Page 117«..1020..116117118119..130140..»

Cashton man goes from winning state award to battling cancer

By JoanneRUSSELL25

MADISON Winning the State Cow of the Year award at the 2014 World Dairy Expo on Oct. 3 was only the second biggest thing that happened while the Peterson family of Cashton was in Madison that week.

The most important came a few days later, on the west side of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, when stem cells from Kurt Petersons bone marrow began flowing into the blood stream of his brother, giving Scot Peterson, 45, a new immune system and a good shot of beating adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Hes a man of few words, says Scot, of his younger brother, Kurt, 40. But you know he really loves you to do something like this.

Its been a good news/bad news kind of a year for the Peterson brothers, who co-own the Coulee Crest farm in the rolling hills of Monroe County, and the states queen of cows, Coulee Crest Nick Lorilyn. Guernseys are the caramel brown and white cows known for the richness of their milk. And Lorilynn won the crown because she, her mother, and one of her daughters have each produced 40,000 pounds of milk in a year.

The last weekend in June, the National Guernsey Association held its national convention in La Crosse. The Petersons hosted a tour of their farm and a dinner event for 475 convention goers at their farm.

Scot Peterson, a burly guy who competed in Sweden for the world tug-of-war championship when he was younger, felt pains in his legs, odd bruises, and general exhaustion.

I thought I was tired from all the work of getting the farm ready, Scot Peterson says. He got through the convention and the national sale on June 30. That was another high point for the farm, with one of Lorilyns daughters topping the sale at $19,000.

By the next day, there was bad news.

By the middle of the day on July 1, I was in the hospital, finding out my diagnosis of leukemia, he recalls.

His oncologist, Dr. Wayne Bottner of Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, told Scot that he had a type of leukemia, ALL, in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. ALL is more common and easier to treat in children. Adults fare better if they can find a match that allows them to have a stem cell transplant from a donors bone marrow. So Bottner referred Peterson to the UW Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison.

Originally posted here:
Cashton man goes from winning state award to battling cancer

To Read More: Cashton man goes from winning state award to battling cancer
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Cashton man goes from winning state award to battling cancer | dataOctober 12th, 2014
Read All

Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells

By LizaAVILA

October 8, 2014

Image Caption: New genetic barcoding technology allows scientists to identify differences in origin between individual blood cells. Credit: Camargo Lab

Provided by Joseph Caputo, Harvard University

New technology that tracks the origin of blood cells challenges scientific dogma

A 7-year-project to develop a barcoding and tracking system for tissue stem cells has revealed previously unrecognized features of normal blood production: New data from Harvard Stem Cell Institute scientists at Boston Childrens Hospital suggests, surprisingly, that the billions of blood cells that we produce each day are made not by blood stem cells, but rather their less pluripotent descendants, called progenitor cells. The researchers hypothesize that blood comes from stable populations of different long-lived progenitor cells that are responsible for giving rise to specific blood cell types, while blood stem cells likely act as essential reserves.

The work, supported by a National Institutes of Health Directors New Innovator Award and published in Nature, suggests that progenitor cells could potentially be just as valuable as blood stem cells for blood regeneration therapies.

This new research challenges what textbooks have long read: That blood stem cells maintain the day-to-day renewal of blood, a conclusion drawn from their importance in re-establishing blood cell populations after bone marrow transplantsa fact that still remains true. But because of a lack of tools to study how blood forms in a normal context, nobody had been able to track the origin of blood cells without doing a transplant.

Boston Childrens Hospital scientist Fernando Camargo, PhD, and his postdoctoral fellow Jianlong Sun, PhD, addressed this problem with a tool that generates a unique barcode in the DNA of all blood stem cells and their progenitor cells in a mouse. When a tagged cell divides, all of its descendant cells possess the same barcode. This biological inventory system makes it possible to determine the number of stem cells/progenitors being used to make blood and how long they live, as well as answer fundamental questions about where individual blood cells come from.

Theres never been such a robust experimental method that could allow people to look at lineage relationships between mature cell types in the body without doing transplantation, Sun said. One of the major directions we can now go is to revisit the entire blood cell hierarchy and see how the current knowledge holds true when we use this internal labeling system.

People have tried using viruses to tag blood cells in the past, but the cells needed to be taken out of the body, infected, and re-transplanted, which raised a number of issues, said Camargo, who is a member of Childrens Stem Cell Program and an associate professor in Harvard Universitys Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. I wanted to figure out a way to label blood cells inside of the body, and the best idea I had was to use mobile genetic elements called transposons.

Read more:
Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells

To Read More: Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Scientists Develop Barcoding Tool For Stem Cells | dataOctober 9th, 2014
Read All

Bone marrow registry drive Saturday in Des Plaines

By Dr. Matthew Watson

A combined LifeSource blood drive and Be The Match bone marrow registry event will honor two local women battling different forms of leukemia from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at The Society of Danube Swabians, 625 E. Seegers Road, Des Plaines.

