Stem Cell Clinic

What are Stem Cells? | UNMC

By Stem Cell Medical Center

What are Stem Cells?

Types of Stem Cells

Why are Stem Cells Important?

Can doctors use stem cells to treat patients?

Pros and Cons of Using Stem Cells

What are Stem Cells?

There are several different types of stem cells produced and maintained in our system throughout life. Depending on the circumstances and life cycle stages, these cells have different properties and functions. There are even stem cells that have been created in the laboratory that can help us learn more about how stem cells differentiate and function. A few key things to remember about stem cells before we venture into more detail:

Stem cells are the foundation cells for every organ and tissue in our bodies. The highly specialized cells that make up these tissues originally came from an initial pool of stem cells formed shortly after fertilization. Throughout our lives, we continue to rely on stem cells to replace injured tissues and cells that are lost every day, such as those in our skin, hair, blood and the lining of our gut.

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What are Stem Cells? | UNMC

Nuclear transfer to reprogram adult patient cells into stem cells demonstrated

By Stem Cell Medical Center

7 hours ago

The capacity to reprogram adult patient cells into pluripotent, embryonic-like, stem cells by nuclear transfer has been reported as a breakthrough by scientists from the US and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The work, described in the journal Nature, was accomplished by researchers from the New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute and Columbia University and by Nissim Benvenisty, the Herbert Cohn professor of Cancer Research and director of the Stem Cell Unit at the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his graduate student Ido Sagi. The latter assisted in the characterization of the pluripotent nature of these cells.

Pluripotency means the ability of stem cells to develop into all the cells of our body, including those in the brain, heart, liver and blood. In 2012, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for two discoveries showing that mature (differentiated) cells can be converted into pluripotent, embryonic-like cells, either by forced expression of genetic factors or by transfer of cell nuclei into female eggs, in a process called "reprogramming."

However, the actual ability to reprogram cells from humans by nuclear transfer had only been accomplished until now by using fetal cells for this purpose, until this latest work involving reprogramming of adult patient cells demonstrated by the researchers from the US and the Hebrew University, as described in the new Nature article.

Future research should allow further characterization of these novel, pluripotent cell types and their comparison to other stem cells. "Human pluripotent stem cells generated from adult cells may change the face of medicine," says Prof. Benvenisty, leading to totally new, personalized genetic therapy involving the reprograming of a patient's own cells to achieve cell replacement and healing.

Explore further: Soft substrates may promote the production of induced pluripotent stem cells

More information: "Human oocytes reprogram adult somatic nuclei of a type 1 diabetic to diploid pluripotent stem cells." Mitsutoshi Yamada, et al. Nature (2014) DOI: 10.1038/nature13287. Received 04 February 2014 Accepted 27 March 2014 Published online 28 April 2014

Converting adult cells into stem cells that can develop into other types of specialized cells is one of the most active areas of medical research, holding great promise for the treatment of disease and repair ...

For the first time, US researchers have cloned embryonic stem cells from adult cells, a breakthrough on the path towards helping doctors treat a host of diseases. ...

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Nuclear transfer to reprogram adult patient cells into stem cells demonstrated

Stem Cells Could Be the Answer for Treating Fecal Incontinence After Injury or Disease

By Stem Cell Clinic

Durham, NC (PRWEB) May 05, 2014

A new study released today in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine demonstrates the regenerative effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) on the anal sphincter. The work could have implications for the 11 percent of the population suffering fecal incontinence due to an injury or disease.

Massarat Zutshi, M.D., and Levilester Salcedo, M.D., led the research team made up of their colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio) as well as those from Summa Cardiovascular Institute and Northeast Ohio Medical University (Akron, Ohio).

None of the current therapies for treating fecal incontinence are efficacious in the long-term or without complications related to the surgery or the device, Dr. Zutshi said. However, she added, adipose tissue, muscle and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have been shown to improve functioning of the heart and the urinary sphincter in animal models, leading researchers to test their effects in regenerating the anal sphincter, too.

In this most recent study the Zutshi/Salcedo team wanted to see how a single intramuscular (IM) injection of MSCs compared to a series of intravenous (IV) treatments. They used rats that had undergone an excision of 25 percent of their anal sphincter complex. Twenty-four hours after injury, one group received a single IM injection of stem cells directly into their anal sphincters. A second group began a series of six consecutive daily treatments delivered by IV through their tail veins, as did a group of non-injured animals. Another group of injured animals received no stem cells.

