Software billionaire Paul Allen says he's committing $100 million to create a new institute in Seattle focusing on the mechanics of human cell biology.

The Allen Institute for Cell Science's first project, the Allen Cell Observatory, will focus on creating computational models for the kinds of induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells, that have the ability to turn into heart muscle cells or the epithelial cells that form the inner linings of organs as well as skin.

Such cells hold promise for facilitating research into how cells become diseased, and potentially for growing replacement tissues.

"Cells are the fundamental units of life, with every disease we know of affecting particular types of cells," Allen said in a news release. "Scientists have learned a great deal about many of the 50 trillion cells in our bodies over the last decades, but creating a comprehensive, predictive model of the cell will require a different approach."

The Allen Cell Observatory's goal is to produce a dynamic, visual database and animated models of cell parts in action. Such models could shed light on the processes by which genetic information is translated into cellular functions, and reveal what goes wrong in a diseased cell. That, in turn, could help researchers predict which therapies will work best to counter diseases, or perhaps head off the disease in the first place.

Allen's latest philanthropic venture was unveiled Monday at the American Society for Cell Biology's annual meeting in Philadelphia. It follows up on plans that the co-founder of Microsoft has had in mind for years.

"It's the right time to start a big initiative in cell biology: understanding how cells work, understanding the detailed things that happen inside cells, which is behind cancer and Alzheimer's and all those things," Allen told NBC News last year.

Software billionaire Paul Allen's latest philanthropic project is a $100 million commitment to create the Allen Institute for Cell Science.

Paul Allen's net worth is estimated at more than $17 billion. Over the past 15 years, he has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to scientific projects including the Allen Telescope Array, the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Last month, he said he would contribute $100 million to the global fight against the Ebola virus. (Allen also owns somewhat less-scientific ventures, such as the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers.)

The cell science institute will be housed in the seven-story Allen Institute headquarters building that is currently under construction in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. The building is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2015, and will also house the Allen Brain Institute.

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Billionaire Paul Allen Pledges Millions for Cell Science

Seattle After tackling the brain, the Ebola epidemic, and a host of other issues, billionaire Paul Allen has a new target for scientific philanthropy: unraveling the inner workings of human cells.

On Monday, the Microsoft co-founder announced a $100 million, five-year grant to establish the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle.

The goal is to better understand the teeming world inside cells, where thousands of organelles and millions of molecules interact in a dynamic ballet that researchers are just beginning to fathom.

We really dont have a good idea of how normal cells work, and what goes wrong in disease, said Rick Horwitz, the former University of Virginia professor who jumped at the chance to lead the new institute. People spend careers trying to understand little parts of the cell, but nobody has stitched it together because its too complicated for any individual to study.

The institute will take on the challenge by combining new technologies, like microscopes that can visualize living cells in three dimensions, with enough computational firepower to make sense of the flood of data that will result, Horwitz said.

Eventually, he and his team hope to develop computer models that mimic living cells. If they succeed, those models could also shed light on what goes haywire in cancer and other diseases and help develop cures, he said.

At a time when federal research budgets are shrinking, the announcement is one of the most exciting things to happen in Seattle science in a long time, said Dr. Chuck Murry, co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Washington. When the Allen folks get into something, they do it at a scale thats just mind-blowing.

The grant is one of Allens largest, on par with the $100 million he committed earlier this year to fight Ebola in West Africa, and a $100 million grant in 2003 to establish the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science. He has since plowed an additional $300 million into the brain institute.

Allen, who joined his old partner Bill Gates in pledging to donate the bulk of his wealth, has stepped up his philanthropic efforts in recent years. Its a good bet he will continue investing in the cell institute as long as it measures up, said Allan Jones, who leads the Allen Institute for Brain Science and helped organize its new sister institute.

We need to knuckle down and show that we can deliver something very powerful, Jones said.

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Microsoft Co-Founder Establishes Cell Institute with $100 Million Grant

Future of Care: The Future of Stem Cell Therapy Highlights
A few highlights from our October 29, 2014 Future of Care: Future of Stem Cell Therapy event featuring UC San Diego Health System CEO Paul Viviano, Director of Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center...

