StemCell Therapy

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

13-Nov-2014

Contact: Krista Conger kristac@stanford.edu 650-725-5371 Stanford University Medical Center @sumedicine

A protein that plays a critical role in preventing the development of many types of human cancers has been shown also to inhibit a vital stem cell property called pluripotency, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Blocking expression of the protein, called retinoblastoma, in mouse cells allowed the researchers to more easily transform them into what are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. Pluripotent is a term used to describe a cell that is similar to an embryonic stem cell and can become any tissue in the body.

The study provides a direct and unexpected molecular link between cancer and stem cell science through retinoblastoma, or Rb, one of the best known of a class of proteins called tumor suppressors. Although Rb has long been known to control the rate of cell division, the researchers found that it also directly binds and inhibits the expression of genes involved in pluripotency.

"We were very surprised to see that retinoblastoma directly connects control of the cell cycle with pluripotency," said Julien Sage, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and of genetics. "This is a completely new idea as to how retinoblastoma functions. It physically prevents the reacquisition of stem cellness and pluripotency by inhibiting gene expression."

Marius Wernig, MD, associate professor of pathology, said, "The loss of Rb appears to directly change a cell's identity. Without the protein, the cell is much more developmentally fluid and is easier to reprogram into an iPS cell."

Wernig and Sage, both members of the Stanford Cancer Institute, share senior authorship of the study, which will be published online Nov. 13 in Cell Stem Cell. Postdoctoral scholar Michael Kareta, PhD, is the lead author.

Tumor Suppressor

Originally posted here:
Tumor suppressor also inhibits key property of stem cells, Stanford researchers say

Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise Led by Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research member Dr. Hanna Mikkola, UCLA scientists have discovered a unique protein that is integral to the self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during human development.

This discovery lays the groundwork for researchers to generate HSCs in the lab (in vitro) that better mirror those that develop in their natural environment (in vivo). This could lead to improved therapies for blood-related diseases and cancers by enabling the creation of patient-specific blood stem cells for transplantation.

The findings are reported online November 13, 2014, ahead of print in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

The research community has long sought to harness the promise of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to overcome a significant roadblock in making cell-based therapies blood and immune diseases more broadly available, which has been hampered by the inability to generate and expand human HSCs in culture. HSCs are the blood forming cells that serve as the critical link between PSCs and fully differentiated cells of the blood system. The ability of HSCs to self-renew (replicate themselves) and differentiate to all blood cell types, is determined in part by the environment that the stem cell came from, called the niche.

In the five-year study, Mikkola and Drs. Sacha Prashad and Vincenzo Calvanese, members of Mikkolas lab and lead authors of the study, investigated a unique HSC surface protein called GPI-80. They found that it was produced by a specific subpopulation of human fetal hematopoietic cells that were the only group that could self-renew and differentiate into various blood cell types. They also found that this subpopulation of hematopoietic cells was the sole population able to permanently integrate into and thrive within the blood system of a recipient mouse.

Mikkola and colleagues further discovered that GPI-80 identifies HSCs during multiple phases of human HSC development and migration. These include the early first trimester of fetal development when newly generated HSCs can be found in the placenta, and the second trimester when HSCs are actively replicating in the fetal liver and the fetal bone marrow.

We found that whatever HSC niche we investigated, we could use GPI-80 as the best determinant to find the stem cell as it was being generated or colonized different hematopoietic tissues, said Mikkola, associate professor of molecular, cell and development biology at UCLA and also a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Moreover, loss of GPI-80 caused the stem cells to differentiate. This essentially tells us that GPI-80 must be present to make HSCs. We now have a very unique marker for investigating how human hematopoietic cells develop, migrate and function.

Mikkolas team is actively exploring different stages of human HSC development and PSC differentiation based on the GPI-80 marker, and comparing how blood stem cells are being generated in vitro and in vivo. This paves the way for scientists to redirect PSCs into patient-specific HSCs for transplantation into the patient without the need to find a suitable donor.

Follow this link:
UCLA Researchers Identify Unique Protein Key to the Development of Blood Stem Cells

Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells?
Many varieties of cancer, including breast cancer, begin inside stem cells, Texas A M University researchers Weston Porter and Clinton Allred say. By underst...

By: Research @ Texas A M

View post:
Can breast cancer be stopped by targeting the stem cells? - Video

Kids get arthritis
http://www.anthonynolan.org/8-ways-you-could-save-life/donate-your-stem-cells/apply-join-our-register for people who might want to join the register to help adults and children like Alex.

By: LyndaM85

Here is the original post:
Kids get arthritis - Video

Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary
Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary In each and every one of our organs and tissue, we have stem cells. These stem cells...

