The newtechnique involves isolating and spraying the patient's own skin stem cells on the burn wounds

BURNS victims are being treated with an amazing gun which sprays them with stem cells and makes skin rapidly grow.

Treatment for people with extensive burns is a painful process and can often take weeks or months as surgeons take large sheets of skin from elsewhere on the body and graft it onto the affected area with the prospect of permanent scars a possibility.

Renova Care

Renova Care

Doctors in the US have developed the SkinGun, anew technique which involves isolating and spraying the patients own skin stem cells on the burn wounds.

Response to the SkinGun has been positive with patients saying their new skin is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of their body, the Daily Mail has reported.

Thomas Bold, chief executive of RenovaCare, the company behind SkinGun, said: The procedure is gentler and the skin that regrows looks, feels and functions like the original skin.

The procedure involves a small patch of healthy skin being removed.

Then stem cells are separated out and placed in a solution which is then sprayed onto the wound.

The whole thing takes around 90 minutes.

Case studies include a 43-year-old man who suffered serious burns to his upper left arm, shoulder, back and torso after he was scalded by hot water and left him with huge welts.

Within six days new skin had formed over the wound and he was discharged from hospital.

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Burn victims treated with amazing gun which sprays them with stem cells and makes skin grow - The Sun

Ive been a fan of stem cells ever since I discovered ReLuma and AQ Skin Solutions, both of which use human conditioned media from adult adipose fat. Back then, it was a leap of face based on research surrounding stem cells and wound healing. Ever since, I have relied on my own experience and reports from the Truth In Aging community stem cells seem to work. So, I was excited (and vindicated) to read new research on stem cells and aging.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found adult stem cells collected from human fat have a potential use to treat aging. Their findings are published in the journal, Stem Cells. The posh name for fat is adipose (worth keeping in mind if you want to bewilder a loved one by asking them if your bottom looks adipose in these pants). Anyway, adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), create more proteins than researchers initially thought even when harvested from the elderly.

Our study shows these cells are very robust, even when they are collected from older patients, said Ivona Percec, M.D., director of Basic Science Research in the Center for Human Appearance and the study's lead author. It also shows these cells can be potentially used safely in the future because they require minimal manipulation and maintenance. Now, notice Dr. Percec uses the word safely. This is also a useful development, because we have never really known whether administering stem cells as anti-agers was really a safe thing to do.

Interestingly, adipose stem cells behave differently to other stem cells such as fibroblasts from the skin in that they are more stable over time and the rate at which they multiply stays consistent even as we age. I found some research from 2013 that speculated that these cells may be the same in infants through to the elderly. Dr. Perecs research seems to have clinched that this is indeed the case.

When you harvest adipose derived stem cells, they can become virtually any type of cell and put to the service of anti-aging, as well as healing purposes. Recent research has shown that they are a powerful source of skin regeneration because of their capability to provide not just cells but also tons of cytokines, or growth factors. The result, as one research paper puts it, is great promise for applications in repair of skin, rejuvenation of aging skin and aging-related skin lesions.

Adipose stem cells were discovered 40 years after the identification of bone marrow stem cells, opening up a new era of active stem cell therapy. It looks as if we are on the threshold of much more discovery in this field. For instance, Dr. Percec and her team are taking the research a step further to look at how tight the DNA is wound around proteins inside the cells and the way this affects aging.

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New Study Finds Human Fat Has Potential to Treat Aging - Truth In ... - Truth In Aging

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Scientists turn human induced pluripotent stem cells into lung cells Science Daily CReM scientists work with induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, which were discovered by Shinya Yamanaka in 2006. Yamanaka figured out how to take an adult cell in the human body -- like a blood cell or skin cell -- and "reprogram" it into a stem ... and more »

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Scientists turn human induced pluripotent stem cells into lung cells - Science Daily

Researchers have modified mouse stem cells to combat the kind of inflammation that arthritis and other conditions cause. The stem cells may one day be used in a vaccine that would fight arthritis and other chronic inflammation conditions in humans, a new paper suggests.

Such stem cells, known as SMART cells (Stem cells Modified for Autonomous Regenerative Therapy), develop into cartilage cells that produce a biologic anti-inflammatory drug that, ideally, will replace arthritic cartilage and simultaneously protect joints and other tissues from damage that occurs with chronic inflammation.

Researchers initially worked with skin cells from the tails of mice and converted those cells into stem cells. Then, using the gene-editing tool CRISPR in cells grown in culture, they removed a key gene in the inflammatory process and replaced it with a gene that releases a biologic drug that combats inflammation. The research is availablein the journal Stem Cell Reports.

Our goal is to package the rewired stem cells as a vaccine for arthritis, which would deliver an anti-inflammatory drug to an arthritic joint but only when it is needed, says Farshid Guilak, the papers senior author and a professor of orthopedic surgery at Washington University School of Medicine. To do this, we needed to create a smart cell.

Many current drugs used to treat arthritisincluding Enbrel, Humira, and Remicadeattack an inflammation-promoting molecule called tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). But the problem with these drugs is that they are given systemically rather than targeted to joints. As a result, they interfere with the immune system throughout the body and can make patients susceptible to side effects such as infections.

