Scientists have found that reducing the size of tiny hair like structures on stem cells stops them turning into fat. The discovery could be used to develop a way of preventing obesity.

The research, conducted at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), found that a slight regulation in the length of primary cilia, small hair-like projections found on most cells, prevented the production of fat cells from human stem cells taken from adult bone marrow.

Part of the process by which calories are turned into fat involves adipogenesis, the differentiation of stem cells into fat cells. The researchers showed that during this process of adipogenesis, the length of primary cilia increases associated with movement of specific proteins onto the cilia. Furthermore, by genetically restricting this cilia elongation in stem cells the researchers were able to stop the formation of new fat cells.

Recent research has found that many conditions including kidney disease, blindness, problems with bones and obesity can be caused by defects in primary cilia.

Melis Dalbay, co-author of the research from the School of Engineering and Materials Science at QMUL, said: This is the first time that it has been shown that subtle changes in primary cilia structure can influence the differentiation of stem cell into fat. Since primary cilia length can be influenced by various factors including pharmaceuticals, inflammation and even mechanical forces, this study provides new insight into the regulation of fat cell formation and obesity.

Professor Martin Knight, a bioengineer and lead author of the research, said: This research points towards a new type of treatment known as cilia-therapy where manipulation of primary cilia may be used in future to treat a growing range of conditions including obesity, cancer, inflammation and arthritis.

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The above story is based on materials provided by University of Queen Mary London. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Changing stem cell structure may help fight obesity

Dr Ellis hosts seminar on Stem Cell Therapy Facial Rejuvenation
Dr. Dan Eglinton of Asheville Biologics and Orthopaedics, Dr. Sean Whalen and Dr. Paul Mogannam of Flexogenics and Dr. Laura Ellis of medAge speak about Stem Cell Therapy and skin ...

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Beverly Hills, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2015

The top stem cell clinic in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills is now achieving 80% success with stem cell therapy for all types of arthritis and soft tissue indications. This includes hip, knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle injections for helping patients achieve pain relief and avoid surgery. Call (310) 438-5343 for more information on the treatment options available and scheduling.

Dr. Raj, who was recently named a Super Doc Southern California for the 4th year in a row, has been performing stem cell therapy on patients for years. This includes athletes, weekend warriors, celebrities, executives, senior citizens and students as well.

There are two methods offered for the treatment, one of which is Bone Marrow derived. This includes harvesting bone marrow from the patient's hip area, and then the material is immediately processed to concentrate the stem cells and growth factors. the fluid is then injected into the problem area. An internal review at Beverly Hills Orthopedic Institute has shown that 80% of patients achieve excellent pain relief and increased functional abilities. This includes getting back to athletics, recreational activities and walking more.

The second method of treatment involves amniotic derived stem cell rich injections. The amniotic fluid is processed at an FDA regulated lab, with no fetal tissue being involved and no embryonic stem cells at all. Amniotic fluid has been used tens of thousands of times worldwide for many indications, and contains growth factors, hyaluronic acid and stem cells.

Indications for the treatment include tennis and golfer's elbow, plantar fasciitis, degenerative arthritis of the hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, ankle, ligament injuries, and tendonitis of the shoulder, knee, achilles and more.

Dr. Raj is a Double Board Certified orthopedic doctor in Los Angeles and serves as an ABC News Medical Correspondent and a WebMD expert. He is called frequently by networks for his opinion on orthopedic matters, and is on the Medical Advisory Board for R3 Stem Cell.

For more information and scheduling with the top stem cell clinic in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, call (310) 438-5343.

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Dr. Raj at Beverly Hills Orthopedic Institute Achieving 80% Success with Stem Cell Therapy

MIAMI (PRWEB) February 16, 2015

Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. announced an alliance with India-based stem cells company Advancells.com, to share protocols and expand GSCG operations in the India subcontinent with stem cell training and a new treatment center.

Advancells, a pioneer stem cell company with some of the most advanced protocols in the world, focuses on therapeutic applications of regenerative medicine primarily used in stem cells generated from the patients own body. Advancells delivers technologies for safe and effective treatments using their flagship technologies including autologous stem cell therapy from bone marrow and adipose tissue to patients worldwide; Global Stem Cells Group will implement some Advancells technologies in the Regenestem Netowork of worldwide clinics.

