Stem Cell Clinic

USC researchers discover the healing power of 'rib-tickling'

By Stem Cell Medical Center

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

12-Sep-2014

Contact: Cristy Lytal lytal@med.usc.edu 323-442-2172 University of Southern California - Health Sciences

Unlike salamanders, mammals can't regenerate lost limbs, but they can repair large sections of their ribs.

In a new study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, a team directed by USC Stem Cell researcher Francesca Mariani takes a closer look at rib regeneration in both humans and mice.

The first author of the paper, USC medical student Marissa K. Srour, was a USC undergraduate when she started the project, which earned a 2011 USC Discovery Scholar Prize. Each year, 10 graduating seniors win these coveted prizes, which recognize exceptional new scholarship.

Using CT imaging, Srour, Mariani and their colleague Janice Lee from the University of California, San Francisco, monitored the healing of a human rib that had been partially removed by a surgeon. The eight centimeters of missing bone and one centimeter of missing cartilage did partially repair after six months.

To better understand this repair process, they surgically removed sections of rib cartilage ranging from three to five millimeters from a related mammal, mice. When they removed both rib cartilage and its surrounding sheath of tissue called the "perichondrium," the missing sections failed to repair even after nine months. However, when they removed rib cartilage but left its perichondrium, the missing sections entirely repaired within one to two months.

They also found that a perichondrium retains the ability to produce cartilage even when disconnected from the rib and displaced into nearby muscle tissue further suggesting that the perichondrium contains progenitor or stem cells.

"We believe that the development of this model in the mouse is important for making progress in the field of skeletal repair, where an acute clinical need is present for ameliorating skeletal injury, chronic osteoarthritis and the severe problems associated with reconstructive surgery," said Mariani, assistant professor of Cell and Neurobiology and principal investigator in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. "At the early stages in our understanding, the mouse provides us with an exceptional ability to make progress, and we are excited about the potential for using cells derived from the rib perichondrium or using rib perichondrium-like cells for regenerative therapy."

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USC researchers discover the healing power of 'rib-tickling'

Cancer and the immune system: A double-edged sword

By Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Sep-2014

Contact: Scott LaFee slafee@ucsd.edu 619-543-6163 University of California - San Diego @UCSanDiego

During cancer development, tumor cells decorate their surfaces with sugar compounds called glycans that are different from those found on normal, healthy cells. In the Sept. 15 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that sialic acids at the tips of these cancer cell glycans are capable of engaging with immune system cells and changing the latter's response to the tumor for good and bad.

"These cell surface glycans can promote or inhibit cancer progression, depending upon the stage of the disease," said principal investigator Ajit Varki, MD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. "Our findings underscore the complexity of cancer and the consequent challenges in conquering it. The immune system may be a double-edged sword in cancer, tumor-promoting or tumor-inhibiting, depending upon circumstances."

Specifically, the researchers found that receptors called siglecs on subsets of neutrophils and macrophages (two types of immune cell) can bind to sialic acids on the surface of tumor cells. Depending upon the stage of cancer and the tumor model used, the scientists reported that interaction between immune cell siglecs and tumor cell sialic acids produced opposite outcomes.

"During initial stages of growth, cancer cells appear to protect themselves from extermination by neutrophils by engaging siglecs via sialic acid-capped glycans," said Varki, who is also a faculty member of the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. "But once the tumor was established, further growth was inhibited by engagement of siglecs on macrophages."

The findings follow upon research by Varki and colleagues published earlier this year in PNAS that showed anti-tumor antibodies also behave contrarily. Low concentrations of antibodies can support cancer growth, but higher concentrations may inhibit it.

"The fact that the immune system can exert a promoting or inhibiting effect on cancer progression, depending on the situation and stage of disease, has importance for designing clinical trials with drugs that target the immune system," said first author Heinz Lubli, MD, PhD.

For example, siglecs might prove viable drug targets for preventing early cancer progression. Study co-author Ann Schwartz, PhD, MPH, of the Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit investigated 332 patients with lung cancer to assess whether they had a natural siglec variant that reduced binding to tumor cell surface sialic acids. Such patients have a greater chance for survival after two years, but the effect diminishes and disappears later.

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Cancer and the immune system: A double-edged sword

Global And China Stem Cell Industry Size 2014 Market Analysis, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017: MarketResearchReports …

By Stem Cell Treatment

Albany, NY (PRWEB) September 15, 2014

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells and can divide (through mitosis) to produce more stem cells. Stem cell therapy can be applied to treatment of cardiovascular diseases, leukemia (a kind of hematological system disease), nervous system diseases, damage or lesion of liver, kidney and other parenchymal organs, etc..

View Full Report at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/223134

Currently, cord blood bank is the fastest-growing and relatively mature market amid stem cell upstream sectors and even the whole industry chain. In 2005, there were 23 cord blood banks worldwide and in 2013 the figure exceeded 480. Global cord blood stem cell (CBSC) storage companies can be roughly divided into two categories: the ones running in a globalized business model, such as Cryo-Cell International and Esperite (formerly known as Cryo-Save Group), and the others giving priority to regional operation e.g. Zhongyuan Union Stem Cell Bioengineering (VCANBIO), Golden Meditech and LifeCell International. However, the companies mainly engaged in cord blood bank business are currently small in scale, only a few with more than 500,000 clients.

