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A color-enhanced photograph of spongy (Cancellous) bone red bone marrow fills the space.

How much would it take for you to consider selling your bone marrow? A U.S. appeals court puts the price at about $3,000 in a ruling that now makes it legal to pay donors for their bone-marrow tissue.

The courts decision may well help thousands of sick patients who need bone-marrow transplants to survive, but it also begs the question, what other body parts might next be up for sale?

The ruling came about at the end of 2011, in a decision to an October 2009 lawsuit brought by a group of cancer patients, parents and bone-marrow donation advocates against the government over the federal law banning the buying and selling of bodily organs. The plaintiffs were led by Doreen Flynn, who has three daughters who suffer from Fanconi anemia, a blood disorder that requires bone-marrow transplants to treat. Flynn and the other plaintiffs said that too many such patients die waiting for transplants and argued that we should be allowed to pay people to donate their marrow as a way of ensuring a more reliable supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed.

(MORE: Facebook Now Lets Organ Donors Tell Their Friends)

At the core of the plaintiffs argument was the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA), which since 1984 has forbid the buying and selling of human organs, including bone marrow. But new developments in bone-marrow extraction have made marrow donation not much different from donating blood: traditionally, bone marrow donation required anesthesia and long needles to extract the marrow from the hipbones of donors. Now, a technique called peripheral apheresis allows doctors to extract blood stem cells directly from the blood, instead of the bone patients first take a drug that pulls stem cells from the bone and into the blood meaning that the marrow cells should be considered a fluid like blood, rather than an organ, the plaintiffs argued. NOTA doesnt prohibit payments for blood or other fluids, such as plasma or semen.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to ask the Supreme Court to review the appellate courts decision, which would have been the next step in overturning it. That means the ruling stands and that people can now be paid up to $3,000 for their marrow, as long as it is collected by apheresis. In a concession to the spirit of NOTA, however, the compensation cant be in cash; it needs to be in the form of a voucher that can be applied to things such as scholarships, education, housing or a donation to a charity.

While the decision applies only to the nine states covered by the Ninth Circuit court, and only to bone marrow obtained through apheresis, it does raise bigger questions about how we will look at organ donation in the future. With about 114,000 people waiting for organs in the U.S. alone on any given day, and only 3,300 donors, the urgent medical need runs up against moral standards of the value human life. Once we start paying for the parts we need, though, how far do we go? We dont allow people to buy and sell human beings, thats slavery, says Dr. Robert Klitzman, director of the bioethics program at Columbia University. Should we allow people to buy and sell human body parts?

(MORE: Where Do (Some) Babies Come From? In Washington, a New Law Bans Anonymous Sperm and Egg Donors)

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Paying for Bone Marrow: Should We Be Able to Sell Our Parts?

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sarah Jackson press_releases@the-jci.org Journal of Clinical Investigation

In Parkinson's disease, the loss of dopamine-producing cells in the midbrain causes well-characterized motor symptoms. Though embryonic stem cells could potentially be used to replace dopaminergic (DA) neurons in Parkinson's disease patients, such cell therapy options must still overcome technical obstacles before the approach is ready for the clinic. Embryonic stem cell-based transplantation regimens carry a risk of introducing inappropriate cells or even cancer-prone cells. To develop cell purification strategies to minimize these risks, Dr. Lorenza Studer and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York developed three different mouse lines to fluorescently label dopaminergic neurons at early, mid, and late stages of differentiation. Their data suggest that mouse embryonic stem cells induced to the mid stage of neuronal differentiation are best suited for transplantation to replace dopaminergic neurons. Further, their work identified new genes associated with each stage of neuronal differentiation. Their results in the mouse model system help define the differentiation stage and specific attributes of embryonic stem cell-derived, dopamine-generating cells that hold promise for cell therapy applications.

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TITLE:

Identification of embryonic stem cellderived midbrain dopaminergic neurons for engraftment

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Lorenz Studer

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Phone: 212.639.6126; E-mail: studerl@mskcc.org

Original post:
Generating dopamine via cell therapy for Parkinson's disease

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, today announced treatment of the second patient in its Phase 1/2 clinical trial for Stargardts macular dystrophy (SMD) using retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). The surgery was performed on Friday, June 29 at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, the same site as the first patient treatment in January, by a team of surgeons led by Professor James Bainbridge, consultant surgeon at Moorfields and Chair of Retinal Studies at University College London. The procedure was successfully performed without any complications. ACT and Moorfields Eye Hospital recently received clearance from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to treat the final two patients in the first cohort of this clinical trial.