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Future of Care: The Future of Stem Cell Therapy Highlights - Video

Irvine, California (PRWEB) December 08, 2014

The Ageless Derma skin care company has added a moisturizing product to their line that provides continuous hydration to skin throughout the day. The Swiss Apple Stem Cell Oil-Free Continuous Moisturizer uses rare Swiss apple stem cells in combination with other natural substances to aid in skins retention of moisture for a lessening of fine lines and a silky, more comfortable feeling.

The Swiss Apple Stem Cell Oil-Free Continuous Moisturizer contains stem cells from the exotic Malus Domestica, a rare apple from Switzerland known for its long shelf life and its ability to stay fresh without shriveling. This apple species had a flavor that consumers found too acidic, making farmers reluctant to grow it. The Malus Domestica, however, was discovered to have interesting scientific advantages due to its ability to live a long, healthy life without the usual shriveling that accompanies fruit as it ages. The same idea has been transferred to Ageless Dermas latest moisturizer with its incorporation of these stem cell extracts for a renewed and rejuvenated facial complexion. The stem cells help with not only apple longevity, but also with repairing human skin cells. This results in the ultimate reduction of fine lines and wrinkles with regular use.

Other ingredients are added to the Swiss Apple Stem Cell Oil-Free Continuous Moisturizer to make this moisturizer a workhorse of anti-aging and hydrating skin renewal. Ceramides and essential fatty acids account for maximum skin hydration and strengthening of the skin barrier function. Capric Triglycerides silken skin, glycerin keeps moisturization and hydration in balance, and Ceramides 3, 611, and 1 (all lipids) stop moisture from escaping and hold the skin barrier intact. Swiss Apple Stem Cell Oil-Free Continuous Moisturizer also has sodium hyaluronate to attract and keep moisture in. The hyaluronate also aids in blood microcirculation and the smoothing of wrinkles.

The developers at Ageless Derma Skin Care know they are making something extraordinary happen. Their line of physician-grade skin care products incorporates an important philosophy: supporting overall skin health by delivering the most cutting-edge biotechnology and pure, natural ingredients to all of the skin's layers. This attitude continues to resonate to this day with the companys founder, Dr. Farid Mostamand, who nearly ten years ago began his journey to deliver the best skin care alternatives for people who want to have healthy and beautiful looking skin at any age. About this latest Ageless Derma product, Dr. Mostamand says, The Swiss Apple Stem Cell Oil-Free Continuous Moisturizer is a multi-beneficial product that protects skin and works to smooth lines and wrinkles as it keeps moisture in, working throughout the entire day. Without the correct distribution of moisture, skin becomes dry and susceptible to wrinkling. This product is oil-free and can be used for any skin type.

Ageless Derma products are formulated in FDA-approved Labs. All ingredients are inspired by nature and enhanced by science. Ageless Derma products do not contain parabens or any other harsh additives, and they are never tested on animals. The company has developed five unique lines of products to address any skin type or condition.

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Ageless Derma Launches Its Latest Moisturizing Product Featuring Exotic Apple Stem Cells

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Technologies For Stem Cell Medicine.

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Improved case of Anky Spondy after PRP and Stem Cell Therapy
stem cell india, stem cell therapy india, stem cell in india, stem cell therapy in india, india stem cell, india stem cell therapy.

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Future of Care: The Future of Stem Cell Therapy (Full Presentation)
Watch our October 29, 2014 Future of Care presentation on the future of stem cell therapy featuring Dr. David Brenner, Vice Chancellor, UC San Diego Health Sciences, Paul Viviano, Chief Executive...

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A team of scientists that included researchers from UCLA has discovered a novel mechanism of RNA regulation in embryonic stem cells. The findings are strong evidence that a specific chemical modification, or "tag," on RNA plays a key role in determining the ability of embryonic stem cells to adopt different cellular identities.

The team also included scientists from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University.

Published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the research reveals that depleting or knocking out a key component of the machinery that places this chemical tag -- known both as m6A and N6-methyladenosine -- on RNA significantly blocks embryonic stem cells from differentiating into more specialized types of cells.