Download Detail Report With Complete TOC at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/223134

The stem cell technology and product research-oriented midstream sector is in its infancy, mostly concentrated in few countries like Europe, America and South Korea. At present, most companies in the industry chain are basically in the red for years running due to huge R&D costs. Nevertheless, attracted by the tremendous market potential in the area of stem cell therapy and enjoying the great encouragement from government policies (e.g. capital subsidy) and the capital support of significant cooperative partners, very few companies have dropped out.

Browse All Published Reports by Same Publisher at http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/publisher/67

Up to now, altogether 9 sorts of stem cell products have been approved worldwide, 3 of which are in the category of stem cell drugs developed by S. Korean companies, such as MEDIPOSTs adult stem cell drug CARTISTEM for osteoarthritis treatment and the stem cell product Prochymal (MEDIPOST obtained the product via acquiring the Therapeutics business of Osiris Therapeutics) direct at treating children suffering acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

In the meantime, traditional pharmaceutical giants like Novartis are setting about quickly accessing the field through mergers and acquisitions. On Aug. 19, 2014, Novartis reached an acquisition agreement with Gamida Cell (a corporate dedicated to stem cell technology R&D and its application in stem cell transplantation for leukemia patients), which specified that Novartis spend USD35 million in acquiring 15% equity in the latter and win the option to take over the remaining equity in two years with USD165 million; in Sep. 2013, Novartis also entered a cooperation with Regenerex to jointly develop the hematopoietic stem cell platform FCRx of the latter.

Related Reports

Read more:
Global And China Stem Cell Industry Size 2014 Market Analysis, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017: MarketResearchReports ...

Global and China Stem Cell Industry Report 2014-2017 Now Available at ChinaMarketResearchReports.com

By Stem Cell Treatment

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) September 15, 2014

Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells and can divide (through mitosis) to produce more stem cells. Stem cell therapy can be applied to treatment of cardiovascular diseases, leukemia (a kind of hematological system disease), nervous system diseases, damage or lesion of liver, kidney and other parenchymal organs, etc.

Currently, cord blood bank is the fastest-growing and relatively mature market amid stem cell upstream sectors and even the whole industry chain. In 2005, there were 23 cord blood banks worldwide and in 2013 the figure exceeded 480. Global cord blood stem cell (CBSC) storage companies can be roughly divided into two categories: the ones running in a globalized business model, such as Cryo-Cell International and Esperite (formerly known as Cryo-Save Group), and the others giving priority to regional operation e.g. Zhongyuan Union Stem Cell Bioengineering (VCANBIO), Golden Meditech and LifeCell International. However, the companies mainly engaged in cord blood bank business are currently small in scale, only a few with more than 500,000 clients.

Order a copy of this report at http://www.chinamarketresearchreports.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=114908 .

The stem cell technology and product research-oriented midstream sector is in its infancy, mostly concentrated in few countries like Europe, America and South Korea. At present, most companies in the industry chain are basically in the red for years running due to huge R&D costs. Nevertheless, attracted by the tremendous market potential in the area of stem cell therapy and enjoying the great encouragement from government policies (e.g. capital subsidy) and the capital support of significant cooperative partners, very few companies have dropped out.

Up to now, altogether 9 sorts of stem cell products have been approved worldwide, 3 of which are in the category of stem cell drugs developed by S. Korean companies, such as MEDIPOSTs adult stem cell drug CARTISTEM for osteoarthritis treatment and the stem cell product Prochymal (MEDIPOST obtained the product via acquiring the Therapeutics business of Osiris Therapeutics) direct at treating children suffering acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

Complete report is available at http://www.chinamarketresearchreports.com/114908.html .

In the meantime, traditional pharmaceutical giants like Novartis are setting about quickly accessing the field through mergers and acquisitions. On Aug. 19, 2014, Novartis reached an acquisition agreement with Gamida Cell (a corporate dedicated to stem cell technology R&D and its application in stem cell transplantation for leukemia patients), which specified that Novartis spend USD35 million in acquiring 15% equity in the latter and win the option to take over the remaining equity in two years with USD165 million; in Sep. 2013, Novartis also entered a cooperation with Regenerex to jointly develop the hematopoietic stem cell platform FCRx of the latter.

Global and China Stem Cell Industry Report, 2014-2017 highlights the followings:

Classification, application, industry chain definition, etc. of stem cells; Major enterprises, policies, upstream/midstream/downstream development and prospects, etc. of global stem cell industry; Policies, upstream/midstream/downstream development, etc. of China stem cell industry; Operation, stem cell business, etc. of 6 upstream companies and 18 midstream/downstream companies worldwide.

