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Knee Replacement vs. Stem Cell Therapy – Regenexx – Video

By Dr. Matthew Watson


Knee Replacement vs. Stem Cell Therapy - Regenexx
Hundreds of thousands undergo knee replacement each year, but the outcomes are often not what people expect. The Regenexx-SD same day stem cell procedure off...

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Stem cell transplant shows 'landmark' promise for treatment of degenerative disc disease

By daniellenierenberg

Stem cell transplant was viable and effective in halting or reversing degenerative disc disease of the spine, a meta-analysis of animal studies showed, in a development expected to open up research in humans. Recent developments in stem cell research have made it possible to assess its effect on intervertebral disc (IVD) height, Mayo Clinic researchers reported in a scientific poster today at the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

"This landmark study draws the conclusion in pre-clinical animal studies that stem cell therapy for disc degenerative disease might be a potentially effective treatment for the very common condition that affects people's quality of life and productivity," said the senior author, Wenchun Qu, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Dr. Qu said not only did disc height increase, but stem cell transplant also increased disc water content and improved appropriate gene expression. "These exciting developments place us in a position to prepare for translation of stem cell therapy for degenerative disc disease into clinical trials," he said.

The increase in disc height was due to restoration in the transplant group of the nucleus pulposus structure, which refers to the jelly-like substance in the disc, and an increased amount of water content, which is critical for the appropriate function of the disc as a cushion for the spinal column, the researchers concluded.

The researchers performed a literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO databases and also manually searched reference lists for original, randomized, controlled trials on animals that examined the association between IVD stem cell transplant and the change of disc height. Six studies met inclusion criteria. Differences between the studies necessitated the use of random-effects models to pool estimates of effect.

What they found was an over 23.6% increase in the disc height index in the transplant group compared with the placebo group (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.7-23.5; p<0.001). None of the 6 studies showed a decrease of the disc height index in the transplant group. Increases in the disc height index were statistically significant in all individual studies.

The authors commented that it is time to turn attention to the much-needed work of determining the safety, feasibility, efficacy of IVD stem cell transplant for humans.

"A hallmark of IVD degenerative disease is its poor self-repair capacity secondary to the loss of IVD cells. However, current available treatments fail to address the loss of cells and cellular functions. In fact, many invasive treatments further damage the disc, causing further degeneration in the diseased level or adjacent levels," said the lead study author Jason Dauffenbach, DO. "The goal of tissue engineering using stem cells is to restore the normal function and motion of the diseased human spine."

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The above story is based on materials provided by American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM). Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Recognized for Its One-Year Survival Rates

By Sykes24Tracey

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Newswise SEATTLE The Fred Hutchinson Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) was recently recognized by the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) for outperforming its expected one-year survival rate for allogeneic transplant patients. The results published by the CIBMTR, analyzed the National Marrow Donor Programs (NMDP) registry of 168 U.S. transplant centers over a three-year period for its 2013 Transplant Center-Specific Survival Report.

The Fred Hutchinson Bone Marrow Transplant Program at SCCA pioneered the clinical use of bone marrow and stem cell transplantation more than 40 years ago and have performed more than 14,000 bone marrow transplants more than any other institution in the world. Today, the organization is one of just 13 stem cell transplant programs nationwide that exceeded its anticipated one-year survival rate for patients undergoing allogeneic transplants.

This type of transplant uses stem cells from a donor who may or may not be related to the patient. Stem cell transplants, including bone marrow transplants, are used to treat a range of leukemias and lymphomas, as well as other diseases such as severe aplastic anemia and sickle cell disease.

Comparing Transplant Centers

Comparing transplant centers in the U.S. is an extremely challenging process, explains Dr. Marco Mielcarek, medical director of the Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at SCCA. There are so many variables that must be taken into account, including type of cancer and stage, the patients underlying medical problems and age, the type of transplant they undergo, and the source of the stem cells for the transplant. Each patient has a unique risk profile.

Although the process of comparing transplant centers can be challenging, the intensive analysis allows researchers to compare themselves to other centers, leading to improved outcomes. Additionally, the report provides patients and their families with valuable information necessary when evaluating where to go for treatment.

When you adjust for risk factors, our patients outcomes exceeded expectations over a three-year period, Dr. Mielcarek says, thats information that is helpful for patients to know when they are making important health care decisions with their families.

To arrive at its findings, CIBMTR independently examined the survival rates of 19,945 transplants performed to treat blood cancers at U.S. centers in the NMDP network. The most recent reporting period covered January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011. During this three-year period, 762 allogeneic transplants were performed at SCCA. The report, published annually, is required by federal law and is designed to provide potential stem cell transplant recipients, their families, and the public with comparative survival rates among transplant centers.

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Stem Cells Driving Alzheimer's Research

By raymumme

By Marcus Johnson

Stem cell researchers from Harvard have been able to turn patients skin cells into neurons that can be affected by early-onset Alzheimers. Experts believe that this will make it easier to gather the results of cells affected by the disease. It is also believed that the research will make the development of new treatments a faster process.

