KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Aug. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Global biotherapeutics leader CSL Behring announced today that it has agreed to acquire Calimmune, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy with R&D facilities in Pasadena, California and Sydney, Australia for an upfront payment of $91 million.

The acquisition will provide CSL Behring with Calimmune's pre-clinical asset, CAL-H, an HSC gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and -thalassemia, which complements CSL Behring's current product portfolio and deep expertise in hematology.

Additionally, CSL Behring will acquire two unique proprietary platform technologies, Select+ and Cytegrity. These technologies are designed to address some of the major challenges currently associated with the commercialization of stem cell therapy, including the ability to manufacture consistent, high-quality products, and to improve engraftment, efficacy and tolerability. Both technologies have broad applications in ex vivo stem cell gene therapy.

"Calimmune shares in our promise and focus to improve the lives of patients with rare and serious medical conditions," said CSL Limited Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Paul Perreault. "The acquisition represents another important step in the execution of our strategy for sustainable growth."

"Calimmune's scientific accomplishments are impressive," Perreault added. "The team has built a robust technology platform, and designed a promising HSC gene therapy candidate - CAL-H, which strongly aligns with our longer-term strategic goals, and complements our core competencies and areas of therapeutic focus. While Calimmune is still in the early stages, we believe that our combined strengths have tremendous potential to change treatment paradigms, and most importantly, significantly improve the lives of our patients."

Calimmune Chief Executive Officer Louis Breton said, "We are excited to become part of CSL Behring. They are an established global industry leader in protein-replacement therapies and have a proven track record of driving innovations through the development pipeline and delivering differentiated products to the global marketplace. Together, we are well positioned to take our achievements to the next level."

CAL-H, Calimmune's HSC gene therapy for sickle cell and -thalassemia, employs both the Select+ system, and the Cytegrity virus production platform. CAL-H has yielded early positive preclinical results and demonstrates the potential to offer a significant advantage to patients suffering from these currently incurable genetic diseases.

Both proprietary technologies have the potential to be used in treatments for a wide range of other rare diseases that would complement CSL Behring's business, including those within the company's current product portfolio.

About Sickle Cell Disease and thalassemiaSickle cell disease and -thalassemia are inherited disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body. They are chronic diseases that dramatically impair the function of many organs and are associated with substantial morbidity, poor quality of life and a shortened life expectancy. The severe forms of both these diseases remain areas of high unmet need with sickle cell disease affecting approximately 150,000 Americans and Europeans and -thalassemia approximately 16,000. Although there are effective treatments available to relieve the symptoms of these diseases, there are no disease modifying treatments and in many cases regular blood transfusions are also required. Bone marrow transplant has been shown to be an effective cure in children, however, is rarely done due to the lack of closely matched donors.

About Select+ Calimmune's Select+TM is a proprietary technology aimed at driving selection of the genetically modified stem cells once they are given back to patients, to decrease toxicity and improve efficacy. One of the historical challenges for gene therapy is achieving a high enough engraftment of stem cells in the bone marrow to reach the relevant therapeutic window. Toxic conditioning regimens used to drive engraftment of gene modified cells can cause a range of adverse events that often require hospitalization and have additional long-term risks.Calimmune has focused on and made significant investments in solving this issue with Select+TM.The combination of Select+TM and lentiviral therapeutic applications aims to reduce the conditioning regimens, increase engraftment and overall efficacy, and improve the patient experience, ultimately making stem cell gene therapy an out-patient modality.

About Cytegrity Calimmune's CytegrityTM is a scalable manufacturing technology for the production of lentiviral vectors, which are used as a delivery mechanism for gene therapy. Lentiviral vectors are traditionally manufactured in small batches through a convoluted process; Cytegrity represents a new system that increases consistency and quality, and significantly lowers costs.

Transaction & Closing CSL Behring will have operational control ofCalimmune following closing of the transaction. In addition to the upfront payment, theagreement between the parties includes the potential for performance based milestone payments of up to $325 million over a period currently anticipated to be around eight years or more following the closing of the transaction.The transaction is expected to close within the next two weeks, subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as legal advisor to CSL Behring. Piper Jaffray & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Calimmune.

About Calimmune Calimmune is a privately owned company committed to accelerating the promise of gene therapy to liberate patients from chronic and currently incurable diseases. To achieve this ambitious goal, Calimmune has built a suite of technologies to advance the delivery, manufacturing, and overall efficiency of these life-changing medicines. Calimmune's lead development programs are novel ex vivo gene therapies for hematologic diseases.

About CSL BehringCSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients' needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.

CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company,CSL Limited(ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs nearly 20,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 60 countries. For more information visitwww.cslbehring.comand follow us on http://www.Twitter.com/CSLBehring.

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CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform - Markets Insider

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on CSL Behring to Acquire Biotech Company Calimmune and its Proprietary Stem Cell Gene Therapy Platform – Markets Insider | August 28th, 2017

This is not about creating zombies-those so-called living (or walking) dead that are very popular and make a really great theme for TV shows and movies.

Even the Game of Thrones has its version of the living dead with them nasty creatures called White Walkers and Wights.

But then again, thats only science fiction, isnt it? Well, maybe not. In fact, this science-fiction plot could soon play out in real life. Read on.

Researchers from U.S.-based biotech company Bioquark are aimimg to resurrect patients who have been declared brain dead. Yep, you read it right. Resurrect, just like those stories in the Bible. Really bringing back people to life.

It goes without saying that this is really a serious matter. More importantly, Bioquarks small pilot study has been approved and gotten ethical permission by none other than the National Institutes of Health. The study would be an attempt to reawaken the clinically-dead brains of patients who have suffered serious brain injuries.

How will Bioquark do it?

Through stem cell therapy, which has been proven successful already in treating various diseases such as acquired ataxia, Alzheimers disease, Bells Palsy, cerebral atrophy, cirrhosis, optic nerve damage, osteoarthritis, and leukemia.

But, with brain-dead people, its going to be a real challenge since this condition according to medical experts is irreversible.

Brain death is different from a heart thats already stopped beating. A heart can still be revived and sustained by a ventilator or life-support system.

However, in the case of brain death, you cannot revive dead neurons with the help of a life-support machine even though it continues to pump oxygen to the body. The oxygen will get into the other organs like the heart, but it can no longer be utilized by the brain when the neurons are dead.

Neurons are the working units of the brain, specialized cells which are responsible for transmitting information to other nerve cells, gland cells, and muscles.They form networks or connections in the brain which number up to trillions.

A traumatic brain injury, sudden cardiac arrest, or a stroke caused by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain can cause brain tissues to start dying due to oxygen deprivation.

Oxygen-Deprived Brains Timeline:

However, Bioquark is hopeful that stem cell treatment may spur the growth of new neurons to replace the dead ones and pave the way to revive a clinically dead brain. After all, the brain is a fighter and scientists have found out that our gray matter has a small reservoir of stem cells which can produce new neurons.

Researchers are thinking of the possibility of urging these stem cells to generate new neurons which can remedy injured brain tissues. One other option is to inject neural stem cells into the brain of a person who has just died, and these may generate the necessary new neurons to help revive the brain.

Soon, Bioquark will find out the answer or learn some more information from their pilot study which is the first stage of the companys broaderReanima project. The project is exploring the potential of cutting edge biomedical technology for human neuro-regeneration and neuro-reanimation as a way to hopefully give patients and their loved ones a second chance in life.