We want to use our gene-editing technology as a way to deliver targeted therapy in response to localized inflammation in a joint, as opposed to current drug therapies that can interfere with the inflammatory response through the entire body, says Guilak, also a professor of developmental biology and of biomedical engineering and codirector of Washington Universitys Center of Regenerative Medicine.

If this strategy proves to be successful, the engineered cells only would block inflammation when inflammatory signals are released, such as during an arthritic flare in that joint.

As part of the study, Guilak and his colleagues grew mouse stem cells in a test tube and then used CRISPR technology to replace a critical mediator of inflammation with a TNF-alpha inhibitor.

We hijacked an inflammatory pathway to create cells that produced a protective drug.

Exploiting tools from synthetic biology, we found we could re-code the program that stem cells use to orchestrate their response to inflammation, says Jonathan Brunger, the papers first author and a postdoctoral fellow in cellular and molecular pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Over the course of a few days, the team directed the modified stem cells to grow into cartilage cells and produce cartilage tissue. Further experiments by the team showed that the engineered cartilage was protected from inflammation.

We hijacked an inflammatory pathway to create cells that produced a protective drug, Brunger says.

The researchers also encoded the stem/cartilage cells with genes that made the cells light up when responding to inflammation, so the scientists easily could determine when the cells were responding. Recently, Guilaks team has begun testing the engineered stem cells in mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

If the work can be replicated in animals and then developed into a clinical therapy, the engineered cells or cartilage grown from stem cells would respond to inflammation by releasing a biologic drugthe TNF-alpha inhibitorthat would protect the synthetic cartilage cells that Guilaks team created and the natural cartilage cells in specific joints.

When these cells see TNF-alpha, they rapidly activate a therapy that reduces inflammation, Guilak explains. We believe this strategy also may work for other systems that depend on a feedback loop. In diabetes, for example, its possible we could make stem cells that would sense glucose and turn on insulin in response. We are using pluripotent stem cells, so we can make them into any cell type, and with CRISPR, we can remove or insert genes that have the potential to treat many types of disorders.

With an eye toward further applications of this approach, Brunger adds, The ability to build living tissues from smart stem cells that precisely respond to their environment opens up exciting possibilities for investigation in regenerative medicine.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health supported this work. The Nancy Taylor Foundation for Chronic Diseases; the Arthritis Foundation; the National Science Foundation; and the Collaborative Research Center of the AO Foundation in Davos, Switzerland, provided additional funding.

Authors Farshid Guilak and Vincent Willard have a financial interest in Cytex Therapeutics of Durham, North Carolina, which may choose to license this technology. Cytex is a startup founded by some of the investigators. They could realize financial gain if the technology eventually is approved for clinical use.

Source: Washington University at St. Louis

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How 'smart' stem cells could lead to arthritis vaccine - Futurity: Research News

An artist's impression of a reprogrammed stem cell.

Ella Marushchenko

In a curious confluence of the information technology industrys favourite word and scientists weakness for punning acronyms, researchers in St Louis, Missouri, in the US, have created what have been dubbed SMART cells.

SMART, in this case, stands for Stem cells Modified for Autonomous Regenerative Therapy, and their creation by a team based jointly at the Washington University School of Medicine and Shriners Hospital for Children promises a novel treatment for arthritis and other chronic conditions.

The team, led by Washington Universitys Farshid Guilak, reasoned that much of the pain and discomfort endured by arthritis suffers arises from inflammation caused by damaged cartilage. Reducing that inflammation, therefore, is an important therapeutic outcome.

To test this the team used mice. First, they harvested skin cells from tails, then turned them into stem cells. Next, using CRISPR gene-editing technology they excised a gene associated with inducing inflammation and replaced it with one that dampens it.

The resulting cells were then induced to grow into cartilage cells in cultures. The tissue thus produced was found to be free of inflammation.

In a clever move perhaps making the stem cells doubly smart Guilak and his colleagues further modified the stem cells so that they would light up when experiencing inflammation, making them easy to spot.

The research is published in in the journal Stem Cell Reports, and includes the news that research has now commenced using live mice.

Should the SMART cells eventually be found to be a viable avenue for human treatment, the results promise to be both more effective and better focused than existing arthritis drugs.

Pharmacological approaches to arthritis treatment mainly target the inflammation-promoting molecule called tumor necrosis factor alpha. The problem, however, is that they all do so on a system-wide basis, weakening the immune system and making patients more liable to infection.

We want to use our gene-editing technology as a way to deliver targeted therapy in response to localised inflammation in a joint, as opposed to current drug therapies that can interfere with the inflammatory response through the entire body, says Guilak.

Study co-author Jonathan Brunger says the most pleasing aspect of the teams CRISPR-based approach is that it effectively highjacks the inflammatory pathway and turns it into a protective mechanism.

The ability to build living tissues from smart stem cells that precisely respond to their environment opens up exciting possibilities for investigation in regenerative medicine, he adds.

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SMART cells to fight arthritis - Cosmos

Science Daily

Stem cells edited to fight arthritis: Goal is vaccine that targets ... Science Daily Using CRISPR technology, a team of researchers rewired stem cells' genetic circuits to produce an anti-inflammatory arthritis drug when the cells encounter ... Fighting arthritis: Researchers edit stem cells to fight inflammationKasmir Monitor CRISPR-SMART Cells Regenerate Cartilage, Secrete Anti-Arthritis DrugGenetic Engineering & Biotechnology News all 6 news articles »

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Stem cells edited to fight arthritis: Goal is vaccine that targets ... - Science Daily

Researchers at University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a method that can transform human skin cells into brain cells. With this amazing feat, scientists may be able to better understand what role inflammation plays in the progression of Alzheimers disease. And this knowledge could lay the groundwork towards developing more effective treatments and therapies to manage the condition.