Anal pressures were recorded prior to injury, then again at 10 days and five weeks after treatment. Ten days after the IM treatment, resting and peak pressures were significantly increased in the injured groups compared to the control group that received no treatment. At five weeks, the anal pressures of the two groups of injured rats receiving treatments were almost on par with the non-injured group.

Both IM and IV MSC treatment after injury cause increase in anal pressures sustained at five weeks even though fewer cells were injected IM, Dr. Zutshi concluded. The MSC-treated groups showed less scarring than PBS treatment, with the IV infusion group showing the least scarring.

Since MSC delivered IM or IV both resulted in functional recovery, the IM route may be preferable as fewer cells seem to be needed.

This research demonstrates the regenerative effects of mesenchymal stem cells on the injured anal sphincter and, because fewer cells were needed for intramuscular injections, may direct the course of future clinical trials, said Anthony Atala, M.D., editor of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The full article, Functional outcome after anal sphincter injury and treatment with mesenchymal stem cells, can be accessed at http://www.stemcellstm.com.

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Stem Cells Could Be the Answer for Treating Fecal Incontinence After Injury or Disease

Valley Foot Surgeons Now Offering Stem Cell Procedures for Achilles Tendonitis and Tears for Pain Relief and Helping …

By Stem Cell Treatment

Scottsdale, Arizona (PRWEB) May 05, 2014

Top Phoenix and Scottsdale foot and ankle doctors at Valley Foot Surgeons are now offering stem cell procedures for the nonoperative treatment of Achilles tendonitis and tears. The regenerative medicine procedures are typically able to provide exceptional pain relief while allowing patients the ability to avoid surgery. Call (480) 420-3499 for more information and scheduling about the foot and ankle stem cell procedures.

To date, the lead foot and ankle doctor at Valley Foot Surgeons, Dr. Richard Jacoby, has performed close to 100 regenerative medicine procedures. Typically, these are administered for a variety of conditions such as diabetic ulcers, foot and ankle arthritis, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles injuries.

Conditions with the Achilles tendon may include pain due to chronic tendonitis or tears from degeneration. This may occur during a sporting activity, traumatic event, or simply as part of an individual's tendon weakening after taking quinolone antibiotics.

The stem cell procedures are performed as an outpatient, with the injections consisting of amniotic derived stem cells. The material is harvested from consenting donors after scheduled c-section procedures, with no fetal tissue at all being used.

The material is exceptionally rich in stem cells, growth factors, hyaluronic acid, and more. This can dramatically improve pain relief and healing, which is very different from how steroid medications work.

All too often, traditional treatments for Achilles tendonitis and tears fail to provide relief. This may lead to potentially risky surgery, where complications may lead to continued disability.

With the stem cells for Achilles tears and tendonitis, patients go through an outpatient procedure that is low risk and offers the potential for avoiding the risks of surgery while speeding up recovery.

Dr. Jacoby at Valley Foot Surgeons has been a four time Phoenix Top Doc Winner and sees patients out of two offices in the Valley. For the top stem cell treatment for achilles conditions, diabetic wounds, foot and ankle arthritis and more, call (480) 420-3499.

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Valley Foot Surgeons Now Offering Stem Cell Procedures for Achilles Tendonitis and Tears for Pain Relief and Helping ...

Questions and Answers

By Stem Cell Treatment

FAITH Stem Cell Research and Human Cloning by: FR. GAMMY TULABING I would like to share with you this article from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Questions and Answers

What is a stem cell?

A stem cell is a relatively unspecia-lized cell that, when it divides, can do two things: make another cell like itself, or make any of a number of cells with more specialized functions. For example, just one kind of stem cell in our blood can make new red blood cells, or white blood cells, or other kindsdepending on what the body needs. These cells are like the stem of a plant that spreads out in different directions as it grows.

Is the Catholic Church opposed to all stem cell research?

Not at all. Most stem cell research uses cells obtained from adult tissue, umbilical cord blood, and other sources that pose no moral problem. Useful stem cells have been found in bone marrow, blood, muscle, fat, nerves, and even in the pulp of baby teeth. Some of these cells are already being used to treat people with a wide variety of diseases.

Why is the Church opposed to stem cell research using the embryo?

Because harvesting these stem cells kills the living human embryo. The church opposes the direct destruction of innocent human life for any purpose, including research.

If some human embryos will remain in frozen storage and ultimately be discarded anyway, why is it wrong to try to get some good out of them?

In the end, we will all die anyway, but that gives no one a right to kill us. In any case, these embryos will not die because they are inherently unable to survive, but because others are choosing to hand them over for destructive research instead of letting them implant in their mothers womb. One wrong choice does not justify an additional wrong choice to kill them for research, much less a choice to make tax payers support such destruction. The idea of experimenting on human beings because they may die anyway also poses a grave threat to convicted prisoners, terminally ill patients, and others.