Bioquark is set to conduct this very first human trial in partnership with the Indian biotech company Revita Life Sciences which specializes in stem cell treatment.

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Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought 'Back to Life' in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy - Wall Street Pit

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Brain Dead Patients Could Be Brought ‘Back to Life’ in Groundbreaking Stem Cell Therapy – Wall Street Pit | August 28th, 2017

Northern New Mexico College started its fall semester last Monday by welcoming several new faculty and staff members to the Northern family, in addition to the incoming freshmen students.

Northern believes that its biggest assets are its people, which is why the College invites the campus and wider community to give a very warm welcome to the Colleges new faculty and staff.

Sushmita Nandy, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Sushmita Nandy is a stem cell and cancer biologist by training. She earned her PhD from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. She then pursued her post-doctoral research work, first at The Jackson Laboratory, in Bar Harbor, Maine, and later at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, in El Paso, Texas. Her PhD research work involved investigating the regenerative potential of human mesenchymal stem cells and developing approaches to coax them towards cardiac and dopaminergic neuronal lineages.

Rhiannon West, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biology

Dr. Rhiannon West received her PhD from the University of New Mexico where she focused on the behavior and ecology of pupfishes. Dr. West then had a post-doctoral position at the University of Lincoln-Nebraska which focused on the behavioral ecology of green swordtails.She studies the behavioral ecology of pupfish (Cyprinodon spp.) where she examines the interaction between behavioral mechanisms, mate choice, morphology, and phenotypic plasticity.

Martina J. Granado, MSN, RN, CNM

Martina joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She is a graduate of Northern's associate and baccalaureate degree nursing programs, and recently received her Masters degree in nursing from the University ofNewMexico as a Certified Nurse Midwife. Her area of clinical expertise is maternal/newborn, labor and delivery, and obstetrical care. Martina is employed as a Certified Nurse Midwife at Bridge Care for Women in Los Alamos.

Sarah Graham Edwards, BA, BSN, RN

Sarah joins the associate degree nursing program as an adjunct faculty member. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from State University ofNewYork. Her area of clinical expertise is labor and delivery and she maintains a clinical practice as astaffnurse at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.

Deborah Kitchen, BSN, RN

Debbie brings over 40 years of experience in nursing to her position as an adjunct faculty member. She will be teaching the nurse aide training program in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She is an experienced nurse aide instructor and has worked in a variety long-term care facilities and community health settings.

Gabriel Martinez

Gabriel is thenewAssistant Athletic Director/Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach. Gabriel graduated from NNMC with his Bachelor in Business Administration. He also played on the mens basketball team for four years.

Miquella Espinoza

Miquella is the new Transition Specialist for the High School Equivalency Program. She joined the College as a student and is expected to graduate this fall with a BA in Integrative Studies with an emphasis in Psychology. She received an AAS in Human Services in May 2015 from NNMC. Miquella has tutored and coached kindergarten and elementary students for seven years. She is excited for the opportunity to work with students who are in search of bettering their lives and continuing their education.

JoRonda Abeyta

JoRonda recently joined Northern as an academic advisor after graduating from NNMC with herBachelor's degree in Psychology in May of 2017. She is a Licensed Substance Abuse Associate through the State of New Mexico and is working to become a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor. JoRonda also plans to pursue her master's degree in August of 2018.

Patrick K. Bendegue

Patrick is a math instructor for the High School Equivalency Program and the College. Born in Cameroon, Patrick graduated from Covenant Ministries Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Morehouse College for a year under a basketball scholarship while pursuing a degree in computer engineering. He then transferred to Northern as part of the mens basketball team, during which time he received several awards. Patrick graduated with a Bachelor in Engineering Information Technology from Northern.

Joanna Martinez

Joanna is the new Business Office Receptionist. She was previously employed with CNM where she worked as an Assessment Technician for over 2 years. She is married to Gabriel Martinez and has a 9-year-old son, Elijah. Next spring, Joanna will be graduating with her third Associates in Business Administration.

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NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff - Los Alamos Daily Post

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on NNMC Welcomes Fall Semester; New Faculty & Staff – Los Alamos Daily Post | August 28th, 2017

The pernicious effect of a heart attack includes the permanent damaging of heart muscles capacity to pump blood, causing healthy tissue to scar. People who suffer from this condition are often fatigued and cannot do as many things as they used to. They are also more prone to cardiac arrest, a condition that leads to death. Medication can help, and a heart transplant is sometimes used, though the necessity of using powerful anti-rejection drugs makes that option dangerous at the very least. The availability of donor hearts is also a limiting factor.

According to the CDC, 5.7 million Americans suffer from #Heart Failure.

Half of the people with the diagnosis die within five years. Heart failure costs the United States $30.7 billion a year in health care services, medication, and lost productivity.

A new option for people with this kind of heart failure is on the horizon, according to Mach. The idea is to grow patches of beating heart cells from a patients own tissue and then cover the parts of the heart that have been scarred by a cardiac event. The technology has the promise to allow heart failure patients to live nearly normal lives and to reduce the need for heart transplants.

Beating heart cell patches are created when blood cells are extracted from the patient and are transformed into stem cells using well known genetic engineering techniques. Then the stem cells would be used in a 3D printer to create living heart tissue, geared to match the exact size and shape of the area of the heart that has been scarred.

Then an open heart surgery procedure would be undertaken to implant the patch on the scarred tissue, including blood vessel grafts that would integrate the new tissue into the patients cardiovascular system.

The procedure would be a delicate one. The surgeon might cut the scarred tissue away and replace it with the patch or just overlay it with the theory that the scarring would go away in time. The hope is that the new tissue will beat in synchronicity with the rest of the heart.

The beauty of the procedure that even though it would cost $100,000, it will still be cheaper than a heart transplant, which costs $500,000 not including the expense of the anti-rejection drugs.

Researchers have enjoyed some success with the procedure in mice and pigs. The hope is that human trials can start in five years with the procedure being available in a clinical setting in about #Ten Years. #Stem Cell

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Using stem cell patches to fix heart failure - Blasting News

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Using stem cell patches to fix heart failure – Blasting News | August 25th, 2017

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From clot-busting drugs to bypass surgery, cardiologists have many options for treating the 700,000-plus Americans who suffer a heart attack each year. But treatment options remain limited for the 5.7 million or so Americans who suffer from heart failure, an often debilitating condition in which damage to the heart (often resulting from a heart attack) compromises its ability to pump blood.

Severe heart damage can pretty much incapacitate people, says Dr. Timothy Henry, director of cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. You cant climb a flight of stairs, youre fatigued all the time, and youre at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

Medication is available to treat heart failure, but its no panacea. And some heart failure patients undergo heart transplantation, but it remains an iffy proposition even 50 years after the first human heart was transplanted in 1967.

But soon, there may be another option.

A patch for the heart

Researchers are developing a new technology that would restore normal cardiac function by covering scarred areas with patches made of beating heart cells. The tiny patches would be grown in the lab from patients own cells and then surgically implanted.

The patches are now being tested in mice and pigs at Duke University, the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University. Researchers predict they could be tried in humans within five years with widespread clinical use possibly coming within a decade.