Since 2005, Advancells has safely treated thousands of patients for a range of diseases and medical conditions in its various clinics around the globe. Advancells is supported by physicians, stem cell experts and clinical research scientists to continually monitor and improve the effectiveness of its quality management system with excellence and innovation.

"We are pleased to partner with Global Stem Cells Group, to combine our knowledge and expand our ability to bring stem cell medicine to patients worldwide, says Advancells CEO Vipul Jain. I am looking forward to a long and productive alliance.

For more information, visit the Global Stem Cells Group website, email bnovas(AT)stemcellsgroup.com, or call 305-224-1858.

About the 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.

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Hip arthritis 3.5 years after stem cell therapy by Harry Adelson, N.D.
Bobby describes his outcome 3.5 years after stem cell therapy for his arthritic hip by Harry Adelson, N.D. http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Gut. 2007 May; 56(5): 716724.

Y N Kallis, Department of Medicine, St Mary's Hospital Campus, Imperial College, London, UK

M R Alison, Institute of Cell and Molecular Science, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK

S J Forbes, Tissue Fibrosis and Remodelling Laboratory, MRC/University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research, Edinburgh, UK

Correspondence to: Professor S J Forbes MRC/University of Edinburgh Centre for Inflammation Research, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, 47 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK; stuart.forbes@ed.ac.uk

Stem cells are present in a variety of organs including the bone marrow (BM). Their role is to replenish multiple mature differentiated cell types and thereby achieve longterm tissue reconstitution. Stem cells retain the capacity to generate progeny and renew themselves throughout life. Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the main stem cell population within the BM and give rise to all mature blood lineages via erythroid, myelomonocytic and lymphoid precursors. A second type of bone marrow stem cell (BMSC), the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), forms stromal tissue and can give rise to cells of mesodermal origin.

A longstanding principle of cell biology has been that cell loss is reconstituted via stem cells resident within and specific to an organ. However, recent work suggests that this paradigm may not hold for all organs or all types of injury, and tissue damage may attract migratory stem cell populations, particularly those from the BM. This observation has caused considerable interest in the field of liver disease, where new strategies to restore hepatocyte number, augment liver function and counteract progressive organ fibrosis are required. This article will focus on the various relationships between BMSCs and liver disease. It will concentrate on the evidence from animal models and human studies that BMSCs may aid in the regeneration of liver cell populations and may also contribute to the pathogenesis of liver damage. It will discuss the potential to use BMSCs for therapeutic application and review the current status of clinical trials in patients with liver disorders.

The hepatic parenchyma is made up of hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Unlike other organs such as the gut, liver cell mass is restored primarily through division of the majority of mature hepatocytes and not via a dedicated stem cell population. After a regenerative stimulus, such as a twothirds partial hepatectomy, most hepatocytes rapidly enter the cell cycle and undergo symmetrical mitosis. Liver cell mass can be restored via an average of less than two cell division cycles, albeit individual hepatocytes seem to have an intrinsic capacity for up to 70 doublings in serial transplantation experiments.1 At times of overwhelming cell loss, with longstanding iterative injury (eg, chronic viral hepatitis), or when hepatocyte replication is impeded (eg, replicative senescence of steatohepatitis), regeneration seems to occur via a second cell compartment.2,3 This compartment remains poorly defined and seems to arise from a less differentiated cell population within the terminal branches of the intralobular biliary tree the canals of Hering.4 In rodents these cells are called oval cells, but in humans they are more aptly named hepatic progenitor cells.5 Attempts to identify the originating stem cell are hampered by a paucity of specific cell surface markers.