The research was published in the Human Molecular Genetics journal and headed by Tracy Young-Pearse. The data showed that peopl suffering from Alzheimers had cell mutations t similar to mutations occurring in mice. We see this mild increase in A42 in cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease, which seems to be enough to trigger disease processes, said Young-Pearse. We also see increases of a smaller species of amyloid-beta called A38, which was unexpected as it should not be very aggregation prone. We don't fully understand what it means, but it may combine with other forms of amyloid-beta to stimulate plaque formation.

The researchers hope that their work can lead to new drugs that are more effective against the disease. Alzheimers drugs have had a high rate of failure during clinical trials because much of the drug development was based on non-human models. Young-Pearse hopes that their research can make it easier to treat the disease and develop new drugs. Because of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, we were able to work with other researchers to make patient cells into any type of neuron," said Young-Pearse. "The environment provides a really nice system for testing many kinds of hypotheses.

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CellHealth Institutes Dr. Vincent Giampapa Unveils MyStemBank: A Revolutionary Type of Adult Stem Cell Bio …

By LizaAVILA

(PRWEB) March 07, 2014

Dr. Vincent Giampapa, Co-founder and Chief Medical Offer of CellHealthTM Institute (CHI), will appear as a guest on A Healthy You and Carol Alt March 8th and 9th at 4pm EST on FOX. Dr. Giampapa and the former supermodel, healthy living expert and show host Carol Alt will explore the new technology of banking ones own adult stem cells for future use through CHIs new program, MyStemBank, http://www.MyStemBank.com. The show will dive deep into the real life needs for this new type of bio-insurance and will explain the ins and outs of the adult stem cell collection and storage process.

The human body is comprised of trillions of cells, which make up the skin, bones, muscles, tissues, and organs. They perform various, critical functions including transmitting signals, producing energy, and defending the body against illness. The mother of all of those cells is our adult stem cells.

Adult stem cells are the reservoir from which cells can be used now and in the future for both preventive health and disease treatment. The implications of this on our human health are tremendous, says Dr. Giampapa.

Tune in to learn about how this fascinating new preventive health practice is becoming as popular as cord blood storage and how MyStemBanks gold standard of adult stem cell collection differs from other types of collection.

Dr. Vincent Giampapa will also be a featured expert on Stem Cell Universe with Stephen Hawking, airing on Science Channel on March 13th, 9am PST/EST that will discuss in greater detail the importance of adult stem cell collection.

CellHealthTM Institute, a research based biotech company committed to developing and delivering the highest quality products and services that will enable and empower people to live healthier lives, longer. CHI is committed to developing and delivering high quality and high efficacy products to empower people to take control of their health at its most basic, cellular level. CHI collaborates with top-tier research universities and biotech companies to offer breakthrough nutritional supplements, lifestyle education, and fully integrated personalized health programs. CHI is also committed to pushing the limits of current medical practice to unlock the secrets of chronic illness, disease and aging by exploring the possibilities of advanced stem cell therapies.

For more information or press inquires please go to http://www.mystembank.com or call 844-709-7836.

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Stem Cell Transplant Shows "Landmark" Promise for Treatment of Degenerative Disc Disease: Mayo Clinic

By Dr. Matthew Watson

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Newswise March 7, 2014, Phoenix, AZ -- Stem cell transplant was viable and effective in halting or reversing degenerative disc disease of the spine, a meta-analysis of animal studies showed, in a development expected to open up research in humans. Recent developments in stem cell research have made it possible to assess its effect on intervertebral disc (IVD) height, Mayo Clinic researchers reported in a scientific poster today at the 30th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.

This landmark study draws the conclusion in pre-clinical animal studies that stem cell therapy for disc degenerative disease might be a potentially effective treatment for the very common condition that affects peoples quality of life and productivity, said the senior author, Wenchun Qu, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Dr. Qu said not only did disc height increase, but stem cell transplant also increased disc water content and improved appropriate gene expression. These exciting developments place us in a position to prepare for translation of stem cell therapy for degenerative disc disease into clinical trials, he said.

The increase in disc height was due to restoration in the transplant group of the nucleus pulposus structure, which refers to the jelly-like substance in the disc, and an increased amount of water content, which is critical for the appropriate function of the disc as a cushion for the spinal column, the researchers concluded.

The researchers performed a literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO databases and also manually searched reference lists for original, randomized, controlled trials on animals that examined the association between IVD stem cell transplant and the change of disc height. Six studies met inclusion criteria. Differences between the studies necessitated the use of random-effects models to pool estimates of effect.

What they found was an over 23.6% increase in the disc height index in the transplant group compared with the placebo group (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.7-23.5; p<0.001). None of the 6 studies showed a decrease of the disc height index in the transplant group. Increases in the disc height index were statistically significant in all individual studies.

The authors commented that it is time to turn attention to the much-needed work of determining the safety, feasibility, efficacy of IVD stem cell transplant for humans.

