Stem Cell Clinic

Delivering stem cells into heart muscle may enhance cardiac repair and reverse injury

By adminNovember 20, 2014Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

19-Nov-2014

Contact: Lauren Woods lauren.woods@mountsinai.org 646-634-0869 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine @mountsinainyc

Delivering stem cell factor directly into damaged heart muscle after a heart attack may help repair and regenerate injured tissue, according to a study led by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai presented November 18 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2014 in Chicago, IL.

"Our discoveries offer insight into the power of stem cells to regenerate damaged muscle after a heart attack," says lead study author Kenneth Fish, PhD, Director of the Cardiology Laboratory for Translational Research, Cardiovascular Research Center, Mount Sinai Heart, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

In the study, Mount Sinai researchers administered stem cell factor (SCF) by gene transfer shortly after inducing heart attacks in pre-clinical models directly into damaged heart tissue to test its regenerative repair response. A novel SCF gene transfer delivery system induced the recruitment and expansion of adult c-Kit positive (cKit+) cardiac stem cells to injury sites that reversed heart attack damage. In addition, the gene therapy improved cardiac function, decreased heart muscle cell death, increased regeneration of heart tissue blood vessels, and reduced the formation of heart tissue scarring.

"It is clear that the expression of the stem cell factor gene results in the generation of specific signals to neighboring cells in the damaged heart resulting in improved outcomes at the molecular, cellular, and organ level," says Roger J. Hajjar, MD, senior study author and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Mount Sinai. "Thus, while still in the early stages of investigation, there is evidence that recruiting this small group of stem cells to the heart could be the basis of novel therapies for halting the clinical deterioration in patients with advanced heart failure."

cKit+ cells are a critical cardiac cytokine, or protein receptor, that bond to stem cell factors. They naturally increase after myocardial infarction and through cell proliferation are involved in cardiac repair.

According to researchers there has been a need for the development of interventional strategies for cardiomyopathy and preventing its progression to heart failure. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, with cardiomyopathy or an enlarged heart from heart attack or poor blood supply due to clogged arteries being the most common causes of the condition. In addition, cardiomyopathy causes a loss of cardiomyocyte cells that control heartbeat, and changes in heart shape, which lead to the heart's decreased pumping efficiency.

"Our study shows our SCF gene transfer strategy can mobilize a promising adult stem cell type to the damaged region of the heart to improve cardiac pumping function and reduce myocardial infarction sizes resulting in improved cardiac performance and potentially increase long-term survival and improve quality of life in patients at risk of progressing to heart failure," says Dr. Fish.

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Delivering stem cells into heart muscle may enhance cardiac repair and reverse injury

Delivery of Stem Cells into Heart Muscle After Heart Attack May Enhance Cardiac Repair and Reverse Injury

By adminNovember 20, 2014Uncategorized

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Newswise Delivering stem cell factor directly into damaged heart muscle after a heart attack may help repair and regenerate injured tissue, according to a study led by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai presented November 18 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2014 in Chicago, IL.

Our discoveries offer insight into the power of stem cells to regenerate damaged muscle after a heart attack, says lead study author Kenneth Fish, PhD, Director of the Cardiology Laboratory for Translational Research, Cardiovascular Research Center, Mount Sinai Heart, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

It is clear that the expression of the stem cell factor gene results in the generation of specific signals to neighboring cells in the damaged heart resulting in improved outcomes at the molecular, cellular, and organ level, says Roger J. Hajjar, MD, senior study author and Director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Mount Sinai. Thus, while still in the early stages of investigation, there is evidence that recruiting this small group of stem cells to the heart could be the basis of novel therapies for halting the clinical deterioration in patients with advanced heart failure.

Our study shows our SCF gene transfer strategy can mobilize a promising adult stem cell type to the damaged region of the heart to improve cardiac pumping function and reduce myocardial infarction sizes resulting in improved cardiac performance and potentially increase long-term survival and improve quality of life in patients at risk of progressing to heart failure, says Dr. Fish.

