people age, leading to the graying and hair thinning seen in older people as well as in male pattern baldness, Dr. Le said.

_____

Chung-Ping Liao et al. Identification of hair shaft progenitors that create a niche for hair pigmentation. Genes & Development, published online May 2, 2017; doi: 10.1101/gad.298703.117

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Researchers develop a more precise and controlled method of engineering tissues from stem cells – Phys.Org

May 15, 2017 Near-infrared light is used to precisely engineer stem cells into tissue. Credit: University of California - Santa Barbara

Nothing beats nature. The diverse and wonderful varieties of cells and tissues that comprise the human body are evidence of that.

Each one of us starts out as a mass of identical, undifferentiated cells, and thanks to a combination of signals and forces, each cell responds by choosing a developmental pathway and multiplying into the tissues that become our hearts, brains, hair, bones or blood. A major promise of studying human embryonic stem cells is to understand these processes and apply the knowledge toward tissue engineering.

Researchers in UC Santa Barbara's departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology have gotten a step closer to unlocking the secrets of tissue morphology with a method of three-dimensional culturing of embryonic stem cells using light.

"The important development with our method is that we have good spatiotemporal control over which cellor even part of a cellis being excited to differentiate along a particular gene pathway," said lead author Xiao Huang, who conducted this study as a doctoral student at UCSB and is now a postdoctoral scholar in the Desai Lab at UC San Francisco. The research, titled "Light-Patterned RNA Interference of 3D-Cultured Human Embryonic Stem Cells," appears in volume 28, issue 48 of the journal Advanced Materials.

Similar to other work in the field of optogeneticswhich largely focuses neurological disorders and activity in living organisms, leading to insights into diseases and conditions such as Parkinson's and drug addictionthis new method relies on light to control gene expression.

The researchers used a combination of hollow gold nanoshells attached to small molecules of synthetic RNA (siRNA)a molecule that plays a large role in gene regulationand thermoreversible hydrogel as 3D scaffolding for the stem cell culture, as well as invisible, near-infrared (NIR) light. NIR light, Huang explained, is ideal when creating a three-dimensional culture in the lab.

"Near-infrared light has better tissue penetration that is useful when the sample becomes thick," he explained. In addition to enhanced penetrationup to 10 cm deepthe light can be focused tightly to specific areas. Irradiation with the light released the RNA molecules from the nanoshells in the sample and initiated gene-silencing activity, which knocked down green fluorescent protein genes in the cell cluster. The experiment also showed that the irradiated cells grew at the same rate as the untreated control sample; the treated cells showed unchanged viability after irradiation.

Of course, culturing tissues consisting of related but varying cell types is a far more complex process than knocking down a single gene.

"It's a concert of orchestrated processes," said co-author and graduate student researcher Demosthenes Morales, describing the process by which human embryonic stem cells become specific tissues and organs. "Things are being turned on and turned off." Perturbing one aspect of the system, he explained, sets off a series of actions along the cells' developmental pathways, much of which is still unknown.

"One reason we're very interested in spatiotemporal control is because these cells, when they're growing and developing, don't always communicate the same way," Morales said, explaining that the resulting processes occur at different speeds, and occasionally overlap. "So being able to control that communication on which cell differentiates into which cell type will help us to be able to control tissue formation," he added.

The fine control over cell development provided by this method also allows for the three-dimensional culture of tissues and organs from embryonic stem cells for a variety of applications. Engineered tissues can be used for therapeutic purposes, including replacements for organs and tissues that have been destroyed due to injury or disease. They can be used to give insight into the body's response to toxins and therapeutic agents.

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The Israeli breakthrough that will prevent blindness in the elderly – Ynetnews

A groundbreaking experiment conducted at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem using embryonic stem cells has succeeded in preventing blindness in the elderly. The researchers used stem cells to transplant retinal pigment cells into older patients with vision impairment.

Retinal degeneration in older age is a particularly common disease in the Western world. 30 percent of adults older than 75 suffer from it, and 6 to 8 percent of them suffer from total vision loss.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

Embryonic stem cells are harvested from in vitro fertilized embryos. When the couple decides they do not want to expand the family unit anymore, frozen embryos can be used to isolate the stem cells. These cells are unique because during pregnancy they are the ones that actually form the body of the fetus, and they can serve as a source of transplantation for every cell in the human body.

Prof. Benjamin Reubinoff, director of the Hadassah Center for Embryonic Stem Cell Research and an expert in obstetrics and gynecology, founded a company called Cellcure, which focuses on developing embryonic stem cell transplantation in patients with incurable diseases in the nervous system and the eyes.