The event will co-honor Des Plaines resident Amy Charewicz, 24, and Prospect Heights resident Anni Mayer, who is a Society of Danube Swabians board member. Mayer, a St. Alphonsus Ligouri parishioner and national society youth group leader, has Myelodyplastic Syndrome, a blood cancer that prevents her bone marrow from making enough healthy blood cells. Charewicz has aggressive Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia, a disease that causes her bone marrow to produce abnormal white and red blood cells, as well as platelets.

The Northern Illinois University graduate will receive a stem cell transplant Thursday from a 23-year-old man located by Be the Match at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "Amy has been fortunate to have what she needs available because others have donated and registered," says Doris Charewicz, her mother. "She wants to 'pay it forward' by increasing awareness of the need for both blood donors and stem cell donors."

Be The Match registrants are limited to ages 18-44 and don't need to preregister. Blood donor walk-ins are welcome, but appointments are preferred at (877) 543-3768 or http://www.lifesource.org using code 650B.

View post:
Bone marrow registry drive Saturday in Des Plaines

To Read More: Bone marrow registry drive Saturday in Des Plaines
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Bone marrow registry drive Saturday in Des Plaines | dataOctober 7th, 2014
Read All

Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal

By daniellenierenberg

VIEW GALLERY

The family of brave toddler Margot Martini launched a new bone marrow donor appeal this morning exactly a year after she was diagnosed with leukaemia.

Her relatives said the first Team Margot Stem Cell and Bone Marrow Awareness Day would be held in another 12 months, on Wednesday October 7, 2015.

The two-year-old underwent a bone marrow transplant in February after her dad, Yaser, from Essington, and mum Vicki launched a desperate appeal for help.

Margot Martini with mum Vicky

But she relapsed and her parents decided to end her treatment after being told her chances of survival were less than one per cent.

The awareness day is designed to promote awareness around the need for more potential stem cell donors to join the UK and worldwide registries.

Her family said they hoped mixed race people would sign up to plug a gaping hole on the lists.

Just sixty per cent of the 37,000 patients needing a stem cell donor worldwide receives a perfect match.

But that figure plunges to barely 20 per cent for those from black, Asian or ethnic minority communities.

View post:
Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal

To Read More: Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Family of Margot Martini launch new stem cell and bone marrow appeal | dataOctober 7th, 2014
Read All

New technique allows scientists to find rare stem cells within bone marrow

By raymumme

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Oct-2014

Contact: Sarah McDonnell s_mcd@mit.edu 617-253-8923 Massachusetts Institute of Technology @MITnews

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Deep within the bone marrow resides a type of cells known as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These immature cells can differentiate into cells that produce bone, cartilage, fat, or muscle a trait that scientists have tried to exploit for tissue repair.

In a new study that should make it easier to develop such stem-cell-based therapies, a team of researchers from MIT and the Singapore-MIT Alliance in Research and Technology (SMART) has identified three physical characteristics of MSCs that can distinguish them from other immature cells found in the bone marrow. Based on this information, they plan to create devices that could rapidly isolate MSCs, making it easier to generate enough stem cells to treat patients.

Until now, there has been no good way to separate MSCs from bone marrow cells that have already begun to differentiate into other cell types, but share the same molecules on the cell surface. This may be one reason why research results vary among labs, and why stem-cell treatments now in clinical trials are not as effective as they could be, says Krystyn Van Vliet, an MIT associate professor of materials science and engineering and biological engineering and a senior author of the paper, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week.

"Some of the cells that you're putting in and calling stem cells are producing a beneficial therapeutic outcome, but many of the cells that you're putting in are not," Van Vliet says. "Our approach provides a way to purify or highly enrich for the stem cells in that population. You can now find the needles in the haystack and use them for human therapy."

Lead authors of the paper are W.C. Lee, a former graduate student at the National University of Singapore and SMART, and Hui Shi, a former SMART postdoc. Other authors are Jongyoon Han, an MIT professor of electrical engineering and biological engineering, SMART researchers Zhiyong Poon, L.M. Nyan, and Tanwi Kaushik, and National University of Singapore faculty members G.V. Shivashankar, J.K.Y. Chan, and C.T. Lim.

Physical markers

MSCs make up only a small percentage of cells in the bone marrow. Other immature cells found there include osteogenic cells, which have already begun the developmental path toward becoming cartilage- or bone-producing cells. Currently, researchers try to isolate MSCs based on protein markers found on the cell surfaces. However, these markers are not specific to MSCs and can also yield other types of immature cells that are more differentiated.

Excerpt from:
New technique allows scientists to find rare stem cells within bone marrow

To Read More: New technique allows scientists to find rare stem cells within bone marrow
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on New technique allows scientists to find rare stem cells within bone marrow | dataOctober 7th, 2014
Read All

How did the Berlin patient become cured of HIV?