This study adds to the emerging evidence that a small population of adult stem cells can be recruited to the damaged areas of the heart and improve clinical outcomes, says Dr. Hajjar.

Low back, neck, hip, shoulder, and knee arthritis 7 months after stem cell therapy by Adelson – Video

By adminNovember 20, 2014Uncategorized

Low back, neck, hip, shoulder, and knee arthritis 7 months after stem cell therapy by Adelson
Spence describes his outcome from his "full-body make-over" by Harry Adelson, N.D.. Seven months ago, Spence had his own bone marrow stem cells injected into his low back, neck, hips, shoulders,...

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Low back, neck, hip, shoulder, and knee arthritis 7 months after stem cell therapy by Adelson - Video

Real-life Ken doll who spent 125K on plastic surgery becomes first in UK to have stem cell hair op

By adminNovember 19, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

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An air steward who spent 125,000 on plastic surgery to turn himself into a real-life Ken doll has become the first person in the UK to have stem cell hair treatment.

Vain Rodrigo Alves, 30, has undergone 20 cosmetic procedures, including nose jobs, liposuction, six-pack and pec implants, calf shaping and botox fillers.

But he refuses to stop on his quest for perfection and has recently undergone a unique treatment to help cover his emerging bald spots.

The stem cell procedure involved doctors injecting stem cells into his scalp.

It took four hours and now - after just a couple of months - he is seeing the first results.

Rodrigo, who lives in London, said: "I started seeing results after two months, I have lots of baby hair coming through, it's amazing.

"My hair was really thin and my temple was starting to recede but now its coming back in leaps and bounds.

"Seeing my hair begin to go like that was quite shocking. I was considering going to LA to have a transplant until I found these doctors.

"I'm getting so many compliments now.

Establishment of induced pluripotent stem cells from Werner syndrome fibroblasts

By adminNovember 19, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

19 hours ago

Associate Professor Akira Shimamoto and Professor Hidetoshi Tahara at the Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Science in Hiroshima University, Professor Koutaro Yokote at the Graduate School of Medicine in Chiba University, Visiting Professor Makoto Goto at the Medical Center East in Tokyo Women's Medical University, and collaborators including the staff at the Cancer Chemotherapy Center in the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tottori University, and Keio University established induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from the fibroblasts of Werner Syndrome patients.

These results were published in PLOS ONE in an article entitled "Reprogramming Suppresses Premature Senescence Phenotypes of Werner Syndrome Cells and Maintains Chromosomal Stability over Long-Term Culture."

Werner syndrome is characterized by the premature appearance of features associated with normal aging and cancer predisposition. This syndrome occurs frequently in Japan, affecting 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 40,000 people. The therapeutic methods for this disease are very limited and it is expected that iPS cells can be used for the development of innovative therapies.

Dr. Shimamoto and his collaborators analyzed patient-derived iPS cells and found that telomeric abnormalities in the fibroblasts of these patients, which were caused by the lack of WRN helicase encoded by the gene responsible for Werner syndrome, were recovered in the iPS cells generated from these patients. Furthermore, Dr. Shimamoto found that the expression levels of aging-related genes, including those encoding cell cycle inhibitors and inflammatory cytokines, in the patient-derived iPS cells were the same as those in normal iPS cells, even though the expression levels of these genes in the fibroblasts of the patients were higher than those in normal fibroblasts.

Dr. Shimamoto said, "So far, the use of patient cells was restricted to blood or dermal cells in basic research. The iPS cells that we have established will provide an opportunity for drug discovery for the treatment of Werner syndrome and also help with better understanding of the mechanism of this disease. In addition, the mutated WRN gene in patient-derived iPS cells can be corrected by genome editing. This advantage will be help in the development of new gene and cell therapies for Werner syndrome."

