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Cancer Stem Cells Under the Microscope at Albert Einstein College of Medicine Symposium

By LizaAVILA

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Newswise May 13, 2014 (BRONX, NY) Healthy stem cells work to restore or repair the bodys tissues, but cancer stem cells have a more nefarious mission: to spawn malignant tumors. Cancer stem cells were discovered a decade ago, but their origins and identity remain largely unknown.

Today, the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University hosted its second Stem Cell Symposium, focusing on cancer stem cells. Leading scientists from the U.S., Canada and Belgium discussed the latest advances in the field and highlighted the challenges of translating this knowledge into targeted cancer treatments.

These exceptional scientists are pioneers in the field and have made enormous contributions to our understanding of the biology of stem cells and cancer, said Paul Frenette, M.D., director and chair of Einsteins Stem Cell Institute and professor of medicine and of cell biology. Hopefully this symposium will spark productive dialogues and collaborations among the researchers who attend.

The presenters were:

Cancer Stem Cells and Malignant Progression, Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D., Daniel K. Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research Director, Ludwig Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research Towards Unification of Cancer Stem Cell and Clonal Evolution Models of Intratumoral Heterogeneity, John Dick, Ph.D., Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology and senior scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, University Health Network; professor of molecular genetics, University of Toronto Normal and Neoplastic Stem Cells, Irving L. Weissman, M.D., Director, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Director, Stanford Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research and Medicine; Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine Cell Fate Decisions During Tumor Formation, Leonard I. Zon, M.D., Grousbeck Professor of Pediatric Medicine, Director, Stem Cell Research Program, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School Skin Stem Cells in Silence, Action and Cancer, Elaine Fuchs, Ph.D., Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor, Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development, Howard Hughes Medical Institute/The Rockefeller University Mechanism Regulating Stemness in Skin Cancer, Cdric Blanpain, M.D., Ph.D., professor of stem cell and developmental biology, WELBIO, Interdisciplinary Research Institute, Universit Libre de Bruxelles Mouse Models of Malignant GBM: Cancer Stem Cells and Beyond, Luis F. Parada, Ph.D., professor and chairman, Diana K and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology; Director, Kent Waldrep Foundation Center for Basic Neuroscience Research; Southwestern Ball Distinguished Chair in Nerve Regeneration Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

***

About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nations premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2013-2014 academic year, Einstein is home to 734 M.D., 236 Ph.D. students, 106 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and 353 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has more than 2,000 full-time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2013, Einstein received more than $155 million in awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore Medical Center the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Through its extensive affiliation network involving Montefiore, Jacobi Medical CenterEinsteins founding hospital, and five other hospital systems in the Bronx, Manhattan, Long Island and Brooklyn, Einstein runs one of the largest residency and fellowship training programs in the medical and dental professions in the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.einstein.yu.edu, read our blog, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and view us on YouTube.

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Cancer Stem Cells Under the Microscope at Albert Einstein College of Medicine Symposium

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Stem cell research offers new hope

By daniellenierenberg

May 14, 2014, 4 a.m.

STEM cell therapy is the great frontier of todays medical research.

STEM cell therapy is the great frontier of todays medical research.

While still in its infancy, stem cell technology has already moved from being a promising idea to delivering life-saving treatment for conditions such as leukaemia.

Last week about 70 people gathered at the Mid City Motel, Warrnambool, to hear about the advances from one of Australias leading researchers.

Stem cell researcher, Professor Graham Jenkin.

Professor Graham Jenkin, of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Monash University, is researching the use of stem cells harvested from umbilical cord blood to treat babies at risk of developing cerebral palsy as the result of oxygen deprivation during birth.

The event was hosted by the Warrnambool branch of the Inner Wheel Club as part of a national fund-raising program by the organisation.

Professor Jenkin, deputy director of The Ritchie Centre, said treating infants deprived of oxygen with cord blood stem cells was showing promising results in preventing the brain damage that leads to cerebral palsy.

We are looking at treating infants within a 24-hour window after birth, Professor Jenkin said. We would be aiming for treatment after about six hours if possible, which is about as soon as the stem cells can be harvested.

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Stem cell and 'organ-on-a-chip' merger step forward for personalized meds

By Sykes24Tracey

Home > News > technology-news

Washington, May 12 : Researchers have merged stem cell and 'organ-on-a-chip' technologies to grow, for the first time, functioning human heart tissue carrying an inherited cardiovascular disease.

The research appears to be a big step forward for personalized medicine, as it is working proof that a chunk of tissue containing a patient's specific genetic disorder can be replicated in the laboratory.

Using their interdisciplinary approach, the investigators modeled the cardiovascular disease Barth syndrome, a rare X-linked cardiac disorder caused by mutation of a single gene called Tafazzin, or TAZ. The disorder, which is currently untreatable, primarily appears in boys, and is associated with a number of symptoms affecting heart and skeletal muscle function.

