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One of the most promising technologies for the treatment of various cancers is nanotechnology, creating drugs that directly attack the cancer cells without damaging other tissues' development. The Laboratory of Cellular Oncology at the Research Unit in Cell Differentiation and Cancer, of the Faculty of Higher Studies (FES) Zaragoza UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) have developed a therapy to attack cervical cancer tumors.

The treatment, which has been tested in animal models, consists of a nanostructured composition encapsulating a protein called interleukin-2 (IL -2), lethal to cancer cells.

According to the researcher Rosalva Rangel Corona, head of the project, the antitumor effect of interleukin in cervical cancer is because their cells express receptors for interleukin-2 that "fit together" like puzzle pieces with the protein to activate an antitumor response .

The scientist explains that the nanoparticle works as a bridge of antitumor activation between tumor cells and T lymphocytes. The nanoparticle has interleukin 2 on its surface, so when the protein is around it acts as a switch, a contact with the cancer cell to bind to the receptor and to carry out its biological action.

Furthermore, the nanoparticle concentrates interleukin 2 in the tumor site, which allows its accumulation near the tumor growth. It is not circulating in the blood stream, is "out there" in action.

The administration of IL-2 using the nanovector reduces the side effects caused by this protein if administered in large amounts to the body. These effects can be fever, low blood pressure, fluid retention and attack to the central nervous system, among others.

It is known that interleukin -2 is a protein (a cytokine, a product of the cell) generated by active T cells. The nanoparticle, the vector for IL-2, carries the substance to the receptors in cancer cells, then saturates them and kills them, besides generating an immune T cells bridge (in charge of activating the immune response of the organism). This is like a guided missile acting within tumor cells and activating the immune system cells that kill them.

A woman immunosuppressed by disease produces even less interleukin. For this reason, the use of the nanoparticle would be very beneficial for female patients.

The researcher emphasized that his group must meet the pharmaceutical regulations to carry their research beyond published studies and thus benefit the population.

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New nanoparticle that only attacks cervical cancer cells

16 hours ago by Bob Yirka Mesenchymal stem cell displaying typical ultrastructural characteristics. Credit: Robert M. Hunt/Wikipedia

(Phys.org) A team of researchers working at the University of Colorado has found that human stem cells appear to remember the physical nature of the structure they were grown on, after being moved to a different substrate. In their paper published in the journal Nature Materials, the researchers describe how they grew human stem cells on different substrates. In so doing, they discovered that the stem cells continued to express certain proteins related to a substrate even after its hardness was changed.

Scientists have known for some time that stem cells respond to their environment as they growthose grown on hard material, such as glass or metal for example, are more amenable to growing into bone cells. In this new effort, the researchers sought to discover if changes to a stem cell brought about by environment are retained if the stem cell is moved to a different environment.

To find out, the researchers used mesenchymal cells which are known to be able to grow into almost any human body part. They placed the stem cells on a stiff substrate then moved them to one less stiff over differing numbers of days. In so doing, they found that the longer the cells were left on the stiff substrate the more a protein connected to bone growth (RUNX2) was expressed. Conversely, cells that were first placed on a soft surface and subsequently moved to a hard surface demonstrated a tendency to develop either bone or adipogenic tendencies.

In another experiment, the researchers applied the stem cells to a substrate coated with a phototunable hydrogelit grows softer when exposed to lightusing it allowed for changing the stiffness of the substrate without having to move the cells. Using this approach the team found that if the cells were allowed to grow on the gel in its stiff state, for just one day, switching to a soft state caused the expression of RUNX2 to cease immediately. When they allowed the cells to grow for ten days on the stiff base, however, before switching to a soft one, expression of RUNX2 continued for another ten days before finally ceasing. This shows, the researchers contend, that stem cells have a memory component that is not yet understood.

The researchers note that their findings could be applied to other stem cell research areas such as cases where unintentional consequences may be arising in experiments due to the stiffness of the substrate in which they are being grown. It also raises the question of whether other environmental factors might be impacting cell growth and if so, if they have a memory component as well.

