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SCB Medical College And Hospital Completes Their 50th Bone Marrow Transplant – Doctor NDTV

By raymumme

The bone marrow transplant unit of this hospital was inaugurated in February 2014. The unit was the first of its kind in Cuttack and the government announced that this surgery will be conducted free of cost. Read the full report here.

SCB succeeds in conducting 50 such surgeries free of cost in the past 3 years.

"The successful completion of the surgery is a new milestone for the country and the state." says Rabindra Kumar Jena, head of clinical haematology at SCB. Haematologists revealed that this transplant is conducted when a persons bone marrow becomes weak due to chronic infections, diseases or cancer and does not function properly. In this procedure, new blood stem cells are transplanted which travel to the bone marrow, new blood cells are produced and the growth of a new marrow is promoted.

"A bone marrow transplant replaces your damaged stem cells with the healthy ones. This helps your body make enough white blood cells, platelets or red blood cells to avoid infections, bleeding disorders or anaemia," says haematologist Sudha Sethy.

"The patient is under observation, as the post-operative period is generally critical. She needs to be kept in a sanitised isolation room to avoid infection." Dr Jena informed. He also said that SCB is the only government hospital in the country which provides good quality facilities for bone marrow transplant surgery free of cost. Though the entire process costs two lakhs in a government hospital and over ten lakhs in private hospitals, SCB succeeds in conducting 50 such surgeries free of cost in the past 3 years.

The team of haematologists who succeeded in achieving this goal were R.K. Jena, Sudha Sethy, Rajeeb Nayak, Manmohan Biswal, S.B. Rout and C.R. Kar. "Of all the few 50 patients, who have undergone transplants here, 46 people are living a healthy and normal life. There had been three deaths - two due to infection after the transplant and another after 178 days of the transplant due to brain stroke, which was not in anyway related to the disease." said Jena.

The bone marrow transplant unit of this hospital was inaugurated in February 2014. The unit was the first of its kind in Cuttack and the government announced that this surgery will be conducted free of cost. Odisha State Treatment Fund is funding Nayaks surgery. Another haematologist at the department revealed, "The eldest person to have undergone a bone marrow transplant from the entire continents of Asia and Europe is Zabar Kahan, 74, who was a patient here. We have also conducted the transplant on five patients at age of above 65 years, which is the first of its kind in entire India, Asia and Europe."

He added "We are all set to take more complicated cancer patients for bone marrow transplants. Besides, we are also expanding the unit to accommodate more patients suffering from thalassemia, sickle cell disease and cancer."

SCB adds that at least 3000 people of the state need this surgery.

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Targeting bone marrow protein could be effective way to improve … – Gears Of Biz

By raymumme

Bone marrow contains hematopoetic stem cells, the precursors to every blood cell type. These cells spring into action following bone marrow transplants, bone marrow injury and during systemic infection, creating new blood cells, including immune cells, in a process known as hematopoiesis.

A new study led by University of Pennsylvania and Technical University of Dresden scientists has identified an important regulator of this process, a protein called Del-1. Targeting it, the researchers noted, could be an effective way to improve stem cell transplants for both donors and recipients. There may also be ways to modulate levels of Del-1 in patients with certain blood cancers to enhance immune cell production. The findings are reported this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Because the hematopoetic stem cell niche is so important for the creation of bone marrow and blood cells and because Del-1 is a soluble protein and is easily manipulated, one can see that it could be a target in many potential applications, said George Hajishengallis, the Thomas W. Evans Centennial Professor in the Department of Microbiology in Penns School of Dental Medicine and a senior author on the work.

I think that Del-1 represents a major regulator of the hematopoetic stem cell niche, said Triantafyllos Chavakis, co-senior author on the study and a professor at the Technical University of Dresden. It will be worthwhile to study its expression in the context of hematopoetic malignancy.

For Hajishengallis, the route to studying Del-1 in the bone marrow began in his field of dental medicine. Working with Chavakis, he had identified Del-1 as a potential drug target for gum disease after finding that it prevents inflammatory cells from moving into the gums.

Both scientists and their labs had discovered that Del-1 was also expressed in the bone marrow and began following up to see what its function was there.

In the beginning, I thought it would have a simple function, like regulating the exit of mature leukocytes [white blood cells]from the marrow into the periphery, Hajishengallis said, something analogous to what it was doing in the gingiva. But it turned out it had a much more important and global role than what I had imagined.

The researchers investigations revealed that Del-1 was expressed by at least three cell types in the bone marrow that support hematopoetic stem cells: endothelial cells, CAR cells and osteoblasts. Using mice deficient in Del-1, they found that the protein promotes proliferation and differentiation of hematopoetic stem cells, sending more of these progenitor cells down a path toward becoming myeloid cells, such as macrophages and neutrophils, rather than lymphocytes, such as T cells and B cells.

In bone marrow transplant experiments, the team discovered that the presence of Del-1 in recipient bone marrow is required for the transplanted stem cells to engraft in the recipient and to facilitate the process of myelopoesis, the production of myeloid cells.

When the researchers mimicked a systemic infection in mice, animals deficient in Del-1 were slower to begin making myeloid cells again compared to those with normal Del-1 levels.

We saw roles for Del-1 in both steady state and emergency conditions, Hajishengallis said.

Hajishengallis, Chavakis and their colleagues identified the protein on hematopoetic stem cells with which Del-1 interacts, the 3 integrin, perhaps pointing to a target for therapeutic interventions down the line.

The scientists see potential applications in bone marrow and stem cell transplants, for both donors and recipients. In donors, blocking the interaction between Del-1 and hematopoetic stem cells could enhance the mobilization of those progenitors into the bloodstream. This could be helpful for increasing donor cell numbers for transplantation. Transplant recipients, on the other hand, may need enhanced Del-1 interaction to ensure the transplanted cells engraft and begin making new blood cells more rapidly.

In addition, people undergoing chemotherapy who develop febrile neutropenia, associated with low levels of white blood cells, might benefit from the role of Del-1 in supporting the production of immune-related blood cells such as neutrophils.

Its easy to think of practical applications for these findings, said Hajishengallis. Now we need to find out whether it works in practice, so our studies continue.

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Cell Therapy Can Be Fast and Easy: Just Add mRNA Nanocarriers – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

By raymumme

Essentially, nanoparticles carried a gene-editing tool to T cells of the immune system that snipped out their natural T-cell receptors, and then was paired with genes encoding a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, a synthetic molecule designed to attack cancer.

Next, nanoparticles were targeted to blood stem cells and equipped with mRNA that enabled the stem cells to multiply and replace blood cancer cells with healthy cells when used in bone marrow transplants.

Finally, nanoparticles were targeted to CAR T cells and equipped with Foxo1 mRNA, which signals the anticancer T cells to develop into a type of "memory" cell that is more aggressive and destroys tumor cells more effectively and maintains antitumor activity longer.

"Our goal is to streamline the manufacture of cell-based therapies," said lead author Matthias Stephan, M.D., Ph.D., a faculty member in the Fred Hutch Clinical Research Division and an expert in developing biomaterials. "In this study, we created a product where you just add it to cultured cells and that's itno additional manufacturing steps."

Dr. Stephan and his colleagues developed a nanoparticle delivery system to extend the therapeutic potential of mRNA, which delivers molecular instructions from DNA to cells in the body, directing them to make proteins to prevent or fight disease.

The researchers' approach was designed to zero in on specific cell typesT cells of the immune system and blood stem cellsand deliver mRNA directly to the cells, triggering short-term gene expression. It's called "hit-and-run" genetic programming because the transient effect of mRNA does not change the DNA, but it is enough to make a permanent impact on the cells' therapeutic potential.