The researchers took skin cells from two Barth syndrome patients, and manipulated the cells to become stem cells that carried these patients' TAZ mutations. Instead of using the stem cells to generate single heart cells in a dish, the cells were grown on chips lined with human extracellular matrix proteins that mimic their natural environment, tricking the cells into joining together as they would if they were forming a diseased human heart.

The engineered diseased tissue contracted very weakly, as would the heart muscle seen in Barth syndrome patients.

The investigators then used genome editinga technique pioneered by Harvard collaborator George Church, PhDto mutate TAZ in normal cells, confirming that this mutation is sufficient to cause weak contraction in the engineered tissue.

On the other hand, delivering the TAZ gene product to diseased tissue in the laboratory corrected the contractile defect, creating the first tissue-based model of correction of a genetic heart disease.

Furthermore, the scientists discovered that the TAZ mutation works in such a way to disrupt the normal activity of mitochondria, often called the power plants of the cell for their role in making energy.

However, the mutation didn't seem to affect overall energy supply of the cells. In what could be a newly identified function for mitochondria, the researchers describe a direct link between mitochondrial function and a heart cell's ability to build itself in a way that allows it to contract.

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STEMCELL Technologies Inc. Launches Novel Cell Culture Medium to Advance Research on Mouse Mesenchymal Stem and …

By Sykes24Tracey

Vancouver, British Columbia (PRWEB) May 12, 2014

STEMCELL Technologies Inc. has just released NEW MesenCult Proliferation Kit with MesenPure (Mouse), a novel cell culture medium to advance research on mouse mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells (MSCs).

When added to MesenCult medium, MesenPure supplement enriches mouse bone marrow- or compact bone-derived MSC cultures by reducing the number of hematopoietic cells. Culturing with MesenPure eliminates the time-intensive serial passaging steps and frequent cell culture medium changes normally required to decrease the unwanted hematopoietic cell population typically present in MSC cultures. Cultures treated with MesenPure appear homogeneous and mostly devoid of hematopoietic cells as early as passage zero and also contain increased numbers of mesenchymal stem cells that display more robust differentiation.

This easy-to-use and versatile kit, may save researchers from having to wait several weeks for homogeneous MSC cultures, explains Dr. Arthur Sampaio, Senior Scientist at STEMCELL Technologies. But, I think the greatest advantage to using MesenPure may be the ability to use lower-passage cultures. It has been shown that over time, extended passaging can bring about detrimental changes to MSCs, such as a loss of phenotype, senescence, and a decrease in the homing ability and differentiation potential of the cells. By using the MesenCult Proliferation Kit with MesenPure, researchers will be able to study lower passage mouse MSCs, increasing their ability to evaluate the true potential of these cells.

For more information or to request a free sample, please visit http://www.stemcell.com/freemesenpure.

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'Heart Disease-On-A-Chip' Made From Patient Stem Cells

By daniellenierenberg

Image Caption: Researchers use modified RNA transfection to correct genetic dysfunction in heart stem cells derived from Barth syndrome patients. The series of images show how inserting modified RNA into diseased cells causes the cells to produce functioning versions of the TAZ protein (first image: in green) that correctly localize in the mitochondria (second image: in red). When the images are merged to demonstrate this localization, green overlaps with red, giving the third image a yellow color. Credit: Gang Wang and William Pu/Boston Children's Hospital

[ Watch The Video: Cardiac Tissue Contractile Strength Differences Shown Using Heart-On-A-Chip ]

Harvard University

Harvard scientists have merged stem cell and organ-on-a-chip technologies to grow, for the first time, functioning human heart tissue carrying an inherited cardiovascular disease. The research appears to be a big step forward for personalized medicine, as it is working proof that a chunk of tissue containing a patients specific genetic disorder can be replicated in the laboratory.

The work, published in Nature Medicine, is the result of a collaborative effort bringing together scientists from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston Childrens Hospital, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Harvard Medical School. It combines the organs-on-chips expertise of Kevin Kit Parker, PhD, and stem cell and clinical insights by William Pu, MD.

Using their interdisciplinary approach, the investigators modeled the cardiovascular disease Barth syndrome, a rare X-linked cardiac disorder caused by mutation of a single gene called Tafazzin, or TAZ. The disorder, which is currently untreatable, primarily appears in boys, and is associated with a number of symptoms affecting heart and skeletal muscle function.

The researchers took skin cells from two Barth syndrome patients, and manipulated the cells to become stem cells that carried these patients TAZ mutations. Instead of using the stem cells to generate single heart cells in a dish, the cells were grown on chips lined with human extracellular matrix proteins that mimic their natural environment, tricking the cells into joining together as they would if they were forming a diseased human heart. The engineered diseased tissue contracted very weakly, as would the heart muscle seen in Barth syndrome patients.