The hope is that patients will be again to live more or less normally again without having to undergo heart transplantation which has some serious downsides. Since donor hearts are in short supply, many patients experiencing heart failure die before one becomes available. And to prevent rejection of the new heart by the immune system, patients who do receive a new heart typically must take high doses of immunosuppressive drugs.

Heart transplants also require bypass machines which entails some risk and complications, says Dr. Timothy Kamp, co-director of the University of Wisconsins Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center and one of the researchers leading the effort to create heart patches. Putting a patch on doesnt require any form of bypass, because the heart can continue to pump as it is.

To create heart patches, doctors first take blood cells and then use genetic engineering techniques to reprogram them into so-called pluripotent stem cells. These jack-of-all-trade cells, in turn, are used to create the various types of cells that make up heart muscle. These include cardiomonocytes, the cells responsible for muscle contraction; fibroblasts, the cells that give heart tissue its structure; and endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels.

These cells are then grown over a tiny scaffold that organizes and aligns them in a way that they become functional heart tissue. Since the patches would be made from the patients own blood cells, there would be no chance of rejection by the patients immune system.

Once the patch tissue matures, MRI scans of the scarred region of the patients heart would be used to create a digital template for the new patch, tailoring it to just the right size and shape. A 3D printer would then be used to fabricate the extracellular matrix, the pattern of proteins that surround heart muscle cells.

The fully formed patch would be stitched into place during open-heart surgery, with blood vessel grafts added to link the patch with the patients vascular system.

In some cases, a single patch would be enough. For patients with multiple areas of scarring, multiple patches could be used.

Inserting patches will be delicate business, in part because scarring can render heart walls thin and susceptible to rupture. Researchers anticipate that heart surgeons will look at each case individually and decide whether it makes more sense to cut out the scarred area and cover the defect with a patch or simply affix the patch over the scarred area and hope that, over time, the scars will go away.

Another challenge will be making sure the patches contract and relax in synchrony with the hearts onto which theyre grafted. We think this will happen because cells of the same type like to seek each other out and connect over time, Kamp says. We anticipate that if the patch couples with the native heart tissue, the electrical signals which pass through the heart muscle like a wave and tell it to contract, will drive the new patch to contract at the same rate.

How much would it cost to patch a damaged heart? Researchers put the price tag at about $100,000. Thats far less than the $500,000 or so it costs give a patient a heart transplant. And regardless of the cost, researchers are upbeat about the possibility of having a new way to treat heart failure.

Using these patches to repair the damaged muscle is likely to be very effective, says Henry. Were not quite there yet itll be a few years before you see the first clinical trials. But this technology may really provide a whole new avenue of hope for people with these conditions who badly need new treatment options.

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'Beating Heart' Patch Offers New Hope for Desperately Ill Patients - NBCNews.com

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on ‘Beating Heart’ Patch Offers New Hope for Desperately Ill Patients – NBCNews.com | August 25th, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Id genes play surprise role in cardiac development – Medical Xpress – Medical Xpress | August 22nd, 2017

LOS ANGELES In the fight against cardiovascular disease, a new super-weapon is now even closer to deployment and its capabilities are turning out to be beyond expectations.

One of the most notorious killers facing humanity, cardiovascular disease, is responsible for about about 1 in every 3 deaths in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association. A new study aimed at combating the disease finds that stem cells, the controversial darlings of modern biomedical research, are not only showing promise in treating heart failure, but in rats are actually reversing problems associated with old age.

The way the cells work to reverse aging is fascinating, says Dr. Eduardo Marbn,one of the studys primary investigators, in a press release. They secrete tiny vesicles that are chock-full of signaling molecules such as RNA and proteins. The vesicles from young cells appear to contain all the needed instructions to turn back the clock.

Marbn, who serves as director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, explains this latest study builds on previous lab work and human trials which have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions.

The specific type of stem cells used in the study are known as cardiosphere-derived cells or CDCs. The process to grow these cells was initially developed when Marbn was part of the Johns Hopkins University faculty.

While the latest research involving CDCs indicates possibilities that have previously been in the realm of science fiction, the scientists leading the charge urge restraint in face of the excitement.

This study didnt measure whether receiving the cardiosphere-derived cells extended lifespans, so we have a lot more work to do, says Dr. Lilian Grigorian-Shamagian, the studys first author. We have much to study, including whether CDCs need to come from a young donor to have the same rejuvenating effects and whether the extracellular vesicles are able to reproduce all the rejuvenating effects we detect with CDCs.

Nevertheless, the latest results of stem cell infusions in rats are startling. Not only did rats that received the CDCs experience improved heart function, they also had lengthened heart cell telomeres.

Telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, normally shrink with age. As telomere shrinkage is one of the most studied and least understood phenomenons associated with aging, the effect of CDCs on them is especially fascinating.

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Whats more, the researchers said the rats who received the treatment also had their exercise capacity increase by about 20 percent. They also regrew hair faster than rats that didnt receive the cells.

With these thrilling results only the latest in recent stem cell headlines, researchers caution the public that most treatments are still not ready for prime time.

Indeed, a recent Reuters article warned that stem cell therapy still is not approved to treat heart failure in the U.S., yet many unscrupulous clinics are offering questionable services anyway and charging tens of thousands of dollars for it. In some cases, researchers quoted in the article said these labs may not even be injecting stem cells, but rather a useless and dangerous mix of cellular debris.

The article also noted two patients died and another went blind after stem cell injection procedures in Florida clinics.

Still, the legitimate doctors and scientists working to push the frontier of medicine forward are very optimistic about the real possibilities of the therapy. The Cedars-Sinai team said they are also studying the use of stem cells in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a condition that affects more than 50 percent of all heart failure patients.

Their research on CDCs effects on aging was published this month in the European Heart Journal.

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Study: Cardiac Stem Cell Injections Reverse Effects of Aging - Study Finds

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Study: Cardiac Stem Cell Injections Reverse Effects of Aging – Study Finds | August 22nd, 2017

How long do you expect to live?

Thats a question that can make a lot of people feel suddenly lost for an answer.

In fact, its not a question that anybody would like to answer.

However, for scientific, socio-economic, and other legitimate reasons, average life expectancy per region are being documented. According to the World Factbook by the Central Intelligence Agency, the average life expectancy at birth of the following countries as of 2016 are as follows:

The rest of the world has an average life expectancy of 80 years downwards, with Chad ranking the lowest at 50.20 years.

Life is short, too short.

Its the reason why the pursuit of anything and everything under the sun that can stop aging is mankinds obsession.

We want to live longer; if possible, forever.

Forever is definitely too, too far away. But, longer, yes. Its more probable.

Heres the latest news on anti-aging, and this time its about stem cells. Stem cells from a young heart may help in regaining vitality which we lose as we grow old.

Researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute have recently discovered that upon application of Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDC), which they took from newborn mice and injected into the hearts of 22-month-old mice, had resulted to better heart functionality, hair regrowth at a faster rate, 20 percent longer exercise endurance, and longer cardiac telomeres.

The findings on the effect of CDC cells on telomeres is very significant since these compound structures located at the tip of chromosomes function as the cells time-keepers. In fact, another study is focusing on methods to lengthen telomeres to fight the effects of progeria and help prolong life.

Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure usingcardiac stem cell infusions, saidCedars-Sinai Heart Institute and lead researcher Eduardo Marbn, MD, PhD, Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

According to Dr. Marban, the CDC cells work on reversing the aging process by secreting very small vesicles that are full of signaling molecules like proteins and ribonucleic acid (RNA). The vesicles appear to have all the necessary information in producing cardiac and systemic rejuvenation.

In 2009, the LA-based team achieved the worlds first stem cell infusion which they hope to use in treating patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cases of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. However, this was the first time that they have observed this kind of rejuvenating effects of CDC cells.

Nevertheless, Dr. Marban and his team acknowledge that they still have a lot to do and figure out. They havent determined yet if the CDC cells could lengthen life, or just produce a younger heart in an aged physique. They also have to find out if the cells must come from younger hearts for the stem cell treatment to be effective.They will obviously need more time and tests to find the right answers to these very important questions.

But, if Dr. Marban and his team succeed, CDC cells may be a key to restoring youth and vigor. It will also help globally the large number of people who suffer from cardiovascular diseases-heart disease is the worlds number 1 killer and accounts for 17.3 million deaths per year.

The study was published on theEuropean Heart Journal.

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In World First, Scientists Reverse Aging in Old Hearts by Injecting Younger Cells - Wall Street Pit

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on In World First, Scientists Reverse Aging in Old Hearts by Injecting Younger Cells – Wall Street Pit | August 20th, 2017

Cardiac stem cells derived from young hearts helped reverse the signs of aging when directly injected into the old hearts of elderly rats, astudypublished Monday in the European Heart Journal demonstrated.

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

Its extremely exciting, said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing the systemic rejuvenating effects, he said, its kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth.

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue, Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Unexpected fountain of youth found in cardiac stem cells, says researcher

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Are cardiac stem cells a 'fountain of youth'? | Genetic Literacy Project - Genetic Literacy Project

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Are cardiac stem cells a ‘fountain of youth’? | Genetic Literacy Project – Genetic Literacy Project | August 19th, 2017

On Monday, a group of scientists at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, CA, discovered througha world-first experimenta form to rejuvenate elder rats old hearts by injecting cardiac stem cells from much younger rats with healthier hearts. They hope this process might eventually become useful to humans.

The first time an experiment like this was carried out was in 2009 by the same Los Angeles-based team. Now, they also proved the possibility of reversing aging in old hearts.

Heart failure is a typical cause of death in humans. Around 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men die a year from heart attacks and other heart-related diseases. They are the first reason of death worldwide, and a leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 375,000 Americans a year. Nearly half of all African-American population suffers from heart diseases.

Researchers took stem cells from the hearts of 4-month-old rats, shaped them into cardiosphere-derived cells and injected them into the hearts of other rats of 22 monthsold, an age that makes them be considered as old. They carried out a similar process to another group of rats but injected saline instead. Scientists later compared both groups.

After receiving the stem cells injection, researchers noted a significant change in the way old rats continued to live. They turned much more active and improved their functionalities. Not just their heart rates got better and faster, but also the way they ran and breathed. Their hair started to grow faster, their chromosomal telomeres which commonly shrink with age lengthened, plus other benefits. The rodents began to progressively improve their capacity of exercise along with their stamina overall.

The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because Im kind of losing my hair) the animals regrew their fur a lot better after theyd gotten cells compared with the placebo rats, said Dr Eduardo Marbn, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and lead author, who is also extremely excited for having witnessed the unexpected fountain of youth.

In 2009, his team successfully repaired the damaged heart of a man who had suffered a heart attack, using his own heart tissue.

Stem cells are a really basic type of cells that can be molded and converted into other much-specialized cells through a process called differentiation, which is basicallyshaping them into any kind of body cell.They form in embryos like embryonic stem cells -, which help in the growth process of babies, along with the millions of other different cell types they need before their birth.

One of many cells scientists generated from stem cells is called progenitor cell, which shares some of the same properties. But unlike the original cells, progenitor cells are not able to divide and reproduce indefinitely. Dr. Marbn also said they discovered cardiosphere-derived cells, which tend to promote the healing of a condition that affects more than 50 percent of patients suffering from heart failure.

Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions, said Dr Marbn. Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

According to Dr. Marbn, stem cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles which contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injuries, and the way genes are expressed in the tissue. They are placed into the heart, and act to transform it into a better organ, helping it at the same time to improve exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Now, Dr. Marbn is exploring a much easier way to deliver the stem cells intravenously, instead of injecting them directly into the heart. Thus avoiding surgeries, which tend to be more complicated and expensive for the patient.

Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems, said Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, who did not contribute to the new research. The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly.

Now, scientistsneed to make more extensive studies before using the technique in humans.

Source: CNN

See the article here:
Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells ... - Pulse Headlines

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells … – Pulse Headlines | August 19th, 2017

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats' fur fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion.

"It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing "the systemic rejuvenating effects," he said, "it's kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth."

"We've been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now," Marbn said.

Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells.

"They're progenitor cells from the heart itself," Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely.

Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that suffered from a type of heart problem "that's very typical of what we find in older human beings: The heart's stiff, and it doesn't relax right, and it causes fluid to back up some," Marbn explained.

He and his team injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn rats into the hearts of 22-month-old rats -- that's elderly for a rat. Similar old rats received a placebo injection of saline solution. Then, Marbn and his team compared both groups to young rats that were 4 months old. After a month, they compared the rats again.

Even though the cells were injected into the heart, their effects were noticeable throughout the body, Marbn said

"The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because I'm kind of losing my hair) the animals ... regrew their fur a lot better after they'd gotten cells" compared with the placebo rats, Marbn said.

The rats that received cardiosphere-derived cells also experienced improved heart function and showed longer heart cell telomeres.

Why did it work?

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that "contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue," Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Looking to the future, Marbn said he's begun to explore delivering the cardiac stem cells intravenously in a simple infusion -- instead of injecting them directly into the heart, which would be a complex procedure for a human patient -- and seeing whether the same beneficial effects occur.

Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the new study is "very comprehensive."

"Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems," said Gerstenblith, who did not contribute to the new research. "The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly."

Todd Herron, director of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center's Cardiovascular Regeneration Core Laboratory, said Marbn, with his previous work with cardiac stem cells, has "led the field in this area."

"The novelty of this bit of work is, they started to look at more precise molecular mechanisms to explain the phenomenon they've seen in the past," said Herron, who played no role in the new research.

One strength of the approach here is that the researchers have taken cells "from the organ that they want to rejuvenate, so that makes it likely that the cells stay there in that tissue," Herron said.

He believes that more extensive study, beginning with larger animals and including long-term followup, is needed before this technique could be used in humans.

"We need to make sure there's no harm being done," Herron said, adding that extending the lifetime and improving quality of life amounts to "a tradeoff between the potential risk and the potential good that can be done."

Capicor hasn't announced any plans to do studies in aging, but the possibility exists.

After all, the cells have been proven "completely safe" in "over 100 human patients," so it would be possible to fast-track them into the clinic, Marbn explained: "I can't tell you that there are any plans to do that, but it could easily be done from a safety viewpoint."