Other attempts to engineer mRNA into disease-fighting cells have been tricky. The large messenger molecule degrades quickly before it can have an effect, and the body's immune system recognizes it as foreignnot coming from DNA in the nucleus of the celland destroys it.

Stephan and his Fred Hutch collaborators devised a workaround to those hurdles.

"We developed a nanocarrier that binds and condenses synthetic mRNA and protects it from degradation," Dr. Stephan explained. The researchers surrounded the nanoparticle with a negatively charged envelope with a targeting ligand attached to the surface so that the particle selectively homes in and binds to a particular cell type.

The cells swallow up the tiny carrier, which can be loaded with different types of man-made mRNA. "If you know from the scientific literature that a signaling pathway works in synergy, you could co-deliver mRNA in a single nanoparticle," Dr. Stephan elaborated. "Every cell that takes up the nanoparticle can express both."

The approach involves mixing the freeze-dried nanoparticles with water and a sample of cells. Within four hours, cells start showing signs that the editing has taken effect. Boosters can be given if needed. Made from a dissolving biomaterial, the nanoparticles are removed from the body like other cell waste.

"Just add water to our freeze-dried product," Dr. Stephan emphasized. Since it's built on existing technologies and doesn't require knowledge of nanotechnology, he intends for it to be an off-the-shelf way for cell-therapy engineers to develop new approaches to treating a variety of diseases.

The approach could replace labor-intensive electroporation, a multistep cell-manufacturing technique that requires specialized equipment and clean rooms. All the handling ends up destroying many of the cells, which limits the amount that can be used in treatments for patients.

Gentler to cells, the nanoparticle system developed by the Fred Hutch team showed that up to 60 times more cells survive the process compared with electroporation. This is a critical feature for ensuring enough cells are viable when transferred to patients.

"You can imagine taking the nanoparticles and injecting them into a patient; then you don't have to culture cells at all anymore," he asserted.

Dr. Stephan has tested the technology in cultured cells in the lab, but it's not yet available as a treatment. He is looking for commercial partners to move the technology toward additional applications and into clinical trials where it could be developed into a therapy.

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Eliminating the need for bone marrow donors – The Hippocratic Post (blog)

By raymumme

Researchers are looking for ways eliminate the need for bone marrow donors altogether and instead use different types of cells derived from the patient in need of a transplant, says Dr Vladislav Sandler.

At the moment, people who develop leukaemia, lymphoma and otherblood diseases often need to undergo a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This is because initial treatment of the disease (front-line therapy) often fails and the disease comes back.

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are vital because they constantly regenerate the blood system giving rise (differentiating) into all types of blood cells such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Sometimes,patients get cells for the HSCT from close relatives (related allogeneic transplantation), who happen to be a match or by using donor data bases that can match them with strangers (unrelated allogeneic transplantation). The patients own HSC are wiped out with chemotherapy and replaced with donated blood-forming steam cells which create healthy new blood cells free from disease.

The patients own HSC are wiped out with chemotherapy and replaced with the donated blood-forming stem cells which createhealthy new blood cellsfree from disease.

Often, there is not a perfect match between a donor and a patient but physicians try and find the closest one possible. When a match is not perfect, a risk of rejection of the newly transplanted cells significantly grows. There are several teams of researchers trying to find a way to eliminate the need for bone marrow donors altogether and instead use different types of cells derived from the patient in need of a transplant.

This work, to directly reprogram the patients own cells to create hematopoietic stem cells, (from which all cellular blood components are derived) has been going on for some time and has had some success[1][2][3]. However, it is a very long and cumbersome process to produce HSC cells from a patients own cells and it looks like this may never be a practicable solution to the problem. We simply cant seem to be able to get the newly formed HSC cells to replicate into the sufficient number of cells needed to form a viable HSCT.

What I discovered when I was at Cornell University was that there is a small subset of postnatal hemogenic endothelial cells (Hu-PHEC) which survive in the liver and blood vessels of the umbilical cord and placenta into adulthood. It has been known for quite a while that in the fetus, similar cells produce first definitive HSC. It was accepted as a dogma that they either lose their ability to do this after birth or simply disappear. However, as it often happens in science, this was not entirely correct. Hu-PHEC can be isolated from postnatal tissues and made to generate HSCde-novo.

In animal experiments, we took purified and stimulated Hu-PHEC and transplanted them into immunocompromised mice.

What we found was that the transplanted cells did engraft and created a healthy new human blood system in the recipient mice. What seemed to happen was that by putting them back into circulation within the body reactivated their ability to produce HSC cells as they doin utero.

We dont yet understand the mechanism but we are working on this and we need to work out a way to get enough cells for human transplantation.

Development of Hu-PHEC technology would create an opportunity to get rid of bone marrow/HSC donations. We would no longer have to go to a donor or a family member, but simply harvest some of these special post-natal hemogenic endothelial cells from the patients own body.

Another area of our research has been to develop a conditioning product which helps eliminate the patients diseased HSC with minimal collateral damage to the rest of the body. At the moment, patients undergo a rather terrible process of preparation for a HSCT. It involves chemotherapy and radiation and can seriously harm various unrelated healthy cells. In some cases, patients do not survive the conditioning process. We have developed a type of immune therapy which is a bi-specific antibody that redirects patients own immune cells to only attack and kill HSC. It leaves other cells alone, so does not damage reproductive system. This should mean that men and women undergoing conditioning in advance of a bone marrow transplantion would not need to undergo fertility saving treatment (no need to freeze sperm or eggs). This bi-specific antibody, which is filed for a world-wide patent, is much less dangerous and detrimental to health than current treatment options. We have proved its effectiveness in animal trials, but we are now hoping to move on to Phase 1 clinical trials within the next two years.

[1]Sandler, V. M. et al. Reprogramming human endothelial cells to hematopoietic cells requires vascular induction. Nature 511, 312-318, doi:10.1038/nature13547 (2014).Validated in: Lis, R. et.al. Conversion of adult endothelium to immunocompetent hematopoietic stem cells. Nature Published online 17 May 2017, doi:10.1038/nature22326 (2017).

[2]Sandler V.M et al.Reprogramming of Embryonic Human Fibroblasts into Fetal Hematopoietic Progenitors by Fusion with Human Fetal Liver CD34+ Cells. PLoS ONE 6(4) 2011.

[3] Pereira C.F. et al. Induction of a hemogenic program in mouse fibroblasts. Cell Stem Cell. 2013 Aug 1;13(2):205-18.

Vladislav Sandler is the co-founder of HemoGenyx LLC, a US preclinical stage biotechnology company launching innovative new treatments for blood diseases using blood-forming (hematopoietic) stem cell transplantation (HSCT) techniques.

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MS sufferer gets pioneering stem cell treatment – Gloucestershire Live

By raymumme

Multiple sclerosis sufferer Roy Palmer is about to embark on the next phase of his pioneering treatment.

But it comes with risks he is prepared to take in the hope it will cure the debilitating condition.

The 43-year-old father of two from Quedgeley is determined it will work. He was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS but now has the secondary progressive form of the disease, which means it gets steadily worse.

He said: I fought for a year to get hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and many people told me I didnt fit the criteria but I didnt let that stop me.

Mr Palmer had a week of injections to draw the stem cells from his bone marrow.

He and his wife Helen travelled to Hammersmith Hospital in London where he was given a day of chemotherapy.

Mr Palmer lost his hair as a result and was left feeling sick and tired.

The stem cells have been frozen and will be reintroduced to his body after another aggressive course of chemotherapy.

It will be fed directly into a main artery in his chest before Mr Palmer spends the next four weeks in isolation.

