Stem Cell Clinic

Canadian Stem Cell Experts Gather For Till-McCulloch 2014

By Stem Cell Clinic

The Till & McCulloch 2014 Stem Cell conference gets underway today in Ottawa.

Every year the conference, sponsored by the Stem Cell Network and the Center for the Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, honors a leading Canadian researcher.

This years winner,Dr. Michael Rudnicki, is Senior Scientist and Director of the Sprott Centre for Stem Cell Research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Rudnickis lab focuses on the role that stem cells play in skeletal muscle regeneration and repair after injury.

To be chosen by your peers to receive the Till & McCulloch Award is a great honour, made finer by the fact that it will take place in my home city of Ottawa, said Dr. Rudnicki in the official press release of the conference released this morning.

Here is the full program of discussions and list of speakers.

One session will focus on current research in blood disorders and how these are making for better outcomes in the clinic. Dr. Guy Sauvageau of University of Montreal, who recently announced the discovery of a new drug to expand the number of usable stem cells in cord blood, will be presenting an overview of his findings.

Diseases and conditions where stem cell treatment is promising or emerging. (See Wikipedia:Stem cell#Treatments). Bone marrow transplantation is, as of 2009, the only established use of stem cells. Model: Mikael Hggstrm. To discuss image, please see Template talk:Hggstrm diagrams (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Also on the agenda for discussion and debate will be the societal impact of stem cell research, including approaches in moving research towards clinical treatments for patients and theinvestigation of cancer stem cells and their role in the formation of tumors and their recurrence after treatments.

On the education and outreach side, the Stem Cell Network also plans t0 highlight its recent foray into online video, with its Stem Cell Shorts program, which can be accessed on Vimeo. You can follow the conference on Twitter via#TMM2014.

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Canadian Stem Cell Experts Gather For Till-McCulloch 2014

Team proposes benchmark to better replicate natural stem cell development in the laboratory environment

By Uncategorized

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In a study that will provide the foundation for scientists to better replicate natural stem cell development in an artificial environment, UCLA researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research led by Dr. Guoping Fan, professor of human genetics, have established a benchmarking standard to assess how culture conditions used to procure stem cells in the lab compare to those found in the human embryo.

The study was published online ahead of print in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are cells that can transform into almost any cell in the human body. Scientists have long cultured PSCs in the laboratory (in vitro) using many different methods and under a variety of conditions. Though it has been known that culture techniques can affect what kind of cells PSCs eventually become, no "gold standard" has yet been established to help scientists determine how the artificial environment can better replicate that found in a natural state (in vivo).

Dr. Kevin Huang, postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Fan and a lead author of the study, analyzed data from multiple existing research studies conducted over the past year. These previously published studies used different culture methods newly developed in vitro in the hopes of coaxing human stem cells into a type of pluripotency that is in a primitive or ground-zero state.

Utilizing recently-published gene expression profiles of human preimplantation embryos as the benchmark to analyze the data, Dr. Huang and colleagues found that culture conditions do affect how genes are expressed in PSCs, and that the newer generation culture methods appear to better resemble those found in the natural environment of developing embryos. This work lays the foundation on the adoption of standardized protocol amongst the scientific community.

"By making an objective assessment of these different laboratory techniques, we found that some may have more of an edge over others in better replicating a natural state," said Dr. Huang. "When you have culture conditions that more consistently match a non-artificial environment, you have the potential for a much better reflection of what is going on in actual human development."

With these findings, Dr. Fan's lab hopes to encourage further investigation into other cell characteristics and molecular markers that determine the effectiveness of culture conditions on the proliferation and self-renewal of PSCs.

"We hope this work will help the research community to reach a consensus to quality-control human pluripotent stem cells," said Dr. Fan.

Explore further: Technique to make human embryonic stem cells more closely resemble true epiblast cells

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Team proposes benchmark to better replicate natural stem cell development in the laboratory environment

ACL Injuries in Dogs and Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy

By Stem Cell Treatment

The suggested solution, a TPLO to repair her lame leg, with a prognosis for a second surgery on the right knee in six months time, was quite a blow. This would add up to two invasive surgeries and a total of one year of recovery.

On a quest to find an alternative, we looked into all other options. (See Talk To Me About ACL Injuries). During our research we came across information about stem cell regenerative therapy for dogs.

We found that stem cell regenerative therapy has been used to treat tendon, ligament, and joint injuries in horses, and that it is available for dogs also. We decided to pursue this.