We are very pleased to continue our forward momentum with both our U.S. trials and our European trial, commented Gary Rabin, chairman and CEO. It was less than a month ago that we received DSMB approval to treat the second and third patients in our E.U. trial, and it is very gratifying to have already completed dosing of the second. It is a pleasure to be working with Professor Bainbridge and the rest of his team at Moorfields Eye Hospital, and we continue to be encouraged by the steady progress of the trial thus far.

The Phase 1/2 trial is designed to determine the safety and tolerability of hESC-derived RPE cells following sub-retinal transplantation in patients with SMD at 12 months, the studys primary endpoint. It will involve a total of 12 patients, with cohorts of three patients each in an ascending dosage format. It is similar in design to the U.S. trial for SMD that was initiated in July 2011.

The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) has officially designated ACT's human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells as an orphan medicinal product for the treatment of Stargardt's Macular Dystrophy (SMD).

More information on the status of the companys clinical trials will be posted today on Mr. Rabins Chairmans blog.

About Stargardts Disease Stargardts disease or Stargardts Macular Dystrophy is a genetic disease that causes progressive vision loss, usually starting in children between 10 to 20 years of age. Eventually, blindness results from photoreceptor loss associated with degeneration in the pigmented layer of the retina, called the retinal pigment epithelium, which is the site of damage that the company believes the hESC-derived RPE may be able to target for repair after administration.

About Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. is a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine. For more information, visit http://www.advancedcell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this news release regarding future financial and operating results, future growth in research and development programs, potential applications of our technology, opportunities for the company and any other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact (including statements containing the words will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates, and similar expressions) should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, including: limited operating history, need for future capital, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, protection of our intellectual property, and economic conditions generally. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the companys periodic reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, opinions, and expectations of the companys management at the time they are made, and the company does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking statements if those beliefs, opinions, expectations, or other circumstances should change. There can be no assurance that the Companys clinical trials will be successful.

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ACT Announces Second Patient with Stargardt’s Disease Treated in EU Clinical Trial

02-07-2012 09:43 State of the Nation is a nightly newscast anchored by award-winning broadcast journalist, Jessica Soho. It airs Mondays to Fridays at 9:00 PM (PHL Time) on GMA News TV Channel 11. For more videos from State of the Nation, visit fthenation.

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SONA: Stem cell therapy, kaya raw makapagpabata ng pangangatawan - Video

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), announced today interim one-year results from its groundbreaking clinical trial evaluating Prochymal (remestemcel-L) for the treatment of patients experiencing first-time acute myocardial infarction. The trial is the largest study of allogeneic or "off-the-shelf" stem cells ever conducted in heart attack patients. A total of 220 patients were given a single infusion of either Prochymal or placebo through a standard intravenous line within seven days of an acute heart attack.

Cardiac MRI assessments were conducted for six months following infarct to evaluate cardiac remodeling. Patients receiving Prochymal had significantly less cardiac hypertrophy, as measured by cardiac MRI, compared to patients receiving placebo (p<0.05). Patients treated with Prochymal also experienced significantly less stress-induced ventricular arrhythmia (p<0.05). Cardiac hypertrophy and ventricular arrhythmia are indicators of pathological remodeling following heart injury and provide insight into the mechanism by which mesenchymal stem cells attenuate heart injury following a myocardial infarction.

The mechanistic data is complemented by clinical data showing treatment with Prochymal resulted in a statistically significant reduction in heart failure. In the study, seven patients who were treated with placebo have progressed to heart failure requiring treatment with intravenous diuretics, compared to none of the Prochymal patients (p=0.01). Furthermore, patients receiving placebo tended to require re-hospitalization for cardiac issues sooner than the patients receiving Prochymal (median 27.5 days vs. 85.5 days).

This study is the largest of its kind and provides key insights into the mechanism of action of mesenchymal stem cells in the setting of acute myocardial infarction, said Lode Debrabandere, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Therapeutics at Osiris. These important mechanistic observations are consistent with data obtained from our preclinical models and from the first placebo-controlled human trial with Prochymal published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Given the quality of the data and highly encouraging results observed thus far, we are extending the trial's duration to capture a better understanding of the long-term clinical benefits of MSCs."

The trial also demonstrated that treatment with Prochymal was safe. There were no infusional toxicities observed in patients receiving Prochymal. Serious adverse events occurred with equal frequency in both treatment groups (31.8%). To date, there have been 5 deaths in the trial, 2 in the Prochymal group and 3 in the placebo group.