He will start the treatment on September 18 his 24th wedding anniversary.

Mr Palmer said: Im not someone to sit around and feel sorry for myself.

If the treatment works then, oh my God, I couldnt begin to describe what it would mean to me.

He added: To be able to walk out of my front door would mean the world.

I know Im lucky to be able to get the treatment. Im worried, my immune system will be obliterated, but I have to give this everything. Im a fighter and determined to make this work.

Mr Palmers family back his decision to undergo HSCT treatment, although they worry about the effect it will have.

His 45-year-old wife said: When they give the chemotherapy it brings the body back down to zero.

It will stop any immune system and take some time for the body to start getting back to normal.

When Roys levels are up they will start to reintroduce the stem cells.

The MS Society website says HSCT aims to reset the immune system to stop it attacking the central nervous system.

It uses chemotherapy to remove the harmful immune cells and then rebuilds the immune system using haematopoietic stem cells found in bone marrow.

They can produce all the different cells in the blood.

Mrs Palmer said: Im happy for Roy to take that risk and to support him but it is a lethal dose of chemo.

The treatment can be done abroad and costs around 60,000. In the past we were considering that option but there is no aftercare.

The couples daughter Abi, 12, said: I feel a little scared for dad but okay. I cant remember him walking.

And 20-year-old son Jack said: Dad has been in a chair for about 10 years and to see him walk again would mean everything.

Just standing next to each other would mean the world.

Once the stem cells are back in Mr Palmers body the hope is he will make a full recovery and be free of MS,

He said: It will be great to not have to ask people to do things for me.

I do what I can but I dont like to hang around waiting.

I want people to know there is treatment and it can be a fight but Ive got to do this now.

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8 things for spine surgeons to know for Thursday Aug. 24, 2017 – Becker’s Orthopedic & Spine

By raymumme

Here are eight things for spinal surgeons to know for Aug. 24, 2017.

Medtronic Q1 revenue jumps 3% to $7.4BMedtronic reported a slight revenue increase in the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year. First quarter revenue hit $7.39 billion, up 3 percent over the same period last year. U.S. revenue increased 1 percent to $4 billion, representing 55 percent of the company's overall revenue. Non-U.S. revenue hit $2.3 billion, up 4 percent over the same period last year, and emerging market revenue was $1 billion, up 11 percent over last year.

DuPage Medical Group to grow with $1.45B investmentWith a $1.45 billion investment from Ares Management, DuPage Medical Group is looking to expand its services and the number of physicians, the Chicago Tribune reports. Currently, the group has a team of 800 providers and plans to grow to between 1,200 and 1,500. DuPage Medical Group is also considering expanding further beyond Illinois. Along with adding more physicians, DuPage Medical Group plans to add services such as imaging, immediate care, physical therapy and oncology.

Spineology receives $10M fundingDuring Spineology's latest round of funding, the company secured $10 million. Spineology began taking $25,000 investments for the recently closed round a year ago. The company has not announced its plans for the funding.

Former Yale Spine Co-Chief Dr. James Yue joins Connecticut Orthopaedic SpecialistsJames Yue, MD, joined Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists. He previously served as the co-chief of orthopedic spine surgery at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine and director of the ACGME Yale Spine Fellowship. As a member of Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists, Dr. Yue will see patients in Shelton, Hamden and Essex, Conn.

Merger: Advanced Pain Medicine now under Commonwealth Pain & Spine umbrella Lexington, Ky.-based Advanced Pain Medicine merged with Louisville, Ky.-based Commonwealth Pain & Spine. Commonwealth Pain & Spine consists of more than seven locations and 30 providers. The merger came to fruition due to Advanced Pain Medicine's Saroj Dubal, MD, deciding to retire.

Washington University School of Medicine new spinal cord injury clinical trial siteThe St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine is a new clinical study site for Asterias Biotherapeuturics SCiStar clinical trial of AST-OPC1 stem cells in patients with severe cervical spinal cord injuries. W. Zachary Ray, MD, a neurological and orthopedic surgery associate professor at Washington School of Medicine, will lead the site's investigation.

EIT acquires 22 patents from spine surgeon Dr. Morgan LorioEmerging Implant Technologies acquired a portfolio of patents from Morgan P. Lorio, MD, of Nashville, Tenn.-based Hughston Clinic Orthopaedics. The portfolio includes 22 issued and pending patents for 3-D printed expandable spinal fusion cages. EIT plans to leverage this technology to enhance its cellular titanium cages.

Global minimally invasive spine surgery market to grow at 7.6% CAGR through 2021The global minimally invasive spine surgery market is anticipated to grow at a 7.57 percent compound annual growth rate between 2017 and 2021, according to an Absolute Reports analysis. DePuy Synthes, Medtronic, NuVasive, Stryker and Zimmer Biomet lead the global MIS spine market. A key market trend is an increase in MI sacroiliac joint fusion.

More articles on spine:Cord lengthening: Part of comprehensive AIS treatment6 key findings on spinal epidural hematomaThe causes and treatments for spinal hemangiomas

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Id genes play surprise role in cardiac development – Medical Xpress – Medical Xpress

By raymumme

Dr. Alexandre R. Colas is an assistant professor at SBP. Credit: James Short

Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP), the Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University and other institutions were surprised to discover that the four genes in the Id family play a crucial role in heart development, telling undifferentiated stem cells to form heart tubes and eventually muscle. While Id genes have long been known for their activity in neurons and blood cells, this is the first time they've been linked to heart development. These findings give scientists a new tool to create large numbers of cardiac cells to regenerate damaged heart tissue. The study was published in the journal Genes & Development.

"It has always been unclear what intra-cellular mechanism initiates cardiac cell fate from undifferentiated cells," says Alexandre Colas, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Development, Aging and Regeneration Program at SBP and corresponding author on the paper. "These genes are the earliest determinants of cardiac cell fate. This enables us to generate unlimited amounts of bona fide cardiac progenitors for regenerative purposes, disease modeling and drug discovery."

The international team, which included researchers from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Italy, University Pierre and Marie Curie in France and the University of Coimbra in Portugal, combined CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, high-throughput microRNA screening and other techniques to identify the role Id genes play in heart development.

In particular, CRISPR played a crucial role, allowing them to knock out all four Id genes. Previous studies had knocked out some of these genes, which led to damaged hearts. However, removing all four genes created mouse embryos with no hearts at all. This discovery comes after a decades-long effort to identify the genes responsible for heart development.

"This is a completely unanticipated pathway in making the heart," says co-author Mark Mercola, Ph.D., professor of Medicine at Stanford and adjunct professor at SBP. "People have been working for a hundred years to figure out how the heart is specified during development. Nobody in all that time had ever implicated the Id protein."

Further study showed Id genes enable heart formation by turning down the Tcf3 and Foxa2 proteins, which inhibit the process, and turning up Evx1, Grrp1 and Mesp1, which support the process.

In addition to contributing a new chapter in the understanding of heart development, this study illuminates a powerful technique to screen for protein function in complex phenotypical assays, which was previously co-developed by Colas and Mercola. This technology could have wide-spread impact throughout biology.

"On a technical level, this project succeeded because it combined high-throughput approaches with stem cells to functionally scan the entire proteome for individual proteins involved in making heart tissue," says Mercola. "It shows that we can effectively walk through the genome to find genes that control complex biology, like making heart cells or causing disease."

Understanding this pathway could ultimately jumpstart efforts to use stem cells to generate heart muscle and replace damaged tissue. In addition, because Id proteins are the earliest known mechanism to control cardiac cell fate, this work is an important milestone in understanding cardiovascular developmental biology.

