Stem Cell Clinic

Binay hit for questioning DAP allocation for stem cell research

By Stem Cell Medical Center

Sen. Nancy Binay. INQUIRER.net PHOTO

MANILAHealth Secretary Enrique Ona has expressed disappointment with Sen. Nancy Binay, who questioned the allocation of P70 million under Disbursement Acceleration Program for a stem cell research project of the Lung Center of the Philippines.

Binay had said the money could have been better spent on more beds for government hospitals.

Im so disappointed with the Senator rather than support the opportunities for our doctors to do all types of research, not just on stem cell Filipinos can jumpstart medical research, comparing it with research capacity of other countriesthats what I would want to hear from her, Ona said Friday on the sidelines of the Department of Healths distribution of awards to the unsung heroes of Typhoon Yolanda.

And I also wish to tell her, I hope she increases the funds for various research being conducted by our doctors, he added. Because if not, these doctors may just opt to work in other countries.

Speaking at the Senate finance committee hearing on Thursday, Ona confirmed that P70 million from DAP was used to fund a Bio-Regenerative Technology Program or Stem Cell Research aimed at harnessing stem cell research and technology to reconstruct new health cells, replacing cancer or dead cells.

According to Ona, medical research is important and its significance should not be compared to the lack of hospital beds.

I hope they dont simplify medical research with [the number of] beds, he said, adding that those making such comments appeared to have limited knowledge in medicine.

Ona said the government bought 8,000 to 10,000 beds for hospitals, though he acknowledged that it needed to buy 5,000 to 10,000 more.

Explaining stem cell research, Ona said he was looking at preventive, promotive, curative and even rehabilitation needs of the entire health sector.

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Binay hit for questioning DAP allocation for stem cell research

FUT Hair Transplant 2000 Grafts Anshuman at Satya Hair Transplant Clinic – Video

By Stem Cell Treatment


FUT Hair Transplant 2000 Grafts Anshuman at Satya Hair Transplant Clinic
Follicular Unit Transplant - Anshuman was suffering from Grade 4 male pattern baldness. He had undergone a series of treatments but nothing worked from him. He came to us with a reference...

By: Satya Hair Transplant Clinic | Hair Loss Treatment | Stem Cell Treatment

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FUT Hair Transplant 2000 Grafts Anshuman at Satya Hair Transplant Clinic - Video

11-year-olds critical need for a stem cell transplant

By Stem Cell Doctors

WATCH:An 11-year-old girl with a rare blood disease is in need of a stem cell transplant ideally from a match within the South Asian Community. Angie Seth reports.

Stem cell and bone marrow donations are critical for hundreds of people in Canada suffering from certain types of cancers or blood diseases.

Right now there are approximately 800 people on the transplant list. Among them is 11-year-old Cierra Singh.

Cierra has a rare blood disease calledMyelodysplastic Syndrome.

Mybone marrow and my bones are not producing enough healthy cells. So there are platelets and the white blood cells and the red blood cells. My mom tells me they are not working as well as they should work, Cierra tells Global News.

We had the opportunity to meet this incredible little girl who strives to give back to others in every which way.

Everyone says its a big deal, but I dont see it as a big deal. I just try to stay positive all the time, she says.

Cierra was diagnosed with the rare blood disease in April. A trip to Sick Kids hospital because of a swollen leg led doctors to discover Cierras immune system was not functioning properly.

Her Mothers fears paint a bleak picture.

If she were to get a fever of 38.5 and up we need to rush her into emergency within the hour . The risk of infectious diseases is very high so they need to pump her body with antibiotics because she wont be able to fight it. The only cure for Myelodysplastic Syndrome is a stem cell transplant, there is no other option, KiranBenet, Cierras Mom says.

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11-year-olds critical need for a stem cell transplant

Stem cell agency tightens ethics rules

By Stem Cell Medicine

Stem cell agency President C. Randal Mills (left) and Chairman of the Board Jonathan Thomas.

Responding to his predecessor's ethically controversial departure, the president and chief executive of California's stem cell agency said Thursday he is taking legal steps to minimize conflicts of interests with those who have business before the agency.

C. Randal Mills said he will not take a job with any company funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for one year after he departs the agency. In addition, he also will not accept gifts or travel payments from any company, institution or person who gets agency funding.

Mills' action, announced at the agency's meeting in Millbrae, will be enforced with a legal agreement he will sign. His action comes less than a month after he replaced Alan Trounson as the agency chief. One week after his departure, CIRM-funded StemCells Inc. announced it had appointed Trounson to its board. StemCells Inc. had received an award of nearly $20 million from the agency to develop a therapy for Alzheimers disease.