For interventional cardiologists, keeping our myocardial infarction patients from progressing to heart failure is central to our mission, said Mark Vesely, M.D., Principal Investigator on the Study and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Interventional Cardiology) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. It is remarkable and very encouraging to see significant changes in clinically meaningful parameters this early in the study. We look forward to the additional data that will be gathered as the study progresses, which will help us to better understand both the magnitude and durability of the benefit to treatment.

Prochymal, the worlds first and only stem cell drug approved by an internationally recognized regulatory authority, is used for the treatment of graft vs. host disease (GvHD). GvHD is a devastating complication of bone marrow transplantation that kills up to 80 percent of children affected. Prochymal is now approved in Canada and New Zealand, and is currently available in seven other countries including the United States under an Expanded Access Program (EAP).

About the Trial

This Phase 2, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is evaluating the safety and efficacy of Prochymal (ex-vivo cultured adult human mesenchymal stem cells) intravenous infusion following acute myocardial infarction. A total of 220 patients were randomized (1:1) at 33 centers in the United States and Canada and received a single intravenous infusion of Prochymal or placebo within 7 days following first acute myocardial infarction. In addition to screening and baseline visits prior to the infusion, initially follow-up evaluations were scheduled to be conducted through 2 years. Given the encouraging results observed at the one year time-point, the trial is being extended to include 5 years of follow-up. Both male and female subjects between 21 and 85 years of age were enrolled. Patients had to have a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) between 20% and 45% as determined by quantitative echocardiography or cardiac MRI at least 24 hours after successful reperfusion of the culprit vessel. In addition, troponin levels must have been greater than 4 times the upper limit of normal during the first 72 hours of hospitalization for the MI.

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Prochymal Significantly Reduces Hypertrophy, Arrhythmia and Progression to Heart Failure in Patients Suffering a Heart ...

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kim Newman sciencenews@einstein.yu.edu 718-430-3101 Albert Einstein College of Medicine

July 2, 2012 -- (Bronx, NY) -- Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found that abnormal bone marrow stem cells drive the development of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), serious blood diseases that are common among the elderly and that can progress to acute leukemia. The findings could lead to targeted therapies against MDS and prevent MDS-related cancers. The study is published today in the online edition of the journal Blood.

"Researchers have suspected that MDS is a 'stem cell disease,' and now we finally have proof," said co-senior author Amit Verma, M.B.B.S., associate professor of medicine and of developmental and molecular biology at Einstein and attending physician in oncology at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care. "Equally important, we found that even after MDS standard treatment, abnormal stem cells persist in the bone marrow. So, although the patient may be in remission, those stem cells don't die and the disease will inevitably return. Based on our findings, it's clear that we need to wipe out the abnormal stem cells in order to improve cure rates."

MDS are a diverse group of incurable diseases that affect the bone marrow and lead to low numbers of blood cells. While some forms of MDS are mild and easily managed, some 25 to 30 percent of cases develop into an aggressive disease called acute myeloid leukemia. Each year, about 10,000 to 15,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with MDS, according to the National Marrow Donor Program.

Most cases of MDS occur in people over age 60, but the disease can affect people of any age and is more common in men than women. Symptoms vary widely, ranging from anemia to infections, fever and bleeding. Treatment usually involves chemotherapy to destroy abnormal blood cells plus supportive care such as blood transfusions.

In the current study, lead author Britta Will, Ph.D., research associate in the department of cell biology, and her colleagues analyzed bone marrow stem cells and progenitor cells (i.e., cells formed by stem cells) from 16 patients with various types of MDS and 17 healthy controls. The stem and progenitor cells were isolated from bone marrow using novel cell-sorting methods developed in the laboratory of co-senior author Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology and of medicine and the Diane and Arthur B. Belfer Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at Einstein.

Genome-wide analysis revealed widespread genetic and epigenetic alterations in stem and progenitor cells taken from MDS patients, in comparison to cells taken from healthy controls. The abnormalities were more pronounced in patients with types of MDS likely to prove fatal than in patients with lower-risk types.

"Our study offers new hope that MDS can be more effectively treated, with therapies that specifically target genes that are deregulated in early stem and progenitor cells," said Dr. Steidl. "In addition, our findings could help to detect minimal residual disease in patients in remission, allowing for more individualized treatment strategies that permanently eradicate the disease."

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Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) linked to abnormal stem cells

The Irish Times - Monday, July 2, 2012

LORNA SIGGINS

WORLD leaders in stem-cell technology are due to exchange knowledge of potential treatments at a conference opening in NUI Galway today.