Read more:
Cardiac stem cells rejuvenate rats' aging hearts, study says - CNN

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Cardiac stem cells rejuvenate rats’ aging hearts, study says – CNN | August 16th, 2017

The early heart tube of a chick embryo: cardiac and endothelial cells are made visible by specifically expressing fluorescent proteins under the control of the Nkx2.5 (green) and Isl1 (red) cardiovascular genes. Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

One of the first organ systems to form and function in the embryo is the cardiovascular system: in fact, this developmental process starts so early that scientists still have many unresolved questions on the origin of the primitive heart and blood vessels. How do the first cells the progenitors that are destined to become part of this system participate in shaping the developed cardiovascular system?

Dr. Lyad Zamir, a former PhD student in the lab of Prof. Eldad Tzahor in the Weizmann Institute of Science's Department of Molecular Cell Biology, developed a method to image the earliest cardiovascular progenitors and track them and their descendants through the developing embryo in real time. His movies took place in fertilized chicken eggs, in which a complex network of blood vessels forms within the yolk sac to nourish the embryo. The findings of this research were recently published in eLife.

Working in collaboration with the lab of Prof. Richard Harvey of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the University of New South Wales, both in Australia, Prof. Tzahor and Dr. Zamir focused on a gene called Nkx2-5. This gene encodes a transcription factor, which is a regulatory protein that controls the expression of other genes involved in the development of the heart. "The new study revealed that Nkx2-5, independently of its role in the development of the heart, plays a central role in the genesis of the very first blood vessels and indeed the formation of blood," says Prof. Tzahor.

Looking at the onset of Nkx2-5 expression, the team revealed the existence of progenitor cells called hemangioblasts. These cells give rise to both the blood and vascular progenitor cells those that lead to the formation of blood vessels. These unique cells are created from the mesoderm the middle layer of cells that appears in the very early developing embryo. Researchers have been hotly debating the existence of hemangioblasts and, if they do exist, their possible function.

In the chick embryo films, the researchers could see the hemangioblasts moving to create "blood islands," which form within the primitive embryonic vessels. The researchers were surprised to observe that some of the hemangioblast cells were moving into the heart, where they formed blood stem cells. This helped make sense of other studies revealing that the early heart tube contains cells that appear to assist in generating blood cells. The researchers also identified specialized Nkx2-5-expressing cells within the lining of the newly formed aorta, where they appeared to "bud off" to produce new blood cells. Later on in development, these specialized cells move into the liver, where they give rise to the blood-forming stem cells in the fetus.

Prof. Tzahor: "Even 20 years after one of the 'master genes' for heart development was discovered, we have managed to write a new story about its action, showing that it works briefly at a very early stage in development in the formation of vessels and blood before the main action takes place in the heart. We have provided solid evidence for the existence of these very early cells and their contribution to heart and vascular development."

Because these findings reveal the early origins of at least some of the blood-forming stem cells in the embryo, they may be especially helpful in research into diseases affecting the cardiovascular system.

Explore further: Kidney research leads to surprising discovery about how the heart forms

More information: Lyad Zamir et al. Nkx2.5 marks angioblasts that contribute to hemogenic endothelium of the endocardium and dorsal aorta, eLife (2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.20994

Read more:
The unexpected role of a well-known gene in creating blood - Medical Xpress

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on The unexpected role of a well-known gene in creating blood – Medical Xpress | August 16th, 2017

Cardiac stem cells derived from young hearts helped reverse the signs of aging when directly injected into the old hearts of elderly rats, astudypublished Monday in the European Heart Journal demonstrated.

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats fur fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion.

Its extremely exciting, said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing the systemic rejuvenating effects, he said, its kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth.

Weve been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now, Marbn said.

Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells.

Theyre progenitor cells from the heart itself, Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely.

From hisown previous research, Marbn discovered that cardiosphere-derived cells promote the healing of the heart after a condition known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which affects more than 50% of all heart failure patients.

Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that suffered from a type of heart problem thats very typical of what we find in older human beings: The hearts stiff, and it doesnt relax right, and it causes fluid to back up some, Marbn explained.

He and his team injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn rats into the hearts of 22-month-old rats thats elderly for a rat. Similar old rats received a placebo injection of saline solution. Then, Marbn and his team compared both groups to young rats that were 4 months old. After a month, they compared the rats again.

Even though the cells were injected into the heart, their effects were noticeable throughout the body, Marbn said

The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because Im kind of losing my hair) the animals regrew their fur a lot better after theyd gotten cells compared with the placebo rats, Marbn said.

The rats that received cardiosphere-derived cells also experienced improved heart function and showed longer heart cell telomeres.

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue, Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Looking to the future, Marbn said hes begun to explore delivering the cardiac stem cells intravenously in a simple infusion instead of injecting them directly into the heart, which would be a complex procedure for a human patient and seeing whether the same beneficial effects occur.

Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the new study is very comprehensive.

Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems, said Gerstenblith, who did not contribute to the new research. The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly.

Todd Herron, director of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Centers Cardiovascular Regeneration Core Laboratory, said Marbn, with his previous work with cardiac stem cells, has led the field in this area.

The novelty of this bit of work is, they started to look at more precise molecular mechanisms to explain the phenomenon theyve seen in the past, said Herron, who played no role in the new research.

One strength of the approach here is that the researchers have taken cells from the organ that they want to rejuvenate, so that makes it likely that the cells stay there in that tissue, Herron said.

He believes that more extensive study, beginning with larger animals and including long-term followup, is needed before this technique could be used in humans.

We need to make sure theres no harm being done, Herron said, adding that extending the lifetime and improving quality of life amounts to a tradeoff between the potential risk and the potential good that can be done.

Capicor, the company that grows these special cells, is focused solely on therapies for muscular dystrophy and heart failure with ongoing clinical trials involving human patients, Marbn said.

Capicor hasnt announced any plans to do studies in aging, but the possibility exists.

After all, the cells have been proven completely safe in over 100 human patients, so it would be possible to fast-track them into the clinic, Marbn explained: I cant tell you that there are any plans to do that, but it could easily be done from a safety viewpoint.

Continued here:
Unexpected fountain of youth found in cardiac stem cells ...

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Unexpected fountain of youth found in cardiac stem cells … | August 15th, 2017

On Monday, a group of scientists at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, CA, discovered througha world-first experimenta form to rejuvenate elder rats old hearts by injecting cardiac stem cells from much younger rats with healthier hearts. They hope this process might eventually become useful to humans.

The first time an experiment like this was carried out was in 2009 by the same Los Angeles-based team. Now, they also proved the possibility of reversing aging in old hearts.

Heart failure is a typical cause of death in humans. Around 48 percent of women and 46 percent of men die a year from heart attacks and other heart-related diseases. They are the first reason of death worldwide, and a leading cause of death in the United States, killing over 375,000 Americans a year. Nearly half of all African-American population suffers from heart diseases.

Researchers took stem cells from the hearts of 4-month-old rats, shaped them into cardiosphere-derived cells and injected them into the hearts of other rats of 22 monthsold, an age that makes them be considered as old. They carried out a similar process to another group of rats but injected saline instead. Scientists later compared both groups.

After receiving the stem cells injection, researchers noted a significant change in the way old rats continued to live. They turned much more active and improved their functionalities. Not just their heart rates got better and faster, but also the way they ran and breathed. Their hair started to grow faster, their chromosomal telomeres which commonly shrink with age lengthened, plus other benefits. The rodents began to progressively improve their capacity of exercise along with their stamina overall.