By Sykes24Tracey

By Jon Cohen October 6 at 5:00 PM

Researchers are closer to unraveling the mystery of how Timothy Ray Brown, the only human cured of HIV, defeated the virus, according to a new study. Although the work doesnt provide a definitive answer, it rules out one possible explanation.

Brown remains one of the most studied cases in the HIV epidemics history. In 2006, after living with the virus for 11 years and controlling his infection with antiretroviral drugs, he learned that he had developed acute myeloid leukemia. (The leukemia has no known relationship to HIV infection or treatment.) Chemotherapy failed, and the next year Brown received the first of two bone marrow transplants a common treatment for this cancer and ditched his antiretrovirals. (An American then living in Berlin, Brown has been known to researchers for years as the Berlin patient.

When HIV-infected people stop taking these drugs, levels of HIV typically skyrocket within weeks. Yet researchers scouring Browns blood over the past seven years have found only traces of the viral genetic material, none of which can replicate.

Today, researchers point to three factors that might independently or in combination have ridden Browns body of HIV. The first is the process of conditioning, in which doctors destroyed Browns immune system with chemotherapy and whole-body irradiation to prepare him for his bone marrow transplant.

Second, his oncologist, Gero Htter, took an extra step that he thought might not only cure the leukemia but also help rid Browns body of HIV. He found a bone marrow donor who had a rare mutation in a gene that cripples a key receptor on white blood cells that the virus uses to establish an infection.

The third possible explanation is that Browns new immune system attacked remnants of his old one that held HIV-infected cells, a process known as graft vs. host disease.

In the new study, a team led by immunologist Guido Silvestri of Emory University in Atlanta designed an unusual monkey experiment to test these possibilities.

Bone marrow transplants work because of stem cells. Modern techniques avoid actually aspirating bone marrow and instead can sift through blood and pluck out the stem cells needed for a transplant to engraft. So the researchers first drew blood from three rhesus macaque monkeys, removed stem cells and put the cells in storage. They then infected these animals and three control monkeys with a hybrid virus, known as SHIV, that contains parts of the simian and human AIDS viruses. All six animals soon began receiving antiretroviral drugs, and SHIV levels in the blood quickly dropped below the level of detection on standard tests, as expected.

A few months later, the three monkeys with stored stem cells underwent whole-body irradiation to condition their bodies and then had their own stem cells reinfused. After the cells engrafted, a process that took a few more months, the researchers stopped antiretrovirals in the three animals and in the three controls. SHIV quickly came screaming back in the three controls and two of the transplanted animals. (One of the transplanted monkeys did not have the virus rebound, but its kidneys failed and the researchers euthanized it.)

Read more:
How did the Berlin patient become cured of HIV?

To Read More: How did the Berlin patient become cured of HIV?
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on How did the Berlin patient become cured of HIV? | dataOctober 7th, 2014
Read All

Unknown donor helps Struthers woman through cancer battle

By LizaAVILA

Published: Sat, October 4, 2014 @ 12:09 a.m.

By EMMALEE C. TORISK

etorisk@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

Missy Ginnetti began to tear up as she re-read a typed letter from her bone-marrow donor.

Sitting at her kitchen table, with her husband, Mahoning County Engineer Pat Ginnetti, across from her, Missy explained that she doesnt know anything specific a name, an occupation, a city of residence about her donor. In fact, any bits of potentially revealing information, no matter how seemingly minute or insignificant, were blacked out of the letter.

What wasnt, however, was her donors closing: Sincerely, The other part of your marrow.

I wrote back, Dear All of my marrow, Missy said, laughing.

Its true. Within 30 days of her allogeneic stem-cell transplant in late March, Missys body had accepted 100 percent of the donor cells something that often doesnt happen for up to a year afterward.

Now, more than four years after Missys initial diagnosis of stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma, life for the Ginnettis is beginning to move closer to normal once again. The next big thing, she said, is undergoing tests and scans within the next couple of weeks that will reveal whether cancer cells [are] showing up anywhere.

Excerpt from:
Unknown donor helps Struthers woman through cancer battle

To Read More: Unknown donor helps Struthers woman through cancer battle
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Unknown donor helps Struthers woman through cancer battle | dataOctober 4th, 2014
Read All

Embryonic stem cells to tackle major killer diseases

By JoanneRUSSELL25

Stem cells are getting serious. Two decades after they were discovered, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are being tested as a treatment for two major diseases: heart failure and type 1 diabetes.

Treatments based on hESCs have been slow coming because of controversy over their source and fears that they could turn into tumours once implanted. They have enormous potential because hESCs can be grown into any of the body's 200 tissue types, unlike the stems cells isolated from adult tissues that have mostly been used in treatments until now.

In the most rigorous test of embryonic stems cells' potential yet, six people with heart failure will be treated in France with a patch of immature heart cells made from hESCs, and 40 people with diabetes in the US will receive pouches containing immature pancreatic cells made from hESCs.