Initial studies in humans suggested that some hepatocytes have a BM origin. Using Y chromosome tracking, a sparse number of hepatocytes seemed to be originating from the BM in male recipients of female orthotopic liver transplants, and in females who had received bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from male donors and thereafter developed liver disease.6,7 Similarly, other epithelial tissues, such as gut and skin, seemed to harbour cells of BM origin.8 Investigators then turned to an animal model of hereditary type I tryosinaemia, the fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase knockout mouse (FAH(/)), in which it seemed that this potentially fatal enzyme deficiency could be rescued through repopulation of the abnormal liver by BM cells derived from wildtype donors. The implication was that stem cells could cross conventionally demarcated lineage boundaries through a process termed transdifferentiation or stem cell plasticity, leading researchers to question the longheld tenets of cell biology. With time, it became apparent that these initial observations were difficult to reproduce, and later elegant studies in the same FAH(/) mouse model conclusively showed that monocytehepatocyte fusion was the explanation for the restored normal phenotype to the FAHdeficient liver, in which hepatocytes formed by fusion expanded rapidly owing to a considerable survival advantage.9,10

Unfortunately, in the absence of a strong selective pressure, it seems that stable longterm engraftment of BMderived parenchymal cells is unusual. In rats given inhibitors of hepatocyte replication (eg, dgalactosamine, retrorsine or 2acetylaminofluorene), if subjected to a regenerative stimulus such as a partial hepatectomy, BMderived oval cell engraftment can rapidly decrease with time to <1%.11 In the hepatitis B surface antigen transgenic mouse, the BM contributed to hepatocyte repopulation through cell fusion, but only at a very modest rate. In this model, constitutive HBsAg expression induces chronic lowgrade hepatocyte turnover with nodule formation, and inhibition of hepatocyte replication with retrorsine provokes an oval cell response. Here, the contribution from BMderived cells to hepatocyte repopulation waned to just 1.6% by 6months, presumably owing to lack of a sustained selection advantage.12 Likewise, when human HSCs were transplanted into carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)damaged nonobese diabetes/severe combined immune deficiency (NOD/SCID) mice, donorderived hepatocytes expressing mRNA for human albumin and 1 antitrypsin were found in the liver. These hepatocytes occurred through cell fusion, but the phenotype of the chimaeric cells was variable and donorderived genetic material was lost over time.13 When human cord blood, a rich source of progenitor cells, was transplanted into sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice, a contribution to the hepatocyte population of only 0.01% was found in the undamaged liver, reportedly through transdifferentiation.14 However, a subsequent study using human cord blood cells again demonstrated only low levels of hepatocyte repopulation even after CCl4induced or hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)induced regeneration. Here the cells were chimaeric for both human and mouse antigens, suggesting that cell fusion rather than transdifferentiation had occurred.15

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Bone marrow stem cells and liver disease - National Center ...

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Human stem cells engineered to produce renewable sources of mature, liver-like cells can be grown and infected with malaria to test potentially life-saving new drugs, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The advance comes at a time when the parasitic mosquito-borne disease, which kills nearly 600,000 people every year, is showing increased resistance to current treatment, especially in Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

The liver-like cells, or hepatocytes, in the MIT study were manufactured from stem cells derived from donated skin and blood samples.

The resulting cells provide a potentially replenishable platform for testing drugs that target the early stage of malaria, when parasites may linger and multiply in the liver for weeks before spreading into the bloodstream.

Sangeeta Bhatia, a biomedical engineer and senior author of the MIT report, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the breakthrough study not only showed that these liver-like cells could host a malaria infection but also described a way to mature the young cells so that an adult-like metabolism, necessary for drug development, could be established.

The study is published in the Feb. 5 online issue of Stem Cell Reports.

Stem cells retain the genetic makeup of their donors, affording researchers the potential to test drugs against a large variety of genetic types and a variety of diseases.

"This allows us to explore in depth how different diseases affect different people, in this case malaria," Bob Palay, chairman and CEO of Cellular Dynamics International (CDI), told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"This allows you to study it in a dish and find new drugs," he added, noting that CDI uses blood samples for its stem cells.

Before this development, researchers tested new drugs using human liver cells from cadavers and cancerous liver cells.

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Stem cells offer promising key to new malaria drugs: US research

FAQ Part 1: MEsenchymal Stem cell therapy for CAnadian MS patients (MESCAMS)
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and the Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation have announced a $4.2 million grant in support of the MEse...

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How about Stem Cell Therapy for LBD, Nova Cells Institute stem cells
Nova Cells Institute makes a difference because we care - like the Bumble Bee - doing the impossible- http://www.novacellsinstitute.com.