The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because Im kind of losing my hair) the animals regrew their fur a lot better after theyd gotten cells compared with the placebo rats, said Dr Eduardo Marbn, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and lead author, who is also extremely excited for having witnessed the unexpected fountain of youth.

In 2009, his team successfully repaired the damaged heart of a man who had suffered a heart attack, using his own heart tissue.

Stem cells are a really basic type of cells that can be molded and converted into other much-specialized cells through a process called differentiation, which is basicallyshaping them into any kind of body cell.They form in embryos like embryonic stem cells -, which help in the growth process of babies, along with the millions of other different cell types they need before their birth.

One of many cells scientists generated from stem cells is called progenitor cell, which shares some of the same properties. But unlike the original cells, progenitor cells are not able to divide and reproduce indefinitely. Dr. Marbn also said they discovered cardiosphere-derived cells, which tend to promote the healing of a condition that affects more than 50 percent of patients suffering from heart failure.

Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions, said Dr Marbn. Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.

According to Dr. Marbn, stem cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles which contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injuries, and the way genes are expressed in the tissue. They are placed into the heart, and act to transform it into a better organ, helping it at the same time to improve exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Now, Dr. Marbn is exploring a much easier way to deliver the stem cells intravenously, instead of injecting them directly into the heart. Thus avoiding surgeries, which tend to be more complicated and expensive for the patient.

Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems, said Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, who did not contribute to the new research. The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly.

Now, scientistsneed to make more extensive studies before using the technique in humans.

Source: CNN

Read more here:
Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells into their hearts - Pulse Headlines

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Scientists discovered how to rejuvenate rats by injecting stem cells into their hearts – Pulse Headlines | August 15th, 2017

Cardiac stem cells derived from young hearts helped reverse the signs of aging when directly injected into the old hearts of elderly rats, astudypublished Monday in the European Heart Journal demonstrated.

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion.

Its extremely exciting, said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing the systemic rejuvenating effects, he said, its kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth.

Weve been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now, Marbn said.

Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells.

Theyre progenitor cells from the heart itself, Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely.

From hisown previous research, Marbn discovered that cardiosphere-derived cells promote the healing of the heart after a condition known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which affects more than 50% of all heart failure patients.

Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that suffered from a type of heart problem thats very typical of what we find in older human beings: The hearts stiff, and it doesnt relax right, and it causes fluid to back up some, Marbn explained.

He and his team injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn rats into the hearts of 22-month-old rats thats elderly for a rat. Similar old rats received a placebo injection of saline solution. Then, Marbn and his team compared both groups to young rats that were 4 months old. After a month, they compared the rats again.

Even though the cells were injected into the heart, their effects were noticeable throughout the body, Marbn said

The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because Im kind of losing my hair) the animals regrew their fur a lot better after theyd gotten cells compared with the placebo rats, Marbn said.

The rats that received cardiosphere-derived cells also experienced improved heart function and showed longer heart cell telomeres.

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue, Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Looking to the future, Marbn said hes begun to explore delivering the cardiac stem cells intravenously in a simple infusion instead of injecting them directly into the heart, which would be a complex procedure for a human patient and seeing whether the same beneficial effects occur.

Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the new study is very comprehensive.

Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems, said Gerstenblith, who did not contribute to the new research. The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly.

Todd Herron, director of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Centers Cardiovascular Regeneration Core Laboratory, said Marbn, with his previous work with cardiac stem cells, has led the field in this area.

The novelty of this bit of work is, they started to look at more precise molecular mechanisms to explain the phenomenon theyve seen in the past, said Herron, who played no role in the new research.

One strength of the approach here is that the researchers have taken cells from the organ that they want to rejuvenate, so that makes it likely that the cells stay there in that tissue, Herron said.

He believes that more extensive study, beginning with larger animals and including long-term followup, is needed before this technique could be used in humans.

We need to make sure theres no harm being done, Herron said, adding that extending the lifetime and improving quality of life amounts to a tradeoff between the potential risk and the potential good that can be done.

Capicor, the company that grows these special cells, is focused solely on therapies for muscular dystrophy and heart failure with ongoing clinical trials involving human patients, Marbn said.

Capicor hasnt announced any plans to do studies in aging, but the possibility exists.

After all, the cells have been proven completely safe in over 100 human patients, so it would be possible to fast-track them into the clinic, Marbn explained: I cant tell you that there are any plans to do that, but it could easily be done from a safety viewpoint.

More here:
'Unexpected fountain of youth' found in cardiac stem cells, says researcher - fox6now.com

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on ‘Unexpected fountain of youth’ found in cardiac stem cells, says researcher – fox6now.com | August 15th, 2017

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - August 14, 2017) - VistaGen Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: VTGN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new generation medicines for depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today reported its financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017.

The Company also provided an update on its corporate progress, clinical status and anticipated milestones for AV-101, its orally available CNS prodrug candidate in Phase 2 development, initially as a new generation treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).

"We anticipate several catalytic milestones in our clinical development, intellectual property and regulatory programs for AV-101 within the next 6 to 18 months. We remain highly focused on satisfying standard regulatory requirements and completing preparations for our planned AV-101 Phase 2 adjunctive treatment study in MDD. Our primary goal is to launch the study in January 2018 and complete it during 2018 to advance our efforts to provide a new generation treatment alternative to millions battling depression every day," commented Shawn Singh, Chief Executive Officer of VistaGen.

Mr. Singh continued, "In conjunction with our focused efforts to advance our AV-101 Phase 2 development program, we have continued to expand our intellectual property portfolio. Earlier this year the European Patent Office issued a Notice of Intention to Grant our European Patent Application regarding AV-101 for treatment of depression and reduction of dyskinesias associated with levodopa therapy for Parkinson's disease, a patent that will be in effect until at least January 2034. In addition, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently allowed another important U.S. patent relating to stem cell technology held by VistaStem Therapeutics, our subsidiary using stem cell technology for drug rescue and regenerative medicine. The breakthrough technology under the allowed U.S. patent involves the stem cells from which all blood cells and most bone marrow cells are derived, technology with the potential to reach patients with a broad range of life-threatening diseases, including cancer, with CAR-T cell applications and foundational technology we believe may ultimately provide approaches for producing bone marrow stem cells for bone marrow transfusions. We are confident in our path forward through strategic collaborations, such as our agreement with the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health covering its full financial sponsorship of the ongoing Phase 2 study of AV-101 for MDD that Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr. and his team are conducting at the NIH's clinic in Bethesda, as well as our sublicense arrangement with BlueRock Therapeutics, a company established by Bayer AG and Versant Ventures, focused on regenerative medicine for heart disease. As we have historically, we believe we have surrounded ourselves with partners, supportive stockholders and corporate development and finance experts who share our confidence in our future and will assist us in securing key collaborations and raising sufficient capital to achieve our objectives, most notably the launch and completion in 2018 of our Phase 2 adjunctive treatment study of AV-101 for MDD. We look forward to creating value for our stakeholders in fiscal 2018 and beyond."

Potential Near-Term Milestones:

During the second half of 2017, the Company is pursuing the following objectives:

Further, the Company anticipates that the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) will complete the NIH-sponsored Phase 2 study of AV-101 in depression, with topline results during the first half of 2018.