A hallmark of IVD degenerative disease is its poor self-repair capacity secondary to the loss of IVD cells. However, current available treatments fail to address the loss of cells and cellular functions. In fact, many invasive treatments further damage the disc, causing further degeneration in the diseased level or adjacent levels, said the lead study author Jason Dauffenbach, DO. The goal of tissue engineering using stem cells is to restore the normal function and motion of the diseased human spine.

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stem cell therapy treatment for Spastic Paraplegia by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india – Video

By Sykes24Tracey


stem cell therapy treatment for Spastic Paraplegia by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india
improvement seen in just 5 days after stem cell therapy treatment for Spastic Paraplegia by dr alok sharma, mumbai, india. Stem Cell Therapy done date 7/1/20...

By: Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute

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21.Spinal Cord Injury(T5-6) Treated by Stem Cell Therapy(After) – Video

By Dr. Matthew Watson


21.Spinal Cord Injury(T5-6) Treated by Stem Cell Therapy(After)
After treatment: The patient received four times of stem cell treatment in our center. His overall condition improved a lot after the treatment. The injury l...

By: Cells Center China

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Guidelines on use of stem cell therapy

By LizaAVILA

Google stem cell therapy and a whole host of results show up. Stem cell therapy for hair loss, diabetes, cancer and practically everything else. It is touted as the medicine of hope, the panacea for all ills.

But to ensure that this potentially-powerful technology is not misused in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research has come up with a set of guidelines to regulate their use.

Under the new guidelines, any use of stem cells in patients will be considered research, not therapy.

This means stem cells can now only be used on patients within the purview of an approved, and monitored clinical trial anything outside of this would be considered malpractice. Ananthram Shetty, professor of minimally-invasive surgery at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK, said the guidelines are much-needed, welcome move in the right direction.

Prof. Shetty, who has been working with stem-cell technology for 27 years, and is often in India to demonstrate their use in research surgeries, said this would prevent anybody and everybody from claiming unproven benefits. Lots of people dont really understand what stem cells are. And those who have a terminal illness are willing to try anything. There are some people who use this to raise false hopes. And this is what the guidelines seek to stop, he said.

J.S. Rajkumar, chairman, Lifeline Hospital, however, said the guidelines could have been clearer about the use of adult stem cells over embryonic stem cells, he said. Now, the procedures involved and the time it would take could dissuade many, he said, while there is a real need for funds to be pumped in for research into this technology.

Another International Ear Care Day passed by on March 3.

It spelled out a clear message ear care can avoid hearing loss.

But the question is how many people know how to take care of their ears. What is interesting is the ear is a self-cleaning organ and does not require any kind of cleaning. But many clean their ears using safety pins, hair pins and even matchsticks.

While doctors advise against the use of such objects, they discourage the use of cotton buds too. Some heat coconut oil and pour into the ears. This could cause fungal infections. The ear drum is very thin and can be damaged, leading to loss of hearing, said M. Ramaniraj, professor of ENT, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital.

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Transplanted human umbilical cord blood cells improved heart function in rat model of MI

By Dr. Matthew Watson

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Mar-2014

Contact: Robert Miranda cogcomm@aol.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Putnam Valley, NY. (Mar. 6, 2014) When human umbilical cord blood cells were transplanted into rats that had undergone a simulated myocardial infarction (MI), researchers investigating the long term effects of the transplantation found that left ventricular (LV) heart function in the treated rats was improved over those that did not get the stem cells. The animals were maintained without immunosuppressive therapy.

The study will be published in a future issue of Cell Transplantation but is currently freely available on-line as an unedited early e-pub at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-ct0860Chen.

"Myocardial infarction induced by coronary artery disease is one of the major causes of heart attack," said study co-author Dr. Jianyi Zhang of the University of Minnesota Health Science Center. "Because of the loss of viable myocardium after an MI, the heart works under elevated wall stress, which results in progressive myocardial hypertrophy and left ventricular dilation that leads to heart failure. We investigated the long term effects of stem cell therapy using human non-hematopoietic umbilical cord blood stem cells (nh-UCBCs). These cells have previously exhibited neuro-restorative effects in a rodent model of ischemic brain injury in terms of improved LV function and myocardial fiber structure, the three-dimensional architecture of which make the heart an efficient pump."

According to the authors, stem cell therapy for myocardial repair has been investigated extensively for the last decade, with researchers using a variety of different animal models, delivery modes, cells types and doses, all with varying levels of LV functional response. They also note that the underlying mechanisms for improvement are "poorly understood," and that the overall regeneration of muscle cells is "low."

To investigate the heart's remodeling processes and to characterize alterations in the cardiac fiber architecture, the research team used diffusion tensor MRI (DTMRI), used previously to study myofiber structure in both humans and animals.