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Stem Cell Therapy for Erectile Dysfunction - Alvarado Hospital
The first study in the U.S. to determine if stem cell therapy can treat erectile dysfunction. Alvarado Hospital #39;s Drs. Irwin Goldstein and Barry Handler discuss this FDA-approved study and...

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Autologous Stem Cell Transplant | Animation Video
What is a Autologous Stem Cell Transplant? Most stem cells are in your bone marrow. You also have some in your blood that circulate from your bone marrow. Bo...

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In the bone marrow, blood stem cells give rise to a large variety of mature blood cells via progenitor cells at various stages of maturation. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed a way to equip mouse blood stem cells with a fluorescent marker that can be switched on from the outside. Using this tool, they were able to observe, for the first time, how stem cells mature into blood cells under normal conditions in a living organism. With these data, they developed a mathematical model of the dynamics of hematopoiesis. The researchers have now reported in the journal Nature that the normal process of blood formation differs from what scientists had previously assumed when using data from stem cell transplantations.

Since ancient times, humankind has been aware of how important blood is to life. Naturalists speculated for thousands of years on the source of the body's blood supply. For several centuries, the liver was believed to be the site where blood forms. In 1868, however, the German pathologist Ernst Neumann discovered immature precursor cells in bone marrow, which turned out to be the actual site of blood cell formation, also known as hematopoiesis. Blood formation was the first process for which scientists formulated and proved the theory that stem cells are the common origin that gives rise to various types of mature cells.

"However, a problem with almost all research on hematopoiesis in past decades is that it has been restricted to experiments in culture or using transplantation into mice," says Professor Hans-Reimer Rodewald from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). "We have now developed the first model where we can observe the development of a stem cell into a mature blood cell in a living organism."

Dr. Katrin Busch from Rodewald's team developed genetically modified mice by introducing a protein into their blood stem cells that sends out a yellow fluorescent signal. This fluorescent marker can be turned on at any time by administering a specific reagent to the animal. Correspondingly, all daughter cells that arise from a cell containing the marker also send out a light signal.

When Busch turned on the marker in adult animals, it became visible that at least one third (approximately 5000 cells) of a mouse's hematopoietic stem cells produce differentiated progenitor cells. "This was the first surprise," says Busch. "Until now, scientists had believed that in the normal state, very few stem cells -- only about ten -- are actively involved in blood formation."

However, it takes a very long time for the fluorescent marker to spread evenly into peripheral blood cells, an amount of time that even exceeds the lifespan of a mouse. Systems biologist Prof. Thomas Hfer and colleagues (also of the DKFZ) performed mathematical analysis of these experimental data to provide additional insight into blood stem cell dynamics. Their analysis showed that, surprisingly, under normal conditions, the replenishment of blood cells is not accomplished by the stem cells themselves. Instead, they are actually supplied by first progenitor cells that develop during the following differentiation step. These cells are able to regenerate themselves for a long time -- though not quite as long as stem cells do. To make sure that the population of this cell type never runs out, blood stem cells must occasionally produce a couple of new first progenitors.

During embryonic development of mice, however, the situation is different: To build up the system, all mature blood and immune cells develop much more rapidly and almost completely from stem cells.

The investigators were also able to accelerate this process in adult animals by artificially depleting their white blood cells. Under these conditions, blood stem cells increase the formation of first progenitor cells, which then immediately start supplying new, mature blood cells. In this process, several hundred times more cells of the so-called myeloid lineage (thrombocytes, erythrocytes, granulocytes, monocytes) form than long-lived lymphocytes (T cells, B cells, natural killer cells) do.

"When we transplanted our labeled blood stem cells from the bone marrow into other mice, only a few stem cells were active in the recipients, and many stem cells were lost," Rodewald explains. "Our new data therefore show that the findings obtained up until now using transplanted stem cells can surely not be reflective of normal hematopoiesis. On the contrary, transplantation is an exception [to the rule]. This shows how important it is that we actually follow hematopoiesis under normal conditions in a living organism."

The scientists in Rodewald's department, working together with Thomas Hfer, now also plan to use the new model to investigate the impact of pathogenic challenges to blood formation: for example, in cancer, cachexia or infection. This method would also enable them to follow potential aging processes that occur in blood stem cells in detail as they occur naturally in a living organism.