Explore further: Heart cells respond to stiff environments

More information: Mechanical memory and dosing influence stem cell fate, Nature Materials (2014) DOI: 10.1038/nmat3889

Abstract We investigated whether stem cells remember past physical signals and whether these can be exploited to dose cells mechanically. We found that the activation of the Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding domain (TAZ) as well as the pre-osteogenic transcription factor RUNX2 in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) cultured on soft poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels (Young's modulus E ~ 2 kPa) depended on previous culture time on stiff tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS; E ~ 3 GPa). In addition, mechanical dosing of hMSCs cultured on initially stiff (E ~ 10 kPa) and then soft (E ~ 2 kPa) phototunable PEG hydrogels resulted in either reversible orabove a threshold mechanical doseirreversible activation of YAP/TAZ and RUNX2. We also found that increased mechanical dosing on supraphysiologically stiff TCPS biases hMSCs towards osteogenic differentiation. We conclude that stem cells possess mechanical memorywith YAP/TAZ acting as an intracellular mechanical rheostatthat stores information from past physical environments and influences the cells' fate.

Journal reference: Nature Materials

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Researchers find stem cells remember prior substrates

Immature cells' regenerative prowess injects new excitement into the field

Image: CDC

More than a century after scientists embarked on the quest to find an alternative to the blood coursing through our veins, the dream still will not die. Not after a major study dealt a seemingly fatal blow to the fielddetermining that the top synthetic blood candidates at the time were all more likely to kill you than to save your life. Not after billions of dollars in public and private investments dried up. And not after multiple companies ran aground. Starting in 2011, however, the moribund field received yet another revival, this time from a group of French researchers with a new approach to boosting blood supplies. Their principal insight: dont try to re-create millions of years of evolution. Instead, they proposed to piggyback off of what nature already made by coaxing stem cells into taking on the job. The appeal of creating blood alternatives is obvious. Certainly after a battlefield trauma or a car accident a ready transfusion of artificial blood that could theoretically work with any blood type and not require refrigeration would be a welcome medical tool. A synthetic product outlasting the typical 42-day shelf life of red blood cells and sidestepping even the miniscule risk of transmitting a blood-borne disease would also be high on the medical wish list. But such a product has not yet been created and proved safe in humans. Its not for lack of trying. Although blood cells serve multiple roles in the body and have complex interactions with other cellular materials, most synthetic blood products have aimed to just stick to the bare basicsshuttling oxygen from the lungs to different vital organs and then bringing carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be exhaled. When the red cell count gets low, bodily organs may not get the oxygen they need, making a person weak and eventually resulting in serious health problems. The most popular approach taken to replicate that function has been to create artificial hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, tapping proteins in red blood cells called hemoglobin that act as oxygens transport service, and chemically modifying them to increase oxygen-carrying capacity. But the new idea is to get the body to grow its own substitutea product that would not be the same as whole blood but could fit the bill in a pinch. A Paris-based research group, headed up by Luc Douay, professor of hematology at University Pierre and Marie Curie Faculty of Medicine, has already had some success. They culled stemlike cells from blood circulating through a patients body and manipulated them into becoming red blood cells nearly identical to those that normally transport oxygen in the body. The team injected two milliliters of the stem-cell derived blood cells back into the patientan amount far smaller than would be needed in a typical transfusion. The creations had stored well at refrigerated temperatures and circulated in the body with survival time on par with that of original red cells. Jackpot. In short, the workalbeit on one person, tapping cells from his own bodyproved that it could be done. Its a promising approach, says Harvey Klein, chief of the Department of Transfusion Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. There is a school of pessimists who believe that because of costs it will never materialize on a practice level, but Ive heard that all my life about different areas of medicine including bone marrow transplants in the 60s. Still, he and others caution that the field is far from being able to forgo the need for blood donors for day-to-day care. In fact, the market for artificial blood products would likely be limited to people with rare blood types and those who, due to blood diseases, require new transfusions, perhaps every couple months. Its an encouraging step forward for a field littered with odd and sometimes cringe-worthy efforts to get at the lifesaving power of blood. Animal to human blood transfusions received a short-lived audition in 1667. But the first human-to-human blood transfusion was not performed until 1818before