"We've been influenced by the skeletal muscle development field, which found the regulator of myogenic lineage, or myoD," says Colas. "For decades, we have been trying to find the cardiac equivalent. The fact that Id genes are sufficient to direct stem cells to differentiate towards the cardiac lineage, and that you don't have a heart when you ablate them from the genome, suggests the Id family collectively is a candidate for cardioD."

Explore further: Discovery of a key regulatory gene in cardiac valve formation

More information: Thomas J. Cunningham et al, Id genes are essential for early heart formation, Genes & Development (2017). DOI: 10.1101/gad.300400.117

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VistaGen’s cell production methods receive US patent boost – BioPharma-Reporter.com

By raymumme

VistaGen Therapeutics has received a notice of allowance for a stem cell production patent, which the firm says could be used in autoimmune disorder and cancer treatments.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued VistaStem a subsidiary of VistaGen the notice for patent no. 14/359,517, which covers methods for producing hematopoietic precursor stem cells usually found in red blood marrow.

These are stem cells that give rise to all of the blood cells and most of the bone marrow cells in the body, with potential to impact both direct and supportive therapy for autoimmune disorders and cancer, said VistaGen VP Mark McPartland.

With CAR-T cell applications and foundational technology, McPartland said he believed the technology will provide approaches for producing bone marrow stem cells for bone marrow transfusions.

Business opportunities

In December last year, VistaGen signed an exclusive sublicense agreement with stem cell research firm BlueRock Therapeutics, under which the latter paid VistaGen $1.25m (1.06m) upfront for its cardiac stem cell production technologies.

McPartland said he expects this recent notice of allowance to also create potential opportunities for additional regenerative medicine transactions.

IP portfolio growth

VistaGen told us it plans to secure IP protection in multiple domains and international jurisdictions.

We intend to grow our IP portfolio in a manner that emphasises platform protection and maximises opportunities for commercialisation and out-licensing, McPartland said.

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Howard University Hosts ‘Be The Match’ Marrow Registry Drive – Howard Newsroom (press release)

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Howard University Hospital's Dr. Ermias Aytenfisu seeks to clear up misconceptions about marrow donation in the minority community.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 21, 2017) Elsa Nega is an Ethiopian-Canadian mother of two young children. She loves her children and wants to watch them grow. However, Nega has a rare form of blood cancer, leukemia, and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.

Black patients like Nega are the least likely to find their suitable blood marrow match, according to Be The Match which is hosting a Stem Cell/Bone Marrow registry event at the Howard University College of Medicine on Wednesday, Aug. 30 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The exact location for the registry drive is the lobby outside of room 1008 in the Numa P. Adams building.

Negas story began in February when she walked into her local ER and was rushed to intensive care. By the next morning Nega was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and started on chemo immediately. Unlike 90 percent of patients who go into remission after the first round of chemo, she did not.

Now, after three rounds of chemo, a bone marrow transplant is her only hope of recovery. Negas siblings were not a match and she is reaching out to the Washington region because of its large population of people of Ethiopian descent.

There are a lot of myths associated with marrow donation, said Amanda Holk, community engagement representative with the Be The Match in Washington, D.C. There is so much fear surrounding the process but most donors are back to work the next day.

ErmiasM. Aytenfisu, M.D., stroke medical director at Howard University Hospital said the most common way to donate bone marrow is through a procedure called peripheral stem cell donation. No surgery is involved. Donors receive medication to increase peripheral stem cells before the donation. On the day of donation, blood is removed through a needle on one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells. Uncommonly marrow donation involves surgical techniques that use a special needle to take out blood forming cells. During the procedure, the patient is anesthetized and feels no pain.

Joining the bone marrow registry at the Howard University College of Medicine event involves a simple as a cheek swab and an application. A persons chance of being a match at that point is only 1 in 500. But, for a patient like Elsa, you could be the only one. Elsa does not have a single match on the registry although there are 30 million people signed up.

For more information, contact Amanda Holk via email AHolk@nmdp.org or 202-875-9987

For the Howard University registry drive, please note that you must be between the ages of 18 and 44 to join the registry since research has shown that the younger the cells, the better the patient outcomes. And the following conditions prevent you from joining:

Hepatitis B or C

HIV

Organ, marrow or stem cell transplant recipient

Stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack)

Other upcoming local events to support Elsa Nega:

*Empower the community (The Helen Show)

Date: 08/26/2017 (Sat.)

Location: Washington Convention Center

*Ethiopian Day Festival

Date: 09/03/2017 (Sun.)

Location: Downtown Silver Spring

About Howard University Hospital

Over the course of its roughly 155-year history of providing the finest primary, secondary and tertiary health care services, Howard University Hospital (HUH) remains one of the most comprehensive health care facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and designated a DC Level 1 Trauma Center. The hospital is the nation's only teaching hospital located on the campus of a historically Black university. For more information, visit huhealthcare.com

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Howard University Hosts 'Be The Match' Marrow Registry Drive - Howard Newsroom (press release)

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Winnipeg man to donate stem cells to critically ill stranger in Israel – CBC.ca

By raymumme

When Alex Shorheardthat he was a match for a stranger in Israel who would likely die without a stem cell transplant, he didn't think twice before saying "yes."

"If I today I help somebody, tomorrow I want somebody to help me too if I [am] sick," said Shor. "I don't think too much about it."

The request came from Ezer Mizion, an Israeli health service with the world's largest Jewish bone marrow registry, countingover 850,000 registrants worldwide. Shor said the representative told him the recipient would be a63-year-old man in Israel.

Shor, 41, had registered his DNA with the registry 10 years ago when he lived in Israel.

Shor and his family emigrated to Winnipeg nearly three years ago. In March, he got word that his stem cells were a match.

Stem cells are immature blood cells that can grow into healthy cells. They can make the difference between life and death for people with various forms of cancer, blood-related illnesses and metabolic disorders.

Shorwas agenetic match for the man based on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system, which codes the human immune system. The pair would have had to have 10 of the same HLA markers to be a viable match.

In May, Shorwent to a lab in Winnipeg to draw blood to send off to Israel to ensure hisblood would be compatible with the recipient's. Now, he plans to travel to Israel to donate his stem cells as soon as he hears from the physicians that the patient's condition has improved enough to tolerate the procedure.

Getting Shor's blood to Israel required a cooler, a courier and some creativity.

Vials of Shor's blood were transported to Israel in an ice-packed Thermos.

Dena Bensalmon, Canadian director of Israeli health service Ezer Mizion, put out a call on Facebook for a chaperone that could transport five vials of Shor's blood.

"Sixteen people came forward within about four minutes," she said.

One woman the perfect candidate was travelling from Winnipeg to Toronto, then on to Isreal. They packed the blood in ice in a Coleman thermos for the 12-hour journey.

"I met Dina in Toronto and then I switched the ice packs. They took the blood directly," she said.

Canada'sOneMatchregistry through Canadian Blood Serviceshas about 400,000 registrants.

But"if a person is Jewish, then the chances of them finding their match on a Jewish registry is far greater than them finding their match on a non-Jewish registry," saidBensalmon.

Canadian Blood Services has access to nearly 29 million volunteer donors and more than 720,000 cord blood units from dozens of countries around the world, as all the registries are connected under the umbrella of the World Marrow Donor Association, comprised of millions of people from across the world.

"I find the whole thing almost like watching a circle of life," said Bensalmon.

A volunteer brought vials of Shor's blood to Israel. She kept the thermos in her lap the whole 12-hour trip.

Shor said he just thought of his own father and how he would want someone to help him if he had a life-threatening illness. He encourages everyone to join a stem-cell registry.

"Tomorrow you may save somebody and tomorrow you don't know if you be sick and somebody save you," said Shor.

