Stem Cell Clinic

How stem cells help cure diseases

By Stem Cell Treatment

MANILA -- The use of stem cell therapy has become an option in treating different medical conditions.

Stem cells are the body's natural healing cells. They are used by human tissues to repair and regenerate damaged cells. In the right environment, stem cells can change into bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, collagen, neural tissue, blood vessels, and even some organs.

There are two kinds of stem cells: adult or embryonic. Adult stem cells appear to be particularly effective against painful joints, repairing cartilage and ligaments, and even painful conditions along the spine.

Adult stem cells are usually harvested from fat tissues. By using technology, the collagen that binds the fat and the stem cells are broken down, separating a solution rich in the patient's own stem cells, which will then be used for treatment.

Stem cells may be effective in the treatment of macular degeneration, Crohns disease and numerous pulmonary conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and fibrosis. Stem cells are also being used for patients suffering from kidney failure and ailments of the bone, cartilage and joints.

However, stem cell therapy is not recommended for patients with active infections or cancer.

In the Philippines, fat-derived stem cell therapy is available through StemCare Institute. At present, the clinic employs an orthopedic team of doctors and surgeons with international qualifications.

StemCare, with the advancement of stem cell technology and the refinement its of clinical protocols through international experts, now offers more accessible treatment options for patients suffering from these degenerative orthopedic conditions.

Kim Atienza and Inno Sotto. Composite Image

Among the personalities who have used stem cell therapy in the country are Inno Sotto, a fashion designer who is suffering from a tear in his right elbow, and Kim Atineza, who is using fat stem cell injections to help strengthen and repair his knee joints after suffering from Guillain-Barre disease.

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How stem cells help cure diseases

Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

By Stem Cell Treatment

Edgar Irastorza was just 31 when his heart stopped beating in October 2008.

A Miami property manager, break-dancer and former high school wrestler, Irastorza had recently gained weight as his wifes third pregnancy progressed. I kind of got pregnant, too, he said.

During a workout one day, he felt short of breath and insisted that friends rush him to the hospital. Minutes later, his pulse flat-lined.

He survived the heart attack, but the scar tissue that resulted cut his hearts pumping ability by a third. He couldnt pick up his children. He couldnt dance. He fell asleep every night wondering if he would wake up in the morning.

Desperation motivated Irastorza to volunteer for a highly unusual medical research trial: getting stem cells injected directly into his heart.

I just trusted my doctors and the science behind it, and said, This is my only chance, he said recently.

Over the last five years, by studying stem cells in lab dishes, test animals and intrepid patients like Irastorza, researchers have brought the vague, grandiose promises of stem cell therapies closer to reality.

Stem cells broke into the public consciousness in the early 1990s, alluring for their potential to help the body beat back diseases of degeneration like Alzheimers, and to grow new parts to treat conditions like spinal cord injuries.

Progress has been slow. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, an early supporter of stem cell research, pulled its financial backing two years ago, saying that it preferred to invest in research that was closer to providing immediate help for Parkinsons disease patients.

But researchers have been slowly learning how to best use stem cells, what types to use and how to deliver them to the body findings that arent singularly transformational, but progressive and pragmatic.

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Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

Stem cell storage deal aims to boost donation levels

By Stem Cell Treatment

Expectant parents will have the option of donating the stem cells to the Governments public bank, or storing them with Precious Cells private bank, at a charge, for their own use.

The deal is the first of its kind for the NHS, and 15 more trusts are holding firm talks with Precious Cells, the company said. The partnership could significantly increase the number of stem cells available for transplants and scientific research in the UK.

Currently, the levels of cord blood donations in Britain are a fraction of those in the US and Australia, and lower than in most European countries.

The company is aiming to broaden its reach to 90 NHS trusts, adding that such widespread partnerships could generate a 180m windfall for the health service.

Dr Husein K. Salem, chief executive of Precious Cells, said the initiative aimed to tackle the UKs laggard position in terms of investment in cord blood stem cell collection and banking.

Stem cell treatment has become increasingly common and is now used for diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinsons. It is estimated that one in five people will use the regenerative cells to treat a condition or for diagnostics.

The global stem cell market was worth nearly 2.5bn in 2012 and is expected to grow to 3.87bn by 2016.

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Stem cell storage deal aims to boost donation levels

Even fictional characters have to move to keep up with medical advances as the Tooth Fairy gets replaced by the uber …

By Stem Cell Doctors

(PRWEB UK) 26 September 2014

By day Eden is a stem cell scientist, but can transform herself into the Super Tooth Fairy, or so says BioEden creators of this character.