Before this breakthrough, scientists relied mostly on mice microglia to study the immunology of Alzheimers. Microglia sometimes referred to as Hortega cells are a special kind of cell that can be found in the human brain and spinal cord. The primary role of these cells is to protect the brain and the spine from infections, disease and any invading microbe. They provide immune support for the entire central nervous system by removing dead cells, damaged cells and other debris.

Along this line, microglial cells also help keep healthy cells from degenerating managing inflammation as well as developing and maintaining the integrity of neural networks which is why they are believed to play a special role in delaying the progression of neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimers.

While studying brain cells from mice is useful, studying the real thing is, of course, more preferable. And the method developed by the UCI team is a step in this direction.

Using skin cells donated by UCI Alzheimers Disease Research Center patients, the UCI team led by Edsel Abud, Mathew Blurton-Jones and Wayne Poon made use of a genetic process to reprogram the skin cells and turn them into induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) adult cells that are modified to act like embryonic stem cells which can turn into any kind of cell or tissue. The iPSCs were then exposed to a series of differentiation factors which mimicked the developmental origin of microglia. This exposure resulted in cells that are pretty much like human microglial cells.

Instead of continuing to rely on mice microglial cells, scientists now have a more realistic model for studying human disease in order to develop new and better therapies. And they have now started on this new path. They are using the microglial-like cells in 3D brain models so they can study how these cells interact with other brain cells and understand how this interaction impacts the progression of Alzheimers and the development of other neurological conditions.

As explained by Professor Blurton-Jones in a statement they issued: Microglia play an important role in Alzheimers and other diseases of the central nervous system. Recent research has revealed that newly discovered Alzheimers-risk genes influence microglia behavior. Using these cells, we can understand the biology of these genes and test potential new therapies.

This latest breakthrough is once again proving how important stem cells are in helping understand biological processes, both under normal conditions and under disease-related conditions. Eventually, scientists are bound to stumble on that ultimate discovery that can hopefully be instrumental in combating diseases right at their source, so we can stop dealing with devastating diseases, especially those that affect the brain and threaten a persons life.

The study was recently published in the journal Neuron.

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Scientists Can Now Turn Human Skin Cells Into Brain Cells - Wall Street Pit

Technology Networks

Stem Cells Edited to Fight Arthritis Technology Networks Such stem cells, known as SMART cells (Stem cells Modified for Autonomous Regenerative Therapy), develop into cartilage cells that produce a biologic anti-inflammatory drug that, ideally, will replace arthritic cartilage and simultaneously protect ... CRISPR-SMART Cells Regenerate Cartilage, Secrete Anti-Arthritis DrugGenetic Engineering & Biotechnology News all 5 news articles »

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Stem Cells Edited to Fight Arthritis - Technology Networks

April 25, 2017 Credit: University of California, Irvine

Using human skin cells, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists and their colleagues have created a method to generate one of the principle cell types of the brain called microglia, which play a key role in preserving the function of neural networks and responding to injury and disease.

The finding marks an important step in the use of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for targeted approaches to better understand and potentially treat neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. These iPS cells are derived from existing adult skin cells and show increasing utility as a promising approach for studying human disease and developing new therapies.

Skin cells were donated from patients at the UCI Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The study, led by Edsel Abud, Wayne Poon and Mathew Blurton Jones of UCI, used a genetic process to reprogram these cells into a pluripotent state capable of developing into any type of cell or tissue of the body.

The researchers then guided these pluripotent cells to a new state by exposing the cells to a series of differentiation factors which mimicked the developmental origin of microglia. The resulting cells act very much like human microglial cells. Their study appears in the current issue of Neuron.

In the brain, microglia mediate inflammation and the removal of dead cells and debris. These cells make up 10- to 15-percent of brain cells and are needed for the development and maintenance of neural networks.

"Microglia play an important role in Alzheimer's and other diseases of the central nervous system. Recent research has revealed that newly discovered Alzheimer's-risk genes influence microglia behavior. Using these cells, we can understand the biology of these genes and test potential new therapies," said Blurton-Jones, an assistant professor of the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior and Director of the ADRC iPS Core.

"Scientists have had to rely on mouse microglia to study the immunology of AD. This discovery provides a powerful new approach to better model human disease and develop new therapies," added Poon, a UCI MIND associate researcher.

Along those lines, the researchers examined the genetic and physical interactions between Alzheimer's disease pathology and iPS-microglia. They are now using these cells in three-dimensional brain models to understand how microglia interact with other brain cells and influence AD and the development of other neurological diseases.

"Our findings provide a renewable and high-throughput method for understanding the role of inflammation in Alzheimer's disease using human cells," said Abud, an M.D./Ph.D. student. "These translational studies will better inform disease-modulating therapeutic strategies."

Explore further: 'Housekeepers' of the brain renew themselves more quickly than first thought

More information: Edsel M. Abud et al, iPSC-Derived Human Microglia-like Cells to Study Neurological Diseases, Neuron (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.03.042

A study, led by the University of Southampton and published in Cell Reports, shows that the turnover of the cells, called Microglia, is 10 times faster, allowing the whole population of Microglia cells to be renewed several ...