While most previous studies have been focused on the short term effects of UCBCs, their study on long term effects not only demonstrated evidence of significantly improved heart function in the treated rats, but also showed evidence of delay and prevention in terms of myocardial fiber structural remodeling, alterations that could have resulted in heart failure.

When compared to the age-matched but untreated rat hearts with MI, the regional myocardial function of nh-UCBC-treated hearts was significantly improved and the preserved myocardial fiber structure may have served as an "underlying mechanism for the observed function improvements."

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3D printing helps create tailor-made wrap-around heart sensor array

By Dr. Matthew Watson

Researchers have used 3D-printed models of the heart to create a personalized wrap-around heart sensor array which can transmit highly detailed information on a patients cardiac health and may thus help to predict and prevent serious medical problems.

The buzz surrounding 3D printing sometimes gives the impression that the technology provides a miracle solution for making any manufactured product more cheaply. In fact the main advantage of the technology is to be able to produce prototypes cheaper and faster or to customize products and components. The medical sector may well be among the first to benefit from this latter approach by using the technique, formally known as additive layer manufacturing (ALM), to produce tailor-made surgical implants. At the moment, medical researchers are focusing on highly ambitious projects such as printing replacement organs from a persons own stem cells, but this procedure will take years of development before it can be widely used on patients. Recently researchers have used 3D printing to help create a rather more modest device which could be incorporated fairly quickly into treatment procedures. Every heart has its own unique size and shape, and medical procedures need to be adjusted accordingly in order to deliver fully personalised treatment. Now researchers Igor Efimov of WashingtonUniversity in St Louisand John Rogers at the University of Illinoishave demonstrated a new type of tailor-made cardiac sensor array which increases the quantity and improves the quality of the information gathered, and thus help prevent certain cardiac problems.

Efimov, a cardiac physiologist and bioengineer, and Rogers, a materials scientist, used optical images of rabbits hearts to demonstrate the concept of creating an ALM model of the heart in order to make the sensor array. In fact CT or MRI scans of each persons heart would be used to make devices for human patients. Having 3D-printed the model of the heart, they then built a stretchy electronic mesh structure a sort of envelope to wrap round the model. The stretchy material can then be peeled off the printed model and wrapped around the real heart in a perfect fit. This technique enables a far more precise approach than has hitherto been feasible and the research team were able to integrate an unprecedented number of components into the device, including embedded sensors, oxygenation detectors, thermometers and electrodes that can, if need be, deliver electric shocks to stimulate a flagging heart. Although the device has been developed specifically to treat ventricular deformation andcardiacarrhythmia, it could incorporate different types of sensors in order to improve treatment for a number of other heart conditions, inter alia enabling medicines to be delivered to the exact spot where they are needed.

Igor Efimov reveals that the next step is a device with multiple sensors, and not just more electrical sensors. Sensors that measure acidity, for instance, could provide an early warning of a blocked coronary artery. So far, the researchers have tested their technology on beating rabbit hearts outside the body. The next stage will be to demonstrate that this approach can work in live animals before it can be tested on people. Although devices made in this kind of custom-manufacturing process would probably be more expensive than mass-produced medical implants, using ALM to print the basic heart model will bring the cost down considerably and help to ensure that the technology becomes available to patients who need it. In any case, argues Stanford University materials scientist Zhenan Bao, for these kinds of life-or-death applications, the market is likely to bear the cost, given the rich information that the device will provide, enabling early treatment of potentially serious conditions. The idea of incorporating IT devices into organs is becoming more commonplace and there could be many medical applications, such as devices to assist bladder control or mitigate conditions of the nervous system. In a less life-and-death field, the technology could also be used for body digitisation with a view to producing tailor-made clothing.

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Establishing standards where none exist; Harvard researchers define 'good' stem cells

By LizaAVILA

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Mar-2014

Contact: B.D. Colen bd_colen@harvard.edu 617-413-1224 Harvard University

After more than a decade of incremental and paradigm shifting, advances in stem cell biology, almost anyone with a basic understanding of life sciences knows that stem cells are the basic form of cell from which all specialized cells, and eventually organs and body parts, derive.

But what makes a "good" stem cell, one that can reliably be used in drug development, and for disease study? Researchers have made enormous strides in understanding the process of cellular reprogramming, and how and why stem cells commit to becoming various types of adult cells. But until now, there have been no standards, no criteria, by which to test these ubiquitous cells for their ability to faithfully adopt characteristics that make them suitable substitutes for patients for drug testing. And the need for such quality control standards becomes ever more critical as industry looks toward manufacturing products and treatments using stem cells.

Now a research team lead by Kevin Kit Parker, a Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Principal Faculty member has identified a set of 64 crucial parameters from more than 1,000 by which to judge stem cell-derived cardiac myocytes, making it possible for perhaps the first time for scientists and pharmaceutical companies to quantitatively judge and compare the value of the countless commercially available lines of stem cells.