A key property of embryonic stem cells is their ability to differentiate into many specialized types of cells. However, instead of marching toward a specific fate when prompted by signals to differentiate, embryonic stem cells that have reduced ability to place m6A become stuck in a sort of suspended animation, even though they appear healthy.

Yi Xing, a UCLA associate professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, led the informatics analyses and was a co-corresponding author of the paper. Other corresponding authors were Dr. Cosmas Giallourakis, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dr. Howard Chang, a professor of Stanford University's School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

The study of naturally occurring chemical modifications on RNAs is part of an emerging field known as epitranscriptomics. The m6A tag is the most commonly occurring modification known to scientists; it is found on RNAs of thousands of protein-coding genes and hundreds of non-coding genes in a typical cell type. The tags may help regulate RNA metabolism by marking them for destruction.

Little was known about the dynamics, conservation and function of m6A in human or mouse embryonic stem cells when the authors began the project. The authors analyzed which RNAs were tagged with m6A and the location of the m6A modifications along RNAs in mouse and human embryonic stem cells.

"Our analysis revealed a high level of conservation of m6A patterns between mice and humans, suggesting that m6A has conserved functions in human and mouse embryonic stem cells," Xing said. "Moreover, RNAs with m6A tags were degraded more rapidly and lived a shorter life in the cell than those without."

The investigators then found a strikingly conserved requirement for the presence of normal levels of m6A for differentiating embryonic stem cells into multiple cell types. Depletion of METTL3, a gene encoding the enzyme that places the m6A tag on RNAs, severely blocked human embryonic stem cells from differentiating into the gut or neural precursors. Deletion of the mouse METTL3 gene also led to a severe block in the ability of embryonic stem cells to differentiate into neural and cardiac lineages.

The study suggests that m6A modifications on RNA make the transition between cell states possible by instructing the cells to physically degrade those RNAs marked by m6A in embryonic stem cells, to allow the cells to become another cell type. However, if the cells can no longer tag RNA for destruction, the cells lose the ability to change. This discovery sheds new light on gene regulation in stem cells.

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Loss of a chemical tag on RNA keeps embryonic stem cells in suspended animation

High costs keep patients from using stem cells harvested from umbilical cords

Scientists are studying ways to treat HIV, cerebral palsy and other diseases using umbilical cord blood, although little of the collected blood will actually be used. Credit:Banc de Sang via flickr

Youd think doctors and patients would be clamoring for cells so versatile they could help reboot a body suffering from everything from leukemia to diabetes. But a new report shows that an important source of these stem cellsdiscarded umbilical cordsis rarely used because of high costs and the risk of failure.

Stem cells drawn from newborns umbilical cord blood are sometimes used to treat medical conditions, especially bone and blood cancers like multiple myeloma or lymphoma by replacing dysfunctional blood-producing cells in bone marrow. Generally the diseased cells are destroyed with chemotherapy and irradiation. Then new stem cells are transplanted into the patient to restore function. Cord blood stem cells are an alternative to bone marrow transplants and peripheral blood transplants, in which stem cells are gathered from the blood stream. Cord blood tends to integrate better with the body and it is easier to find a suitable donor than the alternatives.

Yet less than 3 percent of cord blood collected in the U.S. is ever used whereas the rest sits uselessly in blood banks, according to a recent report in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. Immunologist Enal Razvi is author of the report and managing director of Select Biosciences, a biotechnology consulting agency. Razvi found that public cord blood banks, which store donated frozen units for transplants as needed, have only a 1 to 3 percent turnover annually. Most of their inventory sits unused year after year. For example, at Community Blood Services in New Jersey, patients have only used 278 of its 13,000 cords since it opened in 1996, according to business development director Misty Marchioni. Usage is even lower at private cord blood banks, which charge clients thousands of dollars to store a cord in the event a family member one day needs it.