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No moral reason not to create chimeras capable of making human eggs, ethicist argues – National Post

By raymumme

First came the prospect of pigs incubating human organs. Now a medical ethicist is raising new moral questions by suggesting scientists create human-animal chimeras to produce human eggs.

While the goal, for now, would be to create a ready supply of eggs purely for biomedical research purposes, should the hybrid human eggs turn out to be as good as ones produced by humans, I do not see any reason for not using them for treating human infertility, said Csar Palacios-Gonzlez, of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at Kings College London.

In a commentary in Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Palacios-Gonzlez tests arguments against creating chimeras for human gamete production, and finds all of them wanting.

Despite ongoing research and scientific and ethical discussions about the development of chimeras capable of producing solid organs such as kidneys and hearts for transplantation purposes, he writes, no wide discussion of the possibility of creating chimeras-IHGP (intended for human gamete production) has taken place. If anything, scientists have fallen over themselves to reassure the public steps will be taken to avoid creating such creatures.

A leading Canadian reproductive biologist called the paper deeply thought provoking and says the idea isnt outside the realm of possibility.

Humans are mammals and there is really nothing intrinsically different about the process of reproduction between humans and every other mammal, said Roger Pierson, a world expert on ovarian physiology at the University of Saskatchewan.

There is really nothing intrinsically different about the process of reproduction between humans and every other mammal

Were talking here not about what the combination of mammalian gametes might become, but were talking about the actual biological processes of passing our DNA from one generation to the next, he said.

The biology that comes out of this analysis is questioning some of the tenets of our assumptions about reproduction.

In theory, the process could involve interspecies blastocyst complementation the same technique researchers are exploring to create pigs capable of generating human organs for transplant.

A blastocyst an early embryo is taken from an animal and genes crucial for the development of a particular cell line or organ edited out. In this case you would aim at the reproductive system, Palacios-Gonzlez said in an interview.

Next, human pluripotent stem cells (cells that have the potential to develop into any type of tissue in the body) taken from a donors skin are injected into the blastocyst to compensate for the existing niche, he said. In this case human stem cells would complete the reproductive system, which would then create gametes.

What conceivably could result is the ovary of a sow (or cow or other animal) that produces human eggs.

In January, Salk Institute scientists reported in the journal Cell they had succeeded in creating the first human-pig chimera embryos. None were allowed to grow beyond four weeks and half were abnormally small. But in others, the human stem cells survived and turned into progenitors for different tissues and organs.

The achievement was hailed a scientific tour de force. It also rattled ethicists, who warned of the remote but not impossible risk human stem cells intended to morph into a new liver, pancreas or heart could wend their up to the animals brain, raising the prospect of a chimera with human consciousness.

Others worried about transplanted human stem cells generating reproductive tissues. Few people want to see what might result from the union between a pig with human sperm and a sow with human eggs, the New York Times warned.

Palacios-Gonzlez said that as far as he is aware, no one is actively pursuing creating chimeras capable of producing human sperm or eggs. But maybe I am wrong, the world is just too big. (The research that comes closest, he said, was published in 2014, when stem cells were taken from a skin sample from a man who produced no sperm and transplanted into the testicles of a mouse, where they became immature sperm.)

However, Palacios-Gonzlez argues that claims that the creation of chimeras violates human dignity are just false.

Most dont consider lab mice grafted with human cells such a violation, he writes in Reproductive BioMedicine.Neither do we consider that human dignity is violated when someone receives a pig heart valve, which effectivelyturnsthem into a chimera.

If human dignity is tied tothe possession of certain higher mental capacities, he added, gene-editing tools like CRISPR could be used to avoid generating brain tissue, thereby reducingthe possibility of accidentally creating a chimera with human brain cells.

Fears a human egg-producing chimera could become pregnant is a practical issue that could easily be avoided by, for example, creating only female chimeras, he writes.This would be the most sensible thing to do given that there is no shortage of human sperm for research purposes.

Even if it should one day become desirable to create chimeras capable of producing both eggs and sperm,we could just take the appropriate measures for (the chimeras) to be segregated by sex.

He also argues that whether generated by humans or chimeras human gametes do not possess intrinsic worth capable of being debased and that the eggs incubated by chimeras could go toward research capable of saving peoples lives.

Pierson said that, with focused work and funding, this kind of work could be done in probably a year or less. This is not far fetched.

This is not about having a male mouse thats ejaculating human sperm, coupled with a female mouse thats ovulating human eggs and creating a human embryo in the mouse, Pierson said.

Rather, among research questions, Its about understanding what our reproductive processes are and what they could become, he said. We need to lay down the ethical principles for exploring these new types of ideas.

Pierson said it could be the next step toward the completely lab-based generation of sperm and eggs. In vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, a technique still in its infancy, is aimed at creating functional sperm and eggs from induced stem cells. Last year, researchers in Japan reported in the journal Nature they had created mouse pups born from eggs created in a petri dish.

Pierson said any eggs generated from a nonperson chimera would likely come from a cow, and not a mouse, noting cows and humans share similar ovarian function.

NYU School of Medicine bioethicist Arthur Caplan said the technology is a decade or more away and would need safety testing in animals for another few years, if it even worked.

Safety issues are huge for chimeras, just huge, he added, including unknown mutations, subtle chemical differences in the derived eggs and the risk of communicating animal viruses.

Email: skirkey@nationalpost.com | Twitter:

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Bone Marrow Transplant gives local cancer patient more time with his family – KTBS

By raymumme

ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-TXZ097-151>153-165>167-192100-/O.NEW.KSHV.HT.Y.0009.170819T1500Z-170820T0000Z/Sevier-Howard-Little River-Hempstead-Nevada-Miller-Lafayette-Columbia-Union-Caddo-Bossier-Webster-Claiborne-Lincoln-De Soto-Red River-Bienville-Jackson-Ouachita-Sabine-Natchitoches-Winn-Grant-Caldwell-La Salle-Bowie-Panola-Nacogdoches-Shelby-Angelina-San Augustine-Including the cities of De Queen, Nashville, Mineral Springs, Dierks, Ashdown, Hope, Prescott, Texarkana, Stamps, Lewisville, Bradley, Magnolia, El Dorado, Shreveport, Bossier City, Minden, Springhill, Homer, Haynesville, Ruston, Farmerville, Bernice, Mansfield, Stonewall, Logansport, Coushatta, Martin, Arcadia, Ringgold, Gibsland, Jonesboro, Monroe, Many, Zwolle, Pleasant Hill, Natchitoches, Winnfield, Colfax, Montgomery, Dry Prong, Clarks, Grayson, Columbia, Jena, Midway, Olla, Carthage, Nacogdoches, Center, Lufkin, San Augustine, Hemphill, and Pineland242 AM CDT Sat Aug 19 2017...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM CDTTHIS EVENING...The National Weather Service in Shreveport has issued a HeatAdvisory, which is in effect from 10 AM this morning to 7 PM CDTthis evening. * EVENT...High pressure across the area will allow for temperatures to climb into the mid 90s this afternoon. Hot temperatures combined with sufficient low-level moisture will allow for heat index values to climb to around 105 to 108 degrees across the advisory area.* TIMING...Heat index values will approach 105 degrees by late morning and persist through the afternoon into the early evening hours.* IMPACT...Precautions should be taken to prevent heat related illnesses, including limiting outdoor work activities to the late morning and early evening hours. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. Whenpossible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning orevening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Wear light weight and loose fitting clothing whenpossible and drink plenty of water. to reduce risk during outdoor work, the occupational safetyand health administration recommends scheduling frequent restbreaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcomeby heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heatstroke is an emergency, call 9 1 1. a heat advisory means that a period of hot temperatures isexpected. The combination of hot temperatures and high humiditywill combine to create a situation in which heat illnesses arepossible. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditionedroom, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives andneighbors.&&$$

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Vitamin C could help genes kill blood cancer stem cells – Economic Times

By raymumme

WASHINGTON D.C: Good news! A study has recently revealed that vitamin C may tell faulty stem cells in the bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers.