Researchers from NUIG, University College Cork and NUI Maynooth will participate in the event, which has been billed as the first major conference on stem-cell therapy in Ireland.

Prof Anthony Hollander of the University of Bristol, England who was one of a team which successful created and then transplanted the first tissue-engineered trachea or windpipe is among a number of international speakers presenting findings.

The gathering will focus on the realities of stem-cell treatment, Prof Frank Barry, director of NUIGs National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science has said.

The therapy is complex and controversial, and sometimes exaggerated claims are made, he said.

The researchers are specialists in Mesenchymal, or adult, stem cells, and will be concentrating on what is likely in the future, he added.

The list of conditions which could be treated successfully by stem cells is small, but growing, Prof Barry said.

Leukaemia and other diseases of the blood appear to respond best.

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Stem-cell research leaders to meet in NUIG

Scientists have for the first time watched and manipulated stem cells as they regenerate tissue in an uninjured mammal, Yale researchers report July 1 online in the journal Nature.

Using a sophisticated imaging technique, the researchers also demonstrated that mice lacking a certain type of cell do not regrow hair. The same technique could shed light on how stem cells interact with other cells and trigger repairs in a variety of other organs, including lung and heart tissue.

This tells us a lot about how the tissue regeneration process works, said Valentina Greco, assistant professor of genetics and of dermatology at the Yale Stem Cell Center, researcher for the Yale Cancer Center and senior author of the study.

Greco and her team focused on stem cell behavior in the hair follicle of the mouse. The accessibility of the hair follicle allowed real-time and non-invasive imaging through a technology called 2-photon intravital microscopy.

Using this method, Panteleimon Rompolas, a post-doctoral fellow in Grecos lab and lead author of this paper, was able to study the interaction between stem cells and their progeny, which produce all the different types of cells in the tissue. The interaction of these cells with the immediate environment determines how cells divide, where they migrate and which specialized cells they become.

The technology allowed the team to discover that hair growth in mice cannot take place in the absence of connective tissue called mesenchyme, which appears early in embryonic development.

Stem cells not only spur growth of hair in mammals including humans, but also can serve to regenerate many other types of tissues.

Understanding how stem cell behavior is regulated by the microenvironment can advance our use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes and uncover mechanisms that go wrong in cancer and other diseases, Greco said.

The study was funded by an Alexander Brown Coxe postdoctoral fellowship. This work was supported in part by the American Skin Association and the American Cancer Society and the Yale Rheumatologic Disease Research Core Center and the National Institutes of Health.

Other Yale authors include Elizabeth Deschene, Giovanni Zito, David G. Gonzalez, Ichiko Saotome and Ann M. Haberman.

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In real time, Yale scientists watch stem cells at work regenerating tissue

(HealthDay News) -- If you have gout, drinking enriched skim milk may help reduce the frequency of painful flare-ups, new research suggests.

The new study included 120 patients who had experienced at least two flare-ups in the previous four months. They were divided into three treatment groups that consumed either lactose powder, skim milk powder or skim milk powder enriched with glycomacropeptide (GMP) and G600 milk fat extract (G600).

Gout, a common form of arthritis, is caused by uric acid buildup in blood. Often, the big toe is the first place where gout strikes. Previous research has shown a higher risk for gout among people who consume fewer dairy products, and earlier work suggested that GMP and G600 tone down the inflammatory response to gout crystals.

The powders were mixed in roughly 8 ounces of water as a vanilla-flavored shake and consumed once a day. The patients recorded their flare-ups and went to a rheumatology clinic once a month. Read more…

Cardiofy Heart Care Supplement

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San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

Physicians Answer Questions About Food Biotechnology in IFIC Foundation ... San Francisco Chronicle (press release) “Technology, including food biotechnology, has for many years been an important part of producing safe and affordable food for a growing world population, yet questions about certain aspects of safety and benefits remain,” said IFIC Foundation ... and more »

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http://news.google.com/news?q=biotechnology&output=rss

Examiner.com

Biotechnology Industry Organization conference sets up potential partners ... Boston Globe Michal Preminger, executive director of Harvard University's Office of Technology Development, has 70 meetings on her BIO International Convention schedule. Christine Menjoz of Sanofi is only meeting with new companies at BIO — just six or seven ... New Report Finds Biotechnology Companies are Participating in 39% of All ...MarketWatch (press release) Biotechnology field is hot locally, nationally, and internationallyExaminer.com Agile Therapeutics to Present at Biotechnology Industry Organization ...SYS-CON Media (press release) PYMNTS.com all 202 news articles »

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Editor's Choice Main Category: Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Also Included In: Transplants / Organ Donations Article Date: 29 Jun 2012 - 11:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Stem Cells From Muscular Dystrophy Patients Transplanted Into Mice

A new study published in Science Translational Medicine reveals that researchers have, for the first time, managed to turn fibroblast cells, i.e. common cells within connective tissue, from muscular dystrophy patients into stem cells and subsequently changed these cells into muscle precursor cells. After modifying the muscle precursor cells genetically, the researchers transplanted them into mice.