While Trounson's appointment wasn't illegal, critics said it was unseemly for him to join a company that had received agency funding so soon after he left CIRM. An ethical controversy could harm the agency's chances of getting more funding from California voters, who gave the agency $3 billion with the passage of Proposition 71 in 2004.

Mills said the new rules apply only to himself, because of his central role at CIRM.

"This specifically addresses an issue where an individual in an organization has a disproportionate amount of power, and I want to make sure it's known that power will not be abused," Mills said.

Mills made the right decision, said Jeanne Loring, a CIRM-funded stem cell researcher at The Scripps Research Institute.

"There's a difference between what is legal and what is ethical," said Loring, who attended the meeting. "And he's going to be pushing the needle a lot more toward the ethical side without worrying whether he can get away with stuff."

John Simpson of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog, who has often criticized CIRM for conflicts of interest, also praised the decision.

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Stem cell agency tightens ethics rules

StemGenex Gives Hope to Parkinsons Patients through New Stem Cell Clinical Study

By Stem Cell Medicine

La Jolla, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2014

StemGenex, the leading resource for adult adipose stem cell therapy in the US aimed at improving the lives of patients dealing with degenerative diseases today announced their newest clinical study for Parkinsons disease. StemGenex believes that a commitment to the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy are paramount when providing care to patients with degenerative diseases.

This clinical study makes stem cell therapy accessible to the millions of individuals currently living with Parkinsons disease. The protocol used in these stem cell treatments is unique to StemGenex, having the possibility of being more effective than other stem cell treatments currently available. StemGenex has developed a multiple administration protocol for patients suffering from Parkinsons disease which includes targeted methods of stem cell delivery. Among these methods is a novel approach for delivering stem cells past the blood brain barrier an issue most stem cell treatments have been challenged by.

Principal Investigator Dr. Jeremiah McDole, Ph.D. stated, As is the case with most neurodegenerative conditions, there are few available drugs to treat Parkinsons disease. The handful of drugs that are available can only ameliorate symptoms and unfortunately, prolonged usage can create terrible side-effects. Further, these drugs do not halt disease progression or aid in the repair of established damage. Our goal is to provide regenerative medicine applications that address these critical issues. The study we are conducting is designed to provide us with a large amount of rigorously collected data so that we can better understand the clinical benefit of Parkinsons patients treated with stem cells.

This study is registered through The National Institutes of Health which can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov and is being conducted under IRB approval. According to StemGenex Director of Patient Advocacy, Joe Perricone, It is important patients have access to top-tier stem cell therapy. By providing access to registered clinical studies through The National Institutes of Health, we are providing patients with the ability to choose a stem cell treatment center with the highest standard of care.

Rita Alexander, founder and president of StemGenex stated, Parkinson's disease affects a very small part of the brain but anyone suffering with this disease understands the negative impact on his or her life is very big, actually, enormous. Over the last several years we have observed significant improvement in the symptoms of Parkinsons patients through stem cell treatment. We are determined to be part of the solution and are eager to document and publish our findings in the next few years.

Stem cell treatment studies are currently being offered by StemGenex to patients diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and other degenerative neurological diseases. StemGenex takes a unique approach of compassion and empowerment while providing access to the latest stem cell therapies for degenerative neurological diseases including Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, stroke recovery and others.

To find out more about stem cell therapy, contact StemGenex either by phone at (800) 609-7795 or email Contact(at)stemgenex(dot)com.

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StemGenex Gives Hope to Parkinsons Patients through New Stem Cell Clinical Study

Joslin Scientists Create the First IPS Cells to Offer Human Model of Insulin Resistance

By Stem Cell Medical Center

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Newswise BOSTON July 24, 2014 Japanese biologist Shinya Yamanaka won a Nobel Prize in 2012 for discovering how to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), cells derived from normal adult cells that have the ability to differentiate into almost any other kind of cells. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have created the first iPSCs that offer a human model of insulin resistance, a key driver of type 2 diabetes.

This is one of the very first studies of human iPSC models for type 2 diabetes, and it points out the power of this technology to look at the nature of diabetes, which is complex and may be different in different individuals, says C. Ronald Kahn, MD, Joslins Chief Academic Officer and the Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Until now, scientists examining the causes and effects of insulin resistance have struggled with a general lack of human cell lines from tissues such as muscle, fat and liver that respond significantly to insulin, Kahn says. Studying insulin resistance as it progresses through pre-clinical stages of type 2 diabetes has been particularly challenging.

There have been no good human cell models to study insulin resistance, but such cells can now be made with iPSCs, says Kahn, co-senior author on a paper about the study published in the journal Diabetes.

Generation of iPSCs typically starts with fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) from skin samples. Kahn and his colleagues used fibroblasts from three patients with severe insulin resistance brought on by mutations in the gene for the insulin receptor (IR)a molecule that crosses the cell membrane and plays a key role in insulin signaling and glucose metabolism.