Prof. Reubinoff and Prof. Eyal Banin, director of the Center for Retinal Degeneration Diseases at Hadassah's Department of Ophthalmology, began performing transplantations in five patients. Using imaging, they found that the transplanted cells were successfully absorbed into the retina.

"This is a great achievement for us. The vision of the elderly has remained stable and has not deteriorated as it would have without the transplant," explained Prof. Reubinoff. "If the treatment is proven to be effective, we will implant the cells at an early stage of the disease, thereby preventing millions of elderly people around the world from losing their sight."

Despite the success of the trial, the researchers believe it will take more time for the treatment to be available to all patients. "We will also have to prove safety and efficacy before we make it effective for everyone," concluded Prof. Reubinoff.

(Translated and edited by N. Elias)

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Mini lung "organoids" join the fight against disease – New Atlas

Miniature lungs were grown from stem cells and infected with a respiratory virus to create a better model for studying diseases. (Credit: Columbia University)

Researchers have developed a miniature version of a lung in a dish, called an "organoid," that functions just like a real, full-size lung. These mini organs aren't designed for transplants or to support a living creature in any direct way, but rather as a research tool to study human disease and test drugs that could help regenerate damaged tissue.

A team from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) created tiny 3-D structures from human pluripotent stem cells that mimic the features and appearance of a full-sized lung.

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"Researchers have taken up the challenge of creating organoids to help us understand and treat a variety of diseases," said Columbia professor of medicine Hans-Willem Snoeck, PhD, the lead investigator of the study. "But we have been tested by our limited ability to create organoids that can replicate key features of human disease."

We've seen stem cell research provide a number of promising developments in growing heart tissue, tendons and even artificial mouse embryos.

The lung organoids created from stem cells in Dr. Snoeck's lab represent a major advance in that they are the first to include key structures similar to those in human lungs.

The researchers infected the organoids with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is a major cause of respiratory infection in infants that currently has no vaccine and cannot be treated with existing medication. The mini-lungs reacted much the same way as the real thing in humans.

In further experiments, the organoids were given a gene mutation linked to pulmonary fibrosis and they also behaved just like real lungs with the same condition. Pulmonary fibrosis causes scarring in the lungs and a lung transplant is the only known cure it causes 30,000 to 40,000 deaths annually in the United States alone.

"Organoids, created with human pluripotent or genome-edited embryonic stem cells, may be the best, and perhaps only, way to gain insight into the (causes) of these diseases," Dr. Snoeck says.

The study was published last month in Nature Cell Biology.

Source: Columbia University

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Whole tomato extract may prevent, treat stomach cancer – Medical News Today

Numerous studies have suggested that tomatoes have anti-cancer properties. A new study provides further evidence of this, after finding that whole tomato extract has the potential to treat and even prevent stomach cancer.

Researchers from the United States and Italy found that whole extracts from two varieties of tomato - San Marzano and Corbarino - blocked the growth of stomach cancer cells and dampened their malignant characteristics.

Study co-author Prof. Antonio Giordano, director of the Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, and colleagues recently reported their findings in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.

According to the American Cancer Society, there will be around 28,000 cases of stomach cancer diagnosed in the U.S. this year.

Also referred to as gastric cancer, stomach cancer is most common among older adults; around 60 percent of adults diagnosed with the disease are aged 65 or older.

Previous studies have suggested that compounds found in tomatoes - such as lycopene, a carotenoid that gives tomatoes their red color - may help to fight cancer.

However, Prof. Giordano and colleagues note that few studies have investigated the anti-cancer effects of whole tomatoes - a research gap they set out to address with their new study.

To reach their findings, the researchers tested the effects of whole extracts from San Marzano and Corbarino tomatoes on stomach cancer cell lines.

They found that each extract not only halted the growth of gastric cancer cells, but they also interfered with cell migration - whereby cancer cells begin to move away from the primary tumor to invade surrounding tissues - and led to cancer cell death.

Furthermore, the researchers found that the anti-cancer effects of the tomato extracts were not down to one particular compound.

"Their anti-tumoral effect seem not related to specific components, such as lycopene, but rather suggest that tomatoes should be considered in their entirety," says study co-author Daniela Barone, of the Oncology Research Center of Mercogliano in Italy.

According to the researchers, their findings indicate that whole tomato extracts may be useful for the prevention and treatment of stomach cancer.

"Our results prompt further assessment of the potential use of specific nutrients not only in the cancer prevention setting but also as a supportive strategy along with conventional therapies."

Prof. Antonio Giordano

The team notes that certain varieties of tomatoes may have different effects on cancer cells, something which future studies should investigate.