Unlike bone marrow, the main alternative stem cell source, cells transplanted from cord blood carry little risk of graft-versus-host disease, a deadly condition in which the body rejects a transplant. Scientists believe this is because a babys immune system is closer to a blank slate, so their stem cells can integrate with the patients body more easily. But cord blood transplants also take longer to start working, requiring longer hospital stays and upping the bill. Due to storage and testing costs, the cords themselves also get pricy. The cost of the cord is prohibitively high, Razvi explains. Each unit of cord blood costs between $35,000 and $40,000 and most adults require two units for a successful transplant. Insurance companies will generally pay a set amount for a stem cell transplant regardless of where the cells come from. The price tag on a cord blood transplant can run up to $300,000, which may not be fully covered.

Cord blood stem cell transplants also have a higher failure rate than other transplant methods. If the transplant fails, it leaves patients with a compromised immune system in addition to their original disease and medical bills. Because the preparation for transplant includes wiping out the patients original bone marrow, the entire body has to be repopulated with stem cells able to replace it. There are not many stem cells in each cord. Compared with bone marrow or peripheral blood there is a greater chance that there will not be enough stem cells that actually implant and begin producing blood and bone marrow. Its like spreading a small amount of seeds in a big garden, says Mitchell Horwitz, who teaches cell therapy at Duke University Medical Center. Sometimes it just doesnt take.

Martin Smithmyer, chief executive of the private bank Americord, claims that more clients will eventually use their cords, especially as more applications are found for cord blood stem cells. But some scientists disagree. Steven Joffe, a professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, says that many treatments cannot be done with a patients own stem cells because genetic diseases would already be present in the cord blood and that bone marrow might be a better option for relatives. The likelihood they are ever going to use that product is vanishingly small, he says.

Despite the low usage, advocates say cord blood programs have been crucial in improving transplant options for racial minorities, because it can be hard to find a bone marrow match for some groups. Cord blood does not need to match the patient as perfectly as bone marrow. This has transformed the treatment of minority patients, says Andromachi Scaradavou, medical director of the National Cord Blood Program, a public bank based in New York City. In the past we didnt have good donors to offer them. Community Blood Servicess Marchioni also maintains that cord blood is a good emergency option, because finding a compatible bone marrow or peripheral blood donor can take months or years. If you need a transplant quickly, she says, its easy to get cord blood off of a shelf.

Still, experts are working on more efficient ways of ensuring widespread availability of cord blood without having so much of it sit forever unused. Researchers are also continuing to look for ways to improve transplant success and to increase the number of stem cells obtained from each cord, potentially bringing down costs and making cord blood transplants feasible for more patients. If the cost could be lowered, Scaradavou says, it would help a lot of patients get the treatment they need.

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Vast Majority of Life-Saving Cord Blood Sits Unused

Robert Vondracek has had multiple sclerosis for 20 years. His speech is starting to slur and he's been having more trouble getting around, and when he heard about a controversial stem cell therapy that might help, he got excited.

"I heard about the stem cell treatments being done right here in Phoenix," said Vondracek, 61. "It shocked me because it was not approved in this country, I didn't think."

The therapy was offered by an Arizona plastic surgeon who gives the stem cell treatments in the same clinic where he does cosmetic procedures.

But when Vondracek's neurologist heard about his interest in the therapy, which would cost $7,000 per treatment, "He went crazy," said Vondracek. He strongly advised Vondracek against it.

Plastic surgeons, other doctors and naturopaths at more than 100 clinics round the country are charging thousands of dollars for a controversial procedure called stem cell therapy to treat a range of disorders, including neurological diseases like MS and Parkinson's.

Robert Vondracek and his girlfriend, Terese Knapik.

The procedure has angered many neurologists and prominent researchers who say these doctors are preying on vulnerable people and capitalizing on the huge but still unrealized potential of stem cell research, which they say is years away from producing an approved treatment for neurological diseases.

"Peddling snake oil in the guise of stem cell therapies is really a threat to legitimate research," said Dr. George Daley, director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Boston Children's Hospital, past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

"Finding cures is hard, it takes sometimes decades, it's extremely expensive and it's not something that we can just wish and hope for," he said. "It can only be achieved through very, very hard work."