The Joslin researchers reprogrammed the fibroblasts into iPSCs by using viral procedures that activated four genes that together maintain cells in the iPSC state. The scientists then looked at gene activation in insulin signaling pathways for iPSCs and fibroblasts with IR mutations, and for corresponding cells derived from people without those mutations.

Among the study findings, IR mutations alter expression of many genes both in fibroblasts and iPSCs compared to normal cells, but the impact is very much dependent on the cell type, says Kahn. You see one type of expression pattern in the fibroblasts and a different type of pattern in the iPSCs.

Insulin is a key ingredient for the growth and proliferation of normal stem cells, and the study demonstrated that insulin resistance also reduces the ability of the iPSCs to grow and proliferate. That defect may represent a previously unrecognized mechanism that aids in developing diabetes, Kahn says, as well as helping to explain the problems in wound healing, tissue repair and even beta-cell growth that are common among people with diabetes.

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Joslin Scientists Create the First IPS Cells to Offer Human Model of Insulin Resistance

NYSCF scientists one step closer to cell therapy for multiple sclerosis patients

By Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Jul-2014

Contact: David McKeon dmckeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation

NEW YORK, NY (July 24, 2014) Scientists at The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute are one step closer to creating a viable cell replacement therapy for multiple sclerosis from a patient's own cells.

For the first time, NYSCF scientists generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells lines from skin samples of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis and further, they developed an accelerated protocol to induce these stem cells into becoming oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming cells of the central nervous system implicated in multiple sclerosis and many other diseases.

Existing protocols for producing oligodendrocytes had taken almost half a year to produce, limiting the ability of researchers to conduct their research. This study has cut that time approximately in half, making the ability to utilize these cells in research much more feasible.

Stem cell lines and oligodendrocytes allow researchers to "turn back the clock" and observe how multiple sclerosis develops and progresses, potentially revealing the onset of the disease at a cellular level long before any symptoms are displayed. The improved protocol for deriving oligodendrocyte cells will also provide a platform for disease modeling, drug screening, and for replacing the damaged cells in the brain with healthy cells generated using this method.

"We are so close to finding new treatments and even cures for MS. The enhanced ability to derive the cells implicated in the disease will undoubtedly accelerate research for MS and many other diseases," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF Chief Executive Officer.

"We believe that this protocol will help the MS field and the larger scientific community to better understand human oligodendrocyte biology and the process of myelination. This is the first step towards very exciting studies: the ability to generate human oligodendrocytes in large amounts will serve as an unprecedented tool for developing remyelinating strategies and the study of patient-specific cells may shed light on intrinsic pathogenic mechanisms that lead to progressive MS". said Dr. Valentina Fossati, NYSCF Helmsley Investigator and senior author on the paper.

In multiple sclerosis, the protective covering of axons, called myelin, becomes damaged and lost. In this study, the scientists not only improved the protocol for making the myelin-forming cells but they showed that the oligodendrocytes derived from the skin of primary progressive patients are functional, and therefore able to form their own myelin when put into a mouse model. This is an initial step towards developing future autologous cell transplantation therapies in multiple sclerosis patients

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NYSCF scientists one step closer to cell therapy for multiple sclerosis patients

MS stem cell therapy treatment hope for mum

By Uncategorized

July 24, 2014, 10:29 p.m.

A 60 MINUTES report on new multiple sclerosis stem cell therapy has thrown Wendouree mum Kathryn Johnston a potential lifeline.

A 60 MINUTES report on new multiple sclerosis stem cell therapy has thrown Wendouree mum Kathryn Johnston a potential lifeline.

Hopeful: Wendouree mum Kathryn Johnston is hoping new stem cell therapy treatment will help her be a more active mother to her daughter Dellah, 7. PICTURE: KATE HEALY

Ms Johnston, who has had MS for 15 years, is hoping the treatment will help her be a more active mother to daughter Dellah, 7.

I cant do a great deal with my daughter now but its also the unknown not knowing if Ill wake up one day and not be able to walk, Ms Johnston said.

The 35-year-old emergency nurse hopes to travel to Russia in August next year for the treatment, which involves extracting her stem cells, freezing them while she undergoes a strong course of chemotherapy and then replacing them.

It gets rid of any underlying MS and rebuilds the immune system from scratch. As a general rule, its been about 80 per cent effective.

Ms Johnston first noticed her MS symptoms as an active Ararat 20-year-old doing her nursing degree and about to marry her childhood sweetheart Andrew.

I developed numbness in both hands but thought Id just slept on them until my tummy went numb too.

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MS stem cell therapy treatment hope for mum

Experiments prove 'stemness' of individual immune memory cells

By Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Jul-2014

Contact: Vera Siegler vera.siegler@tum.de 49-892-892-2731 Technische Universitaet Muenchen

This news release is available in German.