The hope is that the heart patch will help to regenerate heart muscle destroyed by heart attacks. Trials in monkeys showed that the patch could regenerate up to 20 per cent of the lost muscle within two months.

The pancreatic cells are supposed to mature into beta cells, which produce the hormone insulin. These would act as a substitute for the cells that are destroyed by the immune systems of people with type 1 diabetes.

Although treatments based on hESCs have already been given to people with a type of age-related blindness and with spinal paralysis, the latest trials are the therapy's first foray into major fatal diseases. Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world, and cases of type 1 diabetes are growing.

"Both are landmark studies, and are different from what we've had up to now," says Chris Mason, head of regenerative medicine at University College London. "The blindness already being treated is serious, but diabetes and heart failure are killers, and things we don't have solutions for, so this brings hESCs into the mainstream."

Some people with heart disease and diabetes have received experimental treatments based on stem cells isolated from adult tissue, often from bone marrow, with varying degrees of success. These mesenchymal stem cells, or MSCs, can mature into several tissues including muscle, bone, cartilage and fat but there is no guarantee that they will grow into cardiac muscle.

A recent review of 23 trials involving 1255 people with heart disease found that there is some evidence that recipients of stem cell therapy are less likely to die or be readmitted to hospital a year or more after treatment than people who received standard treatment.

The hope is that using hESCs in place of MSCs will improve these outcomes further because they can be grown from scratch into cells exactly suited to their medical purpose. "We think our cells are more committed to the heart lineage," says Philippe Menasch, head of the French trial at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.

See original here:
Embryonic stem cells to tackle major killer diseases

To Read More: Embryonic stem cells to tackle major killer diseases
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Embryonic stem cells to tackle major killer diseases | dataOctober 2nd, 2014
Read All

Disease decoded: Gene mutation may lead to development of new cancer drugs

By NEVAGiles23

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-Sep-2014

Contact: Laura Bailey baileylm@umich.edu 734-647-1848 University of Michigan @umich

ANN ARBORThe discovery of a gene mutation that causes a rare premature aging disease could lead to the development of drugs that block the rapid, unstoppable cell division that makes cancer so deadly.

Scientists at the University of Michigan and the U-M Health System recently discovered a protein mutation that causes the devastating disease dyskeratosis congenita, in which precious hematopoietic stem cells can't regenerate and make new blood. People with DC age prematurely and are prone to cancer and bone marrow failure.

But the study findings reach far beyond the roughly one in 1 million known DC patients, and could ultimately lead to developing new drugs that prevent cancer from spreading, said Jayakrishnan Nandakumar, assistant professor in the U-M Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology.

The DC-causing mutation occurs in a protein called TPP1. The mutation inhibits TPP1's ability to bind the enzyme telomerase to the ends of chromosomes, which ultimately results in reduced hematopoietic stem cell division. While telomerase is underproduced in DC patients, the opposite is true for cells in cancer patients.

"Telomerase overproduction in cancer cells helps them divide uncontrollably, which is a hallmark of all cancers," Nandakumar said. "Inhibiting telomerase will be an effective way to kill cancer cells."

The findings could lead to the development of gene therapies to repair the mutation and start cell division in DC patients, or drugs to inhibit telomerase and cell division in cancer patients. Both would amount to huge treatment breakthroughs for DC and cancer patients, Nandakumar said.

Nandakumar said that a major step moving forward is to culture DC patient-derived cells and try to repair the TPP1 mutation to see if telomerase function can be restored. Ultimately, the U-M scientist hopes that fixing the TPP1 mutation repairs telomerase function and fuels cell division in the stem cells of DC patients.

Continued here:
Disease decoded: Gene mutation may lead to development of new cancer drugs

To Read More: Disease decoded: Gene mutation may lead to development of new cancer drugs
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Disease decoded: Gene mutation may lead to development of new cancer drugs | dataOctober 1st, 2014
Read All

Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis

By raymumme

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Sep-2014

Contact: Sasha Walek newsmedia@mssm.edu 212-241-6738 The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine @mountsinainyc

Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were able to safely tolerate treatment with cells cultured from human placental tissue, according to a study published today in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. The study, which is the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary of Celgene Corporation and collaborators at several other institutions.

While designed to determine safety of the treatment, early signals in the data also suggested that a preparation of cultured cells called PDA-001 may repair damaged nerve tissues in patients with MS. PDA-001 cells resemble mesenchymal, stromal stem cells found in many tissues of the body. Since the cells are expanded in cell cultures, one donor is able to supply enough cells for many patients.

"This is the first time placenta-derived cells have been tested as a possible therapy for multiple sclerosis," said Fred Lublin, MD, Director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Professor of Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the lead investigator of the study. "The next step will be to study larger numbers of MS patients to assess efficacy of the cells, but we could be looking at a new frontier in treatment for the disease."