Recent Operational Highlights:

Advancement of AV-101 as a Potential, Non-Opioid Treatment Alternative for Chronic Pain

Bolstered Clinical Team with Industry Expert

Intellectual Property Accomplishments

Capital Market Highlights

Financial Results for the Fiscal Quarter Ended June 30, 2017:

At June 30, 2017, the Company had a cash and cash equivalents balance of $1.6 million, compared to $2.9 million as of March 31, 2017. Between late-March 2017 and late-June 2017, in self-placed private placement transactions, the Company sold units consisting of unregistered common stock and common stock warrants to accredited investors, yielding approximately $1 million in net cash proceeds.

Net loss for the fiscal quarters ended June 30, 2017 and 2016 was approximately $2.3 million and $2.0 million, respectively, including non-cash expenses of approximately $0.5 million in each period.

Research and development expense totaled $1.1 million for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017, compared with $0.8 million for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016. The increase in year-over-year research and development expense was attributable to the Company's increased focus on the continuing non-clinical and clinical development of AV-101 and ongoing preparations to launch its AV-101 Phase 2 Adjunctive Treatment Study.

General and administrative expense increased slightly to $1.2 million in the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017, from $1.1 million in the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2016 primarily because of increased headcount and employee-related expenses and non-cash stock compensation expense attributable to recent stock option grants, partially offset by a reduction in professional services fees.

About VistaGen

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

About VistaStem

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

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

Forward-Looking Statements

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

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VistaGen Therapeutics Reports First Fiscal Quarter 2018 Financial Results and Provides Business Update - Marketwired (press release)

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on VistaGen Therapeutics Reports First Fiscal Quarter 2018 Financial Results and Provides Business Update – Marketwired (press release) | August 14th, 2017

The old rats appeared newly invigorated after receiving their injections. As hoped, the cardiac stem cells improved heart function yet also provided additional benefits. The rats' fur fur, shaved for surgery, grew back more quickly than expected, and their chromosomal telomeres, which commonly shrink with age, lengthened.

The old rats receiving the cardiac stem cells also had increased stamina overall, exercising more than before the infusion.

"It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Eduardo Marbn, primary investigator on the research and director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Witnessing "the systemic rejuvenating effects," he said, "it's kind of like an unexpected fountain of youth."

"We've been studying new forms of cell therapy for the heart for some 12 years now," Marbn said.

Some of this research has focused on cardiosphere-derived cells.

"They're progenitor cells from the heart itself," Marbn said. Progenitor cells are generated from stem cells and share some, but not all, of the same properties. For instance, they can differentiate into more than one kind of cell like stem cells, but unlike stem cells, progenitor cells cannot divide and reproduce indefinitely.

Since heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is similar to aging, Marbn decided to experiment on old rats, ones that suffered from a type of heart problem "that's very typical of what we find in older human beings: The heart's stiff, and it doesn't relax right, and it causes fluid to back up some," Marbn explained.

He and his team injected cardiosphere-derived cells from newborn rats into the hearts of 22-month-old rats -- that's elderly for a rat. Similar old rats received a placebo injection of saline solution. Then, Marbn and his team compared both groups to young rats that were 4 months old. After a month, they compared the rats again.

Even though the cells were injected into the heart, their effects were noticeable throughout the body, Marbn said

"The animals could exercise further than they could before by about 20%, and one of the most striking things, especially for me (because I'm kind of losing my hair) the animals ... regrew their fur a lot better after they'd gotten cells" compared with the placebo rats, Marbn said.

The rats that received cardiosphere-derived cells also experienced improved heart function and showed longer heart cell telomeres.

Why did it work?

The working hypothesis is that the cells secrete exosomes, tiny vesicles that "contain a lot of nucleic acids, things like RNA, that can change patterns of the way the tissue responds to injury and the way genes are expressed in the tissue," Marbn said.

It is the exosomes that act on the heart and make it better as well as mediating long-distance effects on exercise capacity and hair regrowth, he explained.

Looking to the future, Marbn said he's begun to explore delivering the cardiac stem cells intravenously in a simple infusion -- instead of injecting them directly into the heart, which would be a complex procedure for a human patient -- and seeing whether the same beneficial effects occur.

Dr. Gary Gerstenblith, a professor of medicine in the cardiology division of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said the new study is "very comprehensive."

"Striking benefits are demonstrated not only from a cardiac perspective but across multiple organ systems," said Gerstenblith, who did not contribute to the new research. "The results suggest that stem cell therapies should be studied as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of cardiac and other diseases common in the elderly."

Todd Herron, director of the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center's Cardiovascular Regeneration Core Laboratory, said Marbn, with his previous work with cardiac stem cells, has "led the field in this area."

"The novelty of this bit of work is, they started to look at more precise molecular mechanisms to explain the phenomenon they've seen in the past," said Herron, who played no role in the new research.

One strength of the approach here is that the researchers have taken cells "from the organ that they want to rejuvenate, so that makes it likely that the cells stay there in that tissue," Herron said.

He believes that more extensive study, beginning with larger animals and including long-term followup, is needed before this technique could be used in humans.

"We need to make sure there's no harm being done," Herron said, adding that extending the lifetime and improving quality of life amounts to "a tradeoff between the potential risk and the potential good that can be done."

Capicor hasn't announced any plans to do studies in aging, but the possibility exists.

After all, the cells have been proven "completely safe" in "over 100 human patients," so it would be possible to fast-track them into the clinic, Marbn explained: "I can't tell you that there are any plans to do that, but it could easily be done from a safety viewpoint."

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Cardiac stem cells rejuvenate rats' aging hearts, study says - CNN - CNN

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Cardiac stem cells rejuvenate rats’ aging hearts, study says – CNN – CNN | August 14th, 2017

The use of stem cells in the treatment of heart failure cases is currently being investigated. Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in the United States accounting forone third ofall deaths.Heart disease kills more people than cancer, HIV, diabetesor trauma. Many advances in medical and surgical treatment of heart disease have contributed to a growing number of patients in their 70s and 80s with congestive heart failure. An estimated 1% of the Western world has congestive heart failure, including over 5 million Americans with an additional 550,000 new cases each year. Patients with advanced heart failure who require hospitalization, have a 50% mortality within the first fiveyears.

The patients with significant coronary artery disease can sometimes undergo coronary artery bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention to open up blocked arteries. In addition, current medical treatment of patients with congestive heart failure include proven beneficial medicine such as beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, angiotensinIIreceptor blockers, angiotensin IIreceptor blocker Neprilysin inhibitors and diuretics. When appropriate, resynchronization of the right and left ventricles can be accomplished with special types of pacemaker. However, even after following all of these guideline proven therapies, some patients still run out of options and continue to have severe and debilitating congestive heart failure. Heart transplant is a last resort for end stage heart disease.There is a very low number of donor hearts and transplant programs have very restricted eligibility criteria leaving a large number patients with very few options.

An example of a normal LV-gram.

An example of a normal echocardiogram.

There are reasons to believe that regenerative therapy could really help patients with congestive heart failure. Multi-potent cardiac stem cells exist in the heart and participate in the normal turnover of heart muscle cells and small blood vessels.A heart attack kills heart muscle which is made of millions of heart cells. The question is: Would regenerative therapy be able to replace those heart cells or cardiac myocytes?