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Lack of bone marrow, stem cell donors takes many lives

By Stem Cell Treatment

New Delhi, May 4, 2014, PTI:

Two-year-old Garvit Goel had to wait for over one year to get a donor for stem cell treatment for cure of his thalassemia, a life-threatening blood disorder. But Garvit, hailing from Panipat in Haryana, was lucky to get a donor.

Thousands of patients die in India every year as it is very difficult to get stem cell donors in the country, unlike in Western countries.

Garvit had undergone blood transfusion immediately after he was detected with thalassemia at a hospital here when he was just six months old.

The doctors at the BLK Super Specialty hospital suggested stem cell transplantation as cure for his disease.

Goels sibling was not a matched donor and for his parents, getting a donor outside the family was a herculean task.

Finally after a year-long struggle, the parents with the help of doctors could get in touch with Datri, an NGO which helps patients get donors for stem cell therapy.

We found a suitable donor for Garvit in Datri database and performed the unrelated peripheral blood stem cell transplant in April last year.

Garvit is doing fine, said Dr Dharma R Choudhary, director, BLK Super Specialty.

The donor, 34-year old Sumeet Mahjan, who is working with a Bangalore-based software company, had registered himself with Datri when one of his colleagues child was diagnosed with Leukaemia.

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Lack of bone marrow, stem cell donors takes many lives

A transcription factor called SLUG helps determines type of breast cancer

By Stem Cell Medical Center

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

2-May-2014

Contact: Siobhan Gallagher siobhan.gallagher@tufts.edu 617-636-6586 Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus

Findings and Significance: During breast-tissue development, a transcription factor called SLUG plays a role in regulating stem cell function and determines whether breast cells will mature into luminal or basal cells.

Studying factors, such as SLUG, that regulate stem-cell activity and breast-cell identity are important for understanding how breast tumors arise and develop into different subtypes. Ultimately, this knowledge may help the development of novel therapies targeted to specific breast-tumor subtypes.

Background: Stem cells are immature cells that can differentiate, or develop, into different cell types. Stem cells are important for replenishing cells in many tissues throughout the body. Defects that affect stem-cell activity can lead to cancer because mutations in these cells can cause uncontrollable growth. Some transcription factors regulate the differentiation or "programming" of breast stem cells into the more mature cells of the breast tissue. Abnormal expression of these transcription factors can change the normal programming of cells, which can lead to imbalances in cell types and the over-production of cells with enhanced properties of stem cells.

Breast tissue has two main types of cells: luminal cells and basal cells. Transcription factors, like SLUG, help control whether cells are programmed to become luminal cells or basal cells during normal breast development. In cancer, transcription factors can become deregulated, influencing what type of breast tumor will form. In aggressive basal-type breast tumors, SLUG is often over-expressed.

Previous work led by Charlotte Kuperwasser, principal investigator and senior author, determined that some common forms of breast cancer originate from luminal cells, whereas rare forms of breast cancer originate from basal cells. This difference in origins suggests that genes that affect the ability of a cell to become luminal or basal may also affect the formation of breast tumors. Because SLUG can regulate breast-cell differentiation, Kuperwasser's team investigated SLUG's role in breast-cell differentiation and tumor growth.

How the Study Was Conducted: The research team reduced the expression of the SLUG gene in human-derived breast cells and then used cell-sorting techniques to separate the cells into groups of luminal, basal, and stem cells. Next, they used mathematical modeling to measure the rate and frequency that each of the three cell types changed into another cell type. By comparing the rates between control cells and cells in which SLUG was reduced, the team was able to determine the role of SLUG in luminal-, basal-, and stem-cell transitions.

To test the result of their mathematical model, the research team examined and compared breast-tissue samples from mice in two groups: a control group with normal SLUG and an experimental group that did not express SLUG. Mammary glands from the experimental and control groups were analyzed for changes in structure, the amount and distribution of luminal and basal cells in the gland, and whether these cells had stem-cell activity.

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A transcription factor called SLUG helps determines type of breast cancer

Public warned of fly-by-night stem cell procedures, products

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Human embryonic stem cells can become any cell in the body. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines Health authorities warned the public anew on Saturday about health facilities and medical practitioners offering unauthorized stem cell therapy and products.

In an advisory, the Food and Drug Administration said that to date, not one stem cell or human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) that applied for registration has been registered by the FDA for compassionate or clinical trial use, or general use.