"We have an entire industry without a single quality control standard," said Parker, the Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

HSCI Co-director Doug Melton, who also is co-chair of Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, called the standard-setting study "very important. This addresses a critical issue," Melton said. "It provides a standardized method to test whether differentiated cells, produced from stem cells, have the properties needed to function. This approach provides a standard for the field to move toward reproducible tests for cell function, an important precursor to getting cells into patients or using them for drug screening."

Parker said that starting in 2009, he and Sean P. Sheehy, a graduate student in Parker's lab and the first author on a paper just given early on-line release by the journal Stem Cell Reports, "visited a lot of these companies (commercially producing stem cells), and I'd never seen a dedicated quality control department, never saw a separate effort for quality control." Parker explained many companies seemed to assume that it was sufficient simply to produce beating cardiac cells from stem cells, without asking any deeper questions about their functions and quality.

"We put out a call to different companies in 2010 asking for cells to start testing," Parker says, "some we got were so bad we couldn't even get a baseline curve on them; we couldn't even do a calibration on them."

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Gene-Editing Technique Shown to Work as HIV Treatment

By NEVAGiles23

The approach involves using enzymes to destroy a gene in the immune cells of people with HIV, thereby increasing resistance to the virus

Scanning electron micrograph of a human T cell from the immune system of a healthy donor. Credit:NIAID/NIH - Wikimedia Commons

A clinical trial has shown that a gene-editing technique can be safe and effective in humans. For the first time, researchers used enzymes called zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) to target and destroy a gene in the immune cells of 12 people with HIV, increasing their resistance to the virus. The findings were published March 5 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

This is the first major advance in HIV gene therapy since it was demonstrated that the Berlin patient Timothy Brown was free of HIV, says John Rossi, a molecular biologist at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California. In 2008, researchers reported thatBrown gained the ability to control his HIV infectionafter they treated him with donor bone-marrow stem cells that carried a mutation in a gene calledCCR5. Most HIV strains use a protein encoded byCCR5as a gateway into the T cells of a hosts immune system. People who carry a mutated version of the gene, including Brown's donor, are resistant to HIV.

But similar treatment isnot feasible for most people with HIV: it is invasive, and the body is likely to attack the donor cells. So a team led by Carl June and Pablo Tebas, immunologists at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, sought to create the beneficialCCR5 mutation in a persons own cells, using targeted gene editing.

Personalized medicine The researchers drew blood from 12 people with HIV who had been taking antiretroviral drugs to keep the virus in check. After culturing blood cells from each participant, the team used a commercially available ZFN to target theCCR5gene in those cells. The treatment succeeded in disrupting the gene in about 25% of each participants cultured cells; the researchers then transfused all of the cultured cells into the participants. After treatment, all had elevated levels of T cells in their blood, suggesting that the virus was less capable of destroying them.

Six of the 12 participants then stopped their antiretroviral drug therapy, while the team monitored their levels of virus and T cells. Their HIV levels rebounded more slowly than normal, and their T-cell levels remained high for weeks. In short, the presence of HIV seemed to drive the modified immune cells, which lacked a functionalCCR5gene, to proliferate in the body. Researchers suspect that the virus was unable to infect and destroy the altered cells.

They used HIV to help in its own demise, says Paula Cannon, who studies gene therapy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. They throw the cells back at it and say, Ha, now what?

Long-term action In this first small trial, the gene-editing approach seemed to be safe: Tebas says that the worst side effect was that the chemical used in the process made the patients bodies smell bad for several days.

The trial isnt the end game, but its an important advance in the direction of this kind of research, says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. Its more practical and applicable than doing a stem-cell transplant, he says, although it remains to be seen whether it is as effective.

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A Dangerous Game: Some Athletes Risk Untested Stem Cell Treatments

By daniellenierenberg

See Inside

Some professional athletes' enthusiasm for certain stem cell treatments outpaces the evidence

Peter Ryan

In 2005, at the age of 32, then Los Angeles Angel Bartolo Coln won the American League Cy Young Award for best pitcher, one of professional baseball's top honors. He stumbled through subsequent seasons, however, after a series of rips and strains in the tendons and ligaments of his throwing arm, shoulder and back. In 2009 he all but quit baseball. Desperate to reclaim his career, Coln flew home to the Dominican Republic in 2010 for an experimental procedure not vetted or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Doctors centrifuged samples of Coln's bone marrow and fat, skimmed off a slurry containing a particular kind of stem cellimmature, self-renewing cells that can turn into a variety of tissuesand injected it into his injured shoulder and elbow. Within months of the procedure the then 37-year-old Coln was once again pitching near the top of his game for the New York Yankeescommanding a 93-mile-per-hour fastball.

Whether the injected stem cells rejuvenated his arm is an open question. The fda and the International Society for Stem Cell Research warn that no rigorous studies have demonstrated that such treatments safely and effectively repair damaged connective tissue in people. The results of related animal studies, though promising, have raised more questions than answers. The term stem cell makes it sound cutting edge and exciting, says Paul Knoepfler, a cell biologist at the University of California, Davis, who also writes frequently on policy surrounding stem cells. But the role of these cells in sports medicine is essentially all hype.