According to researchers, certain genetic changes are known to reduce the ability of an enzyme called TET2 to encourage stem cells to become mature blood cells, which eventually die, in many patients with certain kinds of leukemia.

The new study found that vitamin C activated TET2 function in mice engineered to be deficient in the enzyme.

Corresponding study author Benjamin G. Neel said, "We're excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies."

The results suggested that changes in the genetic code (mutations) that reduce TET2 function are found in 10 percent of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 30 percent of those with a form of pre-leukemia called myelodysplastic syndrome, and in nearly 50 percent of patients with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.

The study results revolve around the relationship between TET2 and cytosine, one of the four nucleic acid "letters" that comprise the DNA code in genes.

To determine the effect of mutations that reduce TET2 function in abnormal stem cells, the team genetically engineered mice such that the scientists could switch the TET2 gene on or off.

The findings indicated that vitamin C did the same thing as restoring TET2 function genetically. By promoting DNA demethylation, high-dose vitamin C treatment induced stem cells to mature, and also suppressed the growth of leukemia cancer stem cells from human patients implanted in mice.

"Interestingly, we also found that vitamin C treatment had an effect on leukemic stem cells that resembled damage to their DNA," said first study author Luisa Cimmino.

"For this reason, we decided to combine vitamin C with a PARP inhibitor, a drug type known to cause cancer cell death by blocking the repair of DNA damage, and already approved for treating certain patients with ovarian cancer," Cimmino added.

The findings appear in journal Cell.

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Forever Labs preserves young stem cells to prevent your older self from aging – TechCrunch

By raymumme

Forever Labs, a startup in Y Combinators latest batch, is preserving adult stem cells with the aim to help you live longer and healthier.

Stem cells have the potential to become any type of cell needed in the body. Its very helpful to have younger stem cells from your own body on hand should you ever need some type of medical intervention, like a bone marrow transplant as the risk of rejection is greatly reduced when the cells are yours.

Mark Katakowski spent the last 15 years studying stem cells. What he found is that not only do we have less of them the older we get, but they also lose their function as we age.So, he and his co-founders Edward Cibor and Steve Clausnitzer started looking at how to bank them while they were young.

Clausnitzer banked his cells two years ago at the age of 38. So, while he is biologically now age 40, his cells remain the age in which they were harvested or as he calls it, stem cell time travel.

Steven Clausnitzer with his 38-year-old banked stem cells.

There are places offering stem cell therapy and Botox, he said.

Forever Labs is backed by a team of Ivy League-trained scientists with decades of experience between them. Jason Camm, chief medical officer for Thiel Capital, is also one of the companys medical advisors however, the startup is quick to point out it is not associated with Thiel Capital.

The process involves using a patented device to collect the cells. Forever Labs can then grow and bank your cells for $2,500, plus another $250 for storage per year (or a flat fee of $7,000 for life).

The startup is FDA-approved to bank these cells and is offering the service in seven states. What it does not have FDA approval for is the modification of those cells for rejuvenation therapy.

Katakowski refers to what the company is doing as longevity as a service, with the goal being to eventually take your banked cells and modify them to reverse the biological clock.

But that may take a few years. There are hundreds of clinical trials looking at stem cell uses right now. Forever Labs has also proposed its own clinical trial to take your stem cells and give them to your older cells.

Youll essentially young-blood effect yourself, Katakowski joked of course, in this case, youd be using your own blood made from your own stem cells, not the blood of random teens.

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Vitamin C could help to fight cancer, a study claims – Express.co.uk

By raymumme

US researchers found high doses of vitamin C found in fruits such as oranges and green leafy vegetables such as kale and broccoli may be a new weapon against the disease.

The study suggests that vitamin C may tell faulty stem cells in our bone marrow to mature and die.

That means the traditional blood cancer danger cells would naturally disappear instead of multiplying to cause leukaemia.

The findings were uncovered by researchers from Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York and published in the cancer journal Cell. Perlmutter director Professor Benjamin G. Neel said: Were excited by the prospect that highdose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by leukaemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and several previous studies had hinted that high levels could affect cancer cells. High vitamin C fruit and vegetables include bell peppers, dark leafy greens, kiwifruit, broccoli, berries, oranges, tomatoes, green peas, and papayas.

The current recommended daily value for vitamin C is 60mg taken from either fruit and vegetables or tablet supplements.

The New York study explored the link between vitamin C and a tumour suppressor protein enzyme in the human body called TET2.

The enzyme helps to guard against blood cancers such as leukaemia and is believed also to protect against heart disease.

But mutations in the gene affect about one per cent of the over-65s, making them extremely susceptible to blood cancer.

Although TET2 loss does not create cancer, it helps to create the conditions for blood cancers to thrive.

Scientists in the New York study found that, in mice engineered to have just small amounts of TET2, high doses of vitamin C given intravenously dramatically activated the enzyme.

The study found changes in the genetic code that reduces TET2 function are found in 10 per cent of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

The scientists also claim that, when they implanted leukaemia cancer stem cells from human patients into mice, high doses of vitamin C suppressed the cells growth.

Anna Perman, Cancer Research UKs senior science information manager, said: Some doctors think that antioxidants like vitamin C might interfere with chemotherapy which, we know can be effective treatment.

The important thing for cancer patients to remember is that this study is looking at the action of vitamin C in the laboratory, not the effect of eating foods or supplements that contain vitamin C.

This should not prompt anyone receiving treatment for cancer to change their diet or treatment plan.

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DHK – Annie McNamara, 27, myelodysplastic syndrome, Boston, with Dr. Robert Soiffer, chief, Hematologic … – WEEI.com