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Observing stem cells maturing into blood cells in living mouse

DROPS of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask is designed to be left on overnight without washing off. The lightweight, pliable mask molds itself like a second skin, making skin look younger and fresher.

The Body Shop introduces its Drops of Youth, Red Musk Fragrance, and Limited-Edition Forbidden Flower collections.

Drops of Youth, made from edelweiss flower stem cells sourced from the Alps, replenishes your skin in the most natural way. Left on overnight, the lightweight mask is like a second skin. In the morning, skin feels smooth and hydrated, and looks younger and fresher.

Red Musk, The Body Shops most unconventional scent to date, turns up the heat.

The Limited-Edition Forbidden Flower Collection is a body care and fragrance line inspired by the poppy flower.

DROPS of YouthWonderblur is a skin smoother that reduce fine lines and pores for an even, flawless finish.

Known for its thrust in protecting the planet, The Body Shop never tests its products on animals. The line has a Community Fair Trade program, where high-quality natural ingredients are sourced in different parts of the world where small stakeholders and artisans can benefit.

The Drops of Youth and Red Musk collections are available at The Body Shop stores nationwide, while Forbidden Flower Collection is available at selected The Body Shop branches. SM Advantage Card members can now earn and redeem points in all The Body Shop stores.

THE RED Musk Fragrance Collection. I wanted to create a fragrance that wasnt the typical girly girl scent. I wanted to change the rules of fragrance. Instead, I used the sensuality and the warmth of spices blended withmusk to approach femininity differently, says Corinne Cachen, master perfumer.

FORBIDDEN Flower Body Butter gives your skin the pleasure of pure potent moisture.

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Theres a lot to love at The Body Shop

terapia celular para cinomose - distemper stem cell therapy
Caso de cinomose tratado com terapia celular - unesp - botucatu Stem cell therapy for distemper in a dog.

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Stem-cell advocates pin their hopes on an artificial pancreas to treat diabetes.

Fourteen years ago, during the darkest moments of the stem-cell wars pitting American scientists against the White House of George W. Bush, one group of advocates could be counted on to urge research using cells from human embryos: parents of children with type 1 diabetes. Motivated by scientists who told them these cells would lead to amazing cures, they spent millions on TV ads, lobbying, and countless phone calls to Congress.

Now the first test of a type 1 diabetes treatment using stem cells has finally begun. In October, a San Diego man had two pouches of lab-grown pancreas cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells, inserted into his body through incisions in his back. Two other patients have since received the stand-in pancreas, engineered by a small San Diego company called ViaCyte.

Its a significant step, partly because the ViaCyte study is only the third in the United States of any treatment based on embryonic stem cells. These cells, once removed from early-stage human embryos, can be grown in a lab dish and retain the ability to differentiate into any of the cells and tissue types in the body. One other study, since cancelled, treated several patients with spinal-cord injury (see Geron Shuts Down Pioneering Stem-Cell Program and Stem-Cell Gamble), while tests to transplant lab-grown retina cells into the eyes of people going blind are ongoing (see Stem Cells Seem Safe in Treating Eye Disease).

Type 1 patients must constantly monitor their blood glucose using finger pricks, carefully time when and what they eat, and routinely inject themselves with insulin that the pancreas should make. Insulin, a hormone, triggers the removal of excess glucose from the blood for storage in fat and muscles. In type 1 diabetics, the pancreas doesnt make it because their own immune system has attacked and destroyed the pancreatic islets, the tiny clusters of cells containing the insulin-secreting beta cells.

The routine is especially hard on children, but if they dont manage their glucose properly, they could suffer nerve and kidney damage, blindness, and a shortened life span. Yet despite years of research, there is still just nothing to offer patients, says Robert Henry, a doctor at the University of California, San Diego, whose center is carrying out the surgeries for ViaCyte.

Henry slightly overstates the case, but not by much. There is something called the Edmonton Protocol, a surgical technique first described in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2000. It used islets collected from cadavers; by transplanting them, doctors at the University of Alberta managed to keep all seven of their first patients off insulin for an entire year.

Early hopes for the Edmonton Protocol were quickly tempered, however. Only about half of patients treated have stayed off insulin long-term, and the procedure, which is still regarded as experimental in the U.S., isnt paid for by insurance. It requires recipients to take powerful immune-suppressing drugs for life. Suitable donor pancreases are in extremely short supply.