Unfortunately, a couple days before our stem cell treatment consultation, Jasmine's ACL tore completely, and a non-surgical solution was no longer an option.

Our final decision was an extracapsular repair for the torn ACL, combined with the stem cell therapy to assist the post-op recovery, and to see if it can save the right knee.

The healing effect on the operated leg turned out remarkable. The right leg was also looking good, and three months after surgery Jasmine had a bounce back in her step.

And then the ligament in the right knee went. It was a big disappointment. Back to surgery and back to rehab.

Fortunately though, her left leg was already stable enough to provide full support. That's why we decided to combine the second surgery with the stem cell treatment again. Another three months later, Jasmine was bouncing along and enjoying her life yet again.

The stem cell regenerative therapy is showing great results in treatment of arthritis, and many other conditions. However, it was not able to save Jasmine's ligament.

I believe this happened for several reasons.

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ACL Injuries in Dogs and Stem Cell Regenerative Therapy

Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Engineered In Lab

By Stem Cell Treatment

Scientists from Harvard Medical School have discovered a way of turning stem cells into killing machines to fight brain cancer.

In experiments on mice, the stem cells were genetically engineered to produce and secrete toxins which kill brain tumours, without killing normal cells or themselves.

Researchers said the next stage was to test the procedure in humans.

A stem cell expert said this was "the future" of cancer treatment.

The study, published in the journal Stem Cells, was the work of scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

For many years, they had been researching a stem-cell-based therapy for cancer, which would kill only tumour cells and no others.

They used genetic engineering to make stem cells that spewed out cancer-killing toxins, but, crucially, were also able to resist the effects of the poison they were producing.

They also posed no risk to normal, healthy cells.

In animal tests, the stem cells were surrounded in gel and placed at the site of the brain tumour after it had been removed.

Their cancer cells then died as they had no defence against the toxins.

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Cancer-Killing Stem Cells Engineered In Lab

The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over? – Learn Genetics

By Stell Cell Research

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The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over?

Stem cell therapies are not new. Doctors have been performing bone marrow stem cell transplants for decades. But when scientists learned how to remove stem cells from human embryos in 1998, both excitement and controversy ensued.

The excitement was due to the huge potential these cells have in curing human disease. The controversy centered on the moral implications of destroying human embryos. Political leaders began to debate over how to regulate and fund research involving human embryonic stem (hES) cells.

Newer breakthroughs may bring this debate to an end. In 2006 scientists learned how to stimulate a patient's own cells to behave like embryonic stem cells. These cells are reducing the need for human embryos in research and opening up exciting new possibilities for stem cell therapies.

Both human embryonic stem (hES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are pluripotent: they can become any type of cell in the body. While hES cells are isolated from an embryo, iPS cells can be made from adult cells.

Until recently, the only way to get pluripotent stem cells for research was to remove the inner cell mass of an embryo and put it in a dish. The thought of destroying a human embryo can be unsettling, even if it is only five days old.

Stem cell research thus raised difficult questions:

With alternatives to hES cells now available, the debate over stem cell research is becoming increasingly irrelevant. But ethical questions regarding hES cells may not entirely go away.

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The Stem Cell Debate: Is It Over? - Learn Genetics

Scleroderma patients seek experimental U.S. stem cell therapy

By Stem Cell Treatment

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Saturday, October 25, 2014 10:30PM EDT Last Updated Saturday, October 25, 2014 11:46PM EDT

An estimated 16,000 Canadians live with scleroderma, an incurable autoimmune disorder which causes the body to produce too much collagen, resulting in a hardening of the skin and tissue. There is no cure for the scleroderma, but some patients in Canada are now seeking a costly and experimental stem cell therapy in the U.S.

A little over a year ago, Mike Berry of Kingston, Ont., started having trouble breathing. It was the first sign of scleroderma.

Berry, 42, suffers from the systemic version of scleroderma, which attacks his internal organs. His lungs have been scarred by the disorder, with his lung capacity dropping to 41 per cent in just nine months. His disease may ultimately be fatal.

He described to CTV News how scleroderma has impacted his day-to-day life.

"I'm unable to work any longer; it affects me and everything now," he said. "It's hard to walk fast; I can't walk and talk."

Drugs to treat his scleroderma haven't worked, so now Berry is trying to fundraise more than $150,000 for an experimental U.S. stem cell treatment called Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT), in the hopes that it will save his life.