Immune cells that normally help us fight off bacterial and viral infections may play a far greater role in Alzheimer's disease than originally thought, according to University of California, Irvine neurobiologists with the ...

A characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease is the presence of so called amyloid plaques in the patient's brain - aggregates of misfolded proteins that clump together and damage nerve cells. Although the body has mechanisms ...

Using a drug compound created to treat cancer, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists have disarmed the brain's response to the distinctive beta-amyloid plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Clusters of immune cells in the brain previously associated with Alzheimer's actually protect against the disease by containing the spread of damaging amyloid plaques, a new Yale University School of Medicine study shows.

A new study appearing in the Journal of Neuroinflammation suggests that the brain's immune system could potentially be harnessed to help clear the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

(Medical Xpress)You walk into a wedding reception at a hotel. To your left, you see the entrance to the ballroom. To the right, there's an enormous painting of an evergreen forest. Behind you is the exit to the hotel lobby. ...

Columbia scientists have identified a gene that allows neurons that release serotonina neurotransmitter that regulates mood and emotionsto evenly spread their branches throughout the brain. Without this gene, these ...

The synchronization of brainwaves among students during class reflects how much they like the class and each other, a team of neuroscientists has found.

Putting a turbo engine into an old car gives it an entirely new lifesuddenly it can go further, faster. That same idea is now being applied to neuroscience, with a software wrapper that can be used on existing neuron tracing ...

Peering into laboratory glassware, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have watched stem-cell-derived nerve cells arising in a specific region of the human brain migrate into another brain region. This process ...

In two independent studies, scientists at the University of Basel have demonstrated that both the structure of the brain and several memory functions are linked to immune system genes. The scientific journals Nature Communications ...

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Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells

Tiny, 3-D clusters of human brain cells grown in a petri dish are providing hints about the origins of disorders like autism and epilepsy.

An experiment using these cell clusters which are only about the size of the head of a pin found that a genetic mutation associated with both autism and epilepsy kept developing cells from migrating normally from one cluster of brain cells to another, researchers report in the journal Nature.

"They were sort of left behind," says Dr. Sergiu Pasca, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. And that type of delay could be enough to disrupt the precise timing required for an actual brain to develop normally, he says.

The clusters often called minibrains, organoids or spheroids are created by transforming skin cells from a person into neural stem cells. These stem cells can then grow into structures like those found in the brain and even form networks of communicating cells.

Brain organoids cannot grow beyond a few millimeters in size or perform the functions of a complete brain. But they give scientists a way to study how parts of the brain develop during pregnancy.

"One can really understand both a process of normal human brain development, which we frankly don't understand very well, [and] also what goes wrong in the brain of patients affected by diseases," says Paola Arlotta, a professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard who was not involved in the cell migration study. Arlotta is an author of a second paper in Nature about creating a wide variety of brain cells in brain organoids.

Pasca's team began experimenting with organoids in an effort to learn more about brain disorders that begin long before birth. Animal brains are of limited use in this regard because they don't develop the way human brains do. And traditional brain cell cultures, which grow as a two-dimensional layer in a dish, don't develop the sort of networks and connections that are thought to go awry in disorders like autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia.

"So the question was really, can we capture in a dish more of these elaborate processes that are underlying brain development and brain function," Pasca says.

He was especially interested in a critical process that occurs when cells from deep in the brain migrate to areas nearer the surface. This usually happens during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

So Pasca's team set out to replicate this migration in a petri dish. They grew two types of clusters, representing both deep and surface areas of the forebrain. Then they placed deep clusters next to surface clusters to see whether cells would start migrating.

Pasca says the cells did migrate, in a surprising way. "They don't just simply crawl, but they actually jump," he says. "So they look for a few hours in the direction in which they want to move, they sort of decide on what they want to do, and then suddenly they make a jump."

Pasca suspected this migration process might be disrupted by a genetic disorder called Timothy syndrome, which can cause a form of autism and epilepsy. So he repeated the experiment, using stem cells derived from the skin cells of a person who had Timothy syndrome.

And sure enough, the cells carrying the genetic mutation didn't jump as far as healthy cells did. "They moved inefficiently," Pasca says.

Next Pasca wondered if there might be some way to fix the migration problem. He thought there might be, because Timothy syndrome causes cells to let in too much calcium. And he knew that several existing blood pressure drugs work by blocking calcium from entering cells.

So the team tried adding one of these calcium blockers to the petri dish containing clusters of brain cells that weren't migrating normally. And it worked. "If you do treat the cultures with this calcium blocker, you can actually restore the migration of cells in a dish," Pasca says.

Fixing the problem in a developing baby wouldn't be that simple, he says. But the experiment offers a powerful example of how brain organoids offer a way to not only see what's going wrong, but try drugs that might fix the problem.

Still, to realize their full potential, brain organoids need to get better, Arlotta says. This means finding ways to keep the cell clusters alive longer and allowing them to form more of the types of brain cells that are found in a mature brain.

Arlotta's team has developed techniques that allow brain cell clusters to continue growing and developing in a dish for many months. And what's remarkable, she says, is that over time the clusters automatically begin creating structures and networks like those in a developing brain.