we learned about blood types and how and when the body rejects certain transfusions. Blood-product research also included attempts in the late 1800s to hook up ailing patients to infusions of fresh cows milk. Milk, like blood, had fats that emulsify in fluid, the reasoning went. Plus, milk would be safer than blood because it would not clot. When patients died, physicians figured it was due to other complications. Needless to say, milk injections, like those from animal blood, never really took off. In the U.S. there is no shortage of blood products available for most patients, thanks to blood donors. After a healthy person donates blood that fluid is typically whirred in a centrifuge and separated out into several parts. Most commonly, patients receive transfusions of red blood cells, the component of blood that shuttles oxygen to tissues throughout the body. (Patients may also receive infusions of white cells that help fight infection or platelets, the small, colorless cell fragments that help stanch bleeding by clotting.) Although most people only get transfusions once or twice in their lives (if at all), individuals with conditions like sickle-cell anemia require consistent blood transfusions of red cells. But with each infusion theres a small risk that the body could develop an infection, reject the foreign blood or form antibodies that will lead to the body rejecting and destroying certain bloods in the future. A key threat, however, is that each transfusion contributes to the risk of iron overload in the body. All red blood cells contain iron, but after the body takes what it needs it has no easy way to dispose of the excess. It gets stored, instead, in organs including the heart, liver and pancreas. That buildup of increased iron with each transfusion can damage the organs and eventually prove fatal. The French researchers hope that using freshly created blood cells made from stem cells could help alleviate those iron buildup concerns. We think it could be transfused at least three to five times less each year because of the efficiency of the transfusion, Douay says. The secret lies in the age of the red blood cells derived from stem cells. Although red cells from donors have a typical shelf life of 42 days, they are a mix of older and newer cells, which means a number of them may not last long in the body. With stem cellderived options all of the blood product would be new, which could theoretically give patients more bang for each infusion. The only thing that would appear different to a patient receiving the transfusions, ideally, is that he would be receiving them less often. If you have brand-new cells, you should be able to increase the intervals between transfusions so you can make it longer, says David Anstee, director of the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory in England. You might be able to improve the quality of life in those situations. Its not a perfect fix because it would likely add months, not years, between transfusions, but it could be a start. Also, researchers could carefully select which blood types to culture with each batch of stem cells, creating stockpiles of needed blood products for people with extremely rare blood types whose blood cell makeup makes it challenging to find good blood matches for transfusions because they would reject most other types of blood. But so far all this remains theoreticalsince that initial breakthrough no new blood product has inched close to regulatory approval in the U.S. or Europe. The greatest hurdles are arguably more monetary than technical, but the monetary obstacles are massive. To match the current prices of high-quality blood products the process would have to become at least fivefold more cost-effective, Douay notes in a recent study published in Biotechnology Journal. Although the current price tag for an average hospital to create one unit of red blood cells from donor blood comes in at about $225, more expensive, unique stockpiles of red cells, kept for individuals with rare blood needs, can cost anywhere from $700 to $1,200 per unit. By comparison, with Douays method the price for equivalent amounts of blood cells (assuming that much product could be made successfully) would likely be around $8,330. It could even cost up to $15,000 per unit if all does not go according to plan, Douay estimates. Moreover, the idea of using Douays earlier process, which involved growing the cells in culture, at a larger scale would be delusional, he says. To make just one unit of bloodroughly a pintit would require growing cells in about 400 flasks that were about 30 centimeters by 20 centimeters, he says. But even with endless space for those flasks it would still be impossible because the constant pH and temperature controls that would be needed would be impossible to maintain. What would be needed, he says, is an automated, stirred large-scale bioreactor (something his team hopes to one day produce themselves). Even something as seemingly simple as red blood cells that dont have a nucleus evolved a structure and a function that is much more complicated than we can perceive by looking under the microscope, says Jason Acker, associate director of development for Canadian Blood Services. Douay, for his part, is not surprised it has taken more than a century for science to get even to this point, where the future of subbing in stem cells for blood products still remains little more than a reverie. For years, he says, we tried to replace nature and do as well as nature does. The regenerative powers of stem cells may just yet inject new options into the field.