By: ScienceRound

See the rest here:
Science Documentary: Stem Cells,Regenerative Medicine,Artificial Heart,a future medicine documentary - Video

Dr Saw Khay Yong Stem Cell Therapy for the Musculoskeletal System

By: Admin KLSMC

See the original post:
Dr Saw Khay Yong Stem Cell Therapy for the Musculoskeletal System - Video

(PRWEB) November 12, 2014

According to the market report The Cell Expansion Market by Product (Reagent, Media, Serum, Bioreactors, Centrifuge), Cell Type (human, animal), Application (Stem Cell Research, Regenerative Medicine, Clinical Diagnostics), End User (Hospital, Biotechnology, Cell Bank) - Forecast to 2019, gives a detailed overview of the major drivers, restraints, challenges, opportunities, current market trends, and strategies impacting the Cell Expansion Market along with the estimates and forecasts of the revenue and share analysis.

Browse 149 Market Data Tables and 56 Figures spread through 224 Pages and in-depth TOC on Cell Expansion Market http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cell-expansion-market-194978883.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The global Cell Expansion Market will expected to grow $14.8 Billion by 2019 from $6.0 Billion in 2014, at a CAGR of 19.7% from 2014 to 2019.

The market is segmented on the basis of product, cell type, application, and end user. From various applications, the regenerative medicines is expected to account for the largest share in 2014 and is expected to holds the fastest-growing segment in the cell expansion market, owing to technological advancement due to which new products are being launched in the market. Furthermore, rising investments by companies and government for research is another major reason for the growth of this market.

For Further Inquiry: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=194978883

Geographically, the global Cell Expansion Market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America is expected to holds the largest share of the market by the end of 2014. The large share of this region can be attributed to various factors including increasing government support for cancer and stem cell research and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases in this region.

Major Players in the Cell Expansion Market are Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Corning Incorporated (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), GE Healthcare (U.K.), Merck Millipore (U.S.), Miltenyi Biotec (Germany), STEMCELL Technologies (Canada), Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (U.S.), Terumo BCT (U.S.), and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (U.S.).

Browse related reports

See the article here:
Cell Expansion Market Worth $14.8 Billion by 2019

By C. Rajan, contributing writer

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have made a major breakthrough in Parkinson's disease treatment by developing stem cell-derived brain cells that can replace the cells lost due to the disease, thus paving the way for the first stem cell transplant treatment for Parkinsons patients.

Parkinson's disease, which affects about 10 million people worldwide, is a degenerative nervous system condition which causes tremors, muscle weakness, stiffness, and loss in mobility. Parkinson's is caused by loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter that is required for regulating movement and emotions.

In this study, for the first time ever, the researchers were able to convert human embryonic stem cells into dopamine producing neurons, which behaved like native dopamine cells lost in the disease.

The study was led by Malin Parmar, associate professor in Lund's Department of Medicine, and conducted at both Lund University and at MIRCen in Paris as part of the EU networks NeuroStemCell and NeuroStemcellRepair.

According to Medical News Today, the researchers produced rat models of Parkinson's disease by destroying the dopamine cells in one part of the rat's brain, and then they transplanted the new dopamine producing stem cell neurons. These next generation dopamine neurons were found to survive long term, restore the lost dopamine, and form long distance connections to the correct parts of the brain when transplanted into rats. Most excitingly, these transplanted stem cells reversed the damage from the disease.

As the new dopamine neurons have the same properties and functions of native cells lost in Parkinson's disease and can be produced in unlimited quantities from stem cell lines, this treatment shows promise in moving into clinical applications as stem cell transplants for Parkinsons.

"This study shows that we can now produce fully functioning dopamine neurons from stem cells. These cells have the same ability as the brains normal dopamine cells to not only reach but also to connect to their target area over longer distances. This has been our goal for some time, and the next step is to produce the same cells under the necessary regulations for human use. Our hope is that they are ready for clinical studies in about three years", says Malin Parmar.

Human embryonic stem cells (ESC) are powerful treatment options due to their ability to change into any cell type in the body. However, it is difficult to get them to change into the desired cell types, and research efforts are also hampered due to the ethical concerns associated with embryonic stem cells.

The study is published in the journal,Cell Stem Cell, titled Human ESC-Derived Dopamine Neurons Show Similar Preclinical Efficacy and Potency to Fetal Neurons when Grafted in a Rat Model of Parkinsons Disease.

See more here:
Researchers Discover Breakthrough Stem Cell Treatment For Parkinson's Disease

Regenerating Brains with Stem Cells - Bernd Evert
Reprogramming stem cells is one of the most promising advance towards curing neurodegenerations, says Bernd Evert EU project: HIGHLIGHT (http://www.youris.co...

By: European health innovation transfer network

See the article here:
Regenerating Brains with Stem Cells - Bernd Evert - Video

Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Panel Discussion
This panel will discuss the use of tissue engineering techniques for controlling the stem cell microenvironment with the ultimate goals of improving stem cel...