In future, this new technique could be used in order to treat patients with the rare condition of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, which primarily affects the shoulders and hips, and maybe other types of muscular dystrophies. The method was initially developed in Milan at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute and was completed at UCL.

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder, which typically affects skeletal muscles. The condition leads to severely impaired mobility and can, in severe cases result in respiratory and cardiac dysfunction. At present, there is no effective treatment for the condition. A number of new potential therapies, including cell therapy, are entering clinical trials.

The scientists of this study concentrated their research on genetically modifying mesoangioblasts, i.e. a self-renewing cell that originates from the dorsal aorta and differentiates into most mesodermal tissues, which demonstrated its potential for treating muscular dystrophy in earlier studies.

Given that the muscles of patients with muscular dystrophy are depleted of mesonangioblasts, the researchers were unable to obtain sufficient numbers of these cells from patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, and therefore "reprogrammed" adult cells from these patients into stem cells, which enabled them to prompt them to differentiate into mesoangioblast-like cells.The team then genetically corrected these 'progenitor' cells by using a viral vector, and injected them into mice with muscular dystrophy so that the cells targeted damaged muscle fibers.

In a mice study, the same process demonstrated that dystrophic mice were able to run on a treadmill for longer a longer time than dystrophic mice that did not receive the cells.

Research leader, Dr Francesco Saverio Tedesco, from UCL Cell & Developmental Biology, who led the study, explained:

Professor Giulio Cossu, also an author at UCL, concluded:

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Stem Cells From Muscular Dystrophy Patients Transplanted Into Mice

Editor's Choice Main Category: Huntingtons Disease Also Included In: Stem Cell Research;Neurology / Neuroscience Article Date: 29 Jun 2012 - 14:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Brain Cells Derived From Skin Cells For Huntington's Research

3 (1 votes)

At present, there is no cure for the disease and no treatments are available. These findings open up the possibility of testing treatments for the deadly disorder in a petri dish.

The study is the work of a Huntington's Disease iPSC Consortium, including researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the University of California, Irvine, and six other groups.

Huntington's disease is an inherited, deadly neurodegenerative disorder. The onset of HD generally occurs during midlife, although it can also strike in childhood - as in the patient who donated the material for the cells generated in this study. The disease causes jerky, twitch-like movements, lack of muscle control, psychiatric disorders and dementia, and ultimately death.

Christopher A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, neurology, pharmacology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and one of the lead researchers of the study, explained:

The team are currently testing small molecules for the ability to block HP iPSC degeneration. According to the researchers, these molecules could potentially be developed into new drugs for Huntington's disease.

Furthermore, the teams ability to create "HD in a dish" may also have implications for similar research in other diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

In the study, the team took a skin biopsy from a 7-year-old patient with very early onset of severe HD. In the laboratory of Hongjun Song, Ph.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins' Institute for Cell Engineering, the skin cells were grown in culture and then created into pluripotent stem cells. In addition, a second cell line was created in the same way in Dr. Ross's lab from an individuals without HD.Simultaneously, other HD and control iPS cell lines were generated as part of the NINDS funded HD iPS cell consortium.

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Brain Cells Derived From Skin Cells For Huntington's Research

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Baldwin County doctor that treated former Alabama football players with adult stem cells also has treated at least two people diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

One of the ALS patients, former NFL football player and college coach Frank Orgel, recently underwent a new stem cell reprogramming technique performed by Dr. Jason R. Williams at Precision StemCell in Gulf Shores.

Before the injections, Orgels health had declined. He could not move his left arm or leg. He couldnt walk or stand on his own, he said.

Within a few days of having the stem cell treatment, Orgels constant muscle twitching diminished, said Bob Hubbard, director of stem cell therapy at the practice. Within weeks, he was able to walk in a pool of water and stand unassisted.

I think its helped me, said Orgel, who was a defensive coordinator at Auburn under former head coach Pat Dye. Im walking in the pool and I used to drag my feet. Now my left leg is picking up.

ALS is a progressive neuro-degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to death, according to the ALS Association.