MS is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mounts recurring assaults on the myelin--the fatty, protective coating around nerve fibers in the central nervous system. This causes nerves to malfunction and can lead to paralysis and blindness. The disease usually begins as an episodic disorder called relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and for many sufferers, evolves into a chronic condition with worsening disability called secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

The new safety study was conducted on 16 MS patients (10 with RRMS and six with SPMS) between the ages of 18 and 65. Six patients were given a high dose of PDA-001, another six were given a lower dose, and four patients were given placebo. Any time the immune system is altered, say by an experimental treatment, there is always a risk for MS to worsen, noted Dr. Lublin. All subjects were given monthly brain scans over a six-month period to ensure they did not acquire any new or enlarging brain lesions, which would indicate a worsening of MS activity. No subjects showed any paradoxical worsening on MRI and after one year, the majority had stable or improved levels of disability.

"We're hoping to learn more about how placental stromal cells contribute to myelin repair," said Dr. Lublin. "We suspect they either convert to a myelin making cell, or they enhance the environment of the area where the damage is to allow for natural repair. Our long-term goal is to develop strategies to facilitate repair of the damaged nervous system."

###

Read the original:
Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis

To Read More: Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis | dataSeptember 29th, 2014
Read All

Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis, study shows

By Dr. Matthew Watson

Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) were able to safely tolerate treatment with cells cultured from human placental tissue, according to a study published today in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. The study, which is the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics subsidiary of Celgene Corporation and collaborators at several other institutions.

While designed to determine safety of the treatment, early signals in the data also suggested that a preparation of cultured cells called PDA-001 may repair damaged nerve tissues in patients with MS. PDA-001 cells resemble "mesenchymal," stromal stem cells found in connective tissue in bone marrow, but unlike their bone-marrow derived counterparts, stromal cells from the placenta are more numerous, with one donor able to supply enough cells for many patients.

"This is the first time placenta-derived cells have been tested as a possible therapy for multiple sclerosis," said Fred Lublin, MD, Director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Professor of Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the lead investigator of the study. "The next step will be to study larger numbers of MS patients to assess efficacy of the cells, but we could be looking at a new frontier in treatment for the disease."

MS is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mounts recurring assaults on the myelin--the fatty, protective coating around nerve fibers in the central nervous system. This causes nerves to malfunction and can lead to paralysis and blindness. The disease usually begins as an episodic disorder called relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), and for many sufferers, evolves into a chronic condition with worsening disability called secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

The new safety study was conducted on 16 MS patients (10 with RRMS and six with SPMS) between the ages of 18 and 65. Six patients were given a high dose of PDA-001, another six were given a lower dose, and four patients were given placebo. Any time the immune system is altered, say by an experimental treatment, there is always a risk for MS to worsen, noted Dr. Lublin. All subjects were given monthly brain scans over a six-month period to ensure they did not acquire any new or enlarging brain lesions, which would indicate a worsening of MS activity. No subjects showed any paradoxical worsening on MRI and after one year, the majority had stable or improved levels of disability.

"We're hoping to learn more about how placental stromal cells contribute to myelin repair," said Dr. Lublin. "We suspect they either convert to a myelin making cell, or they enhance the environment of the area where the damage is to allow for natural repair. Our long-term goal is to develop strategies to facilitate repair of the damaged nervous system."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Mount Sinai Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

The rest is here:
Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis, study shows

To Read More: Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis, study shows
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Cells from placentas safe for patients with multiple sclerosis, study shows | dataSeptember 29th, 2014
Read All

Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

By Sykes24Tracey

Edgar Irastorza was just 31 when his heart stopped beating in October 2008.

A Miami property manager, break-dancer and former high school wrestler, Irastorza had recently gained weight as his wifes third pregnancy progressed. I kind of got pregnant, too, he said.

During a workout one day, he felt short of breath and insisted that friends rush him to the hospital. Minutes later, his pulse flat-lined.

He survived the heart attack, but the scar tissue that resulted cut his hearts pumping ability by a third. He couldnt pick up his children. He couldnt dance. He fell asleep every night wondering if he would wake up in the morning.

Desperation motivated Irastorza to volunteer for a highly unusual medical research trial: getting stem cells injected directly into his heart.

I just trusted my doctors and the science behind it, and said, This is my only chance, he said recently.

Over the last five years, by studying stem cells in lab dishes, test animals and intrepid patients like Irastorza, researchers have brought the vague, grandiose promises of stem cell therapies closer to reality.

Stem cells broke into the public consciousness in the early 1990s, alluring for their potential to help the body beat back diseases of degeneration like Alzheimers, and to grow new parts to treat conditions like spinal cord injuries.

Progress has been slow. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, an early supporter of stem cell research, pulled its financial backing two years ago, saying that it preferred to invest in research that was closer to providing immediate help for Parkinsons disease patients.

But researchers have been slowly learning how to best use stem cells, what types to use and how to deliver them to the body findings that arent singularly transformational, but progressive and pragmatic.