Dr. George Daley is a nationally recognized expert on stem cells at Boston Childrens Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

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Use of Unproven Stem Cell Therapy Questioned

Stem cells offer great potential in biomedical engineering due to their pluripotency, which is the ability to multiply indefinitely and also to differentiate and develop into any kind of the hundreds of different cells and bodily tissues. But the precise complexity of how stem cell development is regulated throughout states of cellular change has been difficult to pinpoint until now.

By using powerful new single-cell genetic profiling techniques, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Boston Children's Hospital have uncovered far more variation in pluripotent stem cells than was previously appreciated. The findings, reported today in Nature, bring researchers closer to a day when many different kinds of stem cells could be leveraged for disease therapy and regenerative treatments.

"Stem cell colonies contain much variability between individual cells. This has been considered somewhat problematic for developing predictive approaches in stem cell engineering," said the study's co-senior author James Collins, Ph.D., who is a Wyss Institute Core Faculty member, the Henri Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science at MIT, and a Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT. "Now, we have discovered that what was previously considered problematic variability could actually be beneficial to our ability to precisely control stem cells."

The research team has learned that there are many small fluctuations in the state of a stem cell's pluripotency that can influence which developmental path it will follow.

It's a very fundamental study but it highlights the wide range of states of pluripotency," said George Daley, study co-senior author, Director of Stem Cell Transplantation at Boston Children's Hospital and a Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. "We've captured a detailed molecular profile of the different states of stem cells."

Taking this into account, researchers are now better equipped to manipulate and precisely control which cell and tissue types will develop from an individual pluripotent stem cell or stem cell colony.

"The study was made possible through the use of novel technologies for studying individual cells, which were developed in part by collaborating groups at the Broad Institute, giving our team an unprecedented view of stem cell heterogeneity at the individual cell level," said Patrick Cahan, co-lead author on the study and Postdoctoral Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Researchers explored the developmental landscape of pluripotent stem cells by perturbing them with variants such as different chemicals, culture environments, and genetic knockouts. Then, they analyzed the individual genetic makeup of each cell to observe micro-fluctuations in each stem cell's state of pluripotency. They discovered many small nuances in the way stem cells are influenced by internal, chemical and environmental cues, revealing a complex "decision making" circuit of developmental regulators.

"These emerging single-cell analytics allow us to classify cells very precisely and identify regulatory circuits that control cell states," said the study's co-lead author Roshan Kumar, a former Wyss Institute Postdoctoral Fellow who is now a Senior Scientist at HiFiBiO Inc. and a Visiting Scholar at the Wyss Institute. "The real motivating force behind this study was to understand the causes and consequences of differences between individual stem cells and how the balance of key regulators within a cell can affect that cell's developmental outcome."

Looking at the findings, the researchers now believe there is a "code" that relates patterns of dynamic behavior in stem cell regulatory circuits to the developmental path a cell ends up taking. By leveraging that code, they hope to dial in precisely to specific individual cell states and to use them for a variety of purposes, such as creating certain cell types that a patient's body may be unable to produce on its own.

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New single-cell analysis reveals complex variations in stem cells

Marion Welch and Dr. Paul Sanberg

Ridgefielder and cord blood advocate Marion Welch recently met Dr. Paul Sanberg, aneuroscientist and cord blood stem cell researcher and currently distinguished professor at the College of Medicine and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Southern Florida.

Ms. Welch has been educating parents in Connecticut and New York for the past 15 years on preserving cord blood stem cells at the time of birth. She serves as a senior member of Cryo-Cell Internationals field cord blood educator team.

Dr. Sanberg is the author of more than 600 scientific articles and has published 13 books, including Neural Stem Cells: Methods and Protocols and Neural Stem Cells for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair, and is an inventor with more than 100 United States patents. His work is pioneering the clinical use of using cord blood stem cells to treat neurological disorders, Ms. Welch said.

Connecticut has mandated cord blood education for all expectant parents for the last five years.

For more information on cord blood banking, contact Marion Welch at mwelch@cryo-cell.com

For more information on Dr. Sanberg and his research, contact USF Research & Innovation, 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, Tampa FL 33612.