Stem cells, sometimes called the bodys master cells, are precursor cells that develop into blood, bones and organs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates their use. Their promise in medicine, according to many scientists and doctors, is that the cells have the potential to help and regenerate other cells.

While Williams treatments are considered investigational, he has said, they meet FDA guidelines because the stem cells are collected from a patients fat tissue and administered back to that patient during the same procedure.

Orgel, 74, said Williams told him it would take between eight months to a year for his nerves to regrow. He is traveling to Gulf Shores from his home in Albany, Ga., this weekend for another stem cell treatment, Orgel said: I need to get to where I can walk.

In recent years, Orgel has gone to Mexico at least three times for different types of treatments, not sanctioned in the U.S. At least once, he said, he had placenta cells injected into his body. That didnt work, Orgel said. I didnt feel any better.

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Former Auburn coach getting stem cell treatments for Lou Gehrig's disease

Public release date: 29-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons elyons@cell.com 617-386-2121 Cell Press

Latest annual citation reports confirm Cell Press delivers highly valued, highly cited research and reviews to the scientific community it serves

We are delighted to report that the new impact factors align with community perception and confirm that Cell Press continues to publish the highest impact research and reviews in the biomedical sciences, according to the latest Journal Citation Reports published by Thomas Reuters.

Cell Press's flagship journal Cell received an impressive impact factor of 32.403. Showing strong and steady growth, Cell's impact factor has increased by 9% since 2005, maintaining its status as the premier research journal in its field. Cell is currently ranked the number one research journal in the 'Cell Biology' and 'Biochemistry & Molecular Biology' categories.

Over 70% of journals within the Trends review journal series increased in impact factor this year, with significant growth across several life science disciplines. Top performers include Trends in Cognitive Science, which increased by 30% to 12.586, Trends in Immunology, which grew 9% to 10.403, and Trends in Ecology and Evolution, which rose 9% to 15.748. Published by Cell Press since 2007, Trends journals offer the unparalleled level of in-house editorial expertise that exists within all of the Cell Press journals, with the support of committed and enthusiastic editorial boards and an extensive range of fair and knowledgeable reviewers.

The substantial increase for Trends in Cognitive Sciences is also reflected in the other Cell Press neuroscience journals. Neuron, which has been publishing leading neuroscience research and reviews since 1988, increased by 5% to 14.736, and Trends in Neurosciences is up from 13.320 to 14.235.

"We are very pleased to see the scientific community's response to the work published in Cell Press journals. We are grateful to the authors who entrust their best work to us and to the reviewers who provide invaluable advice and guidance," said Emilie Marcus, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of Cell Press. "Cell Press editors work hard to maintain the high editorial standards expected of them by our authors and readers, and understand the importance of engaging with, and being accessible to, the life science research community which we are all proud to be a part of."

Cell Press's more recent journal launches, aimed at expanding our scope into translational biomedical areas, continue to maintain their influence within the scientific community. Launched in 2007, Cell Stem Cell has an impact factor of 25.421 and has been named a "Rising Star" in the field of Clinical Medicine by Thomson Reuters. This means that, in 2011, Cell Stem Cell had the highest percentage growth in citations in its field. Celebrating a decade of high impact publication in 2012, Cancer Cell has a well established impact factor of 26.566.

The 2011 Journal Citation Reports ranks the Cell Press journals' impact factors as follows:

Continued here:
Cell Press journals continue to deliver high impact

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. (OSIR), announced today the expansion of its intellectual property protection around Prochymal (remestemcel-L). The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently granted Osiris two patents that cover multiple mechanisms of action related to cardiac tissue repair. Additionally, Osiris has enhanced its mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) patent estate with the issuance of patents across Europe and Australia covering stem cells expressing all therapeutically useful levels of cell surface receptors for TNF-alpha, a receptor essential to the cell's ability to counteract inflammation. These patents further support Osiris' considerable intellectual property position, which includes 48 issued U.S. patents around the production, composition, testing and use of the mesenchymal stem cell from both allogeneic and autologous sources.

"These recent additions to Osiris patent estate, combined with the existing broad coverage of our pioneering MSC platform technology, reinforce our industry leading IP portfolio and bolster our dominant position regarding the manufacture and use of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of a broad range of diseases, said Chris Alder, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel of Osiris. We have invested significant time and resources building our intellectual property estate, and with the commercialization of Prochymal, we are preparing to take the necessary action to enforce our considerable rights.

Prochymal is now approved in Canada and New Zealand, and is currently available in seven other countries including the United States under an Expanded Access Program. With Prochymal (remestemcel-L) entering commerce, Osiris has initiated the process of identifying entities that may be infringing upon its intellectual property rights and will take appropriate action as necessary.