The immune system has evolved to recognize and respond to threats to health, and to provide life-long memory that prevents recurrent disease. A detailed understanding of the mechanism underlying immunologic memory, however, has remained elusive. Since 2001, various lines of research have converged to support the hypothesis that the persistence of immune memory arises from a reservoir of immune cells with stem-cell-like potential. Until now, there was no conclusive evidence, largely because experiments could only be carried out on populations of cells. This first strict test of the stem cell hypothesis of immune memory was based on mapping the fates of individual T cells and their descendants over several generations.

That experimental capability was developed through a long-term collaboration, focused on clinical cell processing and purification, between researchers based in Munich and Seattle. Since 2009, the groups of Prof. Dirk Busch at the Technische Universitt Mnchen (TUM) and Prof. Stanley Riddell at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have combined their technological and clinical expertise under the auspices of the TUM Institute for Advanced Study. The University of Heidelberg, the University of Dsseldorf, the Helmholtz Center Munich, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and the National Center for Infection Research (DZIF) also contributed to the present study.

Homing In On The "Stemness" of T Cells

After generating an immune response in laboratory animals, TUM researchers Patricia Graef and Veit Buchholz separated complex "killer" T cell populations enlisted to fight the immediate or recurring infection. Within these cell populations, they then identified subgroups and proceeded with a series of single-cell adoptive transfer experiments, in which the aftermath of immune responses could be analyzed in detail. Here the ability to identify and characterize the descendants of individual T cells through several generations was crucial.

The researchers first established that a high potential for expansion and differentiation in a defined subpopulation, called "central memory T cells," does not depend exclusively on any special source such as bone marrow, lymph nodes, or spleen. This supported but did not yet prove the idea that certain central memory T cells are, effectively, adult stem cells. Further experiments, using and comparing both memory T cells and so-called naive T cells that is, mature immune cells that have not yet encountered their antigen enabled the scientists to home in on stem-cell-like characteristics and eliminate other possible explanations.

Step by step, the results strengthened the case that the persistence of immune memory depends on the "stemness" of the subpopulation of T cells termed central memory T cells: Individual central memory T cells proved to be "multipotent," meaning that they can generate diverse types of offspring to fight an infection and to remember the antagonist. Further, these individual T cells self-renew into secondary memory T cells that are, again, multipotent at the single-cell level. And finally, individual descendants of secondary memory T cells are capable of fully restoring the capacity for a normal immune response.

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Experiments prove 'stemness' of individual immune memory cells

Stem cell therapy could lead to HIV cure – SFGate

By Stem Cell Doctors

Two teams of scientists with strong ties to the Bay Area are racing to develop a stem cell therapy that would provide a practical cure for people living with HIV infection, leaving them with an immune system capable of keeping them healthy without daily medication even as some virus remains circulating in their bloodstream.

Both groups of researchers are trying to capitalize on the DNA of so-called elite controllers - people who are naturally resistant to HIV due to a genetic mutation that prevents the virus from latching on to their immune cells. It was an elite controller who donated bone marrow to Timothy Brown, the "Berlin patient," who was the first in the world to be cured of HIV. Doctors attribute Brown's rebuilt HIV-resistant immune system to the genetic mutation in the bone marrow.

Bone marrow transplants are not an effective cure for HIV for the general population because they're risky and expensive. But stem cells, drawn from a patient's own bone marrow and altered to be HIV-resistant, may be able to do the job using the same premise.

"If you could make a person's immune system mutated in a way that HIV could not infect it, then you may be able to cure the HIV," said Dr. John Zaia, a virologist with the Beckman Research Institute near Los Angeles, who's working with Sangamo Biosciences in Richmond on a technique to engineer and transplant stem cells.

"That's the premise anyway," he said. "And it's based on that one case in the Berlin, that one transplant."

The teams at the forefront of stem cell HIV therapy are led by Sangamo and Calimmune, a San Diego company that is testing its treatment in patients in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Calimmune was the first to start human clinical trials, in July 2013, and last month reported that the first group of patients was doing well enough that they were ready to begin treating a second group. Sangamo expects to start clinical trials as early as this fall.

Both groups are being funded in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency.

The research is based on the discovery in the mid-1990s of a specific genetic mutation that blocks a protein called CCR5. The protein is found on the surface of some cells where it acts as a receptor, allowing HIV to attach and ultimately fuse with the cell. Without CCR5, it's much more difficult, although not impossible, for the virus to infect a cell.

In elite controllers, the CCR5 receptor is mutated in such a way that HIV cannot latch onto it. Scientists believe that only about 1 percent of people worldwide have the CCR5 genetic mutation.

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Stem cell therapy could lead to HIV cure - SFGate

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