Stem Cell Clinic

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. Announces Worldwide Alliance with EmCyte Corp. to Promote In-office Regenerative …

MIAMI (PRWEB) October 01, 2013

The Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. has announced a worldwide alliance with Fort Myers, Florida-based EmCyte Corporation to promote in- office regenerative medicine procedures for physicians and practitioners.

EmCyte, a leading provider of biotechnology solutions in the United States, develops biological products for platelet rich plasma and bone marrow concentrate grafting procedures. The company also manufactures proprietary devices designed for harvesting the patients own plasma or bone marrow to use for the patients treatment.

EmCyte provides clinical support and trains physicians in using biologics for sports and general rehabilitative procedures. EmCyte is now seeking to expand its operations trough the Global Stem Cells Group Network.

The Global Stem Cells Groups collaboration with EmCyte is a logical one, as both companies are committed to research and development of products and procedures that will bring stem cell treatments to patients right in the physicians office.

Through its six separate stem cell companies, Global Stem Cell Group is dedicated to finding opportunities like the EmCyte alliance that help expand the reach of stem cell therapy to all patients who can benefit from it.

For more information on stem cell research, products and therapies, visit the Global Stem Cell Group website, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

About the Global Stem Cell Group:

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions. With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

Global Stem Cells Groups corporate mission is to make the promise of stem cell medicine a reality for patients around the world. With each of GSCGs six operating companies focused on a separate research-based mission, the result is a global network of state-of-the-art stem cell treatments.

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Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. Announces Worldwide Alliance with EmCyte Corp. to Promote In-office Regenerative ...

Southern California Stem Cell Therapy Clinic, TeleHealth, Now Offering Stem Cells for Knee Arthritis

Orange, CA (PRWEB) September 30, 2013

TeleHealth, the leading stem cell therapy clinic on the West Coast, is now offering multiple treatments with stem cells for knee arthritis. The stem cell treatments are very exciting as they present the possibility of repairing and regenerating arthritis damage in the knees. The treatments are offered by Board Certified stem cell doctors at the clinic in outpatient, low risk procedures that are often covered by insurance. Call (888) 828-4575 for more information and scheduling.

Over the past few years, increasing studies are showing the benefits of regenerative medicine treatments for knee arthritis. This includes a study out of the Hospital for Special Surgery last year showing effectiveness of platelet rich plasma therapy for knee arthritis. Treatment options at TeleHealth include both platelet rich plasma therapy (PRP therapy) along with bone marrow derived stem cell injection therapy or fat derived stem cell therapy.

Often, the treatments are combined to produce maximum knee arthritis benefit and allow patients to avoid surgery, reduce pain and dramatically increase functional ability. While knee replacement surgery has been shown to have a high success rate, the components are not meant to last forever and there can be complications with the surgery.

Therefore, it makes sense to try conservative treatment prior such as with the regenerative medicine options at TeleHealth. Especially considering the stem cell treatments are often covered by insurance.

TeleHealths main stem cell clinic is located in Orange, CA, convenient to major freeways and not far from San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and Inland Empire. The highly skilled stem cell doctors at the clinic are Board Certified and have years of experience treating musculoskeletal conditions with stem cell treatments including shoulder arthritis, rotator cuff tendonitis, Achilles tendonitis, tennis elbow, muscle tears and much more.

Call (888) 828-4575 for more information and scheduling.

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Southern California Stem Cell Therapy Clinic, TeleHealth, Now Offering Stem Cells for Knee Arthritis

Trial to determine if stem cells can help with rare lung disease

Jose Guzman began gasping for breath while using his treadmill on the lowest setting and knew something was wrong. His search for answers led him to the diagnosis of a rare lung disease with no cure.

Guzman, 72, who arrived from Cuba penniless and built a thriving Miami travel agency, doesnt give up easily. He has signed on to be one of the first patients to participate in a clinical trial being launched at the University of Miami. Dr. Marilyn Glassberg has obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration to launch the first U.S. clinical trial that will test whether mesenchymal stem cells given intravenously could be a therapy for patients with Guzmans rare lung disease, known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The disease strikes mostly men who are 55 and older and ex-smokers.

Glassberg, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine and surgery and director of the pulmonary division at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at UMs Miller School of Medicine, has studied rare lung diseases for 20 years. She says this is her first real hope of extending or improving the lives of her patients who have this progressive and fatal lung disease, which often leads to death within five years of diagnosis.