By raymumme

Earlier had a guest on that protects it you might just that might we'll just talk music you know but yes I've done and yes. We have another and now I. You felt it just at the time we got her elbow and grad and out whose family owns the Portland sea dogs and I had to admit I'd bounce the first pitch up. Portland seed in their video of this hole and I thought I asked rotate another chance to sit. Her family owns the airport into dogs and there's been. Apparently I Wii I know exactly where to go to the video thank you very much day. Any back to Mary's here and and her doctor doctor Robert Zoellick for. And that any. It's 27 years old hat Milo this plastic syndrome which I have to admit. I've been sixteen of these things but that's a new one on me at I don't think effort that went before what what exactly did in tale. Yes so it's blood disorder again normally found it again. Older folks. So it was sort of rare for at 25. Year old to be diagnosed with that. But certainly shared today is a bone marrow transplant so. I mean was it meant it to Dana Farber once I found out hands. Did three rounds of chemo outpatient acting forever. An and accepting of both Americans and last June. It's as the impatient at the breakdown. That doctor cipher was my transplant doctor and tenth harbor. And doctor Roberts worked for is here and I heard you say yes when she talked about the rarity of the disease how rare is it. How he treated well itself. It's the disease that as Annie said he's much more common old people. People in the 60s80s. Very uncommon. Twenty's. He can be treated with support here medications and little dose chemotherapy when picked Poulter. When patients younger. We generally want to all Americans clause with out of bone marrow transplant mild to split will lead to keep. And it becomes very eager to treat so. Despite the rarity of the disease and he was that. Attracted the entire time she just made it head on. Did it too tough to what I have to do. I'll take the chemotherapy in the transplant her sister was her daughter which is remarkable story also that. She showed remarkable courage through the entire process in and it even knows something was wrong or you feel like how long that laughed. Tired. Too. Much. The bar. Like an appealing their I don't got a good story and that's what you're gonna carry you through the. I cannot relate to that I. But it hadn't had it takes I knew something really often action difficult. Week. So. It's late night after what happened to inch its way. Saturday Javed Ali counted that's very Massachusetts. My word and act out there. That come back. It's. It doctor Lieberman can tear your donor with your sister Molly. I assume that might have been a ten for ten match perhaps. Yes it was an exact match was awesome. Sister is a senior at the academy's actors like frank. Steamers that reflects well. Making sure to keep a schedule worked with the sisters schedule them. In between graduation. Widgets so. I was really fortunate to. Match. A week later after such a perfect. It worked out I was able to hurt at mission. And I. Speaking we transplant a year after the transplant something significant happened in your life tell us what that is and. Yes so I got engaged. Almost. Exactly here after the transplant which was pretty special. Dan my fiance was served with me through the whole ride. So it was awesome very exciting ends. Its focus on planning a wedding now wedges. And that. All of that in the past years. And he was right there was Hewitt said he knows the real deal yeah really just aren't as good as our guys. Yep it's sealed the deal. And had a question for your doctors is finding that match fortunately she had a sister without match there for the bone marrow transplant was once the match but for those who don't have sisters don't have a brother that able to do that how tricky can nappy. Will things really change over the past five to eight years the better. Twenty years ago we would only do bone marrow transplant on a patient who had eight siblings a brother or sister who matched. At about fifteen years ago we started to transplants from unrelated donors volunteers dealers. Who were able to actually provided the source of stem cells and actually good outcomes. More recently we've been able to even use half matches so even a win eight other sister does it. Match fully ten out of ten match dale said a week you actually get by with a five of ten match almost as well as we can't attempt. Our friend Tara who's going to be here tomorrow had her bone marrow transplant in November. And I know she was kind of isolated for about nine months I assume you've had a similar sort of regiment you had to go through. Yes of the first hundred days I was inside you know sort of contact them on in the outside world besides my family. So I was definitely tough and then. I work for an Austin Co. act Clijsters and so I was able to work from home through the spring. And they were awesome. Sort of helping me get through flu season because my immune system. Receivers susceptible to catching something. So yeah I was you know at home until April. Answered just get getting back in readjusted to you. I. It's a real family affair doc watched any buyers Oprah folks beyonc really all came together it. That'll give her support of actually help keep healthy. A community effort. When's the wedding I'd accept. If congratulations a couple of things that couples swapping one you do work out some companies how to increase in credit out of great Fredricka. And secondly in the scouting reports and future sea dogs that we should be looking out or. Bully doesn't devers Africans as loyal you know he's doing pretty well. Commandant and the obviously. I don't have a scouting report right now but I'm sure things. You're in the nickel you need a great little bull market. Yeah it's I'd love going up there and Ankara practice hitting get a chance to. Endeavour's much he was there are very now really kind of scooted through town and yes. Now he's here hitting home runs things like every every game every other game. We took into been intently from you two's yeah. Yeah I'm not a you've got your children to this point yes it's critical to see them say it. Progress. It's to fat cats watch. Well it's great to visit with both of you and MacNamara fallible Malone multi faceted. Can not just in case you didn't hear ripped up. And doctor Robert Lichter thanks you guys that are very much for coming in it's great people that it. Thanks for having classy guys into the past. Thank you thank you and good luck with a wedding thank you and I hear from September whenever that is good luck. Think it's.

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We Just Figured out How to Activate Stem Cells to Treat Baldness – Futurism

By raymumme

In BriefResearchers from UCLA have found a way to successfully reactivate stem cells in dormant hair follicles to promote hair growth in mice. Through this research, they've developed two drugs that could help millions of people worldwide treat conditions that lead to abnormal hair growth and retention.

Researchers have already explored ways to use stem cells totreat everything from diabetes toaging, and now, ateam from UCLAthinks they could potentially offer some relief for people suffering from baldness.

During their study, which has beenpublished in Nature, the researchers noticedthat stem cells found in hair follicles undergo a different metabolic process than normal skin cells. After turning glucose into a molecule known as pyruvate, these hair follicle cells then do one of two things: send the pyruvateto the cells mitochondria to be used as energy or convert it into another metabolite known as lactate.

Based on these findings, the researchers decided to see if inactive hair follicles behaved differently depending on the path of the pyruvate.

To that end, the UCLA team compared mice that had been genetically engineered so that they wouldnt produce lactate with mice that had been engineered to produce more lactate than normal. Obstructing lactate production stopped the stem cells in the follicles from being activated, while more hair growth was observed on the animals who were producing more of the metabolite.

No one knew that increasing or decreasing the lactate would have an effect on hair follicle stem cells, co-lead on the study and professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology William Lowry explained in a UCLA press release. Once we saw how altering lactate production in the mice influenced hair growth, it led us to look for potential drugs that could be applied to the skin and have the same effect.

Based on their study, the researchers were able to discovertwo different drugs that could potentially help humans jumpstart the stem cells in their hair follicles to increase lactate production.

The first is called RCGD423, and it works by establishing a JAK/STAT signalling pathway between the exterior of a cell and its nucleus. This puts the stems cells in an active state and contributes to lactate production, encouraging hair growth.

The other drug, UK5099, takes the opposite approach. It stops pyruvate from being converted into energy by the cells mitochondria, which leaves the molecules with no choice but to take the alternate path of creating lactate, which, in turn, promotes hair growth.

Both of the drugs have yet to be tested on humans, but hopes are high that if tests are successful, they could provide relief for the estimated 56 million people in the U.S. alonesuffering from a range of conditions that affect normal hair growth and retention, including alopecia, hormone imbalances, stress-related hair loss, and even old age.

However, as undoubtedly pleased as many of those people would be to stimulate their hair growth, the potential relevance of this research stretches far beyond hair loss. The new knowledge gained regarding stem cells, specifically their relation to the metabolism of the human body, provides a very promising basis for future study in other realms.

I think weve only just begun to understand the critical role metabolism plays in hair growth and stem cells in general, noted Aimee Flores, first author of the study and a predoctoral trainee in Lowrys lab. Im looking forward to the potential application of these new findings for hair loss and beyond.

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Couple renews vows at State Fair after bone marrow donor helps save his life – WTHR

By raymumme

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - People at the Indiana State Fair Saturday got to witness something special.

A husband and wife recommitted their lives to one another right at the Fairgrounds.

The couple also shared with the crowd the important reason they made it to this celebration.

Amid all the fun and food and families at the Indiana State Fair, they brought some magic on the midway.

A love story - two decades strong.

"Today is actually our 20th wedding anniversary," said Derek Fakehany.

Derek and his wife, Amy Van Ostrand, renewed their marriage vows at their favorite summer spot.

And in some ways, the place that illustrates their lives recently.

"The last 18 months have been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs," said bridesmaid Sheri Champagne.

The serious test of their original vows.

"It's very easy to be in love when you're 23, getting married, Amy said. But when you're in your mid-40's and looking at your spouse maybe not making it through the end of the week, you're really tested."

In 2015, Derek was diagnosed with blood cancer.

It was a painful, difficult battle back to health that he nearly lost.

But thanks to a simple swab and a stranger's decision to be the match,

Derek found a donor on the national bone marrow registry.

He had his second transplant 200 days ago.

"That is the reason that Derek is here today. A 26-year-old woman who we never met donated her stem cells to my husband not once, but twice over the last year and that's why he's standing here."

Surrounded by the friends and family who cared for him at his lowest point.