"Using their own information from their genome, the cells can self-assemble and they can decide to become a variety of different cell types than you normally find," she says.

In one experiment, a brain organoid produced nearly all the cell types found in the mature retina, Arlotta says. And tests showed that some of these retinal cells even responded to light.

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'Minibrains' in a dish shed a little light on autism and epilepsy - 89.3 KPCC

A New Type of Stem Cell

While much has been gleaned about the power of stem cells over the last few decades, researchers from the Salk Institute and Peking Universityin China recently found out theres plenty left to discover and invent. Nature, it seems, will always keep you guessing.

In a study published in the journal Cell, the team of researchers revealed they had succeeded in creating a new kind of stem cell thats capable of becoming any type of cell in the human body. Extended pluripotent stem cells or EPS cells are similar to induced pluripotent stem cells(iPS cells), which were invented in 2006.

The key difference between the two is that iPS cells are made from skin cells (called fibroblasts) and EPS cells are made from a combination of skin cells and embryonic stem cells. iPS cells are the hallmark of stem cell research and can be programmed to become any cell in the human body hence the pluripotent part of their name. EPS cells, too, can give rise to any type of cell in the human body, but they can also do something very different something unprecedented, actually: they can create the tissues needed to nourish and grow an embryo.

The discovery of EPS cells provides a potential opportunity for developing a universal method to establish stem cells that have extended developmental potency in mammals, says Jun Wu, one of the studys authors and senior scientist at the Salk Institute, in the organizations news release.

When a human or any mammalian egg gets fertilized, the cells divide up into two task forces: one set is responsible for creating the embryo, and the other set creates the placenta and other supportive tissues needed for the embryo to survive (called extra-embryonic tissues). This happens very early in the reproductive process so early, in fact, that researchers have had a very hard time recreating it in a lab setting.

By culturing and studying both types of cells in action, researchers would not only be able to understand the mechanism that drives it, but hopefully could shed some light on what happens when things go wrong, like in the case of miscarriage.

The researchers at the Salk Institute managed to form a chemical cocktail of four chemicals and a type of growth factor that created a stable environment in which they could culture both types of cells in an immature state. They could then harness the two types of cells for their respective abilities.

What they discovered was that not only were these cells extremely useful for creating chimeras (where two types of animal cells or human and animal cells are mixed to form something new), but were also technically capable of creating and sustaining an entire embryo.At least in theory: while they were able to sustain both human and mouse cells, the ethical considerations of creating a human embryo this way have prevented them from attempting it.

That being said, theres no shortage of applications for this type of stem cell: researchers will be able to use them to model diseases, regenerate tissue, create and trial drug therapies, and study in depth early reproductive processes like implantation. Human-animal chimeras may also help engineer organs for transplant or, you know, give rise to the next superhero.

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Researchers Invent Stem Cell Capable of Becoming an Entire Embryo - Futurism

Cancerous cells in a skin tumor become locked in an abnormal state as a result of the activation of a gene-regulating element (green).

Like an image in a broken mirror, a tumor is a distorted likeness of a wound. Scientists have long seen parallels between the two, such as the formation of new blood vessels, which occurs as part of both wound healing and malignancy.

Research at The Rockefeller University offers new insights about what the two processes have in commonand how they differat the molecular level. The findings, described April 20 in Cell, may aid in the development of new therapies for cancer.

Losing identity

At the core of both malignancy and tissue mending are stem cells, which multiply to produce new tissue to fill the breach or enlarge the tumor. To see how stem cells behave in these scenarios, a team led by scientists in Elaine Fuchss lab compared two distinct types found within mouse skin.

One set of stem cells, at the base of the follicle, differentiates to form the hair shaft; while another set produces new skin cells. Under normal conditions, these two cell populations are physically distinct, producing only their respective tissue, nothing else.

But when Yejing Ge, a postdoc in the Fuchs lab, looked closely at gene activity in skin tumors, she found a remarkable convergence: The follicle stem cells expressed genes normally reserved for skin stem cells, and vice versa. Around wounds, the researchers documented the same blurring between the sets of stem cells.

Master switches

Two of the identity-related genes stood out. They code for so-called master regulators, molecules that play a dominant role in determining what type of tissue a stem cell will ultimately producein this case, hair follicle or skin. The researchers suspect that stress signals from the tissue surrounding the damage or malignancy kick off a cycle that feeds off itself by enabling the master regulators to make more of themselves.

Access to DNA is the key. To go to work, master regulators bind to certain regions of DNA and so initiate dramatic changes in gene expression. The researchers found evidence that stress signals open up new regions of DNA, making them more accessible to gene activation. By binding in these newly available spots, master regulators elevate the expression of identity-related genes, including the genes that encode the master regulators themselves.

Locked in

While wounds heal, cancer can grow indefinitely. The researchers discovered that while stress signals eventually wane in healing wounds, they can persist in cancerand with prolonged stress signaling, another region of DNA opens up to kick off a separate round of cancer-specific changes.

Tumors have been described as wounds that never heal, and now we have identified specific regulatory elements that, when activated, keep tumor cells locked into a blurred identity, Ge says.

The scientists hope this discovery could lead to precise treatments for cancer that cause less collateral damage than conventional chemotherapy. We are currently testing the specificity of these cancer regulatory elements in human cells for their possible use in therapies aimed at killing the tumor cells and leaving the healthy tissue cells unharmed, Fuchs says.