Follow this link:
Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress

To Read More: Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Stem cell therapies making slow but promising progress | dataSeptember 28th, 2014
Read All

Leukaemia: Birmingham scientists hope research could pave way for cure

By NEVAGiles23

Scientists at a Birmingham university have carried out research which could help find a cure for leukaemia.

The study by researchers at the University of Birmingham has been described as a key step in the process to understanding how the disease develops.

The research specifically investigated acute myeloid leukaemia and looked at the way blood cells behave in patients suffering from the illness.

University Professor Constanze Bonifer explained: Stem cells in the bone marrow generate billions of different blood cells each day. The process resembles a production line with genes acting as regulators to control each step of the blood formation.

Leukaemia arises when the DNA encoding regulators in the stem cells is changed by a mutation.

When a mutation occurs in the relevant regulator genes, the finely balanced order of the production line is disrupted with drastic consequences.

A chain reaction occurs, with the function of other regulators in the process being altered. The new cells no longer develop into normal blood cells, but leukemic cells that multiply and begin to take over the body.

The team, which carried out the research alongside experts from Newcastle University, used state-of-the-art technology to see how the cells could be manipulated to stop them from causing the disease.

Professor Olaf Heidenreich, of Newcastle University, said: One aberrant regulator reprograms thousands of genes. If targeting it can reverse the changes it is making to the cellular production line then it would ultimately point towards new avenues for a more precise treatment of leukaemia.

Knowing that the production line can be restored to normal function gives us real hope. Of course, that is much easier to do in the lab that it is in the human body.

Visit link:
Leukaemia: Birmingham scientists hope research could pave way for cure

To Read More: Leukaemia: Birmingham scientists hope research could pave way for cure
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Leukaemia: Birmingham scientists hope research could pave way for cure | dataSeptember 25th, 2014
Read All

Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques

By raymumme

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

25-Sep-2014

Contact: Guido Silvestri gsilves@emory.edu 404-727-9139 PLOS

A study published on September 25th in PLOS Pathogens reports a new primate model to test treatments that might cure HIV/AIDS and suggests answers to questions raised by the "Berlin patient", the only human thought to have been cured so far.

Being HIV-positive and having developed leukemia, the Berlin patient underwent irradiation followed by a bone-marrow transplant from a donor with a mutation that abolishes the function of the CCR5 gene. The gene codes for a protein that facilitates HIV entry into human cells, and the mutationin homozygous carriers who, like the donor, have two defective copiesprotects against HIV infection.

Several factors could have contributed to the cure of HIV/AIDS in the patient: (1) the ablation of blood and immune cells following irradiation killed all or many of the viral reservoir cells that are not eliminated by antiretroviral treatment (ART); (2) the CCR5 deletion mutation in the donor cells protected them and their progeny from HIV infection; (3) a "graft versus host" reaction occurred, where the transplanted cells and their progeny recognize the host cells as foreign and attacked and eliminated HIV-positive reservoir cells that survived the irradiation.

Guido Silvestri, from Emory University in Atlanta, USA, and colleagues investigated the relative contribution of the irradiation to eliminate the reservoir of HIV-infected cells. The scientists worked with the animal model of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV, a close relative of HIV that infects primates and causes a disease similar to AIDS) infection in rhesus macaques. Using a total of six monkeys (three of which served as controls and did not receive transplants) they performed, for the first time, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in rhesus macaques infected with a chimeric simian/human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) and treated with ART.

The researchers harvested hematopoetic stem cells from three macaques prior to infection (of all six animals) with SHIV. They also treated the macaques with ART to reduce viral load and mimic the situation in human HIV-infected patients on ART. They then exposed the three monkeys from which they had collected hematopietic stem cells to a high dose of radiation. This killed most of their existing blood and immune cells, including between 94 and 99% of their CD4-T cellsthe main target of HIV infectionin the blood. The irradiation was followed by transplantation of each monkey's own virus-free hematopoietic stem cells. The latter can regenerate the blood and immune cells, and did so in all three monkeys within 3 to 6 weeks. Because the transplanted cells are not from a different donor, no graft versus host disease would be expected, and none was observed.

After that time, the scientists stopped ART in all six monkeys. As expected, the virus rebounded rapidly in the control animals. Of the three transplanted animals, two also showed a rapid rebound. The third monkey developed kidney failure two weeks after ART was stopped and was euthanized. It still had undetectable levels of virus in the blood at that time, but post-mortem analysis showed low levels of viral DNA in a number of tissues, arguing that none of the three transplanted monkeys was cured.

The researchers acknowledge a number of limitations of the study, including the small number of monkeys, and the relatively short period of ART prior to irradiation and transplantation. Nonetheless, they say their study "supports the hypothesis that myeloablative total body irradiation can cause a significant decrease in the viral reservoir in blood cells, even though it was not sufficient to eliminate all reservoirs". Their results, they say, suggest that in the cure of the Berlin patient, "the use of the CCR5 mutant donor and/or the presence of graft versus host disease played a significant role".