On this day, they watched a stronger Derek and Amy renew promises lived for 20 years.

I declare again that Derek and Amy are for a lifetime of days husband and wife," their minister said, concluding the ceremony.

And in the place where they always feel joy.

Amy asked, "Who wants funnel cake?"

The happy couple and their guests dined on fair food and went for a ride on the Ferris wheel.

Celebrating two milestones - Love and Life.

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Couple renews vows at State Fair after bone marrow donor helps save his life - WTHR

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categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Couple renews vows at State Fair after bone marrow donor helps save his life – WTHR | dataAugust 13th, 2017
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Benefit event planned for Palmer man – Grand Island Independent

By raymumme

WORMS A benefit event to assist a Palmer man who is battling MDS (Myelodysplastic Syndrome) is planned for Friday, Aug. 18, at Nitecrawler Bar in Worms.

Army veteran Paul Spencer Curry was diagnosed with MDS in January. MDS is a bone marrow/blood cancer that effects the blood cells and immune system. He has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments since February and had a bone marrow/stem cell transplant in July at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

He is required to spend 100 days after the transplant in Omaha. Proceeds from the benefit will be used to help cover medical, lodging and travel expenses for Curry and his wife, Pam.

The benefit event will include a Texas Hold Em poker tournament at 6 p.m., with the top prize being two Husker football tickets.

The event will also include raffle drawings, live and silent auctions and a pulled pork dinner served from 5 to 9 p.m.. Registration for the poker tournament is $20; freewill donations for the meal. Menu includes pulled pork sandwiches, beans, chips, salads and desserts.

The benefit is sponsored by Dannebrog Michelson-Larkowski American Legion and Auxiliary Post 241.

Donations can be dropped off at any Five Points Bank location, payable to Paul Curry cancer benefit, or mailed to 2015 N. Broadwell Ave., Grand Island, NE 68803.

For tickets, auction donations or more information, contact Randy Hansen at (308) 750-0691 or Leanna Obermiller at (308) 380-1515.

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Benefit event planned for Palmer man - Grand Island Independent

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categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Benefit event planned for Palmer man – Grand Island Independent | dataAugust 11th, 2017
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VistaGen Receives Notice of Allowance from US Patent and Trademark Office for US Patent regarding Breakthrough … – Marketwired (press release)

By raymumme

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - August 08, 2017) - VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VTGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new generation medicines for depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced today that the Company has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for U.S. Patent Application No. 14/359,517 regarding proprietary methods for producing hematopoietic precursor stem cells, which are stem cells that give rise to all of the blood cells and most of the bone marrow cells in the body, with potential to impact both direct and supportive therapy for autoimmune disorders and cancer.

The breakthrough technology covered by the allowed U.S. patent was discovered and developed by distinguished stem cell researcher, Dr. Gordon Keller, Director of the UHN's McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto, one of the world's leading centers for stem cell and regenerative medicine research and part of the University Health Network (UHN), Canada's largest research hospital. Dr. Keller is a co-founder of VistaGen and a member of the Company's Scientific Advisory Board. VistaGen holds an exclusive worldwide license from UHN to the stem cell technology covered by the allowed U.S. patent.

"We are pleased to report that the USPTO has allowed another important U.S. patent relating to our stem cell technology platform, stated Shawn Singh, Chief Executive Officer of VistaGen. "Because the technology under this allowed patent involves the stem cells from which all blood cells are derived, it has the potential to reach the lives of millions battling a broad range of life-threatening medical conditions, including cancer, with CAR-T cell applications and foundational technology we believe ultimately will provide approaches for producing bone marrow stem cells for bone marrow transfusions. As we continue to expand the patent portfolio of VistaStem Therapeutics, our stem cell technology-focused subsidiary, we enhance our potential opportunities for additional regenerative medicine transactions similar to our December 2016 sublicense of cardiac stem cell technology to BlueRock Therapeutics, while focusing VistaStem's internal efforts on using stem cell technology for cost-efficient small molecule drug rescue to expand our drug development pipeline."

About VistaGenVistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTGN), is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new generation medicines for depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. VistaGen's lead CNS product candidate, AV-101, is in Phase 2 development, initially as a new generation oral antidepressant drug candidate for major depressive disorder (MDD). AV-101's mechanism of action is fundamentally different from all FDA-approved antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics used adjunctively to treat MDD, with potential to drive a paradigm shift towards a new generation of safer and faster-acting antidepressants. AV-101 is currently being evaluated by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in a small Phase 2 monotherapy study in MDD being fully funded by the NIMH and conducted by Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr., Chief, Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders and Chief of Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch at the NIMH. VistaGen is preparing to launch a 180-patient Phase 2 study of AV-101 as an adjunctive treatment for MDD patients with an inadequate response to standard, FDA-approved antidepressants. Dr. Maurizio Fava of Harvard University will be the Principal Investigator of the Company's Phase 2 adjunctive treatment study. AV-101 may also have the potential to treat multiple CNS disorders and neurodegenerative diseases in addition to MDD, including neuropathic pain, epilepsy, Huntington's disease, and levodopa-induced dyskinesia associated with Parkinson's disease and other disorders where modulation of the NMDA receptors, activation of AMPA pathways and/or key active metabolites of AV-101 may achieve therapeutic benefit.

About VistaStemVistaStem Therapeutics is VistaGen's wholly-owned subsidiary focused on applying human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology, internally and with third-party collaborators, to discover, rescue, develop and commercialize (i) proprietary new chemical entities (NCEs), including small molecule NCEs with regenerative potential, for CNS and other diseases and (ii) cellular therapies involving stem cell-derived blood, cartilage, heart and liver cells. VistaStem's internal drug rescue programs are designed to utilize CardioSafe 3D, its customized cardiac bioassay system, to develop small molecule NCEs for VistaGen's pipeline. To advance potential regenerative medicine (RM) applications of its cardiac stem cell technology, in December 2016, VistaStem exclusively sublicensed to BlueRock Therapeutics LP, a next generation regenerative medicine company established in 2016 by Bayer AG and Versant Ventures, rights to certain proprietary technologies relating to the production of cardiac cells for the treatment of heart disease. In a manner similar to its exclusive sublicense agreement with BlueRock Therapeutics, VistaStem may pursue additional collaborations and potential RM applications of its stem cell technology platform, including using blood, cartilage, and/or liver cells derived from hPSCs, for (i) cell-based therapy, (ii) cell repair therapy, and/or (iii) tissue engineering.

For more information, please visit http://www.vistagen.com and connect with VistaGen on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Forward-Looking StatementsThe statements in this press release that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to the successful launch, continuation and results of the NIMH's Phase 2 (monotherapy) and/or the Company's planned Phase 2 (adjunctive therapy) clinical studies of AV-101 in MDD, and other CNS diseases and disorders, including neuropathic pain and L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia associated with Parkinson's disease, the potential for the Company's stem cell technology to produce NCEs, cellular therapies, regenerative medicine or bone marrow stem cells to treat any medical condition, including autoimmune disorders and cancer, protection of its intellectual property, and the availability of substantial additional capital to support its operations, including the AV-101 clinical development activities described above. These and other risks and uncertainties are identified and described in more detail in VistaGen's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These filings are available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. VistaGen undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Read more:
VistaGen Receives Notice of Allowance from US Patent and Trademark Office for US Patent regarding Breakthrough ... - Marketwired (press release)

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categoriaCardiac Stem Cells commentoComments Off on VistaGen Receives Notice of Allowance from US Patent and Trademark Office for US Patent regarding Breakthrough … – Marketwired (press release) | dataAugust 10th, 2017
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