The investigators then used genome editinga technique pioneered by Harvard collaborator George Church, PhDto mutate TAZ in normal cells, confirming that this mutation is sufficient to cause weak contraction in the engineered tissue. On the other hand, delivering the TAZ gene product to diseased tissue in the laboratory corrected the contractile defect, creating the first tissue-based model of correction of a genetic heart disease.

You dont really understand the meaning of a single cells genetic mutation until you build a huge chunk of organ and see how it functions or doesnt function, said Parker, who has spent over a decade working on organs-on-chips technology. In the case of the cells grown out of patients with Barth syndrome, we saw much weaker contractions and irregular tissue assembly. Being able to model the disease from a single cell all the way up to heart tissue, I think thats a big advance.

Furthermore, the scientists discovered that the TAZ mutation works in such a way to disrupt the normal activity of mitochondria, often called the power plants of the cell for their role in making energy. However, the mutation didnt seem to affect overall energy supply of the cells. In what could be a newly identified function for mitochondria, the researchers describe a direct link between mitochondrial function and a heart cells ability to build itself in a way that allows it to contract.

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Cord Banking, Cell Therapy Helps Treat Deadly Diseases

By NEVAGiles23

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A child with a life threatening disease is heart wrenching for parents. Suddenly they are faced with no easy way to get a match for stem cells that could save their child.

With cell therapy, there is a way to do that but it starts in the delivery room.

Delanie Rinne's fourth child, Ezekial, was born earlier this year and even though he'll get older; proof of that day is being stored at Core23 BioBank in Springfield.

"We decided to look into banking the cord blood because we know that this is probably our last biological child," says Rinne.

Core23 stores your child's blood, plasma or tissue from the umbilical cord to help treat 81 different diseases.

"If I had a child that has Leukemia and I was pregnant then that would be a treatment option."

Emily and Michael Perry opened the private cord bank as another option for parents.

"We see that cell therapy is surpassing bone marrow, we truly believe that it is the medicine of the future."

"Cell therapy is taking a healthy, viable cell and putting it into somebody's body to treat a disease or a condition."

The process starts in the delivery room and ends in a hydrogen tank in their lab.

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Top Beverly Hills Pain Management Doctors at BZ Pain Now Offering Stem Cell Procedures for Joint Arthritis for Pain …

By JoanneRUSSELL25

Beverly Hills, California (PRWEB) May 12, 2014

The top Beverly Hills pain management doctors at BZ Pain are now offering stem cell procedures for those with joint arthritis and pain. The outpatient regenerative medicine procedures are typically able to relieve pain and help patients avoid the need for joint replacement surgery of the shoulder, hip, knee and ankle. Call (310) 626-1526 for more information and scheduling.

Over a million joint replacement procedures are performed each year in America. These procedures should be considered an absolute last resort, since the implants are not meant to last forever. There are potential complications with joint replacement.

Therefore, stem cell procedures are an excellent option. They often help repair and regenerate damaged tissue, which is very different than what occurs with steroid injections. The stem cell procedures include options derived from amniotic fluid, fat tissue, or one's bone marrow.

Initial studies are showing the benefits of stem cell procedures for degenerative arthritis. With exceptionally low risk, there is a significant upside with the stem cell pain management therapies.

Dr. Zarrini at BZ Pain is a Double Board Certified Los Angeles pain management doctor, and is able to provide both medical and interventional therapies. The procedures do not involve any fetal tissue or embryonic stem cells. The procedures may help degenerative disease symptoms in the shoulder, hip, knee and ankle to name a few joints.

For those interested in stem cell therapy Los Angeles and Beverly Hills trusts, call BZ Pain today at (310) 626-1526.

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Top Beverly Hills Pain Management Doctors at BZ Pain Now Offering Stem Cell Procedures for Joint Arthritis for Pain ...

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Patient stem cells used to make 'heart disease-on-a-chip'

By NEVAGiles23

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

11-May-2014

Contact: Joseph Caputo joseph_caputo@harvard.edu 617-496-1491 Harvard University

Cambridge, MAHarvard scientists have merged stem cell and 'organ-on-a-chip' technologies to grow, for the first time, functioning human heart tissue carrying an inherited cardiovascular disease. The research appears to be a big step forward for personalized medicine, as it is working proof that a chunk of tissue containing a patient's specific genetic disorder can be replicated in the laboratory.

The work, published in Nature Medicine, is the result of a collaborative effort bringing together scientists from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston Children's Hospital, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Harvard Medical School. It combines the 'organs-on-chips' expertise of Kevin Kit Parker, PhD, and stem cell and clinical insights by William Pu, MD.

Using their interdisciplinary approach, the investigators modeled the cardiovascular disease Barth syndrome, a rare X-linked cardiac disorder caused by mutation of a single gene called Tafazzin, or TAZ. The disorder, which is currently untreatable, primarily appears in boys, and is associated with a number of symptoms affecting heart and skeletal muscle function.