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Could Stem Cells Breathe New Life into the Field of Blood Substitution?

Stem cell doctors falsifies PRC chairman signature
Anthony Taberna talks about the revocation of the corporate registration of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine for submitting a falsified document...

By: ABS-CBN News

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Stem cell doctors falsifies PRC chairman signature - Video

Leo Olarte, M.D., PMA president. PHOTO from http://www.philippinemedicalassociation.org

MANILA, Philippines Politics over stem cell treatment may be behind the move to slap an ethics case against him for allegedly falsifying signatures, the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president said.

In an interview over Inquirer Radio 990 AM on Monday, Dr. Leo Olarte said he found it suspicious that Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Chair Teresita Manzala announced the ethics case against him on the day of the elections for the next PMA president.

He claimed Manzala slapped the ethics case before the PRC to ruin his chances of being re-elected in the countrys largest doctors association.

Olarte said Manzala has connections to doctors who are against stem cell medicine. Olarte is a supporter of stem cell treatment.

Manzala released the statement on the day of our elections specifically to destroy my name Manzala (also) has connections to doctors who are against stem cell. I am pro-stem cell treatment while my rival (for president) is not, Olarte said in Filipino.

In a Philippine Daily Inquirer report on Sunday, Olarte and his four predecessors were charged with fraud in the registration of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Olarte and the four others Bu Castro, Rey Melchor Santos, Oscar Tinio and Jose Sabili were accused of forging Manzalas signature in an endorsement for the incorporation of the PSSCM.

But Olarte blamed a syndicate behind the alleged forgery.

He said the PMA paid a private trading company to process the PSSCMs incorporation with the SEC. The doctor did not name the company.

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Stem cell politics behind forgery chargesPMA president

PRC: Stem cell group submitted fake SEC registration. At a press conference in Manila on Monday, March 17, Professional Regulation Commission chairperson Teresita Manzala said the PRC endorsement documents allegedly submitted by the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were fabricated and have her tampered signature. The SEC previously revoked the corporate registration of the PSSCM. Danny Pata

In a statement, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) chair Teresita Manzala said she has asked the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) to initiate, investigate and file charges against doctors Leo Olarte, Bu Castro, Rey Melchor Santos, Oscar Tinio and Jose Asa Sabili before the PRCs legal division.

Olarte is the current president of the PMA.

The five doctors are all incorporators of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM,) which was able to obtain an SEC certificate despite previously being denied corporate registration. They were able to do this, said the statement, by submitting false PRC endorsements to the commission.

The PRBOM eventually got hold of a copy of the SEC Registration. On examination of the supposed PRC Endorsement, it was noted that the reference regulatory law used was the Philippine Veterinary Law of 2004, instead of Republic Act 2382, otherwise known as the Medical Act of 1959, and there appeared a signature of the PRC Chairperson, the PRC statement said.

Manzala said complaints were filed against the doctors for unprofessional, dishonorable and unethical conduct.

According to the statement, the incorporators later denied participation in obtaining the SEC registration, instead naming a Dr. Mike Aragon as the person who obtained the certification.

In a notarized affidavit submitted to the PRBOM, 'Dr. Mike Aragon' declared that he was the person authorized to register a corporation to be called 'Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine' and admitted paying 15,000 pesos to a trading company for them to file the necessary documents for incorporation of the PSSCM, the PRC statement said.

But Aragon claimed to have had no participation whatsoever in the actual processing of the SEC papers for incorporating the PSSCM. Patricia Denise Chiu/BM, GMA News

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5 doctors charged with falsifying papers to get certificate for stem cell group

By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com March 17, 2014 7:45 AM

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InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - Five doctor-incorporators of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) face charges and may have their medical licenses revoked for submitting a fabricated endorsement from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Among them are chairman of the Philippine Medical Association Leo Olarte, PSSCM treasurer and legal counsel; Bu Castro, secretary; Rey Melchor Santos, president; Oscar Tinio, vice president; and Jose Asa Sabili, chairman.

In a statement, PRC Chairperson Teresita Manzala on Sunday said she directed the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) to initiate, investigate, and file charges against the five doctors before the PRCs legal division for unprofessional, dishonorable, and unethical conduct.

Earlier on 10 January 2014, the SEC cancelled the registration of the PSSCM for submitting a fabricated document. In an order signed by SEC Acting Director Ferdinand Sales, the commission said the PSSCM had committed fraud in procuring its Certificate of Incorporation for its application for corporate registration.

Wherefore, premises considered, the Certificate of Registration of Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine with SEC Registration No. CN201303986, approved on March 6, 2013 is hereby revoked, the order reads.

Falsified endorsement

SEC said PSSCM submitted a 2ndPRC Indorsement, dated 20 February 2013, supposedly from Manzala. But on14 August 2014, SEC received a letter-complaint from Manzala informing the commission that the signature appearing in the alleged favorable indorsement from PRC was not hers and, thus, falsified.

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DINUKTOR | 5 stem cell society doctors face raps for submitting falsified PRC endorsement to SEC

By: Jet Villa, InterAksyon.com March 17, 2014 7:45 AM

FILE PHOTO

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - Five doctor-incorporators of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) face charges and may have their medical licenses revoked for submitting a fabricated endorsement from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Among them are chairman of the Philippine Medical Association Leo Olarte, PSSCM treasurer and legal counsel; Bu Castro, secretary; Rey Melchor Santos, president; Oscar Tinio, vice president; and Jose Asa Sabili, chairman.