Elaine Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, head of the Robin Chemers Neustein Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

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A mechanism shared by healing wounds and growing tumors - The Rockefeller University Newswire

From Skin to Brain

The brain is one of the most vital organs in the human body, so damage to the brain from injury or aging can have major impacts on peoples quality of life.Neurological disorders representsome of todays most devastating medical conditions that are also difficult to treat.Among these is Alzheimers disease.

Usually, research involving Alzheimers rely on brain cells from mice. Now, neurobiologists from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have developed a method that could allow the use of human cells instead of animal ones to help understand neurological diseases better.

In their study, which was published in the journal Neuron, the researchers found a way to transform human skin cells into stem cells and program them into microglial cells. The latter make up about 10 to 15 percent of the brain and are involved in the removing dead cells and debris, as well as managing inflammation. Micgrolia are instramentalin neural network development and maintenance, explained researcher Mathew Blurton Jones, fromUCIs Department of Neurobiology & Behavior.

Microglia play an important role in Alzheimers and other diseases of the central nervous system. Recent research has revealed that newly discovered Alzheimers-risk genes influence microglia behavior, Jones said in an interview for a UCI press release. Using these cells, we can understand the biology of these genes and test potential new therapies.

The skin cells had been donated by patients from UCIs Alzheimers Disease Research Center. These were firstsubjected toa genetic process to convert them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells adult cells modified to behave as an embryonic stem cell, allowing them to become other kinds of cells. These iPS cells were then exposed to differentiation factors designed to imitate the environment of developing microglia, which transformed them into the brain cells.

This discovery provides a powerful new approach to better model human disease and develop new therapies, said UCI MIND associate researcher Wayne Poon in the press release. The researchers, in effect, have developed a renewable and high-throughput method for understanding the role of inflammation in Alzheimers disease using human cells, according to researcher Edsel Abud in the same source.

In other words, by using human microglia instead of those from mice, the researchers have developed a more accurate toolto study neurological diseases and to develop more targeted treatment approaches. In the case of Alzheimers, they studied the genetic and physical interactions between the diseases pathology and the induced microglia cells. These translational studies will better inform disease-modulating therapeutic strategies, Abud added in the press release.

Furthermore, they are now using these induced microglia cells in three-dimensional brain models. The goal is to understand the interaction between microglia and other brain cells, and how these influence the development of Alzheimers and other neurological diseases.

This is all made possible by reprogrammable stem cells. Indeed, this study is one more example of how stem cells arechanging medicine.

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A New Technique Transforms Human Skin Into Brain Cells - Futurism - Futurism

Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells: Study to advance ... Science Daily Using human skin cells, neurobiologists have created a method to generate one of the principle cell types of the brain called microglia, which play a key role in ... and more »

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Skin stem cells used to generate new brain cells: Study to advance ... - Science Daily

Technology Networks

Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells Technology Networks Salk scientists and collaborators have shed light on a longstanding question about what leads to variation in stem cells by comparing induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from identical twins. Even iPSCs made from the cells of twins, they ... and more »

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Identical Twins; Not-so-identical Stem Cells - Technology Networks

An international group of scientists led by investigators at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) says it has discovered molecular mechanisms that might prevent the development ofgraft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in individuals receiving stem cell transplants.

During GVHD, transplanted stem cells become T lymphocytes, which are supposed to fight intruders such as bacteria. Instead, they start attacking the recipients already weakened body.

Researchers from TUM and theMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center published a study ("RIG-I/MAVS and STING Signaling Promote Gut Integrity during Irradiation- and Immune-Mediated Tissue Injury")in Science Translational Medicine that provides details on how to prevent the development of GVHD.

The attacks by the T cells primarily affect the skin, liver, and, in particular, the gastrointestinal tract. The intestine is believed to be the key organ where GVHD starts. The drug treatment and radiation involved in stem cell transplants damage epithelial cells, which form part of the intestinal mucosal layer. Stress signals emitted by the dying epithelial cells and the arrival of intestinal bacteria in the previously germ-free areas of the gut due to the loss of the epithelium trigger the activation of aggressive donor T cells.

"If the epithelium could be protected or quickly restored, the risk of an immune response would be much lower," says Hendrik Poeck, M.D., Ph.D., who, along with Tobias Haas, M.D., heads a research group at the third medical clinic of TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar. "Up to now, however, there have been very few treatment strategies that seek to regenerate the epithelium."

The scientists working with Dr. Poeck studied two proteins produced naturally in the body and known for their role in fighting bacteria and viruses: RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) and STING (stimulator of interferon genes). "We were able to demonstrate for the first time that both of them can also be used to bring about a regenerative effect," notes Julius Fischer, first author of the study.

Both proteins are part of signal chains that cause type I interferon (IFN-I) to be produced. IFN-I triggers many different immune responses, but can also speed up the replacement of epithelial cells.

The RIG-I signal pathway can be deliberately stimulated using triphosphate-RNA (3pRNA). Poeck and his team were able to demonstrate in mice that 3pRNA can indeed protect the epithelial cells. Timing is critical. Measurable protection was only seen when the 3pRNA was administered exactly 1 day before the start of radiation and drug treatment.