Original post:
Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques

To Read More: Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Stem cell transplant does not cure SHIV/AIDS after irradiation of infected rhesus macaques | dataSeptember 25th, 2014
Read All

Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery

By LizaAVILA

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

24-Sep-2014

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society @ACSpressroom

The liver provides critical functions, such as ridding the body of toxins. Its failure can be deadly, and there are few options for fixing it. But scientists now report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a way to potentially inject stem cells from tonsils, a body part we don't need, to repair damaged livers all without surgery.

Byeongmoon Jeong and colleagues point out that currently, the only established method for treating liver failure or severe cases of liver disease is complete or partial transplantation. But the need is much greater than the number of available organs. Plus, surgery has inherent risks and a hefty price tag. A promising alternative in development is transplanting liver cells. One such approach involves using adult stem cells to make liver cells. Stem cells from bone marrow could be used, but they have limitations. Recently, scientists identified another source of adult stem cells that could be used for this purpose tonsils. Every year, thousands of surgeries are performed to remove tonsils, and the tissue is discarded. Now it could have a new purpose, but scientists needed a way to grow them on a 3-D scaffold that mimics real liver tissue. Jeong's team set out to do just that.

The researchers encapsulated tonsil-derived stem cells in a heat-sensitive liquid that turns into a gel at body temperature. They added substances called growth factors to encourage the stem cells to become liver cells. Then, they heated the combination up to a normal body temperature. The result was a 3-D, biodegradable gel that contained functioning liver cells. The researchers conclude that the same process has promise with some further tweaking for ideal conditions as an injectable tissue engineering technique to treat liver disease without surgery.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

See more here:
Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery

To Read More: Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Tonsil stem cells could someday help repair liver damage without surgery | dataSeptember 24th, 2014
Read All

Tse Named Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation Division at University of Louisville

By NEVAGiles23

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. William Tse, M.D., associate professor of medicine and eminent scholar in hematologic malignancies research at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University, has been named the new director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health. Tse will join UofL Nov. 1.

Tse will hold the Marion F. Beard Endowed Chair in Hematology Research at UofL and become a member of the cancer centers Developmental Biology Program.

Dr. Tse is emerging as one of the thought leaders in bone marrow transplantation, said Donald Miller, M.D., Ph.D., director of the JGBCC. He has trained and worked at several of the leading blood cancer programs in the nation. We look forward to his leading our program at UofL.

Tse has been at West Virginia since 2009, where he also is the co-leader the Osborn Hematologic Malignancies Program. Prior to joining West Virginia, Tse was on the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver, where he was the director of translational research program for bone marrow transplantation and hematologic malignancies. He also previously was with Case Western Reserve University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington Medical Center.

Tse is active in national organizations, serving in several capacities with the American Society of Hematology, including section chair for the annual meetings Oncogene Section and bone marrow transplantation outcome section, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an annual meeting abstract reviewer and the section chair on geriatric oncology. Tse also serves leadership roles on several editorial boards including as the senior editor of the American Journal of Blood Research, stem cell biomarkers section editor for Biomarker Research, senior editor of the American Journal of Stem Cells and the academic editor of PLoS One.

A graduate of the Sun Yat-Sen University School of Medicine in Guangzhou, Guangdong, in China, he did a thoracic surgical oncology residency at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou before completing postdoctoral research fellowships in medical biophysics, immunology and cancer at the Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute and the Hospital for Sick Children in Ontario, Canada. He completed clinical pathology and internal medicine residencies at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Hospital before undertaking a senior medical fellowship in clinical research and medical oncology divisions at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington Medical Center.

Follow this link:
Tse Named Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation Division at University of Louisville

To Read More: Tse Named Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation Division at University of Louisville
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Tse Named Director of Bone Marrow Transplantation Division at University of Louisville | dataSeptember 23rd, 2014
Read All

Colchester teen becomes one of the UK's youngest stem cell donors

By daniellenierenberg

A teenager who gave stem cells to save the life of a stranger is backing a national campaign to find more donors.

In June, Celyn Evans, 17, became one of the youngest people in the UK to donate stem cells.

The Colchester Royal Grammar School sixth-form student is supporting Anthony Nolans Save a Life at 16 campaign.

The charity wants HMRC to include details about stem cell donation when it writes to teens with their National Insurance numbers ahead of their 16th birthday.

Celyn, of West Mersea, said: You often hear that young people are self absorbed and not interested in helping others, but I think thats wrong.

People just need to be made aware of how they can help. That is why I am supporting this campaign.

Celyn joined the bone marrow donor register last September when his brothers friend developed leukaemia.

He was not able to help the family friend, but in February, Anthony Nolan contacted him to say he was a possible match for another patient in need of a potentially life-saving transplant.

Celyn agreed to donate and, after a series of check-ups, made the donation in London in June.

Like 90 per cent of donors, he gave his stem cells through a simple, outpatient process similar to giving blood.