In a statement, PRC Chairperson Teresita Manzala on Sunday said she directed the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) to initiate, investigate, and file charges against the five doctors before the PRCs legal division for unprofessional, dishonorable, and unethical conduct.

Earlier on 10 January 2014, the SEC cancelled the registration of the PSSCM for submitting a fabricated document. In an order signed by SEC Acting Director Ferdinand Sales, the commission said the PSSCM had committed fraud in procuring its Certificate of Incorporation for its application for corporate registration.

Wherefore, premises considered, the Certificate of Registration of Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine with SEC Registration No. CN201303986, approved on March 6, 2013 is hereby revoked, the order reads.

Falsified endorsement

SEC said PSSCM submitted a 2ndPRC Indorsement, dated 20 February 2013, supposedly from Manzala. But on14 August 2014, SEC received a letter-complaint from Manzala informing the commission that the signature appearing in the alleged favorable indorsement from PRC was not hers and, thus, falsified.

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DINUKTOR | 5 stem cell society doctors face raps for submitting falsified document to SEC

MANILA - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the corporate registration of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) for submitting fabricated endorsement from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

In a five-page order, SEC acting director Ferdinand Sales said the PSSCM committed fraud in procuring its Certificate of Incorporation.

He said that as required under Section 17 of the Corporation Code, the PSSCM submitted a favorable endorsement from the PRC to support its application for corporate registration.

But he said the SEC found that the 2nd PRC Indorsement dated Feb. 20, 2013 submitted by PSSCM was falsified.

Considering the submission of a falsified PRC endorsement, there is fraud in procurement of respondents certificate of registration. The falsified document was relied upon by this Commission in approving the registration application of the respondent, Sales noted.

He added that had the SEC known about such defect early on, it would have not accepted and approved the registration application of the respondent.

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Registration of PH stem cell group revoked

MANILA, Philippines The president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and his four predecessors have been slapped with ethics cases before the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for alleged fraud in the registration of the Philippine Society for Stem Cell Medicine (PSSCM) in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a statement on Sunday, PRC Chair Teresita Manzala said she has directed the Professional Regulatory Board of Medicine (PRBOM) to file cases against doctors Leo Olarte, Bu Castro, Rey Melchor Santos, Oscar Tinio and Jose Sabili for forging her signature in the incorporation of the PSSCM.

The Commission directed the PRBOM to initiate the filing of a case of unprofessional, dishonorable and unethical conduct against the five incorporators, said Manzala, adding that a case was already pending before the PRC legal division.

Olarte, Castro, Santos, Tinio and Sabili were identified as the incorporators of the PSSCM, whose registration has been revoked by the SEC.

Investigation showed the doctors submitted an application to the SEC for the corporations registration in February 2013. As part of the procedure, PRBOM sent a communication to the five incorporators requiring them to submit pertinent documents but did not receive any response from the doctors. Without the documents, the PRBOM instead placed the application papers on hold. It never submitted the application papers and the required PRC endorsement to the SEC for final approval, said Manzala.

But several months later, the board received information that the PSSCM was able to register with the SEC, based on an endorsement signed by the PRC chair.

On examination of the supposed PRC endorsement, it was noted that the reference regulatory law used was the Philippine Veterinary Law of 2004, instead ofthe Medical Act of 1959, and there appeared a signature of the PRC chair, she said.

Manzala said three of the incorporators, whom she did not identify, denied participation in obtaining the SEC registration and pointed to Dr. Mike Aragon, the PMA spokesperson, as the one responsible for registering the organization at SEC.

In a notarized affidavit submitted to the PRBOM, Aragon admitted he was appointed to register the corporation at SEC but added that he paid P15,000 to a trading company to file the necessary documents needed for the incorporation of PSSCM. He denied involvement in the actual processing of the SEC papers after making the payment.

Manzala submitted a complaint to the SEC, charging her signature was forged in August 2013.

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PMA head, 4 other doctors probed by PRC over alleged fraud, forgery

Stem Cell Therapy for NFL Knee / ACL Injuries Sports Medicine - Dr Rodney Dade
WASHINGTONIAN Mag Top Doctor and Regenerative Medicine and Pain Management physician Dr Rodney Dade at StemCell ARTS discusses the tragic uptick in NFL knee ...

By: StemCell ARTS

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Stem Cell Therapy for NFL Knee / ACL Injuries & Sports Medicine - Dr Rodney Dade - Video

Stem Cell Therapy PRP and Its Success in Treating Older Patients
Dr Rodney Dade discusses how regenerative medicine therapies work very well in older patient populations--ages 65 and above in particular--especially the Reg...