"We assume that after just 1 day of treatment, there would no longer be enough intact epithelial cells in the gut for the RIG-I/IFN signal path to function," explains Haas. Although fewer activated T cells were generated after a treatment with 3pRNA, the positive effect of the leukemia therapy was not reduced to a measurable degree.

Both RIG-I agonists, such as 3pRNA, and STING agonists are currently in clinical development. The research points to a wide range of potential applications, especially in the treatment of tumors.

"Our study shows that regenerative processes can also be triggered through selective activation of these signal paths," adds Poeck. "It thus appears quite possible that these selective agonists will be administered in the future to patients who are candidates for allogeneic stem cell transplants. However, further studies will be needed to learn how they actually work before applications in human medicine are possible."

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Preventing Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

The New Cellogica Website Features In-Depth Information about the Skin Care Product, which Includes Stem Cell Technology

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2017 / The founders of Cellogica, a top line of skincare products that utilize stem cells and other innovative ingredients, are pleased to announce the re-launch of their website, Cellogica.com.

To check out the recently revised website, which is now easier than ever to navigate and features updated information about Cellogica, please visit http://www.cellogica.com at any time.

As a company spokesperson noted, Cellogica's "Two Secrets of Youth" involve the use of stem cell technology and also its MAC-5 Complex, which includes five ingredients that may help the skin look as young as possible. Rather than merely repairing the skin, Cellogica may actually help stop the loss of existing skin stem cells, as well as prevent premature aging.

Cellogica features a day cream, a non-greasy and light product which is designed to protect and enhance the skin and provide it with a natural barrier to the damaging UV rays of the sun and harsh weather. It also includes a night cream that works as the user sleeps by naturally repairing, restoring and regenerating the skin.

As the spokesperson noted, because skin stem cells are responsible for regenerating new and healthy skin cells, the founders of Cellogica were inspired to create a skin care cream that contains stem cells.

"Our revolutionary Stem Cell Technology is derived from strains of rare Swiss apples (Malus Domestica) and the Alpine Rose (Rhododentron Ferrugineum)," the spokesperson said, adding that together, these two very powerful stem cell extracts may allow for the regeneration of new skin stem cells, prevent the loss of existing skin stem cells, and increase the skin's barrier function.

"They may protect and repair the skin and combat against chronological aging, thus leading to fresh, healthy and vibrant looking skin."

The MAC-5 Complex is the other key component to Cellogica's ability to help improve the appearance of the skin. The proprietary combination includes Syn-Coll, which is an aqueous unpreserved glycerin-based solution that was developed to reduce wrinkles, as well as stimulate collagen synthesis. The other four ingredients in the MAC-5 Complex are RonaFlair LDP, hyaluronic acid, Syn-Ake, and Kojic acid, which may help eliminate blotchy skin while evening out the skin tone.

About Cellogica:

Cellogica is a premiere skincare line utilizing newly discovered stem cells to stop and reverse the physical signs of aging. To learn more about the product, please visit their website, http://www.cellogica.com.

Contact:

Darryl Burke admin@rocketfactor.com (949) 555-2861

SOURCE: Power Americas Minerals Corp.

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Cellogica Launches Their Updated and More User-Friendly Website ... - Yahoo Finance

Based on human stem cells derived from skin samples, researchers from the University of Luxembourg succeeded in obtaining tiny three-dimensional cultures of cerebral tissue whose behavior is similar to the human midbrain. Credit: scienceRELATIONS / University of Luxembourg

The most complex organ in humans is the brain. Due to its complexity and, of course, for ethical reasons, it is extremely difficult to do scientific experiments on it ones that could help us to understand neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons, for example. Scientists at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have now succeeded in turning human stem cells derived from skin samples into tiny, three-dimensional, brain-like cultures that behave very similarly to cells in the human midbrain.

Related:Sophisticated 'mini-brains' add to evidence of Zika's toll on fetal cortex

In the researchers petri dishes, different cell types develop, connect into a network, exchange signals and produce metabolic products typical of the active brain. Our cell cultures open new doors to brain research, says Prof. Dr. Jens Schwamborn, in whose LCSB research group Developmental and Cellular Biology the research work was done. We can now use them to study the causes of Parkinsons disease and how it could possibly be effectively treated. The team publishes its results in the prestigious scientific journal Stem Cell Reports.

The human midbrain is of particular interest to Parkinsons researchers: it is the seat of the tissue structure known medically as thesubstantia nigra. Here, nerve cells specifically dopaminergic neurons produce the messenger dopamine. Dopamine is needed to maintain smooth body movements. If the dopaminergic neurons die off, then the person affected develops tremors and muscle rigidity, the distinctive symptoms of Parkinsons disease. For ethical reasons, researchers cannot take cells from thesubstantia nigrato study them. Research groups around the world are therefore working on cultivating three-dimensional structures of the midbrain in petri dishes. The LCSB team led by stem cell researcher Jens Schwamborn is one such group.

Brain-like tissue for research

The LCSB scientists worked with so-called induced pluripotent stem cells stem cells that cannot produce a complete organism, but which can be transformed into all cell types of the human body. The procedures required for converting the stem cells into brain cells were developed by Anna Monzel as part of her doctoral thesis, which she is doing in Schwamborns group. I had to develop a special, precisely defined cocktail of growth factors and a certain treatment method for the stem cells, so that they would differentiate in the desired direction, Monzel describes her approach. To do this, she was able to draw on extensive preparatory work that had been done in Schwamborns team the years before. The pluripotent stem cells in the petri dishes multiplied and spread out into a three-dimensional supporting structure producing tissue-like cell cultures.