Read the original here:
Global and China Stem Cell Industry Report 2014-2017 Now Available at ChinaMarketResearchReports.com

Watch brave cancer battler Ulrika Dandekar make a desperate appeal for a stem cell donor

By Stem Cell Doctors

Watch Ulrika's appeal. Can you help, before it is too late?

Time is running out for brave Ulrika Dandekar who is desperately in need of a stem cell transplant after being diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer.

For Ulrika, aged 21, from Solihull, has been readmitted to hospital after discovering more than 15 cancerous lumps on her body.

She has undergone another round of chemotherapy in the hope of combating the cancer, called Anaplastic Lymphoma, at Heartlands Hospital, and will have to wait at least two weeks before she will find out if its worked.

VIEW GALLERY

Previous treatment had seen a reduction in the size of another cancerous growth

But during a holiday to Turkey in August, Ulrika, known as Riya, noticed that a small lump on the side of her body, which was thought to be an insect bite, had grown.

She explained: I had been given the okay to go on holiday to Turkey with my mum, but just before going away, I noticed a small lump which looked just like an insect bite.

The doctors thought it was nothing to worry about but I was given antibiotics. However, when we got abroad it just kept changing and growing every day.

My mum kept taking pictures of it and emailing them back to our doctor to keep him up-to-date with what was happening, although coming back early would not have made a difference.

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Watch brave cancer battler Ulrika Dandekar make a desperate appeal for a stem cell donor

Significant milestone in stem cell research at The Wellcome Trust – Medical Research Council institute

By Stem Cell Medicine

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Scientists are celebrating a breakthrough in stem cell research.

A type of human stem cell has been replicated in a lab for the first time in history.

The cells, previously impossible to duplicate, have been recreated to the equivalent of those between seven and nine days old the same as found in an embryo before it implants in the womb.

The creation of the human pluripotent cells opens a door for specialised cells to be created in the future for use in regenerative medicine.

The Wellcome Trust - Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute led the research, which was carried out by both British and Japanese academics.

Professor Austin Smith, director, said: "Our findings suggest that it is possible to rewind the clock to achieve true ground state pluripotency in human cells.

"These cells may represent the real starting point for formation of tissues in the human embryo. We hope that in time they will allow us to unlock the fundamental biology of early development, which is impossible to study directly in people."

The "reset" cells could be used as "raw material" for therapies, as well as diagnostic tools and drug screenings.

Scientists also hope that after further studying, the cells will help them learn more about how an embryo develops correctly, and how miscarriages and developmental disorders are caused.

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Significant milestone in stem cell research at The Wellcome Trust - Medical Research Council institute

Stem cell advance made by Cambridge scientists

By Stem Cell Medicine

Cambridge scientists have successfully reset human pluripotent stem cells to the earliest developmental state equivalent to cells found in an 7-9 day old embryo before it implants in the womb.

The researchers believe that these pristine stem cells, which have until now been impossible to replicate in the lab, could mark the true starting point for human development.

It is hoped that the discovery, published in Cell, will lead to a better understanding of human development and could in future allow the production of safe and more reproducible starting materials for a wide range of applications including cell therapies.

Researchers led by the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council (MRC) Cambridge Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge, have managed to induce a ground state by rewiring the genetic circuitry in human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells. Their reset cells share many of the characteristics of authentic nave embryonic stem cells isolated from mice, suggesting that they represent the earliest stage of development.

Human pluripotent stem cells, which have the potential to become any of the cells and tissues in the body, can be made in the lab either from cells extracted from a very early stage embryo or from adult cells that have been induced into a pluripotent state.

To date, scientists have struggled to generate human pluripotent stem cells that are truly pristine researchers have only been able to derive cells which have advanced slightly further down the developmental pathway. These bear some of the early hallmarks of differentiation into distinct cell types theyre not a truly blank slate. This may explain why existing human pluripotent stem cell lines often exhibit a bias towards producing certain tissue types in the laboratory.

Capturing embryonic stem cells is like stopping the developmental clock at the precise moment before they begin to turn into distinct cells and tissues, explains Professor Austin Smith, Director of the Stem Cell Institute, who co-authored the paper.

Scientists have perfected a reliable way of doing this with mouse cells, but human cells have proved more difficult to arrest and show subtle differences between the individual cells. Its as if the developmental clock has not stopped at the same time and some cells are a few minutes ahead of others.

The process of generating stem cells in the lab is easier to control in mouse cells, which can be frozen in a state of nave pluripotency using a protein called LIF. Human cells are not as responsive to LIF, so they must be controlled in a different way that involves switching key genes on and off. For this reason scientists have been unable to generate human pluripotent cells that are as primitive or as consistent as mouse embryonic stem cells.

The researchers overcame this problem by introducing two genes NANOG and KLF2 causing the network of genes that control the cell to reboot and induce the nave pluripotent state. Importantly, the introduced genes only need to be present for a short time. Then, like other stem cells, reset cells can self-renew indefinitely to produce large numbers, are stable and can differentiate into other cell types, including nerve and heart cells.

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Stem cell advance made by Cambridge scientists

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