Explore further: Scientists find that SCNT derived cells and IPS cells are similar

Journal reference: PLoS ONE

Provided by Hiroshima University

A team led by New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute scientists conducted a study comparing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and embryonic stem cells created using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). ...

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Establishment of induced pluripotent stem cells from Werner syndrome fibroblasts

Donor: The German teenager who saved my life

By adminNovember 19, 2014Stem Cell Clinic

Sue Walters only chance of survival from leukaemiawas a stem cell transplant No one in her family matched her tissue type Doctors searched the worldwide donor register They found Nicola Gerber, a student from Mechern, near the French border

By Chloe Lambert for the Daily Mail

Published: 20:21 EST, 17 November 2014 | Updated: 04:28 EST, 18 November 2014

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When Sue Walters was diagnosed with leukaemia, she hoped that the best of medical science would be used to cure it.

What she could never have anticipated was that her life would be saved by an 18-year-old boy from a remote German village.

Sues only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant previously known as a bone marrow transplant.

What Nicola has done is amazing it really is a gift of life. If I hadnt had the transplant, it was unlikely Id have lived beyond three months,' said Sue Walters of her donor Nicola Gerber

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Donor: The German teenager who saved my life

NeoStem (NBS) Stock Plummets Today on Disappointing Cardiac Stem-Cell Therapy Data

By adminNovember 19, 2014Uncategorized

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares ofNeoStem (NBS) plummeted 25.52% to $5.05 in late morning trading Tuesdayafter the biotech company announced poor results from a trial of its proprietary cardiac stem-cell therapy NBS10.

NBS10, which used to be called AMR-001, missed two primary endpoints in the study to test the therapy's efficacy.The stem-cell therapy comesfrom a patient's own bone marrow and is injected into patients after a heart attack. The stem cells are then supposed to help blood flow and build cardiac muscle.

NeoStem's trial used non-invasive imaging to monitor blood flow through the heart six months after a one dose of NBS10 or a placebo. The study showed no difference between NBS and placebo, NeoStem said.

Must Read:NeoStem's Stem Cell Therapy Fails Mid-Stage Heart Attack Study

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NeoStem (NBS) Stock Plummets Today on Disappointing Cardiac Stem-Cell Therapy Data

UCLA Doctors Hail Potential Cure For Bubble Baby Syndrome

By adminNovember 19, 2014Uncategorized

CBS Los Angeles (con't)

Affordable Care Act Updates: CBSLA.com/ACA

Health News & Information: CBSLA.com/Health

WESTWOOD (CBSLA.com) Doctors say a groundbreaking stem cell therapy treatment out of UCLA may have cured Bubble Baby syndrome once and for all.

KNX 1070s Brian Ping reports Dr. Donald Kohn has perfected a gene therapy that has now cured 18 children born without an immune system, known as ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Only weeks after giving birth to fraternal twins in 2012, Alysia and Christian Padilla-Vaccaro found out their daughter Evangelinas immune system was so deficient that she could have no exposure to the outside world.

After enrolling their daughter in Dr. Donald Kohns revolutionary stem cell gene therapy treatment which was nearly three decades in the making doctors extracted stem cells from the bone marrow in Evangelinas hip, then used a modified mouse virus to correct her faulty gene before replacing the marrow.

You hear the words mouse virus and you want to run the other way, said mom Alysia. But they modify it so that its teaching it to do something that they want it to do, which is put something in there that was missing.

Evangelinas new immune system developed without side effects and she is now living a healthy normal life.

Her mother Alysia said while the process was difficult for any mom to go through, it was all worth it.

NeoStem's Stem Cell Therapy Fails Mid-Stage Heart Attack Study

By adminNovember 19, 2014Uncategorized

By: Adam Feuerstein | 11/18/14 - 10:16 AM EST

Inject a cocktail of undifferentiated stem cellsinto a patient who has suffered a heart attack, and days or even weekslater, the stem cells transform into cardiac cells and rebuild the damaged heart muscle. Months later, the patient has a "new" healthy heart.It's a great story. But so far, the proof remains elusive though not for a lack of trying.