Learn how the consumption of alcohol and processed meat may raise the risk of stomach cancer.

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Dr. Stephan Grupp to Lead Cellular Therapy & Transplant Section in CHOP Cancer Program – PR Newswire (press release)

Grupp has been an attending physician and oncology researcher at CHOP since 1996, after earning his MD and a PhD in Immunology from the University of Cincinnati. He completed his clinical training in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology at Boston Children's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School, performing postdoctoral research in immunology at Harvard. He joined the University of Pennsylvania medical faculty in 1996, and is now a Professor of Pediatrics in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine.

Since arriving at CHOP two decades ago, Grupp has led a basic science lab studying cell therapy, signal transduction and novel therapies in ALL and other pediatric cancers.Reflecting the translational focus of his work, he also developed and led clinical trials that established tandem stem cell transplantation (two separate transplant procedures) as a standard of care for children with high-risk neuroblastoma. He helped to develop and lead clinical trials that resulted in FDA approval of a new treatment for veno-occlusive disease, a deadly complication of stem cell transplantation. In addition, he led the pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship training program at CHOP for almost a decade. Eight current CHOP faculty trained in his lab.

His outstanding contribution to oncology is in the clinical development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for relapsed and refractory ALL in children and young adults. Collaborating with Dr. Carl June's team at the University of Pennsylvania, Grupp's lab did many of the preclinical in vivo studies, and then developed the first pediatric trial and treated the first pediatric patient at CHOP with CAR T cell therapy in 2012.

Responding to a life-threatening complication of T cell therapy, called cytokine release syndrome, he and his team pioneered a successful treatment for this complication, and thereby revolutionized T cell immunotherapy. Grupp and his colleagues at CHOP have since treated over 150 children with CAR T cell therapy, and he recently led the first multicenter global study of an engineered CAR T cell product that is expected to lead to FDA approval later this year.

About Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide.Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 546-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu

Contact: Amy Burkholder The Cancer Center, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Phone: (267) 426-6083 BurkholdAS@email.chop.edu

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R3 Stem Cell Now Offering Effective Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis in South Jordan Utah – Benzinga

R3 Stem Cell is now offering effective stem cell therapy in South Jordan Utah with South Valley OrthoMed and Dr. John Sonnenberg. The regenerative medicine therapies work exceptionally well for arthritis, tendonitis, ligament injuries and sports injuries.

South Jordan, Utah (PRWEB) May 15, 2017

R3 Stem Cell is now offering effective stem cell therapy in South Jordan Utah with South Valley OrthoMed and Dr. John Sonnenberg. The regenerative medicine therapies work exceptionally well for arthritis, tendonitis, ligament injuries and sports injuries. Call (844) GET-STEM for more information and scheduling at this R3 Stem Cell Center of Excellence.

Stem cell treatments are now mainstream, and patients nationwide have been able to avoid the need for potentially risky surgeries. Dr. Sonnenberg is a Board Certified orthopedic surgeon, with over thirty years experience helping patients achieve relief.

Several types of treatment are offered, including bone marrow, adipose and amniotic stem cell therapy. While all of them are effective, Dr. Sonnenberg is able to customize the best option for each particular patient. This may include a combination of the treatments for optimal relief.

All of the regenerative procedures are outpatient, with minimal downtime. Athletes are able to recover from injuries quickly, such as from a knee ligament tear or rotator cuff injury. In addition, the procedures have been amazing for joint arthritis. Most patients are able to get back to desired activities such as tennis, golfing, cycling and more.

For the top stem cell therapy in Utah, call R3 Stem Cell today at (844) GET-STEM.

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Stem Cells in Plants and Animals Behave Surprisingly Similarly – Bioscience Technology

A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that the behaviour of stem cells in plants and animals is surprisingly similar. The researchers were able to produce mathematical equations that reveal very small differences in the behaviour of the proteins. The results can hopefully be used in stem cell research involving humans.

"The plant and animal kingdoms were separated through evolution more than 1.6 billion years ago. It is surprising that the interactions between the handful of key genes that control the fate of each stem cell are so similar in both cases," said Carsten Peterson, professor at the Faculty of Science at Lund University.

Peterson is one of the researchers behind the recent study on differences and similarities between animal and plant stem cells. With a background in theoretical physics, he and his colleagues have tackled the stem cells from a different perspective, which proved successful.

By formulating mathematical equations, the researchers have performed a detailed study of the proteins that are central to the stem cells in mammals and plants. The proteins are linked to the genes that control the stem cells. In particular, the researchers have studied how these proteins mutually affect one another through interaction as the cells evolve.