See also:Bioengineers create functional 3D brain-like tissue

Our subsequent examination of these artificial tissue samples revealed that various cell types characteristic of the midbrain had developed, says Jens Schwamborn. The cells can transmit and process signals. We were even able to detect dopaminergic cells just like in the midbrain. This fact makes the LCSB scientists results of extraordinary interest to Parkinsons researchers worldwide, as Schwamborn stresses: On our new cell cultures, we can study the mechanisms that lead to Parkinsons much better than was ever the case before. We can test what effects environmental impacts such as pollutants have on the onset of the disease, whether there are new active agents that could possibly relieve the symptoms of Parkinsons or whether the disease could even be cured from its very cause. We will be performing such investigations next.

Samples of human origin

The development of the brain-like tissue cultures not only opens doors to new research approaches. It can also help to reduce the amount of animal testing in brain research. The cell cultures in the petri dishes are of human origin, and in some aspects resemble human brains more than the brains of lab animals such as rats or mice do. Therefore, the structures of human brains and its modes of function can be modelled in different ways than it is possible in animals. There are also attractive economic opportunities in our approach, Jens Schwamborn explains: The production of tissue cultures is highly elaborate. In the scope of our spin-off Braingineering Technologies Sarl, we will be developing technologies by which we can provide the cultures for a fee to other labs or the pharmaceutical industry for their research.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided byThe University of Luxembourg. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference:

Monzel, A. S., Smits, L. M., Hemmer, K., Hachi, S., Moreno, E. L., Wuellen, T. V., . . . Schwamborn, J. C. (2017). Derivation of Human Midbrain-Specific Organoids from Neuroepithelial Stem Cells. Stem Cell Reports. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.03.010

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Brain Organoid Created from Stem Cells - Technology Networks

Size: 1.8 oz (50 ml)

Skin 2 Skin Care Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum is a highly-concentrated lifting serum created to restore a tighter, more youthful appearance. On application, the silky serum immediately improves the texture and feel of the skin while complex peptides and stem cells work over time to diminish the appearance of sagging and wrinkles. It provides essential nourishment that helps skin act and appear younger. After a month of use, Marta, the founder of Truth In Aging, reported firmer and more lifted skin, especially around the cheeks and jawline.

Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum features two advanced peptide complexes. Syn-Coll (Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5) has been shown to help reduce the appearance of any lip and nasal labial lines while improving facial definition. Syn-Tacks (Palmitoyl Dipeptide-5 and Palmitoyl Dipeptide-6 Diaminohydroxybutyate) supports the epidermis and stimulates collagen, laminin and elastin. In addition, green tea stem cell extract is used for its powerful ability to renew the skin. This formula is free of parabens, petroleum, mineral oil, paraffin, phthalates, sulfates, PABA, synthetic color and fragrance. Apply it to the face and neck for stronger, sag-resistant skin.

Tested for 30 days and recommended by Marta:

When I chatted to Skin 2 Skin founder Ken Simpson about Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum ($73), he went out of his way to point out that it contains dimethicone, adding that while he appreciates that some in the Truth In Aging community wont like this, the ingredient does wonders for scars. It didnt put me off when testing this serum, and I am most impressed with the results.

This serum can certainly be added to our arsenal of firming creams. I found that my skin looked a little lifted, especially around the jawline and lower cheeks. Overall, my skin is firmer and softer. As a bonus, as promised by Ken, I found that an odd little callused scar which appeared one day about a year ago on the site of a blemish, is much reduced. Nothing had helped in the past. Good job, Skin 2 Skin.

One of the things I like about this creamy-textured serum, is that the ingredients list doesnt take an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. It is tightly focused on two very good peptide complexes, green tea stem cells and the aforementioned silicone.

Syn-tacks is a combination of two synthetic peptides. According to the manufacturer, they interact with the most relevant protein structures of the dermal-epidermal junction and stimulates a broad spectrum of things responsible for youthful skin laminin V, collagen types IV, VII and XVII and integrin all at once. For example, collagen IV activity is increased by a whopping 190 percent, according to the manufacturer.

Syn-Coll is a peptide molecule that works in two ways. First, it boosts collagen by mimicking the bodys own mechanism to activate transforming growth factor beta, TGF- (Tissue Growth Factor), a key element in the synthesis of collagen. It also protects collagen from degradation through the inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP).

My objection to silicone in skincare is that it has been a stalwart of department store beauty brands for decades, used to impart a superficial silkiness to the skin and inexpensively bulk up the formula. However, Skin 2 Skin has consciously introduced it here to help soften and reduce scars and blemishes. As I mentioned earlier in this review, I can attest to this working. Independent research has demonstrated that

silicone increases hydration of stratum corneum, helping to regulate fibroblast production and reduction in collagen production. The result is a softer and flatter scar.

As always with Skin 2 Skin, this is a highly effective formula that does what it sets out to do and contains no nasties. For those looking to achieve firmer, more velvety skin, this is definitely on the must try list.

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Skin 2 Skin Care Anti-Sagging Renewal Serum - Truth In Aging

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