Glassberg says it if successful, stem cells could be applied as a potential therapy for other, more common lung diseases such as asthma or emphysema.

We believe moving cell-based therapies to diseases like these make sense, Glassberg says.

For the clinical trial, Glassberg says she chose to first focus on a lung disease with the worst prognosis.

Once fibrosis is present, it is the end stage because the damaged cells dont know how to repair themselves, she explains. Our hope is that the stems cells will curb the acceleration.

The trials results could change the way doctors manage lung disease for patients and get them away from drugs that have not been effective, she said.

The idea for using intravenous mesenchymal stem cells as a treatment for lung disease came from the work of several researchers, including a UM colleague who had used stem cell therapies on cardiac patients, Glassberg says. While reading a report on Dr. Joshua Hares 2009 study that used stem cells to repair heart damage, Glassberg said she was struck by one of its findings: the cells infused into the heart noticeably improved lung function, too.

The probability made sense to Glassberg because the lungs are the first stop for injected stem cells, regardless of where they are targeted. She became convinced she should try to apply this therapy to the pulmonary disease that has frustrated her for more than a decade.

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Trial to determine if stem cells can help with rare lung disease

Patient's own cells might be used as treatment for Parkinson's disease

Sep. 26, 2013 Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) taken from a patient hold great therapeutic potential for many diseases. However, studies in rodents have suggested that the body may mount an immune response and destroy cells derived from iPSCs. New research in monkeys refutes these findings, suggesting that in primates like us, such cells will not be rejected by the immune system. In the paper, publishing September 26 in the ISSCR's journal Stem Cell Reports, published by Cell Press, iPSCs from nonhuman primates successfully developed into the neurons depleted by Parkinson's disease while eliciting only a minimal immune response. The cells therefore could hold promise for successful transplantation in humans.

iPSCs are cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic stem-cell-like state, meaning that they can differentiate into virtually any of the body's different cell types. iPSCs directed to differentiate into specific cell types offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat ailments, including Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

Studies in rodents have suggested that iPSC-derived cells used for transplantation may be rejected by the body's immune system. To test this in an animal that is more closely related to humans, investigators in Japan directed iPSCs taken from a monkey to develop into certain neurons that are depleted in Parkinson's disease patients. When they were injected into the same monkey's brain (called an autologous transplantation), the neurons elicited only a minimal immune response. In contrast, injections of the cells into immunologically unmatched recipients (called an allogeneic transplantation) caused the body to mount a stronger immune response.

"These findings give a rationale to start autologous transplantation -- at least of neural cells -- in clinical situations," says senior author Dr. Jun Takahashi, of the Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application. The team's work also suggests that transplantation of such neurons into immunologically matched recipients may be possible with minimal use of immunosuppressive drugs.

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The above story is based on materials provided by Cell Press, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Patient's own cells might be used as treatment for Parkinson's disease

Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Proves Safe in Primates

In a step that brings stem cells closer to the clinic, researchers in Japan have found that transplanting reprogrammed stem cells into the brains of primates elicits little rejection by their immune systems.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are created when skin cells, for example, are genetically reprogrammed to an embryonic-like state. This kind of stem cells holds great potential for the treatment of disease, since the cells are genetically identical to the patient they are taken from.

However, studies in rodents have suggested that the immune system may still recognize cells derived from iPSCs as foreign, and mount an attack on them. This has cast doubt on the feasibility of similar cell therapy for humans.

To test this in an animal more closely related to humans, researchers studied macaques. Using cells taken from the monkeys mouths or from their bloodstream, the researchers created iPSCs which they then, in turn, transformed into neurons. These neurons were of a specific kind: dopamine-producing neurons, the type depleted by Parkinsons disease.

Each monkey got six injections of these neurons into its brainsome which had been made from their own cells and others which were from another individual and therefore mismatched. The team could then see what kind of immune response each type produced.

Over subsequent months of observation, the monkeys showed very little immune response to transplants of their own cells. Their immune response was much higher in response to cells from another monkey.

The team also tracked how well the neurons survived after transplantation. They found that even when there was an immune response from the primate, the dopamine-producing neurons survived. The study is published today in Stem Cell Reports.