"Although the proteins in mammalian and plant stem cells are very different when studied separately, there are major similarities in the ways in which they interact, that is, how they strengthen or weaken each other," said Peterson.

Stem cells are a hot topic in medical contexts, especially when it comes to cancer and autoimmune diseases. A stem cell is capable of evolving into several different types of cells and is thus a sort of mother cell to all of the body's specialized cell types. In animals, these specialized cells can never return to a stem cell state on their own. In plants, however, they can.

"Specialized cells of plants can return to being stem cells without external manipulation. In the plant world, there is a natural reprogramming process," said Peterson.

The mathematical equations show that very small differences are sufficient to explain why plant cells are so flexible while cells of mammals require artificial reprogramming to return to a stem cell state.

"When cells are influenced externally - artificially for animals or naturally for plants - the minor differences in interaction play a greater role, and the differences appear to be of greater significance," said Peterson.

He believes that a lot of work remains with regard to the efficiency of reprogramming of animal cells and therefore hopes that insights from the plant world can contribute. The current study provides clues about why it is so much easier to make a cell go back to being a stem cell in plants compared to mammals.

Reprogramming is a frequently used word in stem cell contexts today, ever since the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 2012. One of the prize winners, Shinya Yamanaka, had demonstrated how to externally manipulate cells to return to an embryonic stem cell state by increasing the concentration of certain proteins. Turning back the clock this way has enormous potential in clinical contexts. For example, on an individual basis, skin cells can be reprogrammed into embryonic stem cells, and be made into desired cell types by manipulating certain proteins. This process is known as regenerative medicine.

The study was recently published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.

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Stem Cells in Plants and Animals Behave Surprisingly Similarly - Bioscience Technology

Skin regeneration, universal donor stem cells and new SMA treatment approach – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Injured skin repairs itself with the help of stem cells, but how this process works isnt well understood. A new study proposes that differentiated skin cells turn back into stem cells to heal the wound.

The process is regulated by a protein called Gata6 made by sebaceous duct cells. In response to injury, these cells migrate out into the skin and de-differentiate into stem cells, which then give rise to replacement skin, according to researchers led by Fiona Watt of Kings College London.

The study was published in Nature Cell Biology. When placed online, the study, Wounding induces dedifferentiation of epidermal Gata6 cells and acquisition of stem cell properties, can be found at j.mp/skincells. Watt was senior author. Giacomo Donati, also of Kings College London, was senior author.

Our data not only demonstrate that the structural and functional complexity of the junctional zone is regulated by Gata6, but also reveal that dedifferentiation is a previously unrecognized property of post-mitotic, terminally differentiated cells that have lost contact with the basement membrane, the study stated.

This resolves the long-standing debate about the contribution of terminally differentiated cells to epidermal wound repair.

One of the most-anticipated results of stem cell research would be generation of replacement tissues for those lost by disease or injury. But the potential for immune rejection limits this potential. While immune-matching can be achieved through patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, this process takes time and is costly.

Immune-tolerant allogenic stem cells have been produced in a study reported Monday in Nature Biotechnology. These cells were produced by making them express minimally variant human leukocyte antigen class E molecules. Production of these molecules causes a self response that inhibits attack by NK natural killer cells.

When published, the study, HLA-E-expressing pluripotent stem cells escape allogeneic responses and lysis by NK cells, can be found online at j.mp/allogenic. David W Russell was senior author and Germn Gornalusse was first author. Both are of University of Washington, Seattle.

A study conducted in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy suggests that symptoms might be reduced by increasing the activity of synapses between sensory and motor neurons. It suggests there may be more than one path to improving or preserving muscle function in SMA patients.

SMA is caused by the deterioration and eventual death of spinal motor neurons. The only treatment shown to affect the underlying course of the disease, Spinraza, was researched by Ionis Pharmaceuticals in Carlsbad and brought to market in a partnership with Biogen.

The study was published Monday in Nature Neuroscience. George Z Mentis was the senior author and Emily V Fletcher was first author. Both are of Columbia University in New York. When placed online, the study, Reduced sensory synaptic excitation impairs motor neuron function via Kv2.1 in spinal muscular atrophy, can be found at j.mp/smanew.

Researchers treated the mice with kainate, which restored near-normal synaptic functioning and improved motor functioning. While the chemical induces seizures, the mice were given doses lower than the seizure threshold.

Because of kainates seizure-inducing potential, the researchers are looking for safer chemicals to stimulate the synaptic connections.

bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

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Skin regeneration, universal donor stem cells and new SMA treatment approach - The San Diego Union-Tribune