The researchers took skin cells from two Barth syndrome patients, and manipulated the cells to become stem cells that carried these patients' TAZ mutations. Instead of using the stem cells to generate single heart cells in a dish, the cells were grown on chips lined with human extracellular matrix proteins that mimic their natural environment, tricking the cells into joining together as they would if they were forming a diseased human heart. The engineered diseased tissue contracted very weakly, as would the heart muscle seen in Barth syndrome patients.

The investigators then used genome editinga technique pioneered by Harvard collaborator George Church, PhDto mutate TAZ in normal cells, confirming that this mutation is sufficient to cause weak contraction in the engineered tissue. On the other hand, delivering the TAZ gene product to diseased tissue in the laboratory corrected the contractile defect, creating the first tissue-based model of correction of a genetic heart disease.

"You don't really understand the meaning of a single cell's genetic mutation until you build a huge chunk of organ and see how it functions or doesn't function," said Parker, who has spent over a decade working on 'organs-on-chips' technology. "In the case of the cells grown out of patients with Barth syndrome, we saw much weaker contractions and irregular tissue assembly. Being able to model the disease from a single cell all the way up to heart tissue, I think that's a big advance."

Furthermore, the scientists discovered that the TAZ mutation works in such a way to disrupt the normal activity of mitochondria, often called the power plants of the cell for their role in making energy. However, the mutation didn't seem to affect overall energy supply of the cells. In what could be a newly identified function for mitochondria, the researchers describe a direct link between mitochondrial function and a heart cell's ability to build itself in a way that allows it to contract.

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Patient stem cells used to make 'heart disease-on-a-chip'

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Stem cell treatments reaching patients

By LizaAVILA

Neurosurgeon and stem cell researcher, Joseph Ciacci M.D. will soon start a clinical trial of stem cells to treat paralysis from spinal cord injury.

After many years of waiting, a flood of new regenerative-cell therapies is finally reaching patients. Hundreds of clinical trials for these experimental treatments are under way across the world.

In the United States, 774 trials with stem or other regenerative cells are open to patients or soon will be, according to clinicaltrials.gov, which lists government-approved clinical testing in this country and abroad. Of that total, 147 are taking place in California.

One of the most difficult tests involving stem cells repairing spinal-cord damage that has caused complete loss of movement and sensation below the injury site is set to begin soon at UC San Diego.

Patients in that study will get injections of fetal-derived neural stem cells in and around the injury site, along with physical therapy and immune-system drugs in case theres a reaction to the stem cells. The trial will use a device that delivers precisely targeted micro-injections of cells to the targeted areas.

The clinical trial will test safety and look for early signs of efficacy, said Dr. Joseph Ciacci, a UC San Diego neurosurgeon leading the testing.

A study published a year ago found that in rats with spinal-cord injuries, the neural stem cells significantly improved movement in the hind paws. Ciacci, who co-authored that study, saw the cells proliferate and fill in a spinal-cord cavity that had resulted from the injuries. Such results supported testing the therapy in people, he said, but he declined to say whether he expected to see any improvement in those patients.

I really dont know, because its not been done, Ciacci said.

The clinical trial is expected to start in June. Its intended for adults 18 to 65 years old who suffered their injury at least one year ago but no more than two years ago. For more information, visit utsandiego.com/ucsdspinal or call Amber Faulise at (858) 657-5175.

Another type of stem cells, mesenchymal stromal, might be described as the duct tape of regenerative cells. Generally derived from bone marrow, they are being tested for treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, kidney transplants, liver cirrhosis, osteoarthritis of the knee, stroke and many other conditions. Worldwide, 226 trials are being conducted with these cells, including 45 in the U.S. and 12 in California, according to clinicaltrials.gov.

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Stem cell treatments reaching patients

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Knee arthritis/torn meniscus 6 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson – Video

By raymumme


Knee arthritis/torn meniscus 6 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson
Alan discusses his results six months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson for treatment of his arthritic knees and torn menisci http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Spreading the stem cell gospel

By JoanneRUSSELL25

Jeanne Loring, stem cell researcher and astronomy buff, at home with one of her telescopes.

Few medical advances equal stem cells in their promise to treat conditions that currently have no cure. From Parkinsons disease to AIDS to spinal-cord injuries, scientists are getting ever closer to realizing that promise for hundreds of millions of patients.

Yet when Jeanne Loring began her research pursuits in the late 1970s, few people knew what stem cells were. These microscopic wonders, with their ability to turn into many different types of cells in the body, fascinated her. She has devoted her career to studying them and encouraging others to do likewise.

Loring, in short, is a stem-cell evangelist.

She commands respect worldwide not only because she was one of the first people to become proficient in producing human embryonic stem cells in the lab, but also because her collaborative spirit has been foundational in expanding the stem-cell field to new generations of scientists.

At the request of the National Institutes of Health, she co-wrote a manual on the subject to train other researchers. She also provided knowledge that was crucial in courtroom battles against a patent that had put a stranglehold on stem cell studies nationwide. And she helped establish a trailblazing training program for stem-cell scientists in Southern California.