The early success of the Edmonton Protocol came only two years after the discovery of embryonic stem cells, in 1998. Those pressing for a diabetes cure quickly set a new goal: pair something like the Edmonton Protocol with the technology of lab-grown beta cells, the supplies of which are theoretically infinite.

This biocompatible capsule is designed to protect manufactured pancreas cells.

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Newswise MINNEAPOLIS Stem cell transplants may be more effective than the drug mitoxantrone for people with severe cases of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study published in the February 11, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 21 people whose disability due to MS had increased during the previous year even though they were taking conventional medications (also known as first-line treatments). The participants, who were an average age of 36, were at an average disability level where a cane or crutch was needed to walk.

In MS, the bodys immune system attacks its own central nervous system. In this phase II study, all of the participants received medications to suppress immune system activity. Then 12 of the participants received the MS drug mitoxantrone, which reduces immune system activity. For the other nine participants, stem cells were harvested from their bone marrow. After the immune system was suppressed, the stem cells were reintroduced through a vein. Over time, the cells migrate to the bone marrow and produce new cells that become immune cells. The participants were followed for up to four years.

This process appears to reset the immune system, said study author Giovanni Mancardi, MD, of the University of Genova in Italy. With these results, we can speculate that stem cell treatment may profoundly affect the course of the disease.

Intense immunosupression followed by stem cell treatment reduced disease activity significantly more than the mitoxantrone treatment. Those who received the stem cell transplants had 80 percent fewer new areas of brain damage called T2 lesions than those who received mitoxantrone, with an average of 2.5 new T2 lesions for those receiving stem cells compared to eight new T2 lesions for those receiving mitoxantrone.

For another type of lesion associated with MS, called gadolinium-enhancing lesions, none of the people who received the stem cell treatment had a new lesion during the study, while 56 percent of those taking mitoxantrone had at least one new lesion.

Mancardi noted that the serious side effects that occurred with the stem cell treatment were expected and resolved without permanent consequences.

More research is needed with larger numbers of patients who are randomized to receive either the stem cell transplant or an approved therapy, but its very exciting to see that this treatment may be so superior to a current treatment for people with severe MS that is not responding well to standard treatments, Mancardi said.

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Stem Cell Transplants May Work Better than Existing Drug for Severe Multiple Sclerosis

Durham, NC (PRWEB) February 11, 2015

Stem cells collected from placenta, which is generally discarded after childbirth, show promise as a treatment for heart failure. Found in the latest issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, a new study using mice determined that human-derived adherent cells (PDAC cells) significantly improved cardiac function when injected into the heart muscle.

Currently, about 6 million people in the United States alone suffer from heart failure, which is when the hearts pumping power is weaker than normal. Despite intensive medical care, almost 80 percent of people die within eight years of diagnosis, making it the worlds leading cause of death. Heart failure can be the result of coronary artery disease, heart attack and other conditions such as high blood pressure and valve disease.

Cell therapies for cardiac repair have generated considerable interest in recent years. While earlier studies using autologous bone marrow transplantation (that is, stem cells collected from the patients own bone marrow) helped improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction (MI), more recent studies showed no benefit in the early stages after MI. This has led researchers to question whether mesenchymal stem cells from sources other than bone marrow, such as cord blood and placenta tissue, might yield better results.

Among those interested in this is an international team co-led by Patrick C.H. Hsieh of Taiwans Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, and Uri Herzberg of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics, Warren, New Jersey, U.S. They recently undertook a study to test the therapeutic effects of PDA-001, an intravenous formulation of PDAC cells, in mice. The researchers were also testing the best way to deliver the therapy.

Three weeks after chronic heart failure was induced in the animals they were treated with the stem cells by either direct intramyocardial (IM) or intravenous (IV) injection, Dr. Hsieh said. The results showed that the IM injections significantly improved the left ventricle systolic and diastolic functions compared with injection of vehicle or IV injection of PDA-001.

The IM injections also decreased cardiac fibrosis in the vicinity of the injection sites. We repeatedly observed improvement of cardiac function in the injected sites following IM PDA-001 treatment, Dr. Herzberg added. Based on these results, we want to continue our investigations to optimize the effect through controlling the dose, timing and delivery.

