Stem Cell Clinic

Vet-Stem, Inc. Licenses Its New Patent to Human Stem Cell Company

By adminApril 25, 2014Stem Cell Medicine

Poway, California (PRWEB) April 24, 2014

Vet-Stem, Inc., announced that a non-exclusive European license agreement has been signed with a global human stem cell company. This license provides access to the newly issued Vet-Stem patent for the extraction methods and the use of adipose-derived stem cells in prevention and treatment of diseases in the human. Vet-Stem retains all rights outside of the human field.

As the first and largest company in the world to offer fat-derived stem cell services for veterinary use, Vet-Stem has rapidly developed the market, treating over 10,000 horses and dogs. In its veterinary development, Vet-Stem has collaborated closely with leading companies and academic institutions worldwide involved in bringing this technology to the human markets. Vet-Stems patent covers both veterinary and human applications and it seeks to license the human applications to additional interested companies.

Intellectual property rights can be confusing in a rapidly developing market with evolving technology, said Bob Harman, DVM, MPVM, CEO of Vet-Stem. We have in-licensed the strongest patents in the world to protect the market that we are creating in regenerative veterinary medicine and to ensure that the value of the company is optimized. Now with this additional patent issued directly to Vet-Stem, we can collaborate directly with companies developing human therapeutics in the cell therapy space.

Vet-Stem currently offers stem cell services to veterinarians for treatment of lameness in horses and for arthritis in dogs and cats. New uses of regenerative cells are in development for diseases in dogs, cats and horses that often times have few other treatment options.

About Vet-Stem, Inc. Vet-Stem, Inc. was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the veterinary profession. The privately held company is working to develop therapies in veterinary medicine that apply regenerative technologies while utilizing the natural healing properties inherent in all animals. As the first company in the United States to provide an adipose-derived stem cell service to veterinarians for their patients, Vet-Stem, Inc. pioneered the use of regenerative stem cells in veterinary medicine. The company holds exclusive licenses to over 50 patents including world-wide veterinary rights for use of adipose derived stem cells. In the last decade over 10,000 animals have been treated using Vet-Stem, Inc.s services, and Vet-Stem is actively investigating stem cell therapy for immune-mediated and inflammatory disease, as well as organ disease and failure. For more on Vet-Stem, Inc. and Veterinary Regenerative Medicine visit http://www.vet-stem.com or call 858-748-2004.

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Vet-Stem, Inc. Licenses Its New Patent to Human Stem Cell Company

Skin Layer Grown From Human Stem Cells Could Replace Animals In Drug, Cosmetics Testing

By adminApril 25, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

April 25, 2014

Kings College London

An international team led by Kings College London and the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) has developed the first lab-grown epidermis the outermost skin layer with a functional permeability barrier akin to real skin. The new epidermis, grown from human pluripotent stem cells, offers a cost-effective alternative lab model for testing drugs and cosmetics, and could also help to develop new therapies for rare and common skin disorders.

The epidermis, the outermost layer of human skin, forms a protective interface between the body and its external environment, preventing water from escaping and microbes and toxins from entering. Tissue engineers have been unable to grow epidermis with the functional barrier needed for drug testing, and have been further limited in producing an in vitro (lab) model for large-scale drug screening by the number of cells that can be grown from a single skin biopsy sample.

The new study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, describes the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to produce an unlimited supply of pure keratinocytes the predominant cell type in the outermost layer of skin that closely match keratinocytes generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and primary keratinocytes from skin biopsies. These keratinocytes were then used to manufacture 3D epidermal equivalents in a high-to-low humidity environment to build a functional permeability barrier, which is essential in protecting the body from losing moisture, and preventing the entry of chemicals, toxins and microbes.

A comparison of epidermal equivalents generated from iPSC, hESC and primary human keratinocytes (skin cells) from skin biopsies showed no significant difference in their structural or functional properties compared with the outermost layer of normal human skin.

Dr Theodora Mauro, leader of the SFVAMC team, says: The ability to obtain an unlimited number of genetically identical units can be used to study a range of conditions where the skins barrier is defective due to mutations in genes involved in skin barrier formation, such as ichthyosis (dry, flaky skin) or atopic dermatitis. We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery.