Today, as a leading figure at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Loring is widely considered both a stem-cell pioneer and a key voice on the latest issues in the field.

Shes a board member of the institute that funds and coordinates much of the stem-cell research in California. She revels in teamwork with experts at other scholarly institutions, in industry and from patient-advocacy groups. And shes internationally renowned for her findings on how stem cells might treat neurological diseases.

But Loring is happy to be more of a behind-the-scenes player.

Sometimes you hear about scientists who are pie-in-the-sky crazy people, and youve got to lasso them back down to Earth. Thats not a problem with Jeanne. Shes got her feet planted firmly on the Earth, said Daniel Ravicher, an attorney with the Santa Monica-based group Consumer Watchdog and founder of the Public Patent Foundation.

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Low back disc pain 3 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson – Video

By Dr. Matthew Watson


Low back disc pain 3 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson
Brian discusses his results from the bone marrow stem cell injection into his lumbar discs performed by Dr Harry Adelson http://www.docereclinics.com.

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Eczema may reduce skin cancer risk

By JoanneRUSSELL25

Eczema is one of the most common skin conditions, affecting up to 30% of people in the US. Symptoms include dry, itchy skin and rashes. But according to new research, having eczema may not be all that bad; it could reduce the risk of skin cancer.

In a study published in the journal eLife, researchers from Kings College London in the UK say that eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, activates an immune response that sheds potentially cancerous cells from the skin, preventing tumor formation.

According to the research team, including Prof. Fiona Watt of the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at Kings College, previous studies have suggested that eczema may reduce the risk of skin cancer.

However, they note that this association has proven difficult to confirm in human studies, as medication for eczema may influence cancer risk. Furthermore, symptoms of the condition vary in severity in each individual.

Eczema reduced tumor formation in mice models

For their study, the team genetically engineered mice to have skin defects commonly found in humans with eczema.

They did this by removing structural proteins in the outer layers of their skin, causing them to have an abnormal skin barrier.

The researchers then tested two cancer-causing chemicals in the genetically engineered mice, as well as in normal mice.

They found that the number of benign tumors in defected mice was six times lower than the number found in the normal mice.

Further investigation revealed that although both the defected and normal mice had equal susceptibility to mutations caused by the chemicals, the defected mice had an exaggerated inflammatory response that resulted in potentially cancerous cells being shed from the skin.

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Stem cell progeny tell their parents when to turn on

By raymumme

20 hours ago A signal from Transit-Amplifying Cells (TACs) activates stem cells in the hair follicle, researchers have found. Both types of cells appear in green (top), with TACs clustered lower down. The researchers identified the signal as Sonic Hedgehog. In experiments, such as this one (bottom), they disabled the signal, interfering with hair growth and regeneration.

(Phys.org) Stem cells switch off and on, sometimes dividing to produce progeny cells and sometimes resting. But scientists don't fully understand what causes the cells to toggle between active and quiet states.

New research in Elaine Fuchs' Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development focused on stem cells in the hair follicle to determine what switches them on. The researchers found cells produced by the stem cells, progeny known at Transit-Amplifying Cells or TACs, emit a signal that tells quiet hair follicle stem cells to become active.

"Many types of mammalian stem cells produce TACs, which act as an intermediate between the stem cells and their final product: fully differentiated cells in blood, skin and elsewhere," says Ya-Chieh Hsu, who conducted the research while as a postdoc in the lab and will soon move to Harvard University. "In the past, TACs were seen as a population of cells that sat by passively cranking out tissues. No one expected them to play a regulatory role."

Hsu and Fuchs went a step further to identify the signal sent out by the TACs. They pinpointed a cell-division promoting protein called Sonic Hedgehog, which plays a role in the embryonic development of the brain, eyes and limbs.

Stem cells are medically valuable because they have the potential to produce a number of specialized cells suitable for specific roles. Stem cells' production of these differentiated cells is crucial to normal maintenance, growth and repair. Many tissues have two populations of stem cells: one that divides rarely, known as the quiescent stem cells, and another that is more prone to proliferate, known as primed stem cells. Regardless of their proliferation frequency, most stem cells in humans do not directly produce differentiated progeny cells; instead, they give rise to an intermediate proliferating population, the TACs.

The hair follicle, the tiny organ that produces a hair, forms a narrow cavity down into the skin. It cycles between rounds of growth, destruction and rest. When entering the growth phase, the primed stem cell population is always the first to divide and generates the TACs clustered lower down in the hair follicle. Primed stem cell proliferation sets the stage for the next round of hair growth, a process which ensures hairs are replaced as they are lost over time. Proliferating TACs produce the hair shaft, as well as all the cells surrounding the hair underneath the skin, which make up the follicle itself.

At the outset, Hsu and Fuchs suspected a role for both the TACs and for Sonic Hedgehog in hair regeneration.