No matter, apparently, to the aging, injured athletes who have followed Coln's lead. Lefty pitcher C. J. Nitkowski, who underwent the same procedure in 2011, told readers of his personal blog that he did not mind the lack of carefully controlled research. My attitude is I don't have the time to wait for the five- or 10-year study to come out, the then 38-year-old relief pitcher wrote, so I'm taking a chance now. Besides, Nitkowski figured, even if the treatment did not work, any health risks ought to be slight because the cells involved were his own.

That might not be such a safe bet. Numerous studies suggest that Coln, Nitkowski and others trying untested stem cell treatments may be risking more than they think. Even a syringe of one's own stem cells taken from one part of the body and squirted into another may multiply, form tumors, or may leave the site you put them in and migrate somewhere else the fda warns on its Web site. More clinical research is needed to define safety procedures, as well as how many cells of which types and what other tissue factors produce the desired results. In some animal studies, for example, the regenerated tissue is not as strong or flexible as the original. In other cases, an overgrowth of scar tissue makes the injected tendon or ligament adhere to the overlying skin. By preventing different tissues from gracefully sliding past one another, these adhesions sometimes pull an even bigger tear in an already serious wound.

In addition, Knoepfler worries that high-profile sports testimonials by Coln, Nitkowski and others will encourage joggers with blown-out knees and the parents of sore-armed Little Leaguers to demand the procedure before it has been thoroughly tested. When celebrities take to a new treatment, many other people follow suit, he says. Such premature enthusiasmor an unforeseen tragedy that results from proceeding too fast too sooncould also prevent serious researchers from getting funding to do the kinds of careful experiments that might eventually lead to safe and reliable treatments.

Seeds of Repair

The need for better ways to reknit damaged tendons and ligaments is painfully apparent to the roughly two million Americans in a given year who seek medical help for tears in their shoulder's rotator cuff, for example, or the 100,000 patients in the same year who undergo surgery in the U.S. to repair a ripped or ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee. Tendons and ligaments are tough, fibrous bands, made mostly of collagen, that anchor networks of muscles to a bone or link bones and cartilage across crucial joints. They lend strength, flexibility and stability to your daily twists and turns, whether you are rocketing a baseball across home plate or hefting a suitcase into an overhead bin. Once frayed or snapped, they can take many months or longer to mendeven with surgery.

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A Dangerous Game: Some Athletes Risk Untested Stem Cell Treatments

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Establishing standards where none exist: Researchers define 'good' stem cells

By JoanneRUSSELL25

14 hours ago This is Kevin Kit Parker, the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor of Applied Science and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Harvard Stem Cell Institute Principal Faculty member, has identified standards making it possible to quantitatively judge and compare commercially available stem cell lines. Credit: Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer

After more than a decade of incremental and paradigm shifting, advances in stem cell biology, almost anyone with a basic understanding of life sciences knows that stem cells are the basic form of cell from which all specialized cells, and eventually organs and body parts, derive.

But what makes a "good" stem cell, one that can reliably be used in drug development, and for disease study? Researchers have made enormous strides in understanding the process of cellular reprogramming, and how and why stem cells commit to becoming various types of adult cells. But until now, there have been no standards, no criteria, by which to test these ubiquitous cells for their ability to faithfully adopt characteristics that make them suitable substitutes for patients for drug testing. And the need for such quality control standards becomes ever more critical as industry looks toward manufacturing products and treatments using stem cells.

Now a research team lead by Kevin Kit Parker, a Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Principal Faculty member has identified a set of 64 crucial parameters from more than 1,000 by which to judge stem cell-derived cardiac myocytes, making it possible for perhaps the first time for scientists and pharmaceutical companies to quantitatively judge and compare the value of the countless commercially available lines of stem cells.

"We have an entire industry without a single quality control standard," said Parker, the Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a Core Member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

HSCI Co-director Doug Melton, who also is co-chair of Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, called the standard-setting study "very important. This addresses a critical issue," Melton said. "It provides a standardized method to test whether differentiated cells, produced from stem cells, have the properties needed to function. This approach provides a standard for the field to move toward reproducible tests for cell function, an important precursor to getting cells into patients or using them for drug screening."

Parker said that starting in 2009, he and Sean P. Sheehy, a graduate student in Parker's lab and the first author on a paper just given early on-line release by the journal Stem Cell Reports, "visited a lot of these companies (commercially producing stem cells), and I'd never seen a dedicated quality control department, never saw a separate effort for quality control." Parker explained many companies seemed to assume that it was sufficient simply to produce beating cardiac cells from stem cells, without asking any deeper questions about their functions and quality.

"We put out a call to different companies in 2010 asking for cells to start testing," Parker says, "some we got were so bad we couldn't even get a baseline curve on them; we couldn't even do a calibration on them."