By: StemCell ARTS

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Stem Cell Therapy PRP and Its Success in Treating Older Patients - Video

The parents of a 2-year-old Pasadena girl who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia have renewed their call for help in the search for a bone marrow donor, after stem cells taken from the girls father did not match.

Sofia Flores, shown in a family photo, needs a bone marrow donor.

The latest in a series of donor drives was held Saturday at Orchard Supply Hardware, located at 3425 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

Sofia Flores story first came to light in October 2013 when her parents asked for help in finding a bone marrow donor for their daughter.

Sofia needed a marrow transplant to combat acute myeloid leukemia, according to A3M, a Los Angeles nonprofit that is helping Sofias parents seek a match for the little girl.

However, after an extensive search, no match was found.

On Jan. 23, her father donated his stem cells to her, which was the only alternative available at the time, according to Erica Westfall, Sofias mother.

But the treatment was not successful and Sofias cancer relapsed.

Sofias last chance for survival would be a transplant from an unrelated donor in the next two months, according to her mother.

Weve been searching for a bone marrow match even harder because this is her last chance, her father Ignacio Flores said in a video released to news media on Monday.

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Donor Drive Held for Pasadena Girl, 2, in Need of Bone Marrow Transplant

Turning Stem Cell Biology into Stem Cell Medicine
Mark Noble, Professor of Genetics, Neurology, Neurobiology and Anatomy; Director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute...

By: UniversityRochester

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Turning Stem Cell Biology into Stem Cell Medicine - Video

VIbes-Advanced Stem Cell Therapy PRP Treatment 12 Feb #39;14 - TV5 Hyderabad

By: Vibes Healthcare Ltd

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VIbes-Advanced Stem Cell Therapy & PRP Treatment 12 Feb'14 - TV5 Hyderabad - Video

University of Washington researchers have created a line of human embryonic stem cells with the ability to develop into a far broader range of tissues than most existing cell lines.

"These cells will allow us to gain a much greater understanding of normal embryonic development and have the real potential for use in developing ways to grow new tissues and organs for transplantation," said Carol Ware, a professor of comparative medicine. She is the lead author of a paper describing the new cell line.

The findings are reported in the March 10 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The cells, called nave embryonic stem cells, normally appear at the earliest stages of embryonic development. They retain the ability to turn into any of all the different types of cells of the human body -- a capacity called "pluripotency."

Researchers had been able to develop nave cells using mouse embryonic stem cells, but to create naive human embryonic stem cells has required inserting a set of genes that force the cells to behave like naive cells.

While these transgenic cells are valuable research tools, the presence of artificially introduced genes meant the cells will not develop as normal embryonic cells would nor could they be safely used to create tissues and organs for transplantation.

In an article, Ware and her colleagues from the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine describe how they successfully created a line of nave human embryonic stem cells without introducing an artificial set of genes.

They first took embryonic stem cells that are slightly more developed, called primed stem cells, and grew them in a medium that contained factors that switched them back -- or "reverse toggled" them -- to the nave state. They then used the reverse toggled cells to develop a culture medium that would keep them in the nave state and create a stable cell line for study and research.

While the "reverse toggled" cells are much easier to create and will prove valuable research tools, Ware said, the cells that were directly derived from embryos are the more important advance because they are more likely to behave, grow and develop as embryonic cells do in nature.

The new cell line is called Elf1: "El" for the Ellison Foundation, a major supporter of the lab's work; "f" for female, the sex of the stem cell; and "1" for first.

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New cell line should accelerate embryonic stem cell research

(Page 1 of 2)

Because neurons (nerve cells) in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) do not repair or replace themselves after being injured, researchers are investigating whether transplanting cells into an injured area can restore function.

One of the many challenges for researchers is obtaining cells that will function as neurons in the brain or spinal cord. Because a persons body doesnt have spare neurons for transplantation, efforts are being made to find other cells that can be transformed into neurons. One potential source is stem cells from human embryos. Less than a week after conception cells in an embryo begin to differentiate that is, they begin to form specific types of cells, such as bone cells, red blood cells, heart muscle cells, and so on. Stem cells are simply cells that can differentiate into other types of cells. Early in the life of an embryo stem cells have the potential to differentiate into the more than two hundred types of cells in a human body. There are other kinds of stem cells, including stem cells in adults, which can differentiate into a more limited number of types of cells.