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Cord blood educator meets neuroscientist

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4-Dec-2014

Contact: John Wallace wallacej@vcu.edu 804-628-1550 Virginia Commonwealth University @vcunews

Is the human immune system similar to the weather, a seemingly random yet dynamical system that can be modeled based on past conditions to predict future states? Scientists at VCU Massey Cancer Center's award-winning Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program believe it is, and they recently published several studies that support the possibility of using next-generation DNA sequencing and mathematical modeling to not only understand the variability observed in clinical outcomes of stem cell transplantation, but also to provide a theoretical framework to make transplantation a possibility for more patients who do not have a related donor.

Despite efforts to match patients with genetically similar donors, it is still nearly impossible to predict whether a stem cell transplant recipient will develop potentially fatal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a condition where the donor's immune system attacks the recipient's body. Two studies recently published by the online journal Frontiers in Immunology explored data obtained from the whole exome sequencing of nine donor-recipient pairs (DRPs) and found that it could be possible to predict which patients are at greatest risk for developing GVHD and, therefore, in the future tailor immune suppression therapies to possibly improve clinical outcomes. The data provides evidence that the way a patient's immune system rebuilds itself following stem cell transplantation is representative of a dynamical system, a system in which the current state determines what future state will follow.

"The immune system seems chaotic, but that is because there are so many variables involved," says Amir Toor, M.D., member of the Developmental Therapeutics research program at Massey and associate professor in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Care at the VCU School of Medicine. "We have found evidence of an underlying order. Using next-generation DNA sequencing technology, it may be possible to account for many of the molecular variables that eventually determine how well a donor's immune system will graft to a patient."

Toor's first study revealed a large and previously unmeasured potential for developing GVHD for which the conventional approach used for matching DRPs does not account. The conventional approach for donor-recipient compatibility determination uses human leucocyte antigen (HLA) testing. HLA refers to the genes that encode for proteins on the surface of cells that are responsible for regulating the immune system. HLA testing seeks to match DRPs who have similar HLA makeup.

Specifically, Toor and his colleagues used whole exome sequencing to examine variation in minor histocompatibility antigens (mHA) of transplant DRPs. These mHA are protein fragments presented on the HLA molecules, which are the receptors on cells' surface to which these fragments of degraded proteins from within a cell bind in order to promote an immune response. Using advanced computer-based analysis, the researchers examined potential interactions between the mHA and HLA and discovered a high level of mHA variation in HLA-matched DRPs that could potentially contribute to GVHD. These findings may help explain why many HLA-matched recipients experience GVHD, but why some HLA-mismatched recipients experience none remains a mystery. This seeming paradox is explained in a companion paper, also published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. In this manuscript, the team suggests that by inhibiting peptide generation through immunosuppressive therapies in the earliest weeks following stem cell transplantation, antigen presentation to donor T cells could be diminished, which reduces the risk of GVHD as the recipients reconstitute their T-cell repertoire.

Following stem cell transplantation, a patient begins the process of rebuilding their T-cell repertoire. T cells are a family of immune system cells that keep the body healthy by identifying and launching attacks against pathogens such as bacteria, viruses or cancer. T cells have small receptors that recognize antigens. As they encounter foreign antigens, they create thousands of clones that can later be called upon to guard against the specific pathogen that presented the antigen. Over the course of a person's life, they will develop millions of these clonal families, which make up their T-cell repertoire and protect them against the many threats that exist in the environment.

This critical period where the patient rebuilds their immune system was the focus of the researchers' efforts. In previous research, Toor and his colleagues discovered a fractal pattern in the DNA of recipients' T-cell repertoires. Fractals are self-similar patterns that repeat themselves at every scale. Based on their data, the researchers believe that the presentation of minor histocompatability antigens following transplantation helps shape the development of T-cell clonal families. Thus, inhibiting this antigen presentation through immunosuppressive therapies in patients who have high mHA variation can potentially reduce the risk of GVHD by influencing the development of their T-cell repertoire. This is backed by data from clinical studies that show immune suppression soon after transplantation improves outcomes in unrelated DRPs.

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Predicting the storm: Can computer models improve stem cell transplantation?

Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 04, 2014

In a new report published in the online journal Cell Death and Disease, the Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC (ASCTC) continues to demonstrate its special expertise in uncovering unknown properties that are unique to adult tissue stem cells. In particular, the new study continues to build the companys portfolio of technologies that make previously invisible adult stem cells not only identifiable, but also countable.

The studies were performed with mouse hair follicle stem cells. Because of the universal nature of adult tissue stem cell properties, the new findings are predicted to apply to stem cells in a wide range of human tissues as well.

For the past half century since the experimental demonstration of their existence, it has not been possible to identify adult tissue stem cells exclusive of other related cell types. Consequently, counting them has been impossible, too. Established stem cell therapies like bone marrow transplantation are suboptimal because of this limitation; and the current worldwide flood of thousands of clinical trials of tissue stem cell transplantation therapies has the same problem. Without being able to count potentially curative adult tissue stem cells, there is no way to optimize and standardize successful treatments.

The new report presents a discovery made during studies employing one of the ASCTCs recently defined biomarkers for detecting tissue stem cells. The new biomarker is a member of a family of cell factors called histones that package the cellular DNA into chromosomes. One of the less abundant members of this family is called H2A.Z. In 2011, the ASCTC discovered that H2A.Z is only accessible on the set of chromosomes that segregates to the stem cell sister when a stem divides to produce a non-stem sister cell. The non-stem sister differentiates to replenish lost mature tissue cells. Before a stem cell divides in this manner, the stem cell chromosomes and the non-stem cell chromosomes are distinct because of this difference in their H2A.Z access. This unique feature, called H2A.Z asymmetry, is a highly specific biomarker for identifying adult tissue stem cells.

Because detection of H2A.Z asymmetry does not disrupt other features of stem and non-stem chromosomes, it can be used as a specific landmark to discover other molecular differences between chromosomes destined for the stem cell sister and chromosomes destined for the non-stem sister. The new report describes how two well-known gene regulation modifications of an abundant histone family member, H3, also display asymmetry between stem cell chromosomes and differentiating cell chromosomes.

The newly discovered asymmetric chromosomal patterning of gene regulation modifications in adult tissue stem cells may reveal a long sought mechanism to explain how stem cell fate is maintained in mammalian tissues. This new insight into the function of tissue stem cells addresses a fundamental question in the field of stem cell biology research. ASCTC Director James L. Sherley anticipates that the new report will give stem cell scientists and bioengineers a new lead idea and new research tools for extending knowledge on the molecular workings of adult tissue stem cells. Such advances in knowledge are greatly needed currently to improve the scientific foundation for the increasing number of regenerative medicine clinical trials.

******************************************************************************************** The Adult Stem Cell Technology Center, LLC is a Massachusetts life sciences company. ASCTC Director and founder, James L. Sherley, M.D., Ph.D. is the foremost authority on the unique properties of adult tissue stem cells. The companys patent portfolio contains biotechnologies that solve the three main technical problems production, quantification, and monitoring that have stood in the way of successful commercialization of human adult tissue stem cells for regenerative medicine and drug development. In addition, the portfolio includes novel technologies for isolating cancer stem cells and producing induced pluripotent stem cells. Currently, ASCTC is employing its technological advantages to pursue commercialization of facile methods for monitoring adult tissue stem cell number and function.

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Posted by Dana Sparks (@danasparks) 2 day(s) ago

Uniting the Global Stem Cell Community

The World Stem Cell Summit, December 3-5 in San Antonio, unites and educates the global stem cell community. With more than 1,200 attendees from more than 40 countries, the annual World Stem Cell Summits interdisciplinary agenda explores disease updates, research directions, cell standardization, regulatory pathways, reimbursements, financing, venture capital and economic development.

Throughout the week, the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine will use social media to connect using the hashtag #WSCS14. At the end of the week, we'll let the tweets, Google+ posts, Flickr photos, Facebook posts and YouTube videos tell the story.

The World Stem Cell Summit includes in-depth programming and more than 200 international speakers, including leaders from theMayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine:

About the World Stem Cell SummitMayo Clinic, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), BioBridge Global, Baylor College of Medicine and the Regenerative Medicine Foundation have joined the Genetics Policy Institute to organize the10th Annual World Stem Cell Summit the largest and most comprehensive multi-track interdisciplinary stem cell conference.