By: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

View post:
Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Panel Discussion - Video

Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Adam Engler, UC San Diego
Speaker: Adam Engler, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, UC San Diego.

By: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

Here is the original post:
Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Adam Engler, UC San Diego - Video

Research in pluripotent stem cells | Anna Veiga | TEDxReus
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. What are stem cells? What is the current research and what are the ...

By: TEDx Talks

Go here to read the rest:
Research in pluripotent stem cells | Anna Veiga | TEDxReus - Video

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Unlimited Fart Sound Glitch
I played the FART SNDS seed and a bug happened, ED, or tyrone... Tyrone is a black name but he is Hispanic but appears to be white skin... Stem Cells The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth https://store.so...

By: djsponge10

Visit link:
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Unlimited Fart Sound Glitch - Video

Treating Eye Diseases With Stem Cells
http://www.naturalclearvision.com/go/... If you are concerned about eye disease , please click on this link to better understand all of you.

By: Health

Read more here:
Treating Eye Diseases With Stem Cells - Video

DoJiggy Giving Contest - Help us win $1,000 for mesothelioma research
The Pacific Meso Center is researching harnessing the potential of mesenchymal stem cells for cancer therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells can serve as a vehicle for delivering a wide range of molecular...

By: Pacific Heart, Lung Blood Institute

Here is the original post:
DoJiggy Giving Contest - Help us win $1,000 for mesothelioma research - Video

MIAMI (PRWEB) November 11, 2014

GlobalStemCellsGroup, Inc. has announced plans to host a minimum of four international symposiums on stem cell research in 2015. The symposiums will be held in three Latin American countriesChile, Mexico and Colombiain which Global Stem Cells has established state-of-the-art stem cell clinics staffed with expert medical personnel trained in regenerative medicine, through the Regenestem Network.

The fourth symposium will be held in Miami.

The decision follows the success of the Global Stem Cells Groups first International Symposium on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, held Oct. 2, 3 and 4 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Global Stem Cells Group CEO Benito Novas says the Buenos Aires event, combined with its steady growth of new clinics throughout Latin America, has provided additional motivation to schedule more stem cell symposiums in an effort to further educate the medical community on the latest advancements in stem cell therapies.

Thanks to Global Stem Cells Groups growing network of world-class stem cell researchers, treatment practitioners and investors committed to advancing stem cell medicine, the company is rapidly moving closer to its goal of helping physicians to bring treatments into their offices for the benefit of patients.

More than 900 physicians, researchers and regenerative medicine experts from around the world attended the Buenos Aires symposium, and Novas expects that number to grow with upcoming conferences.

We will continue to bring together a variety of committed stem cell advocates from the U.S., Mexico, Greece, Hong Kong and other regions around the globe, to be joined by a team of knowledgeable speakers, each one presenting the future of regenerative medicine in their field of specialty, Novas says.

Regenerative medicine as a field is still in its infancy, according to Global Stem Cell Group President and CEO Benito Novas.

Our objective is to [open a dialogue among the worlds medical and scientific communities in order to advance stem cell technologies and translate them into point of care medicine to the best of out abilities, Novas says. Our mission is to bring the benefits of stem cell therapies to the physicians office safely, efficacy and compliance with the highest standards of care with safety, efficacy and complying with the highest standard of care the world has to offer.

The purpose of each symposium is to bring top stem cell scientists together to share their knowledge and expertise in regenerative medicine, and begin the process of separating myths from facts when it comes to stem cell science and technology.

See original here:
Global Stem Cells Group Announces Plans to Hold Four International Symposiums on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine ...

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

10-Nov-2014

Contact: Ccile Martinat CMARTINAT@istem.fr 33-603-855-477 INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale) @inserm

This news release is available in French.

The motor neurons that innervate muscle fibres are essential for motor activity. Their degeneration in many diseases causes paralysis and often death among patients. Researchers at the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases (I-Stem - Inserm/AFM/UEVE), in collaboration with CNRS and Paris Descartes University, have recently developed a new approach to better control the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells, and thus produce different populations of motor neurons from these cells in only 14 days. This discovery, published in Nature Biotechnology, will make it possible to expand the production process for these neurons, leading to more rapid progress in understanding diseases of the motor system, such as infantile spinal amyotrophy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Human pluripotent stem cells have the ability to give rise to every cell in the body. To understand and control their potential for differentiation in vitro is to offer unprecedented opportunities for regenerative medicine and for advancing the study of physiopathological mechanisms and the quest for therapeutic strategies. However, the development and realisation of these clinical applications is often limited by the inability to obtain specialised cells such as motor neurons from human pluripotent stem cells in an efficient and targeted manner. This inefficiency is partly due to a poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling the differentiation of these cells.