The latest company to fulfill this ambitious scenario is NeoStem (NBS) which presented disappointing (but not surprising) results from a small study of its proprietary cardiac stem-cell therapy NBS10 at the American Heart Association annual meeting Monday. NeoStem tried to put some positive spin on the bad news but shares are down 25% to $5.10.

NBS10, formerly known as AMR-001, is an autologous stem-cell therapy derived from a patient's own bone marrow. When injected back into patients following a heart attack, the stem cells are supposed torestore blood flow, rebuild damaged cardiac muscle and improve function.

Except in NeoStem's study, NBS10 fell short on two primary endpoints designed to assess the therapy's efficacy. The study used non-invasive imaging to assess blood flow through the heart, six months after a single infusion of NBS10 or a placebo. There was no difference between NBS and placebo, NeoStem said.

The study's other co-primary efficacy endpoint was a measurement of adverse cardiac "MACE" events --defined as cardiovascular death, a repeatheart attack, heart failure hospitalization and coronary revascularization. To date, 17% of patientstreated with NBS10 have suffered a MACE event compared to 19% of patients in the placebo arm -- a difference which was not statistically significant.

NeoStem said NBS10 therapy was safe relative to placebo and that no patients treated with the stem cells have died compared to three deaths in the placebo patients. But with only one year of follow up on a small number of patients, any claims about a mortality benefit are clinically meaningless.

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NeoStem's Stem Cell Therapy Fails Mid-Stage Heart Attack Study

Cardiac stem cell therapy may heal heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy

By adminNovember 19, 2014Stem Cell Treatment

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

17-Nov-2014

Contact: Sally Stewart sally.stewart@cshs.org 310-248-6566 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center @cedarssinai

LOS ANGELES (NOV. 17, 2014) - Researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have found that injections of cardiac stem cells might help reverse heart damage caused by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, potentially resulting in a longer life expectancy for patients with the chronic muscle-wasting disease.

The study results were presented today at a Breaking Basic Science presentation during the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago. After laboratory mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were infused with cardiac stem cells, the mice showed steady, marked improvement in heart function and increased exercise capacity.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects 1 in 3,600 boys, is a neuromuscular disease caused by a shortage of a protein called dystrophin, leading to progressive muscle weakness. Most Duchenne patients lose their ability to walk by age 12. Average life expectancy is about 25. The cause of death often is heart failure because the dystrophin deficiency leads to cardiomyopathy, a weakness of the heart muscle that makes the heart less able to pump blood and maintain a regular rhythm.

"Most research into treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients has focused on the skeletal muscle aspects of the disease, but more often than not, the cause of death has been the heart failure that affects Duchenne patients," said Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and study leader. "Currently, there is no treatment to address the loss of functional heart muscle in these patients."

During the past five years, the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute has become a world leader in studying the use of stem cells to regenerate heart muscle in patients who have had heart attacks. In 2009, Marbn and his team completed the world's first procedure in which a patient's own heart tissue was used to grow specialized heart stem cells. The specialized cells were then injected back into the patient's heart in an effort to repair and regrow healthy muscle in a heart that had been injured by a heart attack. Results, published in The Lancet in 2012, showed that one year after receiving the experimental stem cell treatment, heart attack patients demonstrated a significant reduction in the size of the scar left on the heart muscle.

Earlier this year, Heart Institute researchers began a new study, called ALLSTAR, in which heart attack patients are being infused with allogeneic stem cells, which are derived from donor-quality hearts.

Recently, the Heart Institute opened the nation's first Regenerative Medicine Clinic, designed to match heart and vascular disease patients with appropriate stem cell clinical trials being conducted at Cedars-Sinai and other institutions.