"We noticed that the primed stem cell population gets activated early and makes the TACs, while the quiescent stem cell population only becomes activated once TACs are generated. This correlation prompted us to look for a signal that is made by the TACs. Sonic Hedgehog is that signal, as we went on to demonstrate," explained Fuchs.

In experiments described this week in Cell, Hsu disabled TACs' ability to produce the Sonic Hedgehog protein by knocking out the gene responsible in the hair follicles of adult mice. As a result, the proliferation of hair follicle stem cells and their TACs are both compromised. They further showed that it is the quiescent stem cell population which requires Sonic Hedgehog directly for proliferation.

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Stem cell progeny tell their parents when to turn on

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Man believed to be offering stem-cell therapy without a license – Video

By raymumme


Man believed to be offering stem-cell therapy without a license
Undercover agents arrested a man claiming to be a doctor who was providing stem-cell treatments for injured athletes. Authorities say the man has no medical professional licenses.

By: WPBF 25 News

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Production of synthetic SIRT1 as a dietary supplement may help prolong life, states Chemist Direct

By LizaAVILA

(PRWEB UK) 9 May 2014

Over the course of the human life span the body ages and becomes less able to repair itself, allowing it to become more prone to disease and illness. In the ever developing field of scientific discovery researchers have become intrigued with the concept of finding a way to slow down age-related diseases and prolonging life through the use of medicine. Since the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka (http://bit.ly/1kWb20u) first discovered iPS cells in adult tissue and pioneered mature cell regeneration, this field in medicine has become one of the most rapidly developing fields in biomedicine.

A research team at the National Institute on Ageing at the National Institutes of Health in the US has discovered a promising strategy to arrest ageing by looking at a chemical called SRT1720 which activates a particular protein called Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). Previous research has demonstrated that activating SIRT1 can have health benefits in various organisms, and it has been proposed as an anti-ageing protein. This study, published in the March edition of Research Journal: Cell (http://bit.ly/1od2gS5) focused on comparing the lifespan, health and diseases of mice fed the same diet, but with or without the addition of a SRT1720.

Overall they found mice fed a normal diet but with the supplement had a longer natural lifespan on average (about five weeks longer). During their lifetime, additional tests also suggested they had improved muscle function and coordination, improved metabolism, improved glucose tolerance, decreased body fat and cholesterol. All in all this suggests that giving the mice this supplement could protect them from the equivalent of metabolic syndrome, a series of risk factors associated with conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

A study published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports (http://bit.ly/1hBSDF6) and carried out by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre's Telomeres and Telomerase Group, reveals that the SIRT1 protein is needed to lengthen and maintain telomeres during cell reprogramming. SIRT1 also guarantees the integrity of the genome of stem cells that come out of the cell reprogramming process; these cells are known as iPS cells (induced Pluripotent Stem cells).

The nature of iPS cells, however, is causing intense debate. The latest research shows that chromosome aberrations and DNA damage can accumulate in these cells. "The problem is that we don't know if these cells are really safe," says Mara Luigia De Bonis, a postdoctoral researcher who has done a large part of the work. http://bit.ly/1m5gRgb

Researchers did not look at whether SIRT1 may cause side effects or complications so it is currently unclear whether SIRT1 would be safe in humans, let alone effective, but this interesting research has opened doors to pharmaceutical companies to develop dietary supplements that can help provide anti-aging pills, especially those who suffer hereditary degenerative diseases. These ongoing scientific studies will help shed light on how cell reprogramming guarantees the healthy functioning of stem cells. This knowledge will help to overcome barriers that come out of the use of iPS cells so they may be used in regenerative medicine.

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Production of synthetic SIRT1 as a dietary supplement may help prolong life, states Chemist Direct

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Acute torn meniscus; 5 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson – Video

By Sykes24Tracey


Acute torn meniscus; 5 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson
At Docere Clinics, the vast majority of cases we see are for chronic pain. Occasionally, we get acute injuries and do very well with them. Here, Bryan describes his experience 5 months after...

By: Harry Adelson, N.D.

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Acute torn meniscus; 5 months after stem cell therapy by Dr Harry Adelson - Video

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Spurt of heart muscle cell division seen in mice well after birth: Implications for repair of congenital heart defects

By raymumme

The entire heart muscle in young children may hold untapped potential for regeneration, new research suggests.

For decades, scientists believed that after a child's first few days of life, cardiac muscle cells did not divide. Instead, the assumption was that the heart could only grow by having the muscle cells become larger.

Cracks were already appearing in that theory. But new findings in mice, scheduled for publication in Cell, provide a dramatic counterexample -- with implications for the treatment of congenital heart disorders in humans.

Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered that in young mice 15 days old, cardiac muscle cells undergo a precisely timed spurt of cell division lasting around a day. The total number of cardiac muscle cells increases by about 40 percent during this time, when the rest of the body is growing rapidly. [A 15-day-old mouse is roughly comparable to a child in kindergarten; puberty occurs at day 30-35 in mice.]