Inserm researchers at the Institute for Stem Cell Therapy and Exploration of Monogenic Diseases (I-Stem - Inserm/French Muscular Dystrophy Association [AFM]/University of vry Val d'Essonne [UEVE]), in collaboration with CNRS and Paris-Descartes University, have developed an innovative approach to study the differentiation of human stem cells and thus produce many types of cells in an optimal manner.

"The targeted differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells is often a long and rather inefficient process. This is the case when obtaining motor neurons, although these are affected in many diseases. Today, we obtain these neurons with our approach in only 14 days, nearly twice as fast as before, and with a homogeneity rarely achieved," explains Ccile Martinat, an Inserm Research Fellow at I-Stem.

To achieve this result, the researchers studied the interactions between some molecules that control embryonic development. These studies have made it possible to both better understand the mechanisms governing the generation of these neurons during development, and develop an optimal "recipe" for producing them efficiently and rapidly.

"We are now able to produce and hence study different populations of neurons affected to various degrees in diseases that cause the degeneration of motor neurons. We plan to study why some neurons are affected and why others are preserved," adds Stphane Nedelec, an Inserm researcher in Ccile Martinat's team.

Follow this link:
Production of human motor neurons from stem cells is gaining speed

The day Olivia Cox was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 16, her mother vowed to find a cure.

"I said to her, "there's someone walking this Earth who has been cured of diabetes, and I'm going to find him," Ruth Cox said.

Cox's search started with a call to Harvard University and ended with a family trip to Lima, Peru. It was at a clinic there that now 18-year-old Olivia and her father, Jeff, 54, who also has diabetes, received an infusion of stem cells designed to wipe out diabetes in their bodies or, at the very least, lessen its impact. The treatment illegal in the United States cost $70,000 for both father and daughter. Two months later, the Niskayuna family is waiting for a transformation and wondering if, in their desperation for a cure, they were snookered by false promises.

Because stem cells can be programmed to become anything from heart muscle to toenails, stem cell therapy can hypothetically be used to treat anything, from baldness to Lou Gehrig's Disease. But the study of regenerative medicine is still nascent in the United States, where it is restricted to procedures that use the patient's own cells, and it has been primarily used in treating cancer a procedure that saved Ruth Cox 13 years ago, when she had breast cancer.

Stem cell treatment using donor cells is more common elsewhere in the world, but with varying results and none that could be described as a cure. An executive order from President Barack Obama opened up funding for stem cell research and there are now more than 4,000 clinical trials under way, some on animals and some recruiting people with various ailments.

The American Diabetes Association strongly supports stem cell research, according to a statement posted on its website, which reads in part:

"Scientists from across the United States and throughout the world, including those involved with the American Diabetes Association believe that stem cell research, especially embryonic stem cell research, holds great promise in the search for a cure and better treatments for diabetes."

Jeff Cox, diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 11, has suffered none of the complications that often come with the disease neuropathy, loss of vision and heart disease. But Cox said living with diabetes is hell. He pricks his finger at least a dozen times a day to check his blood sugar level, because it is a more precise reading than the glucose monitor he wears. He also wears a pump that he programs to inject him with insulin automatically based on his diet and exercise each day. All the therapies used to treat diabetes are designed to intervene where the pancreas has gone awry.

In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce insulin due to an autoimmune attack against the beta cell that produces insulin the hormone that converts glucose into energy our bodies need to survive. The Coxes didn't want their daughter to face a lifetime of managing her diabetes. They wanted a cure, and they were willing to take a risk to find it.

In order to treat diabetes with stem cell therapy, pancreatic stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood that are programmed to produce insulin, plus autologous mesenchymal stem cells from the patient's bone marrow, are injected. Once in the pancreas, the cells are supposed to replicate themselves, gradually replacing the non-insulin producing cells in the host's pancreas. The treatment is conducted in Peru, China, Russia and India and elsewhere, but Zubin Master, a bioethicist at Albany Medical College, said the risks of traveling abroad for stem cell therapy range from paying for an expensive treatment that doesn't work, to cancer and death.

See original here:
Family's desperate bet on a diabetes cure

Why Stem Cells Aren #39;t Being Tested in the US
Stem cell treatment is restricted in the United States, and we discuss the reasons the FDA has been so restrictive about the game-changing research and therapy with Dr. Neil Riordan. Patent...

By: TheLipTV

Go here to read the rest:
Why Stem Cells Aren't Being Tested in the US - Video

Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Shaochen Chen, UC San Diego
Speaker: Shaochen Chen, Ph.D., Professor, NanoEngineering Bioengineering; Co-Director, Biomaterials Tissue Engineering Center, UC San Diego.

By: Alliance for Regenerative Medicine

Read more from the original source:
Engineering Microenvironments for Stem Cells - Shaochen Chen, UC San Diego - Video