The Super Tooth Fairy is just one of many delightful characters in an educational tool designed for primary school pupils and teachers.

In this children's story book The Super Tooth Fairy takes the baby teeth away to the laboratory of specialist stem cell bank, BioEden, where they harvest the stem cells for the child. Although the BioKidz concept features fictional characters, the story is based on reality and takes children on a tour of a stem cell laboratory and explains about the work of scientists and doctors.

Whatever the 'old' tooth fairy did in children's stories of yesteryear, the new Super Tooth Fairy has the child's health at the core of her super tooth fairy missions.

To find out more about BioKidz and the work carried out by specialist stem cell bank BioEden, visit http://www.bioeden.com

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Even fictional characters have to move to keep up with medical advances as the Tooth Fairy gets replaced by the uber ...

Turmeric compound boosts regeneration of brain stem cells

By Uncategorized

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Sep-2014

Contact: Alanna Orpen alanna.orpen@biomedcentral.com 44-0-20-3192-2054 BioMed Central @biomedcentral

A bioactive compound found in turmeric promotes stem cell proliferation and differentiation in the brain, reveals new research published today in the open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. The findings suggest aromatic turmerone could be a future drug candidate for treating neurological disorders, such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease.

The study looked at the effects of aromatic (ar-) turmerone on endogenous neutral stem cells (NSC), which are stem cells found within adult brains. NSC differentiate into neurons, and play an important role in self-repair and recovery of brain function in neurodegenerative diseases. Previous studies of ar-turmerone have shown that the compound can block activation of microglia cells. When activated, these cells cause neuroinflammation, which is associated with different neurological disorders. However, ar-turmerone's impact on the brain's capacity to self-repair was unknown.

Researchers from the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Jlich, Germany, studied the effects of ar-turmerone on NSC proliferation and differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Rat fetal NSC were cultured and grown in six different concentrations of ar-turmerone over a 72 hour period. At certain concentrations, ar-turmerone was shown to increase NSC proliferation by up to 80%, without having any impact on cell death. The cell differentiation process also accelerated in ar-turmerone-treated cells compared to untreated control cells.

To test the effects of ar-turmerone on NSC in vivo, the researchers injected adult rats with ar-turmerone. Using PET imaging and a tracer to detect proliferating cells, they found that the subventricular zone (SVZ) was wider, and the hippocampus expanded, in the brains of rats injected with ar-turmerone than in control animals. The SVZ and hippocampus are the two sites in adult mammalian brains where neurogenesis, the growth of neurons, is known to occur.

Lead author of the study, Adele Rueger, said: "While several substances have been described to promote stem cell proliferation in the brain, fewer drugs additionally promote the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, which constitutes a major goal in regenerative medicine. Our findings on aromatic turmerone take us one step closer to achieving this goal."

Ar-turmerone is the lesser-studied of two major bioactive compounds found in turmeric. The other compound is curcumin, which is well known for its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties.

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Turmeric compound boosts regeneration of brain stem cells

Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Addresses His Stem Cell Treatment

By Stem Cell Treatment

09/26/2014 . Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell has issued a statement about his upcoming stem cell transplant, which he hopes will keep Hodgkin's lymphoma from returning again.

Campbell was diagnosed with the cancer in 2013, which briefly went into remission only to return again. He received further treatment and cancer is once again in remission and he will be undergoing the stem cell transplant in an attempt to keep the cancer from returning once again.

He wrote on the band's official website, "As many of you know, I've been scheduled to start a stem cell transplant and as soon as I got home from tour I began the necessary tests and preparations. I'll be admitted to hospital soon for all the yucky bits, so in the meantime I'm headed to Target to stock up on cozy pajamas, fresh underwear, and a sackful of car-porn.

"Unfortunately, this means that I won't be able to perform with the band on the upcoming NFL broadcast on Sept. 28th, nor will I be able to do the shows scheduled for Oct/Nov.

"While I can't say that I'm looking forward to the process ahead, I'm very much looking forward to what I feel will be a most successful outcome. Next year will be very busy for Def Leppard with a new album and a world tour, and frankly, I don't think they would sound as loud without me, so I have no intention of letting the team down!

"See you all (with hair!) in 2015. - Viv"

...end

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Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell Addresses His Stem Cell Treatment

Scientists Identify Key Factor That Maintains Stem Cell Identity

By Stem Cell Medical Center

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Newswise A protein implicated in several cancers appears to play a pivotal role in keeping stem cells in an immature pluripotent state, according to a new study by NYU Langone Medical Center scientists. The study is published online today in Cell Reports.