The burst of cell division is driven by a surge of thyroid hormone, the researchers found. This suggests that thyroid hormone could aid in the treatment of children with congenital heart defects. In fact, doctors have already tested thyroid hormone supplementation in this setting on a small scale.

The findings also have broader hints for researchers developing therapies for the heart. Activating the regenerative potential of the muscle cells themselves is a strategy that is an alternative to focusing on the heart's stem cells, says senior author Ahsan Husain, PhD, professor of medicine (cardiology) at Emory University School of Medicine.

"It's not as dramatic as in fish or amphibians, but we can show that in young mice, the entire heart is capable of regeneration, not just the stem cells," he says.

The Emory researchers collaborated with Robert Graham, MD, executive director of the Victor Change Cardiac Research Institute in Australia. Co-first authors of the paper are Nawazish Naqvi, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Emory and Ming Li, PhD, at Victor Chang.

The researchers tested how much mice, at the age of day 15, can recover from the blockage of a coronary artery. Consistent with previous research, newborn (day 2) mice showed a high level of repair after such an injury, but at day 21, they did not. The day 15 mice recovered more than the day 21 mice, indicating that some repair is still possible at day 15.

The discovery came unexpectedly during the course of Naqvi and Husain's investigation of the role of the gene c-kit -- an important marker for stem cells -- in cardiac muscle growth. Adult mice with a disabled c-kit gene in the heart have more cardiac muscle cells. The researchers wanted to know: when does this difference appear?

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Xcelthera Inc Secures First U.S. Patent for Large-Scale Production of High Quality Human Embryonic Stem Cells and …

By LizaAVILA

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 08, 2014

Xcelthera Inc, a major innovator in the stem cell research market and one of the first U.S. companies formed for clinical applications of human embryonic stem cell (human ES cell) therapeutic utility for unmet medical needs, and its joint research partner San Diego Regenerative Medicine Institute announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Patent No. 8,716,017 entitled, Technologies, Methods, and Products of Small Molecule-Directed Tissue and Organ Regeneration from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells. This newly-issued patent is the first among a portfolio of intellectual property of Xcelthera Inc covering PluriXcel human stem cell technology platform for large-scale production of high quality clinical-grade pluripotent human ES cell lines and their functional human neuronal and heart muscle cell therapy products.

Neurodegenerative and heart diseases are major health problems and cost the worldwide healthcare system more than $500 billion annually. The limited capacity of these two cell systems -- neurons and cardiomyocytes -- for self-repair makes them suitable for stem cell-based neuronal and heart therapies. Nevertheless, to date, the existing markets lack a clinically-suitable human neuronal cell source or cardiomyocyte source with adequate regenerative potential, which has been the major setback in developing safe and effective cell-based therapies for neurodegenerative and heart diseases. Xcelthera proprietary PluriXcel technology allows efficient derivation of clinical-grade human ES cell lines and direct conversion of such pluripotent human ES cells by small molecule induction into a large commercial scale of high quality human neuronal or heart muscle cells, which constitutes clinically representative progress in both human neuronal and cardiac therapeutic products for treating neurodegenerative and heart diseases.

PluriXcel technology of Xcelthera Inc is milestone advancement in stem cell research, offering currently the only available human cell therapy products with the pharmacological capacity to regenerate human neurons and contractile heart muscles that allow restitution of function of the central nervous system (CNS) and heart in the clinic. Through technology license agreement with San Diego Regenerative Medicine Institute, Xcelthera Inc has become the first in the world to hold the proprietary breakthrough technology for large-scale production of high quality clinical-grade pluripotent human ES cell lines and their functional human neuronal and heart cell therapy products for commercial and therapeutic uses.

As neurodegenerative and heart diseases incur exorbitant costs on the healthcare system worldwide, there is a strong focus on providing newer and more efficient solutions for these therapeutic needs. Millions of people are pinning their hopes on stem cell research. PluriXcel technology platform of Xcelthera Inc is incomparable, providing life scientists and clinicians with novel and effective resources to address major health concerns. Such breakthrough stem cell technology has presented human ES cell therapy derivatives as a powerful pharmacologic agent of cellular entity for a wide range of incurable or hitherto untreatable neurodegenerative and heart diseases. Introduction of medical innovations and new business opportunities based on PluriXcel technology will shape the future of medicine by providing pluripotent human ES cell-based technology for human tissue and function restoration, and bringing new therapeutics into the market.

About Xcelthera Inc.