"It would give me as second chance, I guess I just have a lot to fight for," he said.

Pioneered by Dr. Richard Burt at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, patients receiving HSCT are administered stem cells intravenously.

During the treatment, the patient's stem cells are harvested, and then the patient's over-active immune system is destroyed with powerful chemotherapy drugs. Doctors then re-program the patient's immune system with the harvested stem cells, in the hopes that the cells will "reset" the patient's immune system and stop scleroderma.

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Scleroderma patients seek experimental U.S. stem cell therapy

Back in my Louboutins…thanks to a stem cell jab in the foot: Experimental treatment that fixed socialite Hofit Golan …

By Stem Cell Treatment

Hofit Golan broke her tibia and foot in a nightclub accident in 2011 She had a year of sticking to conventional treatment with limited success So took controversial holistic therapy at the Villa Medica clinic in Germany One of the few centres in the world to offer Fresh Cell Therapy It is a controversial technique that uses injection of embryonic stem cells from animals

By Katie Nicholl For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 16:16 EST, 25 October 2014 | Updated: 16:16 EST, 25 October 2014

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For any woman who adores wearing heels, Hofit Golan, the Israeli-born socialite who has graced countless red carpets from Cannes to New York, offers a cautionary tale.

Bizarre as it may sound, the 33-year-olds partying came to an abrupt halt after an accident in a nightclub involving her stilettos.

And Hofits recovery is just as remarkable. After a year of sticking to conventional treatment with only limited success, it took a controversial holistic therapy to see her back on track and in heels again.

Hofit Golan broke her tibia in three places and suffered a broken foot when a man landed on her in a nightclub

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Back in my Louboutins...thanks to a stem cell jab in the foot: Experimental treatment that fixed socialite Hofit Golan ...

Doctors Use Adult (Not Embryonic) Stem Cells To Grow And Implant Petri-Dish Retina

By Stem Cell Medical Center

The clones are coming! The clones are coming! (Maybe.) Doctors have grown a retina in a petri dish using stem cells from a 70-year-old patients skin and successfully transplanted the retina to her eye at Japan's Riken Center for Developmental Biology.

This marks the first time a transplanted organ was grown from skin cells from the recipient and not an embryo, The Globe and Mail reports. Until now, scientists have been mired in a debate regarding the use of embryonic stem cells to create transplant tissue. Using a patients own adult stem cells avoids that controversy and also reduces the chance the patient could reject the transplant.

Stem cells hold the promise of curing many diseases, including macular degeneration and Parkinsons.

However, there are risks associated with using adult stem cells. Scientists must turn regular adult cells into dividing cells, and there is concern that cells could turn cancerous after transplant. You only need one stem cell left in the graft that could lead to cancer, Dr. Janet Rossant told the The Globe and Mail. Rossant is chief of research at Torontos Hospital for Sick Children and past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

The Riken Center for Developmental Biology has also been in the news lately because its deputy director committed suicide following accusations of scientific misconduct and the retraction of two papers (unrelated to this stem-cell procedure) that were published in the journal Nature.

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Doctors Use Adult (Not Embryonic) Stem Cells To Grow And Implant Petri-Dish Retina

UCSD Gets $8 Million For Stem Cell Research

By Stem Cell Clinic

UC San Diego has been named an "alpha clinic" for the clinical study of stem cells, and the distinction comes with $8 million in research grants.

Stem cell therapies represent a new way of treating disease by regenerating damaged tissues and organs. Spokesmen for the UCSD school of medicine say the alpha clinic will focus on clinical trials in humans, not just basic research based on animals.

The decision to make UCSD an alpha clinic was announced Friday by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which was created by California voters after they approved $3 billion for stem cell funding in 2004.

Everything we do has one simple goal, to accelerate the development of successful treatments for people in need, said C. Randal Mills, CIRM president and CEO.

Catriona Jamieson, professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, is the alpha clinic grants principal investigator. She said the clinic will provide needed infrastructure for first-in-human stem cell-related clinical trials.

"It will attract patients, funding agencies and study sponsors to participate in, support and accelerate novel stem cell clinical trials and ancillary studies for a range of arduous diseases, Jamieson said.

The university has already announced human stem cell trials, aimed at treating spinal chord injuries, leukemia and type-1 diabetes.

UCSD spokesmen said researchers are conducting those trials using fetal and embryonic stems cells, as well as stem cells made from reprogramming skin cells.

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UCSD Gets $8 Million For Stem Cell Research

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