Dr Dusko Ilic, leader of the team at Kings College London, says: Our new method can be used to grow much greater quantities of lab-grown human epidermal equivalents, and thus could be scaled up for commercial testing of drugs and cosmetics. Human epidermal equivalents representing different types of skin could also be grown, depending on the source of the stem cells used, and could thus be tailored to study a range of skin conditions and sensitivities in different populations.

Source: King's College London

Stem Cells Yield Lab-Grown Skin, Researchers Say

By adminApril 25, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

Posted: Friday, April 25, 2014, 9:00 AM

FRIDAY, April 25, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Skin that was created from stem cells and grown in a lab could be used instead of animals to test drugs and cosmetics, and to develop new treatments for skin disorders, scientists report.

An international team of researchers said it's the first to create lab-grown epidermis -- the outermost layer of skin -- that has a functional barrier like real skin. The functional barrier prevents water from escaping the body and keeps germs and toxins out. Until now, no one had successfully grown epidermis with a functional barrier, which is needed for drug testing, the study authors said.

The research, led by scientists at King's College London and the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center, is described in the current issue of the journal Stem Cell Reports.

The ability to create an unlimited amount of genetically identical skin samples "can be used to study a range of conditions where the skin's barrier is defective due to mutations in genes involved in skin barrier formation, such as ichthyosis (dry, flaky skin) or atopic dermatitis (eczema)," Dr. Theodora Mauro, leader of the research team, said in a King's College London news release.

"We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery," she said.

Dr. Dusko Ilic, leader of the team at King's College London, said: "Our new method can be used to grow much greater quantities of lab-grown human epidermal equivalents, and thus could be scaled up for commercial testing of drugs and cosmetics."

"Human epidermal equivalents representing different types of skin could also be grown, depending on the source of the stem cells used, and could thus be tailored to study a range of skin conditions and sensitivities in different populations," he added.

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Okla. House passes abortion clinic standards bill

By adminApril 25, 2014Stem Cell Clinic

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A bill that would impose strict new state regulations and requirements on abortion providers in Oklahoma easily won the approval of the state House on Thursday.

The legislation would require the Oklahoma Board of Health to establish standards regarding equipment and supplies that might be needed in a medical emergency. Abortion clinics would also be required to have a physician with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital present when an abortion is performed.

The measure has already passed the Senate. House members voted 75-15 for it after amending the bill to also ban stem cell research in the state, similar to personhood legislation that House leaders refused to hear two years ago.

The bill now returns to the Senate for consideration of the amendment.

One of two physicians who serve in the chamber said Thursday that the Board of Health, which has nonphysician members, is not an appropriate agency to set medical standards.

The state Board of Health has no business determining medical procedures. The medical profession sets those standards, said Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, an emergency room physician. A medical expert could be a physical therapist. Thats a dangerous precedent.

Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater, said the bill could have a devastating effect on the entire practice of medicine, not just abortion access.

Logic and reason really dont have that much of a place around here, Williams said.

The bills author, Rep. Randy Grau, R-Edmond, said it will require abortion clinics to be equipped and staffed to deal with a medical emergency if an abortion occurs.

I dont have a problem holding them to a higher standard, Grau said.

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Okla. House passes abortion clinic standards bill

Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium to focus on blood

By adminApril 24, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

World stem cell leaders will converge on Promega's BioPharmaceutical Technology Center in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, on April 30 for the 9th Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium: From Stem Cells to Blood.

Coordinated by the nonprofit BioPharmaceutical Technology Center Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center and the UW-Madison Blood Research Program, this year's symposium is focused on how the stem cells that give rise to blood develop and function. It will also look at the diversity of insights stem cell studies have provided other fields.

Highlighted topics include genesis and regulation of progenitor cells and hematopoietic stem cells, stem cell genomes/epigenomes, stem cell microenvironment, and tumor initiating cells.

The day will be broken up into four moderated sessions focused on various themes, including:

Featured speakers include Scott A. Armstrong, Grayer Family Chair and vice chair for basic and translational research in the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Berthold Gttgens, professor of molecular hematology at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom; and Nancy A. Speck, professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and principal investigator in the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.

The day begins at 7 a.m. with registration and a continental breakfast and closes with a reception from 5 until 6 p.m. Registration for the public event is $45 for students and postdoctoral researchers, $90 for all others.

In addition to the symposium's coordinators, platinum sponsors of the event include Promega Corp., Perkins Coie and the WiCell Research Institute.