Using embryonic stem cells for transplantation is controversial because it is necessary to first create human embryos to produce the stem cells and then kill the embryos in the process of harvesting the stem cells. Opponents of the process contend that it is unethical or immoral to create and then kill any form of human life for the purpose of harvesting stem cells. Proponents of stem cell transplantation either claim that embryos created in a laboratory have no value or significance apart from producing stem cells or that the end of helping injured or ill people justifies the means of creating and then killing human life.

Apart from the controversy about creating and killing human embryos, stem cell researchers are faced with another challenge which is partly practical and partly ethical. The bodys immune system recognizes what is part of the body and what is not. Every cell in the body has protein molecules on the surface of the cell wall that identify the cell as being part of the body (these are known as human leukocyte antigens (HLA)). These markers are recognized by the cells in our immune systems. If the immune system doesnt detect the bodys specific markers, it will sound the alarm and go on the attack. This allows our immune system to recognize and fight invaders in the form of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, protecting us from diseases that would otherwise kill us.

However, this same ability of the immune system presents a serious problem when tissue from another person (or animal) is transplanted into the body. The immune system will ordinarily identify the transplant as foreign and begin to attack it. The attack is carried out by cells using chemical weapons that can kill other cells. This process is known as transplant rejection.

To prevent rejection two different strategies have been used. One is to find a transplant donor who has genetic markers (HLA) that are similar to those of the person receiving the transplant. The more similar the markers, the less likely it is that the immune system will reject the transplant. The other strategy is to administer drugs to transplant recipients that suppress the ability of the immune system to recognize and target transplants for destruction. While these drugs usually work, they have numerous side-effects and can make an individual more vulnerable to infections. Often times both strategies are used.

One potential solution to the problem of transplant rejection would be to create a transplant with markers identical to those of the person receiving the transplant. A persons DNA contains the unique blueprint for that persons body, including the details for the markers (HLA) that are recognized by the immune system. Some researchers are attempting to insert human DNA into cells that are then used to create human embryos. This process is known as cloning that is, artificially producing another organism with DNA that is identical to the DNA of the donor. Cloning has been performed with some types of animals but not with a human being(1). If human cloning is eventually successful, the clone would have markers identical to those of the DNA donor. This would potentially allow transplants to be created with the DNA of the patient, which would be recognized by the immune system as belonging to the body. There would be no potential for transplant rejection and no need for drugs to suppress the immune system.

However, even if cloning is successful, researchers will still need to learn how to stimulate an embryonic stem cell to produce a neuron rather than a skin cell or some other type of cell. Transplanting undifferentiated stem cells runs the risk of creating a tumor, an event which has actually occurred when embryonic stem cells have been transplanted into mice. Furthermore, while finding a source of cells that can differentiate into neurons is one major challenge in developing a cure for spinal cord injuries, there are others (click on the Treatments for the Future link under the Spinal Injury Treatment tab.) Consequently, any effective treatment to repair spinal cord injuries using embryonic stem cells lies years, if not a decade or more, in the future.

Cloning is one example of genetic engineering, an activity in which people manipulate DNA to create organisms that wouldnt otherwise exist in nature. While the first mammal (Dolly the sheep) was cloned in 1997, some clones have had health problems not characteristic of the species (including Dolly), are more prone to have offspring with birth defects, or have much shorter than normal life spans. The long term results of cloning are not known. As a result, ethical issues abound, and particularly when human cloning is the issue.

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Stem Cell Research in pursuit of Spinal Cord Injury ...

5 hours ago Schematic illustrating how mechanical properties of substrates affect where YAP/TAZ protein localization in cardiac stem cells (left) and how this affects stem cell development and function (right).

Proteins associated with the regulation of organ size and shape have been found to respond to the mechanics of the microenvironment in ways that specifically affect the decision of adult cardiac stem cells to generate muscular or vascular cells.

Cell development for specific functionsso-called cell differentiationis crucial for maintaining healthy tissue and organs. Two proteins in particularthe Yes-associated protein (YAP) and WW domain-containing transcription regulator protein 1 (WWTR1 or TAZ)have been linked with control of cell differentiation in the tissues of the lymphatic, circulatory, intestinal and neural systems, as well as regulating embryonic stem cell renewal. An international collaboration of researchers has now identified that changes in the elasticity and nanotopography of the cellular environment of these proteins can affect how heart stem cells differentiate with implications for the onset of heart diseases.

Researchers at the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) collaborated with researchers in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and the Czech Republic in the study.