Read the original:
Colchester teen becomes one of the UK's youngest stem cell donors

To Read More: Colchester teen becomes one of the UK's youngest stem cell donors
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Colchester teen becomes one of the UK's youngest stem cell donors | dataSeptember 23rd, 2014
Read All

Local man shares his story of stem cell donation

By daniellenierenberg

When a child became ill, Jim Pattison was one of many who stepped up as a potential bone marrow donor.

Herald photo by Jodi Schellenberg

Jim Pattison was given two paperweights for his stem cell donation. He decided to become a donor in 1996, but was not a match until after 2010.

In 1996, Pattison was one of many who went on the bone marrow transplant list to help a one and a half year old child who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. The organizers of the donor drive expected maybe 50 people to show up and were shocked by the close to 400 who attended.

Sadly, the family didnt find a match and the girl died, but Pattison decided to stay on the registry.

They asked if I wanted to stay on and my answer was that if I would do it for Abigail I would do it for anybody, he said.

Throughout the years, Pattison was asked to test for more markers to see if he would be a match for someone else. He did his last test in 2010 and heard back a short time later with the news he was a match.

Pattison was chosen for a peripheral stem cell donation, which is different from a bone marrow transplant because it is less invasive.

I first went to where the stem cells are collected and had a physical, he explained. They sent me back with some drugs that I had to have injected here, that stimulate the stem cells to grow. I had four injections before I went.

They were looking to make sure I had a high enough level of stem cells to make the donation, he added.

More:
Local man shares his story of stem cell donation

To Read More: Local man shares his story of stem cell donation
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Local man shares his story of stem cell donation | dataSeptember 23rd, 2014
Read All

Colchester: Selfless teen stem cell donor Celyn Evans backs campaign to find more young heroes

By Dr. Matthew Watson

Celyn Evans, 17, from Colchester, has donated stem cells to save the life of a complete stranger. Pictured with the stem cells.

Monday, September 22, 2014 10:49 AM

A selfless teenager from Colchester who donated stem cells to a stranger is backing a campaign to help find more young heroes.

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

In June Celyn Evans, 17, became one of the youngest such donors in the UK.

He was contacted by the Anthony Nolan Trust as a possible match after joining the bone marrow register last September when his brothers friend developed leukaemia.

Now he is supporting Anthony Nolans Save A Life At 16 campaign, calling on HMRC to include details about stem cell donation when it writes to people with their National Insurance number ahead of their 16th birthday.

Celyn said: You often hear that young people are self absorbed and not interested in helping others, but I think thats wrong. People just need to be made aware of how they can help.

Its a very simple process, and I am surprised more people dont do it. But I think its just down to people knowing about it, which is where Anthony Nolans idea comes in.

For more information or to join the register visit the Anthony Nolan Trust website.

Visit link:
Colchester: Selfless teen stem cell donor Celyn Evans backs campaign to find more young heroes

To Read More: Colchester: Selfless teen stem cell donor Celyn Evans backs campaign to find more young heroes
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Colchester: Selfless teen stem cell donor Celyn Evans backs campaign to find more young heroes | dataSeptember 23rd, 2014
Read All

Bone paste could provide treatment for ostoeporosis

By raymumme

About three million Briton currently suffer osteoporosis which is affected by a number factors such as genes, a lack of exercise and poor diet and results in about 60,000 hip, 50,000 wrist and 120,000 spinal fractures every year, according to the National Osteoporosis Society, costing about 1.7 billion in health and social care.

Dr Ifty Ahmed, a researcher at Nottingham University, said his team wanted to provide a preventative treatment, strengthening the bones of those at risk before they suffered a fracture.

Speaking at the Regener8 conference on regenerative medicine, in Leeds last week, he said: Our aim would be to use screening to spot people who are at risk, then strengthen their bones before they get fractures.

It means that rather than waiting until people have a fall and break something, we would try to stop that ever happening, along with the consequences, loss of independence, surgery and secondary illnesses.

Previous attempts have been made to find ways of strengthening thinning bones but the difficulties of protecting the fragile stem cells has meant no such treatments have yet been developed.

Dr Ahmeds team hope to overcome this problem by puncturing the tiny hollow spheres of calcium phosphate allowing the stem cells to migrate inside them where they are protected.

The experimental treatment has not yet been trialled on humans.

It would involve extracting stem cells from a patients bone marrow and mixing them with the microspheres before injecting the paste into the vulnerable bones.

Dr Ahmed said: "If it works, this kind of treatment could be done in a day.

Until now the team have been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council but they are now looking for a commercial partner.

Read the rest here:
Bone paste could provide treatment for ostoeporosis

To Read More: Bone paste could provide treatment for ostoeporosis
categoriaBone Marrow Stem Cells commentoComments Off on Bone paste could provide treatment for ostoeporosis | dataSeptember 21st, 2014
Read All

Page 117«..1020..116117118119..130140..»


Copyright :: 2024