Thousands of patients have been enrolled in clinical trials to address this question. Regenerative or stem cell therapy has been shown to be safe. Modest benefits have been demonstrated but the mechanism has not been completely elucidated. So far, there is no evidence that cells regenerate from the transplanted stem cells. Animal studies have shown that only 1% of the stem cells injected into the heart tissue are detectable after 1 month. The clinical benefits observed appeared to be due to arelease of growth factors which triggers endogenous repair of the heart cells and inhibits cell death and fibrosis resulting in increased performance of the heart muscle.

An example of an abnormal LV-gram.

An example of an abnormal echocardiogram.

Adult stem cells derived from the bone marrow of healthyyoung donors have been used in clinical trials of heart failure. In the Dream-HF clinical trial, we are using immuno-selected mesenchymalstem cells from healthy adult allogeneic donors. The cells are obtained from their bone marrow, expandedin a manufacturing facility and arecryopreserved until use. These cells are shipped to clinical sites and used for the study.

Allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells have been evaluated in multiple nonclinical and clinical studies, several of which were initiated by Mesoblast, the phase 3 study sponsor. Therapeutic indications under evaluation included heart failure, myocardial infarction, rheumatoid arthritis and graft versus host disease. Currently, results from clinical studies suggest that allogeneic stem cells are generally well tolerated. Moreover,in a phase 2 study ofpatients with heart failure, mesenchymal precursor cell therapy was associated withimprovement inreduction in heart failure hospitalization events and improvementsin functional exercise capacity.

Stem cells from healthy normal volunteers are administered as a 1 time dose of 150 million cells. Myocardial locations are defined within the left ventricle byLeft Ventriculogram (LV-gram)imaging and electromechanical mapping as viable for cell delivery. The cells are administered via a trans-endocardial injection at 15-20 sites inside the heart cavity using a Myostar injection catheter and a NOGA cardiac mapping system. Dr Mendelsohn is the interventional cardiologist performing the injections at BBH Princeton hospital. Only he knows which patients received the stem cells, and he doesnt follow them. The other heart failure specialists follow the patients in the research clinic.

The patients that are injected with stem cells are compared to a group of patient who undergo a Sham or placebo treatment. The treatment arm is not known to the patient or to the heart failure specialist such as myself. This is the only way to find out whether the treatment with stem cells really works. All the patients will be followed by their study team and will be monitored for the clinical effects of stem-cell treatment in patients with congestive heart failure.

No matter how many cases of congestive heart failure we treat, I am still captivated by each and every persons story. One such patient, is a young lady that was treated for heart failure and had a defibrillator placed in 2009. She sought our help and was inquiring about stem cell treatment for her heart. She was only in her early 40s and was desperate to try something new. She was on maximal medical therapy and did not qualify at that time because she was stable. In 2015 however, a clinical deterioration lead to several cardiac procedures including ablation of ventricular arrhythmias and an upgrade of her pacemaker/defibrillator. I thought we were going to lose her. At some point, she was going into incessant ventriculartachycardias and required several prolonged hospitalizations. We referred her to a transplant center and she was evaluated by the transplant team. At the same time, she enrolled in our stem cell research Dream-HF program at the end of 2015.Because she is still part of the research study, I am not sure whether she received stem cells or not. She is amongst one of the many patients that are participating ina stem cell research program that is evaluating cutting edge technology in heart failure. The Dream-HF study is still enrolling patients with chronic systolic heart failure of either ischemic or nonischemic etiology.

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Stem Cells in the Treatment of Heart Failure MyHeart

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cells in the Treatment of Heart Failure MyHeart | August 12th, 2017

In the days after a heart attack, surviving patients and their loved ones can breathe a sigh of relief that the immediate danger is over but the scar tissue that forms during the long healing process can inflict lasting damage. Too often it restricts the hearts ability to fill properly between beats, disrupting rhythm and ultimately leading to heart failure. Yet a new possible treatment may help to revitalize an injured ticker.

A cadre of scientists and companies is now trying to prevent or reverse cardiac damage by infusing a cocktail of stem cells into weakened hearts. One company, Melbourne, Australiabased Mesoblast, is already in late-stage clinical trials, treating hundreds of chronic heart failure patients with stem cell precursors drawn from healthy donors hip bones. A randomized trial that includes a placebo group is scheduled to complete enrollment next year.

Mesoblasts earlier-stage trials, published in 2015 inCirculation Research, found that patients who received injections of its cell mixture had no further problems related to heart failure.

Promising results from the new trial would be a major step forward for a field that has long been criticized for studies that are poorly designed, incomplete or lack control-group comparisons, as well as for the peddling of unproved therapies in many clinics worldwide.

Another company, Belgium-based TiGenix, hopes to attack scar tissue before it forms by treating patients with a mixture of heart stem cells within seven days of a heart attack. This approach has just completed phase II trials, but no findings have yet been published.

There are still many unanswered questions about how stem cells typically derived from bones could help heal the heart. Leading theories suggest they may help fight inflammation, revitalize existing heart cells, or drive those cells to divide or promote new blood-vessel growth, says Richard Lee, leader of the cardiovascular program at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Other stem cell scientists, including Joshua Hare, who conducted earlier-stage Mesoblast research and directs the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami, say the cells may work in multiple ways to heal scar tissue. According to Hare, the stem cells could ultimately be a truly regenerative treatment.

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Stem cell therapy for heart failure gets a gold-standard trial - Salon

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cell therapy for heart failure gets a gold-standard trial – Salon | August 12th, 2017

August 8, 2017 - By Peter Erickson

The stock of Vistagen Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:VTGN) registered an increase of 11.81% in short interest. VTGNs total short interest was 90,900 shares in August as published by FINRA. Its up 11.81% from 81,300 shares, reported previously. With 28,700 shares average volume, it will take short sellers 3 days to cover their VTGNs short positions. The short interest to Vistagen Therapeutics Incorporateds float is 1.75%.

The stock decreased 2.22% or $0.04 on August 7, reaching $1.76. About shares traded. Vistagen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:VTGN) has declined 50.00% since August 8, 2016 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 66.70% the S&P500.

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The company has market cap of $16.74 million. The Firm is engaged in developing and commercializing product candidates for patients with diseases and disorders involving the central nervous system . It currently has negative earnings. The Companys lead product candidate, AV-101, is an orally available prodrug candidate in Phase II development, initially for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressants approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

More notable recent Vistagen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:VTGN) news were published by: Prnewswire.com which released: VistaGen Therapeutics Reports Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results and on November 14, 2016, also Finance.Yahoo.com with their article: VistaGen Therapeutics Receives European Patent Office Notice of Intention to published on March 29, 2017, Prnewswire.com published: VistaGen Therapeutics Grants Exclusive Sublicense of Cardiac Stem Cell on December 14, 2016. More interesting news about Vistagen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:VTGN) were released by: Prnewswire.com and their article: VistaGen Therapeutics to Present at Biotech Showcase 2017 published on January 05, 2017 as well as Prnewswire.coms news article titled: VistaGen Therapeutics Provides Business Outlook and Sets Corporate Milestones with publication date: September 22, 2016.

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What's Propelling Vistagen Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:VTGN) After Higher Shorts Reported? - BZ Weekly

Cardiac Stem Cells Comments Off on What’s Propelling Vistagen Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:VTGN) After Higher Shorts Reported? – BZ Weekly | August 11th, 2017