Related LinksMayo Clinic at World Stem Cell Summit 2013Mayo Clinic at World Stem Cell Summit 2012

Regenerative MedicineWorld Stem Cell Summit

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Stem Cell Therapy | platelet rich fibrin glue stem cells
http://www.arthritistreatmentcenter.com Glue as part of stem cell therapy next Platelet-Rich Fibrin Glue in the Treatment of Articular Cartilage Defects Hal...

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Stem Cell Therapy | stem cells osteoarthritis independent
http://www.arthritistreatmentcenter.com On the flip side, another study refutes the study I commented on the other day regarding stem cells from osteoarthritis patients Chondrogenic Potential...

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Researchers say they've developed a drug that may help heal a damaged spine the first time anything like a drug has been shown to help.

The drug works on nerve cells that are cut, sending connections across the break, and it helped injured rats move their back legs again and also gave them back control of their bladders.

"This recovery is unprecedented," said Jerry Silver, a neuroscience professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio who led the study.

Right now, there's no good way to heal a broken spine. Sometimes people grow nerve cells back, but usually not. All the cures that are in the works require invasive surgery, whether it's injections of stem cells, nerve tissue transplants or implants of neurostimulators.

But Silver's team came up with a compound that is injected. It doesn't require surgery.

"We're very excited at the possibility that millions of people could, one day, regain movements lost during spinal cord injuries."

"There are currently no drug therapies available that improve the very limited natural recovery from spinal cord injuries that patients experience," said Lyn Jakeman, a program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, which helped pay for the study. "This is a great step toward identifying a novel agent for helping people recover."

"We're very excited at the possibility that millions of people could, one day, regain movements lost during spinal cord injuries," Silver added.

One of the problems with repairing a crushed spine is scar tissue. The body grows a lot of it, and even if nerve cells try to send out little growths called axons across the breach, they get bogged down by the scar tissue.

The culprits are molecules called proteoglycans. They are covered with sugars, and like anything sugary, they are sticky and grab the delicate axons that nerve cells grow to connect to other nerves. "What we found is that when nerve fibers are damaged they have a receptor that can see those proteoglycan molecules and stick tightly to it. They stick so tightly they can't move. It's like flypaper," Silver told NBC News.

Original post:
'Unprecedented': Drug May Help Heal Damaged Spines

MIAMI (PRWEB) December 04, 2014

After a successful first run in Spain last month, Global Stem Cells Group, has announced the decision to take the biotech companys hands-on stem cell training course to additional European cities in 2015. GSCG subsidiary Stem Cell Training, Inc. and Dr. J. Victor Garcia conducted the Adipose Derived Harvesting, Isolation and Re-integration Training Course for medical professionals in Barcelona Nov. 22-23, 2014.

The two-day, hands-on intensive training course was developed for physicians and high-level practitioners to learn techniques in harvesting and reintegrating stem cells derived from adipose tissue and bone marrow. The objective of the training is to bridge the gap between bench science in the laboratory and the doctors office by teaching effective, in-office regenerative medicine techniques.

Global Stem Cells Group will release a schedule of cities and dates for future training classes in upcoming weeks.

For more information, visit the Stem Cell Training, Inc. website, email info(at)stemcelltraining(dot)net, or call 305-224-1858.

About Global Stem Cells Group: Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions.

With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

Global Stem Cells Groups corporate mission is to make the promise of stem cell medicine a reality for patients around the world. With each of GSCGs six operating companies focused on a separate research-based mission, the result is a global network of state-of-the-art stem cell treatments.

About Stem Cell Training, Inc.:

Stem Cell Training, Inc. is a multi-disciplinary company offering coursework and training in 35 cities worldwide. Coursework offered focuses on minimally invasive techniques for harvesting stem cells from adipose tissue, bone marrow and platelet-rich plasma. By equipping physicians with these techniques, the goal is to enable them to return to their practices, better able to apply these techniques in patient treatments.

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Global Stem Cells Group Hands-on Training Course in Barcelona Heading to Additional Euro Cities in 2015