About Prochymal (remestemcel-L)

Prochymal is the worlds first approved drug with a stem cell as its active ingredient. Developed by Osiris Therapeutics, Prochymal is an intravenous formulation of MSCs, which are derived from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors between the ages of 18 and 30 years. The MSCs are selected from the bone marrow and grown in culture so that up to 10,000 doses of Prochymal can be produced from a single donor. Prochymal is truly an off-the-shelf stem cell product that is stored frozen at the point-of-care and infused through a simple intravenous line without the need to type or immunosuppress the recipient. Prochymal is approved in Canada and New Zealand for the management of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in children and is available for adults and children in eight countries including the United States, under an Expanded Access Program. Prochymal is currently in a Phase 3 trial for refractory Crohns disease and is also being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and type 1 diabetes.

About Osiris Therapeutics

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. is the leading stem cell company, having developed the worlds first approved stem cell drug, Prochymal. The company is focused on developing and marketing products to treat medical conditions in inflammatory, cardiovascular, orthopedic and wound healing markets. In Biosurgery, Osiris currently markets Grafix for burns and chronic wounds, and Ovation for orthopedic applications. Osiris is a fully integrated company with capabilities in research, development, manufacturing and distribution of stem cell products. Osiris has developed an extensive intellectual property portfolio to protect the company's technology, including 48 U.S. and 144 foreign patents.

Osiris, Prochymal, Grafix and Ovation are registered trademarks of Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. More information can be found on the company's website, http://www.Osiris.com. (OSIRG)

Forward-Looking Statements

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Osiris Bolsters its Stem Cell Intellectual Property Estate

June 29, 2012

Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

In 1993, the autosomal dominant gene mutation responsible for Huntingtons Disease (HD) was discovered. However, no treatments are known to slow its progression. New research may pave the way to better understanding of the disease. Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced that they were able to produce stem cells from skin cells from a person who had severe, early-onset form of HD; the cells were then changed into neurons that degenerated like the cells affected by HD.

The research was recently published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. The investigators worked with an international consortium in creating HD in a dish. The group was made up of scientists from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of California at Irvine, as well as six other groups. The team looked at many other HD cell lines and control cell lines to verify that the results were consistent and reproducible in other labs. The investigators believe that the findings allow them to better understand and eliminate cells in people in with HD. They hope to study the effects of possible drug treatments on cells that would be otherwise found deep in the brain.

Having these cells will allow us to screen for therapeutics in a way we havent been able to before in Huntingtons disease, remarked lead researcher Dr. Christopher A. Ross, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, neurology, pharmacology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a prepared statement. For the first time, we will be able to study how drugs work on human HD neurons and hopefully take those findings directly to the clinic.

The team of researchers is studying small molecules for the ability to block HD iPSC degeneration to see if they can be developed into new drugs for HD. As well, the ability to produce from stem cells the same neurons found in HD may have effects for similar research in other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons. In the experiment, Ross took a skin biopsy from a patient with very early onset HD. The patient was seven years old at the time, with a severe form of disease and a mutation that caused it. By using cells from a patient who had quickly progressing HD, Ross team were able to mimic HD in a way that could be used by patients who had different forms of HD.

The skin cells were grown in culture and reprogrammed to induce stem cells that were pluripotent. Then, another cell line was created in the same way from someone who didnt have HD. The other HD and control iPS cells were produced as part of the NINDS funded HD iPS cell consortium. Investigators from Johns Hopkins and the other consortium labs changed the cells into typical neurons and then into medium spiny neurons. The process took a total of three months and the scientists found the medium spiny neurons from the HD cells acted how the medium spiny neurons form an HD patient would. The cells demonstrated quick degeneration when cultured in the lab with a basic culture medium that didnt include extensive supporting nutrients. On the other hand, control cell lines didnt demonstrate neuronal degeneration.

These HD cells acted just as we were hoping, says Ross, director of the Baltimore Huntingtons Disease Center. A lot of people said, Youll never be able to get a model in a dish of a human neurodegenerative disease like this. Now, we have them where we can really study and manipulate them, and try to cure them of this horrible disease. The fact that we are able to do this at all still amazes us.

Source: Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

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Skin Cells Create Stem Cells In Huntington Disease Study

28-06-2012 13:54 About 5 months ago, she came home from the beach with my husband limping on her right back leg. Now 8 weeks later after stem cell therapy... we were happy (well, maybe not so much...) to see her back to her old, wild, hyper self again.