Trials using iPSCs to treat people with Parkinsons disease could therefore be on the horizon. These findings give a rationale to start autologous transplantationat least of neural cellsin clinical situations, says senior author Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University.

Image by Oliver Sved / Shutterstock

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Stem Cell Therapy for Parkinson's Proves Safe in Primates

Study of 'sister' stem cells uncovers new cancer clue

Public release date: 26-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Graham Shaw graham.shaw@icr.ac.uk 44-020-715-35380 Institute of Cancer Research

Scientists have used a brand new technique for examining individual stem cells to uncover dramatic differences in the gene expression levels which genes are turned 'up' or 'down' between apparently identical 'sister' pairs.

The research, published today (Thursday) in Stem Cell Reports, was conducted and funded by The Institute of Cancer Research, London. It provides the latest evidence that despite having identical DNA, sister stem cells can display considerable differences in their molecular characteristics.

The study showed that DNA methylation, a process that controls which genes are expressed in cells, plays an important role in generating non-genetic (or 'epigenetic') differences between sister cells.

DNA methylation could therefore be one of the reasons for the major molecular variation between different cancer cells in the same tumour and drugs to reduce methylation might help control variation and make cancers easier to treat.

In the new research, scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) developed a novel micro-dissection technique to separate pairs of sister embryonic stem cells for single cell RNA analysis [1].

Using their new high-tech method, researchers separated and isolated mouse stem cells from their sister pairs and measured the behaviour of key genes known to be expressed in those cells. By comparing which of these genes were up or down regulated, they determined the levels of similarity between sister cells at the molecular level for the first time.

They found that under normal conditions, pairs of sister stem cells displayed considerable differences to each other, showing nearly as much diversity as two cells from different sister pairs.

The researchers then looked at cells grown in the presence of a chemical cocktail called 2i, which reverts cells back to their most primitive stem cell state where they can make identical copies of themselves. They found that the cells had reduced levels of two enzymes critical for DNA methylation and they produced more similar sister cells.

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Study of 'sister' stem cells uncovers new cancer clue

Stem Cell Scientists Identify Key Regulator Controlling Formation of Blood-Forming Stem Cells

Newswise (TORONTO, Canada Sept. 26, 2013) Stem cell scientists have moved one step closer to producing blood-forming stem cells in a Petri dish by identifying a key regulator controlling their formation in the early embryo, shows research published online today in Cell.

The work was reported by Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, and Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, both at University Health Network. Dr. Keller is also Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair in stem cell biology.

Using mouse models to study the process of blood cell development, Dr. Keller and his team demonstrated that the retinoic acid signalling pathway is required for formation of blood-forming stem cells. Retinoic acid is produced from vitamin A and is essential for many areas of human growth and development.

When the researchers genetically disrupted the pathway that produces retinoic acid in mice, no blood-forming stem cells were produced. When they activated the pathway at the precise stage when stem cells develop, they observed a large increase in the number of blood-forming stem cells.

Understanding how different cells and tissues are made in the embryo provides important clues for producing human cell types from pluripotent stem cells in a Petri dish, says Dr. Keller. Pluripotent stem cells are master stem cells that are able to generate many different cell types including heart, blood, pancreas and liver. To make a specific cell type from pluripotent stem cells, one must direct them down the appropriate developmental path in the Petri dish.

Dr. Keller adds: Our findings have identified a critical regulator for directing pluripotent stem cells to make blood-forming stem cells, bringing us one step closer to our goal of developing a new and unlimited source of these stem cells for transplantation for the treatment of different blood cell diseases.

This research was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the U.S.-based National Institutes of Health. Dr. Kellers research is also supported by the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, The Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation, and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

About McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine was founded by Rob and Cheryl McEwen in 2003 and opened its doors in 2006. The McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, part of Toronto-based University Health Network, is a world leading centre for stem cell research, facilitating collaboration between renowned scientists from 5 major hospitals in Toronto, the University of Toronto and around the world. Supported by philanthropic contributions and research grants, McEwen Centre scientists strive to introduce novel regenerative therapies for debilitating and life threatening illnesses including heart disease, spinal cord injury, diabetes, diseases of the blood, liver and arthritis. http://www.mcewencentre.com

About University Health Network University Health Network includes Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. http://www.uhn.ca

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Stem Cell Scientists Identify Key Regulator Controlling Formation of Blood-Forming Stem Cells