The use of HCT/Ps without the authorization or permission by the FDA is considered illegal, it said, reminding hospitals and health facilities of the provisions of the FDA Act of 2009, which prohibits the manufacture, use, advertisement or sponsorship of unregistered health products.

This warning extends to all unlicensed practitioners from other countries and to tourists who visit the Philippines for leisure and medical needs, the advisory added.

According to FDA acting director general Kenneth Hartigan Go, the FDA recognizes only hematopoietic (pertaining to the formation and development of blood cells) stem cell transplantation, corneal resurfacing with limbal stem cells and skin regeneration with epidermal stem cells as generally accepted standards of health care procedures.

If health institutions are doing these three procedures, they can continue doing them because those are allowed. Go said, adding that the efficacy of the use of stem cells for the treatment of other diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and autism, among others, has yet to be proven.

Go noted that while many spa centers and salons are advertising stem cell therapy and products, none of them has the approval of the health agency.

As of now we have not accredited any health facility offering stem cell therapy yet, Go said.

Several facilities had applied for accreditation but Go said many of these were asked to correct their deficiencies.

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Public warned of fly-by-night stem cell procedures, products

FDA: All but 3 stem cells

By Stem Cell Treatment

Human body parts grown in a lab | Scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels

Human body parts grown in a lab For more latest tech news and product reviews SUBSCRIBE to In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in the laboratory in a bold attempt to make body parts using stem cells. It is among several labs around the world, including in the U.S., that are working on the futuristic idea of growing custom-made organs in the lab. While only a handful of patients have received the British lab-made organs so far including tear ducts, blood vessels and windpipes researchers hope they will soon be able to transplant more types of body parts into patients, including what would be the world's first nose made partly from stem cells. It's like making a cake, said Alexander Seifalian at University College London, the scientist leading the effort. We just use a different kind of oven. TAGS future for mobile phones, future mobile, future mobile applications, future mobile computing, future mobile phone, future mobile phone technology, future mobile phones, future mobile technology, future of mobile, future of mobile applications, future of mobile computing, future of mobile phone, future of mobile phones, future of mobile technology, future of t mobile, future of the mobile phone, future technology mobile phones, latest mobile phone prices in pakistan, latest mobile phone samsung, latest mobile phone sony ericsson, latest mobile phone technology, latest mobile phone with price latest mobile phones, latest mobile phones and prices, latest mobile phones coming soon, latest mobile phones from samsung, latest mobile phones htc, latest mobile phones in india, latest mobile phones in market, latest mobile phones in pakistan, latest mobile phones in samsung, latest mobile phones in sony ericsson, latest mobile phones in the market, latest mobile phones india, latest mobile phones micromax, latest mobile phones models, latest mobile phones of micromax, latest mobile phones of samsung, latest mobile phones of sony ericsson, latest mobile phones on the market, latest mobile phones price, latest mobile phones price in india, latest mobile phones price list, latest mobile phones prices, latest mobile phones prices in india, latest mobile phones samsung, latest mobile phones sony ericsson, latest mobile phones technology, latest mobile phones touch screen, latest mobile phones with price, latest mobile phones with price list latest mobile phones with prices, latest samsung galaxy mobile latest samsung mobile, latest samsung mobile in india, latest samsung mobile india, latest samsung mobile models, latest samsung mobile phone, latest samsung mobile phone in india, latest samsung mobile phones, latest samsung mobile phones in india, latest smart mobile phones, latest technology in mobile, latest technology in mobile phone, latest technology in mobile phones, latest technology mobile, latest technology mobile phone, latest technology mobile phones, latest technology of mobile phones, latest touch mobile phones, latest touch screen mobile phones, latest windows mobile, mobile technology and business, mobile technology applications, mobile technology company, mobile technology development, mobile technology devices, mobile technology education, mobile technology for business, mobile technology future, mobile technology future, mobile technology healthcare, mobile technology in business, mobile technology in education, mobile technology in healthcare, mobile technology in india, mobile technology information, mobile technology news, mobile technology security, mobile technology services, mobile technology software, mobile technology trends, mobile telecommunication technology, new technology for mobile phones new technology in mobile, new technology in mobile phones, new technology mobile, new technology mobile phone, new technology mobile phones, new technology of mobile, new technology of mobile phones, sony ericson latest mobile, sony ericsson latest mobile sony ericsson mobile, sony ericsson new latest mobile, sony latest mobile phones, sony mobile, sony mobile phones, windows mobile phone, windows mobile phones, wireless and mobile technology, wireless mobile technologytyle, sony mobile,

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FDA: All but 3 stem cells

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