Brock Reeve, Executive Director of HSCI, noted that "this kind of work is as essential for HSCI to be leading in as regenerative biology and medicine, because the faster we can help develop reliable, reproducible standards against which cells can be tested, the faster drugs can be moved into the clinic and the manufacturing process."

The quality of available human stem cells varied so widely, even within a given batch, that the only way to conduct a scientifically accurate study, and establish standards, "was to use mouse stem cells," Parker said, explaining that his group was given mouse cardiac progenitor cells by the company Axiogenesis.

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Alzheimer's research team employs stem cells to understand disease processes and study new treatment

By Sykes24Tracey

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

6-Mar-2014

Contact: Jessica Maki jmaki3@partners.org 617-525-6373 Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston, MA A team of Alzheimer's disease (AD) researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has been able to study the underlying causes of AD and develop assays to test newer approaches to treatment by using stem cells derived from related family members with a genetic predisposition to (AD).

"In the past, research of human cells impacted by AD has been largely limited to postmortem tissue samples from patients who have already succumbed to the disease," said Dr. Tracy L. Young-Pearse, corresponding author of the study recently published in Human Molecular Genetics and an investigator in the Center for Neurologic Diseases at BWH. "In this study, we were able to generate stem cells from skin biopsies of living family members who carry a mutation associated with early-onset AD. We guided these stem cells to become brain cells, where we could then investigate mechanisms of the disease process and test the effects of newer antibody treatments for AD."

The skin biopsies for the study were provided by a 57-year-old father with AD and his 33 year-old- daughter, who is currently asymptomatic for AD. Both harbor the "London" familial AD Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) mutation, V7171. More than 200 different mutations are associated with familial AD. Depending on the mutation, carriers can begin exhibiting symptoms as early as their 30s and 40s. APPV7171 was the first mutation linked to familial AD and is the most common APP mutation.

The BWH researchers submitted the skin biopsies to the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, where the cells were converted into induced pluripotent stem cells (or iPSCs). Dr. Young-Pearse's lab then directed the stem cells derived from these samples into neurons specifically related to a particular region of the brain which is responsible for memory and cognitive function. The scientists studying these neurons made several important discoveries. First, they showed that the APPV7171 mutation alters APP subcellular location, amyloid-beta protein generation, and then alters Tau protein expression and phosphorylation which impacts the Tau protein's function and activity. Next, the researchers tested multiple amyloid-beta antibodies on the affected neurons. Here, they demonstrated that the secondary increase in Tau can be rescued by treatment with the amyloid -protein antibodies, providing direct evidence linking disease-relevant changes in amyloid-beta to aberrant Tau metabolism in living cells obtained directly from an AD patient.

While AD is characterized by the presence of amyloid-beta protein plaques and Tau protein tangles, observing living cell behavior and understanding the mechanisms and relationship between these abnormal protein deposits and tangles has been challenging. Experimental treatments for AD are using antibodies to try to neutralize the toxic effects of amyloid-beta, because they can bind to and clear the amyoid-beta peptide from the brain.

This study is the first of its kind to examine the effects of antibody therapy on human neurons derived directly from patients with familial AD.

"Amyloid-beta immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic option in AD, if delivered early in the disease process," said Dr. Young-Pearse. "Our study suggests that this stem cell model from actual patients may be useful in testing and comparing amyloid-beta antibodies, as well as other emerging therapeutic strategies in treating AD."

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Alzheimer's research team employs stem cells to understand disease processes and study new treatment

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What's Next for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine?

By raymumme

See Inside Mar 19, 2013 |By Christine Gorman

Richard Clark, NIH

Researchers are now experimenting with stem cellsprogenitor cells that can develop into many different types of tissueto coax the bodies of a few individuals to heal themselves. Some of the most advanced clinical trials so far involve treating congestive heart disease and regrowing muscles in soldiers who were wounded in an explosion. But new developments are happening so quickly that investigators have come up with a new nameregenerative medicineto describe the emerging field.

Many of the stem cells being studied are referred to as pluripotent, meaning they can give rise to any of the cell types in the body but they cannot give rise on their own to an entirely new body. (Only the earliest embryonic cells, which occur just after fertilization, can give rise to a whole other organism by themselves.) Other stem cells, such as the ones found in the adult body, are multipotent, meaning they can develop into a limited number of different tissue types.

One of the most common stem cell treatments being studied is a procedure that extracts a few stem cells from a person's body and grows them in large quantities in the laboratorywhat scientists refer to as expanding the number of stem cells. Once a sufficient number have been produced in this manner, the investigators inject them back into the patient.

The bone marrow is a rich source of adult stem cells, containing both the hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to the various types of blood and the so-called mesenchymal cells, which can develop into bone, cartilage and fat. Mesenchymal cells are found in the bone marrow and various other places in the body, although whether all mesenchymal stem cells are truly interchangeable irrespective of origin is unclear.