Stem cells are the perpetual adolescents of the cellular world, uncommitted to any cell fate. In principle, they can be programmed to differentiate into any mature cell type, holding the promise of regenerating tissues and organs. A fuller understanding of their biology, however, is needed.

Our finding provides a better understanding of the complexity of how the stem cell state is regulated, says Eva M. Hernando-Monge, PhD, associate professor of pathology and a member of the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

The newly identified stem cell factor is BRD4, a protein associated with several cancers and the target of prospective therapies currently in clinical trials. In 2013, Dr. Hernando-Monge and colleagues found that BRD4 is overexpressed in melanoma cells and helps sustain their proliferation, whereas inhibiting BRD4 greatly slows their growth. The protein appeared to drive cancer in part by keeping cancer cells in a relatively immature, stem cell-like state. Intrigued, Dr. Hernand-Monge wanted to find out what role the protein played in actual stem cells.

In the new study, Dr. Hernando-Monges team inhibited BRD4s activity in mouse and human embryonic stem cells using BRD4-blocking compounds developed by collaborator Ming-Ming Zhou and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They also used special RNA molecules that block BRD4 gene transcripts, and observed the cells shift out of the stem cell state. As they divided, the cells began to show characteristics of young neurons. Stem cells are thought to maintain a state of quiescence until some signal forces them to divide, producing a differentiated, highly specialized cell.

BRD4 has been known to regulate gene activity by binding to the support structure of DNA, called chromatin, at special switch sites called super-enhancers distributed throughout the genome. These sites are believed to be top-level controllers, orchestrating the distinctive expression patterns of several genes that together determine specific cell types such as nerve or muscle.

We found that BRD4 occupies the super-enhancer sites of genes that are important for maintaining stem cell identity, says Raffaella Di Micco, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow who conceived the research project with Dr. Hernando-Monge and performed most of the experiments. These genes, including OCT4 and PRDM14, showed steep drops in expression when Dr. Di Micco applied BRD4 inhibitors to stem cells.

OCT4 also represses neuronal differentiation, so we think that the loss of that repression with BRD4 inhibition is the most likely reason for the induction of neuronal characteristics in the stem cells, says Dr. Di Micco.

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Scientists Identify Key Factor That Maintains Stem Cell Identity

Biomarkers, Stem Cells Offer New Ways to Treat Deadly Gut Disease in Premature Babies

By Stem Cell Medical Center

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Newswise Columbus, OH. Premature babies face a host of medical challenges at birth, but none as deadly and mysterious as a disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The condition creates an inexplicable combination of inflammation and infection that causes parts of the intestine to die. NEC progresses at a ruthless speed, leaving physicians with few options typically supportive care, emergency surgery or antibiotics. Only half of newborns who undergo surgery survive, and they often face serious life-long complications.

In the fifty years since necrotizing enterocolitis was first identified, weve accomplished relatively little to change its devastating course. Even worse, we dont know which babies will get it. One minute, a child can appear healthy, but then be dead from NEC hours later, said Gail Besner, MD, chief of pediatric surgery at Nationwide Childrens Hospital.

That may be about to change thanks to two major breakthroughs driven by Besner and Surgeon-in-Chief at Nationwide Childrens R. Lawrence Moss, MD.

After nearly two decades of work, their separate efforts have yielded both the discovery of a biomarker that can help predict which babies will get the disease, as well as treatments that can restore the intestines natural ability to protect itself against NEC.

These researchers advances offer innovative approaches to necrotizing enterocolitis that may someday make it a more predictable and better managed complication of prematurity, said John Barnard, MD, President of the Nationwide Childrens Research Institute and Pediatric Director of The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS).

Growth factors, stem cells offer gut protection For Besner, the key has always been to prevent NEC before it can start. In the 1990s, she began looking closely at what was happening at the molecular level to an immature bowel in the throes NEC. Besner made a major discovery, observing that a protein called heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) which she initially discovered played a life and death role in protecting premature infants from NEC.

In numerous studies, Besner showed that without HB-EGF, the structures within the intestines that maintain barrier function and integrity, including a massive network of nerves and blood vessels, became easily injured and beyond repair. The addition of HB-EGF had the opposite effect, helping protect intestines from injury in animal models of NEC.

From that molecular level understanding of NEC, Besner developed a bigger picture hypothesis about how the nerve damage within an immature gut impacted the diseases development and progression and where a solution might be found.

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Biomarkers, Stem Cells Offer New Ways to Treat Deadly Gut Disease in Premature Babies

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