They engineered YAP and TAZ proteins that expressed green fluorescent protein so that their location within the cell could be tracked. They then prepared cell substrates from smart biomaterials displaying dynamic control of elasticity and nanostructure with temperature. "Our data provide the first evidence for YAP/TAZ shuttling activity between the nucleus and the cytoplasm being promptly activated in response to dynamic modifications in substrate stiffness or nanostructure," explain the researchers.

Observations of gene expression highlighted the key role of YAP/TAZ proteins in cell differentiation. In further investigations on the effect of substrate stiffness they also found that cell differentiation was most efficient for substrates displaying stiffness similar to that found in the heart.

The authors suggest that understanding the effects of microenvironment nanostructure and mechanics on how these proteins affect cell differentiation could be used to aid processes that maintain a healthy heart. They conclude, "These proteins are indicated as potential targets to control cardiac progenitor cell fate by materials design."

Explore further: Study identifies gene important to breast development and breast cancer

More information: Hippo pathway effectors control cardiac progenitor cell fate by acting as dynamic sensors of substrate mechanics and nanostructure. Diogo Mosqueira, et al. 2014 ACS Nano; DOI: 10.1021/nn4058984

A new study in Cell Reports identifies a gene important to breast development and breast cancer, providing a potential new target for drug therapies to treat aggressive types of breast cancer.

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Heart cells respond to stiff environments

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Mar-2014

Contact: Toni Baker tbaker@gru.edu 706-721-4421 Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University

Augusta, Ga. Researchers want to know whether patients with debilitating heart failure can benefit by having their own stem cells injected into their ailing heart muscle.

The severe condition is ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, a currently incurable condition resulting from significantly compromised blood flow to the heart muscle as well as heart attacks, which leave the muscle bulky and inefficient and patients unable to carry out routine activities.

"We want to know if stem cell therapy is an option for patients who have essentially run out of options," said Dr. Adam Berman, electrophysiologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University and Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Ablation Services at Georgia Regents Health System. "It's a very exciting potential therapy, and these studies are designed to see if it works to help these patients."

Berman is a Principal Investigator on the multi-site study in which stem cells are removed from the bone marrow, their numbers significantly increased by technology developed by Aastrom Biosciences, then injected into multiple weak points in the heart. At GR Health System, the procedure is performed in the Electrophysiology Lab where Berman threads a catheter into an artery from the groin into the heart. Three-dimensional maps of the heart are created to provide a clear picture of its natural geography as well as major sites of damage.

"Everyone's heart is different, their scar burden is different, everything is different," Berman said. From that vantage point, small needles - similar in size to those used for skin testing - are used to make about 12 to 20 strategic injections of mesenchymal stem cells, which can differentiate into a variety of cell types. In this case, researchers hope the cells will improve blood flow and function of the heart.

Half of the study participants receive the stem cell treatment called ixmyelocel-T and the remainder a saline placebo. Patients go home the next day but researchers follow all participants for 12 months to assess heart function and quality of life. GR Health System plans to enroll a handful of patients in the clinical trial.

Treatment options for heart failure include frontline therapies such as diuretics to more extreme measures such as implantable ventricular assist devices and heart transplants.

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Stem cell therapy may help severe congestive heart failure

Each day is a gift for Chris Taylor and every phone call could be the one that saves his life.

Thats why the 36-year-old man with acute myeloid leukemia keeps his cellphone within reach, waiting to hear that a stem cell donor has been found and hell get the bone marrow transplant he needs.

Taylor, who was diagnosed in July 2012, has already had two false alarms but is confident a match will become available before its too late.

Getting the call is a miracle in itself. It comes after an online search of unrelated people by the Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. The registry has access to 22 million potential volunteer donors in 71 countries, strangers prepared to help those like Taylor.

Despite popular belief, family members are matches only 25 per cent of the time, said Mary-Lynn Pride, a patient transplant liaison specialist at OneMatch.

More than 800 Canadians currently await transplants. OneMatch has more than 333,000 registered Canadian donors.

Taylor signed up after a second round of chemotherapy last summer, when doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital advised he needed a bone marrow transplant.

Taylor received the first call last November. The timing was perfect because his cancer was in remission, the only time a transplant can be done.

Two days before he was to be admitted to hospital, Taylor got bad news. The procedure was cancelled because the donor had unspecified medical complications, he said. OneMatch does not say why donors decide to abandon the procedure.

The second call came last month, but the donor withdrew for reasons unknown to Taylor.

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Leukemia patient pins hopes on OneMatch stem cell donor registry