In this animal model of progressive heart injury, stem cells isolated from placenta showed promise as an off-the-shelf therapy for cardiac repair, warranting the need for testing in additional models," said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

###

The full article, Human Placenta-derived Adherent Cells Improve Cardiac Performance in Mice with Chronic Heart Failure, can be accessed at http://stemcellstm.alphamedpress.org/content/early/2015/02/09/sctm.2014-0135.full.pdf+html.

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Creation Of Rejuvenated Cell By Stem Cell Therapy - The Line Clinic
Stem cell therapy has become reality which was just possibilities and thoughts of science few days before. This amazing innovation makes life more secured an...

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Newswise Restoring function after spinal cord injury, which damages the connections that carry messages from the brain to the body and back, depends on forming new connections between the surviving nerve cells. While there are some delicate surgical techniques that reconnect the nerves, researchers are also looking at ways to restore the connections themselves at a cellular level.

With a five-year, nearly $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, is using novel methods to take a closer look at how these nerve cells grow and make new connections to reroute signals between the brain and the body that could restore function and movement in people with these debilitating injuries.

Sakiyama-Elbert, also associate chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, is widely known for her groundbreaking work in tissue engineering techniques. Her research expertly blends biology, chemistry and biomedical engineering to focus on developing biomaterials for drug delivery and cell transplantation to treat peripheral nerve and spinal cord injury.

In the new research, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, she and her lab members want to understand how these nerve cells, or neurons, form connections and rewire after a spinal cord injury, looking closely at which particular cells, or interneurons, are forming these new connections.

There have been a lot of studies where researchers have shown recovery in partial spinal cord injury models, but no one understands at a cellular level which cells are responsible for rewiring or forming the new connections, Sakiyama-Elbert said. If we want to make regeneration more efficient and potentially translatable to humans where it is more challenging, we need to understand whats actually going on at a cellular level.

Once we determine which cells are making connections, we can determine how to transplant more of those cells or try to stimulate tissue-specific stem cells to make those types of neurons and form these types of connections, Sakiyama-Elbert said.

While much is known about motor neurons, less is known about these interneurons in culture or how to direct their connection with other neurons. Sakiyama-Elbert is developing new tools that will allow her to isolate very pure groups of different types of interneurons and then study what encourages them to grow and form new connections.

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NIH Grant Will Help Understanding How Connections Rewire After Spinal Cord Injury

On the weekend, a whos who of hockey legends gathered to pay tribute to Gordie Howe in his hometown of Saskatoon.

In addition to sharing memories about Mr. Hockey, a constant theme of the festivities was his miracle recovery from stroke.

Mr. Howe, 86, suffered two strokes last year and, according to his family, was near death before he travelled to Clinica Santa Clarita in Tijuana, Mexico, in December for experimental stem-cell treatment.

Afterward, Mr. Howe was able to walk again. He regained a lot of weight and he began to resemble his old self. (Most of this is second-hand; Mr. Howe also suffers from dementia and has not or cannot speak of his symptoms or treatment first-hand.)

After his stem-cell treatment, the doctor told us it was kind of an awakening of the body, his son, Marty Howe, told The Canadian Press. They call it the miracle of stem cells and it was nothing less than a miracle.

Mr. Howes Lazarus-like recovery makes for a great tug-at-the-heartstrings narrative for a man whose career has been the embodiment of perseverance and longevity. But if you step back a moment and examine the science, all sorts of alarm bells should go off.

Stem cells, which were discovered in the early 1960s, have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cells, at least in the embryonic stage. They also serve as the bodys internal repair system.

The notion that spinal cords and limbs and heart muscle and brain cells could be regenerated holds a magical appeal.

But, so far, stem-cell therapies have been used effectively to treat only a small number of blood disorders, such as leukemia. (Canada has a public bank that collects stem cells from umbilical-cord blood and a program to match stem-cell donors with needy patients.)

Stem cells also show promise in the treatment of conditions such as spinal-cord injuries, Parkinsons and multiple sclerosis, but those hopes have not yet moved from the realm of science-fiction into clinical medicine.

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The stem-cell miracle is anecdotal