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Annual Wisconsin Stem Cell Symposium to focus on blood

Blood cancer patients have local option for marrow transplants

By adminApril 24, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

by JIM BERGAMO / KVUE News and editor Rob Diaz

kvue.com

Posted on April 22, 2014 at 5:14 PM

Updated Tuesday, Apr 22 at 7:00 PM

AUSTIN -- Doctors at St. Davids South AustinMedical Center recently performed the first adult hematopoieticstem cell transplant, which is a type of blood and marrowtransplant. Prior to the new comprehensive blood cancer center,patients had to leave Austin to get the treatment they needed.

Earlier this year, Nancy Guerra enjoyed some down time at her Northwest Austin home, putting together an electronic puzzle. But her own health became far more puzzling than anything she could piece together on her I-Pad. She suffered from multiple myeloma and had intense chemotherapy treatments in preparation for a more important procedure.

Doing the chemotherapy is really good, said Guerra. It puts me in remission, but Im not going to stay in remission anywhere near as long as I will when I have a bone marrow transplant.

But like other patients with bone cancer disorders where to go to get that blood marrow is the key question.

Austin is reaching a critical mass size, said David Huffstutler, President and Chief Executive Officer, St. Davids HealthCare. While we already have a wide array of oncology services, bone marrow transplantation was a missing piece.

Until now Central Texas patients had to travel to San Antonio or Dallas for transplants. The procedure takes only a few hours, but it can take several months for the bone marrow transition to be completed. For Guerra, leaving Austin for that length of time was simply out of the question. So in February she became the first patient to receive a transplant at the new, comprehensive blood cancer center at St. Davids South Austin Medical Center.

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Blood cancer patients have local option for marrow transplants

Skin layer grown from human stem cells could replace animals in drug and cosmetics testing

By adminApril 24, 2014Stem Cell Medical Center

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Apr-2014

Contact: Jenny Gimpel jenny.gimpel@kcl.ac.uk 44-020-784-84334 King's College London

An international team led by King's College London and the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) has developed the first lab-grown epidermis the outermost skin layer - with a functional permeability barrier akin to real skin. The new epidermis, grown from human pluripotent stem cells, offers a cost-effective alternative lab model for testing drugs and cosmetics, and could also help to develop new therapies for rare and common skin disorders.

The new study, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, describes the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to produce an unlimited supply of pure keratinocytes the predominant cell type in the outermost layer of skin - that closely match keratinocytes generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and primary keratinocytes from skin biopsies. These keratinocytes were then used to manufacture 3D epidermal equivalents in a high-to-low humidity environment to build a functional permeability barrier, which is essential in protecting the body from losing moisture, and preventing the entry of chemicals, toxins and microbes.

Dr Theodora Mauro, leader of the SFVAMC team, says: "The ability to obtain an unlimited number of genetically identical units can be used to study a range of conditions where the skin's barrier is defective due to mutations in genes involved in skin barrier formation, such as ichthyosis (dry, flaky skin) or atopic dermatitis. We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery."

Dr Dusko Ilic, leader of the team at King's College London, says: "Our new method can be used to grow much greater quantities of lab-grown human epidermal equivalents, and thus could be scaled up for commercial testing of drugs and cosmetics. Human epidermal equivalents representing different types of skin could also be grown, depending on the source of the stem cells used, and could thus be tailored to study a range of skin conditions and sensitivities in different populations."

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Skin layer grown from human stem cells could replace animals in drug and cosmetics testing

Adult Stem Cell Research Shows Promise

By adminApril 24, 2014Stell Cell Research

Heba Degheidy, M.D., Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow at FDA, stores stem cell samples for analysis in an FDA laboratory on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus in Bethesda, Md.

Steven R. Bauer, Ph.D., chief of the Cellular and Tissue Therapy Branch in FDAs Office of Cellular Tissue and Gene Therapies (standing), visits his team of scientists in their lab.

For more photos of FDA's stem cell research team at work go to Flickr.

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Scientists sporting white coats and safety gloves are working in a bright Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab on an incredible project.

They are part of FDAs MSC Consortium, a large team of FDA scientists studying adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)cells that could eventually be used to repair, replace, restore or regenerate cells in the body, including those needed for heart and bone repair.

The scientistsinvestigational work is unprecedented: Seven labs at FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research formed the consortium to fill in gaps in knowledge about how stem cells function.