Scientific American spoke with Mahendra Rao, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., to get a sense of the sorts of new developments that might occur in regenerative medicine in the next five years or so.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

Why is there so much excitement about regenerative medicine? You could say that medicine up until now has been all about replacements. If your heart valve isn't working, you replace it with another valve, say from a pig. With regenerative medicine, you're treating the cause and using your own cells to perform the replacement. The hope is that by regenerating the tissue, you're causing the repairs to grow so that it's like normal.

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What's Next for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine?

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21.Spinal Cord Injury(T5-6) Treated by Stem Cell Therapy(Before) – Video

By raymumme


21.Spinal Cord Injury(T5-6) Treated by Stem Cell Therapy(Before)
Patient with T5-6 spinal cord injury: condition before treatment Before treatment, sensation remains only above the waist. Sweating remains only in the upper...

By: Cells Center China

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21.Spinal Cord Injury(T5-6) Treated by Stem Cell Therapy(Before) - Video

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Controversial Stem Cell Company Moves Treatment out of U.S.

By daniellenierenberg

Celltex Therapeutics of Houston ceased treatment patients in the U.S. last year after a warning from regulators, and will now send patients for treatments to Mexico

Flickr/GE Healthcare

US citizens who had pinned their hopes on a company being able to offer stem-cell treatments close to home will now need to travel a little farther. Celltex Therapeutics of Houston, Texas, stopped treating patients in the United States last year following a warning from regulators. A 25 January e-mail to Celltex customers indicates that the firm will now follow in the footsteps of many other companies offering unproven stem-cell therapies and send its patients abroad for treatment but only to Mexico.

The stem-cell treatments offered by Celltex involved extracting adult stem cells from a patient, culturing them and then reinjecting them in a bid to replenish damaged tissue. It had been offering the treatment for more than a year with one of its high-profile customers being Texas governor, Rick Perry when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrote to the company on 24 September 2012 advising it that the stem cells it harvested and grew were more than minimally manipulated during Celltex's procedures. As such, the FDA regarded the cells as drugs, which would require the agency's approval to be used in treatments. The FDA also warned that Celltex had failed to address problems in its cell processing that inspectors from the agency had identified in an April 2012 inspection of its cell bank in Sugar Land, Texas. Shortly after it received the letter, Celltex stopped injecting stem cells into patients.

For customers who still had cells banked at Celltex and were wondering how to get them out, things became more chaotic when Celltex and RNL Bio, a company based in Seoul, South Korea, which operated the processing center and bank in Sugar Land, sued each other over financial disagreements. Celltex had to issue a restraining order just to gain access to the cells.

The January e-mail from Celltex reassures customers that their cells are safely stored in a facility in Houston and adds: We anticipate that we will be able to offer our stem cell therapy services to physicians in Mexico starting very soon! The e-mail also says that the company is building a new laboratory in Houston, to be opened in March.

Celltex adds that it will carry out an FDA-approved clinical trial, to start shortly after a March meeting with the FDA, pending a positive review from the regulator. However, the company had said in a 25 October e-mail to patients that it would start such a trial within two months and that patient enrolment could begin in late November.

Leigh Turner, a bioethicist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, says that the move to Mexico is "not surprising", given the companys difficulties in the United States.

As Celltex's stem culturing and banking technology was licensed from RNL Bio, it is also not clear whether it has the expertise needed to launch a clinical trial on its own, says Turner. "It would have to build a stem-cell company from the ground floor up. I wouldnt say it is anywhere near the starting line."

Celltex did not respond to questions about how it would ship stem cells to Mexico or how it would perform the clinical research needed to seek FDA approval.

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Sick Vt. kids highlight need for bone marrow donors

By Sykes24Tracey

BOSTON -

A bone marrow transplant could be a life-saving move for a little girl from Chester.

Keith McGilvery visited her at Boston Children's Hospital Tuesday and found out she's not the only young Vermonter who's sick on her floor. There are two kids from Vermont-- one from Chester and the other from Colchester. They're neighbors at Children's Hospital hoping that their transplants will make them better.

Tuesday, we visited Lindsey Sturtevant, she's the 12-year-old who just received a second bone marrow transplant to fight off a pre-leukemia condition that's done a number on her blood cells.

During our visit, we learned that Colchester Middle Schooler Le'Ondre Brockington is in the hospital bed next door. The 13-year old is fighting a rare form of acute myeloid leukemia. He's been in the hospital for seven months and his mom says every day has been a battle. Both families are thankful to their transplants.

Lindsey's doctor, Christine Duncan of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital, talked with us about what's involved if you decide to donate.

"There are lots of different ways that we collect stem cells. Some are directly from the bone, some are from your blood, most often it is a blood-type donation. For people that are really interested, they can look at the national marrow donor program which is the program that helped us find a donor for Lindsey," Dr. Duncan said.

Matches don't always come from family; Lindsey's first donor came from a 42-year-old woman in Europe and the second came from a 23-year-old man.

Le'Ondre's bone marrow donation came from a 33-year-old man.

For more information on becoming a donor:

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Sick Vt. kids highlight need for bone marrow donors

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