Xcelthera INC (http://www.xcelthera.com) is a new biopharmaceutical company moving towards clinical development stage of novel and most advanced stem cell therapy for a wide range of neurological and cardiovascular diseases with leading technology and ground-breaking medical innovation in cell-based regenerative medicine. The Company was recently incorporated in the state of California to commercialize the technologies and products developed, in part, with supports by government grants to the founder, by San Diego Regenerative Medicine Institute (SDRMI), an non-profit 501C3 tax-exempt status independent biomedical research institute that is interested in licensing its PATENT RIGHTS in a manner that will benefit the public by facilitating the distribution of useful products and the utilization of new processes, but is without capacity to commercially develop, manufacture, and distribute any such products or processes. Xcelthera is a major innovator in the stem cell research market and one of the first companies formed for clinical applications of human embryonic stem cell (human ES cell) therapeutic utility for unmet medical needs. The Company is the first to hold the proprietary breakthrough technology for large-scale production of high quality clinical-grade pluripotent human ES cell lines and their functional human neuronal and heart muscle cell therapy products for commercial and therapeutic uses. The Company owns or has exclusive rights in a portfolio of intellectual property or license rights related to its novel PluriXcel human stem cell technology platforms and Xcel prototypes of human stem cell therapy products. The inception of Xcelthera is driven by the urgent need for clinical translation of human ES cell research discoveries and innovations to address unmet medical challenges in major health problems. Xcelthera breakthrough developments in human ES cell research dramatically increase the overall turnover of investments in biomedical sciences to optimal treatment options for a wide range of human diseases. The overall strategy of the Company is to use cutting-edge human stem cell technology to develop clinical-grade functional human neural and cardiac cell therapy products from pluripotent human ES cells as cellular medicine or cellular drugs to provide the next generation of cell-based therapeutic solutions for unmet medical needs in world-wide major health problems. The Company is currently offering Series A Convertible Preferred Stock to accredited investors through equity crowdfunding to raise fund for its pre-IPO business operation and filing confidential IPO as an emerging growth company according to the JOBS Act to create a public market for its common stock and to facilitate its future access to the public equity market and growth of the Company.

Visit Xcelthera Inc. at http://www.xcelthera.com.

For more information or investment opportunity about Xcelthera series A round, please contact: Xuejun H Parsons, PhD, Chief Executive Officer Xcelthera Inc. http://www.xcelthera.com 888-706-5396 or 858-243-2046 investors(at)xcelthera.com or parsons(at)xcelthera.com

About San Diego Regenerative Medicine Institute

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Xcelthera Inc Secures First U.S. Patent for Large-Scale Production of High Quality Human Embryonic Stem Cells and ...

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ChanTest Launches new Heart-in-a-Dish Cardiac Safety Assessment Tool

By Sykes24Tracey

Cleveland, Ohio (PRWEB) May 08, 2014

ChanTest announces a new Heart-in-a-Dish in vitro cardiac safety assessment tool to support this critical component of the drug development process for biopharmaceutical companies.

ChanTest has developed this breakthrough in safety assessment by taking advantage of the pairing of two recent technologies stem cell-derived human cardiomyocytes, and Multi-Electrode Array (MEA) recording -- to open a new avenue toward simplifying the cardiac risk assessment process.

Adult human cells can be reprogrammed to simulate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). These iPSCs can be differentiated into heart cells (myocytes) and can be grown in culture dishes to form a spontaneously beating layer of myocytes that display the electrical properties similar to an intact human heart.

With the application of multiple electrodes, this Heart-in-a-Dish will generate a signal that closely resembles an EKG which has been recorded in the doctors office. Now imagine a miniature version of this system. By miniaturizing the recording system in the form of multi-well MEA assay plates, this enables simultaneous, parallel measurements from this Heart-in-a-Dish in order to detect potentially dangerous arrhythmias before human clinical trials.

This powerful system rapidly tests the safety of multiple compounds, at multiple concentrations and time points, explained Chris Mathes, Ph.D., Chief Commercial Officer at ChanTest. And the new offering keeps ChanTest on the cutting edge of providing services tuned to the current regulatory environment for drug discovery.

ChanTest has developed this Heart-in-a-Dish multi-well MEA assay that enables the recording of EKG-like signals to identify side effects from drugs. This new tool can allow biopharmaceutical companies and other drug discovery teams to screen compounds in an informative and robust manner, prior to implementing in vivo animal or human studies.

About ChanTest The Ion Channel Expert ChanTests mission is to serve the drug discovery and development needs of customers worldwide. Since its start in 1998, the Contract Research Organization has tested compounds for more than 300 global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. ChanTest also partners with these companies to accelerate the drug development process for the release of better, safer drugs. ChanTest offers integrated ion channel and GPCR services (GLP and non-GLP) and reagents. The companys library of validated ion channel cell lines, and nonclinical cardiac risk assessment service portfolio, is the most comprehensive commercial library available today.

Because of ChanTests influential role in the cardiac safety field, along with the companys uncompromising commitment to quality, an independent survey has named ChanTest the most trusted and most used fee-for-service provider since 2006. ChanTest is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Visit http://www.chantest.com to learn more about ChanTest.

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ChanTest Launches new Heart-in-a-Dish Cardiac Safety Assessment Tool

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