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Adult Stem Cell Research Shows Promise

Scientists Identify Cancer Specific Cell for Potential Targeted Treatment of Gastric Cancer

By adminApril 24, 2014Stem Cell Doctors

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Newswise A team of scientists led by a researcher from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore has identified the cancer specific stem cell which causes gastric cancer. This discovery opens up the possibility of developing new drugs for the treatment of this disease and other types of cancers.

The research group, led by Dr Chan Shing Leng, Research Assistant Professor at CSI Singapore, demonstrated for the first time that a cancer-specific variant of a cell surface protein, CD44v8-10, marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. Conceptualised by Dr Chan and Associate Professor Jimmy So, a Senior Consultant from the Department of Surgery at the National University Hospital Singapore, the study is also the first to be conducted with human gastric tissue specimens and took five years to complete. This novel study will be published in the research journal Cancer Research, the official journal of American Association of Cancer Research, in May 2014.

Gastric cancer is a major cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with low survival and high recurrence rates for patients with advanced disease. New therapies for the treatment of gastric cancer are urgently needed.

How CD44v8-10 serves as a biomarker

Many cancer cell types express high levels of a cell surface protein known as CD44. This protein marks cancer stem cells that are thought to be responsible for resistance to current cancer therapy and tumour relapse. There are many forms of CD44 and the standard form of CD44, CD44s, is found in high abundance on normal blood cells. It was previously not known which form of CD44 is found on cancer stem cells. This is critical as an ideal cancer target should mark only cancer cells but not normal cells.

Research by the team and other scientists in the field has led to the hypothesis that the growth of gastric cancer may be driven by cancer stem cells. In this study, the researchers analysed 53 patient tissue samples in conjunction with patient-derived xenograft models which are derived from intestinal type gastric cancer. The team is one of the few groups in the world to have a relatively large collection of patient-derived xenograft models for gastric cancer and the first to use these models for identification of gastric cancer stem cells. A total of eight cancer cell lines were used in this study, including six new cell lines which were established by the researchers.

The scientists discovered a cancer-specific CD44 variant, CD44v8-10 marks gastric cancer stem cells but not normal cells. CD44v8-10 promotes cancer cell growth and it is significantly more abundant in gastric tumour sites compared to normal gastric tissue, which makes it easily detectable. The findings results suggest that CD44v8-10 is an ideal target for developing clinical therapeutics against gastric cancer stem cells. As CD44v8-10 is cancer specific, it may also be used as a biomarker for screening and diagnosis of gastric cancer. This is significant as biomarkers for early detection of gastric cancer are currently not available and doctors rely on endoscopy for the screening and diagnosis of this disease.

Said Dr Chan, With our findings, we can now work on developing drugs that would recognise and attack the cancer stem cells only, reducing the side effects on normal cells. With additional funding, we aim to have a drug that can show efficacy in our models within three years.

Stem cells in circulating blood affect cardiovascular health, study finds

By adminApril 24, 2014Stem Cell Medicine

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

23-Apr-2014

Contact: Nicanor Moldovan Moldovan.6@osu.edu 614-247-7801 Ohio State University

COLUMBUS, Ohio New research suggests that attempts to isolate an elusive adult stem cell from blood to understand and potentially improve cardiovascular health a task considered possible but very difficult might not be necessary.

Instead, scientists have found that multiple types of cells with primitive characteristics circulating in the blood appear to provide the same benefits expected from a stem cell, including the endothelial progenitor cell that is the subject of hot pursuit.

"There are people who still dream that the prototypical progenitors for several components of the cardiovascular tree will be found and isolated. I decided to focus the analysis on the whole nonpurified cell population the blood as it is," said Nicanor Moldovan, senior author of the study and a research associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at The Ohio State University.

"Our method determines the contributions of all blood cells that serve the same function that an endothelial progenitor cell is supposed to. We can detect the presence of those cells and their signatures in a clinical sample without the need to isolate them."

The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Stem cells, including the still poorly understood endothelial progenitor cells, are sought-after because they have the potential to transform into many kinds of cells, suggesting that they could be used to replace damaged or missing cells as a treatment for multiple diseases.

By looking at gene activity patterns in blood, Moldovan and colleagues concluded that many cell types circulating throughout the body may protect and repair blood vessels a key to keeping the heart healthy.

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Stem cells in circulating blood affect cardiovascular health, study finds