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Ipo 8 weeks after stem cell therapy at Surf Paws Animal Hospital - Video

The laboratory grew and stored human stem cells, which are capable of becoming any cell in the body, and made them available to scientists nationwide for use in experiments to study diseases such as diabetes and spinal cord injuries. When it is dismantled, several thousand vials of stem cellswill be sent back to the research centers where they originated, and the equipment will be given to other UMass labs.

Susan Windham-Bannister, president of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency that oversees the $1 billion life sciences initiative, defended the decision to initially fund the stem cell bank. She said there are many examples of technology that in hindsight are unnecessary, but at the time it was conceived, when the investment was made, it was absolutely state of the art. The center, she said, was one of them.

Originally, the bank was seen as a repository for embryonic stem cell lines that were being created but were not eligible for federal funding under Bush-era restrictions. The field has evolved significantly since then, with President Obamas loosening of restrictions on federal funding and the development of new technologies for making stem cells.

Still, stem cell banks are seen as useful by some. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, for example, is preparing to invest $10 million in its own stem cell banking initiative, and another $20 million to underwrite the creation of stem cells from patients with specific diseases.

Massachusetts Senate minority leader Bruce Tarr, Republican of Gloucester, said he was concerned that lawmakers had not been told the bank would close.

Given the fact that this is a resource that was created by an act of the Legislature, I would hope anyone seeking to change its status would consult with the Legislature, he said. The notion has always been we have been working hard to make Massachusetts a leader in stem cell research, and I dont know how ceasing the operations of the stem cell bank advances that goal.

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UMass stem cell lab to close

28.06.2012 - (idw) Ruhr-Universitt Bochum

RUB biologists have deliberately transformed stem cells from the spinal cord of mice into immature nerve cells. This was achieved by changing the cellular environment, known as the extracellular matrix, using the substance sodium chlorate. Via sugar side chains, the extracellular matrix determines which cell type a stem cell can generate. Influencing precursor cells pharmacologically so that they transform into a particular type of cell can help in cell replacement therapies in future says Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, head of the Molecular Cell Biology work group. Matrix modified Taking the fate of stem cells in hand RUB researchers generate immature nerve cells

RUB biologists have deliberately transformed stem cells from the spinal cord of mice into immature nerve cells. This was achieved by changing the cellular environment, known as the extracellular matrix, using the substance sodium chlorate. Via sugar side chains, the extracellular matrix determines which cell type a stem cell can generate. Influencing precursor cells pharmacologically so that they transform into a particular type of cell can help in cell replacement therapies in future says Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, head of the Molecular Cell Biology work group. Therapies, for example, for Parkinsons, multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis could then become more efficient. The team describes its findings in Neural Development.

Sulphate determines the fate of stem cells

Sodium chlorate acts on metabolism enzymes in the cell which attach sulphate groups to proteins. If these sulphates are not installed, the cell continues to form proteins for the extracellular matrix, but with modified sugar side chains. These chains in turn send out signals that define the fate of the stem cells. Stem cells can not only develop into nerve cells, but also form astrocytes or oligodendrocytes, which are, for instance, responsible for the mineral balance of the nerve cells or which form their insulation layer. What happens to the stem cells if the sulphate pattern is changed by sodium chlorate was examined by Dr. Michael Karus and his colleagues.

The RUB-laboratories of Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, Prof. Dr. Andreas Faissner and Prof. Dr. Irmgard Dietzel-Meyer collaborated for the study. Using antibodies, the researchers showed that cells which they had treated with sodium chlorate developed into nerve cells. They also analysed the flow of sodium ions into the cells. The result: treated cells showed a lower sodium current than mature nerve cells. Sodium chlorate thus favours the development of stem cells into nerve cells, but, at the same time, also inhibits the maturation - a positive side effect, as Wiese explains: If sodium chlorate stops the nerve cells in an early developmental phase, this could enable them to integrate into the nervous system following a transplant better than mature nerve cells would do.

Bibliographic record

M. Karus, S. Samtleben, C. Busse, T. Tsai, I.D. Dietzel, A. Faissner, S. Wiese (2012): Normal sulphation levels regulate spinal cord neural precursor cell proliferation and differentiation, Neural Development, doi:10.1186/1749-8104-7-20

Further information

Prof. Dr. Stefan Wiese, Molecular Cell Biology Work Group, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Ruhr-Universitt, 44780 Bochum, Germany, Tel. +49/234/32-22041 stefan.wiese@rub.de

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Taking the fate of stem cells in hand: RUB researchers generate immature nerve cells